OzProblems
Australian Chess Problem Composition
Welcome to OzProblems.com, a site all about chess problems in Australia and around the world! Whether you are new to chess compositions or an experienced solver, we have something for you. Our aim is to promote the enjoyment of chess problems, which are at once interesting puzzles and the most artistic form of chess.
An in-depth introduction to the art of chess composition, examining various problem types and themes.
The weekly problem’s solution will appear on the following Saturday, when a new work is quoted.
See last week's problem with solution: No.704.
Prominent Australian problemists write about their involvement in the contemporary problem scene, and present some of their best compositions.
A comprehensive collection of Australian chess problem materials, including e-books, articles, magazines and columns (all free downloads).
A chess problem blog by Peter Wong, covering a range of subjects. The main page provides a topic index.
See latest post below, followed by links to other recent entries.
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Walkabout
Dark Doings problems – Part 2
10 May 2024
Dark Doings problems involve an extreme form of material imbalance: White has at most one unit besides the king, while all sixteen black pieces are present. As mentioned in Part 1 of this series, Ottó Bláthy pioneered this picturesque scheme in the 1920s, and even then, he implemented it not only in directmates but also in less common types, such as selfmates (though some of them proved to be unsound by modern standards). The Dark Doings idea has since been rendered in many other genres, including fairy types like series-movers, and even proof games. The quirky Weekly Problem No.700 demonstrates it – along with the “homebase” effect – in a helpstalemate. For this instalment, however, I shall focus on helpmates, which seem particularly conducive to producing high-quality examples.