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Christmas Puzzle Contest 2004
January 1st, 2005 |
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ChessBase Christmas Puzzle Contest
Proof game 4: Position after White’s
7th move
In this example it is important to remember that the position
must arise after White's seventh move (there are
a number of solutions after Black's seventh). [December
27]
Recently a friend told me the following story about
the death of his grandfather: "My grandparents used
to go to church on Sundays. One day during the sermon,
which was long and dry, my grandfather fell asleep. That
week he had been reading a novel about the French
Revolution and began to dream that he was a rich
aristocrat living in a beautiful chateau in France. Suddenly
there was a commotion outside. A mob of peasants appeared,
stormed the house, grabbed him and tied him up, dragged
him to the market square, where there was a platform
with a guillotine
set up. My grandfather was led up the stairs, a priest
muttered a few words to him and then his head was placed
in the cradle of the guillotine. A hooded executioner
approached and reached up for the lever that releases
the blade. At that moment my grandfather was snoring
quite loudly, so my grandmother reached out and pinched
him on the back of his neck to wake him up. This was
such a shock to my grandfather that he suffered a heart
attack and died on the spot."
My reaction to the story of my friend: "I don't
believe a word of that. You made it up." Why did
I react in this way, how did I know the story is not
true. [December 30]
The solution is not, as some have suggested, that one
cannot dream while one is snoring (people can). It is also
not the fact that the executioner reached up for the lever,
which is much too high for him to reach. Inaccuracies in
a dream do not constitute a logical fallacy that invalidate
the story – – if the grandfather had been reading
Star Wars he could have easily dreamt that he was about
to be decapitated with a laser sword. There is a more basic
and elementary reason why we know that the friend's story
is not true
Proof game 7: Position after Black’s
8th move
Proof game 8: Position after Black’s
tenth move
W. Pauly, 1913
White to play and mate in two (white pawn missing)
In the above position there is a white pawn missing. You
are required to replace it and mate in two moves. We are
not sure we should be telling you this, but there are four
different solutions, each with its own little point.
The Contest Conditions
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To enter in the Puzzle Contest you should use the
feedback form given below.
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Do not change the subject line ("2004 Puzzle
Contest") as your reply may otherwise be deleted
by our mailserver as spam.
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You have two weeks – until January 16
– to submit your solutions. The order in which
the solutions are received by us is irrelevant, so
there is no reason to hurry. Please do not send multiple
solutions.
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In order to qualify for a prize you must solve –
or plausibly attempt to tackle – at least two
problems. The prize winners will be drawn from all
messages received that fulfil this criterium.
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We welcome your comments, which we may quote as feedback.
But please do take a little care with orthography.
For instance we appreciate messages that do not completely
eliminate capital letters, but of course abhor those
that use nothing else.
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There are three prizes in this contest. They consist
of a copies of our new DVD training programs, personalized
with autographs of the author. One prize will be a
program signed by top player in the Wijk aan Zee tournament.
Please note that you can only win a prize if you give
your full name and a correct email address.
Frederic Friedel
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