february 16 2010

This was the last session of the winter, the next one will be held in the spring.
The attendance was sparse, but there was a core group of participants who were joined by the charming Adeline and the lively Maître Jacques.

For the appetizer, the day after Saint Claude's Day, a fabulous study

1 - White to play and draw

8/8/8/B3K3/r2r4/8/2P1k1P1/b6R
W. : Ké5 Rh1 Ba5 Pç2g2
B. : Ké2 Ra4d4 Ba1
= (5+4)

This is an extremely rare example of a Bishop dominating 2 Rooks. Properly breathtaking

To relax, a small study which is rather a problem, with a very nice triple effect. Hats off to the artist

2 - White to play and win

5k2/8/8/8/RRp5/4K3/1pp5/bb6
W. : Ké3 Ra4b4
B. : Kf8 Ba1b1 Pç4b2ç2
+ (3+6)

Only one helpmate, a Brazilian 2nd prize superior to the first: didn't I tell you that I almost always contest judgements? A very nice Polish 3#, followed by a nice illustration of the "Rudenko paradox", in tribute to the Ukrainian giant. Then a rather difficult 5#, unless you sniff out the main variant. Solution on request.

Finally, we end our cycle of logical multipunches, with two German problems and a French one. In this last problem, we have taken the liberty of correcting both the version published in the "FIDE" album and that of the "famous European magazine of French expression", which at that time was not yet a substitute for toilet paper.

A little exercise in retrograde analysis in homage to Gabriel Léon-Martin, French master of logical multi-moves. The statement has been slightly modified by yours truly, we only asked for the last three takes.

Evocation of preliminary conversation with Adeline: one part of Moro and two of Marie.

A bishop can hold two rooks at bay. If for the same price, one can revise the T versus P struggle, the instructive harmoniously marries the aesthetic. Then a curious triple echo of mate of the 2 Rooks.

Finally the revenge of Mr Seguin's goat: a heroic pawn against Rook and two Knights.

In the game of the day, the fire smolders on the chessboard. No great flames, but permanent embers. And the decisive mistake in the transition to the endgame: which one to choose with Q+2P / 2R?

Have a good rest, we only meet again on Tuesday 23 March.

Have a good time

A delight of aesthetic simplicity

A new masterpiece to end the study part (the Master spoils us!)
3 - White to play and draw

7k/r6P/P1K3R1/6p1/7n/8/6P1/7n
W. : Kç6 Rg6 Ph7a6g2
B. : Kh8 Ra7 Nh4h1 Pg5
= (5+5)
Great art

Today's game is a superb battle on one of the great East Indian variants
4 - game of the day
1.d4 Nf6 2.ç4 g6 3.Nç3 Bg7 4.é4 d6 5.Bé2 0-0 6.Nf3 é5 7.0-0 Nç6 8.d5 Né7 9.b4 Nh5 10.Ré1 f5 11.Ng5 Nf6 12.Bf3 (12.f3 in Saemisch way is the other consistent alternative) ç6 (radically prevents any confusion based on Nd5) 13.Bb2 (13. Be3 was played by Kramnik, Chirov wants to play differently) h6 14.Né6 B×é6 15.d×é6 f×é4 16.N×é4 N×é4 17.R×é4 d5 18.ç×d5 ç×d5 19.R×é5 B×é5 20.B×é5 Qb6 21.Bb2 Kh7 (21... Dxb4 22. Tb1 with some underlying tension or 21... Qxe6 22. Qd4 Kf7 and it's getting a little hot. 21... Rad8 is well) ) 22.Qé2 d4 23.h4 Rf6 24.Ré1 Q×b4 (24... Re8 is more dynamic) 25.a3 (25. Rd1 Rd8 26 h5 Qc5 27 Be4 Kg8 28 Bxg6 Nxg6 29 hg Rxg6 30 Qe4 and it dominates hard even with messes like d3) Qd6 (25... Qb6) 26.h5 Raf8 (26... Rd8 27 Bxb7 gh 28 Qd3+ Kg7 and it pretty much holds up) 27.Qé4 (27 Qd3 Rd8 28 hg Nxg6 29 e7 Re8 30 Bxb7 Rxe7 31 Be4 Rd7 32 Bxd4!) Nç6 28.h×g6+ Kg7 (28... Rxg6 29 Bh5) 29.Bç1 Qé7! 30.B×h6+ K×h6 31.Qh4+ K×g6 32.B×ç6 b×ç6 33.Ré5 Q×é6? (33... Rxe6 found by Adeline draws) 34.R×é6 R×é6 35.Qg4+ Kf7 36.Q×d4 a6 37.g4 Rg8 38.f3 Rf6 and the blacks gave up about twenty moves later
Gladiators!

The restoration part, in the absence of Guy, saw the Master present 2 positions of beautiful allure.

5 - hs#4 bicolore

2K4B/4PP2/8/8/8/k7/2p1p3/8
W. : Kç8 Bh8 Pé7f7
B. : Ka3 Pç2é2
hs‡4 (4+3)

Two-coloured: the pieces are manipulated by their own side but can capture their own King (example: Rd8 is illegal)
Reverse assisted: White plays and Black helps him until the last move, after which White obligns him to checkmate in 1 move

To help you a bit, there are 4 pawns on the board.

6 - s#5 Köko Maximum

4k2r/8/4KQ2/6p1/8/8/8/8
W. : Ké6 Qf6
B. : Ké8 Rh8 Pg5
s‡5 (2+3)

Maximum: Black must play the longest geometric moves
Köko : at the arrival of a move, a piece must be in contact with another piece
selfmate : White plays and forces Black to checkmate him

And that's it, the report ends in its purely textual part. I hand over to the Master for the electronic version.
Have a good reading.

Yours sincerely.

Le greffier