Moremover
Paul LamfordChess America, March 1981
| 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 |
Similar play to that found in grotesques such as these may also be found in very long moremovers (problems with the stipulation "White to play and checkmate Black in no more than n moves", where n is very high, sometimes over 100, known as longmovers), of which Ottó Bláthy was also a notable composer
To the right is a kind of problem quite closely related to these kinds of grotesques: this time it is White who has a clear material advantage, but it is difficult to make anything of it because of the locked pawn chain.
This position in Forsyth-Edwards Notation (FEN) is : 8/8/8/1k3p2/p1p1pPp1/PpPpP1Pp/1P1P3P/QNK2NRR w - - 0 1
At first glance it seems there is nothing to be done--on moves like Rg2, White cannot make progress unless Black captures--but White does have one plan: to play Qa2 at an appropriate moment in order to threaten Qxb3. Doing this immediately does not work (Black simply promotes on a1 and it is Black who wins by ... Qa2-b3-c2 mate), but there is a way:
- 1.Kd1 Kb6 2.Ke1 Kb5 3.Rg2 Kb6 4.Re2 Kb5 5.Kf2 Kb6 6.Re1 Kb5 7.Rg1 Kb6 8.Rg2 Kb5 9.Rc1 Kb6 10.Ke1 Kb5 11.Re2 Kb6 12.Kd1 Kb5 13.Re1 Kb6 14.Rc2 Kb5 15.Kc1 Kb6 16.Qa2!! bxa2 17.b4! a1Q 18.Rb2 Kb5 19.Rd1 Ka6 20.b5+ Kb6 21.Re1 Ka7 22.b6+ Kb7 23.Rd1 and Black must either give up his queen or allow the b pawn to promote.
Read more about this topic: Grotesque (chess)