12/25/2021 – The Serbian name "Darko" comes from "Dar" for "gift". Good wishes are bestowed often upon our children, be it luck with the Biblical name "The son of luck" or "Benjamin", or in this case, the gift of being gifted. A special gift indeed was given to Darko Hlebec, an interesting composing style. Study specialist Siegfried Hornecker presents presents examples of his work and Darko's comments about it.

11/27/2021 – Richard Kenneth Guy was a British mathematician, with a passion for chess. Siegfried Hornecker's "Study of the Month" is all about this great "Guy", his life, and his studies. The professor of mathematics, who composed almost 200 endgame studies for the "British Chess Magazine", died last year at the age of 103. | Photo: Wikipedia

10/30/2021 – Halloween is near — and inspired Siegfried Hornecker to search for compositions and studies that are suitable to this time of the year. After all, a good endgame study doesn't ask "Trick or treat?" but rather offers both. Enjoy!

9/25/2021 – In football, the German word "Schwalbe" (the swallow bird, and the football term for "diving") is an attempt by a player to feign a foul by deliberately dropping himself in a tackle with an opposing player to gain an unfair advantage. The Schwalbe in chess, doesn't mean that players fake a fall to the ground, and knock off the chess pieces to work out a mate in four. Columnist Siegfried Hornecker shows us the way on how to solve chess problems with the thematic idea of the Schwalbe, and takes us on a journey about the history of the German chess problem society. | Photo: www.dieschwalbe.de

8/29/2021 – A special kind of magic trick is to turn one thing into another — a.k.a. a switcheroo. In endgame studies, one such transformation is turning a stalemate into a checkmate. Columnist Siegfried Hornecker shows phenomenal examples which made use of this fantastic ‘magic trick’. | Pictured: Ernest Pogosyants

7/31/2021 – In a multifaceted column, Siegfried Hornecker looks at a young Austrian chess player who went missing in the Alps and never returned, how geometry on the chessboard is vastly different from a Euclidean two-dimensional plane, a curious episode from the 1951 World Championship match between Botvinnik and Bronstein, and a couple of endgame studies created by women composers. | Pictured: Julius Perlis

6/26/2021 – In a fascinating look at the possibilities granted by knight moves in endgame studies, practical games and mathematical problems — exploring, among others, underpromotions, stalemates and magic squares — columnist Siegfried Hornecker demonstrates the width of potential finesses that can be created with one of the two types of minor pieces appearing on a chessboard.

5/29/2021 – In his latest column, Siegfried Hornecker writes about the work of judges in endgame studies tournaments. He first introduces how computers have also made their way into this field, before noting that, however, “it will always be down to an individual judge, or a panel of judges, to finally evaluate a composition”. | Pictured: Clifford E. Berry and the Atanasoff-Berry Computer, or ABC, c. 1942 | Photo: Iowa State University

4/24/2021 – How do you know that there is exactly one way to solve an endgame study? Tablebases are a proof, but unlike many other genres, there is no way to heuristically solve a study to find a complete proof of it being correct. That is where cook hunters come in. Columnist Siegfried Hornecker introduces us to the world of ‘cooks’ within the fascinating community of chess composers. | Pictured: Dutch composer Harold van der Heijden

3/27/2021 – In this month’s column, Siegfried Hornecker concludes his tribute to the recently deceased master Mikhail Zinar. This time around, his more unusual ideas are presented while providing more background information on an eventful life. | Photo: arves.org

2/27/2021 – Although many other endgame study composers created pawn endgames, two were outstanding — Nikolay Grigoriev and Mikhail Zinar. Columnist Siegfred Hornecker shares the story of the latter, an aviation technician turned teacher who was deeply passionate about chess. | Photo: arves.org

1/30/2021 – In his first column of the year, Siegfried Hornecker tells a few interesting — and real — stories, a kaleidoscope of sorts. The “colourful hodgepodge”, as he describes it, includes references to Alex Trebek, fairy-chess’ grasshoppers, optical illusions and a practical chess endgame between Daniil Dubov and Vladislav Artemiev. | Pictured: A kaleidoscope drawing by Kara Wilson

12/26/2020 – Columnist Siegfried Hornecker wonders, What is it that which motivates me, and others? What is this mysterious thing that is called ‘beauty’? Why do we perceive something as beautiful? He then goes on to share the opinions of people who have delved into these thought-provoking questions. | Photo: Bas Beekhuizen / Batavia Tournament 2016

11/28/2020 – Emanuel Lasker, the second official World Chess Champion, used to play Bridge with his brother Berthold in coffee houses in Berlin at the end of the 19th century. He was also interested in Lasca, Go, Pokerette and Whistette — but, luckily for chess enthusiasts, he ended up dedicating his life to the royal game. Columnist Siegfried Hornecker presents the German’s endgame studies, plus a controversy surrounding an adjourned game which could have led to Lasker giving up on chess.

10/31/2020 – Chess composition in Israel can be traced back to 1924. Throughout the years the small country gained relevance in the field of endgame studies. Columnist Siegfried Hornecker presents short bios and notable studies of six remarkable Israeli composers, plus a study he composed with helpmate specialist Paz Einat. | Pictured: Ruins of the ancient synagogue in Kibbutz Bar'am in Northern Israel. The ruins are located within the site of the ancient village of Kfar Bar'am, about three kilometers from the Lebanese border.

9/26/2020 – In 1949, four years after the end of World War II, the Allies divided Germany into West Germany (the Federal Republic of Germany, FRG) and East Germany (the German Democratic Republic, GDR). In the second part of a series on the GDR composers, columnist Siegfried Hornecker continues to tell us how the chess composition scene was kept alive east of the Berlin Wall. | Pictured: Police personnel of the East German Volkspolizei wait for the official opening of the Brandenburg Gate in 1989 | Photo: SSGT F. Lee Corkran

8/31/2020 – In 1949, four years after the end of World War II, the Allies divided Germany into West Germany (the Federal Republic of Germany, FRG) and East Germany (the German Democratic Republic, GDR). For chess composers, the main restriction was that they were unable to travel into western countries and the fact that they could not always send chess compositions to western sources, nor receive them. Columnist Siegfried Hornecker tells us how the chess composition scene was kept alive in the GDR. | Pictured: Leipzig in the 1980s

7/26/2020 – The creator of the famous Vančura position, Josef Vančura, had a son named after him. The younger Vančura sadly died at the age of 23, but nonetheless made at least two important contributions to endgame theory. Columnist Siegfried Hornecker tells us the story. | Pictured: Library hall of the former Jesuit College in the Old Town of Prague