may 9 2017

 This session was full of technical problems, but fortunately the Master was spared.

For the first time, we had all the heterodox genres in the audience. It was no longer a St. Lazarus course, it was the "cours des miracles" !
The Master, the example of what should be, was visible and audible.
The clerk was visible, but mute.
Daniel was audible, but quickly invisible because of camera failure and madrasi freezing.
And Eric, finally, was inaudible and invisible! (Fortunately, he had a keyboard, which allowed him, like the spirit blowing the moves, to manifest his presence to the Master who was the only one to receive his messages!)
Alone among the listeners, the second Eric had all the comfort!
No news from Pierre, but perhaps, to complete the picture, he was deprived of internet connection! 

Below, the animated report of the Master

Master's words

Quote of the day: "You spend too much time with whores, you should work more" (Flaubert to Maupassant).

Reminder of the day: "Television is made for those who, having nothing to say, absolutely want to make it known" (P. Dac).

The motto of the day, from Anne of Bretagne and Ferdinand of Aragon: Malo mori quam foedari ("I prefer to die than to dishonour myself"). In recent weeks especially, it cannot be said to have been adopted much in our country.

The irritation of the day: "It's hard enough to be poor, if on top of that you have to go without...". This famous phrase by Paul Morand was recently attributed to... the inevitable Colucci! Always anticipations. In Chess as elsewhere: "Each generation seems to believe to have invented Chess" (Dražen Marović).

Studies of the day. A fork of a particular type and a full ZZ, with a whole point difference depending on whether you have to move or not.

The practical ending of the day. From the World Junior Championship thirty years ago, a Queen endgame won by one of the best team players in the world, a friendly Armenian grandmaster and problemist.

Today's homework: a small Ladislav Prokeš festival. An author whose speciality was to limit himself to natural positions. A dinosaur, when you see the modern studies, which generally resemble "traffic accidents", as John Beasley said.

Hero of the day: Ratmir Kholmov. This relatively unknown super-player had something in common with a more contemporary genius, Alexei Shirov. Can you guess? Come on! I won't keep you waiting. Both combine phenomenal attacking games with a deep love of endgames. Let's recall RK's extensive analysis of R+3P/B+3P linked on the same wing. We limit ourselves today to a Bishop and two pawns endgame against Bishop of the same colour, where the small pawn spacing gives remarkable chances to the defence. Let us add that these two geniuses are neighbours, AS being Latvian and RK Lithuanian.

The tactical warm-ups of the day: RK plays us twice the move Nc6! Banal, you think, except that it is a White Knight. And to sacrifice it, immediately or at the next move!

The theme of the day, illustrated in another game of the great Ratmir (which Tarrasch would certainly have appreciated), extracted from the strongest "zonal" tournament in history: the isolated strong-weak pawn. Many players ask themselves the question "is my isolated pawn good or bad?", but the answer is... in the question : it is clear that your pawn is both strong and weak, the only thing is to know in which case it is dangerous, in which case it is a heavyweight...

The training of the day. After the traditional 2# with ages ranging from 40 to 85, a Czech 3# given in Belarus, a Ukrainian 3# given in Poland, which got Murdzia's scalp, a Danish strategic 4#, another German. A magnificent Armenian 5# from 2013 on a Romanian idea from... 1909, improved in... 1955: down with the clean slate and long live the legacy! An easy but fun 7#.

Then comes a... Alsacian striptease "quite honest, but nevertheless very pleasant" (A. Chicco). Besides, the Kings are not naked: how could there be a mat? Except of course in fairyland! It must be said that in 1960, it was never very "hard", see Nadia Gray's in "La dolce vita".

The other 2# helpmate is exceptionally original. Don't miss the "apparent play". In the 1959 helpmate 3#, a commentator refers to it as a "Bristol". A line clearance, yes, but a Bristol, no. He seems to have never seen the eponymous Healey 1857. Finally a very affordable Spanish selfmate, given away at the 1990 World Championship.

Having to leave our beautiful country in June, I propose that the next session be held in three weeks' time. There is a small chance of a 7th course at the end of June. Have a good time and may God keep you.

Master's diagrams