Godfrey Heathcote.

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Avatar of rooperi

British composer, lived from 1870 - 1952.

I just recently discovered what a genius composer this guy was. I'll post one or 2 here.

Posting in puzzle format makes little sense here, because after the key, Black has so many different responses, so I'm just going to post the diagram.

Godfrey HEATHCOTE
Central Times 1889
1° Prize
Mate in 2

Avatar of David_Spencer

Let's see... In the initial position, if it were Black's turn, all Knight moves but Ne3 lose to g4# and Ne3 allows Qf3#. Also, Ke4 allows Rd6#. This means that we have to find some way to stop c2. I do notice that 1.Nd8 threatens Rg5#, so c2 doesn't work. Black can defend against Nd8 with Ke4, though. I'll take a further look later.

Avatar of rooperi

Very good so far, all true. Now you just have to find the key, and the one mate you've missed so far...

Avatar of Phssthpok

I think that Qxg2 followed by g4# works.

The first move closes off the black king's last possible move (Ke4) and even if black's h-pawn is promoted, it can't save the game by taking white's queen as it isn't the queen that delivers the final checkmate.

Avatar of rooperi

1 Qxg2 h1 (N) +

Avatar of Phssthpok

I always miss the underpromotion possibilities!

Avatar of EternalChess

G4 rd6

Avatar of rooperi
SerbianChessStar wrote:

G4 rd6


Sorry :) That's only mate in 3

Avatar of David_Spencer

It must be 1.Bb2. Amazing!

Avatar of David_Spencer

No, 1.Rh6+ g6. Here are the lines:

1.Bb2!

1...cxb2 2.Qb1#

1...c2 2.Nd6#

1...Ke4 2.Rg4#

1...Ne3 2.Qf3#

1...Ne1 (or 1...Nh4) 2.Qd5#

1...Nf4 2.g4#

Great puzzle!

Avatar of David_Spencer

g6, not Kg6. The absence of a letter before a coordinate indicates a pawn move.

EDIT: This post is in response to someone whose account is now deleted, which is why it doesn't make sense anymore.

Avatar of rooperi

Well done, Sirdavid, you nailed the whole thing.

Avatar of rooperi

Fancy another?

Godfrey HEATHCOTE
Schoolmaster 1892
2° Prize

Mate in 2

Avatar of David_Spencer

Well, it's fairly close to Zugzwang, but a4-N moves and R moves are difficult to cover. Is it 1.Bd2?

1...c3B(any) 2.Q(x)d4#

1...a4N(any) 2.Bxc3#

1...h5N(any) 2.B(x)f4#

1...c8B(any) 2.N(x)d7#

1...f4 2.Qg5#

1...Rxf6 2.Qe1#

1...c5 2.Rd5#

1...Rd6 2.Re3#

At first I thought it was a fairly typical Zugzwang problem, but the differences between Rxf6 and Rd6 as defenses are neat and well-done. I liked the first one better, though.

Avatar of rooperi

Got it again. I also prefer the 1st one.

Avatar of rooperi

Ok, one more, a little mate

in 3. Godfrey HEATHCOTE
777 Chess Miniatures 1908

Avatar of David_Spencer

I have no idea, I'm really bad at solving these with a ton of material and the King in the middle. The only line in which I can imagine a purpose for the a-pawn is 1.a3 Kc4 2.Be4 and mate next move, but I don't see mates for the other defenses...

Avatar of cobra91

SirDavid, the two you solved were way, WAY over my head, but this one's easy!

1.Kf7 Kc4 (1...Ke5 2.Qe6#) 2.Ke6 Kc3 3.Qd4#

Avatar of rooperi
cobra91 wrote:

SirDavid, the two you solved were way, WAY over my head, but this one's easy!

1.Kf7 Kc4 (1...Ke5 2.Qe6#) 2.Ke6 Kc3 3.Qd4#


2 Qe6 is not mate... but you are on the right track

Avatar of David_Spencer

2.Qe6 sure looks like mate to me... I thought the defense to that was 1...e5