Six of our standout players, Emmett, Alex, Yijia, Aiden, Aroko and Nameer, took their creativity to another level by crafting their own puzzles. These checkmate challenges are as brilliant as they are tricky, offering a real test of calculation and imagination. Try them for yourself and see if you can crack the genius behind these compositions! Keep scrolling later for the solution. Emmett's Puzzle:
White to play - Mate in 6
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Alex's Puzzle:
Black to play - Mate in 6
(Keep Scrolling for Solutions) Yijia's Puzzle:
White to play - Mate in 9
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Aiden's Puzzle:
White to play - Mate in 4
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Aroko's & Nameer's Puzzle:
White to play - Mate in 4
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The Process
The kids were first instructed to reverse engineer their puzzle by thinking about the checkmate first and working backwards to see interesting ways and positions that the checkmate could have originated from. Meanwhile coach John would go from table to table looking for things the kids might have missed and pointing these out so the students would address these. Then they would note their finished puzzle on their worksheets before switching tables with other students. Finally every student would try to solve the puzzles their peers prepared while hoping everyone else would not be able to solve theirs. A true battle of wits. Later the solutions would be talked over by the the Instructor.
Emmett's Puzzle Solution: The first step of course is to go for the best check with 1. Qe8+ black can only respond with 1... Kb7. Following that we bring in the knight to lure the king out so 2. Nc5+ by white and ,Kb6 is once again the only move for black. Now for the interesting part: We will make our first non check move by taking the rook and letting our opponent annoy our own king for a bit. So 3. Qxa8, Bxg3+ 4. Ke2, Kb5. Next white just has to bring the queen closer and close the mating net while black tries one more defense by putting the bishop in harms way. 5. Qb7+, Bb6 now white has the pleasant choice between 6. Qd7# or 6. c4# and can finish the game in style.
Alex's Puzzle Solution 1:
This one caught novice players off guard over the board since the black king is in check and we have to bring him to safety. Also, none of the preparation moves in this puzzle are checks, yet they are still forcing because of an immediate mate in 1 threat or "zugzwang". There is 2 ways of doing so, which is why there is 2 solutions for this one. Let's say you went for 1...Kf8 which is how Alex intended the puzzle to be solved resulting in the following sequence. 2. Re1, Qg3 Next the rook will have to pre-defend the g2 square from the upcoming mate so 3. Rg1, Rb2 are natural moves. And now our opponent is in "zugzwang" and has to settle for the only move that does not lose but also does nothing 4. a4. Following that is an amazing bishop sacrifice with 4...Bxg4! which once again results in another "zugzwang"! 5. a5 As the cherry on top we are also going to add another bishop sacrifice and also a pin on the pawn with 5...Bf3 now white is running out of options and after 6. h4 we have Qxh4# or if white plays 6. a6 we can opt for Qxh3# because the bishop is pinning the pawn on g2. Amazing!
Alex's Puzzle Solution 2:
Here is an alternative solution which is a little less stylish yet still elegant:
1 ..., Be6
2. Re1, Qg3
3. a4, Rb2
4. Rg1, Bd5
5. Re1+, Qxe1+
6. Kh2, Rxg2#
Yijia's Puzzle Solution:
As of January 2025 Yijia is our most experienced player having played and won many Calgary tournaments all throughout 2024. His tactical and combination knowledge exceeds the average highschool student thanks to his regular practice of combination problems. His other big strength as a player is turning around difficult endgames with his methodical approach.
This composition is a good example of how far he can think ahead and it took him less than 30 minutes to come up with this chess problem while also having a good chat on the side with his peers.
His solution involves playing a correct sequence of checks over 9 moves. It is also noteworthy that if white should make some inaccuracies in this position black can counter with their own mate in less than 12 moves, although as a coach I am not able to tell if this was intended or simply a coincidence I stumbled upon while analyzing the puzzle. From what I know I would give him the benefit of the doubt since blacks pieces seem to be places very intentionally in whites camp and are able to strike back as soon as white shows weakness.
Lastly keep in mind the solution for this puzzle can branch of at 5 different points depending on how the king tried to escape, yet at all times these will lead to mates that are just as quick if not quicker. I will let you explore these for yourself, here is the solution for both players playing optimal moves:
1. Rxc5+, Ke6
2. Nxd4+, Kf7 Here the king has 3 escape options. d7 is worst since that results in a mate in 3 but e7 is another correct choice which will still be the same amount of moves until mate.
3. Rxh7+, Qhxh7 Either queen could have taken at this point resulting in similar positions.
4. Rf8+, Ke7
5. Nc6+, Ke6 Once again d7 is an option that loses to the same pattern as move 2. 6. Re8+, Qe7
7. Rxe7+, Rxe7 8. Nd8+, Kd7 9. Rc7# The mating-net is complete and all 4 pieces are working perfectly in harmony.
Aiden's Puzzle Solution:
The first step in this one is the eliminate the rook since we need to bring our other knight into the game after in order to also open up our d2 bishop. This will become important later. 1. Nxf7+, Bxf7 2. Nf5+, Kh5 3. Bf3+, g4 this g4 bishop block with the pawn is now becoming blacks demise since yes it defends the mate but also opens up our dark squared bishop! 4. hxg4# or Bxg4# both work here and white is victorious.
Aroko's & Nameer's Puzzle Solution:
This puzzle shows the strong fundamentals these kids have in checkmating with bishops and knights which are usually more difficult to pull off than ones involving rooks or queens. The kids also show the importance of thinking outside the box since if you would be going for only checks with every move in this puzzle it would be a mate in 5 or 6. But by not checking the black king on one of the moves we can get a mate in 4. These differences don't usually matter in a real game unless you are in time trouble and would need the extra speed, however it is a great demonstration of non linear thinking patterns.
1. Bc3+, Kg8
2. Bf3!, a4 this bishop move does not allow black to block with their knight and their pawn on d7 later by maneuvering around their effective squares.
3. Bd5+, Kf8 4. Nh7# or Bg7#
Join the Journey
The Flying Minds Chess Club is more than just a place to play chess—it’s a space to grow, think, and shine. Whether it’s solving complex puzzles, testing new openings, or crafting masterpieces on the board, these kids are proving that the future of chess is as exciting as ever.
Stay tuned for more updates and, of course, more mind-blowing puzzles.
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