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Welcome to OzProblems.com, a site all about chess problems in Australia and around the world! Whether you are new to chess compositions or an experienced solver, we have something for you. Our aim is to promote the enjoyment of chess problems, which are at once interesting puzzles and the most artistic form of chess.
An in-depth introduction to the art of chess composition, examining various problem types and themes.
The weekly problem’s solution will appear on the following Saturday, when a new work is quoted.
See last week's problem with solution: No.800.
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Walkabout
The Babson Task – Part 3
31 Mar. 2026
In the first two parts of this series on the Babson task, we saw how the theme – four matching pairs of black and white promotions to the same kind of piece – was accomplished in selfmates and helpmates. Serious attempts by established composers to achieve the task in directmates began in the 1960s, and the extreme difficulty was such that no-one succeeded for decades. Their valiant efforts produced “proto-Babson” positions that did not pass muster as they are illegal or contain promoted force. Then in 1983, an unknown Russian composer named Leonid Yarosh (1957-) caused a sensation by publishing a sound mate-in-4 Babson problem, with a diagram that is legal and has no promoted pieces. This first directmate Babson (P1052449) unfortunately starts with a brutal key-move that captures a black knight; but just months later, Yarosh constructed another setting without the serious flaw. The improved rendition, solved by an excellent key that pushes the thematic pawn, is now considered one of the greatest chess compositions ever.
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