The diagram represents a puzzle which was created in 1968 by eminent Hungarian-American chess grandmaster and world championship candidate Pal Benko. Five pieces were placed on the board (the black king is on e5, and the white pieces – king, queen, and two bishops are on their original squares). The immediate task is to checkmate the black king in three moves. It is white to play and win. This elegant chess problem was first published in the American magazine Chess Life. It was reported Benko showed his friend Bobby Fischer the problem at the Lugano Olympiad and challenged him to solve it. Fischer took up the challenge and said he would solve it in half of an hour. Fischer lost the bet.
Each week, as they receive the Sunday Stabroek, national chess players Loris Nathoo and Shiv Nandalall contact me and provide the solutions to the current week’s chess puzzle. Nathoo is always correct in his answers. I am therefore calling on both players, and anyone else who thinks they can, to solve this problem. The solution will be published in next Sunday’s column.
