What’s in the name? “Excelsior,” a concise poem penned in 1841, originates from the creative mind of American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The poem portrays a youthful protagonist journeying through a mountainous village as evening approaches. The young man carries a banner bearing the word “Excelsior,” which translates from Latin as “higher,” but also carries a broader connotation of “onward and upward.”

Selfmates are chess puzzles where one side, usually White, is to play and force Black to deliver checkmate within a certain number of moves. In other words, White sets up a position where Black is compelled to checkmate White, even though it may seem counterintuitive. The objective is for White to cooperate with Black to enforce the checkmate.