Tuesday, January 31, 2012

February 1st

Sigmund Weidisch (01-02-1887 - 1955) German composer

Weidisch, Sigmund
Deutsche Schachblätter, 1952
3rd Prize


#4 8 + 5

Show Solution

Monday, January 30, 2012

January 31st

Søren Anton Sørensen (31-01-1840 - 11-02-1896) Danish composer

Søren_Anton_Sørensen [Wikipedia.da]

According to Martin Møller, whose Skakjournal was quoted here in 2009:
"Søren Anton Sørensen was taught chess at the age 11 (1851) by H.Møller, when he was a regular visitor at Sulsted præste-gård (vacarage) - (H.Møller was former chairman in the first Copenhagen chess club/Københavns skak forening 1844-1846)."
Martin Møller then narrates a little anecdote which you may read on Rick Kennedy's Jerome Gambit blog. Anyway, S.A.S. was a talented chess player, whose games you may browse through on ChessGames.com.
He also wrote with A. Arnell an anthology of Nordic problems: "Nordiske Skakproblemer" (1879) that can be read on Anders Thulin website.

Sørensen won a tourney organised by the BCF in 1873. One of the problems of the set was the following:

Sørensen, Søren Anton
British Chess Association, 1873
1st Prize, Set


#4 7 + 11

Show Solution

Sunday, January 29, 2012

January 30th

Samuel Loyd (30-01-1841 - 10-04-1911) American composer

Samuel Loyd [Wikipedia]

Does Sam Loyd need any introduction? Please refer to the Wikipedia webpage which also quotes the famous Excelsior problem that is reproduced below.

Loyd, Samuel
The Era (London) 13th Jan 1861 (337)
2nd Prize

#5 8 + 10

Show Solution

Saturday, January 28, 2012

January 29th

Miroslav Bílý (29-01-1945) Czech composer

Miroslav Bílý composes helpmates presenting (chameleon) echo mates and he even wrote a book about them.

Bílý, Miroslav
Problem Observer, 1997
1st Prize


h#3.5b) Move f7 d4 4 + 4

Show Solution

Friday, January 27, 2012

January 28th

John Poole (28-01-1882 - 1956) British composer

Poole, John
Norwich Mercury, 1911


#4 6 + 6

Show Solution

Thursday, January 26, 2012

January 27th

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, alias Lewis Carroll (27-01-1832 - 14-01-1898)
British mathematician, writer, chessplayer and composer


Lewis Carroll [Wikipedia]

Many things could be said about Lewis Carroll, but here we focus on chess problems. Lewis Carroll's chess problem published in "Through the Looking Glass" is the following:

Carroll, Lewis
Through The Looking Glass, 1871


#3 5 + 3

1.Sg3+! Kd3(d4) 2.Qc3# (short mate)
1....Ke5 2.Qc5+ Ke6 3.Qd6#
In fact, the stipulation is wrong. As the source says it should be "White Pawn to play and win in eleven moves." And as the printed solution indicates, the rules of chess are not very strictly adhered to...

Show the Solution intended by Lewis Caroll

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

January 26th

Сергій Миколайович Ткаченко (26-01-1963) Ukrainian composer and International Master (Sergey Mikolayovich Tkachenko)

Not to be confounded with Сергій Іванович Ткаченко.


Сережа Ткаченко


Ткаченко, Сергій Миколайович
Фестиваль «Бровары-87» 1987
1st Prize, TT


+ 5 + 4

Show Solution

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

January 25th

Hans Theo Kuner (25-01-1929) German composer

Of Hans Theo Kuner (or Theo Kuner) many problems could be quoted. May the reader be satisfied with three:

Kuner, Hans Theo
Die Schwalbe, 1959
1st Prize


#3 8 + 11

Show Solution

Monday, January 23, 2012

January 24th

Eeltje Visserman (24-01-1922 – 23-03-1978) Dutch composer, Grandmaster and International Judge

Eeltje Visserman [Schaakcanon]


E. Visserman was a wonderful composer who deservedly won numerous composing tourneys. He composed problems of all types, but mostly two- and threemovers. He was also the editor of a column in magazines "Tijdschrift van de KNSB" and "Probleemblad".
An anthology of his problems was published after his death: "Schaakproblemen van E. Visserman" by Albertus Marinus Koldijk, 1986.


Visserman, Eeltje
Weenink MT, 1943
4th Prize


#3 11 + 13

Show Solution

Sunday, January 22, 2012

January 23rd

Victor Cioană (23-01-1939 - 07.01.2010) Romanian composer and player

Victor (on the left) 
analyzing an endgame with Dieter Klosterman

Victor Cioană was the best solver in his hometown Suceava. Victor won several times the solving tourney organized by Romanian magazine "Revista Română de Şah”. It was only natural for him to publish his first problem in this same magazine. It was a helpmate in 4 with 2 solutions.

Cioană, Victor
Revista Română de Şah, 1988


h#4 4 + 5

Show Solution

Saturday, January 21, 2012

January 22nd

Jacob Bettmann (22-01-1865 - 22-04-1935) American composer

FindAGrave


Jacob was the cousin of composer Henry Ward Bettmann.

Bettmann, Jacob
Southern Trade Gazette, 1887
1st Prize


#2 11 + 5

Show Solution

Friday, January 20, 2012

January 21st

Theodor Nissl (21-01-1878 - 16-02-1972) German composer


Dr. Theodor Nissl [Thanks to Александр Никитин]




Theodor Nissl was an advocate of the chess composing school known under the name of "Neudeutscher Schule". He composed his first problems shortly before WWI and became friends with numerous chess composers through epistolary exchanges (J. Kohtz & C. Kockelkorn, F. Sackmann, etc).

He was also a chess player: the reader may discover his game against Siegbert Tarrasch (Munich 1933).

A short biography in German can be found on Wikipedia.de. Other information in German can be found in the article "Das Pfälzer Dreigestirn" written by Dr. Hermann Weissauer about three composers from the Palatinate region - P.A.Orlimont, Franz Sackmann and Theodor Nissl.
The Nissl theme is nowadays better known under the name of Phoenix theme.

Nissl, Theodor
Main-Post, 14th Mar 1959
2nd Prize


#5 11 + 10

Show Solution
Nissl, Theodor
Deutsche Schachblätter, 1962 (21)
1st HM


#6 6 + 9

Show Solution

Thursday, January 19, 2012

January 20th

Harald Schmid (20-01-1932) Austrian composer

Schmid, Harald
2nd TT Klein Winsener Rochade 1987- 1989
1st HM


h#5b) Move a2 h2 2 + 14
Show Solution

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

January 19th

Roger Colas (19-01-1924 - 2003) French composer

Colas, Roger
Mémorial Camil SENECA Thèmes-64, 1978
2nd HM


#6 14 + 12

Show Solution

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

January 18th

Jean de Villeneuve-Esclapon (18-01-1860 - 24-11-1943) French composer

Jean de Villeneuve-Esclapon [Heritage Echecs]


Biographical details can be found on this French site, where the photograph comes from, or on the new French chess problem site Problemiste here and here.

His best know endgame study is the 1st prize in Schweizerische Schachzeitung 1923, but the following draw study is also stimulating for the solver:

De Villeneuve-Esclapon, Jean
Rigaer Tageblatt, 1909
4th Prize


= 4 + 3

Show Solution

Monday, January 16, 2012

January 17th

The menu is especially rich today: do not miss the problems by the last composer in this entry.
[Addendum 25th January: by the last two composers!]

Karel Peter Traxler (17-01-1866 - 15-05-1936) Czech composer and player... and Catholic priest

Karel Traxler [Wikipedia]

Let's quote ChessGames.com:
Karel Traxler "is famous for the Traxler Counterattack (also known as the Wilkes-Barre Variation) in the Two Knights (C57) : 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 Bc5. This line was introduced in the famous game J. Reinisch vs Traxler, 1890."

Traxler, Karel Peter
Ces. spol. sach. 1895
2nd HM


#4 7 + 13

Show Solution

Sunday, January 15, 2012

January 16th

Ilham Aliev (16-01-1967) Azerbaijani composer


Ilham Aliev and his children
[Iuri Akobia]




Ilham Aliev is a successful endgame composer. One of his latest successes was 2nd special prize in the 2nd FIDE World Cup 2011.


Aliev, Ilham
Olimpiya Dünyasi, 2008
3rd Prize


+ 6 + 6

Show Solution

Saturday, January 14, 2012

January 15th

Max A.K.S. Karstedt (15-01-1868 - 22-03-1945) German composer

Karstedt was also the discoverer of the K+B+S vs K+Q fortress (wKh1, Bg2, Se4) which is mentioned, for instance, in the June 2006 issue of BESN and is explained in details on Roberto Stelling's website.
Tom Morrell claimed to have discovered another K+B+S vs K+Q fortress (wKf2, Bf3, Sg2) but this claim is not sustained by the Nalimov database.
A charming endgame study by Karstedt was recently posted on ChicagoChess blog.


Karstedt, Max Arn. K. S.
A.Anderssen MT, 1919
2nd HM


#3 5 + 8

Show Solution


January 14th

Henry Wald Bettmann (14-01-1868 - 05-12-1935) American composer


Henry Wald Bettmann
[Source: The Chess Problem, H.G.M. Weenink ; scan by M. McDowell]





Bettmann, Henry Wald
Babson Task TT, 1926
1st Prize


s#3 15 + 5

Show Solution

Thursday, January 12, 2012

January 13th

Uri Avner (13-01-1941 - 10-06-2014) Israeli composer, Grandmaster and former President of the WFCC


Uri Avner
[© Nikola Stolev]


Avner, Uri
The Problemist, 1992
1st Prize


s#6 10 + 11

Show Solution

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

January 12th

Arnoldo Ellerman (12-01-1893 - 21-11-1969) Argentinian composer and International Master

Arnoldo Ellerman (Chess Pie 1922)
[Chess History]


Ellerman, Arnoldo
Good Companion, May 1916
2nd Prize, ex aequo


#2* 8 + 11

Show Solution

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

January 11th

Friedrich Hariuc (11-01-1937) Romanian composer living in Germany

Hariuc, Friedrich
9342 feenschach 01-08/2006


h#3 4 + 2
2.1.1...

Show Solution

January 10th

Espen Backe (10-01-1963) Norwegian composer


Espen Backe
Article about his book "Caïssas trollbundne"(2007)
[nettavisen.no]





Backe, Espen
6448 Sakkelet 5.-6.1998


h#3b) Move f4 g3 3 + 5

Show Solution

Monday, January 9, 2012

January 9th

Baruch Lender (09-01-1913 - 25-02-1994) Israeli composer


Biographical information about Baruch Lender can be found in "Lender combination: Baruch Lender and His Chess Problems" written by a trio of Israeli composers: Uri Avner, Paz Einat and Yoel Aloni and also on this webpage dedicated to Baruch Lender, the Lender combination and the book itself.

Lender, Baruch
UV CSZTV, 1979
3rd HM


#2* v             10 + 9

Show Solution

The Lender combination is a sort of mix of Salazar and (pseudo) le Grand:
1. A? [2.B]
1...a(b) 2.C(D)#
1.C! [2.D]
1...a(b) 2.A(B)#

The curious reader may refer to the book "Lender combination: Baruch Lender and His Chess Problems" by Uri Avner, Paz Einat and Yoel Aloni.

Saturday, January 7, 2012

January 8th

Franz Pachl (08-01-1951) German composer and Grand Master


Pachl, Franz
2.pr Die Schwalbe, 1979


h#2b) Exchange e2 c4 9 + 13

Show Solution

January 7th

Dinu Ioan Nicula (07-01-1968) Romanian solver, composer and editor


Nicula, Dinu Ioan & Huber, Eric
Shakhmatnaya Poeziya, 2006
3rd Comm.


hs#3    2.1.1.1.1.1    4 + 6

Show Solution

Friday, January 6, 2012

January 6th

Paul Răican (06-01-1957) Romanian composer and editor of French-speaking magazine Quartz.


Răican, Paul
Mat Plus, 2007 (27/781)
Special Prize


#7Maximummer
KoeKo
PWC (Circé échange)
b) wKd4-->b5  s#7
2 + 2

Show Solution

Thursday, January 5, 2012

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