The positions are taken from World Championship matches, unofficial and official, from 1834-2018. From 1886, the World Champion title became official, with Wilhelm (later William) Steinitz as the first world champion.
My biggest takeaways from working with the material for the 2020 Chess Calendar:
- Almost 200 years of recent chess history with the best in the world competing, is bound to produce great puzzle material. I recognized many of the positions when working with the material, but it is nice to put them in the right context. I ploughed through approximately 2500 games before selecting the 366 puzzles for the 2020 Chess Calendar.
- Many of the level 1 puzzles (Mondays) are big mistakes or blunders taken from these games, that even the best in the world can make. The level rises thru Thursday (level 4), Friday is designated to endgames, and for weekends, I have different kinds of chess fun including mates, problems and studies.
