He played in the strong Paris 1867 chess tournament (won by Ignatz von Kolisch) with little success, placing near the bottom of the field.

Martin Gardner featured Loyd in his August 1957 Mathematical Games column in Scientific American and called him "America's greatest puzzler".

"Charles beguiled this period by means of drills and chess, and used frequently to play with his minister, Christian Albert Grosthusen, some of the contests being mentioned by Voltaire.

"Scarcely had he uttered the words, when a (Turkish) bullet, shattering the window, dashed the White knight off of the board in fragments.

Grothusen started violently, but Charles, with utmost coolness, begged him to put back the other knight and work out the mate, observing that it was pretty enough.

"You have our good friends the Turks with you," said the king unconcerned, "it can scarcely be expected that I should contend against such odds; but let me see if I can dispense with that pawn.

In 1900, Friedrich Amelung pointed out that in the original position, if the first bullet had struck the rook instead of the knight, Charles would still have a mate in six.

In the problem, the solver must cut the drawing along the dotted lines and rearrange the three pieces so that the riders appear to be riding the donkeys.

[12] Loyd patented rotary vanishing puzzles in 1896 and published versions named Get Off the Earth, Teddy and the Lion and The Disappearing Bicyclist (pictured).

However, it is just an optical illusion as the pieces don't fit exactly to form a rectangle, but leave a small barely visible gap along the diagonal.

Loyd's original instructions were to: Start from that heart in the center and go three steps in a straight line in any one of the eight directions, north, south, east or west, or on the bias, as the ladies say, northeast, northwest, southeast or southwest.

From this new point when reached, march on again according to the number indicated, and continue on, following the requirements of the numbers reached, until you come upon a square with a number which will carry you just one step beyond the border, when you are supposed to be out of the woods and can holler all you want, as you will have solved the puzzle.The Association for Games & Puzzles International (previously the Association of Game & Puzzle Collectors, and prior to 1999, the American Game Collectors Association, AGCA), gives the Sam Loyd Award for promoting interest in mechanical puzzles through design, development, or manufacture.