THE starter problem in the 1993/4 British Chess Solving Championship,

sponsored by East West Consultants Ltd and organised by the British

Chess Problem Society, is as follows:

White: king on d3; queen on d1; rook on e4; bishops on f2 and g6;

knight on d8; pawns on b6 and c5.

Black: king on d5; knights on a1 and h6; pawns on b4, b7, d6, e5 and

f3.

White is to move in this position. After the correct first move, White

forces mate in at most two moves against any Black defence. In order to

enter the competition, send White's first move (only) to British Chess

Solving Championship, 76 Lambscroft Avenue, Mottingham, London SE9 4PB,

postmarked no later than May 31. Please mark your entry The Herald.

The championship is open to all comers. Entrants submitting correct

solutions will qualify for a more difficult postal round. Continuing

success will result in qualification for a second postal round, which

will reduce the field to around 20 finalists, who will be invited to an

over-the-board final against the clock in London at the beginning of

1994.

The Herald was once again well represented in the 1992/3 final, which

took place in the Grosvener Hotel, London, on February 6. The veteran

Stirling solver, M. D. Thornton, who has now qualified for the final

more times than I can remember, finished in 12th place. John Gemmell

(Glasgow) made a highly creditable debut, finishing in eighth place.

To my surprise, third-placed entrant John Nunn (London) also claimed

Herald allegiance, winning me a cheque for #15. Thank you John! Jon

Mestel (Cambridge) took the championship trophy, followed by David

Friedgood (London) in second place. Other Scottish competitors also

finished well, Colin McNab (Dundee) in an excellent fifth place and Ian

Sinclair (Glasgow) in seventh place.

Readers new to problems should be ready to check their solutions

carefully. Problems are rarely solved by an obvious or forcing first

move and almost never by a first move placing Black's king in check.

Here is an elegant example from the 1992/3 British Solving Championship

final, composed by C. D. Locock:

White: king on c2; queen on f2; rooks on f8 and h1; bishop on g2;

knights on d8 and e8; pawns on c3, c6 and g6.

Black: king on e5; rook on e4; bishops on f7 and h2; pawns on e6 and

g7.

White is to play. Only one move leads to mate against any defence by

Black in at most two moves. The solution is at the foot of this column.

Moving from problems to the over-the-board game, recent wins by Dundee

and Paisley chess clubs in the (UK) National Club Championship, raise

hopes that this knock-out cup competition may be won this year by a

Scottish team. Both teams have now reached the last eight in the event.

In the last round, Dundee scored a fine 3[1/2]-2[1/2] victory in a

telephone match against Barbican chess club, National Club Champions in

the last two years. Paisley scored an easier

6-0 win by default against Rochdale. Good luck to both clubs in the

quarter-finals.

CRAIG PRITCHETT

Solution

1 Kd1! (not 1 Rxf7 Rc4! or 1 Rf1 Bg1! and Black cannot be mated) 1 . .

. Kd5 2 Qd4 mate (the most aesthetic mate -- other Black tries also fail

e.g.: 1 . . . Rf4 / Bf4 / B on f7 ''anywhere'' 2 Qc5 mate; 1 . . . Rc4 2

Nxf7 mate; 1 . . . Rd4+ 2 cxd4 mate; 1 . . . Re1+ 2 Rxe1 mate; 1 . . .

Bg3/ Bg1 2 Rh5 mate.