december 13 2011

Small delay in the report; cause of the great richness of the material proposed by the Master. A little more assembly than usual for this parenthesis is fairy session.
We have noted the return of the great Ricou and of our composer (and solutionist), in the person of the immense Michel. I take advantage of the intro to give you the date of the next session which will be held on the first Tuesday of the year, that is to say the January 3rd.
In the absence of the aforementioned, Master took the opportunity to deliver two remarkable compositions of a relatively new genre.
To warm up, a first composition

series s#10 reversible Promotion

serial self mate : White plays n moves in a row and force Black to checkmate them in one move
Reversible Promotion : a promotion piece that returns to an initial pawn square becomes a pawn again
A small help :
the last moves could only be Ba2xQ(or B)b1+, ...Ka1xb1.
Ba2, remaining Bishop, was necessarily the original f1 Bishop and so Bb5 comes from a promotion.

Comments on some problems for New Year's Eve.
Three #2. The first one solves itself in 3 seconds, at least when you have a certain practice. But that doesn't prevent you from enjoying it. The second shows a "reciprocal correction". A bit abstruse? All this will be clear when you have solved it, in just a little more time. The 3rd has a real JA ("apparent play"), i.e. motivated by a try. He may ask you for two more minutes.

The #3 shouldn't give you a headache either. It is a kind of praise for idleness. The #9 is a bit stronger, but the #10 is obvious: its purpose is to explain a useful rule to the beginner.
A Gamnitzer s#5 is always a party. Very well, precisely between two "parties", during the recovery.
I've saved the helpmates for the end, contrary to what I'm used to. Of the 4 solutions of the first one, one may embarrass you. One of the h#4 is easy, the other difficult: guess which one. Finally a long and lovely walk.

The fairies will be presented by the master-tabellion. Here's one of them, which had an unexpected success on a usually lethargic forum... as soon as interesting things are discussed.
Following a conversation about the tournament which has just ended, I enclose a quick overview of the key game, emblematic example of the difference between human analysis and computer copies. For those who are decidedly resistant to the world of the problem, it will be a bit of reading for Christmas.
See you in three weeks time for a course that will be back to "normal" on 3 January. Merry Christmas then. God bless you.
And have a good time.
AV

 

Now that the neuron is warm, let's move on to a more serious piece!

1 - series s=44 reversible Promotion

serial self stalemate : White plays n moves in a row and force Black to stalemate them in one move
Reversible Promotion : a promotion piece that returns to an initial pawn square becomes a pawn again A small help : if there was no Rb6, we could do 5.a8=Q+ QxQ stalemate, it must be eliminated beforehand (and it takes 39 moves!). A problem that is completely understandable and therefore accessible, so look for it, you won't waste your time.


In the same thematic competition, here is the first prize.

2 - series s#48 reversible Promotion

It can be noted that Rc5 is necessarily a promotion piece.
we are beginning to see some "out of the ordinary" pieces and other conditions

3 - #2 with Grasshoppers and Nightrider hopper

a) Andernach : a capturing piece changes colour
b) Couscous Circe : a captured piece is reborn on the original square of the capturing piece .
. Nightrider-hopper : Prolonged Knight needing a jumper to perform his first movement (ex: NHb5 can go to f7 or h8).)
Grasshopper : moves to the Queen's lines needing a sautoir behind which it lands if that square is free or occupied by an opponent's piece.

A little relaxation with the following problem

4 - h#2,5 Couscous Circe

now, a good head grip in Circe swinger

5 - series helpmate #9 Exchange Circe (PWC)

Exchange Circe 'PWC) : the captured piece is reborn on the starting square of the capturing piece's move.
neutral piece : can be played by one side or the other

The bestiary is now open with the following composition from 1970

6 - h#2 with Grasshopper, Nightrider, Zebra et Camel

Zebra : rider (2,3)
Camel : rider (1,3)
Nightrider : extended knight

7 - exact h#2 with Mao and Moa

Mao : Crawling knight that first makes an orthogonal step and then a diagonal one
. The square of the first step must be empty
Moa ; Diagonal and then orthogonal creeping knight
A very nice problem.

A Peter Harris to seize head in your hands

8 - h#4 - AntiAndernach Maximum white

Anti-Andernach : a piece changes colour if it moves without capturing
Maximum white : only White has to play the geometrically longest moves

9 - h#4 - Einstein

Einstein : a piece progresses by capturing and regresses by not capturing i.e. p -> N -> B -> R --> Q and in the opposite direction

10 - s#8 with Royal Grasshopper

A very pure composition

An old problem since it dates back to 1931.

11 - #3 with Grasshoppers

  

12 - h#2 AntiSuperCirce with Lions

Anti-Super-Circe : the capturing piece is reborn wherever it wants to be
Lion : extended Grasshopper
  

13 - series h#11 Parrain Circe with Royal Queen

parrain Circé : a captured piece remains in suspension and performs an equipollent movement on the next move.
Royal Queen : plays like a Queen but can be checkmated
  

14 - h#2 - Take&Make

Take&Make : when a piece captures, it replays a second move with the march of the captured piece

For the restauration part, we are facing a magnificent problem.

15 - s#2 - AntiCirce with Leos

AntiCirce : the capturing piece is reborn on its original square if it is free, otherwise the move is illegal.
Leo : piece moving on the Queen's lines and needing a sautoir to capture
  

16 - h=10 coups - Ultra-Maximum with Grasshopper et Grasshopper-2

Maximum double : both sides are obliged to play the geometrically longest moves
Grasshopper-2 : like a Grasshopper, but it lands 2 squares after the sautoir.
  
And to finish, a simple and magnificent work

17 - h#4 with Grasshopper

It remains for me to wish you all a good reading, to thank the Master for his course and his electronic report.
And to finish, have a good holiday season and start the course on January 3rd in good conditions.

Yours sincerely.
Le greffier

Master's rectifications

Problem 3: I think it is useful to specify that by "original square of the capturing piece", it is understood that the original square is determined by the finishing square. For example, after ...Nxe4, the grasshopper is reborn in g8, which would be the rebirth square of the BN in anti-circe.
Thanks to the greffier for the difference between "cuckoo" and "couscous" which I didn't know.
Problem 7: there is also a h#0.5, in other words an BK mat in one move.
Problem 16 : the "grasshopper-2" is in a8.
I can't see anything else.
Merry Christmas.