Sam Loyd
Samuel Loyd (January 31, 1841 - April 10, 1911) was an American puzzle author and recreational mathematician.
Loyd claimed to have invented the famous fifteen puzzle. He also authored a number of chess problems, often with witty themes of solutions. Following his death, his book Cyclopedia of Puzzles was published (1914).
An enthusiast of Tangram puzzles, Loyd published a book of seven hundred unique Tangram designs and a fanciful history of the origin of the Tangram. Europe and America were experiencing a Tangram craze at the time, and Loyd's popular book earned him a significant amount of income.
One of his best known chess problems is the following. White is to move and mate black in five moves against any defense:
Loyd bet a friend of his that he could not pick a piece that didn't give mate in the main line, and when it was published in 1861 it was with the stipulation that white mates with "the least likely piece or pawn". Loyd called the problem "Excelsior" after the poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The solution can be found by clicking on the diagram.
Books
- Mathematical Puzzles of Sam Loyd: Selected and edited by Martin Gardner.
- The Puzzle King : Sam Loyd's Chess Problems and Selected Mathematical Puzzles, edited by Sid Pickard.
- Sam Loyd's Book of Tangram Puzzles (The 8th Book of Tan Part I), Sam Loyd, Dover Publications.
See also
External links
- Farmer and Wife to Catch Rooster and Hen (http://www.cut-the-knot.org/SimpleGames/RFWH.shtml) - interactive Sam Loyd's puzzle
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Categories: Puzzle designers | 1841 births | 1911 deaths