chess-The Oxford Companion to Chess - First Edition by David Hooper & Kenneth Whyld

210 MEDIEVAL PROBLEMS
'. . . bclthelor, ihc neue! ol Cha.lemayn, calted
reynawde lor to nlaye snh hin whereol grcwc a
gret nyscheef for aftcilarde nany a eood knyghie
dcied rhertor, & many a fayrchyldc*as liderless
. .'and aller oucb argument andviolc.cc . . .
thenDc toke reuaude ye ches bordc. & snote
berthelot vton his hede so harde, tbat he clolcd
hym ro ihe tecth a.d thus berlhelot fell doun deed
to ye ground e alore hym . '-C ^xron
. Faure Sons af
MEDIEVAI PROBLEMS, Islamic problens, or
MANsih,ir- were alhost ce ainly known in Europc
belore aD 1000 but the lirsl European reference to
chess problems was durine thc reign ol tuchard I
(1189 99) Nhen Giraldus Cambrcnsis (Gerild oI
wales) wrote 6cuna E .l€sids,i.a. Hc cxprcsses
conrc,npt for juperties (problem, as compared
witb tbe gamc and noics wilh regret rhal problems
have become lashionable. Evidcntly problen
.ollections existed 2t rh:r rnne ,nd ih.\. u. ld
have contlined zd,rrbd: rbether Europeatr
problens wcrc ziso inchded n . matter oI
conjedu.e. OI tbe 30 or nrorc suniving nedieral
collections the e.rliest date lrom rhe second hallof
the 13th century- when problems oI European
origin seem to havc bc.ome sell established The
largcsr collecdons, some oI rhcm beluriiully
illuminated are the u.Nrrs s..trrs Ms,nd rh..rvrs
BoNoNt^t MSi both rren Lonbardy. and three
l4th century manlscriprs lr.m Picardr- Nhicb
alrhough hased on tbe Bonus Socius MS conrain
manyproblcms nol lron that source The earliesi
knownEnslisb sour.cs aic lhe Couon MS (12731.
tte KinC\ LibraryMS. and a manuscriplinTiinirt
Collcgc I ibrarl,. Cambndgei two il nor all drcc
were writtcn by Bededictine monks lronr DoNct.
(see also ^LrcN$
Ns.)
The rules were those ol srrArR{Nr wnb one
importanr change: the uiz^\. now ro bc called a
rE$. had thc added power ol a leap on iis 6Bi
move. The lil took thc nade AUrrN On the
diasruns the lers (F) is dcpicted as a queen. rhe
EuropeaD .onpose6 setDur to baffle the solvcr
ralher lhan providc insnuction. Their composi,
tions contained illegal positio.s ol all kinds a.d a
varicty ol unusual smul^roNs and wci. sone
times intentionllly nade without soluiions. Lcs
competeni bui morc invendve than then Arab
predecessors. Europcan problcn conposeB intro
duccd the sErpMArE, rhesExrrs-MovER. rcoNorrr oi
force, hiddcn teys, vARrArioN plar, and ihc
stipulntio! that matc h to be given in a nared
numbcr ol noves. Problems such as thc eranple
given undcr zERo posrroN were sonrernncs scr lor
a wagerj bnt therc is not edougb elidence to
deternine \rhether this pra.tice sls widespread.
When lh. Bodern game took ovcr tr.1175)
medielal probicms becane our ol date and Ncrc
-Era dunlly forgol te n i bui a ncw sord rEopARD! had
becn added io the lansuase.
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Apositionfron the KingsLibrary MS. srillgilcn
nr textbooks- and showing the 6nal phase of rhe
eDdgamc K+N+N !. K+RP alter one ol the
knigbts has been sacrificcd. lhcrc lre 1wo solu
tions: 1 Nl6 Kh1 2 Ne,l Khz 3 Nd2 Khl 4 Nll
h2 5 Ng3. and l NgTKhi 2Nl5Kh2 3Ne3Kh1
4 Nll h2 5 Ng]
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E%rary, ffi
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'L 'A 7z /l
W L?a 718
'I hh andthc nexttwoproblems are irom the Bonus
Socius MS. Here Wbiie has lhree ways of maling in
one molebut heis requned tonatein l{o moves
'exacrl! - a connon sripul.tion. The key is I Rdl
wita ihiee !.rialionsr I Rxc6+ 2Nf6.1...
Ras 2 Ng5, l...Axl4 2Rds.
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7*.
While n ro give mate Nith hh aulin I Rh2
2 Ra2+ Fa3 (rhe lerJs leap) 3 Axa3 Ka7