By Marcos Maldonado Roland – Editor of the chess magazine “Lance”(1995-1999)

“A country is made of men and books.”

Monteiro Lobato, a Brazilian writer

“Chess lovers in this part of South America will surely congratulate me for having had the idea of putting together in a book a selection of the best problems of our authors.”

That’s how Arthur Napoleão starts the introduction to his book “Caissana Brasileira”, published in 1898. In the “romantic” Brazilian chess of the second half of the XIX century, there was not a clear demarcation line between chess players, chess composers and chess solvers. There were not chess professionals, nor even organized tournaments such as there were in Europe, and chess experts, in general, would practise indistinctily every facet of chess activities. Arthur Napoleão himself was one of the best players and also one of the best composers. See below one of his problems:

Problem 1 - Arthur Napoleão

#3 (11+7)

“Caissana Brasileira” is essentially a book on chess problems, containing about 430 diagrams. However, in the introduction the author summarizes the history of chess in Brazil until that year 1898. According to him, this history starts only twenty years before the publication of his book.

Among the players-composers mentioned by Napoleão, there are prominent people of political, social and cultural life of that time in Brazil: for example, the musicians Leopoldo Miguez and Carlos Gomes (Napoleão himself was a distinguished pianist), the admiral Saldanha da Gama and the famous writer J. M. Machado de Assis (one of the 100 genius of the occidental literature according to the selection made by the American critic Harold Bloom for his book “Genius”).

As far as chess is concerned, above all these honourable amateurs stands the lawyer and journalist João Caldas Viana Neto (known in chess circles simply as Caldas Viana), born in 1862 of a traditional, aristocratic family. His father, João Caldas Viana Filho, the Viscount of Pirapetinga, was a friend of D. Pedro II, the Brazilian second emperor, well known as a protector of arts.

Caldas Viana distinguished himself as a chess organizer, as a chess player, and, last but not the least, as a chess composer. As an enthusiastic chess organizer and promoter, he founded and directed chess clubs, edited chess columns in newspapers, helped Arthur Napoleão in preparing his book, etc.

As a chess player, Caldas Viana was widely acclaimed as the best of South America in that time. In 1905, he drew a match with the master Rudolph Teichman, adversary of Rubinstein, Alekhine and Lasker in the great tournaments of the early XX century. After the match, Caldas Viana showed his original searches in openings, specially the Ruy Lopez and the Evans Gambit, to Teichman. His favourite variation of the Ruy Lopez as black was baptized “Rio de Janeiro” and deserved a praising article by the great Emmanuel Lasker, in the French magazine “La Stratégie”.

The following game by Caldas Viana is well known because of its brilliant final attack and it was acclaimed for decades as the “Brazilian Imortal”:

White: Caldas Viana

Black: A. Silvestre

Rio de Janeiro 1900

Evans Gambit

1.e4 e5 2.Sf3 Sc6 3.Lc4 Lc5 4.b4 Lxb4 5.c3 La5 6.d4 exd4 7.0-0 d6 8.Db3 Df6 9.e5 dxe5 10.Te1 Ld7 11.Lg5 Df5 12.Sxe5! Sxe5 13.f4 f6 14.Dxb7 Td8 15. fxe5 fxg5 16.Tf1 Dxe5 17.Sd2 Se7 18.Tae1 Dc5 19.Lf7+ Rf8 20.Lg6+ Lf5 21.Lxf5 Sxf5 22.Se4 Db6 23.Txf5+ Kg8 (diagram).

The scene is ready for a problem-like move...

position after 23...Kg8

24.Sd6!! dxc3+

“Objetively” speaking, better for Black was 24...Dxb7 25.Sxb7 Lxc3 26.Sxd8 Lxe1 27.Kf1!? (maybe 27.Sf7 g6 28.Tf1 Bd2 29.g3!?, as suggested by GM Darcy Lima, would be a better try for White) 27... g6 (27...Ld2 28.Ke2 g6 29.Tf1 Bb4 30.Sf7) 28.Tf7 La5 29.Td7 h6 30.Sxd4 Lxd4 31.Txd4 Kf7 32.Td7+ Ke6 33.Txc7 Tf8+ 34.Ke2 Tf7, with a probable draw. But in this case the elegant finish which follows wouldn’t ever have come to light...

25.Kh1 h6 26.Dd5+ Kh7 27.De4! Kg8 28.De6+ Kh7 29. Tf6! Thf8 30.Df5+ Kg8 31.Txf8+ Txf8 32.Dxf8+! Kxf8 33.Te8 mate (a model!).

As a chess composer, Caldas Viana was also generally regarded as the best of that time in Brazil. Among a dozen of his problems presented in “Caissana Brasileira”, I selected the following twomovers:

Problem 2 – Caldas Viana

Problem 3– Caldas Viana

#2 (12+6)

#2 (12+10)

But the most famous problem of all published in “Caissana Brasileira” is undoubtedly this very elegant and well constructed threemover, which closes this article:

Problem 4 – Caldas Viana

Caissana Brasileira 1898 (after Chess Monthly 1882)

#3 (7+6)

Solutions

Problem 1: 1.Th4 zz.; 1…Sany 2.Sge6 and 3.Ta6#; 1…Kc5 2.Sd3+ Kd4 (2...Kc5 3.Ta6#) 3.Sf3#

Problem 2: 1.Da3 zz.; 1...Ke5 (Kxe3) 2.d4# ; 1...Tany 2.Da7#; 1...Lany 2.Dc3#

The first pair of variations features two distinct pin mates delivered by the same pawn move and the second pair shows line opening black moves made by the same pieces pinned in the first pair, both answered by mate delivered by the white queen. Double flight giving key. A very beautiful, original and harmonious set. An outstanding achievement given the time it was composed.

Problem 3: 1.Da1 zz.; 1...T(c3) any 2.Tf5#; 1...S(c5)any 2.Tf5#; 1…Sd3 (black correction) 2.Se3#; 1…S(e4)any 2.Sf6#; 1...Kxd4 2.Td2#

Another beautiful combination of pins and line openings, with a black correction.

Problem 4: 1.Kg8!! zz.

1...Kd3 2.Df4: i) 2...Kc3 3.Dd2#; ii)2...d4 3.Dxf3#; iii) 2...c3 3.Lb5#

1...d4 2.Db7!: i) 2...Kd3 3.Dxf3#; ii) 2...d3 3.Dg7#

1...Kd4 2.Td2+: i) 2...Kc3 3.Db2#; ii) 2...Ke4 3.Lc2#; iii) 2...Kc5 3.Df8#

Superb key, some beautiful and precise variations. A masterpiece!