THE PROBLEfilIIST

SUPPLEfTIEHT

l:Eltf

ISSUE 15
NOVEMBER 1994
EDITOR:
SOLUTIONS EDITOR:
SELECTIONS EDITOR:

B D Stephenson, 9 Roydfield Drive, Waterthorpe, SHEFFIELD, S19 6ND

M McDowell, 136 St. Luke's Road, SOUTHEND-ON-SEA,Essex, SS2 4AG
J R Coward, 25 Elmwood Avenue, HARROW. Middlesex. HA3 8AJ

All originals printed here take part in the normal

Problemist tournaments, so that publication in this
supplement is equivalent to publication in the main
magazine.

For this supplement, I am looking for straightforward

originals of all types. ldeally, they should be pointed, well
constructed, and have entertainment value. lf you think
that you have anything suitable, please submit it to me at
the address above. I would appreciate it if composers

would submit problems clearly drawn or stamped on

diagrams, please. I would also be happy if composers
could somehow hide the solution. so that I mav have a

grammed during composition and rejected it. A composer

often has to choose between economy of force and

economy of play, taking into account other aspects such

as a flight taking key and the creation of dud force in this
example, in deciding on his preferred presentation."
I am pleased to welcome ace solver Jack Gill as our
first guest SELECTIONS contributor. Afier the originals is

special Christmas Solving Competition which both

members and non-members are invited to enter. Merrv

Christmas and Happy New Year to all readers!!

BDS

chance of solving their originals. Many thanksl

The supplement has its own unified solving ladder and
all are eligible to enter it. Prizes are in line with the main
magazrne.

SELECTIONS
by

Jack Gill

Most readers will by now have noticed the unfortunate

error on the front page of the last issue. The version of

the Pituk problem by Tony Lewis is cooked (has an

unintentional solution) by 1.Rf1! | computer test all

Supplement problems that can be computer tested, and

this one was no exception, as the presence of the output
file on my hard disk verifies. I must have forgotten to read
it! Needless to say, the output file mentions the cook. My
apologies to everybody (especially Mr Pitukl) for this
lapse which has given the Supplement its first avoidable

cook. Tony Lewis also apologises for his oversight,

sending the corrected version below with thematic play

as given in the last issue. He writes: "The corrected

version of A Pituk's problem does not use the white
queen and two pawns
A PITUK
1st Plae, BaFka Bystrie TT, 1958

Version (corrected) by R T Lewis

For the solver, unravelling the single thread of logic in

a moremover can be a source of particular pleasure, or

A good example is the

following problem by the Austrian composer Alois Jofrustration as the case may be.
handl.

A cursory examination shows a mate in 2 by '1.Sc5+

Kas 2.Qd8 if only the black rook can be lured off the fifth
rank, whilst retaining the
A

JoHANDL

l,ii! ,il"j!"",Ji3ll',iJ;

4thPtize, Deut. Schachblefte4 1975-6 tO achieve

this: 1.Qa8+
Kb3 2.Sa5+ Ka4 3.Sc6+
Kb3 4.Q98+ Ka4 5.Qf8!
With the knight having
zigzagged
the

contained in the original, but three features

to c6
ens 6.Qxb4 # forcing

white queen now threat-

are

introduced which
may be considered as

5...R94. White now re-

undesirable. (1) The ad-

ditional set flight varia-

verses engines. 6.Qa8+

Kb3 7.Sa5+ Ka4 8.Sb7+

by-play which does not

preserve the economy
of play evident in A
PituKs original. (2) The

Kb3 9.Q98+ Ka4. Hav-

tion 1...Kxc3 2.86 # is

key removes a flight

variation. (3) The white
knight (al) is a post-key
'dud', taking no part

the keyed phase.

Pituk may well

in

Mr

have

found the version dia-

ing accomplished

his

mission and returned to

square one white can

now deliver his simole
mate in two.
The diversion of the black rook and the simple artistry
of the pendulum mechanism of bK, wQ and wS are very

pleasing,

and possibly original. Too tight to be

world-beater perhaps, but a worthy prize-winner, and an

excellent introduction to the genre.

114

soLUTloNS (JULY 1e94)

PS226 (Shanahan) Set 1...Qa2+lQa7+ 2.Sd2/Sd4
1. Ko3 (2. Sf2) 1...iQb8+/Qg8+/Qa2lQa7 2.Se5/Sfg5/Sd2/
Sf--"Diifereni cross-checks after Q abandons control of
B+S baftery, but enormous risk of anticipatign.: (EiP.Barnes) "The closest I could find was by G.Mariz, The
Probleniist January 1986 qB6/16/384/453l8l4sr<2.17k #2
1.Kg3, which has only one set cross-check." (MM)

PS227 (Nymian) 1.Sd2 (2.Sc4 A/Qe4 B/Sf3 C) 1.. Sg5/

f3/d5/sg1/b5/Sf2 td6 2.AtBlCI ABIBC/AC/ABC "combinatlve separation of three threats, with ABC after 1...d6,'
Marvellous start by a welcome new name. More please!"

(BPB) "Lightly

s6t (Elegant) combinative

separation."

is.Emmerson (K.Dewhurst)) "A very strong key, but not

surprising given the theme." (l.P Gent)
PS228 (Lincoln) 1...d4 2.Qxa8; 1.Qd6? (2 Qf4 A'Qe5 B)
1...Sd3 i.Bxd3 but 1...8h21; 1.a95? (2.Qf4 A) 1...8e3'Bh2/Bxe6/Sd3 2.Q(x)e3/Qe5/Bxd3 but 1...d41; 1.Qf6! (2.Qe5
B) 1...8d4,8h2/Bxg4/f2lSc4,Sd3 2 O(x)d4lQf4/9-92{B.qE1
"The Barnes theme (Try? e.Nq rry? (2.A) Key! (2.8))

should be easily spotted because of the composer's

name." (JQ), a reference to Bob's article on the theme in
the November 1993 Problemist. One appreciative solver
from the marshes described the problem as "A classy
Meredith, and 'pseudo le Grand' pattern (Try? (2.A)
2.8 Keyl (2.8) 1...y 2.A) of distinction."

PS229 (Mariz) 1.Rf4? Se3!; 1.R96? Bxe6!; 1.R97? Srel;

1.Rg8! i2.Bg4) 1 .Se3/Bxe6/S6 2.Sf4/Bg6/Sg7 "3.se.Lfdef;tind btocking interferences by an unwanted-WRl'
(BPB) "square obstruction trebled. Best of the 2-ers"
(JQ) "Beautifully thematic tries." (KD)
PS23O (Lewis & McDowell) 1.Kh7? Bczl 1 Kh8! (2.Sx6)

1...Sc4/Sd3fxg5/Qc3,Qf3/Qe6/Qb6

2.Qx7/Sg3/Qxg5/

a useful try, but 'adding

strategy'. just seams to add weight to a simPle focus.'
Qxf//Sg3/Qxf7,Sg3 "1.Kh7? is

(BPBtiOnly two mates apart from the threat The point of

ihe problem escapes me." (JQ) "Yes, this one provoked a
few raspberries! The idea, based on an observation that
Bohemian two-movers- tend to contain little proper
shategy, was to combine a definite strategic idea (in this
case bi-valves; valves in C8433, Sept 1993) with model
mates. In PS23O a third model follows 1...93. Perhaps it
is simply a case of trying to combine the incompatible.
Ninety-three years ago the greatest Bohemian of them all
was experimenting in similar vein: M.Havel, Sachove
Listy 1 901 1B5|1J 5R2t2pP lP2l2bbk3t I S4B1 I 3P 4 1631 |
RsO1 #2 1.Ras. Half-pin, with pin-models after 1...Bxf7l
Bxg2/Bxg1, but duals galore and the strain is evident"
(MM)

(MM)

PS233 (Vitale) 1.R96! gxh6 2.R6 & 3.Rf5 "Key forces

selfblock and a helpmate-like finish." (JG) "A peculiar
joke - it took a little while to spot the unconventional.key!"
(Se) 'ttris could be the conclusion of a longer problem,

but on its own it's worthless." (JO) "Have

missed

something Vital(e)?" {BPB)

PS234 (Simbolon) 1 SeS!

1...K91 2.Sf3+

Khl 3.8f2 0

g1-any(+) 4.Sxg1; 2...Kfl 3.d4 (4.8c4) g1=Q/91=S

c.SOZlSdZ,SxnZ "Rather difflcult, despite the light setting." (JQ, sim. KD) "Very satisfying solving " (SE)

PS235 (Fasher) 1.Re5 Bb6 2.KfO Bd8; 1.KfB RxaB+

2.Re8 Bc5 "Not too easy, and hangs together well."
(BPB) "Brilliantly elusive unrelated solutions " (JG) "No

iink between the solutions. And what are the BPs doing
around the BR? | cannot see what cooks they stop." (JQ)
"Well spotted. All three pawns can be removed without
affecting the soundness of the problem!" (MM)
PS236 (Jonsson) (a) 1.Kf4 Rf8 2.Qe3 Rg4; (b) 1.Kxd4
Rd8 2.Qe4 Bc3 "Black unpins the Q, which is unpinned

anyway. Absolutely excellent." (BPB) "Subtly matched

pin-mates." (KD) "This problem looks rather heavy. The

tookstopping force, which includes a battery, looks rather
strong for the effect obtained." (JQ)
PS237 (Mayhew) 1...8x91 2.h2 Bg2; 1 .gxf3 ep Kxn3 2.f2
Bq2; 1.Kd5 Bxh3 2.Ke4 Bg2 "The same mate occurs 3
tirires. but the solver doesn t feel cheated. (BDS) "Three
different ways to to dispose of BP's defence of 92 for WB
mate. E.p. easy to prove once you think of it, but it's not
the flrst thing you think ofl (lPG) "lndeed some never
thought of it at all! (MM) "En passant fooled me for quite
a while. Fine work." (BPB)
PS238 (Vitale) 1.Kf2 Qxgs 2.Qf1 Kc2 3.Ke1 Qd2 "A tricky

sequence." (BPB) "Rather trivial content, and the role of

the BPg5 to stop the dual 1...Qh6 looks unjustified." (JQ)

"lt would appear that the problem is sound if 95

removed and the position

is moved one square to

is

the

right." (MM)

PS239 (Wllmott) 1...Ke7 2.Rhs Sd8 3.Rds Bd3+ 4.Kes

Sc6 "Not at all obvious. There are many close tries." (SE)
"solved by elimination. Once I tried mating the BK on e5,
it fell into place." (JQ) "Since the WP only stops the dual
3.Rf5 Bg2+ etc. I suggest removing it and starting the
WB on c4, yielding a pawnless problem with ideal mate
(computer-checked)." (A.Ettinger) John Coward makes a
similar suggestion.

PS231 (Battaglia) 1.8a4! 0 1...8a3/Bxc3,dxc3/Bxc5/Rxgxl

92+/Rxf3/Rxg4/Rh3/d6/d5/6/f5 2.bxa3lbxc3lb4l Qxg2l
a/q3/qxh3/exd6/exd6ep/ex6/exf6ep "Quantity rather than

qu-ati[. ereoictable (ey.' (JQ) "Lots of pawn battery

openihgs

Sam Loyd (posing as "W.H. of Philadlphia"), Musical

World 1859 2B5l16l2K3P1l4k3/6R1/384/8 #2 1.R92"

to intrigue newcomers." (BPB)

"Unfortunately

the position is illegal, as Black has made two pawn

captures and only one white piece is missing. Brian
Chamberlain points out that the position can be made
legal by removing d7 or f7, but some play will be lost."
(MM')

2.B,s2 0 |ry{KI!
0 1...Ks4
Kd6/Kf5/Kf7 3.R96/Bd7lBd5

PS232 (Pypa) 1.8s5!

3.Bf3/Bh3; 1...Ke6 2.8c6

"Play elegant, and adequate for a miniature.' (JQ) "Lovely

miniature with 4 models from 5 mates" (SE) "l'm not sure
I would regard the mates after 3.8h3 and 3.8d7 as
distinct models. The #2 after1...KeG was composed by

PS240 (Funk & Masanek) 1.Sxf3+ Ke2 2.Sh2 Kxe3

3.KhO Kf4 4.Kh5 Rxh2 "Obvious." (SE) "Lacking in
strategy." (JQ) "superfluous WP is an example of
"board-dressing", only there to fool the solver into thinking
that castling is involved. There is no cook without it, and I
regard it as a cheat." (JRC) "Alex Ettinger has computerchecked that without the WP, 96 can be a BP My own
view is that castling looks so unlikely, as it restricts the
rook, that the joke falls a little flat." (MM)

PS241 (Surkov) (a) 1.Rd8! QxdS 2.Qfl+ Kxfl; (b) 1.Rf6+!

Qf7 2.Qe3 Qx6; (c) 1.Qf7+! QxfT 2.97+ QxgT; (d) 1.97+!
Kf7+ 2.g8=Q+ QxgS "A remarkable and highly quotable
gem." (BPB) "Unusual to see a S#2 in miniature, and with

entertaining solutions too. This problem suggests that

perhaps we can all compose a selfmate." (JQ) "Enjoyable
solving." (KD)

115
PS242 (Boumeester) 1.Rhs! Qxg2 2.Ra8+ QxaB 3.Qa1+
Qxal 4.97+ QxgT "Striking comer play and elimination of

strong W force.' (BPB) "Superb sweeping play.' (KD)

'Not difficult, but pleasant enough." (lPG)
PS243 (Rothwell) 1.Q93+! Qxg3 2.Re3+ Qxe3 3.Sd3+

Qxd3 4.Sf3+ Qxf3 5.Ra4+ Qxc3 "Another attractive

one-liner.' (KD) "Not sure about the value of these

enforced checks/captures.' (BPB) "Selfmates all wellconstructed with marvellous entertainment value." (B.E.Chamberlain)

PS244 (Hammarstrom) 1...Rc2 (las) 2.Kc6 (lbs) Kb3

(lc4) 3.Kcs (lc3) Ka2 (lb2) 4.KM (lal) Ka3 (la2) "lt takes
ages working out possible mating positions!" (SE) "On
the whole solvers have not reacted favourably to the
series of lmitator problems, viewing them as difficult
sequences lacking in strategy. As an example of the
interesting effects possible in this genre, here is a
problem by John Beasley (after J.E.H.Creed), The
Problemist 1989 sssb/ksB5lglK7l16l4s1i118 (4 black
knights, lmitator on 92) #2 1.BbO (lf1) 1...Sc3 (ld2) 2.Kb4
(lel); 1...Sf4 (lg3) 2.Kbs (lh3); 1...S93 (lh2) 2.Ka4 (lh1);
1...Sd4 (le3) 2.Bxd4 (lg1). Wthout the BBhS 1.Kb6 is an
immediate mate." (MM)

PS245 (Sikdar) 1.Qd6 3.94 5.Ke3 6.93 8.Kgl 9.92

10.Qh2 Qel "Well-forced move order. A mate with BK on
a4 looked more likely." (JG) "Neatly done, and not too
easy given the lack of signposts." (JQ) 'lngenious."
(J.R.Coward) " 1.Qd6 is an exceptionally fine first move.

exds (\ /Bf1)/Sxa6+ (WSb1) 2.Oxb3 (BPb7)/Qxd7/Rxc5

(BPcTyRxcS (BPc7)/Sxc3 (BPc7) 'Banal threat, but three
a change after
1...Se8+." (JQ) Nice try 1.Qa8?." (BPB)

thematic cross-checks, including

PS251 (Turnbull) 1.Rf4? (2.Kxes) 1...exf4lRas/Re8

2.Se6/Kg5/Kxe4 but 1...Qa1!; 1.Rf3t (2.Kxe4) 1...exB/
Ra4/Qb1/Qel 2.Se6/Kg4lKg6/Kxe5 "This one caused
confusion, with many solvers unable to see why 1.Se6
does not give immediate mate. The answer is because
1...dxe6 is mate, with the \A/K unable to leave the f-file
because the check can be parried by 2...Rf7 . (ln other
words, if the BRbT was absent 1.Se6 would be mate, as
1...dxe6 would only be illegal check.) Only after the
potential rook check has been neutralised by a pawn
capture can Se6 be played." (MM) "The very logic of this
genre is humorous! lwas taken in by1.Se6 for a long
time ... " (SE) 'Excellent stuff, replete with a thematic try
1.Rf4?. Use of BRaB is debatable; it gives an extra
variation afier the try, but is not needed posfkey." (JQ)
PS252 (Earnes) 1.Bxe3! (BRh8) (2.Sc5) 1...Sxd7+ (WRh-

1)/Sxh7+ (WBfl)/Sxg6+ /Sxe6+ (WSb1) 2.Rxh4 (BBf8)/

Bxd3 (BBcB)/BxgG (BSg8)/Sxc3 (BSbB) "Good old-tushioned fun using Circe.' (SE) "Rich Circe effects, much
enjoyed." (KD) "Pleasing wealth of Circe elements."
(JRC)

An anticipation of PS187 (Husserl) has been notified: N

Zinoviev, Problemist Pribuzhya, 1990, wKfl, wPaT; bKh6,
h=2, another multipart problem.

Perseverance by NS has produced a gem." (BPB)

MM

PS246 (Sobey) 1.Ke4 Kb3 2.Gd3 Res+ 3.Kd4 Sf3; 1.Kf4

Kc3 2.Gf3 596+ 3.Ke4 Res "Excellent! Extremely harmonious solutions with matched strategy and ideal mates."
(SE) "Good use of slight material." (KD)
PS247 (Olausson) 1.98=bB+! BxhT 2.Q96+ Kf8 3.Q98+
BxgS= "Only a browse through Dawson gave me the
clue! (SE) "Some appreciated the joke, but others were
flummoxed. lt would appear that before FIDE defined the

it was not illegal to

promote to a piece of the opposite colour. A joke problem
by L.l. Kubbel, quoted in the December 1982 BCM,

current rule covering promotion,

iffustrates an amusing possibility: 8l4P1Q1l2P5l16l6Pkl

5P2nK#2 1.e8=bK! Kd8 2.Qd7 mating both kings! In

future such 'unorthodox' Droblems will not count for
ladder points, and will be indicated as such on publication." (MM)
PS248 (Mayhew) 1.Kd1 97 2.Sd2 g8=R 3.Bxg8 (WRhl)
Rxel (BRh8); 1.Ke2 97 2.Sd2 g8=S 3.Bxg8 (WSbl) Sxc3
(BSb8); 1.Qd4 97 2.Kd3 g8=B 3.Sd2 Bxc4 (BBc8); 1.QdS
97 2.Kd3 g8=Q 3.Kd4 axds (BQd8) "quite a creditable
problem. No twinning, and unity added by each W piece

capturing

piece

of similar type when mating.'

(JQ)

"Ambitious and good." (BPB) "Notable achievement by a

talented composer." (BEC)

PS249 (Poisson) 1.8c4! (2.Rf3) 1...Rx93+ (WQd1) (R

moves and selfpins the Q) 2.Sxg3 (BRh8); 1...Qxa5+
(WRal) (O moves and selfpins the B) 2.Rd5; 1...8xd3
(WRh1) (B moves and selfpins the R) 2.ag2; '1...Ke2lQe3
ot f2 2.Rd2lRd1 "The three black pieces pin each other
cyclically by Circe capture of the plnning piece." (SE)
"lnteresting - but 2.Qt2 /Qxe1 never realised." (BPB)
"Cyclic effects, but a forceful key.' (KD)
PS250 (Rice) 1...Se8+ 2.Qxb6 (BPb7); 1.Qa8? (2.Qc6)
1...Sxa8+ (Wad1) 2.axb3 (BPb7) but 1...Se8+!; 1.Qegl
(2.Sxc7 (BSb8)) 1...Sxe8+ (WQd1)/Sa8+/Sxds+ (WBfl )/

ORIGINALS
The'#2' under PS280 to PS284 means'Vvhite to play
and mate in two moves against any defence.' PS285 to
PS287 are also directmateq but longer. PS288 to
PS29{ are helpmates in which Black, playing first,
co-ooerates with White so that White can mate Black in
the number of moves specified. There are 3 solutions to
PS288 and 4 to PS289. In PS290, besides the 2 normal
solutions, there is also a set play solution where white
plays first and mate is to occur on white's second move.
PS29l is a duple1 where, as well as the normal solution
there is one where white plays first and black mates
white on his third move. PS292 is a selfmate where
white plays first and forces an unwilling black to mate
him. PS293 and PS295 are serieshelpmates in which
Black plays a sequence of consecutive moves (without
\A/hite playing at all) to reach a position where White can
mate in one. Part (a) of PS294 is a normal H#4 but part
(b) (with no change to the diagram) is H#5 exactly, that
is, solutions in less than 5 moves are not allowed!
Jonathan originally wanted to publish this as (a) H#4 and
(b) H#5 but then (b) is cooked by (a)l Have I done the
right thing in persuading him to publish this paradoxical
problem in this form? An orthodox setting, with the
addition of wPb2, and with (b) having bPb3 is possible,
but then the economy of the wPb2 in (a) is questionable.
Comments please! The Nightrider in PS296 moves in
knight leaps for as many leaps as it likes until it is
blocked by the edge of the board or by a friendly piece.
Ne1 can go to f3, 95, c2, a3 or 92. Don't forget the set

play solution to this problem. Finally PS297 is

helpstalematq which is like a helpmate except that the

aim is the stalemate of Black.
Send your solutions and comments to Michael McDowell (address on front page) within 2 months of
receiving this issue. Enjoy your solving!
BDS

116

PS28O L BOUCHEZ & P DI SCALA

(France)

PS281 VTINEBRA

PS282 T RUSSELL
(Scotland)

(ltaly)

#2

PS283 J BUGLOS
(Hungary)

PS286 D NESEK
(Croatia)

PS284

J SHIRE
(Canterbury)

PS287 I P GENT
(Edinburgh)

(set play)

PS285 J MAYHEW
(Plymouth)

PS288 E FASHER
(tsrael)

117

PS289 S VERTELKA

PS29O N J DAMBASSIS
(Grcece)

(Uthuania)

PS291 L VITALE
(ttaty)

H#2 Set play; 2 sols

PS292 AZARUR

PS293 N SIKDAR

(Brazil)

0ndia)

(Plymouth)

(London)

H#4 (b) H#5 exactly

SH#15

PS295 J MAYHEW

PS294 J LEVITT

PS296 P A PETKOV
(Bulgaia)

H#2 Set play; Nightrider el

PS297 A A GRIGORIAN
(Amenia)

118

CHRISTMAS SOLVING COMPETITION

Readers, bolh members and non-members, are invited to
enter this competition. There are 3 free subscriptions to be
won for the best set of solutions to the problems on the back
page. Do remember to comment on the problems as your
comments will be used to resolve any ties.
They are all directmates in 2 and 3 moves where white,
playing tirst and up the board, forces mate against any black
defence. 1 to 7 are 2-movers where the mate is to occur on
white's 2nd move, and I and 9 are 3-movers where the mate is
to occur on or before white's 3rd move. Send your entries
(white's first move only please) to me at the address on the
fronl page.
All these Droblems were first published as part of a solving
tourney in lhe London Evening News in February and March
'1933 and are by some famous names of the time. lt was TRD
who collected together the material, and each problem was
accompanied by a brief biography of the composer, also
supplied by TRD. I now quote from those biographies, in the

hope that they will be

of interesl to today's solvers

and

composers.

D LOCOCK

"Charles Dealtry Locock was born at Brighton in 1862 He

was educated at VMnchester and University College, oxford,
and has spent most of his life in the teaching profession. He
learned chess when a boy, and, as everyone knows, he
belongs to that very small class of men who are really
first-class players and problemists also...
He has told us also, in the Chess Eouquef, how his Jirst
problem came into existence, in an effort to make a plausible
key-move work in someone else's problem. Since then,
however, his own native genius for a strategic problemistic
idea has laken the initiative, and if his total output of problems
is not on the large scale, it is excellent in quality.

Mr Locock has published two collections of his favourite

compositions - 120 Chess Problems and Puzzles ('19'12) and
70 More Chess Problems and Puzzles (1926). Probably few
chess problemists or players know that he is also the author of
a volume of whimsical poems and parodies, published under
the title Olympian Echoes in 1908. This, curiously, contains
nothing at all on chess; but there are several pieces about
croquet, anolher of his favourite patimes.
Of chess problems, CDL has produced something in nearly
every iield. A famous pawn ending of his has been a subject of
discussion by opposition-play theorists for forty years. A study
in Retrograde Analyis - lhe Mireculous Adiudicator - was
published a generation before the chess world had been
educated up to such processes of'synthetic aames', full of
dainty elegance at the shorter lengths and of brain-cracking
complexity al long range, has been a unique contribution to
chess, and in this lleld he stands without a rival. Add to these
works the poinled, vigorous direcl-mates of his collection, and
lhe record is very rich and diversitied."

A W DANIEL
'Arthur Wlliam Daniel ... was born at Stoke-on-Trent on
September 30, 1878, but he did not take up chess until 1898.
In spite of several counter attractions - membership of the
Pharmaceutical Society, a fine capacity for painting, and skill in
golf - Mr Daniel has remained at heart a keen chess enthusiast
and has attained great distinction along more than one line.
As we are now concerned with problems we may pass over

his record as an Essex county player and a

successful
competitor in BCF Congresses. At the same time this skill as a
player explains why he is one of the best English composers of
endings we have ever had.
He has composed many excellent direct-mate two-movers,
and it is difficult to say whether he excels more in these than in
three-movers. He has said (in 1 914) that he is no lover of the
'English School' with its demand for strict accuracy in every
detail, and he has shown ihis in composing many virile
three-movers based on some highly-complex leading idea
(often of the 'built-up' two-mover type), in which the byplay
@uld go where it pleased.
And yet, so happily inconsistent is mankind, he has swung

right over to the other extreme on many an occasion and given

us beautiful aritistic gems of polished perfection.
For the last five months Mr Daniel has been filling very
efficiently the post of secretary to the BCPS ..."

CMFOX
'C

Masson Fox is one of the most quiel and retiring

members of the BCPS. He was born in Falmouth about sixty
years ago, and although some of these earlier years were
soent in London. most of his career centres round Falmouth.
He is a member of the old-established shipping firm which

bears his name, and occupies a prominent position in the town

as consul for several foreign countries.
He provides a striking example of a chess problemist who
lonq period of
Jirst long
o{
an this work late in his career,
career. for all the iirst
oegan
his interest in chess was devoted to the playing side of the
game. He has held the championship of Cornwall, as well as of
Falmouth.
About the summer of 1922 he came under lhe spell of Fairy
Chess in the Chess Amateur column, took first prize with the
first problem he ever published, and has since abandoned
over-the-board play entirely to gain signal success in the
composition of Fairy problems of all kinds. His brilliance in this
field is remarkable, and CMF is now famous the world over for
a long succession of lovely masterpieces of this type.
His special skill lies in a powerful analytical insight which
enables him to extract from some simple fundamental idea a
whole host of closely related twin positions, often surprisingly
diversified in their actual content. He does this kind of thing
with an apparent ease which is the despair and delight of his
rivals in this recondite subject.
Mr Fox is one of the very few problemists in the world who
has composed a hundred Fairy positions for one orthodox
problem, and he frankly admits that the respective attraction
and beauty of these two sides of problem work are to him in
about that ratio."

C MANSFIELD
"Comins Mansfield was born al Witheridge, North Devon, in
1896, although he is chiefly associated with Bristol, where he
has lived for many years. He learned chess at an early age
and began making problems when he was about fifteen.
Although gassed severely in the war - he serued in the
Artillery - he won the Bristol championship in 1920 and only a
year or two ago he played with credit in the BCF championship
lournament. Wilh more first-class Dractice he would be a match
for any player.
But it is in the problem field, or rather in the lwo-move
direct-mate field, lhat he has established himself as a supreme
master. He has told us that he is not a prolific composer, an
average of one problem a month representing his output in the
last twenty years. This is because he puts quality first. He is
the comptete chess artist in instinct and performance - for ever
polishing and revising until his finished work has attained that
spontaneous appearance, balance and beauty which mark it of
classic quality.
Not that Mansfield neglects the thematic content of his work
in the search for form. Far from it. He will be remembered by
oroblem scientists as the man who named the 'half-pin' theme,
the most productive, perhaps, of all two-move ideas. He made
it prominent in the great burst of two-move enthusiasm which
carried the Good Companion chess Problem Club (of Philadel-

phia and the World) to the top of its meteoric career metaphors are apt to get mixed when one thinks of that
marvellous Deriod of two-move fruition - and Mansfield,
himself, gave the theme many of its most noble and beautiful
results...

There

is no need to elaborate on

MansJield's tourney

successes - probably by now more than 100, including many

first orizes. This is a remarkable result in view of his limited
output, and also seeing that he is ever ready to help his friends
on sDecial occaaions such as this "

N EASTER
"Norris Easter.-. was born at Thudton, Norfolk, in 1886. He
learned the moves of chess in his teens, but apart ftom a few

games

in France during the war he did not take

chess

seriously until he was invalided home. Then, after a 'few

thousand' games with any available opponents his interest
lumed to problems. Marked success has attended his problem
work, and his brilliant lwo-move direct-mates are known to
every lover of fine problems. In a few years he has won more
than 60 tourney honours, including 13 prizes and 21 honourable mentions, and is, without doubt, one of the small group of
the world's great two-move experls. He ranks among Ellerman
..., Guidelli ... Schiffmann ... and Mansfield ...
Mr Easter has contributed a few items to scientific and

a valuable essay on
Economy some years ago, a finely-reasoned essay on the real
machinery of the Anti-Bristol theme in a BCPS lecture, and
quite recenily the complete locus of a line-opening theme ...
Mr Easter makes one important contribution to chess which
remains unknown to all except his friends - he writes chess
leilers of exceptional interest. These often discuss general and
theoretical topics and touch upon such interesting side-issues
as the true principles of the art of dedicating chess problems,
ihe ethics of giving famous composers friendly nicknames, and
many other delightful subiects."
theoretical chess problem subjects,

T R DAWSON
"Thomas Rayner Dawson... was bom

in

Leeds on

November 28, 1889 and as his childhood was spent with his
uncle, the late James Rayner, a famous chess player and
problemist, he 'often used chess pawns instead of a teething
ring.' He acquired the elements of chess from a badly-written
article in a boys' book of pastimes at the age oflen, so his first
ideas were thus as unorthodox as his present well-known
passion for chess puzzles of every sort.
Mr Dawson is [)y profession a research chemist (and
latterly editor of scientific journals) and the only other interest
besides chess is mathematics.
His chess career is a long story of editorial activities and
productive composition, his total of about 4,000 published
problems being credited by him to the sysiematic way in which
he investigates particular fields of chess ideas. His editing
began with the endings section of the Chess Amateur, for he
has published upwards of 100 quite orthodox end-games,
passed on to the 'Fairy Chess' section of lhe same ioumal,
and later the magazine pages. He.has edited Fairy Chess
columns in ltalian, French and Belgian iournals. He siarted lie
Prcblemistfot the BCPS and carried it on for many years; and
is at present editing the problem pages of the Bnfr'sh Cl,ess
Magazine, lne Fairy Chess Supprement of the BCPS, and the
Fairy Chess section of the Brussels magazine, L'Echiquier.
He is the major partnr of two of the A C Vvhite books,
Retrograde Aratsis and Assymetry. He also made conspicuous contributions to both the substance and theory of Dr
Birgfeld's Fata Morgana ...
Allhough everyone knows thal TRD is the main use of
the marked development of Fairy Chess in the last 15 years, it
is sometimes overlooked that he has made elitensive contributions to orthodox chess in the form of endings and hundreds of
direcfmate problems. He is, also, one of the few men in

the detailed comprehensive

knowledge of the German cutting-point theories which enabled
him to add something to that abstruse science of chess.'
England who have acquired

E J EDDY
'Edwin John Eddy ... was born in Bristol on March 8, 1896.
He had a bad time in the war, being wounded four times and
gassed twice. But, despite difficulties arising out of this and
depression in the building trade, with which he is connected,
Mr Eddy continues to build up a fine re6rd of work done in
connection with chess. He learned the moves in '1915, and his
early efforts were in the solving line, with the result that he
made a clean sweep of the Bristol Problem Club solving
championship for several years running and carried off the
chief honours in many similar contests held in weekly.journals.
Afler a spell of over{he-board play, which took him up to

the second division of the Bristol League, he turned his

attenlion to problem composition, to which study he has
remained an enthusiastic adherent. Since about'1924, when
this phase of his chess career opened, he has published about
300 problems, mainly direct-mates in two and some selfmates,

119
in chess @lumns all over the world. His tournev successes are
steadily mounting up and number about 70 at the present time.
His chief work is in the fteld of the modem complex two-mover,
and he composes with a deft skill and an alert eye for the

natural variety

of a theme which leads to the happiest of

results."

P G L FOTHERGILL
'P G L

Fothergill was born on July 12,1868. As he is the

mosi unobtrusive and retiring of all the London members ofthe
BCPS, I have yet to learn whether he is a Londoner by birth or
long residence.
He is apt to saf more, but even then very little, about his
ancestors - as for example, George Fothergill, DD, Principle of

Edmund Hall, Oxford, and Thomas Fothergill, DD, Provost of

Queen's College, Oxford - than about himself, so that the most

we know of his personal biography is his youthful love of

cricket, football, lawn tennis and every vigorous open-air sport.
PGLF learned chess from his father when quite young and

began with solving experience in the English Mechanic and

youth, lhus being led on to publish his first composition in the

in 1886. For several years he successfully

masked his identity under the initials PGLF - most of his chess
friends still think of him in these terms - and there was quite an
exciting little mystery in finding who this rising young composer
really was. Now we know the surname, but the PGL remains
unelucidated.
Hls solving powers were soon strongly developed and he
has a number or fine oerformances in ihat field to his credit.
His composing activities have been chiefly confined to
two-move direcl-mates of the relatively more simple types (as
distinct from modern comDlexities). and of three-move direct
mates of the 'English Schoot'. These are marked by accuracy
and are often rich in variety, but on the whole do not show that
attention to economy of mate which the 'Bohemian School'
insisis uoon.
He is specially good in three-movers of block-form, the
more difficult of the two main divisions, and a useful record of
lafter journal

tourney prizes over the years indicates his best work

is

thoroughly satisfactory."

H A RUSSELL
"H A Russell was born at Bowden in Cheshire in 1881 and
is a cotton merchant in Manchester. He is a typical example of
the late starter in problem study, for it was not until about 1919
that he began to do some solving in Mr R J Buckley's chss
cotumn. Afler a few years of this, with growing confidence, he
was persuaded by Mr Buckley to venture into the composing
field. He writes:
'l found this composing work of greal interest, and
gradually became aware that the chess problem domain is a

delightful country in which one can roam, without fear of

waning interest and with good companions from all over the
world. Since I staded, with the help and encouragement of
many experl friends, I have had great pleasure in exploration
and creation in this realm. I have endeavoured to approach the
chess problem form my own instinctive standpoint, which, with
due regard lo the conventions, usually aims at an element of
piquancy and deception. Whether my aim has been accurate
or not, I have had immense enjoyment out of lhis hobby and
hope that some of my problems may have helped to give
enioyment to others.'
Mr Russell has published about 200 problems in the last six
or seven years and made one very successful venture into

literary work in his lecture before lhe BCPS on 'Avoidance of

Stalemate'...
His composing style runs chiefly to direct-mate threemovers, almost always with some pointed theme. He has been
warmly aftached to the stalemale try idea for a long period,
and has published quite a host of interesting developments in
that field."
My thanks go to John Beasley for suggesting the competition and to him in his role of Society librarian for supplying the
above material.

BDS

3. CMFOX

1. C D LOCOGK
Evening News,1933

Evening News, 1933

N EASTER
Evening News, 1933

6, TRDAWSON

Evenng News, 1933

7,

8. PGLFOTHERGILL

9.

Evening News,1933

Evening News,1933

4. C MANSFIELD

E J EDDY
Evening News,1933

5.

Evening News,1933

A RUSSELL