Last week’s mate in 3 composed by C A L Bull, sometime chess champion of Twickenham and Durban, requires a mysterious king move for its solution:

1.♔a8!

1…♔×h2 2.♕b8+! 2…♔h3 3.♕g3# 2…♔h1 3.♕h8# 2…f4 3.♕h8# 2…e5 3.♕h8#

1…f4 2.♕b1+! 2…♔×h2 3.♕h7# 2…g1=♕ /g1~ 3.♕×g1#

1…e5 2.♕b6! ~ 3.♕g1# 2…♔×h2 3.♕h6#

1…f6 2.♕a7 ~ 3.♕g1# 2…♔×h2 3.♕h7#

1…g4 2.♘f4 ~ 3.♕×g2#

(note that the symbol ~ in problem notation means ‘any move’)

Source: Yet Another Chess Problem Database

I’ve now written two articles about Cecil Alfred Lucas Bull, the first covering the early part of his life in Twickenham and Teddington, and the second relating his subsequent career in South Africa. You’ll find some more problems, and a couple of games as well.

If you’d like to see more of his problems, just search for them on YACPD. I’ll be featuring his more lightweight problems from time to time here.