In chess, a grotesque is a problem or endgame study which features a particularly unlikely or impossible initial position, especially one in which White fights with a very small force against a much larger black army. Grotesques are generally intended to be humorous.
A particularly extreme example by Ottó Bláthy is illustrated in the adjacent diagram. In the initial position Black has all sixteen pieces remaining and White has just a single pawn on its starting square, yet it is White who will deliver checkmate. This position in Forsyth-Edwards Notation is : 8/8/8/2p5/1pp5/brpp4/qpprpK1P/1nkbn3 w - - 0 1 The solution is: The fact that the black queen must be on a1 rather than a2 when White plays Nxb3 explains why 2.h4 does not work. Similarly, if the white knight takes a more direct route to the b3 square with 8.Ng6 Qa2 9.Ne5 Qa1 10.Nxc4? Qa2 11.Na5, Black can lose a move with 11...c4! 12.Nxc4 Qa1 13.Na5 Qa2 and there is no mate. This kind of precise timing is quite a common feature in this type of problem.
The composer most closely associated with the grotesque is probably Tigran Gorgiev; here is one of his examples. This position in Forsyth-Edwards Notation is : 8/8/4N3/4Q3/1pp5/1p3N2/bpqp1p2/nrkrbK2 w - - 0 1
This time, White is to play and draw. This is achieved by sacrificing most of his already small force to compel Black to repeat moves: Otherwise 2.Ne2+ leads to mate. and Black has nothing more than a draw by repetition. Note that only the squares c4 and e5 will do for the white knight; if, for example, 4.Nd4 then 4...Nc2 allows Black to free himself ; and if, for example, 5.Nc6 then Black can free himself with 5...Rbc1 or 5...Rdc1.
Moremover
Similar play to that found in grotesques such as these may also be found in very long moremovers, of which Ottó Bláthy was also a notable composer. To the right is a kind of problem quite closely related to these kinds of grotesques: this time it is White who has a clear material advantage, but it is difficult to make anything of it because of the lockedpawn chain. This position in Forsyth-Edwards Notation is : 8/8/8/1k3p2/p1p1pPp1/PpPpP1Pp/1P1P3P/QNK2NRR w - - 0 1 At first glance it seems there is nothing to be done—on moves like Rg2, White cannot make progress unless Black captures—but White does have one plan: to play Qa2 at an appropriate moment in order to threaten Qxb3. Doing this immediately does not work, but there is a way: and Black must either give up his queen or allow the b-pawn to promote.
