Babson task

A Babson task (or simply Babson) is a directmate chess problem with the following properties:

  1. White has only one key, or first move, that forces checkmate in the stipulated number of moves.
  2. Black's defences include the promotion of a certain pawn to a queen, rook, bishop, or knight. (Black may have other defences as well.)
  3. If Black promotes, then the only way for White towards a forced checkmate in the stipulated number of moves is to promote a pawn to the same piece to which Black promoted.

Joseph Ney Babson (1852–1929), the task's eponym, first conceived of the task in 1884, but never solved it. To devise a satisfying Babson task is regarded as one of the greatest challenges in chess composing. For almost a century, it was unknown whether such a task could exist.

The Babson task is a special form of Allumwandlung, a chess problem in which the solution contains promotions to each of the four possible pieces. Such problems were already known when Babson formulated his task.

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