Summary of Tehtäväniekka 1/2021

Jorma Pitkänen is a well-known and versatile problemist. He celebrates his 80th birthday on April 7, 2021, congratulations! Our cover composition is an early example of his skill, see pp. 18-19 for more. Please, remember his 80 JT with a deadline of April 7, 2021, see TN 2/2020.

The annual meeting of our society took place on February 21, 2021. Technically it was the first of its kind, participants being safely at their homes and accessing the meeting with computers or smart phones. Everything went smoothly, perhaps this is a viable option for similar meetings also after the pandemic? The Finnish Solving Championship has been postponed and it is uncertain when it can take place. The report on the meeting and other related material are on pp. 4–7.

On p. 6 we congratulate several Finnish problemists, who celebrate their significant birthdays in 2021. Our subscription fees remain the same as in 2020: if you are a paying subscriber, please remember to pay either 25 EUR (within Finland) or 28 EUR (abroad). See p. 7 for the bank account details. For more information, please contact our Treasurer Hannu Harkola.

The Finnish Chess Problem of the Year 2021 was chosen by a qualified jury of Hannu Harkola, Unto Heinonen and Janne Syväniemi. The jury had 13 compositions to evaluate. See pp. 8–9 for the top four compositions.

Kari Valtonen continues his research into the realms of Excelsior, see pp. 10–16 for 28 carefully selected compositions and comments on how each of them presents this evergreen theme. For the previous part of this exploration, see TN 4/2020.

The International Solving Contest took place on January 26, 2021. Because of the global pandemic, the event was held only in ten countries. On pp. 17–18 we have three examples from each of the three groups. For all problems, solutions, and complete results, see the web site http://www.matplus.net/isc.php.

We learned recently that Matti Kokkonen died in 2019, see p. 20. He composed mainly helpmates and orthodox mates and two of his compositions are in FIDE Albums.

The award for fairies and retros of 2016 is on pp. 21–26. Thanks to Ladislav Packa for an expert award, which remains open for the usual period of three months from the publication date of this issue.

On p. 27 we have two dedication problems for Jorma Pitkänen. Paavo Tikka continues to correct Finnish studies, see pp. 28–31. The first part was published in TN 4/2020. Please note that the correction for no. 5 is given in the text: wPd3->d2.

Ten recently successful Finnish compositions are on pp. 31–33. Thanks to Neal Turner for compiling the material and congratulations to the composers! A Tough Nut to Crack, selected by Neal Turner, provides challenges for even the best solvers, see p. 33.

The originals columns are on pp. 34–47. You are encouraged to send your originals to the editors of the columns!

The next issue is due to appear in June.

Published 26th March 2021