Chess problem 2007-10-18—Sam Loyd

Sam Loyd was a 19th century American chess player, chess composer, puzzle author, and recreational mathematician. At his peak, he was one of the best chess players in the US and, according to chessmetrics.com, ranked 15^th in the world. Despite this success, his playing style was "flawed"—rather than simplifying the position and winning, Loyd had a penchant for fantastic combinations.

"The art of problem composing has improved with rapid strides during the last quarter of a century, " wrote Loyd in 1878. "Not only have we a host of composers in place of a few; but their style and finish is so superior that a problem by one of the so-called old masters would only be published by the modern chess editor as a literary curiosity. The solutions of the old style problems were not only very defective, but chiefly consisted of a series of forced moves or checks, restricting the defence to one line of play. They often illustrated a succession of brilliant sacrifices, culminating in a pretty mate, but they were clumsy in construction and very easy of solution."

The following problem is an example of Loyd's old-style manner. While it has some of the characteristics (the forced checks, the consecutive sacrifices, and the driving about of the Black king), Alain White feels it is indelibly stamped with Loyd's handiwork, which would have seemed very original to a solver before 1850.

White to mate in three

Sam Loyd
N.Y. Albion no. 489, 22 May 1858

→ Solution | Solved by SwissGambit | Solution to last week's problem

Sources: White, Alain C. Sam Loyd and His Chess Problems. New York: Dover, 1962 (148–149). Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Loyd. Retrieved on 20071013.