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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.
Problem of the Week
768. Einar Larsson Letzen
Sydsvenska Dagbladet Snällposten 1921, 1st Prize
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.767.
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.
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Walkabout
Deceptive mate-in-one problems – An addendum
10 Aug. 2025
Last month’s Walkabout covered a class of mate-in-1 problems that involves a retro-analytical “twist.” In these compositions, we can prove that the diagram position cannot be legal with White to play; that implies it is Black’s turn, and thus White executes the mate only after a black move. One of the cited examples by Nikolay Zinovyev presents a rook cross in which four different moves of a black rook induce distinct mating responses. This is a pleasant idea, but there are two minor drawbacks: (1) White has no mate-in-1 try, and (2) one variation contains a promotion dual, which I think is distracting in a one-mover. An apparently simple way to fix both issues comes to mind – replace the c7-rook with a queen and the a7-pawn with a bishop. Then 1.Qxb7? is a mating try, while …Rb8+ permits 1.Qxb8 only. Alas, …Rxa7 now brings a ruinous dual, 1.Qxa7/Qb8. After attempting other ways to remove the two flaws, I believe it’s not feasible to do so while preserving the economy of a miniature (seven pieces at most). Still, I produced a couple of slightly heavier problems that employ a new matrix and incorporate the desired features with bonus play.
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