Happy New Year to everybody!
We have the HuffPost- ICC chess contest winners:
1 One Year ICC membership Jim Blackwood
2 Six Month ICC membership: Robert Alverez
3 Three Months ICC memberships: Walker Griggs, David Vetterlein, Gilasgar Mansour and Marcio Netto Baeta.
Congratulations! The answers are below.
Today's puzzles consist of three parts: a trivia question, a chess problem and a chess study. The last two are often used by coaches to improve the chess skills of their students. They learn to think more precisely because they have to find a unique solution.
Try to solve all three puzzles and you can win a membership at the Internet Chess Club (ICC). Send your solutions to: icchuffpost@chessclub.com.
The overall winner will get one year, a runner-up 6 months and four others 3 months of free Internet Chess Club (ICC) membership. The winners will be announced on January 1, 2011.
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Trivia:
Name at least three world chess champions who played the King's gambit in serious competitions.
Answer: William Steinitz, Boris Spassky and Bobby Fischer, but you can add Alexander Alekhine. Other world champions, such as Emanuel Lasker, Max Euwe and Mikhail Tal, played the King's gambit mostly in exhibitions. Any three names of the seven listed would be an accepted answer.
Problem:
Can you find how White mates in two moves? White to move first.
Solution:1.exd6+ en passant Kb8 2. Bc7 mate.
The puzzle was created 15 years ago for the Forest Edge elementary school students in Reston, VA, to teach them the en passant rule. Most of them solved it.
Study:
Can you find how White wins? White to move first.
Solution:1.Bd5!
A. 1...Ke2 2.e4 Ke3 3.e5 Kd4 4.e6 Kxd5 5.e7 h2 6.e8Q h1Q 7.Qa8+ wins
B. 1...h2 2.Bh1! [Not 2.Bg2? Ke1 3.e4 Kf2 and black draws] 2...Ke2 3.e4 Kf2 4.e5 Kg1 5.Ba8 wins.
This study was composed by Ladislav Prokes in 1946.
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