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7 Hardest Chess Compositions You Ever Saw [mate in 2]

01.08.2014

Today is the hardcore tactics day, so I uploaded 7 extremely difficult chess compositions. These are called compositions because they were created (‘composed”) by the master-mind composers to make your job (as a solver) as difficult as humanly possible.

Yes, these positions weren’t taken from the grandmasters games, they are much more complicated. If you can solve these mate-in-2 problems, you can solve everything . Here they are:

Instructions: In each of these positions White to Move and Mate in 2

Composition #1 G. Rinder (1961)

chess problem

Composition #2 A. Ellerman (1925)

chess problem

Composition #3 K. Medison (1917)

chess problem

Composition #4 I. Shifman (1927)

chess problem

Composition #5 A. Lobusov (1988)

chess problem

Composition #6 V. Pilchenko (1993)

chess problem

Composition #7 L. Loshinskiy (1961)

chess problem

If you have solved these problems with chess compositions:

If you have difficulties solving it, read our how to solve tactics problems guide

Don’t forget to post your solution in the comment field below!

Updated 11.10.2023

Comments:

Comp # 3in my opinion the one more difficult.1.B e 4 -K e 5 2 K c4.++ Done.Adios!!!!!

Walija:

After c8=Q...Rxh5

Rodrigo:

Composition #2 The right move is to promote the White C pawn to a new queen. Then, Black is trapped in whatever move it plays. 1. c8=Q 1. Qe5+ 2. Nd6# 1. c8=Q 1. Qf2 2. Qc6# 1. c8=Q 1. Bf2 2. Qc6# 1. c8=Q 1. Bf3 2. Qc6# And so on...

Rodrigo:

Composition #2 I believe the key move for white is Rd2 1. Rd2 1. Qxd2 2. Nd6# (cause it's not pinned anymore) 1. Rd2 1. Bf3 (blocking "F" file for white Queen) 2. Qd3# 1 Rd2 1. Bf2 2. Qxh1#

Anjo Oscuro:

7. Ndc6

Anjo Oscuro:

Yo mr admin, have you tried b3 on the first one ? it leads to a zugzwang and a mate in 2, and I think that it is the righteous solution, sure Qd5 works perfect but in these compositions it never starts with a check

Anjo Oscuro:

The knight is pinned James

Anjo Oscuro:

1. There's 2 solutions to this one, but since chess compositions never start with check then Qd5 is canceled and the solution is b62. Rd73. Be44. Qf35. Bg26. Nf37. haven't looked at it yet.These compositions looked fairly easy to me, maybe I got the right way of thinking, I always try to reach to mating move and try to put the black in some zugzwang, and it works. :)

yaahwant:

1 Qd5+2 Rd13 Be44 Rxf5# puzzle is wrong5 Nd36 Nf57 Nbc6

kronavsky:

#2.Nd6

Giulio86:

1. Qd52. Rd63. Rf34. Nb55. Nd36. Nf37. Nd4-c6

Ajit:

Knight can not be moved. its pinned between white king and black queen.

Ajit:

Looks like this is the only solution to problem.

Poonam:

Composition#1: 1. Rd6, (if R*d6 then 2. Qc4++), (if N(b)d5 then 2. R*c6++), N(f)d5 2. Ne6++

Max Bouaraba:

Did take me 3 minutes for just puzzle number 1....starting with Qd5+ and no matter what black will be matedKxd5-Rf5#Nfxd5-Ne6#Nbxd5-Rc6#Rxd5-Qxb4#

Edik:

1. Qxd5 was easy to see. 4 ways to recapture but all lead to mate.2. I haven't solved it yet (the first comment about Nc5 is wrong since it's pinned..even if Nc5 was possible Nd6++# is mate in 1). 3. Rf3++ Ke4 Qf4#4. Unsolved. Tried a whole bunch of ideas including Qh1, Nb5, Nb4+, Qb3+, Qxb2+, Re4+. Of course Nc1+ doesn't work due to dxc (bxc would've been nice though, [b]Pandi[/b]). 5. Bg2. The main idea is Qg1# so Rg7 doesn't work. cxb6 doesn't work either since d5 is covered, which leaves Bxc5 Qd2#. Sorry [b]Sharky[/b], but Kb3 can't be right since Bxc5 isn't forced and there's no mate in 1 after Kb3 if black wastes a move, lets say h5.6. Finally found Nf3 after a bunch of tries such as Qh5,Qg4,Nb4+,Nb5,Nf5,Ne2,Nc6 protecting that damn e5 square against Re7 and threatening killer Nb4#.7. Gotta be Ndc6 with Nd5 mate (Ne6 annoyingly fails to Rc5).

Barathwaj:

Out of all for 1. I agree with David Pratt

abhay jha:

@david pratt if Rxf4 is played den plays defends by playing rd6+

Gilbert Baron:

Too hard for me but Stockfish solves in useconds.

ChessWriter:

Do the chess positions on the “Mate in 2 iPhone 5 case” ad resemble the 7 extremely difficult chess compositions posted here? Cool idea.

Shark:

Problem 5#1.Kb3- and know black can play anything but for example, Bxc52.Qf4#I hope it's correct! :-)

Yury:

Are you sure you're solving #7? :o

Brian D:

Comp #71:Bd5+ Ke5.2:Bg6#

Yury:

Good try Pandi and David Pratt, but that variation doesn't lead to mate in 2 with a right play from Black. The correct solution for Problem 1 was outlined by our friend Shadowleaf04:[b]1. Qd5+! is the key-move. For example 1. Qd5+! Kxd5 2. Rf5#[/b]

Yury:

Hello again Shadowleaf04, it seems like you've got another one! You solution for Problem #3 is completely correct!Way to go! :roll:

Pandi:

Problem 4: 1.Nc1+ bc 2 Rc2#

Shadowleaf04:

Problem # 31. Be4! is the key-move, with the idea of 2. Nxc4# For example, 1. Be4! Nxe3+ 2. Nb5#. Another one is 1. Be4! Ne5+ 2. Rd3#At first I thought of 1. Qc2?? with the same idea but Black has 1...Kxe3!. It took me 20-25 minutes to solve this one. Indeed, it it HARD! :-)

David Pratt:

Problem 1.. Rxf4, Rxf4, Nf6. Or if black plays Rook anywhere else then Rook to c4

Yury:

Good try Andrew, but if [b]1. bxc6 Ne6 2. Qxe6 Rh4+ 3. Kg7 Rd4 4. Ne4+ Rxe4 5. Qd6#[/b] leading to mate in 5 :-) Please show your entire variation.

Andrew Comeau:

Composition #1:Qd5+ works. Another solution is bxc6 and now whatever piece black moves white can counter with a mate.

Yury:

Hello Shadowleaf04, you got it! The main move of this problem [b]Qd5+![/b] it is the most difficult intro-move to find since it loses a queen and doesn't give much in exchange. But that's only from the first glance. In reality it leads to 5 different winning lines,Try solving other ones, they are not easy :-)

Shadowleaf04:

Problem # 11. Qd5+! is the key-move. For example 1. Qd5+! Kxd5 2. Rf5#

Yury:

Good job, James you got it! Try the other ones! ;-)

James:

Problem 2:1. Nc5 Ke52. Nd7#