16th Japanese Sake Tourney
- Theme: H#2, Colorless Chess
- Scope: Any other fairy pieces and/or conditions are not allowed
- Judge: Tadashi Wakashima, Toshiki Kobayashi, Masato Yoshii
- Prizes: Bottles of Sake
- Audience: The tourney is open to everybody, but only congress participants can receive bottles
- Deadline: August 3rd (Wednesday) 10 p.m. or by email before July 28th to Tadashi Wakashima
- Details: in PDF document
14th Romanian Tzuica Tourney
- Theme: hs#n/hs=n, Rundlauf of at least 4 moves
- Scope: Any fairy piece and/or condition are allowed
- Judge: Vlaicu Crisan & Eric Huber
Prizes: Bottles of Tzuica- Audience: The tourney is open to everybody, but only congress participants can receive bottles
- Deadline: August 3rd (Wednesday) 8 p.m. to Dinu-Ioan Nicula, or by email until July 31st to Eric Huber
- Details: in PDF document
Both tourneys have more difficult themes than usual, from technical point of view. Sake is clearly not testable by computers, adding one layer of difficulty to composers, Tzuica requires longer problems that are more difficult to test. But I am sure there will be very interesting outcome in both tourneys!
Some manually directed computer testing is possible for Sake problems, using different coloring combinations and then discarding certain solutions by hand. This method does not exclude the possibility of human error, or a missed solution due to specific fairy effects, but it may help find some cooks.
Thinking about Tzuika’s Rundlaufs… Should be the length of the problem 4 moves minimum? 4 moves by the one piece are also possible in a shorter problems, if the both sides can move it, like using neutral/halfneutral pieces; some conditions, like Anti-Take&Make, or Andernach/Anti-Andernach. Would it be considered thematic? And what’s about Imitator? If it’s considered as a piece.. 🙂
That’s actually a very good point, Julia! Of course, we will gladly accept shorter compositions using any of the above mentioned fairy pieces and/or conditions. Only the Rundlauf of an Imitator is not accepted. 🙂
Q: How would be assessed Rundlauf in Anticirce, for example e2*f3 [Pf3-f2], f2*e3 [Pe3-e2]? Is it Rundlauf or just a switchback? Similar examples can be put to other fairy conditions – Take-Make, Supercirce, etc.
Interesting question Laco Packa! To me your Anticirce example looks like a Rundlauf, though perhaps a two-move one!
Dear Laco, thank you for the interesting question!
As a rule of thumb, we have to count only the final destination squares, not the intermediate ones.
Therefore, in the case you mentioned the wP goes: e2 -> f2 -> e2, which is actually a two-move Rundlauf, as Seetharaman rightly spotted.
Dear Julia…
You have put ideas into the mind of your competetors !!
Dear Vlaicu & Eric!
In my opinion there is an interesting and important qustion: whether it is thmatic the realization of the theme with stipulation HS ==?
Dear Petko, although we are sure the double stalemate could lead to very interesting possibilities of showing Rundlaufs of at least 4 moves, for this tournament we will accept only hs# and hs= as stipulated in the original announcement.
That been said, I am sure you know very well several editors willing to publish such HS== in their fairy columns! 🙂
Dear Vlaicu,
I thought a rundlauf should draw a polygonal of non-zero area (round-trip in english). But according to your definition, a1-b1-c1-a1 is a rundlauf, although it is not “round”.
You are absolutely right, Nicolas! As stated in the announcement: “Linear circuits are not allowed.”
Chess aside, the “round” in round trip doesn’t imply an area, but rather stands for “full, complete, brought to completion”. Dictionaries define the term as “a trip to a place and back again”, some adding “esp returning by a different route” while others “usually over the same route”…
In the chess world, “a trip to a place and back again” is the definition of a “circuit”. With moreover “returning via the same route”, this is the definition of a “switchback”.
Vlaicu, what do you mean exactly by “linear circuit”? For example, is a1-b1-c2-b1-a1 linear?
Finally, is it allowed for the same piece to perform the 2 needed rundlaufs? If yes (it seems so according to the rules), please note that the definition of such a stuff is quite controversial – for example a1-b1-c1-c2-b2-b1-a1. Some authors (among them myself) are thinking there are one “big” rundlauf with initial square a1 and one “small” rundlauf with initial square b1. Some other authors disallow such a possibility of “intricated” rundlaufs – for them the second rundlauf must begin only when the first is over.
There is a third possibility to define a double rundlauf (or more generally a double circuit) from the same piece – asking for no move in common. As an example 1.a1-b2 2.b2-c3 3.c3-c2 4.c2-b2 5.b2-b1 6.b1-a1. According to this third point of view, moves 1,5,6 and 2,3,4 lead to a double rundlauf, although the first one is not over while the second one begins. In my own opinion this setting is even showing 3 rundlaufs – the 2 above but also the “big” full sequence.
Nicolas, thank you for the questions.
I wouldn’t continue the theoretical debate of the Rundlauf definition itself, although it is indeed a very interesting topic which deserves a careful discussion!
Therefore, as a general answer to all your queries, for this thematic tournament any composition satisfying the requirements as provided in the announcement will be considered as thematic.
By linear circuits we understand the non-collinearity of all the thematic squares. I hope you will be able to submit problems to Tzuica thematic tournament and enjoy composing helpselfmates!
Another question reagrding Rundlaufs in Tzuica.
Do the Rundlauf moves itself need to form an uninterrupted sequence, or may it be e.g. r1-r2-x-r3-4, where “x” is a move by another piece of the side, performing the Rundlauf?
The sequence may be interrupted by a move of another piece of the side performing the Rundlauf.
What is not thematical is the same piece returning to the same square in less than 4 moves and circling again to the same square in less than 4 moves. Example: a1-b2-b1-a1-a2-b2-a1
ABOUT TZUIKA – 2016
Dear Eric and Vlaicu!
I`we some new questions about Tzuika TT – 2016.
1. Whether it is possible the Rundlauf only be a part of the solution of the problem? For example: we have a HS#6 – the thematic white moves are a, b, c, a. But the solution is: 1.x y 2.a… 3. b… 4, c… 5.a… and then 6. z t#. whre the moves 1.x y and 6. z t are not thematical white and black half- moves? With othеr words: here thе solution begins and ends with two ( or more ) non-thematic white and black half -moves and the rundlauf is realized “between” them? Of course, here the mate is not thematjc move.
2. An analogical question to the point 1: If plays only one piece, for example – Bishop , whether is thеmatic a problm in which thе first move is realized also with the same Bishop but this move belongs not to the thematical trajectory of the Rundlauf: for
example: we begin with 1.Bd8-e7 and follows the Rundlauf with the same B: 2.Be7-d6 3.Bd6-e5 4. Be5-f6 5.Bf6-e7 and then 6.Be7-f8+ Xx f8 mate? As you see, here the Rundlauf is only a part of the trajectory of the Bishop.
3. The solution begins with a promotion in a X piece, and then X ralizes the Rundlauf, for example: 1 e8=X 2.Xd7 3.Xe6 4.Xf7 5.Xe8…? Or 1.e8=X 2.Xg6 3.Xf5 4.Xg4 5.Xh5 6.Xg6…?
4. An other intersting example : we have a White Chameleon (in Q phase on a1). The play is: 1. CDa5=CS 2.Sb3=CB 3.CBd1=CR 4.CRa1=CQ – whether this strange trajectory is also rundlauf?
Of course here the global question is: if all these special cases are allowed, how such problems would have been good in aesthetic aspect?
I can already tell that the trajectory of Chameleon coming back to its initial square is accepted as rundlauf. 🙂
Hmm… So it is OK if the return is in changed from?
I mean changed form.
Dear Petko,
The answer for all 4 examples is positive, these are all possible realizations of the theme in the fairy realm.
As for the last question, we will of course consider with care the technical achievements as well as the aesthetic presentation of each problem.
Who wants to know more about the judges’ preferences can find all previous Tzuica awards on this page: http://chesscomposers.blogspot.ro/p/tzuica-tourney.html