The latest entry in Bill Salot's long-running series of top-notch problem composing competitions is titled Virile Variations and features devious problems with "fake" solutions that conceal the real solution. The idea is that the solver will be misled into thinking the fake solution, which is both appealing and almost but not quite correct, is the real one.

A generous selection of six settings make up the contest entries, which you can quickly access by going to contests.checkermaven.com.

As an introduction, here's a sample problem from 1892, attributed to joint authors G. H. Slocum and C. Hefter.

BLACK

WHITE
White to Play and Draw

W:WK4,10,25:B9,K12,K19

Give this one a try, click on Read More to see the solution (and the fake solution), and then go on over the contest page for six more challenging problems ... and be sure to vote for your favorite!

Solution

Trunk

*10 7---A, 19-15, *7 3, 15-11---B, *25 22, 9-14, *4 8, 11-4, *3 7, 12-16, *7 10, Drawn.

A---Not 10 6, forms Variation 1, colors reversed, loses.

B---15-10, *4 8, 12-16, *8 4, 9-14, 4 8 or 3 8, Drawn.

Variation 1 (Fake Solution to Above Setting)

BLACK

WHITE
White to Play and Win

W:WK14,K21,24:B8,27,K29

*14 18, 27-32, *18 23, 32-28, *23 19, 8-11---A, *24 20, 28-32, *21 17, 29-25, *17 14, 25-30, *14-10, White Wins.

A---28-32 (8-12, *24 20, 28-32, 20 16, 32-28, same), 24 20, 32-28, *20 16, 8-12, *16 11, White Wins by 1st Position with extra pieces.

Editor's Note: We imagine that in these days of political correctness, the word "virile" might be viewed by some as a sexist term. While we certainly don't mean to offend, we're of the opinion that the word is perfectly acceptable in the context in which we used it.