ArcaMax

A startling brilliancy by Joseph Blackburne of England against Simon Lipschutz in the great New York tournament of 1889. Blackburne said that even world champ Steinitz’s reaction was priceless: “Steintiz bent his head over the board and would scarcely believe that a mating position had been created.

I first thought of just putting the diagram, but people might wonder how the heck that position actually came about in a real game. So, you get a whole briefly annotated game well worth playing over.

A very cute mate in two. White’s first move allows Black five choices.

Queen and rook teamwork necessary here.

As White you’re in a tough spot. Can you figure out a way to avoid a loss here?

Maia Chiburdanidze, women’s world champion for 13 years, won this gem against GM Bent Larsen in 1993.

A relatively easy start this Monday morning. Remember Rule #1

Composition miniatures are often quite challenging, even if it’s just a mate in two.

Here’s an attacking position coming out of the Vienna Game. How would you proceed?

Here’s an attacking position coming out of the Vienna Game. How would you proceed?

An old favorite of mine, composed by Adolph Anderssen, the winner of the first great international tournament of 1851.

Nothing quite like bringing all your pieces into play.

So, what do you do when you’re all lined up to attack on the queenside, but your opponent’s king isn’t over there?

Rook and pawn endings don’t usually end this way, but Black wraps it up quickly.

Lots of major piece acrobatics in this one.

This little fracas is from Pollock-Lee, 1897. Black seems well-positioned for defense, but…

White is down in material, so it’s time to come up with a plan of action.

There is more than one way to mate in three in this position. Find one!

A Sam Loyd mate in three.

There’s only one first move that wins. It’s one of the most important K+P endgames you can study.