june 3 2025
For this penultimate lesson before the holidays, correcting the first exercise took us several hours of research and ideas suggested by the audience.
In short, it was a big job!
The rest of the exercises seemed much simpler!
This was followed by a beautiful tribute to the great Boris.
And to round things off, a few compositions from the world of fairy, including one by Gockel and one by Michel in collaboration.
Enjoy the rest of the programme, and see you at the last class before the holidays on June 28.
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Master's word
"Why did you do that last night? -- I hate vegetarians" (Andie MacDowell & Depardieu in "Green card", 1990).
"If people say "How can you die at twenty?" Put these simple words on my grave: "Rosée d'amour n'a pas vu le jour Rosée du jour n'a pas eu d'amour" https://youtu.be/mD7av9N4chY
Happy 80th birthday to Eric Clapton, the best guitarist in the world, but there's more to him than that, to say the least! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9uYu4R2nk8
"There are no errors that do not perish of their own, making clearly" (Vauvenargues).
"Some microphone-wielding people are just as dangerous as gun-wielding thugs, except that the latter are spared the moral lessons." (R. Holeindre).
"The plans of the distinguished economist are constantly modified and called into question by the soldier who gives his life, by the farmer who loves his land, by the faithful who observes the rules and defences of his religion - all people inspired, not by mathematical calculations, but by an inner vision." (G. K. Chesterton).
"Global warming": in 2030, the planet will begin sliding towards a mini-ice age (with the Sun reducing its activity by 60% for a few decades), according to some real scientists who are opposed to the analyses and conclusions of the IPCC.
"The important thing in life is not how hard you hit, it's how many you can take and still keep going." (S. Stallone in "Rocky VI", 2006).
« I'd have gone to England despite the ban, but I'd hate to give President Macron and his foreign minister a second French writer in his eighties with cancer imprisoned in a Muslim country. » (Renaud Camus, banned from entering "perfidious Albion".).
Two linked pawns in Rook endgame, enhancing their value should be a piece of cake, shouldn't it? We know the case, from Kling & Horwitz, where the defending King gets stuck into the pawns. But what about the rest of the time? Discover a few splendours: winning, when possible, is even more complex than miraculous draws.
Take a break with a Dutch study, then, after mate, stalemate, and finally a nice double domination by Bishop.
Last exercises before the summer: two twin mini-studies, a rescue with a shortage of material, then a cunning Queen against a black tornado.
Contrary to what we sometimes read, Boris Spassky was in no way devastated by his 1972 defeat by Fischer. On the contrary, he was rid of his title of world champion, which led his interlocutors to a perfect hypocrisy, which he complained about, see the quotes at the end of this course : https://lecoursdumaitre.e-monsite.com/pages/cours/cat-2019/29-octobre-2019.html , he felt perfectly well and his level was higher than ever. He dominated the 1973 championship of what was then known as ‘the USSR’, outclassing Karpov, Petrossian, Polugayevsky, Kortchnoi, Geller, Keres, Tal and Smyslov.
We have extracted a brilliant attack, commented on by Keres and Geller. At the critical moment, the dilemma arises: you play the normal move (very satisfying) or... like a world champion. As it's not Fischer in front of you, the reply won't be ideal... Two moves later, the same dilemma. But this time without a reply.
You would have been angry with me if I hadn't had an example of "good-bad" interchanged. It's also on the 15th white move.
Practice: the first 3 2# are difficult, as are the last 2, but others can also make you think (the 6th has 6 tries). Then a few 19th-century Irish 3#s, all of which look easy: it's possible to pull out your hair, if you have it. Don't forget to prepare your Irish coffee, while listening to https://youtu.be/Z7pAhNumuvo
And a few German moremovers in tribute to Hans Vetter, whose famous 5# can be seen here : https://lecoursdumaitre.e-monsite.com/pages/cours/cat-2010/2-fevrier-2010.html We'll leave the solution to you, although it's not at all difficult, as it's pure logic.
Helpmates, a little neglected in recent courses: the 4 are easy, short or long. Selfmates: tougher, but we're magnanimous.
A final tribute to Christian: we see him contemplating a historic game (Monaco 1967), the 57th of the "60 memorable games".
The greatest "gentleman" in the world of chess, Vlastimil Hort, has just left us. Who else will kiss women's hand and talk about his art with such culture and kindness? Who will write books as good as the one he wrote in collaboration with his friend Jansa, also called Vlastimil? The last two times we quoted him : https://lecoursdumaitre.e-monsite.com/pages/cours/cat-2018/17-avril-2018.html and https://lecoursdumaitre.e-monsite.com/pages/cours/cat-2024/6-fevrier-2024.html My condolences to his wife Brigitte. May God rest his soul.
Enjoy your meal. Благослови вас бог. Deus vos custodiat.
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