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.