january 16 2024
This first lesson of the year saw a few technical problems at the start, no doubt due to the winter temperature.
We welcome the return of Pierre, connected from faraway lands, to reinforce the usual audience and challenge the Master, who is still in top form.
For this first session of 2024, the correction of exercises gave rise to some beautiful sequences, in particular the study of Dolgov, which produced a great aesthetic impression, followed by 2 romantic games, one of which was very well known, and finally, of course, some beautiful fairy objects.
The next lesson will be held on February 3.
Happy reading!
Master's words
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May you continue to cultivate prudence, justice, strength and temperance, to which faith, hope and charity may be added.
But the French are, as Titus Livius once said, "incapable of bearing their ills and the remedies for their ills".
"A woman must be full of mysteries" (Natalya Rudakova in "Le transporteur 3").
"Do you take me for such a fool to think I'd make contact with the one who tries to hide when he don't know to begin with ?" (B. Dylan).
"Driving all night ain't got time for bed We're on the highway to the sun" (Terence Ch. White, dit Snowy White). https://youtu.be/_rFDBCyMqv0
"Constrained silence leads to atrophy of thought" (G. Maffei).
"I propose, I expose, I impose nothing" (V. Reynouard).
"When everyone lies to you all the time, the result is not that you believe the lies, but that no one believes anything anymore" (H. Arendt).
"To be the enemy of the United States is dangerous, to be the friend of the United States is deadly" (H. Kissinger).
"Being a minister doesn't mean you don't have to be intelligent" (M. Colucci in "Le maître d'école", 1981, I simply replaced " syndicated " by " minister ".).
"I don't look like a crutch" (Rachida Dati). "Do I have an atmospheric face?" (Arletty).
"If it's to Russia that I owe my entire chess development, it's thanks to French hospitality that I was able to recover morally after the disaster of the Russian revolution, and gather new strength for the struggle. I wouldn't have considered my life a failure if I hadn't managed to beat Capa. Nevertheless, I had become convinced that it would be of the utmost importance for the development of our art to destroy the Capablanca legend, for two reasons. The great "bluff" of the man who found the philosopher's stone in chess, i.e. the secret of not losing, had spread in recent years to such an extent that it risked forever distorting the opinion of the chess world as to the creative value of other masters and the evolution of our art. But this would be nothing, or almost nothing, if Capablanca himself had loved chess. But he doesn't, and has said so on several occasions. What right does an artist who dislikes his art, and is convinced of its decadence, have to claim supremacy? It is for these reasons that I believe, independently of myself, that the outcome of the Buenos-Aires struggle may have good consequences for the chess world. For my part, I hope to contribute to a more complete understanding of the art of chess." (A. Alekhine, excerpts from his speech of thanks to the French Federation on 12-02-1928).
A Rook behind a passed pawn? Yes, except when it's more useful elsewhere, as Herr Doktor himself admits. In this case, it will give us a triple echo on 3 contiguous squares of the neighboring file (the 4th a little further away is a cherry on the cake). The traditional artistic mini-study is in 42...Rd2 43 a7?!.
In the study that Maïa liked so much, we return to the starting point after 14 moves, but with a nuance: the defensive bishop has been moved slightly. Then two brave pawns stand up to two Rooks. The Knight in the diagram is reborn, offering us a nice reciprocal zugzwang. Finally, a little Rook domination by a Bishop, with no connection to a September 11.
Festival of Bishops for the next session: a ZZ pack with 6 units, then a case of demoralization in a tournament game, two promotions and a curious rescue.
Two Morphy games, the most interesting of which is not the one you might think. There are similar situations, but they have to be handled differently. A little foray into the world of N. Kopaïev, with Rook vs. 3 linked pawns. And, in the middle of the game, how to have one less Rook, with a lighter heart: with, moreover, the embarrassment of choice of continuations...
A pleasant retro, reminding us that there can be two solutions to a direct problem without it being demolished.
Training: surprising twins in 2#, described at the time as "terrorists" but offering a record with 8 distinct mates. Then a problem where the Queen is also very active. This is followed by a Mansfield festival, the last of the four with the most variations. The next two are spectacular: the Frenchman has a formidable trial, the Russian illustrates the "black correction". Let's finish with a Dutch and an aristocratic Swiss.
In the first 3#, a square is occupied 3 times; in the second, there are 4 Queen unpinning. In 4#, each figure (other than King) plays on the 2nd move. More relaxing: 2# helpmates. How will the white King play in the 5# helpmate? In the 5,5# helpmate, the mate picture is not the first to come to mind. We'll leave the solution of the two selfmates, as the program was quite full.
Congratulations to Leon Livaić, the new Croatian champion, who narrowly missed out on winning the blitz tournament at Zadar 2017, and whom we consoled on the theme: "you remember the successes all your life, you soon forget everything else". A principle now brilliantly verified!
Enjoy your meal. Deus vos custodiat.
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