Birthday Presents from GM Benko

Grandmaster and composer Pal Benko celebrated his 88th birthday earlier this month and passes on some birthday gift problems to US chess readers. In the October 2013 cover to the left, he was featured for his 85th birthday in a feature you can read in our magazine archives (if you are logged on as a member.) Solve and enjoy and wish Pal a Happy Birthday! 1.)Am.‘A’ is for Amiens, France, my birthplace. It is a gothic problem, as famous as the Gothic cathedral of Amiens.

Mate in 3 Show Solution

1. Bg5 h4 2.Re2 Kxf3 3. Bh5 mate

2.) Not to be mistaken with the Eiffel Tower, the problem below is shaped in the number ‘1’, and it is a four move solution. This is meant to represent July 14, when the French Revolution is celebrated.

Mate in 4 Show Solution

1.Bc5 Kc3 2.Bc4 Kb2 3. Bb4 Ka1 4.Bc3 mate

3.) The number ‘7’ stands for the month of my birthday, July.

Mate in 7 Show Solution

1.N4f3 Kg2 2. Be3 Kg3 3. Kg5 Kg2 4.Kg4 Kh1 5. Nf1 Kg2 6. Ng3 h2 7.Ne1 mate

4.) Sometimes my birthday is mixed up with July 14^th, though I was actually born on July 15^th. You will see this reflected in the number of solutions in this problem and the next.

Helpmate in 2, White to move, then Black should put up an imaginary man which can move to h2 that helps white to give a one move mate on h2. How many different men can black place to allow for this helpmate on h2? Show Solution

1.Rh3+ Nf1-h2 2. Rxh2 mate ( 1 mate)

5.) Trick 2 Same stipulations as 4.)

Show Solution

1. Rh4 Qh3-h2+ , or 1. Rh4 Rh3-h2 ,or 1.Rh4+ Bh2 ,or 1. Rh4+ Nf1-h2, or 1. Rh4 h3-h2 (5 mates)

6.) I became 88 on July 15. You can find the number ‘8’ in the problem twice. It is also a mate in 2 and I was born in 1928.

Helpmate in 2 , Black moves (2 twin solutions) Show Solution
1…Re7 2.Kd4 Nf6 3. Ng7 mate ,or 1….Nf6+ 2.Kf4 Rd5 3 . Ng7 mate
Also see GM Benko's latest for US Chess, on problems in honor of Independence Day, posted earlier this month.