ArcaMax

This is a prime example of the poor pawn’s disadvantage of only being able to move backwards. Mate in Four. Enjoy Independence Day!

You might think White’s task is to draw here; however, White, despite being a rook down, wins this. All Black has to do is give up one of its pieces to draw, but White makes that impossible. To get full credit, you have to play the best defense for Black.

There are FOUR mates in three today. The first is the diagram. Then, for your additional amusement, Put the knight on a8 and b8 and e8 for additional mates in three.

All the long-range pieces are ready to jump into action.

An interesting imbalance. A queen and pawns vs. a bishop and knight and pawn.

An interesting mating. Make it happen!

White is down in material, so he had better get busy and come up with some way to save the game.

This is a mate in seven. Be careful not to stalemate Black. The moves, though, are relatively simple themselves, but need to be timed precisely. In fact, each proper White move forces Blak to play the only legal move on the board. Oh, yes, those pawns on the a-file are there for a reason!

William Shinkman called this one of his “elemental” compositions. Mate in 6.

A middle game challenge. How do you create an attack as White? No mate. Just a winning position would suffice.

This is a mate in two from the 1870s. Theop key first move becomes the precursor for a good many other problems. To solve it, you have to look at the Black king position. Look at where he can and can’t go. When you look at where he can go, then look at the reason the bishop and knights are where they are and what squares they’re attacking. ...

Black wants to hide in the corner and hope that White will stalemate him by Kf7 or Kf8, so White has to come up with a different approach.

Mate in Two

See the threats for your opponent and you and decide on the best course.

An ingenious mate in three. One editor a long time ago wrote, “We do not remember to have ever met with a more pleasing, accurate or difficult conception. The problem contains a number of tries, and the key is obscure and surprising.” --Alain C. White

Obviously, a rook move wins, but only one square gets a mate in three.

You can’t use the excuse that you don’t have enough material! It’s a mate in two. This is an old favorite of mine, especially for kids.

It’s a mate in ten! Before you despair about solving such a long problem, take a good look at White’s first move because it’s the key to the whole thing. Lots of fun!

A little light-hearted fun. White can mate, but in how many moves?

To start off the week, here’s a two-move miniature by legendary American composer, Bob Lincoln. The right first move allows Black four legal moves as choices, but they all lead to mate on move two.