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Written by Michael McDowell
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The May issue contained a full report of the BCPS weekend at Torquay,
plus two lectures from the meeting, John Rice presenting some problems
by a quartet of distinguished composers who were born in 1927, while
Michael Lipton asked “Is content in the eye of the beholder?”.
In another lecture report Jörg Kuhlmann compared logical preparation
over the board and in the problem. Browsing in the library
discussed A century of two-movers, the first volume in the
famous Overbrook series. In the Supplement John Rice continued
his survey of fairy pieces by examining the use of Berolina pawns, and
paid tribute to two recently deceased composers, Efim Rukhlis and
Venelin Alaikov.
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Michel Caillaud
2nd Prize, Chlubna MT, 2006
Helpmate in 2: 3 solutions
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1.f1R Sa5 2.Ra1 d4
1.f1B Sc5 2.Bc4 d3
1.f1S Sd6 2.Se3 dxe3
A problem quoted by Christopher Jones in his Selected Helpmates column.
After each promotion there is only one possible hideaway, and the white
knight is forced to close different lines. The light construction is
excellent.
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Efim Rukhlis
1st Prize, Uzbekskogo KFC, 1955
Mate in 2
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Set play:
1...g2 2.Sc2
1...Se6 2.Sf5
1.Qc7 (>2.Qf4)
1...Se2 2.Sc2
1...S4e6 2.Sf5
1...g2 2.Qc1
1...S8e6 2.Sg4
Rukhlis here demonstrates the combination of changed and transferred play
which became associated with his name. In the Rukhlis theme at least two
set defences gain new mates after the key, while the original mates follow
new defences, and much of the interest lies in the mechanism which allows
the theme to operate.
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Gyorgy Páros
1st HM., British Chess Magazine, 1938
Mate in 2
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1.c8Q (>2.Ba6)
1...Rh4 2.Sg4
1...Rh2 2.Sg2
1...Bc4 2.Sc2
1...d2 2.Sc4
1...Bxc6 2.Bxc6
Quoted from A century of two-movers, and an example of a great
composer knowing when to break the conventions. A. C. White commented:
“The promotion to queen is both brutal and obvious. Yet there is a
quaintness about the step, which combines with the almost incredible
oddness of the defences and mates, and makes this an outstanding problem,
if not one that is artistically very satisfactory.”
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Last Updated on Saturday, 19 November 2011 11:14 |
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