La Bourdonnais' Curious Positions

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La Bourdonnais' Curious Positions
From Louis-Charles de La Bourdonnais New Treatise on the Game of Chess
Louis-Charles de La Bourdonnais (1797-1840), widely considered the unofficial world champion in the 1830s, wrote one book : 'Nouveau Traité du Jeux des Echecs' ('New Treatise on the Game of Chess'). The book covers chess fundamentals -- openings, simple endgames -- and other topics for beginners. The longest chapter, 'Positions curieuses' ('Curious positions'), was a collection of 60 tactical examples which La Bourdonnais considered particularly interesting.
Click on a thumbnail for a larger board and the solution to the puzzle. Solutions are between the brackets on each puzzle. Use your mouse to drag your cursor between the brackets and reveal the answer. There are five pages with 12 positions per page, making a total of 60 positions. Most, but not all, are White to play and win.

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037 White to play and mate with the h-Pawn Solution: [ 1.e4 (1.Nef8 Kh6 2.e4 {is the same}) 1...Kh6 2.Nef8 Kh5 3.Kg7 Kg5 4.Nd7 (4.Nh7+ Kh5 5.Nf6+ {is the same}) 4...Kh5 5.Nf6+ Kg5 6.h4# ] 037	038 White to play and mate with the f-Pawn Solution: [ 1.Qe4+ Nxe4 2.d5+ Kf6 3.Bb2+ e5 4.dxe6+ Nc3 5.Bxc3+ Kxe6 6.f5# ] 038	039 White to play and win Solution: [ 1.Re8+ Bd8 2.Rxd8+ Rxd8 3.Nc7+ Kb8 4.Na6+ Ka8 5.Qb8+ Rxb8 6.Nc7# ] 039	040 White to play and win Solution: [ 1.h6 Bf8 2.Bd5 Nb7 3.Bxb7 Kg8 4.Bd5+ Kh8 5.Bc4 ] 040
041 White to play and win Solution: [ 1.Nxb6+ Rxb6 2.Qh1+ Rb7 3.Qh8+ Rb8 4.Qxb8+ Kxb8 5.Rd8+ Kb7 6.Rb8# ] 041	042 White to play and win Solution: [ 1.Rd8+ Kb7 2.Qxc6+ Kxc6 3.Be4+ Kc5 4.Rd5+ Kc6 5.Rd4+ Kc5 6.b4# ] 042	043 White to play and win Solution: [ 1.Qg8+ Ke7 2.Qxg7+ Ke8 3.Nd6+ Rxd6 4.Qg8+ Ke7 5.c8=N+ Kf6 6.Qf8# ] 043	044 White to play and win Solution: [ 1.Bf3 Rxf3 2.Ndc7+ Bxc7 3.Nxc7+ Kb8 4.d8=Q+ Bc8 5.Na6+ Ka8 6.Qxc8# ] 044
045 White to play and win Solution: [ 1.Rb6+ Kd8 (1...Rxa4 2.Rxg6 Kf8 3.Bxe7+ Kxe7 4.Re6+ Kf8 5.Re8#) 2.Qe8+ Kxe8 3.Rxg6 Kf8 4.Bxe7+ Kxe7 5.Re6+ Kd8 6.Re8# ] 045	046 White to play and mate in 6 Solution: [ 1.b3 cxb3 2.c4 b2 3.Nxh6+ Ke5 4.Nf7+ Kf5 5.Nd6+ Ke5 6.Ng4# ] 046	047 White to play and mate Solution: [ 1.Qa6 Qb8 2.Qa3 Ng6 3.Bxg6 Be8 4.Rxe8 a6 5.Rxb8+ Kxb8 6.Qf8# ] 047	048 White to play and mate Solution: [ 1.Qe5+ f6 2.Qe8+ Kg7 3.Qe7+ Kh6 4.Rxh5+ gxh5 5.Qxf6+ Qg6 6.g5# ] 048

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