August 17th

Михаил Моисеевич Ботвинник (17-08-1911 - 05-05-1995) Russian composer and o.t.b World Champion (Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik)

Mikhail Botvinnik
[Wikipedia]

You all know Mikhail Botvinnik already (if not, please immediately read the Wikipedia page), but were you aware that he also composed endgame studies while he was World Champion?

Ботвинник, Михаил Моисеевич
Шахматы в СССР 1939
4^th Prize

+

3 + 3

Show Solution

1. d8=Q+
{1. Rf2 ? Rd4 2. d8=Q+ Rxd8+ 3. Kxd8 Kc5 4. Kc7 b4 5. Rb2 Kc4 6. Kb6 Kc3 =}
1... Rxd8+ 2. Kxd8 Kc5 3. Rb7 ! b4 4. Kc7 Kc4 5. Kb6
{Classical manoeuvre of the white King behind the black pawn}
5...b3 6. Ka5 Kc3 7. Ka4 b2 8. Ka3 +-

Bjørn Enemark (17-08-1941) Danish composer

Bjørn Enemark
[problemskak.dk]

Bjørn Enemark made his debut as a composer in 1997. He composes helpmates, fairy and retro problems.
He is the Danish delegate at the WFCC, a computer programmer and the webmaster of website problemskak.dk. And of course he was a collaborator of "Thema Danicum" and the founder of the Danish magazine "Problemskak".

Enemark, Bjørn
Quartz 5^th TT, 2003-2004
2^nd Prize

h#5

2.1.1... EiffelChess

7 + 8

Eiffel Chess:
A Knight threatened by a Pawn is paralysed.
A Bishop threatened by a Knight is paralysed.
A Rook threatened by a Bishop is paralysed.
A Queen threatened by a Rook is paralysed.
A Pawn threatened by a Queen is paralysed.

Show Solution

On the diagram the pieces describe a cycle of Eiffel paralysis:
wSe3 paralyses bBf5 who paralyses wRg6 - bQc6-wPc2-bSd3-wBe5-bRg7-wQd7-bPd4-wSe3.
The two Kings exploit these specific Eiffel paralyses in two distinct marches in each solution:
1.Kg2 b4 2.Kf3 Kb2 3.Ke4 Kc3 4.Kd5+ Kxd3 5.g2 Bxg7#
1.Kh4 Kb1 2.Kg5 Kc1 3.Kf6 Kd2 4.Rxg6 Qe8 5.Rg5 Kxd3#

Bruno Stucker (17-08-1961) Swiss composer

Bruno Stucker is the co-editor of the Swiss magazine "idee & form" with Thomas Maeder. He composes direct mates and helpmates.

Stucker, Bruno
Die Schwalbe, 1989
1^st Prize

h#2

b) bPg4->g5 c) +bPf5 d) bKf4->h3

7 + 6

Show Solution

a) 1.Rxe7 Sf1 2.Re4 Rf6#
b) 1.Bxb6 Sh2 2.Be3 Bd6#
c) 1.gxf3 Re6 2.Rg4 Sh5#
d) 1.Bxg3 Rb2 2.Qg1 Sxg1#
Two reciprocal Zilahis (each member of the pairs wR-wB and wSf3-wSg3 is reciprocally captured while the other member gives mate) and model mates.

Анатолий Викторович Стёпочкин (17-08-1962) Russian composer and Grandmaster (Anatoly Viktorovich Styopochkin)

Anatoly Styopochkin
[popovgl.narod.ru]

Anatoly Styopochkin composes direct mates, helpmates, and more recently fairy problems with Koeko and Maximummer conditions. He has composed more than 1000 problems, with excellent results in the highly competitive Russian championships. You can have a look at the problems quoted by Grigory Popov on his website and here are two other examples:

Стёпочкин, Анатолий Викторович
Thema Danicum, 1991
1^st Prize

#3

14 + 12

Show Solution

1.Se4-c5 ! (2.Sc5-d3+ Ke5-f6+ 3.Sg5-e6#)
1...Ke5xd5+ 2.Sc5-e4+ Kd5-c4/Kd5-c6 3.Rb5-c5#
1...Ke5xd6+ 2.Sc5-e6+ Kd6-e5 3.Qh4xf4#
1...Ke5-f6+ 2.Sg5-e6+ Kf6-e5 3.Sc5-d3#
1...Sh2xf3 2.Sc5xd7+ Rh7xd7 3.Sg5xf3#
1...Bd8xg5 2.Sc5xd7+ Rh7xd7 3.Qh4xg5# or 2.Qh4xg5+ Ke5xd6+ 3.Sc5-e6#
The key opens the line of the royal black battery and allows three different checks, all differentiated with different replies by the white batteries.

Стёпочкин, Анатолий Викторович
JT A.Semenenko & V.Semenenko, 2009
2^nd Prize

h#2

2 solutions b) bKd4->e4

10 + 12

Show Solution

a) 1. Rxf5 f3 2. Rxe5 Bxe5# & 1. Bxf5 Ba3 2. Be4 Bb2#
b) 1. Rxd6 Rf3 2. Rd4 Rxe3# & 1. Bxd6 fxe3 2. Bxe5 Rxe5#
Four homogeneous variations and two pairs of similar solutions.

Leo Mano (17-08-1962) Brazilian composer

Leonardo Mano composes direct mates and selfmates, but also retro problems such as this one.
He was the initiator of a chess problem collection that could be downloaded from his website, nowadays accessible from the website whose webmaster he is: the Brazilian problemists' website. He also created the Forsyth Chess Editor which is compatible with Popeye solving software.

Mano, Leonardo
Belliboni Memorial, UPB 2001-2002
Commendation

#2

7 + 6

Show Solution

1.Bb2! (2.Rc4#)
1...Kd4 2.Qg7#
1...Kf6 2.Rxc6#
1...f4 2.Rc5#
Selfunpins and selfpins.

Reino Oskar Ljungman (17-08-1911 - 02-02-1979) Finnish composer

Reino Ljungman composed mostly direct mates and studies.

Ljungman, Reino Oskar
Helsingin Sanomat, 20 Jul 1941

#3

6 + 7

Show Solution

1.♖d2 ! ZZ
1...♘c6 2.♕a6+ ♗a5/♘a5 3.♕f1#
1...♘f6 2.♕e7 (3.♕e1/♕a3#)
1...a5 2.♕×b6 (3.♕g1/♕xa5#)
1...b2 2.♖d1+ b1=~ 3.♖xd1#
1...g5 2.♕h7 ~ 3.♕b1#
1...♗~ 2.♕×b3
Fine key intended for solvers. Try to find out why other Rook moves don't work.