january 11 2022
For this first session of 2022, the usuals were there with the return of Clément.
A magnificent Rook ending to start with which contains in itself some studies in the making.
Some other wonders followed which you will discover below, recounted in detail by the Master.
Master's words
More and more madmen and sheep, less and less people of good sense and autonomy. Let this noise and fury not prevent me from sending you my best wishes from "my" town of Novigrad!
"A population fed under tyranny becomes cowardly and effeminate" (Etienne de la Boétie).
"Happiness reigns on Earth. He who doubts it is sick. He who is ill is cured. Whoever is incurable is executed" (R. Silverberg).
"What surprises you most about humanity? -- Men who lose their health in order to earn money and then spend that money to regain their health. Thinking too anxiously about the future, they forget the present, so much so that they end up living neither in the present nor in the future. They live as if they will never die and die as if they have never lived" (Dalai Lama's line).
"Those who once belched out the slogan "my body, my choice" have redoubled their imagination to force the people to bend to the vaccine injunction promoted by multi-condemned pharmaceutical firms. The French must now submit to their regular dose or else they will be pariahs, deprived of daily activities and even of access to hospitals... And the system's media are there, as in the early days, to accompany the manufacture of consent" (El. Blaise).
"Despite all the constraints that these people impose on you, don't forget that they can't take one thing away from you: the right to take them for fools" (ibidem).
"Why has the management of the health crisis been excellent in poor countries and catastrophic in rich countries? (V. Bugault).
"Can the French accept that from now on, their health is conditioned to a subscription of one dose every 6 months, 5 months, or 3 months...? (A. Henrion-Caude).
"Next to what will be revealed [about pseudo-vaccines], the contaminated blood affair will seem like a joke" (read on the Internet). Last minute addition: even the most moronic seem to end up understanding that, in a restaurant or elsewhere, an infected "vaccinated" is more dangerous than an uninfected not "vaccinated"!
And of course, full support for Novak Đoković. Čestitke !
"We know they are lying, they know they are lying. They know that we know that they lie, we know that they know that we know that they lie. Yet they continue to lie" (A. Solzhenitsyn).
"The "woke" revolution is underway, even if it "does not exist". France has become the land that recycles American waste" (Ar. de Watrigant).
"The spirit alone gives no nobility: one needs something that ennobles the spirit" (F. Nietzsche).
"If those who speak ill of me knew exactly what I think of them, they would say much more" (S. Guitry).
"Until I die, I will learn" (A. Hauchard). Phrase taken up by Ferry on 1 January 2022. Alas, it is not Roger (may he rest in peace) but Luc, formerly my hierarchical "superior"! Remember what Clint Eastwood said about it: see the lecture of 1-10-2019.
A complex Rook ending, won not without difficulty by Romanian GM (and solutionist) Mihail Marin, who we wrote about in our article on Iasi 2015. http://lecoursdumaitre.e-monsite.com/pages/concours-de-solutions/cat-2015/championnat-d-europe-2015.html Among its many curiosities, one hesitates between two plans, one works with Ra5, Pa7 / Ra8 but not Rb5, Pb7 / Rb8 and of course, for the other plan, it is the opposite! With, you guessed it, an echo of ZZ. Another simpler one at the 48th black move: depending on whether the white King is on g1 or f1, the good and bad plan are also switched.
Homage also to Madame Marin, Mariya Yughina, an inspired artist who combines Chess and Beauty... in many ways.
To rest from this heavy analysis, an amusing Georgian cavalcade and some Austrian sacrificial manoeuvres.
Exercises for the next lesson. The strongest, on the theme: "where would you play your King"? A familiar idea, here in twins. The squares c4 & e4 are both tempting, no? Would you believe that the good move in the first twin is the bad move in the other? To rest us, a mate in 11 or Queen's win. Then a game of Fischer: this a4 pawn is bothering us, should we take it? Finally, a nice win with equality of material: an ingenious black 3rd move, a worthy reply on the white 4th.
The game of the day: attack on the kingside (ending in a pure mate) by a great strategist, incidentally a former world champion, whose specialty was not this. But he could not fail, in the style of Alekhine, to exploit the imbalance of forces, those of the opponent frolicking on the queenside.
A little trip through history, à la Fernandel: we are transported to the Middle Ages for a simple and charming retrograde analysis.
Training: trials in the 2nd, 3rd, 6th, 10th & 12th two-movers, trap in the 5th. The first 3# has two fine variations. The second is much easier. The first 4# has a flagship variation, which is not obvious. The second is entertaining and offers two model mats.
A well-known theme in the 2# 4-solution helpmate. Then two longer helpmates by a very nice Australian composer (remember that, in the first one, it's White to move). Finally, two equally nice selfmates, one in 3, from the 19th century, the other in 4, from the 20th century, Czech, with two model mates.
Have a good time. Adeus até à próxima. Zostańcie z Bogiem.
Add a comment