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
Find the right combination! ChessBase 15 program + new Mega Database 2020 with 8 million games and more than 80,000 master analyses. Plus ChessBase Magazine (DVD + magazine) and CB Premium membership for 1 year!
Find the right combination! ChessBase 15 program + new Mega Database 2020 with 8 million games and more than 80,000 master analyses. Plus ChessBase Magazine (DVD + magazine) and CB Premium membership for 1 year!
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
6/27/2020 – When Bobby Fischer died in 2008, one printed article about him was titled “The lone king has wandered off”. Despite this obscure reference in the title, the topic of this month shall not be a specific composer but rather a curiosity, a subset of endgame studies, called “Rex Solus” — the lone king.
5/30/2020 – Study of the month columnist Siegfried Hornecker starts to explore the works and backstories, in as much depth as the sources allow, of composers that have created one or only a few studies. Theodorus Cornelius Louis Kok, Anatoly Tichonovich Motor, Johann Sehwers and former women's world champion Alexandra Kosteniuk are some of the composers that appear in this first instalment. | Pictured: Kok and Sehwers
5/3/2020 – Besides becoming Grandmaster for Chess Composition at age 42, Valentin Rudenko helped in the development of "threemovers", created the Rudenko Paradox and the Rudenko Theme, and won the World Chess Composition Tourney. One of his problems was also the first one to go into space. Our columnist Siegfried Hornecker tells us the story.
4/25/2020 – The proposal to have the 4th of January named as International Day for Chess Composition was made by Valentin Rudenko, who would have turned 82 a couple of months ago. One of Rudenko's problems reached outer space, as cosmonaut Andrian Nikolaev brought one of his compositions — from the publication Suomen Shakki, 1957 — to a mission. Study of the Month columnist Siegfried Hornecker shares this story and a series of assorted compositions.
3/28/2020 – Abram Gurvich was not only an expert chess composer but also a theatre and literary critic. As such, he rejected “all that is mechanical, systematized or unnatural”, favouring beauty as the driving force for chess players. Study of the Month columnist SIEGFRIED HORNECKER examines the work of the Russian composer, paying special attention to his article “The poetry of chess”.
2/29/2020 – This Study of the Month column concentrates on the “Maestro of Practical Studies” (as he is called by Sergey N. Tkachenko), Tigran B. Gorgiev. SIEGFRIED HORNECKER takes you on a tour of the life of this microbiologist and composer, whose beautiful studies are described as "a perpetual adornment to the treasury of world composition.”
1/25/2020 – Those who follow the column know that due to the high amount of Czechoslovakian chess composers a tongue-in-cheek subseries “Check Czech Chess” was created. We paused it for a while so as not to overload readers, but believe that there are a few more composers with interesting studies you will enjoy. While he might not be the most well-known composer, you might have seen the name “Dedrle” above a diagram or two in some endgame book, most likely the one pictured.
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