Christmas Puzzles 2 – Not that easy!

by Werner Keym - 26/12/2025

Take a look at this position, in which White should mate in two. Looks very easy, and hundreds of readers of the newspaper in which it appeared submitted a solution. But it was not correct. In our Christmas Puzzle week the consummate expert of unusual chess problems, Werner Keym, asks you to look carefully at the position and find a genuine way for White to mate Black in two moves. There are two other problems to solve. Photo: ChessBase

But this is easy! No it isn't!

by Werner Keym

"Boxing Day" is a holiday celebrated on December 26, on the second day after Christmas. It is a day to donate gifts to those in need, but it has evolved to become a part of Christmas festivities. I want to celebrate it with two deceptively simple chess problems you should look at carefully, and one regular problem which you should solve on a defending diagram.

2025 Christmas puzzle 3

White to mate in two

This two-move miniature seems to be very easy: 1.Rb6!? K×c4 2.Qd4#. And that was the "solution" that 223 of 237 readers of the daily newspaper Rhein-Zeitung Koblenz submitted in 2002. However, it was not correct. If you take a close look at the position, you might find the problem that it poses. And thinking about that may lead you to the right solution.

2025 Christmas Puzzle 4

White to mate in three

You may come up with a clever solution, like 1.f8N? g6 2.Kh6 g5 3.Ng6#, but once again this is not correct. For obvious reasons. Think about the problem that comes with it, and find the correct solution.

2025 Christmas Puzzle 5

Werner Keym, 2025

White to play and mate in six

This problem has a symmetrical position – its mirror axis runs through the centers of the squares d2-e4-f6-g8. I dedicated it to grandmaster Matthias Blübaum, and it was published on October 4th 2025 by the Stuttgarter Zeitung.

In the above diagram you can move the white pieces – an engine will defend for Black. Only the correct sequence will lead to a mate in six moves. You deserve congratulations if you can work out the solution without engine assistance.

Please do not post any solutions in our feedback section below. Let other readers enjoy the problems. Please submit your solution feedback here. We will reveal the solutions to all Christmas Puzzle in the first week of January 2026.

About the Author

Werner Keym, is a teacher (of French and Latin) and a musician who has organised more than 300 concerts in his town. In 2010, he ran as an independent candidate for Mayor of Meisenheim and won in a landslide. He held that position until 2014, when at 72 he retired to devote more time to his family — he has five grandchildren — and to his hobbies, foremost of which is problem chess.