Simple Study

Try this position, a pretty interesting and simple position that I found up. Hope you like it:

There is a faster win available:

1. Nd8 h5 2. N8xb7 h4 3. Nd8 h3 4. Nc6+ Ka8 5. b7#

Yeah didn't spot that thanks Nytik!

Now for the other simple study:

Also 12. Ka6 or Kb6 wins for White, too.

And White can checkmate one or two moves earlier by not playing Nc5.  Thanks for the puzzles, though!

Also winning: every legal first move, second move, third move, fourth move, fifth move, and every move afterward that doesn't drop the Queen.

Thanks for your comments folks! Now all puzzles above are based on P+N endgames, now this one is more like midgame puzzle:

Back to N+P endgames:

Before posting puzzles, you should check them on a computer or with another player to see if there are any cooks.

There are improvements for both sides in all the puzzles you have posted.

Good idea thanks!

 After 3.Rfd1, 4.Rb8# is unstoppable.

To the first puzzle, I found this solution, which I think is particularly pleasing and eloquent, as you rarely see a mate with two knights.

This is the solution I saw and tried... kind of surprised both Nf8 and Nc5 were both wrong.

I saw the first one the way Ninjabear and GambitKing saw it.  i like that way because the knights do this identical ... well ... dance ... to force the king over.

I love thinking about how knights move, and how many moves it takes them to get some where and all that.  This problem has me thinking about how they can work together pushing a king back one square at a time.

If you are into composing, here is a very useful tool:

Problemiste

http://pagesperso-orange.fr/problemiste/

It is designed for problem solving, and will find flaws, double solutions etc.

The free version is highly functional, and there are also huge collections of puzzles to download. It can also do helpmates, selfmates etc.

All the positions are already won for white. In fact, it's difficult to come up with a first move that is a bad enough blunder to lose in most of those positions. You should try to make your puzzles interesting enough that making a mistake spells disaster.

Not really true.

Puzzle composition is a different discipline.

What is missing in the 1st one is a clear stipulation of what the aim is, eg White to play and win, or Mate in x number moves.

There are strict rules and conventions to follow, but realism or material balance are not required.

Ideally, there should be only one move that can achieve the stipulation. If that move is hard to find, surprising, unusual, witty, or bizarre, so much the better.

But, it only requires that move to be unique for the puzzle to be valid.

Would anybody be interested in joining a group for budding composers?

Thanks every body! nice site rooperi!

rooperi, I'd love to join a group for people who like to try to create studies. I've always wished that I knew more about it, but, as nimzovich says, there isn't really much that can be taught.

And you're right that we are too quick to criticize. I apologize for being so indelicate in pointing out the multiple solutions in my earlier post.

No problem at all, you are ACTUALLY just helping me improve with criticizing or what ever, Now since this post has been changed to "chit-chat", returning to endgames: