Rook Hooks and Queen Treks By Jeff Coakley Artist appreciation month continues with more "brain rackers" from British puzzle master Henry Dudeney (1857-1930). As a prelude to the Dudeney conception that follows, here is a basic example of a series-mate. 1 Series-mate in seven White plays seven moves in a row to mate Black Only the last move may give check. Captures are allowed. White may not place their own king in check. Black does not get a turn. The next puzzle is a version of a Dudeney work called "An Amazing Dilemma" from Amusements in Mathematics (1917). 2 Place the black king on the board so that White does not have a series-mate in any number of … [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...]
The Dude Abides
The Dude Abides by Jeff Coakley February is artist appreciation month at the Cafe gallery. Currently on display is a selection of fine work by one of the great puzzle masters of all time, Henry Dudeney. ...Our lives are largely spent in solving puzzles; for what is a puzzle but a perplexing question? And from our childhood upwards we are perpetually asking questions or trying to answer them." Henry Ernest Dudeney (1857-1930) worked most of his life as a civil servant in Sussex, England. But he made his mark on the world as a mathematician and composer of puzzles. His early creations were published in various newspapers under the pseudonym "Sphinx". He also collaborated for … [Read more...]