Puzzle 8 – letter problems January 1st, 2012
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Letter problems "New Year 2012" – by Pal Benko

Once again our faithful friend, the incredible Pal Benko, has sent us letter and number problems: The positions below spell H-N-Y 2-0-1-2 (for Happy New Year 2012). In each of the following positions it is White to play and mate in three.

You can print out all the three-moves on the page from this html or image file. The problems are ideal for readers recovering from festive day excesses, doing penance for culinary over-indulgence – or simply for people who like chess puzzles.

Pal Benko [Benkö Pál in Hungarian], was born on July 14, 1928 in Amiens, France. He was raised in Hungary and soon showed an affinity to chess. At 20 he was Hungarian champion, and was playing for the national teams. In 1957 after the World Student Team Championship in Reykjavik (where he scored 7.5/12 on board one) he defected to the United States, where he started to play in national events. He was first or tied for first in eight US championships from 1961 to 1975.

The 2012 Christmas Puzzle competition

Now's your chance: from January 1st to January 15th you can send in your solutions or comments to all the ChessBase Christmas puzzles (including the brain teasers) of the past week. Please use this feedback form to do so. It is important that you include your full name, your place of residence and a return email address (which will never be published or given to a third party). The following prizes are up for grabs:

The book by John Nunn will have a personal dedication for the winner; the other three programs have signatures of World Champions, past and present, and other historical chess personalities.

The final submission date is January 15th. Please note that you will not gain an advantage by sending in your solutions early – the correct answers are more important. So take your time. Full solutions and the names of the winners will be published after the 15th of January.