A list of task and record problems, and a comic strip

26 Dec. 2013 | by Peter Wong

After discussing tasks and records in the last two columns, I think it’d be useful to make a list of further examples found on this site. Most of these selected problems are exceptional works, so they are well worth another look!

Weekly Problems. No.73: Mate in 2 by McQueen – twelve rook defences. No.90: Mate in 2 by Hawes & Ravenscroft – four Schiffmann defences. No.138: Mate in 2 by Ravenscroft – knight-wheel. No.152: Mate in 2 by Mosely – eight sacrifices of key-piece.

Australian Problemists. No.5: Mate in 2 by Foster – seventeen mates after black king moves. No.7: Series-helpmate in 20 by Foster – fourteen unpins. No.5: Series-selfmate in 20 by Shanahan – Allumwandlung. No.6: Series-selfmate in 10 by Shanahan – Valladao task. No.3: Mate in 2 by Willmott – five unpinning defences with line-openings. No.3: Helpmate in 2 by Wong – seven tempo moves. No.6: Proof game in 21½ by Wong – five tempo moves.

Problem World. No.4: Mate in 2 by Morse – twelve queen mates. No.28: Helpmate in 2 by Milovanovic & Sorokin – Allumwandlung. No.37: Mate in 2 by Loshinsky – three Grimshaws. No.38: Mate in 2 by Manolescu – Zagoruiko with Grimshaw defences. No.49-54: Six examples of Allumwandlung. No.57: Mate in 2 by Hesselgren – three complete half-pins. No.79-84: Six examples of knight-wheel. No.85: Mate in 2 by Bettmann – six promotion mates by one pawn. No.87: Mate in 2 by Stocchi – Zagoruiko with promotion defences. No.95: Helpmate in 6 by Hernadi – four queen promotions. No.103: Mate in 2 by Fink & Ua Tane – eight self-blocking defences. No.113: Mate in 2 by van Dijk – four Novotnys and two white Grimshaws.

It has been a long while since I last quoted an xkcd comic, and here’s another good one, entitled “Think Logically.”