Sam Loyd

For people with a similar name, see Samuel Lloyd (disambiguation).

Sam Loyd
Born	Samuel Loyd (1841-01-30)January 30, 1841 Philadelphia, USA
Died	April 11, 1911(1911-04-11) (aged 70)
Known for	Chess, puzzles, mathematical games

Samuel Loyd (January 30, 1841 – April 10, 1911), born in Philadelphia and raised in New York, was an American chess player, chess composer, puzzle author, and recreational mathematician.

As a chess composer, he authored a number of chess problems, often with interesting themes. At his peak, Loyd was one of the best chess players in the U.S., and was ranked 15th in the world, according to chessmetrics.com.

He played in the strong Paris 1867 chess tournament (won by Ignatz von Kolisch) with little success, placing near the bottom of the field.

Following his death, his book Cyclopedia of 5000 Puzzles was published (1914) by his son. His son, named after his father, dropped the "Jr" from his name and started publishing reprints of his father's puzzles. Loyd was inducted into the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame.

Reception

Loyd is widely acknowledged as one of America's great puzzle-writers and popularizers, often mentioned as the greatest—Martin Gardner called him "America's greatest puzzler", and The Strand in 1898 dubbed him "the prince of puzzlers". As a chess problemist, his composing style is distinguished by wit and humour.

However, he is also known for lies and self-promotion, and criticized on these grounds—Martin Gardner's assessment continues "but also obviously a hustler", Canadian puzzler Mel Stover called Loyd "an old reprobate", and Matthew Costello calls him both "puzzledom's greatest celebrity...popularizer, genius," but also "huckster...and fast-talking snake oil salesman."

He collaborated with puzzler Henry Dudeney for a while, but Dudeny broke off the correspondence and accused Loyd of stealing his puzzles and publishing them under his own name. Dudeney despised Loyd so intensely he equated him with the Devil.

Loyd claimed from 1891 until his death in 1911 that he invented the fifteen puzzle, for example writing in the Cyclopedia of Puzzles (published 1914), p. 235:

The older inhabitants of Puzzleland will remember how in the early seventies I drove the entire world crazy over a little box of movable pieces which became known as the "14–15 Puzzle".

This is false as Loyd had nothing to do with the invention or popularity of the puzzle, in addition to the fact that the craze was in the early 1880s, not the early 1870s:

Sam Loyd did not invent the 15 puzzle and had nothing to do with promoting or popularizing it. The puzzle craze that was created by the 15 Puzzle began in January 1880 in the US and in April in Europe. The craze ended by July 1880 and Sam Loyd's first article about the puzzle was not published until sixteen years later, January 1896. Loyd first claimed in 1891 that he invented the puzzle, and he continued until his death a 20 year campaign to falsely take credit for the puzzle. The actual inventor was Noyes Chapman, the Postmaster of Canastota, New York, and he applied for a patent in March 1880.

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, which was presented as true and has been described as "Sam Loyd's Most Successful Hoax".

Chess problems

Excelsior problem

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Sam Loyd's "Excelsior". Mate in 5, 2nd prize, Paris Tourney, 1867. See "Excelsior" for the solution.

Main article: Excelsior (chess problem)

One of his best known chess problems is the following, called "Excelsior" by Loyd after the poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. White is to move and checkmate black in five moves against any defense:

Loyd bet a friend 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".

Steinitz Gambit problem

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Sam Loyd's "Steinitz Gambit". Mate in 3 moves. First Prize, Checkmate Novelty Tourney, 1903

One of the most famous chess problems by Loyd. He wrote on this problem: "The originality of the problem is due to the White King being placed in absolute safety, and yet coming out on a reckless career, with no immediate threat and in the face of innumerable checks".

Puzzles

Trick Donkeys problem

Sam Loyd's trick donkeys problem.

Another of Loyd's notable puzzles was the "Trick Donkeys". It was based on a similar puzzle involving dogs published in 1857. In the problem, the solver must cut the drawing along the dotted lines and rearrange the three pieces so that the riders appear to be riding the donkeys.

Back from the Klondike

Main article: Back from the Klondike

A modern rendering of the "Back from the Klondike" puzzle.

This is one of Sam Loyd's most famous puzzles, first printed in the New York Journal and Advertiser, April 24, 1898 (as far as available evidence indicates). Loyd's original instructions were to:

Start from that heart in the center and go three steps in a straight line in any one of the eight directions, north, south, east or west, or on the bias, as the ladies say, northeast, northwest, southeast or southwest. When you have gone three steps in a straight line, you will reach a square with a number on it, which indicates the second day's journey, as many steps as it tells, in a straight line in any of the eight directions. From this new point when reached, march on again according to the number indicated, and continue on, following the requirements of the numbers reached, until you come upon a square with a number which will carry you just one step beyond the border, when you are supposed to be out of the woods and can holler all you want, as you will have solved the puzzle.

Books

• Sam Loyd's Book of Tangram Puzzles (ISBN 0-486-22011-7): by Sam Loyd
• Mathematical Puzzles of Sam Loyd (ISBN 0-486-20498-7): selected and edited by Martin Gardner
• More Mathematical Puzzles of Sam Loyd (ISBN 0-486-20709-9): selected and edited by Martin Gardner
• The Puzzle King: Sam Loyd's Chess Problems and Selected Mathematical Puzzles (ISBN 1-886846-05-7): edited by Sid Pickard
• The 15 Puzzle (ISBN 1-890980-15-3): by Jerry Slocum and Dic Sonneveld
• Sam Loyd's Cyclopedia of 5000 Puzzles, Tricks and Conundrums with Answers ISBN 0-923891-78-1
• Sam Loyd and his Chess Problems by Alain C. White

See also

• Henry Dudeney

Further reading

• Sam Loyd: His Story and Best Problems, by Andrew Soltis, Chess Digest, 1995, ISBN 0-87568-267-7

External links

• Sam Loyd Company Site – includes biography and his puzzles
• Biography from the School of Mathematics and Statistics website at the University of St Andrews

Chess

• Sam Loyd player profile and games at Chessgames.com
• Chessmetrics entry for Loyd

Interactive puzzle

• Farmer and Wife to Catch Rooster and Hen – interactive Sam Loyd's puzzle
• Solve Loyd's 16 squares puzzle interactively

Books

• The Sam Loyd Cyclopedia of Puzzles – The complete 1914 book by Sam Loyd (public domain) scanned
  • Math Games – The Sam Loyd Cyclopedia of Puzzles, by Ed Pegg Jr., January 3, 2005 – announcement of scans and overview
  • Index of Math Puzzles, by Don Knuth