Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Deadline for FIDE Album

Next Wednesday, 01/06/2016, is the deadline to send your selected problems, of the three years 2013-2015, for publication to FIDE Albums.

Information here : http://www.wfcc.ch/fide-albums/fa1315sl/fa1315ann/

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Solving Championship 13-ESSNA, Attiki prefecture

13  OPEN CHESS SOLVING CUP OF ATTIKI (GREECE)  2016
Sunday 12 JUNE 2016 at 15 h 00

Tournament Venue
Aigaleo at Chess Club S.O Aigaleo (Iera Odos and Soutsou 1 near Square Iroon Polytenxneiou)
Athens

Format of the competition
12 compositions in a single 3-hour session
(same as in the Open solving tournament during the WFCC congress).

Timetable
16:45                registration
17:00 - 20:00  competition
20:15                prize giving

Tournament Director
Ioannis Garoufalidis

Prizes
Cup for the first winner, medals for second and third winner first non Attiki solver and first junior

Registration and further information
ggaroufalidis@yahoo.gr
Tel +30  6938792281




Sunday, May 08, 2016

Cooperations of composers (5)

We will see here the result of a cooperation of Ioannis Kalkavouras and Emmanuel Manolas, aiming to the composition of a helpmate in three and a half moves (that is, White plays first) with the following restrictions :
(a) The White has got only a Bishop and a Knight.
(b) The white pieces, B and S, will form with pericritical moves a battery which will fire with double check.
(c) The black in two variations makes different castling and is mated in the eighth row.
(d) No replacements of pieces (for twinning) is allowed.


Problem-815
Frank Fiedler
Gaudium, 2013
Source: WinChloe, no. 487666

r3k2r/8/8/4b3/8/4S1q1/8/1K1B4 (3 + 5)
h#3, 2 solutions


1.0-0 Sd5 2.Bh8 Bb3 3.Qg7 Sf6#
1.0-0-0 Sf5 2.Bb8 Bg4 3.Qc7 Sd6#

Here is shown the idea in simple form. The wB could be positioned on e2. 
The wK, to avoid checks by bR and bQ, could be only on columns b and e. But, with wKb5 the solutions are 1507, with wKe6 the solutions are 1283 and with wKe4 the solutions are 32. The wK is very well placed on b1! 
The white movements are not pericritical, they simply form the battery.
If we force the restriction h#3,5, then many unwanted solutions appear, 68 in total.


Problem-816
Anatoly Styopochkin
JT Feoktistov-50, Shakhmatnaya Kompozitsiya 1998-2000, 1st Honourable Mention
Source: WinChloe, no. 161976

r3k2r/s7/1p2B3/p2S2q1/4p3/3b4/8/b2K4 (3 + 10)
h#3.5, 2 solutions


1…Bg8 2.0-0-0 Bh7 3.Kb7 Bxe4 4.Ka6 Sc7#
1…Bc8 2.0-0 Ba6 3.Bh8 Bc4 4.Qg7 Sf6#

The nice movements of the wB are pericritical and the bishop forms the battery in both variations. But the two mates do not happen on the eighth row


Problem-817
Ioannis Kalkavouras and Emmanuel Manolas
original

r3k2r/8/8/3Sbp2/4b1B1/4Ksq1/8/8 (3 + 8)
h#3.5, 2 solutions


1…Bh3 2.0-0 Bf1 3.Bh8 Bc4 4.Qg7 Sf6#
1…Ke2 2.0-0-0 Se3 3.Bb8 Sxf5 4.Qc7 Sd6#

In one variation the white battery is formed by the wB moving clockwise, and in the other by the wS moving anti-clockwise.
The two mates appear symmetrical in the eighth row (vertical mirror, echo mates(0,4)).