Winning starts with what you know
The new version 18 offers completely new possibilities for chess training and analysis: playing style analysis, search for strategic themes, access to 6 billion Lichess games, player preparation by matching Lichess games, download Chess.com games with built-in API, built-in cloud engine and much more.
The world famous chess periodical Sahovski Informator, founded in 1966 by GM Alexander Matanovic who headed a group of strong and enthusiastic players, celebrated its 50th anniversary by organizing an International composing tourney for endgame studies. Privileged to act as its judge I received 36 anonymous entries from the tourney director Gady Costeff, to whom I am grateful for his invaluable assistance in checking the candidate entries for soundness and originality.
The general standard of the field was very good. I gave some priority to players' friendly entries i.e. those with “digestible” settings as well as comprehensive ideas and solutions. Most of the entries luckily did match these unwritten requests. Personally I am not particularly fond of artificial efforts to stretch a sufficiently lengthy solution by either multiple piece exchanges (in this case on the very same square) or unnecessary BTM stipulation.
Two of the more serious candidates suffering from these flaws I decided to allow a second chance in another tourney instead of ranking them low. Two other entries improved on prize-winners from previous major events which I had judged. I hesitated before deciding to award each of them a deserved special honourable mention.
Here is my top ranking. You know that you can move the pieces on the board to analyse the positions. So why not try to solve them before looking at the solutions at the end.
Following the zugzwang after the quiet eighth move White's rook and bishop create a second battery. By exchanging roles as the front and the rear pieces of the newly formed battery the thematic pieces change also the targetted half of the royal couple! Surprisingly In the final move even two batteries are activated with the rook as the rear piece, and this time both bishops are the front ones! All this occurs with no need for even any extra material on board! A genuine chess miracle!
In the course of the solution each side promotes a second queen. However the side that sacrifices both his queens is the one to emerge the eventual winner against the remaining enemy queen! A breathtaking lengthy battle with plenty of quiet moves and subtle finesses.
Yochanan Afek with Martin Minski and his wife Wiesia. Martin is a teacher from Berlin and currently by far the leading German composer – and one of the world's best.
Materially Black seems to do fine, yet White's bishop and advanced pawn eventually make the difference. A game-like epic saga of a heroic sacrificial battle, decided by a subtle pawn move. The mutual quiet queen sacrifices in the battle on the h-file are eye catching.
Martin Minski and Oleg Pervakov
The aim of White's sacrificial play is obviously to turn his remaining queen to a crazy one. Following a mutual rook sacrifice, an original systematic maneuver of the white bishop and the black king prepares the ground by the quiet and powerful seventh move.
A surprising discovery is behind this logical study based on a crystal clear reciprocal zugzwang. The special prize is also for the best theoretical contribution.
|
|
The rest of the selected studies – Honorary Mentions and Commendations – will be brought to you in similar form at a later date. For now enjoy the top prize winners.
