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The Chess Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes: Fifty Tantalizing Problems of Chess Detection
Join the master sleuth as he and Dr. Watson examine interrupted chess matches at clubs and country homes, examining the pieces' current positions to identify previous moves. Rather than predicting the outcome of these games, the Baker Street duo focus on past events, using the same variety of logical reasoning that unlocks the secrets to their ever-popular mysteries. Holmes instructs Watson (and us) in the intricacies of retrograde analysis in order to deduce on which square the white queen was captured, whether a pawn has been promoted, and which piece has been replaced by a coin. The mysteries grow increasingly complex, culminating in a double murder perpetrated by the devious Professor Moriarty.
Philosopher and logician Raymond Smullyan brilliantly recaptures the mood of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's tales. Readers need only a knowledge of how the pieces move; the first puzzles explain all of the concepts that arise later on. These witty and challenging problems will captivate chess aficionados, puzzle enthusiasts, Sherlock Holmes fans, and everyone who relishes mysteries, crime stories, and tales of detection.
Philosopher and logician Raymond Smullyan brilliantly recaptures the mood of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's tales. Readers need only a knowledge of how the pieces move; the first puzzles explain all of the concepts that arise later on. These witty and challenging problems will captivate chess aficionados, puzzle enthusiasts, Sherlock Holmes fans, and everyone who relishes mysteries, crime stories, and tales of detection.
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
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596 people want to read
About the author
Raymond M. Smullyan
84 books272 followersRaymond M. Smullyan was a logician, musician, Zen master, puzzle master, and writer.
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August 15, 2014I had not seen my old friend Holmes for some time, and when I arrived at 221B Baker Street I found him intent on the study of a foreign newspaper.
"What do you know about the Chess Olympiad, Watson?" he asked without looking up.
"I believe it is a bi-yearly team tournament," I said, unable to hide my satisfaction at, for once, being moderately well-informed. "The most recent edition was held in Tromsø, Norway, and has just finished. China won the open event, and, if my memory serves me, Russia took first place in the women's section."
"Very good!" replied Holmes impatiently. "And how successful were the teams from Burundi and the Seychelles?"
"I have no idea!" I said, surprised. "I was, to be honest, unaware that these countries were renowned in chess circles."
"Up until this week," said Holmes, as he carefully lit his pipe and arranged several clippings on the table, "you would have been correct. But there have been some interesting developments." He blew out a fragrant cloud of smoke. "To begin, somewhere around the second round, the entire Burundian women's team disappeared. They failed to arrive for their third, fourth and fifth round matches, and were then removed from the scoreboard."
"Is this a common occurrence in chess tournaments?" I asked, puzzled.
"Very definitely not," replied Holmes. "In fact, it is almost unique in my experience. But there is more to come. In the final round, a player from the Seychelles collapsed during their match against Rwanda. Play was stopped, and the doctors present made strenuous efforts to revive him, but without success. The poor fellow - a Mr. Kurt Meier - was pronounced dead soon after."
"How extraordinary!" I exclaimed.
"Indeed," said Holmes. "So you will understand that I became even more curious when the Norwegian newspapers this morning reported that another player had been found dead in his hotel room. They stressed that foul play is not suspected. But I wonder."
"As one well might!" I said.
"I see we are in agreement," Holmes replied. "This matter clearly requires more careful investigation. I have taken the liberty of booking tickets on the 3.15 to Oslo; with a little luck, that will allow us to catch the connecting flight to Tromsø."
All the events described above are apparently genuine. If anyone feels like continuing the story, please be my guest!
"What do you know about the Chess Olympiad, Watson?" he asked without looking up.
"I believe it is a bi-yearly team tournament," I said, unable to hide my satisfaction at, for once, being moderately well-informed. "The most recent edition was held in Tromsø, Norway, and has just finished. China won the open event, and, if my memory serves me, Russia took first place in the women's section."
"Very good!" replied Holmes impatiently. "And how successful were the teams from Burundi and the Seychelles?"
"I have no idea!" I said, surprised. "I was, to be honest, unaware that these countries were renowned in chess circles."
"Up until this week," said Holmes, as he carefully lit his pipe and arranged several clippings on the table, "you would have been correct. But there have been some interesting developments." He blew out a fragrant cloud of smoke. "To begin, somewhere around the second round, the entire Burundian women's team disappeared. They failed to arrive for their third, fourth and fifth round matches, and were then removed from the scoreboard."
"Is this a common occurrence in chess tournaments?" I asked, puzzled.
"Very definitely not," replied Holmes. "In fact, it is almost unique in my experience. But there is more to come. In the final round, a player from the Seychelles collapsed during their match against Rwanda. Play was stopped, and the doctors present made strenuous efforts to revive him, but without success. The poor fellow - a Mr. Kurt Meier - was pronounced dead soon after."
"How extraordinary!" I exclaimed.
"Indeed," said Holmes. "So you will understand that I became even more curious when the Norwegian newspapers this morning reported that another player had been found dead in his hotel room. They stressed that foul play is not suspected. But I wonder."
"As one well might!" I said.
"I see we are in agreement," Holmes replied. "This matter clearly requires more careful investigation. I have taken the liberty of booking tickets on the 3.15 to Oslo; with a little luck, that will allow us to catch the connecting flight to Tromsø."
All the events described above are apparently genuine. If anyone feels like continuing the story, please be my guest!
February 15, 2022
Not the best Sherlock fan fiction I've ever read, but excellent introduction to retrograde analysis.
June 29, 2021
I’m not exactly sure when I started “reading“ this, if that’s what you say when referencing this book. Sure, there’s dialogue meant to replicate the best-known characters from the books/movies, such as Holmes, Watson, Marston, the Palmerston brothers... and naturally, Moriarty. Absolutely do NOT purchase this with the idea that it’s going to be some clever little novella about Sherlock Holmes and his love of chess. It’s not so much a book as it is a puzzle book. More specifically, logic puzzles. Even more specifically, chess logic puzzles based on retrograde analysis. As another reviewer commented, I really had no idea that these types of problems existed for fun and that you could use knowledge of chess moves, positions, and pieces to create endless scenarios.
The book isn’t really ordered from easiest and most difficult. Some of the puzzles I was able to figure out quite easily without much prompting, others, admittedly, I had to look to the back for more information to lead me to my answer, and some more difficult to the point where I could only look up the solution and hoped I could follow through it all. I think I saw another review where someone had said you only needed a amateur’s knowledge of chess in order to understand the questions being asked and solve them accordingly.
I’m not sure I agree with that. No, you certainly don’t need to be a grandmaster. But, just because you know the pieces and how they move, along with some basic opening moves and a few attack and defense strategies, doesn’t mean you are going to follow the problems presented fast enough. You really have to be able to visualize a chessboard in your head (because the ones shown to illustrate the various scenarios are NOT labeled A-H; 1-8). You should also at least be familiar with some of the more intermediate and advanced aspects of play in the game, and recognize certain oddities, like very rare times in a game where you may actually promote a piece, but under-promote it based on a particular strategy.
En passant, castling (kingside v. queenside), promotions, monochromatic games, etc. are all aspects of chess you should be acutely aware of it you intend to solve a good number of these puzzles (there are 50 total). Solid four stars for giving my brain a good workout. Commentary was a bit scattered however and generally fell flat, thanks to no real direction. I am sure I will go back to this book and the tougher puzzles, and challenge myself to understand them better than I have.
Do not buy this book if you do not love chess, if you don’t want to spend 95% of the time working out puzzles, and especially do not buy it if you don’t have much patience and become frustrated easily/quickly. This book can easily do that to a person, and you’ll never solve anything if you’re impatient. I highly recommend, however, it to those who love chess and challenging their brain in ways they’ve never challenged it before. :)
The book isn’t really ordered from easiest and most difficult. Some of the puzzles I was able to figure out quite easily without much prompting, others, admittedly, I had to look to the back for more information to lead me to my answer, and some more difficult to the point where I could only look up the solution and hoped I could follow through it all. I think I saw another review where someone had said you only needed a amateur’s knowledge of chess in order to understand the questions being asked and solve them accordingly.
I’m not sure I agree with that. No, you certainly don’t need to be a grandmaster. But, just because you know the pieces and how they move, along with some basic opening moves and a few attack and defense strategies, doesn’t mean you are going to follow the problems presented fast enough. You really have to be able to visualize a chessboard in your head (because the ones shown to illustrate the various scenarios are NOT labeled A-H; 1-8). You should also at least be familiar with some of the more intermediate and advanced aspects of play in the game, and recognize certain oddities, like very rare times in a game where you may actually promote a piece, but under-promote it based on a particular strategy.
En passant, castling (kingside v. queenside), promotions, monochromatic games, etc. are all aspects of chess you should be acutely aware of it you intend to solve a good number of these puzzles (there are 50 total). Solid four stars for giving my brain a good workout. Commentary was a bit scattered however and generally fell flat, thanks to no real direction. I am sure I will go back to this book and the tougher puzzles, and challenge myself to understand them better than I have.
Do not buy this book if you do not love chess, if you don’t want to spend 95% of the time working out puzzles, and especially do not buy it if you don’t have much patience and become frustrated easily/quickly. This book can easily do that to a person, and you’ll never solve anything if you’re impatient. I highly recommend, however, it to those who love chess and challenging their brain in ways they’ve never challenged it before. :)
September 11, 2020
Although the book's title mentions chess and Holmes, the book is not what would you expect. Usually, chess is all about playing a match or finding mates and best moves as puzzles. However, the chess puzzles in the book are completely different. They're of another level. They're mainly about what's so-called retrograde and monochromatic analyses. The first one, retrograde analysis, is about finding what moves have been played in a particular position and then you based on that finding you could deduce if castling is allowed or if White could mate in one move, or Black's Queen's bishop was on that square or this square, etc. It's super fun. The other one, monochromatic, is about games played by moving on the same colored squares, e.g. finding the right color of a piece, etc. I felt that retrograde was much nicer and brainy so to speak.
To be honest, I didn't know that the chess puzzles in the book were of these kinds. Had I known beforehand, I might have opted against reading it. Now that I read it, I learned a huge deal about a game I thought I knew it very well. Although the puzzles are different from typical chess problems they are just as exciting and perhaps even maybe a bit more enjoyable. I defiantly would want to continue learning more on how to solve such puzzles. They're amazing. The only issue that bothered me and it was a big distraction is in the second part of the book. The writer simply opted against showing the solutions so you have to go through the pages at the end of the book to check them. It might sound like a trivial issue but believe me it's an annoying distraction.
The Homles part (storywise), on the other hand, is rather dull and boring. The story starts late and it's confusing and super boring. I could say perhaps that the idea of the book is out of the world but the execution doesn't meet the expectation. As a whole book, it's a magnificent idea but executed poorly.
The other thing is that the puzzles' level varies throughout the book which is a good thing. Some of them are really difficult and some are just okay. To enjoy the puzzle you have to enjoy the regular chess puzzles. Otherwise, you will find the book super boring.
To be honest, I didn't know that the chess puzzles in the book were of these kinds. Had I known beforehand, I might have opted against reading it. Now that I read it, I learned a huge deal about a game I thought I knew it very well. Although the puzzles are different from typical chess problems they are just as exciting and perhaps even maybe a bit more enjoyable. I defiantly would want to continue learning more on how to solve such puzzles. They're amazing. The only issue that bothered me and it was a big distraction is in the second part of the book. The writer simply opted against showing the solutions so you have to go through the pages at the end of the book to check them. It might sound like a trivial issue but believe me it's an annoying distraction.
The Homles part (storywise), on the other hand, is rather dull and boring. The story starts late and it's confusing and super boring. I could say perhaps that the idea of the book is out of the world but the execution doesn't meet the expectation. As a whole book, it's a magnificent idea but executed poorly.
The other thing is that the puzzles' level varies throughout the book which is a good thing. Some of them are really difficult and some are just okay. To enjoy the puzzle you have to enjoy the regular chess puzzles. Otherwise, you will find the book super boring.
October 1, 2016
Questo vecchio libro di Raymond Smullyan, come dice il titolo, parla di problemi di scacchi. Ma questi problemi sono peculiari, perché le partite giocate sono tutto fuorché serie, pur rimanendo legali. Essi sono infatti definiti come "analisi retrogada": partendo dalla posizione mostrata occorre scoprire cosa è successo in passato, se per esempio si può fare un arrocco, oppure capire in quale di due caselle adiacenti bisogna posizionare un pedone, o così via. Essendo necessarie grandi doti di logica, è solo naturale che il protagonista sia Sherlock Holmes con il fidato dottor Watson. Secondo me dopo i primi esempi ci si stanca un po', ma ci sono chicche tipo il matto che si può solo ottenere con la promozione di un pedone in un pezzo del colore opposto (fino a duecento anni fa non era vietato...) che vale la pena leggere.
July 21, 2016
This was a really fun book to read, and a nice change of pace compared to usual chess puzzles. The plot itself wasn't that enticing, but the fun problems made up for it. I especially enjoyed the 2-3 "troll" problems near the end of the first section.
March 10, 2022
In a "retrograde analysis" problem, or "retro," the solver must logically deduce something about what happened in the past to lead up to a given position. It is an entire subgenre of chess problems, but it bears no relevance to the actual game of chess. Also, studying such problems won't make you a better chess player. But they're fun! Problems in this book include questions such as: Can White legally castle in this position?; Is there a promoted piece on the board?; What piece does the coin on the board represent? This book is full of very clever problems, that at first statement seem absurd. For example, there is a position in the book for which you can prove that there is a promoted piece on the board, but you cannot tell what color it is. Also, there is a position for which you can prove there is a mate-in-one, but you can't tell what the mating move actually is. If you like brainteasers and you know how to play chess, you'll probably like the problems in this book. However, some of the themes involved in solving the problems can get a little repetitive and tiresome. Also, solutions are often long and require a lot of concentration just to read them, much less come up with them.
This book doesn't merely present the problems and solutions, there is also a running narrative that includes the famous detective character, Sherlock Holmes. It is well-written and authentic-sounding, but the narrative often strains credulity. It's a little too much that Holmes and Watson keep stumbling into strangers not only playing chess, but playing chess in the most ridiculous manner possible in order to arrive at a retro problem.
This book doesn't merely present the problems and solutions, there is also a running narrative that includes the famous detective character, Sherlock Holmes. It is well-written and authentic-sounding, but the narrative often strains credulity. It's a little too much that Holmes and Watson keep stumbling into strangers not only playing chess, but playing chess in the most ridiculous manner possible in order to arrive at a retro problem.
July 16, 2024
This is a book of retrograde analysis chess puzzles - given that the board looks like this, what moves must have happened? It has some really great puzzles. Some are overly fiddly, but some are really simple and clever.
I didn't love all the writing about Sherlock Holmes. I admit it was briefly satisfying to imagine Holmes walking into a room and saying "Hm, I see neither side can castle" or something, which does seem the sort of thing Holmes would enjoy doing. On the other hand, the dialogue was pretty clunky, and the schtick got old fast.
My husband tried to convince me to read this book ages ago, and I said I needed to get better at chess first. He thought it wasn't necessary, because these are basically logic problems on a chess board and don't directly depend on chess skill. But I refused to read it and have improved dramatically at chess since then (to about 1400 on Lichess rapid, which is my most calibrated rating). In retrospect, I think I improved the correct amount before picking this up. It's true that the puzzles are very much not about chess strategy, but I think having some board visualization ability helped a lot, and a couple of the problems built retrograde analysis into a more traditional "mate in 2" type problem.
I didn't love all the writing about Sherlock Holmes. I admit it was briefly satisfying to imagine Holmes walking into a room and saying "Hm, I see neither side can castle" or something, which does seem the sort of thing Holmes would enjoy doing. On the other hand, the dialogue was pretty clunky, and the schtick got old fast.
My husband tried to convince me to read this book ages ago, and I said I needed to get better at chess first. He thought it wasn't necessary, because these are basically logic problems on a chess board and don't directly depend on chess skill. But I refused to read it and have improved dramatically at chess since then (to about 1400 on Lichess rapid, which is my most calibrated rating). In retrospect, I think I improved the correct amount before picking this up. It's true that the puzzles are very much not about chess strategy, but I think having some board visualization ability helped a lot, and a couple of the problems built retrograde analysis into a more traditional "mate in 2" type problem.
April 28, 2022
มีส่วนผสมลงตัว ชวนปวดหัวของ logic puzzle, chess puzzle และ retrograde analysis ผูกเรื่องโดยใช้ตัวละครนักสืบชื่อดังจากปลายปากกาของดอยล์ เชอร์ล็อก โฮล์มส์ ร่วมถกปริศนาลึกลับที่ปรากฏบนกระดานหมากรุกกับคุณหมอวัตสัน (เนื้อเรื่องคุณหมอเป็นผู้เล่า) ลองดูตัวอย่างสักข้อจากปกของ Hutchinson (ไม่ใช่ปกนี้ ลองกูเกิ้ลดูรูปปกนะ) เป็นตัวอย่างที่บอกแนวหนังสือได้ดี ก่อนมาเป็นรูปนี้ ตาสุดท้ายคือฝ่ายดำเดิน ถามว่าดำเดินจากไหนไปไหน แล้วตาก่อนหน้านั้นขาวเดินอะไร (ย่อหน้าต่อไปคือเฉลย)
... ดูเหมือนเป็นไปไม่ได้ใช่ไหมครับ เพราะดำมีเหลืออยู่แค่ตัวเดียวคือคิง และคิงเดินจาก b7, b8 ไม่ได้แน่ ครั้นจะเดินจาก a7 ก็แปลว่ามันต้องเดินหนีบิชอบรุกนะสิ แต่บิชอบไปรุกตรงนั้นได้ยังไง เพราะเบี้ยขาว h1 ดันมาอุดทา���เอาไว้ ปริศนาทั้งหมดจะคลี่คลายทันทีถ้าคุณพิจารณาความเป็นไปได้ว่า ด้านล่างของรูปคือฝั่งดำ และบิชอบตัวนั้นมาจากเบี้ยขาว f2 หรือ g2 ที่ได้โปรโมตเป็นบิชอบที่ g1
... ดูเหมือนเป็นไปไม่ได้ใช่ไหมครับ เพราะดำมีเหลืออยู่แค่ตัวเดียวคือคิง และคิงเดินจาก b7, b8 ไม่ได้แน่ ครั้นจะเดินจาก a7 ก็แปลว่ามันต้องเดินหนีบิชอบรุกนะสิ แต่บิชอบไปรุกตรงนั้นได้ยังไง เพราะเบี้ยขาว h1 ดันมาอุดทา���เอาไว้ ปริศนาทั้งหมดจะคลี่คลายทันทีถ้าคุณพิจารณาความเป็นไปได้ว่า ด้านล่างของรูปคือฝั่งดำ และบิชอบตัวนั้นมาจากเบี้ยขาว f2 หรือ g2 ที่ได้โปรโมตเป็นบิชอบที่ g1
March 7, 2021
Great puzzles, with some pretty odd/forced storyline. The puzzles are for a very specific audience, but I'm firmly in it. Some of them are little bit convoluted/difficult, but this was the first time I'd actually worked through them properly without skipping to the answers (too much), and I enjoyed it. Probably prefer the storytelling in 'Arabian Knights', but this is also enjoyable.
April 3, 2021
Capital, Watson!
Super nerdy collection of unique chess puzzles that challenge the reader to deduce prior facts based off the setup, ie who was the last player to move. Often not representative of realistic games, so can be solved by general puzzle lovers not just chess masters. Independent puzzles and byte-sized, so no need to go through contiguously.
Super nerdy collection of unique chess puzzles that challenge the reader to deduce prior facts based off the setup, ie who was the last player to move. Often not representative of realistic games, so can be solved by general puzzle lovers not just chess masters. Independent puzzles and byte-sized, so no need to go through contiguously.
nope
March 26, 2021Got this book in a mystery package from the library book store. Thought it might be mysteries involving chess; turned out to be chess problems. I am not a fan of chess, so back to the library it goes.
September 12, 2024
Smullyan has fun books on philosophy and Zen, and a large number of logical puzzle books, but this one is my favorite. A simple, brilliant concept: here's a chess position, can you deduce some given fact about it? If you like this one, then next get his The Chess Mysteries of the Arabian Knights.
September 14, 2018
Several provocative problems in retrograde analysis.
May 23, 2019
Lovely puzzles, but starts off too hard, and the presentation is messy.
April 16, 2022
Wish all books were like this. Although my puzzle rating is 2600, these retrograde problems are quite challenging. Especially the last 15 or so.
August 7, 2023
Very nice book, provided you have some basic chess knowledge and understanding.
August 27, 2017
This book is a puzzle book that has a story line connecting the puzzles but before being a story it's a book of Retrograde Analysis done on chess boards. The story was fun but really in terms of characters it's only really building on 2 well established characters that we already know (and love): Sherlock and Dr. Watson. I still really enjoyed the book but that may be linked to the fact that I love chess and mind games and that those kept me from thinking too much about story and plot!
Puzzles and games are fun and this introduced me to a new kind and that I am very happy about!
Puzzles and games are fun and this introduced me to a new kind and that I am very happy about!
February 28, 2014
I've lost my copy of this book and would like to work through all the puzzles. Reading it made me more appreciative of Sherlock Holmes - I'd not noticed the connection between his methods of detection and this type of chess puzzle. The title of the book is a forgivable teaser: Beyond pointing that connection out, there is very little of Holmes in the book. It is a collection of the puzzles that have the required form. A nice change from the usual sort of puzzles. The book contains the best examples of the use of Modus Tollendo Tollens anywhere! Ideal for teachers of logic, and not just the lover of logic puzzles.
November 5, 2013
Many of the hardest problems in the world aren't really all that complex once you manage to ask the right questions. The hardest part is to figure out what those questions are. This book is full of problems of just that type. In fact this is probably the best place to train your right-question-asking abilities. In the beginning you are likely totally lost, but once Sherlock has explained the basic techniques, the problems at the end will not pose an unsurmountable challenge (but are still incredibly fun!) Recommended to absolutely everyone!
September 15, 2015
Raymond Smullyan is a fabulous writer, and this is by far my favorite of his. Even if you're not remotely a fan of chess, these "retroactive" chess problems require and inspire a form of deduction that's both enjoyable & stimulating. If you like logical puzzles that make you think in creative ways & help you understand valuable concepts, Smullyan's books are all must-reads, and this one tops the list....
March 2, 2011
This is not a book of chess problems. It is a book of logic puzzles about chess positions, couched in the charming idiom of Holmes and Watson. And they are astonishing. Who would have guessed that one could ever deduce whether White has moved a knight, or whether a queen is promoted or original? These puzzles are challenging, novel, and ingenious.
November 7, 2019
This is one of my favorite books. The author constructs chess puzzles where the goal is to find not the next move, but the prior move, or a sequence leading to the given position. And then it has the theme of Sherlock Holmes added on top.
July 4, 2014
Haven't read all of it, but I've read enough to treasure this book. It's a group of logic puzzles at a chess board. It is more for people who like puzzles than for chess players. Well written. Unique.
January 7, 2011
Raymond Smullyan is my Logician Dumbledore. I own and read every book of his I can get my hands on. Which is well over a dozen.
May 20, 2015
Excellent puzzler! And the way the chess puzzles are integrated with the Sherlock Holmes (original) stories are great fun!
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May 1, 2017Edition: Reprint
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