Problems Depicting Historic Battles !

Runaway Napoleon

On 23 June, 1812, Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Russia. He and his Grande Armee reached Moscow but Russians fought severely and Napoleon had to retreat. During the retreat, in November of 1812, the 'Battle of Berezina' took place while crossing the river Berezina and Russians had a good chance of catching Napoleon alive but Napoleon did manage to escape leaving the victory for the Russian Premier Alexander I. A total of 570,000 French casualties and 400,000 Russian casualties and several hundred thousand civilian deaths resulted in the war. Since then the word Berezina is being used in French as a synonym of catastrophe.

Twelve years later, the Russian Legend Petrov (he developed an opening called Petrov defense) composed this problem depicting the above historic event. a1 square is Moscow and h8 square is Paris. The Black king is Napoleon and the White king is Alexander I. The a8-h1 diagonal is the river Berezina. White to play and mate in 14 moves. See Russian knights' pursuit and Napoleon's retreat from the outskirts of Moscow to Paris.

A. Petrov, 1824

Solution: (Select from * to *  for the solution)

*1. Nd2+ Ka2 2. Nc3+ Ka3 3. Ndb1+ Kb4 4. Na2+ Kb5 5. Nbc3+ Ka6 6. Nb4+ (had the queen interposed, Napoleon's game would have been over before crossing the river, 6. Qa8# - these are Petrov's words) 6. ... Ka7 7. Nb5+ Kb8 8. Na6+ Kc8 9. Na7+ Kd7 10. Nb8+ Ke7 11. Nc8+ Kf8 12. Nd7+ Kg8 13. Ne7+ Kh8 (finally, Napoleon reached Paris and Alexander makes his move and the game is over) 14. Kg2#*

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The Problems from below onwards were not composed by the authors keeping in mind any historic event but a great similarity can be seen.
 

Adolf Hitler - the end of a dictator

Adolf Hitler committed suicide on 30 April, 1945 after realizing his inevitable defeat by Russian army. He was responsible for the World War II and a genocidal destruction of six million Jews.

Below, the Black king is Hitler, each white pawn represents one million Jews and the White king and rook represent Russian army. White to play and mate in 8 moves.

Solution:

*1. O-O-O Kxa7 2. Rd8 Kxa6 3. Rd7 Kxa5 4. Rd6 Kxa4 5. Rd5 Kxa3 6. Rd4 Kxa2 7. Rd3 Ka1 8. Ra3#*

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Gandhi - Indian Freedom Struggle

Indian freedom struggle began with Sepoy Mutiny in 1857 and ended with Quit India Movement in 1947 with a series of revolutions in between empowered by the people of India for the very basic need of any living form called Freedom, from the British Empire. The most notable revolution is the Quit India Movement by Mahatma Gandhi which is well known for its way of 'Ahimsa' - a Sanskrit word for non-violence which won freedom for the Indians on 15 August, 1947. Gandhi's Ahimsa influenced a host of other leaders like Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King who were also successful in achieving their goals. If Nobel Prize committee were to select Gandhi for a Nobel Peace Prize when he was alive, Gandhi would have rejected it but he surely deserves one posthumously but so far, the committee is sleeping.

In the diagram below, the Black king is India and the White king is Britain. The Black bishop who is pinned is Gandhi and the c1-h6 diagonal is the road to non-violence. A British Knight has just moved from f2 to g4 and the British Queen is ready to attack the miserable Gandhi. But it is Black's turn to play and mate in 6 moves, which involves clearing the powerful road of non-violence and a series of sacrifices (revolutions) without a single bit of violence (captures).

 Solution:

*1. ... Re1+ 2. Rxe1 Qc2+ 3. Kxc2 (if 3. Ka1 Qxb2#) ... Nd4+ 4. Kb1 (if 4. Kd1 Nxb2#) ... Nc3+ 5. bxc3 (if 5. Ka1 Nc2#) ... Rb8+ 6. Ka1 Nc2#*

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Osama Bin Laden - the master mind

Osama Bin Laden, the founder of 'World Islamic Front Against Jews and Crusaders', master minded the attacks of 11 September, 2001 on New York and Washington D.C. which killed around 3000 people. Following the American invasion of Afghanistan and ousting of Taliban rule in November 2001, the whereabouts of Laden and his physician and aide, Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri is unclear. It is believed that they hide in the mountains in the border region of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

In the below diagram, there is an Afghan mountain. The Black king is Osama Bin Laden and the Black knight is Ayman al-Zawahiri protecting Laden and both are hiding in a cave in the mountain. The Black bishop is the sentry guarding the cave entrance. Now it is the White king's duty to catch Mr. Laden. White to play and mate in 8 moves. The Future may reveal who would be the White king.

I. Shumov, 1878

Ilya Shumov is the first one to publish a book on Chess compositions (in 1867, St. Petersburg).

Solution:

*1. Kg4 Bh2 2. Kf5 Bg1 3. Ke6 Bh2 4. Kd7 Bg1 5. Kc6 Bh2 6. Kb5 Bg1 7. Ka4 Bh2 8. Bxb3#*

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Saddam Hussein - the end of tyranny

Saddam Hussein was president of Iraq from 1979 to until his ouster and capture in 2003 by the 'Operation Red Dawn' (also dubbed 'Operation Not About the Oil' by some) led by America and allies. He is well known for his twenty four years of tyrant rule and was captured on 13, December, 2003 in an underground spider hole.

Below, the Black king is Saddam Hussein hiding in a spider hole and the White force is the American and allied forces. White to play and get Mr. Hussein out of the spider hole in 4 moves.

Solution:

*key 1. Qc2 waiting

variations a) 1. ... d3 2. Qc3+ d4 3. Qa5+ d5 4. Qc7#

b) 1. ... e3 2. Nd3+ Ke4 3. Nc5+ Ke5 (if 3. ... Kf3 4. Qg2#) 4. Nd7#

c) 1. ... f3 2. Qh2+ f4 3. Qh5+ f5 4. Qh8#*

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