January 5th

Artur Mandler (05-01-1891 - 20-10-1971) Czech composer and Grandmaster

Artur Mandler [Wikimedia]

Mandler, Artur
Prager Presse, 1929

+

3 + 2

Show Solution

1.Kg6!

{Tries:
1.c5? dxc5 2.e5 c4 3.e6 c3 and the wP does not promote with check;
1.Kg5? Kb7 2.Kg6 (2.Kf5 Kc7) 2...Kc6 3.Kf7 (3.Kf6 Kb6) 3...Kb7 4.Kg8 (4.Ke7 Kc7; 4.Kf8 Kb8; 4.Ke8 Kc8) 4...Kc8 5.c5 Kc7 (5...Kd7 6.Kf7 dxc5 7.e5 c4 8.e6+) 6.Kf7 dxc5 7.e5 c4 and the wP still does not promote with check.}

1...Ka6 2.Kg7! Ka7 3.Kg8! Ka8

{The bK is now on the 8th rank, everything is ready}

4.c5 dxc5 5.e5 c4 6.e6 c3 7.e7 c2 8.e8=Q+ +-

For more details about this composer's endgames, the curious reader may browse through John Beasley's book "Depth and Beauty - The chess endgame studies of Artur Mandler". Thank you, John, for making this book available online.

Vilmos Schneider (05-01-1933 - 26-03-2001) Hungarian composer and International Master

Schneider, Vilmos
Stella Polaris, 1971
1^st Prize

h#2

3 solutions

4 + 7

Show Solution

1.Bxg6 Be3 2.Bh7 Rf6#
1.Sxd4 Rf6 2.Sf5 Sf8#
1.exf4 Sf8 2.f3 Be3#

Cyclic Zilahi and cycle of white moves.

Schneider, Vilmos
Die Schwalbe, 1972

h#2

2 solutions 7 + 10

Show Solution

1.Sxc2 Ra5 2.Sd4 Se3#
1.Sxe2 Qh5 2.Sd4 Sb2#

Pin mates, dual avoidance, selfblocks on the same square.

Schneider, Vilmos
Bulletin Ouvrier des Echecs, 1953
1^st Prize

#3

12 + 11

Show Solution

1.Rh4 ! (2.Rxf4+ Rxf4 3.Rxf4#)

1...Ra3 2.Be6 ~ 3.Bd5#
1...Rb3 2.Be8 ~ 3.Bxg6#
1...Rc3 2.Bc8 ~ 3.Bxb7#
1...Rd3 2.Rh8 ~ 3.Re8#

Duel bR-wB, dual avoidance.

Dejan I. Glišić (05-01-1971) Croatian composer

Dejan Glišić [goja.sk]

Glišić, Dejan I.
StrateGems, 2004

#3

b) Pe4 > b4

7 + 4

Show Solution

a) 1.Rc8! Z

1...e5 [a] 2.Bc5+ [A] Kxd5 [b] 3.c4# [B]
1...e6 [c] 2.c4 [B] e5 [d] 3.Bc5# [A] 2...exd5 [e] 3.c5# [C]
1...Kxd5 [b] 2.Kxe7 d6 3.c4# [B]

b) 1.Bg7! Z

1...e5 [a] 2.Bf8+ [D] Kxd5 [b] 3.e4# [E]
1...e6 [c] 2.e4 [E] e5 [d] 3.Bf8# [D] 2...exd5 [e] 3.e5# [F]
1...Kxd5 [b] 2.Kxe7 d6 3.e4# [E]

József Pásztor (05-01-1958) Hungarian composer

Pásztor, József
Buletin Problemistic, 2004 (4326)

h#3

3 solutions

5 + 3

Show Solution

1.Ka4 Be7 2.Rg5 Sd4 3.Ra5 Sb6#
1.Kb3 Sb6 2.Ra8 Be7 3.Ra2 Sd4#
1.Bc7 Sd4 2.Ba5 Sb6 3.Kb4 Be7#
Elegant helpmate with cyclic interchange of white moves using only 8 pieces.

Николай Дмитриевич Аргунов (05-01-1935 - 2006) Russian composer (Nikolay Dimitrievich Argunov)

Аргунов, Николай Дмитриевич
Victory-60 JT, 2005
2^nd Prize

#12

7 + 8

Show Solution

Try: 1.Sf8? (2.Sg6#) is stalemate.
1.Bc4! Ke4 2.Bd3+ Kf4 3.Ba6 Ke4 4.Bb7+ Kf4 5.Kc6 Ke4 6.Kc5+ Kf4 7.Ba6 Ke4 8.Bd3+ Kf4 9.Bc4 Ke4 10.Bd5+ Kf4 11.Sf8 Ke5 12.Sg6#

Is it cooked?

Владимир Николаевич Чекарьков (05-01-1937 - 08-05-2020) Russian composer (Vladimir Nikolayevich Chekarkov)

Vladimir Chekarkov
[Superproblem.ru ]

Чекарьков, Владимир Николаевич & Salai, Ladislav
Sachove umeni, 1992
1^st Prize

#5

7 + 9

Show Solution

1.Ba8! (2.c8=Q 3.Qh8 4.Qxh3 5.Q/Bxg2#)

1...c3 2.c8=R ~ 3.Rc4 ~ 4.Re4 S~ 5.RxS#
1...a6 2.c8=B ~ 3.Bxa6 ~ 4.Bf1 Bg1~ 5.Bxg2#
1...e6 2.c8=S ~ 3.Sd6 ~ 4.Se4 ~ 5.Sf2#

Allumwandlung and white battery creations.

მერაბ გოგბერაშვილი (05-01-1959) Georgian composer (Merab Gogberashvili)

Merab Gogberashvili
[Google Scholar ]

Gogberaschwili, Merab
Tsereteli-150 JT, 1991
7^th Prize

=

7 + 5

Show Solution

1. Sf4+ Kg3 2. Bc4 Bxc4 3. c8=Q Rc5 4. Qh3+ Kf2 5. Qh4+ Kxe3 6. Qh6 Kf3 7. Qf6 Kg3 8. Qd6 Kg4 9. Qd4 Kg5 10. Qd2 Kf5 11. Qf2 Ke5 12. Qh2 Ke4 13. Qh4 Ke3 14. Qh6 draw
Perpetual Queen-Knight battery.

Marián Šemrinec (05-01-1962) Slovak composer

Šemrinec, Marián
Pravda, 10^th Nov 1989 (2242)

#3

5 + 1

Show Solution

1.Bg1 ! Z

1...Kxd5 2.Qb5+ Kd6 3.Bh2# or 2...Ke4 3.Qf5#
1...Kd3 2.Qb1+ Kd2 3.Be3# or 2...Kc4 3.Qb5#

4 different mates in a Rex Solus miniature.

Endre Szentai (05-01-1936 - 04-10-1986) Hungarian composer

Endre Szentai
[Thanks to Александр Никитин]

Endre Szentai was a helpmate composer who created many long helpmates or helpstalemates with Excelsiors and various promotions. His h=21.5 1st Prize Tipografia 1978 is a hard solve worth studying. Here is something simpler:

Szentai, Endre
Bacs Kiskun megyei Sakkszövetseg, 1968
Special Prize

h=8

2 + 5

Show Solution

1.d1=B Ka1 2.Bb3 axb3 3.f1=B b4 4.Ba6 b5 5.g1=B bxa6 6.Bh2 a7 7.Bb8 axb8=Q 8.a2 Qg3 =
3 Bishop promotions and 1 Excelsior.

Wilhelm Hagemann (05-01-1899 - 17-10-1973) German composer

Wilhelm Hagemann
[Die Schwalbe Karthotek A-K page 118]

Wilhelm Hagemann was a chess player and prolific chess composer (more than 1600 problems). He composed in all genres - direct mates, studies, helpmates and selfmates.
He was an International Judge.
He was also one of the three founders of the fairy chess magazine feenschach. He published problem columns in the magazines Arbeiter-Schachzeitung, Promadas, Schach-Herold, and Schach-Echo. In 1952, he published "Figurenrundläufe im Schachproblem" (Rundlauf by officers in chess problems) together with Wilhelm Karsch (Wikipedia, Die Schwalbe Karthotek).

Hagemann, Wilhelm
Arbeiter-Schachzeitung (Chemnitz), 1929
Prize, 2^ndhalf year

s#7

10 + 8

Show Solution

1.♘b5! d4 2.♘c7+ d5 3.♘e6+ ♗d6 4.♘g5+ ♗e6 5.♘h7+ f5 6.♗c7 ♗×c7 7.♕×d5+ ♔×d5#
A series of unpinnings and self-pinnings.

Richard Büchner (05-01-1908 - 02-01-1929) German composer

Richard Büchner and his brother Rudolf turned to problem chess at an early age. They were the first German composers to tackle the modern, more content-rich two-mover with its often confusing line themes. At that time, they were the only German authors who could compete with the leading foreign specialists in this field (such as Ellerman, Guidelli, Mansfield, or Mari).

Büchner, Richard
Arbeiter-Schachzeitung 1926
1^stPrize

#2

7 + 10

Show Solution

1.♖a7! (2.♕f7#)
1...♖×g7 2.♖×a6#
1...♖×a7 (Rf6) 2.♕f6#
1...♖×h8 2.g×h8=♘#
1...♖f8 2.g×f8=♘#
1...♗f5 2.♘f4#
1...♗a2 2.♕d3#
1...♗f2 2.♕×b1#
1...♘f2 2.♘h4#
Line themes, sacrifice key and rich play.