Sam Loyd and Charles XII of Sweden

Samuel Loyd, better known as Sam Loyd (Philadelphia 1841 - New York 1911), was the indisputed king of the American enigmistic during his lifetime. He also dealt with chess, creating fabulous puzzles and studies, being considered a real icon in that field. His first problem was published in a New York newspaper when he was only 14, and in the following years he produced so many masterpieces that he became known all over the chess world as the composer. Strangely enough, he wasn't a top player; he partecipated in just one important tournament (in 1867 in Paris, France), ending up in 9th position out of 13 players; among them Wilhelm Steinitz.

At the age of 16, he was promoted to editor of the chess section of the "Chess Monthly", directed by Daniel Fiske and Paul Morphy.

Sam's chess studies were often enriched with anecdotes and humorism, such as in the following study, composed when he was 18:

Year 1713: King Charles XII of Sweden, besieged by the Turks in his camp of Bender, was playing a chess game against one of his ministers. At some point, they reached the position in the diagram shown below. Charles, with the white pieces, announced mate in 3 moves. The solution is relatively easy:

Charles had just finished his announcement when a stray bullet crashed the white knight! Imperturbable, King Charles began studying the new position and after a while announced another mate, but now in 4 moves. Again, the solution is not that complicated:

But a second bullet entered into the tent, destroying the pawn on h2! The position was getting more complicated...but not for King Charles! Indeed, he announced mate in 5 moves:

This story had a curious and unexpected follow-up. Some years later, a German composer noticed that, if the first bullet had broken the white rook instead of the knight, King Charles would have mated his opponent in 6 moves:

A remarkable chess problem in four phases.