Amazing mate in two (472)

White in two by A.J.Fink and UA Tane in 1920

Very nice key move! There is a beautiful new mate after 1. .. Nxc6.

@ Arisktotle "The overall record of 8 self blocks was first achieved in#472"  "Arguably the most perfect two mover ever composed."..The books author certainly liked it.Also the composers of the puzzle claimed that one of them dreamt the position and the other the key.   maybe you could explain to me the signifigance of  "no black pawn plugs to prevent cooks by waiting moves" There are 855 puzzles in this book and I think it geared more toward other composers and seasoned solvers,his statements very brief if any statement at all about any particular puzzle.

Kxe5

@ anselan the book is Chess problems:Tasks and Records by Jeremy Morse

@sameez1, ok thanks! lucky the two dreamers knew one another then. what are the chances of that? I dreamed a problem once, hope to publish it in July

Hmmm, modern composers will have something to say about that. Tasks and records are in a category of their own and should be compared to their peers. By concentrating on one idea they tend to abandon other aspects considered valuable. For instance, zz-records are scarce on mate changes. And remember the ugly key move in the double knight wheel. Modern compositions are often 'letter puzzles' where moves (represented by 'letters') are permutated in different phases of the solution. Not as appealing to the general chess public as the old romantic problems, but highly challenging to compose. I always stayed far from that time-consuming activity!

I guess you guys all know that the TV detective show Morse was named after the author of "Tasks & Records"? http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/11376458/Meet-the-man-who-inspired-Inspector-Morse.html

Well, I didn't know - but I didn't know about the tasks and records book either until a few weeks ago!

Interesting puzzle.

My father when he was a little boy used to spend holidays at the home of fish merchant Percy Philips, (one of the "Jesmond jesters") and grandfather of Kevin Whately, who played Sgt Lewis in the long-running TV series Morse. The character Lewis is named after "Mrs B. Lewis", the other top solver of Colin Dexter's crosswords (though in fact her name was a pseudonym for compiler Dorothy Taylor, who would not have been allowed to compete if she had used her own name). So there's a thing. Or two. Or not.

Good luck with it.The author of this book credits his wife for the push he needed to finally publish.(must not be that easy)I imagine guys like you ,Arisktotle who compose and have material to publish must dream of chess positions.

I'm curious of the Rc8 move.

He covers his statement with the word arguably.This book has many different tasks,that he has carefully categorized.I would say he was aiming for other composers when he compiled it.I would guess that this book would be a delight for you.

@Ari: I believe you would really enjoy this book. Although Morse is cataloguing tasks and records, he does this from an artist's perspective: he is very sensitive to lightness of position, quality of key, etc, etc. He is also quite rigorous about avoiding duals. Sometimes when he found a hole in the records he would just compose one on the fly! This work predates the modern interest in alphabet soups of tracking moves across multiple phases, which, like you, I have never really got into. I like #472 but I can't really say it struck me as the most perfect 2 mover ever. It still amazes me the riches that are possible in this humble format though.

Considering my computer background, I am a real conservative when it comes to Internet and finances. The big digital disasters are not behind us but are staring us in the face. I do not order anything on the internet unless it can be paid for by a local paper based method. That makes lots of nice books unavailable to me until I stumble across them in my local problem circle.

But it is OK with me. I have arrived at the age where there is more unread stuff on my bookshelves than I can work through in the remainder of my life. I am not possessive and quite happy with other folks quoting from the available collections of creative ideas and realizations. Much appreciated, sameez1 and anselan!

@ Arisktotle I  feel the same as you about electronic shopping and banking but my wife does not,I must admit though as we are at our 70s she has made it a worthwhile convienience (I don't have to go shopping) I will continue to post the puzzles that stand out,and look forward to your comment.Also anselans now.