Chess Composers: September 2012

Sunday, September 30, 2012

October 1st

Hans Fahrni (01-10-1874 - 28-05-1939) Swiss composer

Hans Fahrni, 1905

Hans Fahrni was a strong Swiss chess player born in Prague. About his career as an artist and his psychological troubles you may read here.
He also wrote the first monograph about the Alekhin defence ("Die Aljechin-Verteidigung, eine schachtheoretische Analyse," 1922).
He composed direct movers and studies.

Fahrni, Hans
Die Schwalbe, 1928

#2

7 + 4

Saturday, September 29, 2012

September 30th

Hieronymus Fischer (30-09-1843 - 08-01-1927) German composer

Hieronymus Fischer wrote with W.A. Shinkman "Humor im schach" (1904) a compilation of 160 problems, of which many selfmates.

Fischer, Hieronymus
Bamberger Schachklub, 1903

s#3

12 + 4

Friday, September 28, 2012

September 29th

Josef Lepping (29-09-1905 - ?) German composer

Josef Lepping composed direct mates with few pieces on the board or selfmates such as this one. Here is a typical moremover:

Lepping, Josef
Deutsche Schachzeitung, 1926

#4

5 + 2

Thursday, September 27, 2012

September 28th

Ernst Baumgarten (28-09-1886 - 14-05-1976) German composer

Ernst Baumgarten, 1973
[Wikimedia]

Ernst Baumgarten composed multimovers, in the Bohemian and later in the strategic style, and also helpmates and selfmates.

Baumgarten, Ernst
Kockelkorn-Gedenkturnier, 1921
2^nd Prize

#3

8 + 9

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

September 27th

Sigmund Herland (27-09-1865 - 15-08-1954) Austrian- Romanian composer

Sigmund Herland
[Kartothek A-K page 130]

Sigmund Herland was a chess player and composer
A collection of 327 selected problems by Sigmund Herland was published by Ekaterina Yaremska-Iliescu and can be read and downloaded from [Bibliothèque et Archives Canada / Library and Archives Canada].

Sigmund Herland composed in all genres (studies, direct or fairy problems, in Bohemian or strategic style) and was often very creative and original.
Sigmund Herland also composed what can be considered as the forerunner of the first cyclic Babson task (composed by Peter Hoffmann, Schach 2005). The story of this problem,published by Alain C. White in the Theory of Pawn Promotion, was evoked by Steven Dowd in his "Skittles" on ChessCafe.

Herland, Sigmund
Theory Of Pawn Promotion, 1912
1^st Prize

#4

13 + 8

Herland, Sigmund
Tidskrift för Schack, 1908

#5

11 + 7

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

September 26th

The Hong Oe (26-09-1895 - 21-02-1967) Indonesian composer

The Hong Oe was a known Indonesian composer who defeated A. Alekhine in a simultaneous game in 1933.

Oe, The Hong
Boletim da UBP, 1962

#4

10 + 6

Monday, September 24, 2012

September 25th

Frans Hansson (25-09-1887 - 28-08-1968) Swedish composer

Frans Hansson composed mainly heterodox problems but also direct mates such as this interesting 5-mover which was retained in the FIDE Album 1914-1944. Frans Hansson was also mentioned by "The Games and Puzzles Journal #16 vol.2" in 1999 as a contributor of numerous articles to "Fairy Chess Review" on 'dissections and tours and other topics'.

Hansson, Frans
Svenska Dagbladet, 1932 (1182)

h#3

Setplay

6 + 6

Sunday, September 23, 2012

September 24th

Ladislav Cimburek (24-09-1867 - 27-02-1915) Czech composer

Ladislav Cimburek was a Bohemian composer.
Ilja Mikan selected 108 of his problems in an issue of "Galerie československých skladatelů" (Gallery of Czech composers) which can be downloaded here.

Cimburek, Ladislav
Prachskij Kongress, 1891
1^st Prize

#4

6 + 7

Cimburek, Ladislav
Zlatá Praha, 22^nd Apr 1887

#4

4 + 8

Saturday, September 22, 2012

September 23rd

Gerardus Hendrikus Drese (23-09-1902 - 09-08-1980) Dutch composer and International Master

Gerardus Drese composed direct mates and selfmates. 62 of his problems were compiled in the 5th issue of Dr. Niemeijer's series "Probleemcomponisten".
He was an International Judge.

Drese, Gerardus Hendrikus
Ruy Lopez Chess Club Tourney, 1933-35
1^st Prize

#3

8 + 11

Drese, Gerardus Hendrikus
Probleemblad, 1951
1^st Prize

s#2

7 + 7

Friday, September 21, 2012

September 22nd

Martin Gohn (22-09-1895 - 1957) Romanian composer

Martin Gohn composed mainly moremovers and endgame studies.

Gohn, Martin
Deutsches Wochenschach, 1917 (1519)

=

3 + 3

Gohn, Martin
Revista Română de Şah, 1947

+

6 + 6

Thursday, September 20, 2012

September 21st

Fritz Schetelich (21-09-1891 - 06-07-1940) German composer

Fritz Schetelich composed direct mates and selfmates.

Schetelich, Fritz
Chemnitzer Tageblatt, 1924

#3

4 + 3

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

September 20th

Осип Самойлович (Самуилович) Бернштейн (20-09-1882 - 30-11-1962) Russian-French composer (Ossip Samoylovich Bernstein)

Ossip Bernstein
[Wikipedia]

Details about Ossip Bernstein's eventful and hectic life from Russia to France and Spain can be found on Wikipedia. Besides being an outstanding chess player (see his 1954 game against Miguel Najdorf), he also composed a few chess problems.

Бернштейн, Осип Самойлович
Deutsches Wochenschach, 1907

#3

4 + 5

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

September 19th

Claus Grupen (19-09-1941) German composer

Claus Grupen
[Uni. Siegen]

Claus Grupen is a physicist specialized in Astroparticle Physics.
He has composed chess problems since the 1970s and is fond of moremovers miniatures or Merediths.

Grupen, Claus
Problem Observer
2^nd Prize

#5

5 + 2

Monday, September 17, 2012

September 18th

Ottavio Stocchi (18-09-1906 - 04-03-1964) Italian composer

Ottavio Stocchi
[Wikipedia]

Ottavio Stocchi mostly composed direct mates in 2 and was a leading twomover composer in the 1950s. He was also an International Judge and he left his name to a twomover theme.
Stocchi theme: Triple avoidance (n-fold avoidance) on self-blocks (at least three) played on the same square.
Oscar Bonivento compiled and commented his problems in "Raccolta completa dei 933 problemi di Ottavio Stocchi. Diagrammi e commenti dei 111 Primi Premi" (1995).

Stocchi, Ottavio
Tijdschrift vd KNSB, 1954
2^nd Prize

#2 v

7 + 7

Stocchi, Ottavio
L'Italia Scacchistica, 1937
1^st Prize

#2

9 + 9

Sunday, September 16, 2012

September 17th

Johannes Seeberger (17-09-1843 - 11-11-1879) Austrian composer

Johannes Seeberger was one of the best composers of direct mates in three and more moves of his time.
He gave his name to a moremover theme:
Seeberger theme : Black Cheney-Loyd where the intercepted piece can't move. Then White plays a waiting move to oblige the intercepting piece to move.

Seeberger, Johannes
Illustrirtes Familien-Journal, 1860

#4

8 + 6

Saturday, September 15, 2012

September 16th

Hugo Rohr (16-09-1865 - 09-12-1937) German composer

Hugo Rohr was specialized in selfmates. He composed more than 1300 problems, of which 600 were published.
This one is a particularly good specimen:

Rohr, Hugo
La Stratégie, 1900
1^st Prize

s#4

8 + 8

Friday, September 14, 2012

September 15th

Jan Smutný (15-09-1867 - 31-10-1936) Czech composer

Jan Smutný published problems under the pseudonym Josef Opočenský. He composed direct mates.

Smutný, Jan
Český spolek šachovní 1898
4^th Prize

#3

8 + 6

Kobe World Chess Composition Congress

Kobe Time (GMT+9)

Fresh photos on Kobe WCCC blog.

Program of the 55th WCCC :

Thursday, September 13, 2012

September 14th

Pierre Biscay (14-09-1905 - 30-07-1969) French composer

Pierre Biscay
[Problemiste.fr]

Pierre Biscay was first a solutionist (French solving champion in 1927 and 1928) and afterwards became interested in strategic moremovers and elaborated theories about the thematical try and the periforms which were publicized by André Chéron in "Les Echecs Artistiques" in 1934. He founded the Union des Problémistes de France in 1935 and was also the president of the French Chess Federation from 1932 until 1954. He was also an International Judge. Four of his problems are quoted on problemiste.fr.

Biscay, Pierre
Die Schwalbe, 1930
1^st Prize

#4

9 + 5

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

September 13th

Josef Křivohlávek (13-09-1919 - 17-03-2015) Czech composer

Michel Caillaud and Josef Křivohlávek
[YouTube]

Josef Křivohlávek published "Šachové úlohy:výběr 1953-88". He demonstrated his showmanship at Marianka 2011.
Recently, as mentioned in a comment by Ivan Skoba, a book containing 139 selected problems of Josef Křivohlávek was published.

Křivohlávek, Josef
ÚV ČSTV, 1979
1^st Prize

#3

8 + 7

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

September 12th

Roland Lecomte (12-09-1925 - 02-10-2016) French composer

Roland Lecomte & Jean Morice
[Maroc-echecs]

Roland Lecomte was the editor of the chess column of the newspaper "Combat". He is an International Judge and a chess journalist for AFP.

Lecomte, Roland
StrateGems, 1999

h#3

4.1.1...

4 + 14

Monday, September 10, 2012

September 11th

Otto Zimmermann (11-09-1892 - 24-07-1979) Swiss composer

Otto Zimmermann was a chess player who had his best results in the 1920s. He composed direct mates.

Zimmermann, Otto
Schweizerische Schachzeitung, 1964
1^st Prize

#3

9 + 8

Sunday, September 9, 2012

September 10th

Achille Campo (10-09-1832 - 31-03-1910) Italian composer

Achille Campo was a chess player, chess column editor, chess club president, solver and composer.

Campo, Achille
Caissa's Ghost, 1890

#3

5 + 1

Saturday, September 8, 2012

September 9th

Walter Langweil (09-09-1905 - ?) Czech composer

Walter Langweil composed direct mates and selfmates.

Langweil, Walter
Jas, 6^th Sep 1928 (137)

s#2

8 + 7

Friday, September 7, 2012

September 8th

Vojtěch Košek (08-09-1861 - 01-10-1936) Czech composer

Vojtěch Košek was a Bohemian composer.

Košek, Vojtěch
České listy šachové 1897

#3

7 + 8

Thursday, September 6, 2012

September 7th

September 7th is François André Danican Philidor's birthday.

Johannes Hermann Zukertort (07-09-1842 - 20-06-1888) Polish player and composer

Johannes Zukertort
[Wikipedia]

Johannes Zukertort was one of the best players of the 1870s and 1880s and more details about his actual achievements can be found on Wikipedia.
He composed just a handful of problems, among which this trifle:

Zukertort, Johannes Hermann
The Westminster Papers, 1874

#3

7 + 8

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

September 6th

Octav Costăchel (06-09-1911 - 16-12-1987) Romanian composer

Octav Costăchel was the president of the Romanian Chess Federation between 1962-67. Octav Costăchel and George Teodoru both supported the birth and publication of the chess problem magazine "Buletin Problemistic" in 1971. He gave his name to a twomover theme.
Costăchel theme: Black defends itself by interfering with one of its own pieces and simultaneously pinning a white piece. The white pinned piece sets mat, exploiting the black interference, on the pinning line. (Alan Doris Battiston)

The Costăchel Thematic Tourney organized in 1936 by "Strategia" had remained unjudged and was finally awarded by a collective team on Mat Plus. The award can be read in English here.

He composed direct mates and helpmates.

Costachel, Octav
Шахматы в СССР 1961

#2 v

7 + 7

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

September 5th

Georg Albert Becker (05-09-1896 - 07-05-1984) Austrian-Argentinian composer

Source: Nuestro Círculo #273: 27th October, 2007

Georg Becker was a chess player (see chessgames.com for his o.t.b. career) and a writer for the "Wiener Schachzeitung". He migrated to Argentina in 1939.
He composed direct mates. You might consider this logical threemover which shows the Treffpunkt theme (meeting point) and ambush but here is a charming block threemover:

Becker, Georg Albert
FIDE-Turnier, 1959
5^th HM

#3

10 + 4

Monday, September 3, 2012

September 4th

Gerardus Hendrik Goethart (04-09-1892 - 17-05-1969) Dutch composer

Gerardus Goethart
[chessnc.com]

Gerardus Goethart was mostly a twomover composer.
24 of his problems were compiled by Max Niemeijer in "Chess Problems of G.H. Goethart" (1962).
He left his name to the following theme, also called "Goethart unpin": White unpins a black piece, taking advantage of an interference of this pinned black piece by another black unit.

Here is a good training for the twomover round of the coming WCSC:

Goethart, Gerardus Hendrik
Hampshire Telegraph and Post, 1915
1^st Prize

#2

9 + 10

Goethart, Gerardus Hendrik
The Problemist, 1952
4^th Prize

#2

6 + 6

Goethart, Gerardus Hendrik
Hampshire Telegraph and Post, 1916
3^rd Prize

#2*

8 + 8

Sunday, September 2, 2012

September 3rd

William Marks (03-09-1880 - 07-1947) Irish composer

William Marks composed direct mates.

Marks, William
777 Chess Miniatures in Three, 1908

#3

6 + 1

Saturday, September 1, 2012

September 2nd

Александр Петрович Казанцев (02-09-1906 - 13-09-2002) Russian composer and International Master (Aleksandr Petrovich Kazantsev)

Aleksander Kazantsev
[Source: aforteanosla.com.ar [broken link] ]

Aleksandr Kazantsev was a SF writer and ufologist whose works in Russian are listed on this site. You can also refer to Alain Pallier's article in EG 193 (January 2011) for more biographical information and the indication of the website made by A.P.Kazantsev's son about his father's works.
Aleksandr Kazantsev was an endgame study composer who also composed direct mates. JMRW has selected some of Kazantsev's studies on his website.
He wrote "Dar Kaissy" (Caissa's gift, 1983) that contains 211 endgame studies illustrated by tales and with R.Kofman and M. Liburkin "Sovetskij shakhmatnyj etjud" (1955) about the endgame study in USSR.

Казанцев, Александр Петрович
FIDE Ty, 1958

=

5 + 8

Казанцев, Александр Петрович
Kazantsiev JT, 1986

=

7 + 4