october 25 2011

A little late for this report due to a professional overweight.
The audience was well ventilated during this holiday period with the presence of Daniel and the clerk in the audience.

The Master wished, as a first study, to present us with a composition that was badly classified in a judgement but which deserved much better.

1 – White to play and draw

8/4p1N1/6p1/2q5/6KQ/6P1/5k1P/5n2
W. : Kg4 Qh4 Ng7 Pg3h2
B. : Kf2 Qç5 Nf1 Pé7g6
= (5+5)

The white king is a bit awkward and also a bit embarrassing.
So the first move is not too complicated to find.
But what about the next move?

The second is a dynamic squaring position.

2 – Withe to play and draw

8/2P2P2/1k6/1Nq5/8/8/8/4K3
W. : Ké1 Nb5 Pç7f7
B. : Kb6 Qç5
= (4+2)

With a masterful twist, White manages to get away with it.

A third study was presented by the Master, but as it is one of his 
compositions, not yet published, you will not be entitled to this bonus.
You had to be there, after all!

The game of the day is a beautiful fight with a brilliant player on the black side

Master's words

One of the few 2# helpmates that I thought was interesting enough to be cut out of the 2009 unpublished material and submitted to Daniel's sagacity has just... won the first prize for the period. I give it back to you.

The judge was Ricardo Vieira. I have fond memories of him. When I arrived in Rio in October 2009, I saw him sitting at a table with two other virtuosos of the wrist shot in the beer bottle category, Bernd Ellinghoven and Milan Velimirović. At the 14th (for him) which corresponded to the 2nd bottle of wine (for me), I informed him that I had just spent 4 days in São Paulo. Instead of asking me how I had found the city, as I would if he told me he had spent 4 days in Lyon or Marseille before landing in Paris, he burst out laughing. "How can you waste time there?". Instead, of course, of spending 4 more days in Rio, the centre of the world, which you don't want to leave, for the rest of your life.

How can you do in 3 moves what it seems you can do in 2? This is the motto of the 3# helpmate. A small festival of promotions (only 3 out of 4) and two "Mister Jones" finesses. The last one is called "the merciless pursuit".

Among the directs, a 2# with nothing artificial about it: the Zago theme is obtained with tries, not a phoney "apparent play". Two 3# from the great "Loch", quite different from each other. Another very surprising one, a sort of anti-Novotny. Finally, two 5#, also quite different, one classic and one modern, but with one thing in common: each is only worth its main playing line ("Hauptvariante").

A Queen's move on a par with Gurgenidzé's and Lewandowski's rook moves discussed a short while ago. A study scandalously underestimated by the judge. Our analysis of 1...Ne3 and 4 Nh5? was singularly lacking in precision, both speaker and listener.

A cybernetic fortress demolition will be published in a forthcoming edition, if it exists (by God's grace), of an opus on endings. Too complicated, it can hardly be presented during the course. We offer it exclusively to the recipients, who have, or are supposed to have, all the time in the world. Don't miss the little study given in the commentary on the 21st move, which is "affordable" and was indeed appreciated this evening.

A modest creation of your master bucket cannot be included in the report because of publication in a French journal. It will be included later if correspondents clamour for it, as I have no doubt they will.

Game of the day: even the most erudite could not guess the players: the two finalists of the so-called "World Cup". It was not yesterday that they started to fight, notwithstanding the great friendship that unites them. The beginning is very calm, but the frenzy follows.

See you in a month on 29 November. May God keep you.
Have a good time.

AV

3 – game of the day
1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nf6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 Nf6 5 0-0 Be7 6 Re1 b5 7 Bb3 d6 8 c3 0-0 9 h3 Nd7
one of the many moves available to black.
10 d4 Bf6
Strong point !
11 a4 Bb7 12 d5
12 ab or Na3
12 … Ne7
12 … Na5
13 ab ab 14 Ra8 Qa8 15 Na3 Ba6
15 … c6
16 Nh2
16 Nc2 with same idea
16 … Ng6
16 … g6 was played by Short with Bg7 to follow
17 Ng4 Be7 18 Ne3 Rb8 19 Bd2 Bg5 !?
Theorical novelty 19 … Nc5 is the normal move
20 Bc2 Bc8!
20 … Nf6 21 Ng4! Nf4 22 h4 !! Bxh4 23 g3 Nh3+ 24 Kg2 Bc8 25 Nxf6+ Bxf6 26 Rh1 Ng5 27 f4
21 Qa1 Qb7 ?
21 … Nf6 22 Nxb5 Qxa1 23 Rxa1 Bxe3 ! 24 Bxe3 Rxb5 25 Ra8 Ne7
22 c4! bc 23 Nxc4 Nf6 24 Na5?
24 b4! Bd7 25 Na5 Qc8 26 Qc3 Nh5 27 Nc6 Ra8 28 Nf5 Bxd2 29 Qxd2
24 ...Qxb2 25 Nc6 Bxe3! 26 Bxe3 Qxc2 27 Nxb8 Qxe4 28 Nc6
28 Qa8? Nh4! 29 f3 Qg6
28 … Nxd5
28 … Bd7 29 Qa8+ Ne8 and d5 will fall
29 Qa8 Qf5 30 Na7 Nge7 31 g4 Qe6 32 32 Rb1 h6! 33 Rb8 Kh7 34 Nxc8 Ng6! 35 Qa2!

And the greffier's pen, with fatigue and hunger, fell out.
You can read the rest on the Master's electronic version 

For the dining part, back to an old more traditional address.

as a starter, the Patrol chess

4 – s#2 Patrol

8/6N1/3PNP2/2QPk3/1p2K3/1pr5/RB4n1/8
W. : Ké4 Qç5 Ra2 Bb2 Ng7é6 Pd6f6d5
B. : Ké5 Rç3 Ng2 Pb4b3
s‡2 (9+5)

Patrol: the pieces move normally except to capture where they must be, at the start of the move, protected by a piece from their camp.
selfmate : White forces Black to checkmate

As an indication, we can see that only the black knight and the pb3 can move, it will be necessary to take it into account in the key.
That makes 5 variations.

We continue with the neutral pieces

5 – serial h#12 Circe with neutral pieces

W. : Ké1 Rb6
B. : Ka1 Pb7a2
Neutral : Ph7é3é2
sh‡12 (2+3+3)
Circe : a captured piece is reborn on its original square if it is free
serial helpmate in 12-moves : black plays 12 moves in a row, after which white checkmates in 1 move.
Pièce neutres : white as well as black.
A little hint on neutrality: a neutral piece can be captured by blacks and will be reborn as if it were white while retaining its neutrality.

And to finish, a very nice problem despite the key that leaves something to be desired

6 – #2 with twin

3r3q/1b6/5p2/i2pp3/3pkN2/4p2B/3pP1RB/3K3I
W. : Kd1 Rg2 Bh3h2 Nf4 Pé2 NIh1
B. : Ké4 Qh8 Rd8 Bb7 Pf6d5é5d4é3d2 Na5
‡2 (7+11)
a)Madrasi : opposing pieces of the same kind that control each other are paralysed
b)isardam : It is illegal for opposing pieces of the same nature to control each other
NI=Nightrider : Extended knight (example: NIh1 can go to g3 f5, e4 or f2 d3 and b4

It remains for me to wish you a good reading and to give you an appointment on November 29th for the next session.

Yours sincerely

Le greffier 

Imberb