March 22nd

José Ernesto Coutinho (22-03-1906) Brazilian composer

Jose Coutinho
‎"Boletim da UBP" 42, Maio/Agosto 1982
[Thanks to Александр Никитин]

José Ernest Coutinho specialized in #2 composition in classic style. A nice problem with impressive wQ activity is :

Coutinho, José Ernesto
Die Schwalbe, Apr 1970
4^th Prize

#2

9 + 11

Show Solution

1.Qe8? (2.Qxc8#)
1...Kxf5[a] 2.Qg6#[C]
1...Bd7[b] 2.Qf7#[D]
1...Rxf5[c] 2.Qxe7#[E]
but 1...cxd6!
1.d7! (2.dxc8Q#/dxc8B#)
1...Kxf5[a] 2.Qxg4#[A]
1...Bxd7[b] 2.Qe4#[B]
1...Rxf5[c] 2.d8N#[F]
Changed mates.

Jindrich Šulc (22-03-1911 - 03-12-1998) Czech composer

Jindrich Šulc was able to compose successfully in many genres. A nice threemover with paradoxical quiet second white moves can be admired below

Šulc, Jindřich
FIDE, 1957
2^nd HM

#3

7 + 13

Show Solution

1.Qg2-d2 ! (2.d5*c6 + 2...Bb3-d5/Sc3-d5 3.c6-c7#)
1...Bb3*d5 2.Sf5-d4 (3.Sd4*c6#) because 2.Bc5-d6? Sc3-b5!
1...Sc3*d5 2.Bc5-d6 (3.Bd6-c7#) 2...Qh4-e7 3.Bd6*e7# because 2.Sf5-d4? Bb3-a4!
Nice dual avoidance, with secondary variations: 1...c6*d5, Sc3-b5 2.Qd2*h6 (3.Qh6*h4#)

Klaus-Dieter Schmidt and Hans-Joachim Schmidt (22-03-1942) German composers

Hans-Joachim Schmidt and Klaus-Dieter Schmidt seem to be the other known pair of twin composers, beside the Le Grand twins and the Aloni twins. That's why we will show problems published by them in the same magazine, as well as their common endgame study - of course with a study with twins A and B!

Schmidt, Hans-Joachim
Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung, 8^th Jan 2000 (1082)

#6

4 + 2

Show Solution

1. Kf5! Kh5 2. Sg6 Kh6 3. f7 Kh5
(3... Kh7 4. Kg5 Kg7 5. f8=Q+ Kh7 6. Qh8#)
4. f8=R Kh6 5. Rf7 Kh5 6. Rh7#

Schmidt, Klaus-Dieter
Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung, 2001 (1137)

+

6 + 5

Show Solution

1. Rg8+
{1. Sxb7+ Qxb7+ 2. Kxb7 hxg2
1. Bg5+ Ke8 2. Sd6+ Kf8 3. Rh2 Qc7+ 4. Kd5 Qxa5+ 5. Ke6 Qxg5 6. Sxb7 Qg2}
1... Qxg8 2. Sxb7+ Ke8
{2... Kc8 3. Se7+}
3. Sbd6+
{3. Bb4 Qg2+ 4. Kc7 Qxb7+ (4... Qxf2 5. Sbd6+ Kf8 6. Se4+) 5. Kxb7 h2}
3... Kf8
{3... Kd8 4. Ba5#}
4. Bh6+ Qg7 5. Bxg7+ Kg8 6. Be5 +-

Schmidt, Klaus-Dieter & Schmidt, Hans-Joachim
Die Schwalbe, 1997 (9468)

White wins

b) wKh8->g8

5 + 4

Show Solution

a) 1.Rdxb3? Qb7!
1.Rg3! Qxa5 2.Rgxb3 Ka7 3.Rb7+ Ka6 4.Rb8 Qa1+ 5.Kg8 Qg1+ 6.Kf7 Qf2+ 7.Ke8 Qe2+ 8.Kd8 Ka7 9.R8b4 Qa2 10.Rb7+ Ka8 11.Rb8+ Ka7 12.R3b7+ Ka6 13.Ra8+ wins the Queen +-

b) 1.Rf3? Qxa5 2.Rfxb3 Qxd5+!
1.Rdxb3! Qb7! 2.Rc6! Qxb3 3.Ra6+ Kb7 4.Rb6+ Qxb6 5.axb6 Kxb6 6.Kf7 Kb5 7.Ke7! Kc5 8.Ke6 wins the Pawns endgame +-

Юрій Володимирович Білокінь (22-03-1950) Ukrainian composer (Yuri Volodimirovich Bilokin)

Yuri Bilokin
[Source: Facebook]

Yuri Bilokin is a talented helpmate composer, often publishing joint compositions. His chess composition blog can be found here.
The next miniature shows ideal mates with wK tempo in each twin.

Білокінь, Юрій Володимирович & Мансарлійский, Микола Дмитрович
Mat (Beograd) 1985
1^st Prize

h#6

b) bQg8->d5

2 + 5

Show Solution

a) 1. Bd7 Sb4 2. Rc6 Ka4 3. Ke5 Ka5 4. Bf5 Kb5 5. Rf6 Kc5 6. Qe6 Sd3#
b) 1. Rcc4 Kb2 2. Ke5 Kb1 3. Bc2+ Kc1 4. Kd4 Kd2 5. Re5 Sc1 6. Be4 Sb3#
Echo mates.

A more recent example:

Білокінь, Юрій Володимирович
M.Грива-55, Черно-белые стежини 2009
1^st Prize

h#7

2 solutions

2 + 8

Show Solution

1.Sg3+ Kxg1 2.h2+ Kg2 3.Rg4 Kf3 4.h1=B+ Kxe3 5.Bf3 Kd3 6.Kf4 Kd4 7.f5 e3#
1.Bf2 Kh2 2.Re4 Kxh3 3.Bg3 Kg2 4.Re6 Kf3 5.Be5 Kxe3 6.Sf4 Kf3 7.Sg6 e4#
Chameleon echo mates.

Milenko Đukić (22-03-1926 - 31-12-1997) Croatian composer

Milenko Đukić
‎"Vor Razbibriga", Bjelovar, April 1979
[Thanks to Александр Никитин] and Liubisa Papic

Milenko Đukić composed many miniatures with varied play. A typical example is:

Đukić, Milenko
Buletin Problemistic, 1975

#3

4 + 3

Show Solution

1.Re5 ! ZZ

1...Kg4 2.Bd7+ Kh4, Kf4 3.Sf3, Sd3#
1...g5 2.Re4+ g4 3.Sf3#
1...h5 2.Bd7 (3.Sf3#)

János Kiss (22-03-1909 - 11-07-1999) Hungarian composer, FIDE Master and Honorary Master of Chess Composition

János Kiss was one of Hungarian experts in chess composition. (Note that the Kiss theme was thus named because of Slovak composer Ivan Kiss).
He was particularly interested in black correction, as shown here.

Kiss, János
Rakéta, 1943
1^st Prize

#2

11 + 12

Show Solution

1.Sxd4! (2.Sf3#)

1...Sxg4 2.h4#
1...Sg8/Sxh5/Sh7/Sxe8/Sd5/Se6 2.Qxe5#
1...Sfe4/Sce4/Sb3/Sb7/Sa4/Sa6 2.Qe3#
1...Re3/Rf5 2.Rf5#

Black correction.

Norbert Geissler (22-03-1958) German composer and FIDE Master

Gunter Jordan,    Frank Richter            &                  Norbert Geissler                                   
November 2008 [TLiDD]

Norbert Geissler is better known as one of Popeye's programmers. However, his compositions display an amazing craftsmanship and artistry, like the Bristol theme in this h#2.
His best problem is probably the following:

Geissler, Norbert & Werner, Dieter
7^th WCCT, 2001
2^nd-3^rd Place, 2001-2004

#11

9 + 16

Show Solution

1.Be3+! Ke5 2.Bd2+ Kd4 3.Sg5! Bc8 4.Se6+ Bxe6 5.Be3+ Ke5 6.Bg5+ Kd4 7.Sd2 Sc1 8.Sxb3+ Sxb3 9.Be3+ Ke5 10.Bd2+ Kd4 11.Bc3#
Pendulum manoeuvre.