searching for short story / chess problem

[richard...@hotmail.com]

I am trying to locate a short story I read years - decades? - ago, and
would appreciate any leads.

With a battle going on outside the room, two players reach a position
where one announces a mate in X -- perhaps 8 moves? Suddenly a bullet
flies through the window and knocks a piece away. The player examines
the board, and then announces that he still has a checkmate in 9?
moves. I think another bullet then flies through and carries off
another piece, only to extend, but not eliminate, a checkmate.

Title? Collection? Tips where to look?

Thank you, very much!

Rick

[jeremy.p...@vanderbilt.edu]

On Jan 1, 10:52 pm, "richardfkenn...@hotmail.com"

This is a variant of an extremely old story; it appears in the Chicago
Tribune column of Nov 24, 1878. The setting is given as Charles XII of
Sweden in 1713; the position is given as mate in 3, a bullet removes
the N and he announce mate in 4, the bullet eliminates a P and he
announces mate in 5. Without looking at the Tribune column, I would
not be surprised if this was by Loyd; he often made up such stories
around his problems

Jerry Spinrad

[parrt...@cs.com]

SAM LOYD AND HIS CHESS PROBLEMS by Alain C. White (page 27)

CHARLES X11 AT BENDER states: "The most famous of the Fiske-Loyd
stories, and probably the best problem tale ever written, has appeared
in print, since the original publication in the CHESS MONTHLY, in
March, 1859, in every conceivable form and language...The story
introduces an imaginary incident, during the siege of Charles the
Twelth of Sweden by the Turks at Bender in 1713....

[richard...@hotmail.com]

Thank you, Jerry. No surprise that it's a Loyd, I guess.

Rick

[richard...@hotmail.com]

Thanks, too, Larry. The older I get, the more I realize that I read
something "somewhere"...

Rick

[raylopez99]

On Jan 2, 12:39 am, "jeremy.p.spin...@vanderbilt.edu"
<jeremy.p.spin...@vanderbilt.edu> wrote:

Good detective work. There's also a short story involving death,
sacrifice, etc using human players by Kurt Vonnegut of course.

RL