I learn from The Problemist, the organ of the British Chess Problem Society, that the polymath Dr Jacob Bronowski also composed chess problems. According to the article I read, Bronowski was born in Lodz, Poland, in 1908, grew up in Germany and then became an undergraduate at Jesus College, Cambridge. He was a mathematician, biologist, historian of science, theatrical author, poet and inventor, and of course is most celebrated as the author and presenter of the 1973 BBC TV series The Ascent of Man. The puzzle in Diagram 1 composed by Bronowski.
This puzzle is a reflex mate which is a variant of the self-mate theme. In a self-mate White must force Black to checkmate him. The same applies in a reflex mate, with the extra rule that if either side can give checkmate, then they must.
Bronowski’s puzzle is solved by the move 1 Qb6! Now White threatens to play 2 Qxb7 when Black will be obliged to mate with 2 … Rh8. Black must thus move his rook away from being able to deliver the back rank mate and so tries 1 … Rb2. Now, however, 2 Qa6+ obliges 2 … bxa6 mate.
Among over-the-board players, the most noted polymaths were Howard Staunton, proto-world champion in chess, author of the book The Great Schools of England and a major Shakespearean scholar, as well as Dr Emanuel Lasker, world champion from 1894 to 1921, who was an expert in various games including bridge and draughts. He also wrote a verse drama, Von Menschen die Geschichte, ‘The History of Mankind’ — an interesting parallel with Bronowski. This game shows Lasker, the thinker, being way ahead of his time in terms of chessboard strategy.
Maroczy-Lasker; New York 1924; French Defence by transposition (see Diagram 2)
1 e4 Nf6 2 Nc3 d5 3 e5 Nfd7 4 d4 e6 5 Nce2 c5 6 c3 Nc6 7 f4 Be7 8 Nf3 0-0 9 g3 cxd4 10 cxd4 Nb6 11 Bh3 This position is still valid in modern opening theory.
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