The venue for Society meetings has changed and the directions to it given on p. 126 of the July 2017 issue are incorrect. Meetings are held at the Hall of St. Botolph’s Church, Bishopsgate, London EC2M 3TL. The Hall is set in a small garden behind the church, less than 2 minutes’ walk from Liverpool St. mainline and underground stations.
This week's problem is a twin. The diagram is helpmate in 3. The twin involves moving
the wB from a5 to g1, which gives us another helpmate in 3. As always, there is a
strong thematic link between the two parts.
The solution to the diagram runs 1.Qc6 dxc6 2.d5 d4+ 3.Kd6 Rxh6#
The twin solves by 1.Rg4 fxg4 2.f3 Rg8 3.Kf4 Bh2#
This is an example of the Helsinki Theme. In a helpmate, a black unit sacrifices itself
to a white pawn, so as to free a square for a black pawn. The latter, in turn, vacates
a square for the black king. Thus, in the first part, the bQ sacrifices herself to the
wPd5, so as to free d5, which the bPd6 then occupies, in turn freeing d6 for the bK.
The same pattern is followed in the twin part, with f3 freed, so the bPf4 can occupy
it, thus freeing up f4 for the bK.
Any comments or questions on this problem should be addressed to
Steve Giddins (our Libarian and Archivist) using the 'Contact'
item in the menu on the left.
2014 