This week's puzzle is authored by Grandmaster Dr. John Nunn, one of the world's best known chess players and authors. It's a deceptively simple looking affair until you spend some time with it. We wish you the best of luck finding the solution which we will post here sometime after January 1st. Our thanks to Dr. Nunn and ChessBase.com for this little brain teaser.

In order to keep readers’ minds alert during the festive season, this year’s Christmas puzzles offer a variety of challenges, with no two being of exactly the same type. Some are relatively easy, some are harder and one is really tricky – but this is only a personal assessment. Since most of the puzzles require a flash of insight rather than deep analysis, if you spot the idea quickly then you won’t be detained too long. There are no ‘trick’ puzzles and all can be solved by the application of logic, although a burst of inspiration might offer a useful short-cut.

John Nunn's 2006 Christmas Puzzle Number 1

“I saw an amazing mate at the club last night.”

“Really? What was the position?”

“I can’t remember too much about it, as I was concentrating on my own game, but I do recall that there were only four pieces on the board, including the kings.”

“Can’t you remember anything else at all?”

“Only that White’s mating move was playing his knight from c6 to d8.”