The Number 64 by Jeff Coakley Welcome to another cafe smorgasbord of puzzles. Our special menu this week celebrates somebody’s sixty-fourth birthday. The types of puzzles presented in this column have appeared previously on The Puzzling Side of Chess. If you are unfamiliar with any of them, examples with more detailed explanations are available in the archives. 1. Triple Loyd #39 Place the black king on the board so that: A. Black is in checkmate. B. Black is in stalemate. C. White has mate in one. The number 64 is interesting in many ways. For example, it is the smallest number which is both a perfect square and a perfect cube. 64 = 8² = 4³ Do you know what the next … [Read more...]
Mate Tricks and Retro Treats
by Jeff Coakley This column presents ten “Halloween problems”. They are called that because the pieces are wearing disguises. We know where they stand, but we don’t know their colour. Part of the solver’s task is to figure out which pieces are white and which are black. The normal name for this type of puzzle is a colouring problem. The earliest compositions date from the 1960s. Here is a fairly basic example to get the party started. Halloween 01 Colour the pieces so that White has mate in one. As you can see, all the pieces in the diagram are shown as white. The object of the puzzle is to determine which pieces are actually black. It almost goes without … [Read more...]
Minor Convenience
by Jeff Coakley Back Nine This column picks up where we left off last time, with nine more puzzles involving minor pieces. 10. Triple Loyd #37 Place the black king on the board so that: A. Black is in checkmate. B. Black is in stalemate. C. White has mate in one. 11. Triple Loyd #38 Place the black king on the board so that: A. Black is in checkmate. B. Black is in stalemate. C. White has mate in one. 12. Eight Minor Defensive Loop Place four bishops and four knights on the board so that each piece is defended exactly once and each piece defends exactly one other piece. Two of the bishops must be placed on light squares, the other two on dark. The … [Read more...]
The ChessCafe Puzzlers Cup
The ChessCafe Puzzlers Cup ChessCafe.com is pleased to announce our second annual puzzle composing competition. The contest is being held as part of The Puzzling Side of Chess, the popular column by Canadian master Jeff Coakley. Make up your own puzzles, send them in, and win prizes. Sounds like fun. Eligibility The ChessCafe Puzzlers Cup is an open contest. Anyone may enter. Entries must be original puzzles composed by the person submitting them, and must not have been published previously. Winners The winning puzzles will be published at the end of November 2014 on The Puzzling Side of Chess. Prizes Each winner will receive a "shop coupon" from … [Read more...]
Minor Niner
by Jeff Coakley This column features nine puzzles of various types, all involving four minor pieces (BBNN). Whenever applicable, the two bishops must be placed on opposite-coloured squares. 1. Triple Loyd #35 Place the black king on the board so that: A. Black is in checkmate. B. Black is in stalemate. C. White has mate in one. 2. Triple Loyd #36 Place the black king on the board so that: A. Black is in checkmate. B. Black is in stalemate. C. White has mate in one. 3. BBNN Defensive Loop Place two bishops and two knights on the board so that each piece is defended exactly once and each piece defends exactly one other piece. The bishops must be on opposite … [Read more...]
Chess Mazes: Toronto Style
Chess Mazes: Toronto Style by Jeff Coakley People have been making mazes since before history began. The monumental labyrinths of ancient Egypt and Crete date back over 4,000 years. Mazes come in all shapes and sizes. Some are just lines on a sheet of paper. Others are big enough to walk through. The hedge maze shown below is located in St. Louis, the chess capital of the United States. Mazes are constructed from all sorts of material. They can even be made with chess pieces! Here are the instructions for the puzzles in this column. Chess Mazes 1. The object is to capture the black king in the stipulated number of moves (the shortest path through the maze). 2. Only one … [Read more...]