Summary of Tehtäväniekka 1/2022
We regret to inform on the death of Jorma Pitkänen on February 8, 2022. He was the most prolific Finnish composer with more than 8 000 published compositions. In addition, he organised composing competitions and corresponded actively with colleagues both home and abroad. On pp. 14–15 we have his obituary by Henry Tanner. The solution to the cover composition is on p. 15.
The annual meeting of our society and the Finnish Solving Championship took place on February 26, 2022. The competition was a tight race with Joose Norri narrowly edging out Kari Karhunen. For the meeting, see pp. 4–7, and pp. 9–11 for the solving event.
Our subscription fees remain the same as in 2021: 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 additional information, please contact our Treasurer Hannu Harkola.
We congratulate Per Olin for the well-deserved title of a National Master of Chess Composition and invite you to check out three of his compositions on p. 8–9.
The International Solving Contest did not take place in Finland, because of the pandemic, see p. 12. For problems, solutions, and results, see https://www.wfcc.ch/competitions/solving/isc/
The Finnish Chess Problem of the Year 2021 was chosen by the jury of Hannu Harkola, Unto Heinonen, Pauli Perkonoja and Janne Syväniemi. They had nine compositions to evaluate. See pp. 16–17 for the top three compositions. On the latter page we have A Tough Nut to Crack by Neal Turner, providing a serious solving challenge. On the same page we congratulate Finnish problemists, who celebrate their significant birthdays in 2022.
The award for h#3-n published in 2019–2020 is on pp. 18–23. We thank Marko Klasinc for his expert and quick award, which remains open for the usual period of three months from the publication date of this issue.
We commemorate three composers, who were born 100 years ago: Erkki Heinonen (21.3.1922 – 19.12.1993) on pp. 24–26, Eeltje Visserman (24.1.1922 – 23.3.1978) on pp. 27–31 and Gia Nadareišvili (22.9.1921 – 3.10.1991), pp. 32–33.
Eight recently successful Finnish compositions are on pp. 34–35. Thanks to Neal Turner for compiling the material and congratulations to the composers! The Russian attack on Ukraine prompted us to present a selection of Ukrainian compositions, see pp. 36–39. Because of this attack, we refrain from publishing contributions from Russian or Belarusian composers until further notice. This decision by the board of our society was not an easy one, see p. 51.
The originals columns are on pp. 40–50. We are happy to receive your originals, please feel free to contact the editors of the columns! On pp. 50–51 we share the latest ratings of the top solvers and all Finnish solvers.
The next issue is due to appear in the beginning of the summer.