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Art, Fiction, History

Peter's Problem World
Introducing the Art of Chess Composition
by Peter Wong

Peter Wong of Sydney, Australia, is a FIDE Master of Chess Composition.

Since publishing his first chess problem at the age of 15, Peter has contributed his works to many of the world’s leading chess composition journals, including The Problemist, Die Schwalbe, Phénix, feenschach, and StrateGems. More than 60 of his compositions have received tourney awards, including 30 prizes. He has also won these special awards:

Norman Macleod Award (1994-95), for the most striking and original problem published in The Problemist over a two-year period.
Wenigsteiner of the Year Award (1994), for the world’s best problem that uses four pieces or less.
Whyatt Medal (2003, co-winner), for being the outstanding representative of Australia in the chess problem field.

Peter has written articles on composition chess for Phénix, feenschach, U.S. Problem Bulletin and the Australian Correspondence Chess Quarterly. He is the author of two books, One Hundred Chess Compositions (1994), and Parallel Strategy: 156 Chess Compositions (2004), both anthologies of his works.

Away from the problem world, Peter dabbles in a very different kind of chess composition – drawing chess icons! His collection of Windows icons with chess motifs is available for free download here.

Peter's Columns

In each column Peter provides help with words or phrases that have special meaning in the field of chess composition. These words and terms appear in the form of a pop-up box containing a short explanation and possibly a link to an explanatory page or example elsewhere. Click on the words "pop-up box" in the last sentence to try it out!

Glossary: Words, phrases and terms that have special meaning in the field of chess composition.
What is a Chess Problem?: An overview of Composition in chess. Peter writes that the "...composer’s aesthetic intent is revealed in the play of the solution. So chess problems – also known as chess compositions – are enjoyed on two levels. On a basic level, they work as challenging puzzles. You are given a position and an accompanying task, such as “White to play and mate in two moves,” that must be fulfilled. On a higher level, problems are aesthetic works designed to show an interesting theme – the composition’s main idea..."
Phases of Play: Peter reviews the various phases of play that occur in chess compositions. "The full solution of a directmate problem often consists of more than the key-move that solves it and the ensuing variations. In addition to the actual play that follows the key, there may be other phases of play, such as set play and try play, that are of thematic interest..."
Three-Movers: This month Peter takes us into the realm of 3-movers, which are an order of magnitude more complex than the 2-movers we've seen so far, but they also open up the door to more themes of play than are possible with 2-movers. Peter writes: "Three-movers are broadly divided into the two schools of model-mate and strategic problems. The point of model-mate compositions lies in their variety of striking final mating positions, whereas strategic problems emphasise the interplay between the white and black forces."
More-Movers: "Longer directmate problems, in which White forces mate in four or more moves, are grouped under the term more-mover. The length of play in such compositions allows themes of greater depth to be realised, such as those involving elaborate manoeuvres. Nevertheless, long directmates are not necessarily more difficult to solve than two- and three-movers. Often White’s choices are limited to making short mating threats, to keep the black force under control. Also, lengthier problems tend to possess fewer variations – one full-length variation is typical in very long more-movers – hence they don’t become unduly complex..."
Helpmates: "The directmate problems we have examined in the previous columns represent the standard form of chess composition. They are akin to an actual chess game in that the aim is to force mate and the two sides play in opposition. Among the less conventional problem types, the most significant and popular is the helpmate. In this genre, the two sides cooperate to enable White to mate Black. All the normal rules of chess still apply here (e.g. checks cannot be ignored) – only the players’ motives have changed from the usual competitive mode..."
Longer Helpmates: "This month we continue with our introductory survey of helpmates, the problem type in which Black assists White in giving mate. Longer compositions of three moves or more are presented this time. In solving helpmates, regardless of their length, you should first consider whether the black king is likely to be mated on its initial square or elsewhere. Look for possible mating configurations with the available pieces. Ask what are the functions of the pieces and which will take part in the mate directly. Lastly, try out the moves that would lead to the mating positions, keeping in mind the limited move number, of course..."
Grimshaw: "As a rule, good chess problems are required not only to be sound, but to demonstrate a specific theme or a combination of themes. The appeal of a problem – the point of it, in fact – lies in these rendered ideas, which may involve certain recurring motifs or unusual effects. This month we will focus on the Grimshaw, a theme named after a 19th-century composer who made the pioneering example. In a Grimshaw, two pieces of the same color interfere with each other’s line of action, by playing in turn to a square where the two lines intersect. Problem 37, an oft-quoted classic, shows three such pairs of reciprocal interferences..."
Battery Play: "A battery is an arrangement of two pieces capable of giving a discovered attack. The two pieces stand in line with their target, usually the opposing king; when the front piece moves off the line so that the rear piece attacks the king, the battery is said to be opened or “fired”. The battery is an often-seen device and it sometimes appears as an incidental feature of a problem. Here we will look at six compositions where the main thematic play does center on the batteries..."
Allumwandlung! - "The problemist’s vocabulary, like the player’s, includes the occasional foreign term, and a prominent example is Allumwandlung. This German word, usually abbreviated as AUW, means “total promotion.” It describes a problem in which the four possible types of promotion – to queen, rook, bishop, and knight – all take place during the course of the solution. The promotions may be made by a single pawn in different lines of play, or they may be divided among a number of pawns..."
Half-Pin - "The half-pin is an enduring problem idea that dates back to the 19th century. The set-up of this theme consists of two black pieces standing on a line between the black king and a long-range white piece. When either of the black pieces moves off the line, the remaining piece becomes fully pinned. This immobilisation is then exploited by White who delivers a pin-mate, i.e. a mate that is dependent on the pin of one of the defending pieces. To be complete, a half-pin must involve the immobilisation of both black pieces in separate variations. Such a reciprocal relationship between the two pieces ensures that the variations are linked harmoniously."
Echo - The term echo is sometimes used in the problem context to describe various types of repeated effects, but primarily it refers to a specific visual idea, namely the recurrence of a mating configuration. Two lines of play end with the black king confined in a similar fashion for the mates which, however, take place on different parts of the board. The mating arrangement is, in effect, shifted from one position to another, and such an occurrence we call an echo mate.
Bristol - Many problem themes focus on the power of long-range pieces that act on lines, such as the battery (lines are opened by discovery), and the Grimshaw (lines are closed due to self-interferences). Another strategic idea based on line play is line clearance. Take two similar line-pieces of the same color – e.g. two rooks, or a queen and a bishop – and move one of them along a line so that the other can follow along the same line. The first piece ‘clears’ the line for the second and, in particular, crosses over a critical square which becomes accessible to the following piece. This manoeuvre is known as a Bristol clearance.
Zagoruiko - Changed play represents one of the essential ideas in directmate problems, especially two-movers where it is most commonly found. In response to a certain black defence, White makes a mating move in the actual play that is surprisingly different from that in another phase, such as set play and try play, against the same defence. This concept of changed play is intensified in the Zagoruiko theme, which specifies a framework of changed variations. A two-mover demonstrates the Zagoruiko scheme if the following occurs: at least two black defences lead to changed white mates, with each defence provoking at least three different white mates in separate phases. The theme is named after a Russian composer who devised some notable examples in the 1950s.
Knight-wheel - Chess problems are sometimes constructed with the aim of achieving certain tasks or maximum effects. A well-known example of such tasks is the knight-wheel. When placed near the centre of the board, a knight is capable of making the maximum eight moves. If that piece makes all eight possible moves in turn during the course of a problem’s solution, the knight-wheel theme is produced. The term knight-wheel usually refers to instances where a black knight acts as the thematic piece. Where a white knight plays the maximum eight moves, we call that task a knight-tour.
Promotion Play: Part 1 - As one of the special moves in chess, pawn promotion is a popular device among composers who often set it as the focus of a problem. Rendering promotion as a theme typically entails the recurrence of such a move in a unified way, or the emphasis may lie on selecting the right promoted piece – underpromotions are common. Sometimes, promotion to a variety of piece types constitutes the main point, as in for instance the Allumwandlung theme, the subject of an earlier Problem World column...
Promotion Play: Part 2 - In the previous column (Part One) we looked at some directmate problems that involve pawn promotion as a main feature. Here we will continue our brief survey of promotion play, but turn to its appearance in helpmates, where this special move is even more commonly found as a recurring motif. Because helpmate play is not antagonistic, the most powerful moves are not necessarily the best; consequently, subtle underpromotions are more readily shown. In general, we may expect to see more intensive promotion effects in helpmates, or similar effects achieved more economically.
Shortest Proof Games: Part 1 - The shortest proof game (SPG) is a type of problem in which the task is to reconstruct a legal game. Starting from the opening array, the solver has to find the shortest possible game that leads to the diagram position. White and Black thus effectively cooperate to arrange this, and that the moves would not be sensible in a competitive game is considered irrelevant. SPGs are also characterised by their exact play – the move order in each solution is unique (otherwise the problem is unsound). This requirement for a single move order may itself serve as a pointer to the correct sequence, and the precise play also contributes to a problem’s artistic quality.