Isenegger Memorial Study Tourney (3)

by ChessBase
10/19/2014 – The David vs. Goliath motif – pawns fight pieces – in chess studies was the speciality of the Swiss study composer Samuel Isenegger. It was also the theme of the commemorative composition tournament staged by the Dutch-Flamish endgame study society ARVES. In the final section of our report the event director Yochanan Afek shows us studied that received special commendations.

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ARVES Isenegger Memorial Tourney

Yochanan Afek , Bern WCCF congress 2014

This tourney commemorates the well-known endgame study composer Samuel Isenegger (2.11.1899 – 15.11.1964), who was born in Bern the Swiss capital and passed away fifty years ago. A repeating motif in his studies – pawns fighting pieces – was selected as the theme of this event. A Jenever tourney record of 33 entries by 20 composers from 11 countries. The general standard proved exceptionally high, especially for such a short deadline.

Dorette and Harold van der Heijden, Composition GM Davit Gurgenidze, endgame expert John Roycroft

Pawns fighting pieces, in the spirit of David vs. Goliath encounters, have always been popular. However this event has shown that with and without the help of modern technology it is still possible to delve even deeper and enrich this sub-genre with new findings. Since the power of the pawns is at the focus of attention, play following promotion or underpromotion was not considered thematic. Quite a few composers have shown interesting realizations of the Festina Lente theme (choosing the shorter first move of a pawn). Thus this award might offer considerable contribution to the research of this theme.

In the first part of this report we brought you the compositions that won the first to fourth prizes, in the second part the studies that got a special prize and honorary mentions. Today in this final section you can enjoy the studies that got special commendations.

1st Commendation: Pavel Arestov, Russia

Once again an attractive Festina Lente with a thematic reciprocal zugzwang and stalemate tries.

[Event " 1st Comm. ARVES Jenever Ty. "] [Site "?"] [Date "2014.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Arestov, Pavel"] [Black "White to play and win"] [Result "1-0"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "1k6/8/r1P1P2K/8/2P5/8/P7/8 w - - 0 1"] [PlyCount "19"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] 1. e7 Rxc6+ 2. Kg7 Rc8 $1 (2... Rc7 3. Kf7 $1 Kb7 4. a4 $1 {- main line}) 3. Kf7 (3. a4 $2 Kc7 4. Kf7 Kd7 $11) 3... Rc7 4. a3 $3 {zz, btm} ({Thematic try:} 4. a4 $2 Kb7 $1 {zz, wtm} 5. a5 Ka6 $1 6. Kf8 Rc8+ $1 7. e8=Q Rxe8+ 8. Kxe8 Kxa5 9. Kd7 Kb4 $11) (4. Kf6 $2 {(Ke6)} Rc6+ 5. Kf7 Rc7 {loss of time.}) (4. Kf8 $2 Rxc4 $1 5. e8=Q+ Rc8 $11) 4... Kb7 (4... Ka7 5. Kf8 $1 $18 Rc8+ 6. e8=Q Rxe8+ 7. Kxe8 Kb6 8. a4 Kc5 9. a5 Kxc4 10. a6 $18) 5. a4 $1 {zz, btm} Kb8 (5... Ka6 6. Kf8 $18) 6. a5 $1 (6. Ke6 $2 {(Kf6)} Rc6+ 7. Kd7 {(Kf7)} Rc7+ {- loss of time}) (6. Kf8 $2 Rxc4 $1 7. e8=Q+ Rc8 $11) 6... Ka7 $1 (6... Kb7 7. Kf8 $18 ) 7. c5 $1 ({Try:} 7. Kf8 $2 Rxc4 $3 8. e8=Q Rc8 $1 9. Qxc8 {- stalemate.}) 7... Kb7 8. Kf8 $1 (8. Ke6 $2 Rc8 $1 9. Kd7 Rc7+ 10. Ke6 Rc8 11. Kf7 Kc6 $1 12. e8=Q+ Rxe8 13. Kxe8 Kxc5 $11) 8... Rxc5 $5 (8... Rc8+ 9. e8=Q (9. e8=R $2 Rxc5 $11) 9... Rxe8+ 10. Kxe8 Kc6 11. a6 Kxc5 12. a7 $18) 9. a6+ $1 (9. e8=Q $2 Rc8 10. a6+ Kc7 $1 11. a7 Rxe8+ 12. Kxe8 Kb7 $11) 9... Kxa6 10. e8=Q 1-0

2nd Commendation: Martin Minski, Germany

Martin Minski, 45, is a mathematics teacher living in Berlin, Germany.
He is a Fide Master and International Judge for chess compositions

An accurate pawn play leads to a drawish Troitzky position.

[Event " 2nd Comm. ARVES Jenever Ty"] [Site "?"] [Date "2014.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Minski, Martin"] [Black "White to play and draw"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "4bK2/8/3n1PP1/5n2/8/3k1P2/8/8 w - - 0 1"] [PlyCount "13"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] 1. f7 $1 (1. g7 $2 Nh6 $1 $19) 1... Nxf7 (1... Bxf7 2. gxf7 $11) (1... Ba4 2. g7 $11) 2. Kxe8 Nh8 $1 (2... Ne5 3. g7 $1 Nxg7+ 4. Ke7 $1 $11) (2... N7h6 3. Kf8 $11) 3. g7 $1 (3. f4 $2 Nxg6 $19) 3... Nxg7+ 4. Ke7 $1 (4. Kf8 $2 Nf5 $1 5. Kg8 Ng6 $19) 4... Ke3 $1 5. f4 $1 (5. Kf6 $2 Nh5+ $1 6. Kg5 Nf4 $19) 5... Nf5+ (5... Ke4 6. f5 $11) 6. Ke6 $1 ({thematic try:} 6. Kf6 $2 Ke4 {zz} 7. Kg5 (7. Ke6 Ng6 $19) 7... Nf7+ $19) 6... Ke4 7. Kf6 $1 $11 {zz} 1/2-1/2

3rd Commendation: Steffen Slumstrup Nielsen, Denmark

Age 39, from Copenhagen, Steffen Slumstrup Nielsen is a journalist and chess player with an
OTB top rating of 2262 (current rating: 2126). His top achievement: first prize in Timman 60 JT.

Advanced pawns create a nice stalemate net, though not a model one.

[Event "3rd Comm. ARVES Jenever Ty."] [Site "?"] [Date "2014.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Slumstrup Nielsen, Steffen"] [Black "White to play and win"] [Result "1-0"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "8/8/b1P4P/4P1K1/4P3/4k3/3b4/4n3 w - - 0 1"] [PlyCount "30"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] 1. e6 (1. h7 {?} Nf3+ 2. Kh5 (2. Kf6 Bc3) (2. Kf5 Bc8+) 2... Nxe5 (2... Be2) 3. h8=Q Be2+ 4. Kg5 (4. Kh6 Nf7+) (4. Kh4 Ng6+) 4... Nf7+) 1... Nf3+ 2. Kh5 $1 Ne5 (2... Be2 3. c7 (3. e7) 3... Ne5+ 4. Kg5) 3. e7 (3. h7 {?} Be2+ 4. Kh4 Kf3 5. e7 Ng6+ 6. Kh5 Nxe7 7. h8=Q Kg3#) 3... Be2+ (3... Kf4 4. e8=Q Be2+ 5. Kh4 Nf3+ 6. Kh5) 4. Kg5 Kxe4+ (4... Nf7+ 5. Kg6 Nd6 6. c7) 5. Kf6 Bh5 6. c7 (6. h7 Nxc6) 6... Nd7+ 7. Ke6 Bg4+ 8. Kf7 Bh5+ 9. Ke6 Nb6 (9... Nc5+ 10. Kd6 (10. Kf6) 10... Bf4+ 11. Kxc5 Bxc7 12. Kc6) 10. h7 Bc3 11. h8=Q $1 Bxh8 12. c8=Q Bg4+ 13. Kf7 Bh5+ 14. Ke6 Nxc8 15. e8=Q Bxe8 1-0

4th Commendation: John Nunn, England

John Nunn, 59, is an over the board International Grandmaster and a chess writer,
living in England. John is also an International Grandmaster for study and problem solving.

An elegant improvement on a famous stalemate by Kubbel and others.

[Event "4th comm. ARVES Jenever Ty. "] [Site "?"] [Date "2014.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Nunn, John"] [Black "White to play and draw, (after L. Kubbel)"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "5n2/2kb4/8/4P1PP/3K4/8/8/8 w - - 0 1"] [PlyCount "14"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] 1. e6 $1 (1. g6 $2 Bf5) 1... Be8 $1 (1... Bxe6 2. Ke5 Bb3 3. g6 Kd7 4. Kf6 Ke8 5. h6 $11) (1... Nxe6+ 2. Ke5 Nxg5 3. Kf6 Ne4+ 4. Kg7 $11) 2. Ke5 (2. g6 $2 Kd6 $1) 2... Bxh5 3. g6 $1 (3. Kf6 $2 Ng6) 3... Nxg6+ 4. Kf6 Nf8 5. Ke7 Ng6+ 6. Kf6 Nf8 7. Ke7 Nh7 1/2-1/2

5th Commendation: Daniel Keith, France, & Martin Minski, Germany

Octopus and Kubbel: Daniel Keith, 61, is a professor of technology living in France

Knights tend to hate the opponent's edge pawns and this study shows once again why. The Festina lente appears here too, this time by black to refute the thematic try.

[Event "5th comm. ARVES Jenever Ty"] [Site "?"] [Date "2014.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Keith/Minski, Daniel/Martin"] [Black "White to play and draw"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "6K1/3p4/6nP/1n1k4/4p2P/4P3/8/8 w - - 0 1"] [PlyCount "28"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] 1. h5 $1 (1. h7 $2 Ke6 $1 2. h5 Nh8 $1 3. Kxh8 Kf7 4. h6 Nd4 $1 5. exd4 e3 6. d5 e2 7. d6 Kg6 $1 $19) 1... Nh8 $1 2. Kxh8 Ke6 3. Kg7 $1 (3. h7 $2 Kf7 $1 4. h6 Nd4 $1 5. exd4 e3 6. d5 e2 7. d6 Kg6 $1 $19) (3. Kg8 $2 Nd6 4. h7 Nf7 5. h8=Q (5. Kg7 d5 6. h6 Ke7 $19) 5... Nxh8 6. Kxh8 Kf7 7. h6 d5 8. h7 d4 9. exd4 e3 10. d5 e2 $19) 3... Nd6 4. h7 Nf7 5. h6 $1 ({thematic try:} 5. Kg6 $2 d6 $1 {festina lente} 6. h6 d5 $1 {zz} 7. Kg7 Ke7 $19) (5. h8=Q $2 Nxh8 6. Kxh8 Kf7 7. h6 d5 8. h7 d4 9. exd4 e3 10. d5 e2 $19) 5... d5 (5... d6 6. h8=Q Nxh8 7. Kxh8 Kf7 8. h7 d5 {stalemate}) 6. Kg6 $1 {zz} Nh8+ (6... Ke7 7. Kf5 Kd6 8. Kf6 $11) 7. Kg7 Nf7 8. Kg6 d4 9. exd4 e3 (9... Ke7 10. d5 Nh8+ 11. Kg7 e3 12. d6+ $1 Kxd6 13. Kxh8 e2 $11) 10. d5+ $1 Ke7 11. d6+ $1 Ke6 12. d7 Nh8+ 13. Kg7 Kxd7 14. Kxh8 e2 $11 1/2-1/2

Yochanan Afek is an Israeli chess player, composer, trainer and arbiter, the only person to possess international titles at four different facets of chess, being an International Master, International Master of chess compositions, International Arbiter and International Arbiter of the chess compositions.


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