Парадзинський Олег Володимирович (04-01-1969) Ukrainian composer (Paradzinski Oleg Volodimirovich)
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Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
January 3rd
Микола Іванович Чернявський (03-01-1952) Ukrainian composer (Mikola Ivanovich Chernyavskij)
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Set play: 1...O-O-O 2.Qc6# 1...Ng5/Nh8/Ne5/Nd6/Nd8 2.Qh8#
1.Qh7! (2.Qg8#)
1...Kf8 2.Qxf7#
1...O-O-O 2.Qc2#
1...Nh6 2.Qe7#
2 changed mates between set play and real play in miniature.
1.Qh7! (2.Qg8#)
1...Kf8 2.Qxf7#
1...O-O-O 2.Qc2#
1...Nh6 2.Qe7#
2 changed mates between set play and real play in miniature.
Monday, January 2, 2012
January 2nd
Branko Atanacković (02-01-1928 - 14-03-1992) Serb composer
Atanacković, Branko & Abdurahmanović, Fadil
Probleemblad, 1963

Show SolutionProbleemblad, 1963
| h#4 | b) Add white Bf6 c) Add white Rf6 | 4 + 12 |
a) 1.Kf4 Sxd5+ 2.Ke4 Sxe7 3.Bd6 Sg8 4.Kd5 Sf6#Three nice Rundlaufs - a remarkable technical achievement.
b) 1.e4 Bxd4 2.Kf4 Bc5 3.Ke5 Bxe7 4.Kd4 Bf6#
c) 1.Kg4 Rxe6 2.Kf5 Rxe7 3.Kg6 Rf7 4.Kh6 Rf6#
Sunday, January 1, 2012
January 1st
Jean Roche (01-01-1952) French composer
Jean Roche has almost completely stopped composing but before 2000 he used to compose in all genres (direct mates, endgame studies, helpmates, fairies or retro problems).
He held the studies column "Etude d'une étude" in the French magazine diagrammes between 1974 and 1977 before Garen Yacoubian took over.
He is also a cryptozoologist, author of this book.
Quote from Marko Klasinc:
Gafarov was a very talented composer who excelled in all genres, but he didn't send his problems to the FIDE Album, which explains why he gained no title. Odette Vollenweider wrote about Gafarov in the Spring/Summer 2010 edition of Mat Plus Review.
We have inserted a sample of his problems to illustrate his talent:
Training for solvers:
Miklós Hanzli (01-01-1950) Hungarian composer
Yuri Zemlyansky is an endgame studies composer.
Marian Wróbel composed mostly direct movers in classical style, but also some heterodox problems. He published his first problem at the age of 15.
Seth Liljestrand composed mostly direct movers but also endgame studies. A selection of his studies can be found on this ARVES page.
Edvard af Hällström was a forester born in Helsingfors (Helsinki). You can find a selection of his studies on this ARVES page.
He composed endgames, direct mates and selfmates.
He was the grandson of the scientist Gustaf Gabriel Hällström.
Mike Prcic started composing in the late 1950s in former Yugoslavia, but stopped for a long period and moved to the USA. In 1995 he started solving problems in Chess Life and composing twomovers. That's when his high school friend Fadil Abdurahmanovic sent him fresh materials about chess compositions.
He composes mostly helpmates and direct mates, but also sometimes selfmates, endgame studies and fairy problems.
He was the director of StrateGems, the leading chess problem magazine of the USA and one of the world's best. The final issue was StrateGems 100 in 2022. The whole magazine is available in one PDF file here.
Besides the magazine Mike also published anthologies of composers such as F. Gamage, M. Vukcevich, P.A. Petkov, J. Buchwald, V. Chepizhny or about his pet theme, the Rundlauf in helpmates.
Jean Roche has almost completely stopped composing but before 2000 he used to compose in all genres (direct mates, endgame studies, helpmates, fairies or retro problems).
He held the studies column "Etude d'une étude" in the French magazine diagrammes between 1974 and 1977 before Garen Yacoubian took over.
He is also a cryptozoologist, author of this book.
Show Solution 1.Qb6! zugzwang 1...b1=Q + 2.Kf3 Qd1#AUW + White King's star Other variations: |
Ljubomir Ugren (01-01-1940 - 31-08-2025) Slovenian composer
Quote from Marko Klasinc:
"Ljubomir was active until the very end and was composing for the 12th WCCT until his last days. He was devoted to problem chess from a young age. In the 1960s and 1970s, he ran problem columns in more than ten Slovenian newspapers and magazines. At that time, thanks to him, many Slovenian chess players began to deal with problems. He was a mentor to all of us; he was always positive and knew how to encourage us. He composed all types of problems except for fairies and retros. He was several times a member of Slovenian national team in solving and composing world championships. In recent decades, he withdrew from the public eye because he selflessly cared for his sick son, but he still composed, in recent years mainly long helpmates, which he regularly published in The Problemist."
Show Solution 1.Bc2 Sd6 2.Qc3 Sc4# |
Заїжджай, Олександр Іванович (01-01-1963) Ukrainian composer (Oleksandr Iivanovich Zayizhdzhaj)
Show Solution 1.Sba6 ! zugzwang 1...c6 2.Qb5 cxb5 3.e8=B b4 4.Bg6 b3 5.Bb1 b2# |
Марсил Халикович Гафаров (01-01-1936 - 16-10-1975) Russian composer (Marsil Khalikovich Gafarov)
Gafarov was a very talented composer who excelled in all genres, but he didn't send his problems to the FIDE Album, which explains why he gained no title. Odette Vollenweider wrote about Gafarov in the Spring/Summer 2010 edition of Mat Plus Review.
We have inserted a sample of his problems to illustrate his talent:
Show Solution 1.Be5? (2.Sg3#[A]) 1...Sxf5[a]! 1.Se5? (2.Bd3#[B]) 1...Sf4[b]! 1.Bg4? (2.Re6#[C]) 1...Sf3[c]! 1.Rd7! (2.Rxe7#) 1...Sxf5[a] 2.Re6#[C]Cyclic Hannelius theme. |
Show Solution 1. Qd7! (2.e6+ Sxe6#) 1... Sxd7 2.Rxf6+ Sxf6#Two typical Pelle moves by the wQ, 6 variations including the threat. This classic might become one day the theme for a future WCCT. |
Training for solvers:
Show Solution 1.Be4! zz 1...Kxc3/Bxe4 2.Se2#Unexpected block. Black correction, Grimshaw, Novotny. |
Miklós Hanzli (01-01-1950) Hungarian composer
Show Solution 1.Ra6+? 1...Kd7[a]/Kb5[d] 2.Qa4#[B] 1...Kd5[b] 2.Qd4#[C] but 1...Kxb7[c]! 1.Ra8? ZZ 1...Kd7[a]/Kb5[d] 2.Qa4#[B] 1...Kxb7[c] 2.Qa6#[D] but 1...Kd5[b]! 1.Qg7? ZZ 1...Kd5[b] 2.Qg2#[E] 1...Kb5[d] 2.Qd7#[F] but 1...Kxb7[c]! 1.Qh8! ZZ 1...Kd7[a] 2.b8S#[H] 1...Kd5[b] 2.Qh1#[G] 1...Kxb7[c] 2.Qa8#[A] 1...Kb5[d] 2.Qe8#[I] Zagoruiko, King star flight. |
Юрий Иванович Землянский (01-01-1938 - 07-03-2017) Russian composer (Yuri Ivanovich Zemlyansky)
Yuri Zemlyansky is an endgame studies composer.
Show Solution 1. h7 d2 ! 2. Sf4+ Kc6 ! 3. Bg2+ ! {3. h8=Q ? Be2 ! 4. Bxd7+ Kxd7 5. Qh3+ Kd6 ! =} 3... Kb5 ! 4. Bf1+ Ka4 ! {4... Kc6 5. h8=Q Bf3 6. Be2 ! Bxe2 7. Qh1+ +-} 5. Sd5 ! Bxf6+ ! 6. Sxf6 Bf3 7. Be2 ! Bxe2 8. Se4 ! d1=Q+ 9. Kb2 Qd4+ 10. Sc3+ +- |
Marian Wróbel (01-01-1907 - 25-04-1960) Polish composer and International Master
Marian Wróbel composed mostly direct movers in classical style, but also some heterodox problems. He published his first problem at the age of 15.
Show Solution 1.♗c4! (2.♘b5 ~ 3.♘c7#) 1...♖c1 2.♘×a4 ~ 3.♘b6# 1...f3 2.♘×d5 (3.♘c7/♘b6#) with variations 2...♖×c4 3.♘b6# or 2...e×d5 3.♗×d5# 1...e4 2.♗a6 ~ 3.♗b7# Note the refutations by the black Rook: 1...e4 2.♘×d5? ♖h5! 1...f3 2.♗a6? ♖xb4! |
Seth Liljestrand (01-01-1909 - 08-07-1999) Finnish composer
Seth Liljestrand composed mostly direct movers but also endgame studies. A selection of his studies can be found on this ARVES page.
Show Solution 1.a4! (2.♖c3+ ♔d4 3.♗e3# or 2.♕f2 [3.♖c3#] ♔×b3 3.♕a2#) 1...♔×b3 2.♕e1 ZZ and 2...♔c2 3.♕b1# or 2...♔c4 3.♕c3# or 2...♔×a4/♔a3 3.♕b4# 1...♔×c5 2.♖c3+ and 2...♔d4 3.♗e3# or 2...♔d6 3.♕×f6# (1...♔d4 2.♕f2+ / 2.♗e3+) The theme of the thematic tourney was a surprising key. |
Edvard Johannes Gabriel af Hällström (01-01-1878 - 14-07-1957) Finnish composer
Edvard af Hällström was a forester born in Helsingfors (Helsinki). You can find a selection of his studies on this ARVES page.
He composed endgames, direct mates and selfmates.
He was the grandson of the scientist Gustaf Gabriel Hällström.
Show Solution 1.♕c6! ZZ with two main variations: 1...g5 2.♘g4! g×f4 3.♕f3+ ♘e3 4.♘e5 f×g3 5.♘d4 g2 6.♕g3 with three sub-variations: 6...g1=♕+ 7.♕e1+ ♕×e1# or 6...g1=♗ 7.♕×e3+ ♗×e3# or 6...g1=♘ 7.♘e2+ ♘×e2# 1...g×f5 2.♘e4+ f×e4 3.♕f6+ ♘e5 4.♕×e5+ ♔c4 5.♕d5+ ♔c3 6.♕d3+ e×d3 7.♘d4 d2# Dual after 1.gxf5, mentioned on PDB: 2. Qf3+ Se3 3. Qxe3+ Kc4 4. Qe2+ Kc3 5. Se4 fxe4 6. Qd3+ exd3 7. Sd4 d2# A difficult selfmate. One of his two problems selected in the FIDE Album. |
Mike Prcic (01-01-1940) American composer (formerly Yugoslav, Mehmed Prćić)
Mike Prcic started composing in the late 1950s in former Yugoslavia, but stopped for a long period and moved to the USA. In 1995 he started solving problems in Chess Life and composing twomovers. That's when his high school friend Fadil Abdurahmanovic sent him fresh materials about chess compositions.
He composes mostly helpmates and direct mates, but also sometimes selfmates, endgame studies and fairy problems.
He was the director of StrateGems, the leading chess problem magazine of the USA and one of the world's best. The final issue was StrateGems 100 in 2022. The whole magazine is available in one PDF file here.
Besides the magazine Mike also published anthologies of composers such as F. Gamage, M. Vukcevich, P.A. Petkov, J. Buchwald, V. Chepizhny or about his pet theme, the Rundlauf in helpmates.
Show Solution 1.♔×d3 ♖×e6 2.♗e7 ♖e3# 1.♔×f4 ♗×c5 2.♖b6 ♗e3# A perfect orthogonal diagonal correspondence. |
Show Solution 1...f8=♗+ 2.♔f7 ♗×h6 3.♘f6 ♗c1 4.♔g7 ♗×a3 5.♔h6 ♗f8# 1...f8=♖ 2.♘g7 ♖a8 3.♔f7 ♖×a3 4.♔g8 ♖f3 5.♔h8 ♖f8# Two different promotions and Rundlauf to f8. |
Labels:
af Hällström,
Gafarov,
Hanzli,
january,
Liljestrand,
Prcic,
Roche,
Ugren,
Wróbel,
Zayizhdzhaj,
Zemlyansky
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