To celebrate the 25th anniversary of ChessBase in June last year the Israeli
IM and study composer Yochanan Afek, together with ARVES, the Dutch-Flemish
Association for Endgame Study, announced
a commemorative composing tourney for endgame studies (win or draw). There
were no restrictions on the type of study. ChessBase offered some of their products
as prizes. First prize: A copy of the famous Fritz program signed by over-the-board
world champions. Special prizes were reserved for the best composing debutants.
GM Dr. John Nunn (Great Britain), three-times world champion for solving, was
appointed tourney judge, while the tourney director was Luc Palmans (Belgium),
chairman of ARVES (an international
association promoting the art of the endgame study).
The ChessBase-25 Study Tourney
Award by John Nunn
A total of 73 eligible entries were received for this tourney, an excellent
response from composers. As might be expected with so many entries, the level
was variable, but the average standard was high with many interesting and original
studies. The studies were given to me without the composers’ names and
in the end I included 22 in the award.

Tournament judge Dr John Nunn
In part three I will present the next set of prize winners, once
again as diagrams. At the bottom of the page you will find the solutions, replayable
on the ChessBase JavaScript board. I urge you to try and solve the studies yourself
with the help of the notes provided before you look at the solutions.
Didukh,Sergiy, CB 25, 3rd HM, 2011
White to play and draw
A short but pointed study in which the main impact lies in the humorous position
after 4 Rxg2!. Black can take either rook with check, but then ends up with
his rooks forked. In each line, he then has two ways to capture White’s
remaining rook, but all four possibilities end in stalemate. The sideline after
2...Rxb2 is also quite interesting.
Prusikin,Michael, CB 25, 4th HM, 2011
White to play and draw
A game-like initial position leads to spectacular play involving an underpromotion
and an unexpected mid-board mate. In order to avoid perpetual check Black must
surrender a whole rook, allowing to White to accumulate enough material to reach
a safe draw. Unfortunately, the finish comes as something of an anti-climax
after the earlier play.
Krug,Peter, CB 25 revised, 5th HM, 2011

White to play and win
White can force mate in 13 from the diagram and apart from a minor dual at
the end, this position could have been a moremover. The play is fairly entertaining
with White aiming to mate with his rook either on h5 or along the back rank,
while Black counters White’s mating attempts by trying to force stalemate.
It looks as if zugzwang will arise, but in fact White operates at all times
with direct and rather brutal threats. The move 8 Rd8 is simply to allow the
rook to move to the fifth rank after Be6+, and is not in any way a waiting move.
Another negative factor is the initial position, in which most of the pieces
on the board are already en prise.
Kalashnikov,V, Skripnik,A, CB 25, 6th HM, 2011
White to play and win
It’s often hard to judge a study such as this, in which a computer-generated
reciprocal zugzwang (or in this case a set of them) is dressed up with some
introductory play. A thematic try leads to the first of the three zugzwangs
with the wrong player to move, but the other two cannot arise with White to
play. While this type of composition has its limits, there is no doubt that
the hesitation move of the white a-pawn is attractive, and at least the motivation
for the zugzwangs is relatively easy to understand. The introductory play is
adequate without being really spectacular.
Van der Heijden,Harold, CB 25, 7th HM, 2011

White to play and win
The key to this study is Black’s Plachutta interference on d4. This can
arise in various different forms, but only one allows White to win. In this
regard, the timing of the check on e7 is everything: White must wait until the
black queen is committed to g7 before giving the check, or else White’s
loss of control of e5 allows Black to draw. The problem with the study is that
White wins not because of any positive action by himself, but more because Black’s
counterplay happens to fail with one particular arrangement of White’s
pieces.
Solutions
Note that you can select the individual studies in the dropdown menu. Click
on the notation will cause the board to display the position. You can also download
the studies as a PGN file to replay and analyse with Fritz.
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If you enjoyed these endgame studies, you may be interested to try
the puzzles in John Nunn's book Endgame
Challenge, which features 250 of the world's greatest endgame
studies.
GM John Nunn is the Chess Director of Gambit Publications, a specialist
chess publishing company, owned and run exclusively by chess masters and
grandmasters. Gambit is committed to producing high-quality, instructive
books suitable for all levels of chess player and currently have over
200 titles in print. Visit the Gambit
website for details of current and forthcoming books.

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ChessBase 25 Composing Tourney
08.06.2011 – Special occasions in the chess
world are often accompanied by a chess composition tourney. To celebrate
the 25th anniversary of ChessBase, the Israeli study composer IM Yochanan
Afek, together with the Dutch-Flemish Association for Endgame Study, ARVES,
has announced a commemorative tourney. All are invited to test their creative
skills.
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ChessBase 25 Composing Tourney Awards – Part one
30.04.2012 – Special occasions in the chess
world are often celebrated by chess problemists with a composition tourney.
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of ChessBase we staged a commemorative
tourney. A total of 73 eligible entries were received for this tourney,
an excellent response. The tourney judge Dr John Nunn selected 22 prize
winners and commendations. Today
we bring you the top four. |
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ChessBase 25 Composing Tourney Awards – Part two
30.04.2012 – This tourney attracted wide
participation – 73 entries, from which the tourney judge GM John Nunn
selected 22 prize winners and commendations. In a second instalment
of new studies, selected by the tourney judge, Dr Nunn, in his wonderful
explanatory style, presents some dramatic themes, and also looks at
two predecessors to one of the prize
winning entries. |
Anniversary articles for 25 years of ChessBase
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ChessBase is 25 – everything 25% off in our shop
19.05.2011 – It is difficult to determine the
exact date when ChessBase was born. Was it when a science journalist and
a future World Champion discussed computer databases? Or when a very talented
programmer started to actually write one? We think it was when the two
showed the prototype to the World Champion and decided, at his urging,
to commercialise the product. That
was May 19, 1986. |
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Greetings from Pál Benkö for 25 years of ChessBase
20.05.2011 – "Congratulations to ChessBase
on your 25th
anniversary! Your news page is the the first thing I look at every
day when I go on the Internet. You do such wonderful work. Keep up your
great service for the whole chess world." Heartening words from legendary
great chess player, theorist, author and problem composer – who in addition
sent six anniversary
puzzles for our readers. |
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ChessBase is 25: Birthday greetings from Anand
01.06.2011 – Our company was born on May 19,
1986, twenty-five years ago, and on May 19, 2011 one of our most loyal
friends, World Champion Viswanathan Anand, logged into the Playchess server
and sent us a ten-minute birthday greeting. It was quite moving to be
reminded of the early days by one who was present at the time – and who
has remained a close friend ever since. Must-watch
historical video. |
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Kasparov on 25 Years of ChessBase
08.06.2011 – He was there at the start – actually
before that, when a chess database was just an idea in the minds of a
few enthusiasts. And when he saw the first prototype Garry Kasparov immediately
pushed for its completion. For the 25th anniversary of ChessBase he sent
us a very moving statement, recorded in his study in Moscow, describing
the birth of what he calls the
ChessBase generation. |