october 4 2005

Return of our national GMI MC ("Master of Chess"), present despite a delay caused by the usual strike scum, who make a specialty of not missing (almost) any class, birthday or not. A wager was made: your "master bucket" committed himself, taking advantage of the imminent conclusion (for him) of the famous "citizen" obligation to waste his time, by thousands of hours, to fill the hole of the "SS" and the deficit of a thousand billion oïros, to give one lesson a week (instead of the usual 2 or 3) if a slightly less complacent government forbids the strike in public transport.

To celebrate his presence, an immortal masterpiece, the favourite game of a very great world champion, the one of whom Spielmann used to say: "I can combine as well as he does, but I never reach the positions he gets, in which these combinations are possible".

We can go further in the analysis of the winner, but, as Igor Zaïtsev used to say, "It is always easier to find a nugget in the middle of riches already amassed by someone else". The author of this sentence knows a lot about wealth, having spent his whole life communicating nuggets to Karpov, which has been a great help to him in his career.

To accompany this brilliant new season, a festival of generosity where White, starting with one more Rook, finishes with the same Rook against... two Queens. Then two exquisite Romanian twins. And four "minor" pieces become three, against a pawn that becomes Queen.

Mate in 4 moves: we would like to play Bf6, to push the pawn and then Bh3, wouldn't we? But where to place it ? Followed by a helpmate with 3 solutions where the white game would be monotonous without... the black lines.

At the dinner table, a problem was quickly solved by a participant (guess which one). Had he ever seen this problem before? Yes, or rather no: he had already composed it! Finally, to be more accurate, he had composed a... much better problem, and... three years earlier!

Master's diagrams