David Hodge is the 2023 British Chess Solving champion, after winning the Winton British Chess Solving Championship in Nottingham last month. Hodge is now a two-time champion, having first won the event in 2019.
Above left is a position which caught my eye, taken from the Category B event, which is aimed at less experienced solvers. The problems are slightly less formidable than those in the main event, though still replete with beautiful ideas. This is White to play and mate in 4, composed by Chimedtseren (Probleemblad, 1973). If you don’t want to see the answer, skip forward a couple of paragraphs.
One approach is to arrange a mating pattern with Rb3-b1-d1 and Bg2-f1, but that falls short, e.g. 1 Rb1 a4 2 Rd1 Kb5 3 Kb7 h3 4 Bf1+ c4 denies the mate. The correct first move is the surprising 1.Ka7. Then after, 1…h3 White can construct an ambush for the Black king: 2 Ba8! a4 3 Rb7 Kd5 4 Rb4# This ingenious means of preparing a discovered check exemplifies the ‘Indian theme’, which originated in a problem published in 1845, attributed to the Revd Henry Augustus Loveday. But after 1 Ka7 a4, the attack on the rook demands a different follow up. White gives mate with 2 Rb8 h3 3 Bb7 Kb5 4 Bd5#.
The symmetry of these two lines of play – a ‘reciprocal double Indian’, in the jargon of chess problems – creates a striking aesthetic effect. I am almost certain that the like has never occurred in a real game, which is part of its appeal. But I did find the following gem (see above right diagram):
Matthew Sadler – Daniel Alsina Leal
Four Nations Chess League, 2018
Black’s king is in peril, so Matthew Sadler was no doubt hunting for a way to finish off the game.
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