Sunday, February 26, 2012

February 27th

Петко Андонов Петков (27-02-1942 - 11-08-2024) Bulgarian composer and Grandmaster (Petko Andonov Petkov) 

Text withdrawn upon request of GM Petko A. Petkov, who did not have time to send us his updated text before he left us in August 2024.



Գենրիխ Գասպարյան (27-02-1910 - 27-12-1995) Armenian composer and Grandmaster (Genrikh Kasparyan or Генрих Моисеевич Каспарян)

Genrikh Kasparyan on a 2010 Armenian stamp[Wikipedia]

Kasparian received the titles of International Judge of Chess Compositions in 1956 and International Grandmaster of Chess Composition in 1972, the first composer to receive this title from FIDE. He was also a very good o.t.b. player (IM and 10 times Armenian champion).

He wrote several books and collections and composed about 600 studies, many on the theme of domination. His endgames reach amazing analytical depths, in an era where the intensive use of computers and databases had not started yet.

One of his most brilliant studies:

Kasparjan, Genrich
Шахматы в СССР 1939
1st Prize


+ 4 + 4
Show Solution


Another study, in a different style, more similar with a moremover:

Kasparjan, Genrich
Шахматы в СССР 1935
4th Prize


+ 6 + 6

Show Solution



Александр Сергеевич Кузовков (27-02-1953) Russian composer and Grandmaster (Aleksandr Sergeievich Kuzovkov) 


Aleksandr Kuzovkov
Problem, May 1979
[Thanks to Александр Никитин ]


Kuzovkov is a constructions engineer and also an excellent direct mate composer. Some details about him can be read on Wikipedia. He is also an International Judge since 2017.
The threemover below shows his talent plentifully. What is noteworthy is that Aleksandr Kuzovkov, beside this 1st place in the WCCT, has also won 2 second places and 3 third places in WCCT tourneys!

Кузовков, Александр Сергеевич
8th WCCT, 2008
1st Place


#3 16 + 8

Show Solution


Кузовков, Александр Сергеевич
05. WCCT
23rd Place


#2 11 + 11

Show Solution


Kuzovkov's talents are not limited to threemovers. Here is an example in helpmate:

Кузовков, Александр Сергеевич
Tournoi Goumondy, 1986
1st Prize


h#23.1.1.1 8 + 8

Show Solution


And an example in selfmate:

Кузовков, Александр Сергеевич & Феоктистов, Александр Фёдорович
Уральский проблемист 2003
1st Prize


s#3 12 + 13
Show Solution



Евгений Павлович Сорокин (27-02-1933 - 19-04-2000) Russian composer (Evgeni Pavlovich Sorokin) 


Evgeni Sorokin
Problem, May 1979
[Thanks to Александр Никитин ]



Sorokin composed many problems in collaboration with other composers, especially Pavlos Moutecidis.

Сорокин, Евгений Павлович
Onitiu Memorial T, 1973
2nd Prize


h#41.2.1... 3 + 3
Show Solution




Jacques Mieses (27-02-1865 - 23-02-1954) German - British player and composer

Jacques Mieses [Wikimedia]

Jacques Mieses was a Grandmaster with a dangerous attacking style. You can read more about his life, chess career, books and games on the website www.mieses.info. He also composed a few two- and threemovers, among which the following:

Mieses, Jacques
Vasárnapi Újság, 1881 (1142)


#4 10 + 3

Show Solution



Евгений Богданов (27-02-1952 - 30-10-2010) Ukrainian composer and Grandmaster (Evgeni Bogdanov)


Evgeni Bogdanov
Problem, May 1979
[Thanks to Александр Никитин ]



Evgeni Bogdanov was one of the most prolific composers of our time, with more than 3400 problems registered in databases. He composed mostly direct mates (6% of his output were helpmates) and was interested in cyclic themes. He received the title of GM at the Kobe 2012 congress.

Богданов, Євгеній Михайлович
Le Courrier des Echecs, 1983
1st Prize

#3  8 + 13

Show Solution



Николай Яковлевич Косолапов (27-02-1934 - 2009) Russian composer (Nikolay Yakovlevich Kosolapov)


Nikolay Kosolapov
Problem, February 1968
[Thanks to Александр Никитин ]






















Kosolapov mainly composed direct mates, but he also explored the helpmate field, for instance this h#4 with 6 solutions (3 S-promotions and 3 Q-promotions) composed with G. Chumakov.

Косолапов, Николай Яковлевич
ЮК 50 лет Вооруженных сил СССР 1968
1st Prize

#2 vvv  10 + 5

Show Solution

2 comments:

  1. Nikolay Kosolapov at his Tver home 2005
    http://www.chess-problemist.com/chess/photos/kosolapov-tver-2005.jpg

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Vladimir for this more recent photo. We kept the 1968 photo in the blog because it matches the chosen problem - 1st Prize in 1968.

      Delete