Chess Composers: October 26th

Ārons Ņimcovičs / Aaron Nimzovitsch (26-10-1886 - 16-03-1935) Latvian-Danish composer

Aron Nimzowitsch
[Wikipedia]

Aron Nimzowitsch was a well-known chess player, author of the influential "Mein System".
He also composed a few problems and studies, such as this one:

Ņimcovičs, Ārons
Baltische Zeitung, 11^th Dec 1918 (26)

7 + 5

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Alexander Pituk (26-10-1904 - 30-04-2002) Slovak composer and Honorary Master

Alexander Pituk
[rubriky.net]

Let's quote Wikipedia:

He resided all his life in Banská Štiavnica and worked as a carpenter. He was appointed an International Judge of Chess Compositions and was awarded the FIDE Master for Chess Composition and Honorary Master of Chess Composition title. He is author of 584 compositions (60 of them award winners).

His problems can be downloaded from here: 1927-1961 and 1962-2002.

Pituk, Alexander
BABY (=Banská Bystrica) 1958
1^st Prize

#2 *

15 + 6

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Raymond le Pontois (26-10-1909 - 01-08-1982) French composer

Raymond le Pontois composed direct mates.

Le Pontois, Raymond
Themes 64, 1958
2^nd Prize

7 + 10

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Pierre Drumare (26-10-1913 - 15-04-2001) French composer

Pierre Drumare
[Source: Phénix No. 96-97, May-June 2001, p.5178]

Pierre Drumare composed direct mates, but also fairy problems (maximummers or problems with fairy pieces). He founded with 17 friends the society "Les Amis du Problème d’Echecs" and the magazine "Thémes-64".

His peculiarity was that during 22 years, from 1960 until 1982, he worked on achieving the orthodox Babson task. The result for this quest was the article "Mon dernier pas vers l’impossible" (My last step towards the impossible) which was published in "Thémes-64" in 1982. A few months later in 1983 Leonid Yarosh published his Babson task.
Jean Bertin published a monography about Pierre Drumare's problems in 1951.

Drumare, Pierre & Diot, Roger
Europe Échecs, 1972
1^st Prize

11 + 10

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Edgar Dinwiddie Holladay (26-10-1925 - 08-09-2003) American composer and International Master

Chesscafe [broken link]

Edgar Holladay
[Die Schwalbe Fragebogen 1960 page 223]

Edgar Holladay wrote several books: "To Alain White" (1945), "C.W.Sheppard Twomovers" (1963) containing 100 twomovers, "O. Wurzburg Artistry" (1974) with 200 problems by Wurzburg and "E.M. Hassberg Ingenuity" (1978). In 2007 was posthumously published his book "Holladay Chess Problems".
He was the editor of the problem section of the "American Chess Bulletin" from 1949 until 1963. In 1963 he founded the "US Problem Bulletin".
He was an International Judge.

Holladay, Edgar Dinwiddie
The Tablet, 2^nd Nov 1957
1^st Prize

#2 v

11 + 7

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Zdravko Maslar (26-10-1932 - 24-04-2022) Serbian composer and International Master

Zdravko Maslar
[Wikimedia]

Zdravko Maslar has composed in all genres, with or without his brother Slavko. He is specialized in helpmates, especially with strategic contents, and is a strong solver.
He was the organizer of the yearly Andernach meeting, which mostly deals with fairy problems and which we wish we could visit every year.
The trademark of his composing are some incredible task records. By his character, Zdravko is not strictly a record-hunter, but such achievements came as a result of deep, almost scientific, investigations.
A short obituary by Marjan Kovacevic can be read on MatPlus Forum with links to the h=34 and #3 that are shown below.
Here are some problems typical of his style. First, the longest helpmate miniature:

Maslar, Zdravko
Schach-Echo, 1975
Special Prize

h#13

2 + 3

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The longest helpstalemate:

Maslar, Zdravko
problem 1958
Special Prize

h=34

1 + 13

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The only #3 Allumwandlung Miniature:

Maslar, Zdravko
Bilten, 1962
1^st Prize

6 + 1

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Юрий Григорьевич Горбатенко (26-10-1946) Russian composer and International Master (Yuri Grigoryevich Gorbatenko)

Yuri Gorbatenko composes direct mates and helpmates.

Горбатенко, Юрий Григорьевич
На смену! 1991
3^rd Prize