November 28th

Thomas Rayner Dawson (28-11-1889 - 16-12-1951) British composer

Thomas Rayner Dawson
[Wikipedia]

Thomas Rayner Dawson was an incredibly active problemist: inventor of many fairy pieces (Grasshopper, Nightrider, etc) and conditions, composer of thousands of problems (fairy, directmates, selfmates, endings), founder-editor of "The Problemist" and of "The Problemist Fairy Chess Supplement" which became "The Fairy Chess Review", writer of numerous books and problem collections.

His biography by George Jelliss can be found on "The Problemist" website, as well as a presentation of "The Early Work of T.R. Dawson".

Some of his books can be read online:

• "Ultimate Themes" (1938)
• "Caissa's Fairy Tales" (1947)
• "Caissa's Wild Roses" (1935)
• "Caissa's in Clusters" (1937)
• "Retrograde Analysis" (1915, with W.Hundsdorfer)
• Finally, Fabel & Kemp's "Schach ohne Grenzen" (Chess unlimited,1969) is a selection of problems by T.R.Dawson, with parallel text in English and German.

Dawson, Thomas Rayner
The Gambit, 1928
1^st Prize

s#3

Maximummer

10 + 9

Show Solution

1.h5!

1…fxe1Q 2.b8Q Qa1 3.Qe5+ Qxe5#
1…fxe1R 2.b8R Ra1 3.Rb1 gxh5#
1…fxe1B 2.b8B Bxg3 3.Bxg3 gxh5#
1…fxe1S 2.b8S Sxg2 3.Rxg2 gxh5#

Babson task.

One of his Grasshoppers problems:

Dawson, Thomas Rayner
The Problemist Fairy Chess Supplement, Feb 1936 (2212)
In memory of C. M. Fox

h#2

f6, a5, c5, g4: Grasshopper

10 + 13

Show Solution

1.d4xc3 ep.+++ Kd2xc3+ 2.g7-g5 h5xg6 ep.+++# Mate by triple check.
White's last move can only have been c2-c4, not Ke3-d2 (illegal triple check at e3)

Микола Олексійович Чіканов (28-11-1931) Ukrainian composer (Mykola Oleksiyovich Chikanov)

Mykola Chikanov composes in all genres.

Чіканов, Микола Олексійович
Probleemblad, 1994
2^nd Prize

h#3

2 solutions

8 + 11

Show Solution

1.Qe6-e3 Qh3-h5 2.Sg2-h4 Qh5*g5 3.Kc4-d4 Qg5-f4#
1.Qe6-c6 Qh3-h4 2.Sg5-h3 Qh4*f6 3.Kc4*d5 Qf6-e6#
Echo mates, anticipatory selfpin by the black Queen, unpinning of the white Queen by one black S.

Володимир Васильович Діденко (28-11-1938) Ukrainian composer (Volodimir Vasilovich Didenko)

Volodimir Didenko composes direct mates.

Діденко, Володимир Васильович
МК В.Брон 1991
4^th Prize

#4

4 + 3

Show Solution

1.Bd6-b4 ! (2.Qa1-e5+ Ke3-d3 3.Qe5-e4#)

1...Ke3-d3 2.Qa1-b2 and 2...f2-f1=Q 3.Qb2-c3+ Kd3-e2 4.Qc3-d2# or 2...f2-f1=S 3.Qb2-c3+ Kd3-e2 4.Qc3-f3#
1...Ke3-e2 2.Qa1-b1 ZZ 2...f2-f1=Q 3.Qb1-c2+ Ke2-e3 4.Qc2-d2# or 2...f2-f1=S 3.Qb1-e1+ Ke2-d3 4.Qe1-e4#
1...Ke3-f4 2.Qa1-c3 (3.Bb4-d6+ Kf4-f5 4.Qc3-e5#)
(1...f2-f1=~ 2.Qa1xf1 etc)

Hans Peter Rehm (28-11-1942) German composer and Grandmaster

Hans Peter Rehm, 2007
[Wikipedia]

Hans Peter Rehm is mostly known for his moremovers in the German logical school style, but he is also equally talented for fairy chess.

Erik Zierke has commented three of his problems on berlinthema.de and other commented problems by Rehm can be found on the same site.

Rehm, Hans Peter
Deutsche Schachblätter, 1964
1^st Prize

#7

4 + 14

Show Solution

1.Sba5? would fail on 1...Rxa5 2.Ba4 Rxa4 3.Kd1 (4.Sd2#) Rxc4!
Hence the idea of bringing bSc6 to b4:
1. Ke3 ! (2.Scd2#) Lepuschutz theme.
1...Re7+ 2. Kxd3 Sb4+ 3. Kd2 (4.Sa3#)
3...Ra7 4. Sba5 ! Rxa5 5. Ba4 ! Rxa4 6. Kd1 ~ 7. Sd2#

Rehm, Hans Peter
Chlubna-50 JT, 1996
1^st Prize

s#7

13 + 8

Show Solution

1. Qd5+? Kxd5 2. Be6+ Ke5 3. Bxc3+ Kd6!
1. Rf3! (2. Bd6+ Qxd6 3. Qd4+ Qxd4#)
1... Qb3 2. Rf6 (3.Re6+ Qxe6 4. Sg6+ Qxg6 5. Qe4+ Qxe4#)
2... Qa3 3. Bf3 (4.Bd6+)
3...Qb3 4. Bh5 (5.Re6+)
4...Qa3 5. Qd5+ Kxd5 6. Bf7+ Ke5 7. Bxc3+ Qxc3#
The try shows the logical reason for the two-step manoeuvre of the white Rook, which replaces itself on f6 in two moves in order to guard d6. The pendulum moves of the black Queen on b3-a3 enhance the aesthetic effect of the wR manoeuvre.

Marek Kolčák (28-11-1959) Slovak composer

Marek Kolčák
[perspectiva.info [broken link] ]

Marek Kolčák composes in all genres and is a good solver.

Kolčák, Marek
PCCC, Turku, TT, 1995
2^nd Prize

h#2

b) bKb7<-->wKf5

7 + 11

Show Solution

a) 1. Reg4 Sf4 2. Bb8 d6#
b) 1. Reg4 Sf4 2. Bb8 d6#
Although the moves are exactly the same in writing in both solutions, the battery mate is different and the effects are different. A witty problem.

Олег Петрович Агеев (28-11-1967) Russian composer (Oleg Petrovich Ageev)

Oleg Ageev
[Grigory Popov]

Oleg Ageev composes in all genres.

Агеев, Олег Петрович
Mat Plus, 2010 (39-40/1730)

#3

TransmutedKings

11 + 2

Show Solution

1.Sg8! ZZ

1...Kc4 2.Rc7+ Kxb4 3.a3#
1...Kc6 2.Se7+ Kd8 3.Bc7# or 2...Kxb4 3.a3#
1...Ke4 2.Rg4+ Kxg4 3.h3#
1...Ke6 2.Sf6 Kf5 g4#

Star-flight of the black King.

Masazumi Hanazawa (28-11-1943 - 06-11-2007) Japanese composer ( 花沢正純 )

Masazumi Hanazawa
[Source: Tadashi Wakashima]

Masazumi Hanazawa was one of the pioneering chess problemists in Japan. He was the inventor of the now-popular fairy condition Annan, which was first proposed in Chessics 4 (1977).
In AnnanChess, when a piece has a piece of the same colour on a square directly behind it, it has the movement capabilities of that piece instead of its own.
AnnanChess is also called Southern Chess.

Hanazawa, Masazumi
Chessics 1977

s#2

AnnanChess

7 + 6

Show Solution

In the initial position, bSb6 moves like a Pawn (bPb7) and bSd5 moves like a Pawn too (bPd6), while the black King moves like a bS (bSd5). wSb5 moves like a King and wSa4 like a Rook (wRa3).
1.c5! zz
1...Sb6xc5 2.Ka5+ Kxb5# (bK moves like a King now and attacks wKa5, which moves like a wS)
1...dxc5+ 2.Kc4+ Kc6# (bPc5 moves like a King and mates wKc4)

He was also the first Japanese problemist whose problem was published in the FIDE Album, with the following problem:

Hanazawa, Masazumi
1st Prize, TT Chessics 1984

h#4*

Grasshopper: e5, c1

3 + 3

This h#4 has a Set Play.

Show Solution

Set Play: 1...Ke7 2.Gg5 Kd6 3.Ge3 Ge2 4.Sd3 Sb5#
1.Gc4 Sb5+ 2.Ke4 Kf7 3.Kf5 Gg3 4.Gg4 Sd6#
An unusual exact echo in which two final configurations are a knight’s move away.

Olavi Arvid Riihimaa (28-11-1920 - 02-08-1987) Finnish composer

Olavi Riihimaa was a chess mathematician. (Fun fact: today's Hans-Peter Rehm is also a mathematician).
He composed in all genres, from direct mates to retro and fairy problems.
He was the co-author with Karl Fabel and Eero Bonsdorff of a reference book about chess and mathematics: "Schach und Zahl: unterhaltsame Schachmathematik". You can read it here. For those interested in chess and maths, visit Vaclav Kotesovec's site.

Here is a more classical threemover from Riihimaa's youth:

Riihimaa, Olavi Arvid
Helsingin Sanomat, 24 Nov 1940

#3

5 + 5

Show Solution

1.♕h2! (2.♕f4+ ♔c5 3.♗f2# or 2...♔d3 3.♕e4#)
1...e5 2.♕d2+ ♔c4 3.♕d5#
1...♘c5 2.♕b2+ ♔c4 3.♕c3#
1...♘d6 2.♕e5+ ♔×e5 3.♗c3#
1...♔c4 2.♕c2+ ♔d4 3.♕c3#
A great variety of mates by Queen and 2 Bishops.