Robert Pye writes to say that there is a new web site, chessproblems.ie, dealing with his problems and studies, and also available to other chess problemists and study composers, born in the Republic of Ireland, who wish to make their published work available to a wider audience.
We have had some discussion of problems here before, in discussing the work of Brian Tomson: see J.B. Tomson, series helpmate in 13 for one example. Here is one from Robert’s collection:
Series helpmate in 8
To recap, White and Black are working together to help White mate Black (hence “helpmate”). The problem begins with a series (hence “series”) of eight legal Black moves, while the White pieces stay frozen, and the first seven must leave a position in which it’s legal for Black to move again, i.e., Black cannot check in the first seven moves. At the end of that series, White plays one move to checkmate Black.
An important, though often unstated, part of these problems is that the series of moves must be unique, including the order. Thus, for example, the fist two moves can’t possibly be 1… Ka8 and 2… Bf8, since if those two moves work, then there is another solution starting with 1… Bf8, 2… Ka8, and that’s not allowed.
Next to studies, series problems are probably the most popular type of problems for most players, and I recommend giving these a try. (I was able to solve this one.)
See the link (page 63) for the solution.
For those who insist on actual studies, there are several in this collection. Here is a fine example, which I also saw on Susan Polgar’s web site Chess Daily News.
Suomen Shakki 1998
White to play and win
See the link (page 66) for the solution.