october 20 2020

There were still some technical problems with the greffier for this second course but the meeting room was already there, allowing the Master to begin.

A few more listeners came to the meeting, which would not have been possible with Team Viewer.

Below is the Master's animated report with some nice finds that you can enjoy without moderation.

Master's words

"I wear miniskirts, simply because I don't have mini legs; if I had mini legs, I would perhaps wear maxi skirts. In France, people sometimes have a mini-mind" (Françoise Hardy).

"You have to stay there shouting the truth until you are knocked out. You must never go away" (Marie-Charlotte de Corday d'Armont, known as Charlotte Corday).

"In allowing man, nature has made a miscalculation" (E. M. Cioran).

"Optimism and pessimism are for cowards unable to appreciate the mystery of life" (F. P. Yockey).

"There are two kinds of investigations in France, those so that we know something and those so that we don't know something" (B. Blier in "Quand la femme s'en mêle", 1957).

"A unique phenomenon in the history of the world, France is the only country that abhors, hates and curses its past, the most glorious of all peoples" (Maréchal H. Lyautey in 1912). What would he say a century later?

"Trom xua snoc" (Goulven Pennaod).

"There is a peak of "covid" because we multiply the tests; if tomorrow we multiply the IQ tests, we will observe a peak of morons" (read on the internet).

"If it is possible, it is done, if it is impossible, it will be done" (Napoleon I).

"Lasker plays such stupid chess. I cannot stand it!" (D. Janowski).

"A master who, proving unable to win by his own abilities, tries to score a point by exhausting a physically less trained opponent, perfectly deserves to lose" (A. Alekhine).

To win a pawn endgame, you sometimes have to play... pawn moves, it is a truism.  But if there is only one, it is better to check the conditions to dare to do it. The black dilemma: out of the 3 moves available for the King, two allow the push (although in different ways) while the 3rd forbids it but... loses the opposition. Thus, 3 distinct plans adapted to the 3 moves of the Black King.

Students are struggling to invent effects like the one we see spontaneously emerging in our Bishops endgame from practice, whose hero was, in addition to being a French bi-champion, the first international master of our country. Does your King prefer the left? Mine will go to the right. He prefers the right, mine will go to the left. And I cannot repeat enough that tournament games are prodigious breeding grounds for reciprocal zugzwangs. Note that in a recent Ukrainian-Czech game, this idea is found again, in an infinitely simpler way. In Kf7, Bc4, Pf6 / Kf4, Bf3, Black avoids 91...Ke5? 92 Kg7!! and 91...Kg5? 92 Ke7!! but escapes by 91...Bh5+!! to eventually copy the White King.

Rest: choosing the right side for the King with tripled pawns against a Queen. Remind those with a good memory of the first example of this course: http://lecoursdumaitre.e-monsite.com/pages/cours/cat-2018/5-juin-2018.html

For the next course, a pawn endgame considered to be drawn for 45 years and even, by some, 75. And a skein with several authors of the 19th century, from which we extract a more accessible exercise.

Estonian-Latvian battle of the titans from 1959, to which we alluded in the last course. Note the incredible precision of about 15 moves following the adjournment, at a time when competition was still civilised. Note also the nice traps on the 30th & 48th moves, typical of the one who was to become world champion the following year.

In fairytale, a "SAT", a funny kind by the great Finnish specialist, adorable companion of libations when he doesn't get lost in pickaninnâneries.

Training: an unchained Queen, a dish of rigatoni, virtual Grimshaw, a rook placement, another unchained Queen, but black, an amusement from an author who embarrassed Steinitz, a little "where to play the Queen", then "where to play the Knight", the next 3 quite simple, finally a Velimirović attack, not Dragoljub's, but Milan's!

Among the 3#, only the 2nd one might take a little time. Two 4# are also pleasant and a circuit in 9 moves by the great specialist of helpmates recently deceased. In helpmate, twins with a clear strategy, then a "4 solutions" where we find the same white moves at another number. The one in 3 moves is strong, good luck. In the one in 5.5 (White to move), we guess the mate square, but how to get there? Finally, a selfmate in 4 ending, as the author's name indicates, with two model mates.

Have a good time. See you, if Deus vult, in a few weeks for the last lesson of the year.

Master's diagrams