Not the most elegant position, but containing content of considerable
depth. It will certainly reward the successful solver.
The solution begins with two preparatory decoys. 1.Qa8 threatens 2.Qa1 and a knight discovery, when moves such as 1...bxc2 or 1...Bh6 only delay the inevitable. 1...Ra7 is the only defence, after which 2.Qe8 induces the bishop to guard e3 by 2..Bxd4 (if 2...Re7 3.Qxe7 Bxd4 4.Qh4 and 5.Qxh2). The rest of the solution reveals what White has gained by these decoys. 3.Qg8 threatens 4.Rxg2+ Bxg2+ 5.Qxg2, forcing a black Grimshaw at g7 and giving the matching lines 3...Bg7 4.Qh7 (threat 5.Qxh2) Bh6 5.Qxa7, and 3...Rg7 4.Qh8 (threat 5.Qxh2) Rh7 5.Qxd4. A superb problem. It is perhaps not easy to see that 2.Qxa7 is refuted only by 2...Bh6!
Dafydd Johnston: Very appropriate that this was a prizewinner in Die Schwalbe, since the to-and-fro movement of the WQ recalls the famous ‘swallow’ problem by Kohtz and Kockelkorn after which that magazine was named.
Peter Niehoff draws attention to the fact that whereas 1...Ra7 has the sole effect of placing the rook on the long diagonal, 1...Bxd4 has a second effect, namely of opening the g-file, which allows the mainplan to work.