Joseph Ney Babson (1852 - 1929) was an American chess composer, known especially for his work in selfmate problems and conditional problems. He is primarily associated with the Babson Task, a chess problem in which the solution contains promotions to each of the four possible pieces. It is considered one of the most difficult and ambitious themes in chess composition. Babson initially proposed it for selfmate problems, publishing several examples including one as early as 1913. (2/3)