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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.
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Walkabout
The Babson Task – Part 1
22 Dec. 2025
The Babson Task is one of the most celebrated ideas in the chess composition field. Accomplishing the theme is always challenging but especially so in the orthodox genres, and successful renditions can become instant classics. The task requires a black pawn to promote to a queen, rook, bishop, and knight in separate variations, followed in each case by a white pawn promoting to an equivalent piece. The four-fold promotions (Allumwandlung theme) are thus not only doubled but echoed. For each side, a single pawn should perform these promotions on one square only; such an additional congruous feature is considered necessary to make a "proper" Babson. The theme is named after Joseph Ney Babson (1852-1929), an American composer who was the first to achieve the ambitious effect in a selfmate. Here we examine his eponymous problem plus an even more famous demonstration in the same genre. In later instalments we will look at examples in other types like helpmates and directmates.
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