Chess composition: problems and studies

In a game the position arises by itself, and it may have any number of solutions or none at all. In composition the position is built by an author around a specific idea, and it has to meet strict requirements.

• A unique solution. A second solution, however pretty, counts as a defect - a composition with one is not accepted for a tourney.
• Economy. Not one superfluous piece: if a piece can be removed without harming the idea, it is removed.
• A legal position. The setup must be reachable in a real game, at least in theory.
• An idea, not a search. What is valued is the concept: a paradoxical first move, an unexpected sacrifice, a quiet move instead of a check.

Which gives the solver a useful rule: in a composition the obvious move is almost always wrong. The author has deliberately built the position so that the natural solution fails.

The practical difference for a player: studies are more useful. They sit close to real endgames, they train you to find resources in bad positions, and they do not hand you the length of the solution. Problems train something else - spotting non-obvious first moves and mating patterns.

For a practical player it makes sense to start with studies and orthodox problems: the other genres are fascinating in themselves but do almost nothing for over-the-board results.

• It teaches you to look past the obvious. In a game we scan natural moves; composition breaks that habit.
• It trains calculation to the end. In a study you cannot stop at «this should be winning» - the line has to be finished.
• It shows defensive resources. Stalemate, fortresses and perpetual check appear constantly, and the eye learns to expect them.
• It needs no opponent and no clock. One position is ten minutes, and it is a full session.
• It builds endgame intuition. Studies are concentrated endgame technique.

In fairness: composition does not replace tactical puzzles drawn from real games. For cutting out blunders those are more useful. Composition works on something else - imagination and persistence in calculation.

1. 1
   Work out what is going on

   Who threatens what, is there a mate already available, what is missing
2. 2
   Discard the first natural move

   In a good composition it is refuted - but check how, that is a hint
3. 3
   Look for the quiet move

   A move with no check and no capture is the most common answer and the hardest to see
4. 4
   Check every black defence

   The solution has to work against all of them, otherwise it is not the solution
5. 5
   Calculate to the end

   Especially in a study: «the rest is clear» is where solutions usually turn out to be wrong
6. 6
   Do not peek immediately

   Half an hour of failing teaches more than an answer read at once

Composition has an infrastructure independent of practical chess:

• Composing tourneys. Authors submit compositions; judges score the idea, the economy and the novelty.
• Solving competitions. A sport in its own right: a set of compositions and a time limit.
• Its own titles. Composition has grandmasters and masters of its own - and they are not the same as the playing titles.
• The computer problem. Engines check compositions for side solutions, and a number of classics turned out to be unsound. Composing got harder; the checking got far better.

A good way in is one study a day, without looking at the answer until the evening. After a month the way you look at a position over the board changes.