David Friedgood: solutions to the chess problems

by ChessBase
1/13/2012 – Last week our new problem expert, David Friedgood from England, introduced himself and presented four problems for our readers to solve. Two were from his earliest days as a composer, and two classical gems. Today he presents the solutions, carefully explained in every aspect. We can only stand in wonder at the beauty of this unique domain of chess. Don't miss.

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Friedgood: solutions to the chess problems


Photo John Saunders

David Friedgood emigrated to the UK from South Africa in 1978, and became the leading player of the country, winning the SA Closed Championship three times and representing the country at four Olympiads. He began to take an interest in endgame studies well before his teens and composed a few minor works from age fourteen onwards. From 1961 onwards he started to compose chess problems and became a dedicated problemist. The firs problem he ever composed was the one we started his new column with:

In his second problem David presented a problem, also from his young days, composed with a fellow South African, that has two Grimshaws, but with a little twist (the Grimshaw theme involves two line-moving pieces, typically a rook and a bishop, but also a bishop and a pawn on its initial square, which interfere with each other on the same square.

The Novotny theme has proved to be a very fertile concept for many composers. Definition of Novotny: a white unit plays onto the intersection square of (typically) a black rook and bishop, causing a double interference. One of the finest two-mover Novotnys ever composed was the following, by Michael Lipton, who has been the President of the BCPS and is still active today as a composer and writer.

The two-mover is a somewhat limited showcase for the Novotny. As you can see from Lipton's problem as well as the Mansfield masterpiece quoted by Steve Giddins, the interest tends to be in the choice of Novotny to solve the problem, and there is very little to enjoy post-key. Let us therefore turn to the broader canvas of the three-mover. The problem below will suffice as a taster:

Any queries or constructive comments can be addressed to the author at david.friedgood@gmail.com

Copyright in this article David Friedgood 2012/ChessBase


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