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Sam Loyd
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Sam Loyd, the "Puzzle King", is an authentic American genius. Famous as a composer of chess problems and puzzles of every kind, his inventive and original posers have amused, perplexed and delighted people by the millions. Presented in this volume are Loyd's 710 chess problems, artful and cunning, along with 34 of his most popular prize-winning math puzzles. Large, clear diagrams and easy-to-follow solutions are among the features making this edition an instant classic, one that will challenge and entertain the reader for years. Endgame enthusiasts, students of tactics and fans of chess problems will all be amazed at Loyd's creations. They feature brilliant piece sacrifices, deceptive withdrawals, waiting tactics and subtle strategic play that reach into the very heart of chess.
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Sam Loyd (1841-1911) was America's greatest puzzle expert and invented thousands of ingenious and tremendously popular logic and math puzzles. After his death, Loyd's son published the Cyclopedia of Puzzles, a huge collection of Loyd's puzzles which had appeared in various newspapers and magazines over the previous fifty years. The following puzzles come from that collection:
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"Sam Loyd did not invent the 15 puzzle and had nothing to do with promoting or popularizing it. The puzzle craze that was created by the 15 Puzzle began in January 1880 in the US and in April in Europe. The craze ended by July 1880 and Sam Loyd’s first article about the puzzle was not published until sixteen years later, January 1896. Loyd first claimed in 1891 that he invented the puzzle, and he continued until his death a 20 year campaign to falsely take credit for the puzzle. The actual inventor was Noyes Chapman, the Postmaster of Canastota, New York, and he applied for a patent in March 1880."
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Sam Loyd did not claim to have invented all the puzzles in this book. Some he simply improved. Others he credited to others. An example is the Towers of Hanoi puzzle on page 223. This puzzle is still sold in every childrens store. The inventor originally named it the Tower of Brahma or Bramah, said to be in India.
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Sam Loyd was born in Philadelphia on January 30, 1841. His father, a real estate operator, moved the family to New York in 1844, where Loyd attended public school until he was 17. He studied to be an engineer but became obsessed with the game of chess and as a youth frequented a chess club where his interest in making puzzles started. His first problem was published by a New York paper when he was 14, and during the next five years his output of chess puzzles was so prolific that he was known throughout the chess world. By 1858 he was hailed as the leading American writer of chess problems. In 1877 and 1878, Loyd wrote a weekly chess page for
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Sam Loyd was born in Philadelphia on January 30, 1841. Young Sam became deeply obsessed with chess and frequented a chess club where his interest in making puzzles started. His first problem was published by a New York paper when he was 14, and during the next five years his output of chess puzzles was so prolific that he was known throughout the chess world. By 1858 he was hailed as the leading American writer of chess problems. When Loyd was only 17, he invented his ingeniously difficult "Trick Mules Puzzle," which was later sold to showman Phineas T. Barnum for $10,000.
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Sam Loyd