Chess Composition News Today

The 8th Youth Chess Composing Challenge is on the way! The youngest contributors to chess art (born 2001 and younger) were offered three different sections to inspire their creations till June 10, with five special prizes of 500 Euros vouchers each for the best representatives of the five most successful countries. The tradition of YCCC was established in 2016 to stimulate young minds and to mentor their work. | Pictured: Christopher Woojin Yoo | Photo: Eric Rosen

Each year we try to have something unusual for the final article of the year. While the endgame studies this time may not fulfill this criterion, your author wanted to provide some deeper, partially philosophical, thoughts. | Photo: Midjourney

Two years ago, we had a collection of “random” endgame studies, a small kaleidoscope, in January, and then again in July. With the vast number of different possibilities in endgame studies, many creations wouldn’t fit into a coherent article, so let us take this approach again. | Pictured: Mikhail Botvinnik during his match for the world crown against David Bronstein in 1951

The finish of the 6th game of the World Championship match between Ding Liren and Ian Nepomniachtchi was impressive. In a tense and complicated position, Ding surprisingly advanced his d-pawn, and this small pawn advance was crucial to a spectacular mate that could have occurred in the game. The audience was impressed, the study composers were inspired. In his last "Study of the Month" column Siegfried Hornecker had a look at "Ding's Theme" in studies, in his current colu...

Chess composition dates back to the first Arabic manuscripts on chess. Throughout history, the theory of composition has kept defining and collecting the patterns of chess beauty. Over the last decades, the FIDE World Cup in Composing has been one of the most important events to inspire new masterpieces, and this year’s edition is no exception. In the next several weeks, until mid-June, chess composers worldwide will prepare and polish their creations for the 11th FIDE World Cup in Composing 2...

Tim Krabbé's book "Schaakkuriosa" showed a study by the Bulgarian chess composer I. Ionchev, flawed but nevertheless interesting. Yours truly tried to follow in his footsteps. Nadareishvili explored the same concept, and it might be unfair to associate the name with Ionchev as he was neither the first, the last, nor the most important one to show it - only the most famous. | Photo: Pixabay

Castling in endgame studies is a rich and entertaining topic - be it real castling, the threat of castling, or even just retroanalysis that proves that castling is impossible. Last year we began a new series in which we chronologically explore the most interesting endgame studies with castling ideas. We aim at a mix between informative and interesting endgame studies again this month, a mostly light-hearted article without too much text. | Photo: Pixabay

The International Solving Contest (ISC), traditionally held on the last Sunday of January, has marked the beginning of solving seasons for almost two decades. It’s a hybrid competition, with the same groups of chess problems and endgames distributed around the world to be solved at the same time. This year, it attracted 601 solvers from […]

This little problem will leave you gawping and sleepless, says Ian Watson in his review of a delightful collection of helpmates by Christopher Jones. Don't be daunted by this problem genre – it is more entertaining than you might expect. Especially when the problems come from a virtuoso composer like Jones. Can you imagine how White, with Black's full assistance, actually execute a mate in eight moves? Think Phoenix (a queen dies and is reborn).

As the traditional introduction to a new solving season, the 19th International Solving Contest (ISC) will be held this Sunday, January 29. A set of chess problems will be simultaneously offered to more than 500 solvers around the world at 11 AM CET. The ISC hybrid solving competition is becoming increasingly popular since it allows enthusiasts from many countries to participate without extra costs. In 2023, the ISC will reach 42 locations in 26 different countries.