Chess compositions from George Grätzer

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  • Chess compositions from George Grätzer

    http://www.maths.umanitoba.ca/homepages/gratzer

    http://www.maths.umanitoba.ca/homepa...tzer/chess.pdf

  • #2
    Chess compositions from George Grätzer

    This is a CDN website. Do you know if the composer is resident in Canada?

    Thanks!

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    • #3
      Re: Chess compositions from George Grätzer

      Originally posted by J. Ken MacDonald View Post
      This is a CDN website. Do you know if the composer is resident in Canada?
      This seems to be a somewhat odd question, unless you are thinking the author may have moved after retirement. He has been a professor of mathematics at the University of Manitoba for many years, I believe, as the website provided suggests. He is well known in the world of TeX / LaTeX for his classic book Math into LaTeX. I have it around somewhere...

      John

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      • #4
        Re: Chess compositions from George Grätzer

        The compositions are all from 1954-57, although the last one is reconstructed, in 2009, from "defective compositions of old". I can't recall him playing in any Winnipeg chess events.

        Interestingly, there's a David Gratzer of Winnipeg (blank) rating in the CFC rating list. A relative, perhaps?

        There is another Hungarian composer in Winnipeg whose output far exceeded Gratzer's. His name is Zoltan Bodnar and his specialties were help double stalemates (HDP's - in German), fairy problems, shortest proof games (SPG's) and others. Zolly doesn't compose any more, but he has, tucked away, a gigantic collection of problems and their solutions. In all the years that I knew him, I failed to convince him to publish any but a few of his compositions. That's a real shame as some of the proof games were possibly world records. My old blog, Exclam! Online, has some of the few published compositions from Zoltan.
        Last edited by Nigel Hanrahan; Monday, 14th December, 2009, 02:18 PM. Reason: add a link, etc.
        Dogs will bark, but the caravan of chess moves on.

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        • #5
          Re: Chess compositions from George Grätzer

          Universities rarely give "Distinguished Professor" titles to passing-bys:

          http://www.umanitoba.ca/faculties/sc...aculty/651.htm

          For what it's worth, I am not even sure Grätzer exists.

          My hypothesis regarding his non-participation in the CFC is that the Chess Federation of Canada does not provide any services that touches chess composition. Actually, it might be more honest if it re-abreviates itself the OTBCFC.
          Last edited by Benoit St-Pierre; Monday, 14th December, 2009, 05:55 PM.

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          • #6
            Re: Chess compositions from George Grätzer

            There are many mistakes in that document. Problem 3 for example it seems you need to move the kingside pawns and the queen up one rank. Otherwise the solution is illegal.

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            • #7
              Re: Chess compositions from George Grätzer

              I am not sure what you mean : it needs to be 1..Bxh4+, no ?

              In any case, if you find errors in the compositions or in the document, I am sure Mr. Grätzer would be happy to correct them. So please mail him.

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              • #8
                Re: Chess compositions from George Grätzer

                I meant problem 3, with the Q vs R and 5 pawns. You described problem 2 , where Rh6+ is illegal, it should be Rh8+
                Last edited by Alan Baljeu; Tuesday, 15th December, 2009, 02:08 PM.

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