French Championship 2024
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Home Championship
It's funny that this championship took place in Gentilly, where I met Smyslov almost half a century ago and where, with the great class that has always characterised him, he told me that his "co-author" of "Rook endings" was in fact the real author of the book.
Before this championship, I said to myself: the only chance Michel has of getting back on track after 3 years of relative setbacks is if the 3#s aren't too difficult! And so it proved. The first one, from the German titan, is easily solved when you see that Kxh5 is met with an immediate mate and that the White Queen must be good for something. It's surprising that 3/4 of the participants failed. One comment: how can we have scored 3.5, 4 or 4.5 given the scale shown?
The 3# of the great Losch seemed even easier, the only difficulty being not to forget the variants. Only the first three solved it. The 4#, also easy, was only solved by the first two. We are still waiting for the new generation. Will we have to go and get it in Russia?
3
Give the key and variations until mate.Hans Peter Rehm 2nd Prize, Norsk Sjakkblad 1983 (v)
4
Give the key, threats and variations jusqu’au mat.Lev I. Loshinsky 2nd Prize, USSR Sports Committee 1948
5
give solution until last white move before checkmate.Walther Von Holzhausen Deutsches Wochenschach1923
} 1.Rb8-b6 ! {} 1...Rg2*f2 2.Bh2-b8 + 2...Kh1-g1 3.Bb8-a7 {[@]} 1...Rg2*g4 2.Qh3*g4 2...Kh1*h2 3.Rb6-b3 {[@]} 1...Rg2-g3 2.f2*g3 2...h4*g3 3.Qh3-f1 + {[@]} 3...Kh1*h2 4.Rb6-h6 #
There's nothing to say about the 2#, which are both nice, but the taste for provocation makes us play the key a tempo.
1
Give the key.Herbert Ahues 1st Commendation Probleemblad 1985
2
Give the key.Milan Velimirovic 1st Place, WCCT 1981-83
The 6# of the great specialist of the selfmate is not difficult, but takes a little more time.
A very 'human' study of the sympathetic Czech genius who died prematurely. Need I repeat, once again, that this is becoming a rarity in resolution competitions? Well done to Selector Eric.
6
Donner les variantes jusqu'au dernier coup blanc avant le matCamillo Gamnitzer 5ème Mention d’Honneur Europa Rochade 1988-89
7
Donner la ligne principaleMário Matous 1er Prix Sachová skladba 2003-04
The 2# helpmate is very entertaining, and it's surprising that the winner only found one solution. The selfmate 2# offers no difficulty. Once again, we must point out the absurdity of the scoring system, which gives half a point for a threat that never materialises. There's always this (unconscious?) desire to drive ordinary players away from the artistic universe.
8
give complete solutions.Igor Agapov & Vladislav Nefyodov Schach in Schleswig Holstein 1999
} a) {} 1.Bb5*c4 Ra6*a4 2.Ke5-f4 Sb4-d3 # {[2.5]} b) wSb4-->h7 {b4 --> h7} 1.c6*d5 Bd1*b3 2.Ke5-e6 Rc4-e4 # {[2.5]}
9
give threat and solutions until last white move.Primus Wahlmark 2éme Prix Niederfränkische Arbeiter Schachzeitung 1926
} 1.Qd1-c1 ! threat: 2.Qc1-d1 {[@]} 2...Sa8-b6 # {} 1...Sd2-b1 2.Qc1-c3 + {[@]} 2...Sb1*c3 # {} 1...Sd2-f1 2.Qc1-e3 + {[@]} 2...Sf1*e3 # {} 1...Sd2*e4 2.Qc1*a3 + {[@]} 2...Se4-c3 # {} 1...Sd2-c4 2.Qc1-e3 + {[@]} 2...Sc4*e3 # {} 1...Sd2-b3 2.Qc1*a3 {[@]} 2...Sa8-b6 # {} 1...Kd3-e2 2.Rg3*f3 {[@]} 2...Sa8-b6 # { @ - 1 @@ - 1.5 @@@ - 2 @@@@ - 3 @@@@@ - 3.5 @@@@@@ - 4 @@@@@@@ - 5}
The 5# selfmate has only been solved by Michel, which restores the tradition! However, a selfmate in 5 where Black has only two moves is actually a double selfmate in 4, which is much easier. And on one of these two moves, the square where the bishop should reach is obvious. A few details remain. A good centenary for this excellent problem.
10
Give variations until last white move.Eduard A. Birgfeld Deutsches Wochenschach 1924
} 1.Qg1-g7 ! {} 1...b3-b2 2.Se4-c5 + 2...Kd7-d6 3.Qg7-f8 + 3...Kd6-d5 4.Qf8-d6 + 4...Kd5*d6 5.Rc1-d1 + {[2.5]} 5...Ba4*d1 # {} 1...b5-b4 2.Sg8*f6 + 2...Kd7-e7 3.Rc8-e8 + 3...Ba4*e8 4.Sf6-g4 + 4...Ke7-d7 5.Qg7-b2 {[2.5]} 5...f7-f6 #
I didn't look at the 'selfhelpmates', which were falsely called 'helpselfmates', because I felt that this genre contained an absurdity within it. My only regret is that I presented too many of them in the ' Master Lessons'.
11
Give solutions until checkmate.Michal Dragoun 1st Prize T.T. StrateGems 2007
} 1...Qc1-c7 2.Sf4-e2 Sg6*e5 3.Sg1*f3 + Se5*f3 # {[2.5]} 1...Rd5-d6 2.Re5-e1 Sg6*f4 3.Qf1-h3 + Sf4*h3 # {[2.5]}
12
Give solutions until checkmate.Gabriele Brunori & Valerio Agostini 7th Honor Mention, StrateGems 2017
} a) {} 1.Kg2-f3 Bd8-e7 2.Kf3-e2 Rf8-g8 3.Ke2-e1 Rg8-g1 4.Qd3-d2 + Be7-b4 # {[2.5]} b) +bPa4 {Pna4} 1.Kg2-h3 Re8-e7 2.Kh3*h4 h6-h5 3.Kh4-g5 Rf8-h8 4.Qd3*f5 + Re7-e5 # {[2.5]}
To sum up, even if we boycotted the last two problems, which have no place in a French championship, any more than in the world championship where they are always absent, it was reasonable to score between 47 and 50 points. Would I have finished 3rd?
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