100 Dollar theme

White and a black Excelsior with promotion to knights in a helpmate in 5. So far it has not been achieved without promoted force on the board.

⧖ This long-unsolved challenge dates back to 1963 and was proposed by Philip Leonhard Rothenberg (USA, 1906-1992) in the book The Personality of Chess (by I. A. Horowitz and P. L. Rothenberg), after years of unsuccessful attempts to compose a correct example. He offered a $100 prize to the first person to succeed, which led to the theme’s name.

See also: Oudot task.

Alias: $100 theme.

Rinder, Gerd

Die Schwalbe, 1969