This month we're making good on our promise (or was it a threat?) to come up with speed problems that are much more challenging than the ones we've been offering so far. You're not likely to solve these at sprint speeds, hence this month's title caption!

Toe up to the starting line and click below to display the problems and start the clock. Good luck! You can check your solutions by clicking on Read More. Afterwards, click here to cast your vote for the type of speed problems you prefer.

(This article has been edited subsequent to original publication due to valuable reader input. As a result you have three problems instead of two!)

Problem One (very hard for a timed problem)

Problem Two (medium difficulty, original erroneous diagram corrected)

Problem Three (quite hard, as originally published)

Solutions

Problem 1

How did you do with this one? Did you find the main line and variants? We'd say anything under five minutes is darn good for this one, as perhaps it is too hard for a speed problem.

27-24 19-23 25-30 16-20 A,B 31-27 23-32 30-26 20-27 26-31 White Wins. A neat block.

A 23-27 24-20 White Wins. A double exposure slip.

B 28-32 24-20 16-19 31-27 White Wins.

We're not sure who created this problem, but it's a nice one, and has the didactic advantage of displaying more than one possible tactical motif.

Problem 2

6-2 7-11 A 18-15 11-18 14-32 White Wins.

A 7-10 14-7 3-10 2-7 B White Wins.

B Not 2-6?? 25-21! Red Wins.

We had published this with a White man on 14 instead of a king; obviously this was incorrect and alert reader Brian Hinkle caught it within a few hours of publication. But see Problem Three below.

Problem 3

It's still a White win, and a flashy one at that!

6-2 7-11 (7-10 loses as in Problem 2) 17-21 and now if 25-30 (or 25-29) White plays a pretty three for three shot and wins on the move: 18-15! 11-18 2-7! 3-17 21-32 White Wins. Pretty tough going for a speed problem.