Summary of Tehtäväniekka 1/2019

Summary of Tehtäväniekka 1/2019

The cover problem was selected as the Finnish Chess Problem of the Year 2018. The expert jury, Unto Heinonen, Kari Valtonen and Janne Syväniemi had 12 candidates to consider. See p. 16 for the solution and the compositions ranked second and third.

Ilkka Blom turned 75 on February 19, 2019. Congratulations! He is internationally well known because of his ground-breaking solving program Alybadix. See pp. 17–18 for more information and three dedication compositions to Ilkka.

The International Solving Contest, ISC, took place on January 27, 2019. The results of Finnish participants, thirteen solving in Helsinki and one abroad, are on p. 14. This is accompanied by an extensive report written by Antti Parkkinen, see pp. 13–15. For the ISC problems, solutions and all results, see the Mat Plus web site http://www.matplus.net/isc.php.

On p. 6 we inform on the subscription fees: if you are a paying subscriber, please do not forget to pay either 25 EUR (within Finland) or 28 EUR (foreign subscribers).

The annual meeting of our society took place in February 16. The report on the meeting and other related material are on pp. 4–7. The Finnish Championship in Solving was held on the same day, see. pp. 8–13. We were happy to have several foreign participants from Russia, Mongolia, Slovakia, Latvia and the Netherlands. The Dutch GM solver Dolf Wissmann continued his recent streak of good solving results by winning 0,5 points ahead of Bilguun Sumiya and Jorma Paavilainen. As in 2018, there was a B-group for less experienced solvers. This group was won by Vihan Velagapudi, who is only eight years of age.

On p. 15 we list Finnish problemists celebrating their significant birthdays this year. This is followed by two awards: the moremover helpmates published in 2017–2018 have been judged by Ioannis Kalkavouras, see pp. 19–20, and selfmates published in 2014–2015 have been judged by Hans Uitenbroek, see pp. 21–24. Thank you for the judges and congratulations to the successful composers!

Practical Chess Beauty is a new book, written by the tireless Yochanan Afek. Antti Parkkinen evaluates this book to be one of the best chess books of recent years, all genres considered. It is certainly worthwhile to acquire this publication and enjoy the aesthetic elements of chess, see pp. 25–27.

Recently the online site Superproblem announced a composing competition for long helpmates without captures. The criteria for ranking the compositions was the length of the solution. First prize went to Ofer Comay of Israel, and Henry Tanner was successful with two compositions. See p. 28. As a related challenge Henry asks for a miniature h# in at least nine moves, using only Kings and Pawns and without captures in the solution. Problem E is Henry’s helpmate in 8½ fulfilling the criteria. Can anyone improve on it?

Twelve recently successful Finnish compositions are on pp. 30–33. Thanks to Neal Turner for compiling the material and congratulations to the composers! On p. 33 we have the invitation to the spring meeting of our society.

The World Federation for Chess Composition (WFCC) invites composers to submit their highest-quality compositions for selection in the FIDE Album for 2016–2018. See p. 34 for the announcement and do send your entries well before the deadline, June 1, 2019. A Tough Nut to Crack, selected by Neal Turner, provides challenges for even the best solvers, see p. 35.

The originals columns are on pp. 37–46. You are more than welcome to send your originals to the editors of the columns!

The next issue is due to appear in the start of the summer.

Published 12th March 2019

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