My First Chess Composition

The Puzzle

Give it a try! White to play and checkmate in 7. Good luck!
(FEN: n2Bn1RK/5p2/5P1k/6p1/2P1q1P1/8/B3pp2/4Q3 w - - 0 2 )

The Solution!

If you’re curious to check the answer (or don’t feel like solving it), the solution with an analysis is below.

• Right here ↓

I'm very happy how it turned out, I hope you enjoyed solving it as I did composing it! :)

My Thought Process In Composing It

If you’re interested in the creative process behind it, I’ll walk you through it below.

For the first step, I’m following advice from @Rfad (he has some insane compositions, so definitely check them out!). He told me that he usually starts by planning what the final checkmate looks like, and then works backwards from there, adding pieces and ideas that gradually “simplify” into that final mate. In other words, the solver first has to clear away the clutter (extra defensive resources and obstacles) in order to reach the solution. Of course, adding extra steps will cause extra problems to arise that need fixing.

Problems that need to be watched out for:

1. The puzzle is cooked (there exists an unintended shorter solution)
2. The intended idea can be bypassed by other defenses.
3. Dual solutions.
4. The intended idea is weakened. This can happen when there are too many extra variations.
5. The solution is too obvious.

Planning the mate:

Finding a theme:

Draft #1: Theme 1 Added:

Playing with piece placement

Extending it, adding another theme

Thinking of another way to extend it

Even though this didn't work because there exists a quicker checkmate, it still helped me make progress.

Fixing problems

Now Rg6+ leads to the fastest mate. But a new problem arises, it doesn't lead to a knight promotion checkmate.

Fixing more problems

The problem now is that there's a quicker solution than Bxg7+. fxg7 is faster, which doesn't lead to the knight promotion checkmate.

Finally got there!

Conclusion

Overall, I’m really happy with how the final puzzle turned out. I had a pretty difficult time trying to make everything fit together, but at the same time I also enjoyed the process, and I think it was really rewarding. I hope you enjoyed the puzzle and the thought process, and maybe this post could inspire you to give chess composing a try too!

Also, if you’re interested in solving more compositions, our community study database has a filter for it: The Chess Study Library, a database of high-quality lichess studies (free, no sign-in or anything).

Thanks for reading, and have a great day!