Forerunners of The Babson Task
Wolfgang Pauly, 1912| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | ||
| 8 | 8 | ||||||||
| 7 | 7 | ||||||||
| 6 | 6 | ||||||||
| 5 | 5 | ||||||||
| 4 | 4 | ||||||||
| 3 | 3 | ||||||||
| 2 | 2 | ||||||||
| 1 | 1 | ||||||||
| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h |
This 1912 problem by Wolfgang Pauly is, as it were, a three-quarter Babson task — three of black's promotions are matched by white. White to move and mate in four:
The key is 1.b3, after which there are the following lines:
- 1... a1Q 2. f8Q Qb2 3. Qa8 Qxc1 4. Qf3 mate
- 1... a1R 2. f8R (2. f8Q? a2 3. Qf6 stalemate) a2 3. Rf6 Kxh4 4. Rh6 mate
- 1... a1N 2. f8N a2 3. Ng6 Nxb3 4. Nf4 mate
However, this is not a full Babson, because 1... a1B 2. f8B does not work — white must instead play 2. f8Q, with similar play to above.
Read more about this topic: Babson Task
Famous quotes containing the word task:
“Here is what sometimes happened to me: after spending the first part of the night at my desk—that part when night trudges heavily uphill—I would emerge from the trance of my task at the exact moment when night had reached the summit and was teetering on that crest, ready to roll down into the haze of dawn....”
—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)