Trial by Tactics is our member-only Daily Chess Puzzle. Members enjoy access to all archived content, including thousands of PDFs and hundreds of Ebooks - all free! To join: make a $25 (or more) tax deductible donation to ChessEdu.org and we will send your log in details for one-year access. (It may take up to 72 hours to receive your log in.) In Trial by Tactics you are shown the position just before the tactic occurs and then asked to visualize the winning sequence. Thereby emulating a real game scenario. These puzzles can also be used as test questions in conjunction with the ChessEdu.org curriculum. A new puzzle is posted daily. A tactic a day keeps the losses at bay! [FEN … [Read more...]
Think Like Sergey Podushkin!
To join: make a $25 (or more) tax deductible donation to ChessEdu.org and we will send your log in details for one-year access. (It may take up to 72 hours to receive your log in.) In Trial by Tactics you are shown the position just before the tactic occurs and then asked to visualize the winning sequence. Thereby emulating a real game scenario. We intersperse these puzzles with endgame studies and chess problems to explore the broad spectrum of chess creativity. We recommend using Trial by Tactics in conjunction with the ChessEdu.org curriculum. A new puzzle is posted daily. Problems unite riddle, art, and science! [FEN “8/8/1N6/8/8/1kP5/R7/R3K3”] White mates in thr … [Read more...]
Think Like Charles Waterbury!
To join: make a $25 (or more) tax deductible donation to ChessEdu.org and we will send your log in details for one-year access. (It may take up to 72 hours to receive your log in.) In Trial by Tactics you are shown the position just before the tactic occurs and then asked to visualize the winning sequence. Thereby emulating a real game scenario. We intersperse these puzzles with endgame studies and chess problems to explore the broad spectrum of chess creativity. We recommend using Trial by Tactics in conjunction with the ChessEdu.org curriculum. A new puzzle is posted daily. Problems are the poetry of chess! [FEN “5Qb1/1q2Rr2/8/5k1K/4N3/3pPp2/8/8”] White mates in thr … [Read more...]
Think Like Gabriel Authier!
To join: make a $25 (or more) tax deductible donation to ChessEdu.org and we will send your log in details for one-year access. (It may take up to 72 hours to receive your log in.) In Trial by Tactics you are shown the position just before the tactic occurs and then asked to visualize the winning sequence. Thereby emulating a real game scenario. We intersperse these puzzles with endgame studies and chess problems to explore the broad spectrum of chess creativity. We recommend using Trial by Tactics in conjunction with the ChessEdu.org curriculum. A new puzzle is posted daily. Problems can be studied as science and practiced as art! [FEN “8/3p4/8/K7/2B5/kp2N3/7R/8”] White mates in … [Read more...]
Think Like Rolf Reussner!
To join: make a $25 (or more) tax deductible donation to ChessEdu.org and we will send your log in details for one-year access. (It may take up to 72 hours to receive your log in.) In Trial by Tactics you are shown the position just before the tactic occurs and then asked to visualize the winning sequence. Thereby emulating a real game scenario. We intersperse these puzzles with endgame studies and chess problems to explore the broad spectrum of chess creativity. We recommend using Trial by Tactics in conjunction with the ChessEdu.org curriculum. A new puzzle is posted daily. Problems are the poetry of chess! [FEN “8/1n3n2/p1p1N1b1/k1P2NB1/P2P4/PB1pK3/8/8”] White mates in thr … [Read more...]
Think Like William Keysor!
To join: make a $25 (or more) tax deductible donation to ChessEdu.org and we will send your log in details for one-year access. (It may take up to 72 hours to receive your log in.) In Trial by Tactics you are shown the position just before the tactic occurs and then asked to visualize the winning sequence. Thereby emulating a real game scenario. We intersperse these puzzles with endgame studies and chess problems to explore the broad spectrum of chess creativity. We recommend using Trial by Tactics in conjunction with the ChessEdu.org curriculum. A new puzzle is posted daily. Problems are the poetry of chess! [FEN “3Q4/2p2p2/4k3/8/1pN1B3/1K6/8/8”] White mates in two … [Read more...]
Think Like Werner Lauterbach!
To join: make a $25 (or more) tax deductible donation to ChessEdu.org and we will send your log in details for one-year access. (It may take up to 72 hours to receive your log in.) In Trial by Tactics you are shown the position just before the tactic occurs and then asked to visualize the winning sequence. Thereby emulating a real game scenario. We intersperse these puzzles with endgame studies and chess problems to explore the broad spectrum of chess creativity. We recommend using Trial by Tactics in conjunction with the ChessEdu.org curriculum. A new puzzle is posted daily. Problems are the poetry of chess! [FEN “4k1br/2K5/8/8/3N4/2B5/8/8”] In a helpmate, Black moves first. Eac … [Read more...]
The Five Coin Dudeney
The Five Coin Dudeney by Jeff Coakley Get out your lucky pennies. It's Friday the 13th! And time for round two of artist appreciation month, featuring four more puzzles by the great Henry Dudeney. Plus a couple Cafe originals. "It is extraordinary what fascination a good puzzle has for a great many people. We know the thing to be of trivial importance, yet we are impelled to master it, and when we have succeeded there is a pleasure and a sense of satisfaction that are a quite sufficient reward for our trouble, even when there is no prize to be won. What is this mysterious charm that many find irresistible? Why do we like to be puzzled? The curious thing is that directly the enigma … [Read more...]
Proof Games: Switchback City
Proof Games: Switchback City The task in a proof game is to show how a given position can be reached in a legal game. The puzzles in this column have a move stipulation. The position must be reached in a precise number of moves, no more and no less. With one exception, they are proof games in 4.0 which means four moves by each side. There is a distinct lack of strategy in these games. But the moves are legal. Proof Game #37 The diagrammed position, with White to play, was reached in a game after each player made exactly four moves. Can you figure out how? A switchback is a move in a chess problem where a piece returns to a square that it previously stood on. This tactic can … [Read more...]
Smorgasbord V: December Sweets
Smorgasbord V: December Sweets This week our dessert menu features a selection of six puzzles with a variety of flavours. Try one, or try them all. We hope you find something to your taste. The types of problems 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 #40 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 holiday season means lots of travelling from point A to point B. And sometimes a late trip home. Take care. Take a cab. 2. Passing … [Read more...]