The Chess Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes

189 Pages·1980·4.21 MB·English

by  Raymond M. Smullyan

The
CHESS
MYSTERIES

of
SHERLOCK

HOLMES

The
CHESS
MYSTERIES

of

SHERLOCK
HOLMES

by

RAYMOND
SMULLYAN

HUTCHINSON
London Melbourne Sydney Auckland Johannesburg
Hutchinson & Co. (Publishers) Ltd
An imprint of the Hutchinson Publishing Group
3 Fitzroy Square, London W1P 6JD

Hutchinson Group (Australia) Pty Ltd
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PO Box 151, Broadway, New South Wales 2007

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Hutchinson Group (SA) (Pty) Ltd
PO Box 337, Bergvlei 2012, South Africa

First published 1980
© Raymond Smullyan 1980

The paperback edition of this book is sold
subject to the condition that it shall not, by
way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold,
hired out, or otherwise circulated in any form
of binding or cover other than that in which
it is published and without a similar condition
including this condition being imposed on the
subsequent purchaser

Printed in Great Britain by The Anchor Press Ltd
and bound by Wm Brendon & Son Ltd
both of Tiptree, Essex

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Smullyan, Raymond Merrill
The chess mysteries of Sherlock Holmes.
1. Chess problems
I. Title
974.1 GV1451
ISBN 0 09 140531 9 (paper)
To My Wife BLANCHE
and to the Memory
of My Brother EMILE
and of My Dear Friend
THEODORE SHEDLOVSKY

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments ix
A Note for the Chess Detective xi

Part I: SHERLOCK HOLMES at the CHESSBOARD 1
A MATTER OF DIRECTION 3
A DELIGHTFUL VARIATION 12
A LITTLE EXERCISE 16
WHICH COLOR? 21
ANOTHER MONOCHROMATIC 24
A QUESTION OF SURVIVAL 26
MYSTERY OF THE MISSING PIECE 29
YOU REALLY CAN'T, YOU KNOW! 38
TWO BAGATELLES 44
SIR REGINALD'S JEST 48
A RETURN VISIT 51
MYCROFT'S PROBLEM 58
A LITTLE QUESTION OF LOCATION 61
"TO KNOW THE PAST" 68
A STUDY IN IMAGINARY CHECKS 73
AN UNSOLVED PROBLEM 76

vii
CONTENTS

Part II: MARSTON'S ISLAND 81
ABOARD SHIP 83
THE MYSTERY OF THE INDIAN CHESS SET 87
ANOTHER QUESTION OF LOCATION 89
HOLMES SETTLES A DISPUTE 90
THE CASE OF THE DROPPED PAWN 93
FROM WHERE? 95
DIFFICULT? 97
THOUGHTS OF A LOGICIAN 99
A QUESTION OF PROMOTION 105
SHADES OF THE PAST 106
SOME CHILLING REMINISCENCES 112
A DISPLACED BISHOP 118
A REMARKABLE MONOCHROMATIC 120
LADY ASHLEY'S PROBLEM 122
A LITTLE MYSTIFICATION 123
ON MARSTON'S ISLAND 124
HOLMES EXPLAINS IT 129
EPILOGUE 141
Appendix I: MORIARTY'S PROBLEMS 145
Appendix II: SOLUTIONS 151
Appendix III: SOLUTIONS TO MORIARTY'S PROBLEMS 163

viii