This week’s puzzle is an opportunity to enter an annual national championship in which Guardian readers have traditionally performed strongly over many years.
You have to work out how White, playing as usual up the board in the diagram, can force checkmate in two moves, however Black defends.
The puzzle is the first stage of the Winton British Solving Championship, organised by the British Chess Problem Society and open to any British resident. Entry is free and the prize fund will be at least £1,200.
If you would like to take part, simply send White’s first move by post to Nigel Dennis, Boundary House, 230 Greys Road, Henley-on-Thames, Oxon RG9 1QY, or by email to winton@theproblemist.org. Either way, include your name and home postcode and mark your entry “Guardian”. If you are under 18 on 31 July, give your date of birth.
The closing date is 31 July. After that all solvers will receive the correct answer to the starter problem and those who got it right will also be sent a postal round of eight harder problems, with plenty of time for solving.
If your answers are among the best in the postal round you will qualify for the one-day national final of around 30 solvers, including the five best under-18s, to be staged at Eton College on Saturday 17 February 2018. The winner there will qualify for the 2018 world solving championship.
This year’s starter problem is definitely tricky and a test of creative imagination. Remember that obvious checks or captures hardly ever work and be sure to double check your answer in case you have missed an obscure black resource. Good luck to all Guardian entrants.
The 10-player Altibox Norway tournament which starts at Stavanger on Monday will be one of the strongest in chess history. Magnus Carlsen, the world champion, and his two leading US rivals, Wesley So and Fabiano Caruana, head the field, and you can watch free and live online with grandmaster and computer commentaries.
England’s Olympiad grandmasters Gawain Jones and David Howell are competing in the European individual championship at Minsk, Belarus. Games are free and live online from 1.30pm on Saturday. The Czech David Navara and Russia’s Dmitry Andreikin are the top seeds. For Howell, seeded 18, and Jones, 32, the principal target will be to secure one of the 22 qualifying places for the 2017 World Cup in Georgia.
