Samuel Loyd (1841 – 1911), born in Philadelphia and raised in New York City, was an American chess player, chess composer, puzzle author, and recreational mathematician. As a chess composer, he authored a number of chess problems, often with interesting themes. At his peak, Loyd was one of the best chess players in the US and was ranked 15th in the world, according to chessmetrics.com.
A father left to his four sons this square field, with the instruction that they divide it into four pieces, each of the same shape and size, so that each piece of land contained one of the trees. How did they manage it?
The solution is shown below.
In the position below, Black played a move, but right before he pressed the clock, he ran out of time. However, the judge declared a draw instead of awarding a victory to the opponent. Why?
The rules of FIDE state that if a player runs out of time, their opponent wins the game IF they have a path to victory. If there is no sufficient material, e.g. a King and a Knight against a King, then the game is declared a draw.
In this position, Black played Rxg6 which forces the moves:
This leaves White with a King and a Knight against Black’s King. Thus, White did not have a path to victory and the game was declared a draw.
Turn me on my side and I am everything. Cut me in half and I am nothing. What am I?
The answer is THE DIGIT 8.
If you turn it on its side, you will get the symbol infinity. If you cut it in half horizontally, you will get the number 0.
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 = 1 0 0
Add +, +, +, – anywhere above in order to get a valid equality.
The answer is:
9 8-7 6+5 4+3+2 1 = 1 0 0
Find your way through this black-white maze, created by William Leonard.
The solution is shown below.
It turns into a different story. What is it?
ANSWER: ✱✱✱✱✱✱ ✱✱✱✱✱✱✱✱✱
Note: This is Will Shortz’s favorite crosswords clue of all time.
The answer is SPIRAL STAIRCASE.
Can you find your way from the bottom to the top in this Mythological Maze?
The solution is shown below.
Can you figure out what story the following sequence of statements is telling?
11 is a racehorse. 12 is one (1) too (2). 11 won (1) one (1) race. 12 won (1) one (1) too (2).
Cut the piece below into three parts which can be rearranged into a square.
The solution is shown below.
Toggle one pixel to make this equality correct.
(71+1)×(71-1) = 10×9×…×2×1 = 10!
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