Anticipation

In chess composition, anticipation exists when a work is identical to another composition with an earlier priority date. Priority normally comes from first publication, or from the closing date of a formal tournament, where entries are judged before publication, when the work first appears in its award.

The concept determines editorial originality and eligibility for prizes. Under the Codex of the World Federation for Chess Composition, a fully anticipated composition cannot receive an award. A partly anticipated work remains eligible, but the judge should consider how much of its content was already present in the earlier composition.

Intentional copying does not have to be proved. Two composers may independently discover the same construction, yet the later work is still anticipated because the rule concerns identity and priority rather than moral blame. Merely sharing a theme is insufficient: a new problem showing the Babson task, where Black promotions receive matching White promotions, is not automatically identical to an earlier one.