Hello everyone!

After killing Magnus Carlsen, I was fortunate enough to be released from prison in under 15 days, thanks to my exemplary behavior and the support of this incredible chess community, which raised money to pay my bail. Thank you!

This meant that I could come back here to write another blog. Today, I would like to ask who comes to your mind when I mention the 'Best Composers of All Time'. Maybe Beethoven, Mozart, or Bach? But, well, what if I told you that the chess world also has its composers?

To explain, a chess composition is a position created by the composer that sets out a specific task for the solver. To be honest, it is not that different from puzzles. Some chess compositions are used as puzzles, and some artistic puzzles are inspired by real games. However, they are not entirely the same either.

While puzzles are primarily used for training or entertainment, chess compositions are a form of chess art, deliberately created by a composer and not necessarily arising naturally from play.

The latter are usually original, constructed positions that emphasize elegance, surprise, and economy of pieces. These compositions often follow artistic conventions and are intended to express an idea rather than simply test calculation. They often contain quiet key moves, paradoxical ideas, hidden geometry, and thematic variations.

Every artist has their own artistic vision, so what constitutes the 'best' is subjective. That said, let's meet some names who consistently come up as legendary chess composers.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 - Sam Loyd

2 - Alexey Troitsky

3 - Henri Rinck

4 - Leonid Kubbel

5 - Thomas Dawson

6 - Richard Réti

7 - Genrikh Kasparyan

8 - Jan Timman

Conclusion

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1 - Sam Loyd

Name: Samuel Loyd

Date of Birth: January 30, 1841

Place of Birth: Philadelphia, USA

Died: April 11, 1911 (aged 70)

The first person I would like to introduce is Sam Loyd, an American chess player, composer, and recreational mathematician.

Loyd was one of the earliest superstars of chess problems. He is famous for his witty, paradoxical positions, and elegant mates. His puzzles helped to popularize chess composition around the world. Therefore, we can say that he was a pioneer in this field.

Although he authored several chess compositions and was primarily known for these, Loyd was not just a composer, but also an extremely strong player. At his peak, he was ranked 20th in the world according to Chessmetrics and competed in the Paris 1867 international chess tournament.

Following his death, his son published the book Cyclopedia of 5000 Puzzles in 1914. Loyd was inducted into the US Chess Hall of Fame in 1987.

To this day, Loyd is widely acknowledged as one of America's most influential chess puzzle creators. He is often referred to as "America's greatest puzzler" and has been given the nickname "The prince of puzzlers".

However, this reputation was not without controversy. He is also known for his lies and self-promotion. The Canadian puzzle maker Mel Stover called Loyd "an old reprobate", while Matthew Costello described him as a "fast-talking snake oil salesman".

One of his collaborators, Henry Dudeney, accused him of stealing his work and publishing them under his own name. He despised Loyd so intensely that he equated him with the devil.

Try to solve one of his most famous compositions, the Excelsior problem.

White to play. Mate in 5.

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2 - Alexey Troitsky

Name: Alexey Alexeyevich Troitsky

Date of Birth: March 14, 1866

Place of Birth: Saint Petersburg, Russia

Died: August 14, 1942 (aged 76)

Next, let’s meet Alexey Troitsky, a Russian chess theorist widely regarded as the father of modern endgame studies and chess composition. Troitsky has over 1,000 studies in his name.

One of his most famous works analyses the two knights versus a pawn endgame, which is arguably the most challenging one to win in chess. Published in the German magazine Deutsche Schachzeitung in 1906, his study is still theoretically relevant today.

John Nunn once examined this endgame using a tablebase and concluded that "Troitsky's analysis is astonishingly accurate."

Troitsky’s first problem was published in 1883. During his student years, he worked with famous chess enthusiasts, including Mikhail Chigorin, a former challenger for the world championship title, who invited him to collaborate in some studies.

In the 1910s, he became a leading promoter of chess problems across Russia. Unfortunately, he lost all his papers in 1917, bringing an end to a prolific period of composition.

Years later, in 1928, when chess compositions were officially recognized as a form of art, Troitsky became the first person to be awarded the title of Honored Art Worker by the Russian government. In 1934, he was awarded the title of Composition Master of Sport of the USSR.

Troitsky died of starvation during the Siege of Leningrad in World War II. Sadly, many of his notes were destroyed or lost during the conflict, meaning some of his latest chess compositions were never published.

The diagram below shows one of his most famous puzzles. Try to solve it!

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3 - Henri Rinck

Name: Jean Henri Rinck

Date of Birth: January 10, 1870

Place of Birth: Lyon, France

Died: February 18, 1952 (aged 82)

The third name on the list is Henri Rinck, a French composer of chess studies, widely regarded as one of the most significant early figures in the field. A pioneer of the artistic endgame study, his compositions are renowned for their clarity, elegance, precision, and surprising ideas.

Rinck was not a professional chess player. In fact, he graduated as a chemical engineer from the Technische Hochschule in Munich, Germany. He also worked at the Faculté des Sciences in Lyon afterwards.

Outside of chess, his achievements include discovering a refining process for green vegetable oils in 1897, which was adopted by several olive oil refineries in Spain. In 1900, he established a factory in Badalona, where he lived with his family.

Rinck's first chess endgame studies were published in the Deutsche Schachzeitung in 1902. In 1909, he published his first collection of 150 endgames. Further editions of this series were published in 1913, 1919, and 1927.

In 1947, Rinck wrote a book in Spanish called Las Sorpresas de la Teoría (The Surprises of Theory), containing 111 endgames involving two rooks and two minor pieces. He was one of the most prolific composers of his time, having published nearly 1,670 studies in total, 58 of which won first prize in study composition tournaments.

Six days before his death, he received the first copy of his final collection. At his request, he was buried with the book under his arm.

Below is one of Rinck's most controversial studies. Can you guess what to do?

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4 - Leonid Kubbel

Name: Karl Artur Leonid Kubbel

Date of Birth: End of 1891, or beginning of 1892

Place of Birth: Saint Petersburg, Russia

Died: April 18, 1942 (Aged 50)

It is time to meet Leonid Kubbel, a Russian composer primarily known for his tactical masterpieces. A true master of dramatic and dynamic studies, his work often featured sacrifices and surprising tactical resources.

Born in Saint Petersburg, he was christened Karl Artur Leonid, but dropped the first two names during the Russian Revolution of 1917. This was most likely due to their German origin, as the country was considered an enemy at the time.

Kubbel is widely regarded as one of the greatest endgame composers of all time. He composed over 1,500 endgame studies and chess problems, many of which won prizes for their beauty and originality.

Interestingly, just like Henri Rinck, he was also a chemical engineer by profession.

However, Kubbel was also a strong over-the-board player, having finished fifth in the Leningrad (St. Petersburg’s name after the revolution) championships on two occasions, in 1929 and 1930.

His love for the game certainly passed down through the generations. Leonid's brothers, Arvid and Evgeny, were chess players too. Arvid Kubbel was a strong master who played in the first four USSR championships, while Evgeny was also an endgame composer.

There is another coincidence involving an aforementioned composer, Alexey Troitsky, but a tragic one this time. Leonid and Evgeny Kubbel also both died of starvation during the Siege of Leningrad, while Arvid was executed by the NKVD in 1938.

This is one of his many masterpieces. Can you find the solution?

You can find a video analysis of this study here.

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5 - Thomas Dawson

Name: Thomas Rayner Dawson

Date of Birth: November 28, 1889

Place of Birth: Leeds, England

Died: December 16, 1951 (aged 62)

Next is Thomas Dawson, an English chess problemist, inventor, and innovator, who is recognized as the "Father of fairy chess". If you are unfamiliar with the subject, I suggest reading more about it here before continuing.

He invented many fairy pieces and new conditions, as well as introducing popular pieces such as the grasshopper and the nightrider.

Dawson published his first chess problem in 1907. His legacy includes 5,320 fairy chess problems, 885 direct mates, 97 self-mates, and 138 endings. 120 of his problems have won prizes, and a further 211 have been honorably mentioned. He collaborated with Charles Masson Fox on chess compositions.

Between 1922 and 1931, Dawson was the founder and editor of The Problemist, the British Chess Problem Society's journal. He subsequently produced The Fairy Chess Review, another renowned magazine focusing on fairy chess. During this period, he also edited the problem pages of The British Chess Magazine until 1951.

The Oxford Companion to Chess once wrote about him:

His genius did not set him apart from his fellows. Although he won many tourney prizes, much of his work was designed to encourage others, to enlarge the small band of fairy problem devotees. He composed less for fame than to amuse himself.

Here is a famous position composed by Dawson. Unfortunately, Chess.com does not support fairy pieces in its puzzle system, but the queens shown below are actually grasshoppers, pieces that move like queens but only by hopping over another piece. Can you find White's mate in 8?

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6 - Richard Réti

Name: Richard Réti

Date of Birth: May 28, 1889

Place of Birth: Bazin, Austria-Hungary

Died: June 6, 1929 (aged 40)

Now, I would like to talk about Richard Réti. He is better known as a top player and the creator of a famous opening, but his studies, particularly the renowned Réti endgame study, are acclaimed for their geometric beauty.

Born to a Jewish family in Bazin, Austria-Hungary (now Pezinok, Slovakia), Réti later played for Czechoslovakia. He was one of the leading proponents of Hypermodernism and is widely regarded as the movement's most significant contributor.

Interestingly, his older brother, Rudolph, was a pianist and composer. It seems that art was in the blood of this family, whether in music or chess.

During the 1910s and 1920s, Réti was one of the top players in the world. He started as a combinative classical player. However, following the end of the First World War, he became a leading proponent of Hypermodernism. His greatest successes were between 1918 and 1921.

Now, let's return to the main topic of this article. As well as being a great player, he became famous as a chess author and was a notable composer of endgame studies. For this reason, he deserves a place in this blog post.

Tragically, Réti died at the early age of 40 on 6 June 1929, a victim of scarlet fever.

Take a look at the famous Réti endgame study below. It seems impossible for the white king to catch the advanced black pawn, while the white pawn can easily be stopped by the black king. Can you work out how to draw?

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7 - Genrikh Kasparyan

Name: Genrikh Moiseyevich Kasparyan

Date of Birth: February 27, 1910

Place of Birth: Tbilisi, Georgia

Died: December 27, 1995 (aged 85)

Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you to Genrikh Kasparyan, arguably the greatest study composer of the 20th century. Famous for his domination themes and profound strategic concepts, this legendary Armenian chess player is considered to have been one of the most influential composers of chess endgame studies.

Before discussing his work, it is important to note that Kasparyan was an extremely strong player, achieving the title of International Master in 1950. He won the Armenian Championship ten times between 1934 and 1956, including two ties with the future World Champion, Tigran Petrosian.

He also reached the finals of the USSR Championship four times (in 1931, 1937, 1947, and 1952), but never finished higher than tenth place. Nevertheless, many of his brilliant games and moves are very easy to find.

However, Kasparyan is certainly best known for his compositional work. He was the first composer to receive the titles of International Judge of Chess Compositions in 1956 and International Grandmaster of Chess Composition from FIDE in 1972.

Kasparyan began with basic chess problems, primarily three-movers, but quickly realized that endgame studies were his strongest area. He wrote several books and collections and composed around 600 studies. Overall, his compositions won 57 first prizes, and he was crowned champion of the USSR Composing Championship multiple times.

The following composition is one of his most famous creations. It features a very interesting mate pattern involving some sacrifices and unsual promotions. Can you find the sequence that leads to a beautiful checkmate for White?

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8 - Jan Timman

Name: Jan Hendrik Timman

Date of Birth: December 14, 1951

Place of Birth: Amsterdam, Netherlands

Died: February 18, 2026 (aged 74)

The last person I would like to mention on this blog is a top grandmaster who was one of the best players in the world in the 1980s. He also became one of the finest modern study composers, blending complex practicality with artistry. I am talking about Jan Timman.

To summarize his career, he was a nine-time Dutch chess champion, an elite player from the late 1970s to the early 1990s, a multiple Candidates participant, and an individual gold medalist at the 1976 Olympiad.

Timman received the Grandmaster title in 1974, becoming only the third Dutch player to achieve this honor. At his peak, he was the best non-Soviet player, earning him the nickname 'The best of the West'. By 1982, he was ranked second in the world, behind Anatoly Karpov.

But beyond competition, Timman is included in this article because he was a distinguished endgame study composer and one of the strongest professional players to excel in chess compositions. His work was usually more closely related to practical play than that of his peers.

He also made significant contributions as a chess writer and editor, publishing several acclaimed books, including The Art of Chess Analysis (1980), The Art of Attacking Chess (2014), and Timman's Titans (2016).

Sadly, Timman passed away earlier this year. My deepest condolences go out to his family, friends, and admirers throughout the chess world.

As a tribute to this legend, I have selected one of his most famous compositions below. Try to find the solution!

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Conclusion

Thank you very much for reading this blog post. I hope you enjoyed learning more about these legendary composers and that you can now see how chess can be so much more than just a game, but also a form of art!

What I really like is that, although they are all geniuses, the composers mentioned here have very different styles and artistic preferences, just like it happens with painters, musicians, writers, etc.

Please let me know in the comments section which of the above compositions you were able to solve and which was your favorite. I confess that I tried to solve them all and only succeeded in two out of eight.

As for my personal favorite, I am a big fan of Leonid Kubbel's position, which delivers an unlikely checkmate after allowing the opponent to promote.

That's all for today, my friends! See you again in 15 days!