Summary of Tehtäväniekka 1/2024

 

The annual meeting of our society took place on 17th of February 2024, see pp. 4–7. Perhaps the most important decision was to agree with Per Olin’s idea to propose to the next WFCC congress that in the future, studies selected for the FIDE Album would receive 1,00 points instead of 1,67. Time will tell if this proposal will be accepted. On p. 7 you will find information on how to pay either your membership or subscription fee. The basic information is available also on p. 2 and on our website.
The Finnish Solving Championship was contested on the day of the annual meeting. The competition attracted 16 solvers, see pp. 8–11. Once again, the event was in the experienced hands of Neal Turner. The highlight of the competition was without doubt the performance of Paavo Tikka, who debuted in an official quick solving competition and finished third! It is certainly unusual in any discipline to have a debutant on podium in a national championship.
The 20th ISC (International Solving Contest) took place on 21st of January 2024. On pp. 11–12 we have a small report with three examples, one from each group, and the results of the Finnish participants in group A. For all problems, solutions, and complete results, see http://www.matplus.net/isc.php
On pp. 13–17 we have the award of two-movers published in 2016–2019. The judge Terho Marlo had 43 compositions to evaluate, and our cover composition was a well-deserved winner. Neal Turner continues his Paha Pähkinä with another challenge for solvers, see p. 17.
Kjell Widlert’s award for fairies published in 2017 is on pp. 18–29. Fairies often require detailed analysis and Kjell has, of course, done exactly that. On p. 21 we invite you to the spring meeting of Finnish problemists in the end of April.
On pp. 30–33 you will find the third award of this issue. Despite several requests, the originally appointed judge for selfmates published in our magazine during 2012–2013 has not delivered his award. Johan Beije agreed to replace him and made his first award ever! We are very grateful to all our judges for their valuable work. All awards remain open for the usual period of three months from the publication date of this issue.
The Finnish Chess Problem of the Year 2023 was chosen by Hannu Harkola, Pauli Perkonoja and Janne Syväniemi. They evaluated fourteen compositions from six composers, see p. 34 for the top three.
During the recent holiday season, two short-term composing competitions were held. WFCC organised a tourney for helpmates inspired by Christmas. There were three categories and on p. 35 we show the five Finnish contributions. On the next page we have a short report on the event organised by ChessBase and the three Finnish successes. Further on this page are the significant birthdays of Finnish problemists in 2024. Congratulations!
This is followed by eleven recent successes by Finnish composers, compiled by Neal Turner, see pp. 37–39.
The originals columns are on pp. 40-54. We are happy to publish 47 original compositions representing different genres. Thank you to composers, column editors, and judges in advance! You are encouraged to continue to contribute, please be in touch with the editors of the respective columns.

The next issue is due to appear in May of 2024.