The English occultist Aleister Crowley, “the wickedest man in the world,” was a skilled chess player. In 1894 he published several problems in the Eastbourne Gazette under the pseudonym Ta Dhuibh. This one appeared on Feb. 21. How can White mate in two moves?
|
SelectClick for Answer |
White wins with the craziest move on the board, 1. Qd4!, offering the queen. If Black captures her then 2. Nxd4 is mate, but other options are no better:
- If Black moves his knight to any other square, then 2. Qa1#. (If 1. … Nxd2 then 2. Nxd2#.)
- If he moves his bishop then the queen mates from b2.
- If the king captures the knight then 2. Qd3#.
- If the a-pawn captures the knight then 2. Qa1#.
The following year Crowley began a three-year course at Cambridge, where he later claimed to have beaten the president of the university chess club in his first year. He considering a professional career in chess and practiced two hours a day, but he gave up the idea when occultism captured his interest.
|
