Joke chess problem
A joke chess problem is a puzzle in chess that uses humor as an element. Although most chess problems, like other creative forms, are appreciated for serious artistic themes, joke chess problems are enjoyed for some twist. In some cases the composer plays a trick to prevent a solver from succeeding with typical analysis. In other cases, the humor derives from an unusual final position. Unlike in ordinary chess puzzles, joke problems can involve a solution which violates the inner logic or rules of the game.
Self-solving problems
Some chess puzzles are not really puzzles at all. In the diagram, White is asked to checkmate Black in six moves. The joke in this case is that, by the rules of chess, White has no choice in the matter; the only legal moves lead directly to the "solution":Tim Krabbé provides other examples on his chess website.
Offbeat interpretations of the rules of chess
Some composers have relied on real or perceived ambiguities or loopholes in the rules of chess to create humorous puzzles. The diagram on the right shows one such example. According to chess legend, a composer stipulated, "White mates in one move." It appears to be impossible to mate in one move and now is, but when it was presented, the promotion rule did not specify the color of the piece to which a pawn may be promoted; thus, the "solution" is for White to promote to a black knight on b8, which deprives the black king of a potential flight square, and ends the game via a discovered checkmate by the white rook on c7. Similar problems have been created involving promotion to kings or pawns.A more sophisticated example was composed by Tim Krabbé and relied on a loophole that supposedly existed in the definition of castling. In the diagram, White must mate in three moves. The solution begins 1. e7, then the two main variations are:1... Kd3 2. e8Q gxf3 '3. 0-0-0#1... Kxf3 2. e8R, and now:
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In the third diagram, the solution begins with 1. e8=R Kb1 2. 0-0-0-0#', vertically castling by moving the king to e3 and rook to e2, much akin to that of Krabbé's example above.
Unusual piece placement or movement
Some problems are notable for extremely unusual patterns of piece placement. For example, direct mates and especially helpmates have been composed with the pieces in the shape of a letter or number, or even a tree.The "back home task"
In this problem by M. Kirtley, the final position echoes a familiar pattern. Krabbé calls this problem the "back home task", as all eight white pieces retreat to their initial positions. He writes that "Strategy and deep themes are absent, Black only has forced moves, but it's one of the funniest chess problems I ever saw." White must selfmate in eight moves; i.e., they must force Black to checkmate White against Black's will. The solution is:The "caterpillar theme"
Krabbé named the "caterpillar theme" for problems and studies where doubled or tripled pawns move one after the other. The diagram at the right has White forcing mate in six moves. The solution is:Krabbé wrote a whole article on the caterpillar theme, citing about ten examples.
The American composer William A. Shinkman is famous for composing the problem in the diagram, with sextupled pawns on the a-file. As Krabbé writes on his website, "The solution, as it should be in a joke, is not difficult: 1. 0-0-0 Kxa7 2. Rd8 Kxa6 3. Rd7 Kxa5 4. Rd6 Kxa4 5. Rd5 Kxa3 6. Rd4 Kxa2 7. Rd3 Ka1 8. Ra3#".
The problem is "", however, because 1.Kd2 also forces mate in eight moves. But this problem was not intended to be a sound mate in eight, and was instead intended to be a proof game in 34 moves with seven consecutive captures by Black.
Humour in more traditional chess problems
Humour is a component of some traditional themes, such as grotesque and Excelsior.In 2004, Hans Böhm sponsored a chess composing tournament for humorous endgame studies. The top two entries appear with solutions on Krabbé's website.
Chess problem riddle
In this kind of problem, although the problem is posed as a standard chess problem, the solution has nothing to do with chess moves. An example is this problem composed by British composer Thomas Rayner Dawson:The solution is in the words : White did not lose the game of chess, but rather the bet.