Fritz Giegold White mate in two
The Beauty of Problems
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Above problem: checkmate in two. (by Fritz Giegold)
I'm starting a thread on the beauty of problem compositions. I will try to post regularly problems that appeal to me. Occasionally, hopefully, I will post a problem I have composed. Readers can post problems they have composed or ones that appeal to them. Hopefully, over time, we will start quite a collection, a mini-archive of problem beauty.
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Originally posted by Hans Jung View PostAbove problem: checkmate in two. (by Fritz Giegold)
I'm starting a thread on the beauty of problem compositions. I will try to post regularly problems that appeal to me. Occasionally, hopefully, I will post a problem I have composed. Readers can post problems they have composed or ones that appeal to them. Hopefully, over time, we will start quite a collection, a mini-archive of problem beauty.
I'd suggest making sure the "White mate in 2" is posted with the problem diagram (not sure if there is some standard notation to indicate the requirement of the problem?
Of course, just the text "White mate in 2" (with the implied white to move...) is probably sufficient.
I've grabbed problem positions from the web before and didn't notice what the requirement was and now cannot even figure that out!...Mike Pence: the Lord of the fly.
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Troitzky was my favorite back about 40 yrs ago. I had an old collection of his studies. The book was falling apart, spine broken, cover ripped off but it didn't matter. The gold lay between the covers. I would take a problem with me in my head and solve it. That helped my calculation abilities. Finally the book fell apart totally. Thanks to Larry I got a replacement from a used book collection - its almost 90 yrs old, browning, and tattered, but altogether.
In the preface it says: I was born in 1866 and from my childhood was interested in puzzles and charades. My brothers and I edited a school magazine, Ogonek (the Little Flame), a part of which was always devoted to such mental exercises; and some of our efforts were accepted by the contemporary journals, the Nina and Shivopisnoe Obosrenie. I also learnt chess and draughts at my school at Riga, but never played the game seriously till I was a student at St. Petersburg, where I used to frequent the Cafe Dominique and also became a member of the St. Petersburg Chess Club. Here in a club handicap tournament, I was second to Tchigorin, against whom, receiving the odds of a knight, I obtained a win and a draw, and so was promoted to the highest class. Tchigorin and Schiffers became my good friends, and both were much interested in my experiments to devise a game of chess for four players,and a game complicated by the addition of four extra squares to the board. These experiments increased my zeal for chess studies, and in 1895 I was asked to contribute to the Russian chess journal. But I musr confess that the enthusiastic reception accorded to my first compositions led to some superficiality and carelessness in construction. At that time I was almost entirely ignorant of chess literature, having only studied Dufresne and Berger. I composed about fifty studies while I was at St.Petersburg; and I remember how excited Steinitz was when I showed him the following study (dedicated to him) See post below.
In 1897 I became an Assistant Forester in Smolensk District and would have entirely abandoned chess but for the accident that a ranger was visited by his son, who brought with him a chess library. Reading of the activities of Platoff, Rinck, and Dr. Sehwers, I regained my former interest in composition and undertook the systematic study of themes.Last edited by Hans Jung; Friday, 23rd February, 2024, 01:49 PM.
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Thanks for the tip Aris. It made me recall some books - "oldie-goldies" and my next three problems are from Combinations the Heart of Chess by Irving Chernev. Actually the third from a Taimanov game is my favorite position in the whole book. (and that's saying a lot) That Taimanov position started me on a lifelong adventure of knight move pyrotechnics.Last edited by Hans Jung; Wednesday, 21st February, 2024, 11:26 AM.
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Henri Rinck was born in France in 1870. In 1897 he discovered a refining process for green vegetable oils, so he became an extremely wealthy man. He lived most of his life in Spain. Published as many as 1670 endgame studies. Rinck's last request was to be buried with his book "1414 fins de partie" under his arm. The book must have been closest to his heart.Last edited by Hans Jung; Tuesday, 20th February, 2024, 05:04 PM.
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