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But like the song goes – it hurts so good... I’ve been working on problems in David Zimbeck’s new book, subtitled “The hardest chess puzzles known to mankind.” I am no Milan Vukcevich, but I think the author is onto something. Those who enjoy solving these little mysteries (and I use the word “enjoy” advisedly) have some serious fun (ditto) ahead of you! Chessville readers of Peter Wong’s “Peter’s Problem World” take note. Zimbeck, 23, lives in California, where he works both as an actor (e.g. Pirates of the Caribbean 2) and realtor. He spent his early years in Ohio, where he picked up three scholastic state championships and his master title. He also began composing chess problems at the age of 14. David Brown, problem editor for Chess Life, gave Zimbeck a lot of encouragement, as did Vukcevich and Edgar Holladay (memorialized in Holladay Chess Problems) – the latter collaborated with him on several creations. Zimbecks Chess Puzzles contains 29 of the author’s creations, the majority of which have been published in StrateGems, Die Schwalbe, The Problemist, or EG. It also has 18 examples from other problemists, including Lloyd, Vukcevich, Kasparian and Mitrofanov. In his work Zimbeck ranges from a “mate in 3” to a “mate in 256” with some “play and win” and “play and draw” challenges along the way. Bourzutschky and Konoval take the cake with “White wins in 527 moves”. Owwww! Subsequent chapters include four of the author’s favorite games, and four composed games based on his opening analyses. (Of course, hailing from the Columbus area, he has one game featuring the Blackmar-Diebert Gambit.
Happily, the final chapter includes Solutions and Comments. Sigh… It’s all sandwiched by a Table of Contents and Preface at the beginning and an About the author page at the end. There’s a lot of pluck and whimsy in Zimbeck’s puzzles, which probably endears them to the serious solver, but which also makes them enticing to the more dedicated over-the-board player. (Sometimes the two fraternities act as if they don’t know one another.) His pawns tend to be a bit unruly and wind up in odd places, although he reassures us all of the given positions are legal. Here’s a simple-looking one: David Zimbeck
White to Move & Draw I mean, c’mon, how hard can it be – White only has one possible move to play! Well, technically, he has a choice of four: 1.e8=Q, 1.e8=R, 1.e8=B and 1.e8=N, which should tip you off that you’re going to have to think a bit, after all. [Solution at bottom of the page.] Zimbeck has been “retired” from chess for a while, as he’s pursued other career moves, including writing and directing short films, but Zimbecks Chess Puzzles marks his re-emergence and includes two compositions from 2008. You could pick up a copy of Zimbecks Chess Puzzles for the enjoyment and challenges it contains. You could get a copy and help support the arts. Or you could just turn the page – and start searching for the solution to the problem somewhere in Chessville…
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