january 3 2012
First of all, and as tradition dictates, I join the Master in wishing you a very happy new year.
Few people attended this first session of 2012, the abuse of the end of year celebrations had decimated the crowd of regular listeners.
To begin with, the Master asked us a totally hallucinating problem
1 - White to play and win
8/8/4p3/4P3/1p6/8/5P2/1K3k2
W. : Kb1 Pé5f2
B. : Kf1 Pé6b4
+ (3+3)
Incredibly, there are two pawn moves and only one of them wins!
For the continuation, something closer to the "normal" game
2 – Black capture b2 pawn
6k1/pp3p1p/1qp3pB/3rb3/8/2P2QP1/PP3P1P/4R1K1
W. : Kg1 Qf3 Ré1 Bh6 Pç3g3a2b2f2h2
B. : Kg8 Qb6 Rd5 Bé5 Pa7b7f7h7ç6g6
(10+10)
It's a hard combination and we send some on both sides, so enjoy it.
For the game of the day, a nice fight between Karpov, who doesn't need to be introduced anymore, and Topalov, at the dawn of his career as a killer.
3 – game of the day
1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 c5
Black's player shows that he has it, which white's player does not doubt.
Hence this answer :
3 Nf3!? cd 4 Nxd4 e6 5 g3 Nc6 6 Bg2 Bc5 7 Nb3 Be7 8 Nc3 0-0 9 0-0 d6 10 Bf4
10 Bg5 to also threaten d6 is the other move
10 … Nh5 11 e3 !
A nice novelty at the time, the usual line is 11 Be3 Ne5 12 c5 d5 13 Bd4 Nc6 14 e4
11 … Nxf4 12 ef Bd7 13 Qd2 Qb8
Your fake-master selecting a game for the Saint-Lazare course, wondering if the Black player is sufficiently endowed.
To start a year that I hope will be even richer in artistic joys, here are some nice problems as usual.
Three helpmates to restart Daniel's training. The easiest one is, strangely enough, the longest. The 2nd one drives Fritz's "special problems" engine crazy but is found by simple human logic.
A very easy but cute 2#: you'd like to "pass" but... Then comes a great "Kub", a very easy "Jorg" and two easy Lindgren, in tribute to the great Swede who passed away this year. Both are exceptionally original.
Finally, a magnificent selfmate by a very great specialist. Quite easy. If you had to see only one in 2012, let it be this one.
We know Richard Becker well, but we didn't expect him in the pawn endgame, in a slow festina destined to become another classic.
A combination on the theme of the b2-pawn winking at the black Queen, reminiscent of the uncle O'Kelly of Galway spoke of, who had bequeathed his fortune to his nephew... on condition that he never captured the b2-pawn. Which has an entertaining sequel... which was shown on a forum specialising in giving pearls to pigs.
The game of the day could be called "The Towering Inferno". It comes from a tournament where one of the greatest performances of all time was achieved. Both players are endowed. A small remark: after 20...fxe6 21 Bxc6 Ra7 22 Qxe6+ Kg7 which gives the text with an extra beat, as the attentive audience pointed out (but which your "fake-master" did not realise), the move 23 Bd7! was proposed (besides 23 Be4!) then rejected for 23...Rf8. The general blindness made us "forget" 24 Qxe7+! Rf7 25 Qe8!
See you next week on 10 January. The train of hell has started again. Notwithstanding, God bless you.
The right square for the Queen, she is safe from all assiduities and continues the protection of d6. The only drawback is that d7 is no longer protected
14 Rfe1
Threatens f5
14 … g6 15 h4 a6 16 h5 b5
The black player is in his element: the activity
17 hg hg 18 Nc5 dc ?!
On 18 … Be8, 2 variations :
A) 19 Nxa6 Rxa6 20 cb Rb6 21 bc
B) 19 Nxe6 ! fe 20 Rxe6 Rf6 21 Rae1 Rxe6 22 Rxe6 Bf7 23 Qe3 Qc8 24 Rxe7 Nxe7 24 Bxa8 Nf5 25 Qa7
19 Qxd7 Rc8 20 Rxe6 !
20 Bxc6 ? Ra7 ! 21 Qd3 Rxc6 22 cb c4 23 Qf3 Rc8
20 … Ra7 21 Rxg6+ ! fg
21 ... Kf8 loses immediately and 21 ... Kh7 22 Qh3+ Kxg6 23 Be4+ Kg7 24 Qh7+
22 Qe6+ Kg7 23 Bxc6 Rd8 24 cb Bf6 25 Ne4 Bd4 26 ba Qb6 27 Rd1 Qxa6 28 Rxd4!
Eliminates the last defender of the black ramparts
28 … Rxd4 29 Qf6+ Kg8 30 Qxg6 Kf8 31 Qe8+ Kg7 32 Qe5+
Better 32 Nxc5 Rd1+ 33 Kh2 Qf1 34 Qe5+ Kh6 35 Qg5+ Kh7 36 Be4+ Kh8 37 Qh5+ Kg7 38 Qe5+
32 … Kg8 33 Nf6+ Kf7 34 Be8+ Kf8 35 Qxc5+ Qd6 36 Qxa7 Qxf6
More severely burned and thus in the usual style of the black player was 36 ... Rd1+ 37 Kg2 Rg1+ 38 Kh3 Rh1+ 39 Kg4, but white wins anyway
37 Bh5 Rd2 38 b3 Rb2 39 Kg2 resigns
The restoration part was a chess stripping, to finish with a hyper-minimalist position.
4 - #2 Lortap (anti-patrol)
Hubert GOCKEL
Jubilé C. Lytton-70, The Problemist 2009-10
2° Prize
1q2N3/4R2n/5p1K/2r2k1B/r3P2n/5Pbb/4N2p/8
W. : Kh6 Ré7 Bh5 Né8é2 Pé4f3
B. : Kf5 Qb8 Rç5a4 Bg3h3 Nh7h4 Pf6h2
‡2 (7+10) C+
Lortap : a piece can only preceed if it is not under control of a friendly piece.
Kf5 is not in check, pe4 being "patrolled" by f3.
A beautiful problem.
A passage through Functionaries chess with a few less pieces
5 - h#4 functionnaries chess
8/8/8/8/4B3/8/6b1/2KRr2k
W. : Kç1 Rd1 Bé4
B. : Kh1 Ré1 Bg2
h‡4 (3+3)
b) Kh1-->c4
Functionaries: a piece can only move, and a fortiori capture, if it is threatened by an opponent unit
It gets a bit more naked with the next one
6 – h#1,5 super-circe 2 solutions
Kohey YAMADA
The Problemist 2005
W. : Kf8
B. : Kh8 Pé7
Neutral : Pf7
h‡1,5 (1+2+1) C+
Super-Circe : the captured piece is placed at the will of the captor and in the case of a pawn placed on a promotion line, the nature of the promotion is also at the will of the captor
Very nice and very accessible, so look for it
For the last one, only the Brazilian thong is left.
7 - h#2,5 with twin
Ivan ANTONOV
Sentinels
QR=Royale neutral piece
a) royal :princess Knight + Bishop
b) royal okapi : Knight + Zebra (bouncer (2,1) + (3,2) )
Neutral : indifferently playable by one side or the other
h‡2,5 (0+0+1)
Sentinelles : leave a pawn on the starting square of the move (except for pawns that cannot defecate a counterpart)
And here comes the end of this report, which I wish you a good reading.
Next meeting next Tuesday, January 10th
Yours sincerely
The Greffier
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