For a chess player, delivering a check to the king always feels like asking a question, as if to say, ‘What are you going to do about that?’ And I was instructed as a child: ‘Don’t answer a question with a question!’ So naturally, I get an impish thrill from those rare occasions where a check is met by a move which simultaneously delivers a check to the opponent.
Such a counter-check could even be mate. That circumstance is vanishingly rare in practical play, but composers of chess problems have often toyed with the idea. One shining example is the position in the first diagram, a mate in three composed by Sam Loyd in 1903.
The temptation is to give discovered check by moving either Bb5 or Rf6, but Black’s king has just enough wiggle room that neither of those leads to mate in just three moves. For example, 1 Bxe8+ Kxe4 2 Bg6+ Kd4 3 Rf4 is double check and mate, but alas after 1 Bxe8+ Kd4! White has no way to conclude the hunt in time. 1 Bd3+ Kd4 2 Rf3+ e5! also leads to disappointment. The solution appears in the next paragraph.
The fastest path to mate is surprising in that it uses White’s own king to close the net. The first move is 1 Ke2, aiming for e3. In case of 1…Kxe4 2 Bd3+ Kd4 3 Rf4 is mate, or 1…Kd4 2.Rf4+ e5 3 Nxg3 is mate (e5 being pinned). Or if 1… f1=N+ (to prevent Ke2-e3) then 2 Rf2+ Kxe4 3 Bd3 is mate. But the real punchline arises after 1 Ke2 f1=Q+, when the shocking follow-up is 2 Ke3, reaching a position where Black has ten possible checks, but each one is met by a move of either Bb5 or Rf6, delivering immediate mate in response.
It is shocking enough that this Heath Robinson mechanism works at all, but even more so that Loyd conjured a position where it is the uniquely fastest way to deliver checkmate.
The position shown in the second diagram is the starter problem for the Winton British Chess Solving Championship, an annual competition. White must force mate in two moves, against any defence. (White moves, then Black moves, then White delivers checkmate.)
Entries are by email to winton@theproblemist.org no later than 31 July. Only the first move is required. Successful entrants qualify for a postal round, so do include a name and address. Mark your entry ‘The Spectator’! Those who were under 18 on 31 August 2024 must give their date of birth. For more details about the competition, including how to enter by post, visit spectator.co.uk/winton25. For more information on the rich world of problem-solving, visit ‘theproblemist.org’. The website has an excellent section titled ‘For Beginners’, in which the ‘Two-Move Secrets’ section may provide inspiration.
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