june 21 2022

A plethora of listeners for this last course of the season, and this despite the absence of two regulars who went to the countryside (and incidentally to the cooler weather!).

The return of Pierre, Abdel and the arrival of Maurice did not affect the stability of the meeting and the analyses were lively!

Below is the Master's report, still in good shape.

Good reading to all and good summer rest.

Master's words

"You humiliate too much but do not punish enough" (Josephine to Napoleon).

"Not a newspaper in which one can find twenty lines in which there is neither stupidity nor bad faith" (Al. Karr). Would he say "10 lines" nowadays? Or five?

"There is a tendency today to regard great size as greatness" (J. Bryce, 1838-1922, who was unlikely to have known the "endless dwarf")

"Stavisky killed himself with a bullet fired from 10 feet away. What it is to have a long arm" ("Le Canard enchaîné" in 1934).

"Information does not inform us, it conforms us, soul and language" (M. Druon).

"He who does not love his mother more than other mothers and his country more than other countries loves neither his mother nor his country" (P. Déroulède).

"To make concessions to Russia today is to give in to the law of the strongest. To make none is to bow to the law of the craziest" (H. Guaino).

"All those whose conscience has capitulated, all those who blindly obey men or laws without ever appealing to justice and truth, are slaves through their own fault" (Lanza del Vasto).

"I do not seek to be loved, but to be understood" (J.-P. Belmondo in "L'héritier", 1973).

"The earth is round, but everything on earth is flat" ("Gigi" by Minnelli, 1958).

"Inelegance causes more break-ups than infidelity" (ibidem).

"In my opinion... -- Opinions are like assholes, everyone has one" (Cl. Eastwood in "The Last Target", 1988).

Should one strive to be active or simply defend oneself? In the middle of the game, the first option is generally preferable; in the ending, it is rather the opposite, except... in this case. This being said, this activity is less a taking of initiative than a process to reduce the opponent's pawns.

Nice rescue on the Baltic: bicoloured echoing stalemates. Then an overpowering Bishop, first against a Rook (with a jealous but cooperative Knight!), but also, all alone this time, against a black Queen. Finally, another 4-figure rescue, against a very threatening pawn, with of course (do you think I forgot them?) a reciprocal zugzwang!

The game of the day is known as one of the very rare defeats of an "invincible" champion. His opponent, we are told, had to learn chess twice following a serious accident causing a loss of memory. But this game is far from being reduced to the Queen sacrifice, quite obvious, of the 31st move. Do not miss the analyses of the 25th, 27th and 30th moves. With a new example of my favourite theme: the good move and the bad move are interchanged after a slight modification of the position. Note also, in the context of the Bishop-Knight rivalry, the two sacrifices on the same square in the 25th move variation.

Two very clear fairy tales in homage to Alain Biénabe, author of a marvellous book which happens to be... half a book, the problem section of the "Guide des Echecs" (1993, reedition 2009, unfortunately amputated of a tasty passage on a hypothetical "ministry of intellectual health"!)

Training: the 2# are on the whole easier than usual (holidays are approaching), only the 6th, 8th, 10th & 11th will take you a bit more time. The first 3# is an extended 2# which, as it is, had the scalp of a star! The second is a true 3# where White is generous. In the 9# (we leave the solution) the reason for the key is only understood at mate.

Helpmate 2# has an echo-chameleon of pinning and reciprocal captures. Double checks in the one in 3. Promos in Towers in Alain B's one in 7. The selfmate 2# is not difficult, with its 5 battery variants. Neither is the one in 3, an old PAP with 4 promos, where 4 different units administer mate. Finally, the proof that there are very easy 7# selfmates: without the Rook, it would be immediate, wouldn't it? So...