An Albino chess problem is characterized by a unique scenario in which a white pawn, positioned on its starting square, performs all four of its potential moves during the solution. These moves include advancing one square forward, advancing two squares forward, capturing to the left, and capturing to the right.
On the other hand, when a Black pawn demonstrates a similar sequence of moves or executes four consecutive defensive actions, it is referred to as a Pickaninny chess problem. (Please note that the terms “albino” and “pickaninny” are used here solely in the context of chess problems and should not be confused with their historical or offensive connotations.)
Let’s take a look at the following diagram. This chess problem, credited to Camil Seneca, was initially published in the April 1949 edition of the Bulletin Ouvrier des Echecs:
In all cases, the particular pawn move is the only one to deliver the checkmate. For instance, one square forward is required to cover the b4-field that would be normally under the queen’s attack, hadn’t the black bishop obstructed the b-file. Or, two squares forward must be played to cut off the black bishop from blocking the check delivered by its white counterpart.