No.) 111 (Vol. VII) supplement May 1994 FORMAL INTERNATIONAL TOURNEYS FOR ORIGINAL ENDGAME STUDIES The concluding session of the last PCCC meeting considered this item: "Thfc following text is the recommendation of the underlisted members of the PCCC Sub- Committee for Studies to the full PCCC at Bratislava, September 1993. It is hoped that all PCCC members and others not members will reproduce the Guidelines in full, and where appropriate in careful translation. Signed: | John Roycroft (Speaker, Great Britain) ;| Jan Rusinek (Poland) ; David Gurgenidze (Georgia) Virgil Nestorescu (Romania) Rainer Staudte (Germany) Oleg Pervakov (Russia) Date: 1st September 1993" The PCCC deferred final consideration, but the guidelines are reproduced below as recommendations of the subrcommittee. Useful input had been received from Argentina, as wejl as from several PCCC members. STUDY TOURNEY GUIDELINES The purpose of the Guidelines is to assist intending organisers ('directors') of formal international tourneys for original endgame studies. Such tourneys are prestigious and should be conducted to a high standard. Guidelines are never obligatory, but since these are based on a large corpus of experience, a tourney organiser departing from them needs good reasons for so doing. The Guidelines will also be of value to organisers of tourneys of more restricted scope and prestige than formal international tourneys. The Guidelines address the activities and responsibilities of the competing composer and the tourney judge only insofar as they affect the organiser. The ten major activities/events are listed in chronological order I Summary: 1.^-ANNOUNCEMENT 2.ANN0UNCEMENT: "A-day" 3.PUBLICITY 5.CL0SING DATE ("C-day") and acknowledgements: "C-day = A-day + 18 months" 6.JUDGING 7.IJROVISIONAL AWARD ("PA"), return of unsuccessful entries: 4t |, "PA-day = C-day + 6 months (maximum)" 8.GONFIRMATION PERIOD 9.I?EFINrnVE AWARD ("DA"): fDA-day = PA-day + 5 months (maximum)" 10;DISTRIBUTION OF PRIZES, and notifications. "**}<' . • 356'
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No.) 111 (Vol. VII) supplement
May 1994
FORMAL INTERNATIONAL TOURNEYS FOR ORIGINAL ENDGAME STUDIESThe concluding session of the last PCCC meeting considered this item:"Thfc following text is the recommendation of the underlisted members of the PCCC Sub-Committee for Studies to the full PCCC at Bratislava, September 1993. It is hoped that allPCCC members and others not members will reproduce the Guidelines in full, and whereappropriate in careful translation.Signed:
|| John Roycroft (Speaker, Great Britain);| Jan Rusinek (Poland); David Gurgenidze (Georgia)
Date: 1st September 1993"The PCCC deferred final consideration, but the guidelines are reproduced below asrecommendations of the subrcommittee. Useful input had been received from Argentina, aswejl as from several PCCC members.STUDY TOURNEY GUIDELINESThe purpose of the Guidelines is to assist intending organisers ('directors') of formalinternational tourneys for original endgame studies. Such tourneys are prestigious andshould be conducted to a high standard. Guidelines are never obligatory, but since theseare based on a large corpus of experience, a tourney organiser departing from them needsgood reasons for so doing. The Guidelines will also be of value to organisers of tourneysof more restricted scope and prestige than formal international tourneys. The Guidelinesaddress the activities and responsibilities of the competing composer and the tourney judgeonly insofar as they affect the organiser.The ten major activities/events are listed in chronological orderI Summary:1.^-ANNOUNCEMENT2.ANN0UNCEMENT: "A-day"3.PUBLICITY
5.CL0SING DATE ("C-day") and acknowledgements: "C-day = A-day + 18 months"6.JUDGING7.IJROVISIONAL AWARD ("PA"), return of unsuccessful entries:
fDA-day = PA-day + 5 months (maximum)"10;DISTRIBUTION OF PRIZES, and notifications.
"**}<' . • 3 5 6 '
II Detail:1 .PRE-ANNOUNCEMENT:1.1 Selection of:1.1.1 Publication (j°umal» magazine,newspaper column)1.1.2 The name by which the tourneywill be known1.1.3 Tourney director (administrator,address of entries, estimate of expenses)1.1.4 Neutraliser (may also be the direc-tor)1.1.5 Judge(s):1.1.5.1 One judge is normal. At least onejudge shall hold the FIDE title of Inter-national Judge (for studies). The FIDEjudge should be active and should comefrom outside the organising country1.1.5.2 The FIDE judge should be askedto clarify whether he will assume respon-sibility for the analytical testing of allentries, or only of honoured entries, or ofno entries1.1.5.3 The FIDE judge should be askedto provide a written undertaking to keepto a provisional time scale in accordancewith these guidelines.1.1.6 Analytical tester (a very strongplayer or analyst) to assist the judge(s), ifappropriate1.1.7 Anticipations identificationprocedure or system. Examples: the Har-man system, ChessBase, or 'respo-nsibility of the judge(s)'1.1.8 Sponsor (if any, to lend name andto provide prizes and funds).1.2 Funding to cover:1.2.1 Remunerations (if any), of judge,tester, anticipations consultant, director,translator, neutraliser. (If possible,remuneration should be clear to all par-ties prior to A-day)1.2.2 Printing (especially of thepreliminary and final award, including, ifappropriate, separate brochure(s))1.2.3 Postage and telephone usage(publicity, acknowledgements, returns,awards distribution, incidental correspon-dence)
1.2.4 Prizes. Prizes for a major tourneyshould not be trivial, but HonourableMentions and Commendations do notrequire prizes.1.3 Determination of time scale, that is,approximate dates of announcement,closing date, and publication ofpreliminary and definitive awards.1.4 Conditions, etc. If a prospective com-petitor wishes to learn the full set ofconditions before entering, or if the direc-tor feels it is desirable, the text of theconditions (based on these guidelines)should be prepared in a form to be distri-buted on request.[Note. Translation and wide publicationought in due course to enable referenceto be made simply to 'the FIDEguidelines'.]
2.THE ANNOUNCEMENT shouldinclude:2.1 Type of tourney: international, for-mal.2.2 Genre: original (unpublished)endgame studies to win or to draw.2.3 Language limitations (if any, butpreferably none).2.4 The composer to supply:2.4.1 Name, nationality and address2.4.2 Number of copies of diagram andfull solution required2.4.3 Text of the solution and notesshould preferably be typed or printed bycomputer, but no decipherable entry willbe rejected2.4.5 The diagram position should beaccompanied by a control in notation2.4.6 The name of the event (name oftourney) should appear above thediagram.2.5 The complete postal address forentries.2.6 The closing date (post mark). Toensure the widest participation theclosing date for a formal internationaltourney should be estimated at ninemonths after the geographically remotest
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receipt of the announcement by surfacemail distribution (see Summary - 5).2.7JThe name and nationality of theFIDE judge or judges.2.8 Details of prizes:2.8.1 The number and value of the prizes,number of honourable mentions andnumber of commendations2.8.2 The division of honours into thethree categories of Prizes, HonourableMentions and Commendations is conven-tional and recommended.2.91| Anticipated date and place ofpublication of the provisional award.2.10 Other details:2.10.1 Limit of number of entries by onecomposer (whether individually or inconjunction with one or more other com-posers). Typical restrictions: one, two orthree2.10.2 Whether twins are allowed or not.Twins are difficult to compare withnon-twins. The judge(s) should be con-sulted2.10.3 Whether a special section awardmight be made for reasons other thanstript judging criteria. (Sample reasonsfor a special section: miniatures; newsettings of known ideas; bizarrepositions; importance for endgametheory. See also 2.10.4)2.10.4 Set theme. In general, a formalinternational tourney should be 'freetheme', that is, without a set theme. Setthemes may be appropriate to a tourneyhonouring a composer, a style, or anevent, but they do constitute a constrainton creativity2.10.5 Unless otherwise explicitly statedin the announcement, ownership of anentry remains with the composer, withonly the right to first publication ofhonoured entries transferred to the direc-tor/sponsor.
3.^UBLICITY:3.1 The announcement (which can clearlybe || abbreviated) should be sent to as
many national and international chessmagazines as possible, and as soon aspossible, since the indirect reproductionand distribution may take three or fourmonths.3.2 Other outlets to be considered:3.2.1 Magazines and newspapers withchess columns3.2.2 National chess federations3.2.3 Radio3.2.4 Television3.2.5 Teletext3.2.6 Electronic mail.3.3 Where appropriate the announcementdetails should be translated.
4.ENTRIES:4.1 Every composition entered should beon a separate stamped diagram with theseindications:4.1.1 Complete name and address of theauthor4.1.2 Name of the tourney4.1.3 Indication that it is an unpublishedoriginal4.1.4 The stipulation4.1.5 Notation control of the position4.1.6 The complete solution (includingset plays (if any), refutations of tries,demonstration of claimed reciprocalzugzwang, etc.) written on ooe side of asheet or sheets of paper, which should beneither too small nor too large. DIN A5or DIN A4 or foolscap are satisfactorypaper sizes4.1.7 Dedication, if any.4.2 Other requirements:4.2.1 The following, though oftendesirable, must be considered optional.They could be included as a check-listwith any communication sent to actual orprospective competitors, for instance,even on an 'application form' suppliedby the organiser4.2.2 Theme(s) or idea(s) expressed, i.e.,the composer's artistic intention4.2.3 References to endgame theory (ievolume number and page of 'Averbakh'
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or 'Che*ron' or Tine' etc.)4.2.4 Partial anticipation(s) known to thecomposer. The diagram, composer,source and main line solution should beprovided. Alternatively, the signedstatement 'no anticipation known to thecomposer' should be made4.2.5 Testing. The composers) aloneis/are personally responsible for thesoundness of an entry. However,analytical assistance from an Elo-ratedplayer or other competent analyst is oftenhelpful. If such analytical help has beengiven, a statement to this effect mayaccompany the entry.
5 . C L O S I N G D A T E and ack-nowledgements:5.1 The post mark is definitive forclosing date. (But post marks are notalways decipherable. The director'sjudgement and discretion are final.)5.2 The director has discretion to acceptlate entries and pronounces on genrevalidity.5.3 The director is responsible for ack-nowledging receipt of entries.5.4 The neutraliser:5.4.1 The neutraliser prepares all validentries, including the diagrams, in auniform manner for presentation to thejudge, who refers to studies only by aserial number. The recommended systemof solution presentation is that in generaluse in the quarterly internationalmagazine EG, where minimal use ismade of parentheses and supporting linesare laid out sequentially.5.4.2 The neutraliser should also ensurethat all moves are legal and unam-biguous.5.5 It is in principle desirable that a copyof all entries be checked for anticipations.If the number of entries is large thisprocess may be deferred until later andrestricted to candidates for the award.The same considerations apply to testing.
6.JUDGING:6.1 After C-day the judge may query acomposer's analysis by asking the direc-tor to write to the composer. The com-poser replies to the director, who informsthe judge.6.2 Allowable corrections:6.2.1 At most one correction per entry,with supporting analysis, is allowedduring the judging period. With thislimitation, any correction is acceptable,and for any reason.6.2.2 A correction must relate to an entryproperly received before C-day, and maybe rejected by the director if the judge isready with his award.6.3 A composer may withdraw his entryor entries by writing to the director atany time before the judge's award isready. The composer should give hisreason(s), such as unsoundness, ap-pearance in print elsewhere, decision notto enter. The request to withdraw a jointentry should be signed by all the entry'scomposers.6.4 Prior to drawing up the provisionalaward, which is primarily the respon-sibility of the judge, all candidate entriesfor inclusion in the award must be testedas thoroughly as possible for anticipationand soundness.6.5 By agreement of the judge(s) anddirector the award may depart from theannounced numbers of prizes, honourablementions and commendations.6.6 If a judge cannot complete ajudgement the director must find areplacement. The award should state thecircumstances and name the replacement.In such circumstances the director shouldendeavour to follow these guidelines asclosely as possible.
7.PROVISIONAL AWARD and return ofunsuccessful entries:7.1 The printed award should carry theclear identification PROVISIONALAWARD.
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7.2 The provisional award is the jointwork of judge(s) and director, whosenames must be appended, together withplace (town) and date.7.3 The judge provides the ranking listand division of prizes, honourable men-tions and commendations, but if hewishes he may consult the director. Thismay bcj desirable if the number of prizesis to be changed from what was announ-ced. |
7.4 The director adds names, numbersand nationalities.7.5 Either before or when the provisionalaward is published, and distributed to allcontestants, unsuccessful entries are to bephysically returned to their composerswith at least a standard explanatorycovering note saying that the unsuc-cessful entry or entries is/are at thedisposal of the composer.7.6 The provisional award should be ascompact as possible, should be publishedin me same publication as the initialannouncement, and should not be spreadover more than two successive issues (orcolumns) of the publication.7.7 If the honoured studies are offered tosolvers for solution, then confirmationtime starts at the date of publication ofthe solution to the last study in theaward.7.8 The solutions should be as full andcommented as possible:7.8.1 If there is insufficient space topublish the full solutions to all honouredstudies; in the publication (magazine,newspaper) a separate brochure, forwhich | a charge may be made, should bepublished promptly. (It is suggested thata brochure for the provisional award s-hould be produced cheaply, but for thedefinitive award the quality should besuperior.)7.8.2 Any such brochure should be sentto each competitor free of charge.7.9 All comments on the award should beaddressed in writing to the tourney direc-
tor.
8.C0NFIRMATI0N PERIOD:8.1 It is within the tourney director'sdiscretion, acting in consultation with thejudge(s), to allow one minor correctionby the composer.8.2 A permissible correction includes:8.2.1 The displacement of a singlechessman8.2.2 The elimination of a first move8.2.3 The addition/removal of a singlepawn.8.2.4 Board rotation and/or reflection in aposition without pawns.8.3 Other changes, such as a combinationof the above, or shifting all men in onedirection, are not minor. Such changesmay be made if composer, judge anddirector all agree. The guideline is toexercise extreme caution in such casesbecause of the danger of inadequatetesting of an altered position.8.4 A change proposed by someone otherthan the composer requires the com-poser's explicit agreement.
9.DEFINITIVE AWARD:9.1 The printed award should carry theclear identification DEFINITIVEAWARD and the full name of the tour-ney, including, if appropriate, the genreand associated year. As with theprovisional award, the names of thejudge(s) and director must be appended,with a date.9.2 If a separate brochure is published itshould contain the complete solutions andshould be a quality product.9.3 The definitive award should bedistributed to all contestants as soon aspossible.9.4 The accomplished fact (of thedistribution) should be immediatelyrecorded in the publication.10.PRIZES, and notifications:10.1 Prizes in accordance with the an-nouncement are to be distributed simul-
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taneously with the publication of the finalaward.10.2 Any publication which publicisesthe tourney announcement should be senta copy of the final award with a requestfor further publicity, for instance byreproducing the winners.10.3 For purposes of determining priorityof idea the relevant date for an honouredstudy is the closing date for entries. Thisdate should accompany the diagram inthe reproduction.
Filipp Semyonovich BONDARENKO -21x05-8ii93
We do not know if Bondarenko evertravelled outside the USSR or even, inh i s l a t t e r y e a r s , far f r o mDniepropetrovsk, but we do know fromcorrespondence with him in Russian overa 25 year period that he craved inter-national recognition, (in 1966 he wasawarded the composition title of FIDEjudge, in 1979 that of InternationalMaster) for his herculean efforts. Manyof the Soviet Union*s lesser tourneyawards recorded in EG's pages in the1960's and 1970's were due to Bon-darenko's meticulous hand-writtentranscriptions. He was proud of the 1983collaboration with Spinhoven to producea hard cover book in Dutch on the strug-gle between bishop and rook - but thebook was expensive and the venture acommercial failure. That he was able,exclusively by correspondence, to com-pile material, including photographs,from all over the world, first for his Gal-lery (1968), and then for his remarkablefour-part history of the endgame study(the first was published in 1980, the lastin 1987) is witness to remarkable persis-tence, but he could not have achieved thequantity of Ukrainian publication he didwithout the tacit consent of the'authorities', anonymous as always. Hewas not made to suffer from active, if
postal, contact with foreigners. With hismilitary (or police, ie KGB, - his rank ofcolonel was consistent with either) ex-perience he understood very well exactlyhow far he could go. In the early days ofglasnost (it may have been 1985, whenalready no topic was taboo) I tried todraw him out to tell me what he mightknow about the death of Somov-Nasimovich or the massacre followingfood riots in Novocherkassk in 1962.Playing safe, he was not to be drawn. Butwhen I asked whether his views hadchanged as a result of the floods of freshrevelations about the soviet past, he didhave an answer. He said they had not -he still believed in internationalfriendship. On another occasion hereplied to a query with a party-linequotation from the Bolshaya sovetskayaentsiklopedia, to which I reacted with'Long live the BSE!'. All our chess cor-respondence was friendly in tone andmutually advantageous. He was alwaysseeking new outlets and wrote manyarticles in non-soviet magazines such asPROBLEM. His other book, The study inthe pawn ending (1973), has, like theGallery, stood the test of time. He was afluent composer, especially in col-laboration with Aleksandr Kuznetsov orA.Kakovin, and could be a good one,though in later years the quality didrather fall away. Nikolai Griva reportsthat following his death only part ofBondarenko's collection of 30,000 studieshas been located. (AJR)
Michael R.B.CLARKEHead of the Computer ScienceDepartment at Queen Mary and WestfieldCollege, London University. Author ofseveral papers on computer chess andeditor of several Advances in ComputerChess volumes, he organised the ACC3Conference held at Imperial College,London in 1981. He was both program-
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mer and operator in 1978 when DonaldMichie and Donald Michie's wife werethe only others present during my verysuccessful contest with the GBR class0103 database at Queen Mary College.Michael Clarke's death early in 1994 ofcancer of the stomach is a tragedy for hiswife, family, colleagues and manyfriends. Although he had reportedsymptoms, the disease was not diagnosedin time.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = =ReviewsENCYCLOPEDIA OF CHESSENDINGS, Vol.5 (1993) -Bishops and KnightsThat tliis final volume (564 pages, 2017diagrams) in the series had to overcomemany difficulties is shown by ChessInformant Limited's new address inNicosia (no longer Belgrade), the volumebeing jj printed in Romania, and theprevious volume having appeared as longago as 1986. Collaborators and compilersinclude IGMs Nunn and Speelman, andKen Thompson's BELLE. Figurines andSlavic spelling of names are as usual. Thevolume contains many studies (includingNo.287, a Lommer that was new to me),but that may not be enough to attractstudies enthusiasts, because the classifi-cation system is both tiresome to learnand pawn-structure (ie, player-) orienta-ted. The 50 symbols used are a help ifone is familiar with them, but otherwise(ie, for the occasional user) a hindrance -a circle with centre dot means zugzwang,for instance. A first impression on usingthe volume as if it were any other en-cyclopedia is of having to search for, andthen decipher, visual gobbledygook.I decided to hunt for bishop and pawnagainst knight and two pawns. With theGBR code one would flip to the force0013.12 (and maybe its 'converse'0031.21) and scan that solid block ofdiagrams for positions of interest. Notwith ECE. Starting with p. 11 (sy-
mbol-ridden, so refer to previous pages)one tentatively identifies '5' and '306'(which turns out to be a page number)for the section containing bishop andpawns against knight and pawns, withtwo symbols deciphered as 'without anadvantage in pawns' (what we want is adisadvantage). On p306 (page numbersare located in the fold of the page) wefind a family tree with more symbols,leading to indicators like '5/d' for 'with apassed pawn' and '5/e' for 'without apassed pawn'. Indicators of this type arerepeated on the corners of each page, sowe flip on. We fail to find any examplesof what we are looking for. Subsequentlywe discover via a page (p545) of laconic'additional examples' that it's classificati-on '4', not '5', that holds what we need.In other words, the 'without an advantagein pawns' really means 'equal numbersof pawns', ie with no bias towards whiteor black.
There is an index of study composersseparate from the index to players, andthere is even a list of 72 'educativeexamples'. No.259: h3e2 0004.10b8d4.b7 is attributed (with neither datenor source) to 'Roycroft' - this is realnews to me! For a more friendly reviewof the ECE system EG readers can referto Paul Lamford's article in EG90.
PRACTICAL KNIGHT ENDE^GS, byGM Edmar Mednis (105 examples on188 pages, 1993, Chess Enterprises,USA). In reviewing practical books forEG we shall restrict ourselves generallyto what is different or new. Extensivetextual commentary distinguishes thisuseful work (bishops are excluded) fromthe ECE minor pieces volume, which hasnone. Knight variations are tough tocalculate and can be lengthy, so the Med-nis volume offers rich opportunities forworthy and energetic mental exercise. Wewould have thought that all GM writers
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today would be using some chess editingprogram, so we were surprised to findeVen a few moves wrongly described.And, do we have to live with theuglyisms 'Kingside' and 'Queenside', aswe must live, it seems, with 'drinkdriving'?
SECRETS OF PAWNLESS ENDINGS,by John Nunn (320 pages, 458 diagrams,Batsford, 1993).As your reviewer has reason to know,Batsford editor Peter Keminis Betty hasup to now shown small enthusiasm forbooks on studies, yet over 250 of thediagrams in this excellent and industriousbook are - studies! Admirers of Dobres-cu, Vandiest and Rinck will be especiallygratified, though the reception by prac-tical players remains to be seen - theauthor felt it necessary to explain theterms 'cook', 'try' and 'tourney' in hisintroduction.
This is not the last of IGM Nunn's ac-counts of his explorations of the KenThompson computer-generated and com-mercially available databases of 5-manendings, as GBR classes 0014 and 0023have been reserved for a third volume,scheduled for 1995. Again, one wonderswhat welcome practical players will givethat volume. While on the subject of'secrets', by that time we shall have hadthe chance to learn exactly what hap-pened in John Nunn's confrontation withthe 0023 database at the Turing Institutesome five years ago, as a paper bymachine intelligence guru Donald Michieis due for publication by then.The technical content is unexceptionable.4-man endings take us up to p67, andGBR classes 4001, 4010, 0401, 0410,1330, 1303, 1033, 1060, and 1006 takeus up to pp.120, 152, 170, 232, 263, 281,287, 297,and 308 respectively. Abbre-viated sources are given, and are general-ly accurate, with the spectacular excep-tion of 193 which we pray no one will
propagate. We also wish that some satis-factory alternative to the misleading useof 'original' had been found: pending arecommendation of the PCCC studiessub-committee, one prefers either theneutral 'first publication' or the franker'computer-assisted*. (See EG108 for areview of the GBR class 0400.10 earliervolume.)KING & PAWN, by Julian Hodgson,1993, third in the 'Tournament Chess'series MODERN PRACTICAL EN-DINGS.This chatty book of a mere 46 pagestakes the reader from zero knowledge toinclude whole GM games with P-endingfinales. The technique of selecting com-mon salient features of practical P-endingplay (such as the opposition, file-sepa-ration of passed pawns, exhausting tempomoves with pawns, exchanging into aP-ending, the distant passed pawn,sacrificing) and giving a couple of il-lustrations, often including one thatshows a glaring mistake by a well-knownplayer (which the student will be morelikely to remember than a lengthydefinition or convoluted rule) - works!
THE FIFTH WORLD CHESS COM-POSITION TOURNEY OF FIDE(5.WCCT)This is a team event for national teams(one team per country). There are sevensections. Section D is for studies. The setthem is (for once!) rather simple: a winstudy where an away-from-the-edgestalemate of bK is avoided. Judge: P.Joita(Romania).
The thematic example:No. 9198 V.Nestorescu and R.Voia=1/2 Prize, Revista de San, 1953
l.Kd5 Kd3 2.g4 Ke3 3.g5 Kf4 4.g6 Sd65.Kxd6 Kg5 6.g7 Kf6 7.Sf5 wins,avoiding the stalemate of the immediatepromotion to Q or R.Organising country: Slovakia. Closingdate for receipt of team entries: Iiii95.According to the Problemist the closingdate for applications to compete was
In Sakkelet 1-2/94 Attila Koranyi offersnine more examples, from which onemay draw the conclusion that to aim fororiginality a stalemating promotion tryshould be eschewed.No. 9199 Rusinek (1987)
REFINEMENT TO A KUBBELCLASSICIs there anything more we can say aboutthe classics? It is even harder to addanything to them. Before we look atLeonid Kubbel's Gl let us spare amoment to consider Alexei Troitzky'swords. "If anyone were to ask me whatprecisely Leonid Ivanovich's service tothe endgame was, I would answer likethis: It was not that he epitomised thebest achievements in form up to his time,but rather the opposite, namely that hesupplied the impetus to further develop-ments in form that would bridge the gapbetween the study and the practicalgame" and "would be combination'sshining expression" in the study.QJ ********************************
Gl: I.d4+ Ke6 2.d5+ Ke5 3.b6 Sxe4+4.Kh4! Sd6 5.Bxd6+ Kxd6 6.Kg5! Se77.b7 Kc7 8.d6+! wins.The practical player's powers of cal-culation are tuned to such a pitch thatwithout conscious effort or strain he cancarry out the work of a researcher. Whilelooking at Gl I saw that not only6.Kh4-g5! was possible, but also the
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paradoxical 6.Kg6-g5!! It was a newpoint to a study of world renown. Thepuzzle remained: had Kubbel seen it?The functional G2 leaves much to bedesired, however.Q2********************************
No. 9209 D.R.GodesCommendation, 'Aiastan*Club of Erevan, 1991
G2: l.Kg5! Kf3 2.Kxg6 Kxg4 3.b4! Kf44.b5 Kxe5 5.b6 Kxd6 6.Kg5! and so on,but not 6.Kf7? Sh6+ 7.Ke8 Sf5 8.Kd8Sd4! 9.b7 Kxd5! 10.b8Q Sc6+.The pawns on the d-file are mere wood,contributing nothing to the struggle. Thesketchy play is dry with analytical bag-gage. No, we must go back to Kubbel'smechanism (with wB and bSS).Q^********************************No. 9210 L.I.Kubbel,Version by D.Godes, 1993first publication
G3: I.d4+ Ke6 2.d5+ Ke5 3.b6 Sxe4+4.Kxg6 Sd6 5.Bxd6+ Kxd6 6.Kg5!! Se77.b7 Kc7 8.d6+ wins.True, bPg6 infringes the canon ofeconomy. But at the cost of this materialwe buy a sharp aesthetic impact. W'sfirst five moves were attacking moves,but at the decisive moment, if he is towin, W has to ... retreat. The practicalgame corroborates this logic, but in thestudy we must act with elegance. It isvery proper that the developments ino-t-b chess should lead to new disco-veries in a classic study. On the brink ofthe 21st century, a century of creativity,the pearls of chess art will shine brighterthan ever, to live for evermore.D.R.Godes, Grandmaster of Correspon-dence ChessRyazan23v93
name of tourney: Amirov MTclosing date/ year(s): 1985judge(s): D.Gurgenidze
Number of composers, countries, entries:49 entries
provisional award published in(mag/date): Magadansky Komsomolets26xii85
No. 9211 lstPrJan Marwitz (Netherlands)
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l.Bd4 Kf5 2.Sxb6 Ke4 3.Bxe3 a3 4.Sxc4a2 5.Sd2+ Kxe3 6.Sb3 drawn."Introduction, inventive play and finaleform a purposeful whole."
No. 9212 2ndPrYu.Bazlov and V.Kovalenko (Far East)
l.Kf7 Rg7+ 2.Kxe8 Bxc5 3.Rh5+ Kg84.Rxc5 Sd6+ 5.Kd8 Sb7+/i 6.Ke8 Sxc57.Sxe6 Sxe6 stalemate,i) David Blundell: "5...e5, and Bl wins."No positions for commendations awardedto "I.Krikheli, A.Maksimovskikh,V.Shupletsov and others" (3 positions, ormore?) were published. Oh, for publishedguidelines that tourney organisers willfollow! In fact the PCCC Sub-Committeeis working on just such guidelines, as fastas AJR can make it move. After Bratis-lava (September 1993) they will bepublished in EG, whether final or not.
FORMAL TOURNEYfull name of tourney:Alexander Hildebrand jubilee tourneymagazine: Springaren (Sweden)judge: Alexander Hildebrand (Sweden)(PROVISIONAL) AWARDreceived by AJR: from Lars Falk, 1993,after seeing references to the studies inassorted magazinespublished in: Springaren 39, xii89award signed by: A.Hildebrandnumber of entries received, composers,countries: 48 from 34 composers in IScountriesnumber published: 9number in provisional award: 9confirmation period: to liii90
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No. 9219David Gurgenidze (USSR/Georgia)1st Prize
l.Re7+/i Kh8 2.Re8+ Kxh7 3.Rxe3 Bg4+4.hg Rdl+/ii 5.Ke7 Rxcl 6.Rf3 Rel+7.107 Rhl 8.Ke7 Rel 9.Kf7 draw. "Anoriginal positional draw mechanism en-gineered by threats of perpetual checkand; mate."i) l.Re8? Rxh3 wins. Or l.h8Q+? Kxh82.Rke3 Bg4+ 3.hg Rdl+ 4.Ke7 Rxcl5.RB Rel+ 6.Kf7 Rhl 7.Ke7 Rh7+ wins,ii) Rxcl; leads to perpetual check -which is also the threat of 5.Rf3 in (i).
The "OCTOBER-60" event was a Soviettourney to mark the 60th anniversary ofthe socialist October revolution. It wasorganized by the sports club "Gantiadi"in Tbilisi. Award publication date:31xii77. Judge V.Kalandadze (Tbilisi). -
l.Bd3 Ka5 2.Rcl Kb4 3.Ral Kb3 4.Bblfl$* 5.Kh3 Kb2 6.Rxa2+ Kxbl 7.Re2Kcl 8.Rel+ wins.It is not known if there were anyhonourable mentions or commendations.
"RySTAVI-86w. Rustavi is town to theeast of Tbilisi. As seen from hills to thesouth Rustavi clusters round one enor-mously tall factory chimney The tour-ney was organized in 1986 by the local'trade union* to mark the 68th anniver-sary of you-know-what. There were 22eniries from the USSR. Judges:T.Giorgadze and D.Gurgenidze (Tbilisi).
"SAGAREDZHO-78"Organized jointly by the small town ofSagaredzho's chess club and agricultiral'trade union' this tourney was theforerunner of a 1984 event (seeEG84.6009). Given the large entry(reported as 123 from the USSR) theaward, published 10viii78 in the Tbilisinewspaper "Soplis Tskhovreba", ismeagre.
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Judge: G.Nadareishvili (Georgia).
No. 9244 1st Prize D.Gurgenidze(Tbilisi) and E.Pogosyants (Moscow)
No. 9246 1st Hon.MentionA.Maksimovskikh (Kurgan Region,Russia) and Yu.Makletsov (Yakutsk,Russia)
SpPLIS TSKHOVREBA-77This tourney was organized in 1977 bythe Georgian newspaper "Soph's Tskhov-reba" (*Village life') for composers livingin rural areas (of the USSR). Judge:LKrikheli (Gori, Georgia)Unless otherwise stated the honouredcomposers are Georgian. The followingthree studies have appeared already inEG and are therefore not reproduced here:1st Prize (Gurgenidze) EG74.5003.
3rd Prize (Kozirev) EG74.501L2nd Hon.Mention (A.Aleksandrov), butEG74.5010 attributes to Kozirev.
No. 9254 2nd PrizeD.Makhatadze (Zestafoni)
l.Qxd3 b5+ 2.Ke8 Qxa6 3.Qc3+ Kbl4.Qb3+ Kal 5.Qc3+ Kbl 6Qb3+ Kcl7.Qc3+ Kdl 8.Qd3+ Kel 9.Qe3+ Kfl10Qf3+ Kgl ll.Qg3+ Khl 12.QO+ Kh213.Qf2+ Kxh3 14.QO+ KM 15.Qf4+Kh5 16.Qf5+with:
g5 17.Qh3+ Kg6 18Qd3+ Kg719.Qd7+ Kh6 2O.Qh3+ draw, or
Rb2+ 5.Kal Bf6 6.Rc7+ Kg6 7.Rg7+Kf5 8.Rg5+ Ke6 9.Re5+ Bxe5 stalemate.GBR class 1300.01This sequence is taken from a van denHerik article in Schakend Nederland(pl6, 7/93).No. 9259
Equioptimals are parenthesised. 'Cap-ture-conversion' logic. The next stage inpersuading the database to teach ussomething is to have it tell us what whitemoves do not win at all. This infor-mation will have to be presented in themost 'convenient' form - and we do not
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yet know that that form is: too much andwill overwhelm, too little and it will beof top little use.l...Kb6 2.Qd8+ Ka7 3.Qa5+ Kb8 4.Qe5+Ka8|5.Qe8+ Ka7 6.Qe3+ Ka8 7.Qa3+Kb8i8.Qf8+ Ka7 9.Qf2+ Kb8 10.Qh2+Ka7(Ka8) ll.Qa2+ Kb8 12.Qe6 Rg213.Kdl Ka7 14.Qe3+ Ka8 15.Qa3+ Kb816XJd6+(Qf8) Ka7(Ka8).The! Ken Thompson CD-ROM fileexample pursues 16...Ka8. 17.Qc5+ Ka818CJa5+ Kb8 19Qd5 Rg4 2O.Qe6 Rg221.Kel Ka7 22.Qe3+ Ka8 23Qa3+ Kb824.Qd6+ (Qf8+) Ka7(Ka8) 25.Qc5+ Ka826.Qa5+ Kb8 27.Qd5 Rg4 28Qe6 Rg229.Kfl Rc2 3O.Qe5+ Ka7 31.Qd4+ Kb832.Qf4+ Rc7 33.Qd6 Kc8 34.Qf8+ Kd735.Qb8 Kc6 36Ke2 Rd7 37.Qc8+ Rc738.Qe8+ Rd7 39.Kf3 Kc7 4O.Qe4.Rd641.Qe7+ Kc6 42.Ke4 Rd7 43.Qf8 Kc744.Kf5 Rd6 45.Qe7+ Rd7 46.Qc5+ Kb847.Qe5+ Ka7 48.Qe3+ b6 49.Qe5(Qa3+)Kb7 5O.Qe4+ Kc7 51.Qa8 Rd8 52.Qa7+Kc6 53.Ke5 Rh8 54.Qa4+ Kc7 55.Qc2+Kb7 56.Qg2+ Ka6 57.Qg4 Rd8 58.Qe6Kb5 59.Qe7 Rd3 6O.Qg5 (Qh4 Qf7) Ka6(Rh&) 61.Qg2 Rc3 62.Qa8+ Kb5 63Kd6Rc4 (Rc2 Rcl) 64.Qd5+ (Qg2 Qa2 Qal)Rc5 65.Qa2 Kb4 66.Qb2+ Ka5 67Qa3+Kb5 68.Kd7 Rc4 69.Qb3+ Rb4 7O.Qd5+Kai 71.Qa2+ Kb5 72.Kc7 Kc5 (Rc4+)73.Kb7 (Qc2+) Kd4 (Kb5 Rb5) 74.Qc2Rb5 75.Ka7 Rb4 (Kd5) 76.Ka6 b5 (Kd5)77.Kb6 (Ka5) Rc4 (Ke5 Ke3 Kd5)78.Qdl+ (Qb2+ Qd2+ Qf2+) Ke3 (Ke4)79.Kxb5.Nojv 'mate' logic climaxes on move 107.We' have to wonder, first at the prolongedrepetitive manoeuvre to release wK fromthe back rank, second at the apparentlylimitless ability of W to prevent bRtaking up a square protected by bP, andthu-d, at what exactly it is that forces Blto advance his P when he does (moves48and 76).[AJR 16ix93]
name of tourney for original studies:SCHACH, 1991-1992judge: John RoycroftAWARD
Judge: "A tourney that was a delight tojudge: although the range in quality ofthe 43 published entries was wide, thenumber of candidates for honours waslarger than anticipated, so much so that Ihave prepared, and recommend forpromulgation, an extended prize list. Anunusual feature was the high proportionof composers each represented by severalcompositions. This offered the judge, andoffers solvers and others, a rare and fineopportunity to compare contemporarycomposing styles and techniques. It was aparticular pleasure to experience thefluency of the Viennese composer Hel-muth Steniczka, who suffered the han-dicap of competing strongly zigainst him-self, especially when Prigunov's am-bitious and impressive systematicmovement (No. 12811, g8f2) fell by thewayside: l.Bc6, (for instance) will surelywin - Black has few threats, White many.Shortly after completing his pleasurablework the judge experienced combinedshock and sadness to read (in AlexanderHildebrand's well-informed column inthe Swedish magazine Tidskrift forSchack) of Steniczka's death in Decem-ber 1992. Such a late flowering of talentis rare and precious enough - in thissituation thoughts and feelings servebetter than the written word ..."To return to the award, in no fewer thansix cases of 5-man pawnless orsingle-pawn endings (occurring inNos.12465, 12546, 12618, 12776, 12829and 12830) authors' lines could be testedagainst databases. This was done, but theresults did not affect the award. Myappreciation, and warm wishes for con-tinued good hunting, to the keen-eyedand knowledgable SCHACH solvers.Claims of unsoundness or serious an-
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ticipation should reach the judge beforethe end of the second month followingmonth of publication.John RoycroftLondon, 24iv93 and 10v93"
No. 9260 FIRST PRIZE[No. 12793 Dx92 Sii93]
Helmuth Steniczka (Vienna)
No. 9261 SECOND PRIZE[No.12448 Dii91 Svii91]Ladislav Salai, jr. (Martin, Slovakia)
I.f7/i Bxf7 2Bd5 Ra6/ii 3.Bxf7 (Kb5?Ra7;) c6 4.Bc4 Ra7 (Kxc4;Ra8) 5.Ba6Bb6 6.Rd3+ Kc2 7.Rc3+ Kxc3 stalemate,or K- 8.Rxc6 draw.i) l.Bd5? Ra6 2.f7 Bb4+ 3.Kb5 Bd3+mates, or 2.Kb5 Bd3+ 3.Kc5 Rxf6."Point and counterpoint are as hard tofollow as Fred Astaire's tap-dancingshoes."ii) Unfortunately the study is unsound. Alevel-headed solver in Friedrich Chlub-na's column in Schach-Aktiv thought oftrying 2...Rf6, and there seems to be norefutation. The judge tried to invokehighly thematic stalemates: I.f7 Bxf72.Bd5 Rf6! 3.Kxa5 Rf5 4.Ka4! Rxd5(Bxd5;Rxd5) 5.Rc8 c6 (c5;Rxc5+, orRd4+;Kb5, or Rd7;Kb5) 6.Rxc6! Be8 pinstalemete!! Alas for wishful thinking (aViennese weakness, as Sigmund Freudwell knew), Bl has yet another possibilityon his fifth move, namely 5...Rd4+!6Kb5 Kd5 7.a4 c6+ 8.Ka5, and as aPcannot advance W has no threats. Blwins. (AJR)
LgRd5 glQ 2.Rxd6+ Qg6/i 3.bRb6Kh5/ii 4.Rd5+ Qg5 5.bRb5 h6 6.Ka6/iiiKh4/iv 7.Rd4+ Qg4 8.bRb4 h5 9.Ka5/vKg5 10.Rd5+ Qf5 H.bRb5 Qxd512Rxd5+ K- 13.Rxd3 wins.i) Kg7 3.Rb7+ Kh8 4.Rd8+ Qg8 5.bRb8.ii) Kg7 4.Rd7+ Qf7 5.bRb7.iii) 6.Kb6? Kg6 7.Rd6+ Qf6.iv) Kg6 7.Rd6+ Qf6 8.bRb6. Or Kg47.Rd4+ Qf4 8.bRb4.v) 9.Rxd3? Qxb4 lO.ab b2."A successful presentation of the difficultsystematic pin/unpin 4.WCCT theme.Assorted tactical motifs ensure that theeffect is not mechanical. The 11 pawnsare a crying shame."
No. 9262 THIRD PRIZE[No. 12776 Dix92 Si93]Genrikh Kasparyan (Armenia)
383
I.a7/i Kel 2.Be4/ii Sf2+ (Rd8;Kxg4)3.Kg2 Rd8 4.a8Q/iii Rxa8 5.Bxa8 Ke26.BB+ Ke3/iv 7.d4/v ed/vi 8.Sc4+ Kd39.Sd6 Ke3 10.Kg3 Sd3 l l .Sc4 mate.i) l.Be4? Sf6 2.a7 Rd8 3.a8Q Rxa84.Bxa8 Ke3 5.Kh4 Sd7 6.Be4 (or Kg5)Sc5 7.Bg6 e4 draw.ii) 2.a8Q? Sf2-f 3.Kg3 Rg4+ 4.KD Rf4+5.Kg2 Rg4+ 6.Kh2 Rh4+ 7.Kgl Rg4+8.Qg2 Sh3+ 9.Kh2 Rxg2+ 10.Kxg2 Sf4+dra^v.iii) 4.Bd5? Ke2 5.Bf3+ Ke3 6.Sc4+ Kxd37.Sxe5+ Ke3 8.Sd7 Se4 9.Bxe4 Kxe410 |b8 Rd2+ ll.Kg3 Ra2 draw.iv)]Kel 7.Kg3 Kfl 8.Kh2 Kel 9.Kg2wins.v) 7.Sc4+? Kxd3 8.Sxe5+ Ke3 draw.vi) e4 8.Bh5. Or Se4 8.de Sg5 9.Bd5Kd4 10.e6 wins."The master is enjoying a second youth -or is it a third?! The introduction jars, ifever so little, with the superb main linecontinuation."
No. 9263 FOURTH PRIZE[1^617 Dxii91 Siv92]
! Helmuth Steniczka (Vienna)
No. 9264 5th PRIZE[No. 12794 Dx92 Sii93]
Helmuth Steniczka (Vienna)
l.Kf6 Rb7/i 2.Rxb7 h6 3.Rd3/ii dlQ4.Rbl, with Qxd3 5.g4+ hg 6.Rxhl mate,or! Qxbl 5.Rd5+, or Qxf3+ 5.gf Rxbl6.Rd5 mate.i)Kh6 2.cRc7. Or h6 2.Rc5+.ii)| 3.Re7? Rel 4.Rd3 dlQ."Pervasive grace with the heavy pieces."
the alternatives of stalemate or a drawnGBR class 0410 endgame.i) Bl threatened Bh2+ 2.Kh3 g4+ 3.fg+fg mate. If I.f4? g4. Or l.Kh3? g4+2.fg+ fg+. Or l.Se5 f4+. Or l.Rc4?Bh2+."Plenty of attractive action."
l.Bd4+/i Kbl 2.Bb3/ii alQ/iii 3.Bc2+/ivKxc2 (Ka2;Bb3+) 4.Bxal Kxd3 5.Bf6/vKe3 6.Kg5 Be8 7.Kg4 Bc6 8.Kg5, with apositional draw. For example, Be8 9.Kg4Ke4 10.Bc3 Kd5 (Bd7;Kg5) ll.Bf6 Kd612.Kg5 Kd7 13.Kg4 Bf7 14.Kg5 Ke815.Kh6 Sxf5+ 16.Kh7 Bg8+ 17.Kxh8Kf7 18.Bg5 Sd4 19.Bf4 Sf3 (Sc6/e6;Bd6)2O.Bg3 draw.i) I.f6? Kbl 2.Bd4 Se8 3i7 Bxd4 4.f8QalQ. Orl.Bb3?Se8.ii) 2Be5? Bd5 3.Ba4 Bf7.iii) alS 3.Bf7 Sc2 4.Bf6 Se3+ 5.Kg5eSxf5 6.Kg6. Or Bd7 3.Bxa2+ Kxa24.Kg5 Bxf5 5.Kh6 draw.iv) 3.Bxal? Kxal 4.f6 Se8 5.f7 Sf6+6.Kf5 Sh7 wins.v) 5.Be5? Be4 6.Kg5 Se6+."The g7-h8 configuration is not ashelpless as it looks: in the positionaldraw bK's march to e8 forces wK to riskchecks from bS."
l.Bf7 (for Bxa2+) Bxf7 2.gf Sg3 3.Kf4Sh5+ 4.Kg5 Sg7 5.Ba3 Bxa3 6.f8S Bxf87.Kg6 draws, as Bl must lose a piece."If only the high level of composingtechnique shown here could be taught!"
l.Rxd3/i Bh4+ 2.Kg4/ii Bxe7 3.Re3Rh4+ 4.Kg3 Kfl 5.Rel+ Kxel stalemate,i) l.e8Q? Sf2, and 2.Rdl+ Sxdl 3.Qxe4Rh3+ 4.Kxh3 Sf2+ 5.Kg3 Sxe4, or 2.Qe6Rh4 3.Rdl+ Sxdl 4.Qb6+ Be3.ii) 2.Kf4? Bg6, and 3.Re3 Be8, or 3.Rd6Bh5, though here Bf7? 4.Rd8 Bxe75.Rd7 Rh4+ 6.Kg3 leads only to a draw."A great stalemate, but a capture key andonly 5 moves."
I.e4/i (for f7) Bxe4 2Sf2+ Kc2 3.Sxe4b4/ii 4.f7 b3+ 5.Ka3 b2 6.Sd2/iii f2/iv7.f8R wins, but not 7.f8Q? blQ 8.SxblflQ 9.Qxfl stalemate.i) l.Sf2+? Ke2 2.e4 Kxf2 3.f7 Ke2 4.f8Qf2 draw.ii) f2 4.Sxf2 b4 5.Sd3.iii) 6.f8Q? blQ 7.Qc5+ Kd3.iv) blQ 7.Sxbl f2 8.f8R, is a tad moreobvious, so we can allow the composerhis main line!"Painted with a light touch."
l.Rd3+/i Ke2/ii 2.Rxf3 Sxf3 3.Sxc2 Sg5+4.Kg4 Se6 5.Sd4+ Kd3/iii 6.Sxe6 Be37.Kf5 Kc4 8.Sc7/iv wins, for example:Bb6 9.Kf6 Kc5 10.Kg7 Kd6 Il.a7, orBd4 9.Ke6 Kb4 10.Ke7 Ka5 ll.Se6,gaining a vital tempo to allow wK subse-quently to capture bSh8 and then blockthe al-h8 diagonal with bSg7.i) LKg3?Bf4+2.Kf2Bg3+.ii) Bd2 2.Sb3 Kel 3.Rxd2 clQ 4.SxclKxd2 5.Kg3 Ke3 6.Sd3 Kxd3 7.Kf2,seems to win all right (AJR).iii) Sxd4 6.a7 Sc6 7.a8Q Se5+ 8.Kf5.iv) 8.Kf6? Kd5. Or 8.Ke5? Bb6. Drawnin either case."The Estonian master continues to findlongrange strategic wins that withstandanalytical assault in positions whichothers would deem sterile."
wins."Not new, apart from the charmingbalance of the three variations."
No. 9278 7th COMMENDATION[No. 12484 Div91 Six91]A.P. and S.A.Manyakhin(Lipetsk, Russia)
I.d7 Rxc6+ 2.Kb5 (Ka5? Sd6;) Rc83dcS Kf4 4.Kc4/i Kg4 5.Sg2 Kf3 6.Sel+Ke2 7.Sd3 Kf3 8.hSf2 and W wins,i) To cover (for move 7) the d3 square.Not 4.Sg6(Sg2)+? Kf3 5.Sh4+ Kg4 6.Sg2Kf3 7.Sel+ Ke2 8.Sc2 Kf3 9.Sel+ Ke210.Sg2 Kf3 ll.Sh4+, and this positionaldraw was familiar to Tigran Gorgiev."Attractive."
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