No.1545
Ivo Tominić
(Croatia)
(v) 1545.1 Ivo Tominić (Croatia)
Warm welcome to Ivo!
Original Fairy problems
JF-2020-II:
01.07.2020 - 31.12.2020
No. 1545 Ivo Tominić
Croatia
original - 25.09.2020
white Pb5e5f6d6e7d7 Rb3 Bd1e1 Kf2
black Bc4a3 Pc3f3h3e6 Sg2 Kh1 Rh2 Qg5
h#2.5 3 solutions 10+10
Circe
Circe
Solution: (click to show/hide)
No. 1545.1 Ivo Tominić
Croatia
version of No.1545 - 13.10.2020
black Bf4h3 Pa4a3b2f3 Ka1 Ra2 Qe5
white Pd3d4g5e6d5d7e7 Kc2 Rg3 Be1d1
h#2.5 3 solutions 11+9
Circe
Circe
Solution: (click to show/hide)
As more you look the content, as deeper you get in understanding this genuine cyclic concept. The three black heroes are exchanging roles in the same cyclic manner as white moves do, and it makes all very dynamic. Unusually for the mating positions with static black King, there is nothing boring in this “cycle of cycles”, where white Pawns, instead of expected promotions, fall down to protect the mate.
Three nice ways to reach the same back rank mate. It is amazing to see how all the troubles on the way to the goal are eliminated
“The problem of Ivo Tominic is fantastic!” – were the words from Daniel Papack’s mail to me. And my first thought was – I wish those words would appear on JF! I always regret when the problems with drawbacks get most of comments, while very good problems miss the words they deserve.
And the continuation convinced me to ask for Daniel’s allowance (I’m grateful for!) to quote him:
“It shows that ‘old’ fairy conditions have enough potential for highly original and modern works. Resourceful minds need neither new fairy conditions nor unembarassed fishing in the big fairy box of technical makeshifts …“
About the comment of Daniel : Circe condition is fantastic but the other fairy conditions are also very nice ! He should try it ! ?
Sébastien, I believe Daniel praised the achievement, not the condition. As longer history of a genre, as more impressive it is to create something new and valuable in comparison with the past. Brand new conditions offer fruits from full gardens, but they deprive from objective evaluation, missing the test of time.
Dear Marjan,
you are wise in your comment and i agree with you that when you compare problems it is better to do it with the same condition(s). But very often, judges or composers tend to compare the merits of different conditions, which is nonsense in my opinion, for example Circe with Take & Make, Disparate, Annan or others…
The letters in the solution are wrong (Bxf3 is A in the first solution, C in the second and B in the third, etc).
Sorry, my mistake, wrong order of solutions, corrected now. Thank you, Joost!
The avoidance of the capture of the bPf3 is a wonderful refinement.
Wonderful! Anti-critical W moves, Half-Battery on 1st rank, ABC/BCA/CAB W move cycle, Cycle of B line closings by Circe rebirth of WPs. There is also a formal cycle in B2/B3 moves if one considers the files of the B moves: In 1545.1, ed/dg/ge.
Slight disharmony is that BBf4 unguards 1st rank on its 2nd move, whereas BQe5 and BBh3 do it on their 1st move.
This “slight disharmony” is in fact a very smart trick : one of difficult questions with this matrix is why should black at its 2nd move take a pawn to close a line instead of simply leave the file ?
The bishop f4 is locked but the queen and the bishop h3 are free
At rather low cost, the author could obtain a better checkmate :
8/3PP3/4P3/1P1Pq1P1/K2P1b2/p1p2pRb/rpP5/k2BB3 (21 instead of 20)
also the reason why you can’t give a double check with 1…Rg1 2.b1=~ Bd1~ 3.b1~ Bc3# is more funny
About the content you should notice not only a complete cycle of the white moves, but also a cycle of rebirths of the white pawns (e2-d2, d2-g2, g2-e2)
It’s really funny how each promotion on b1 prevents Bc3# in your position. Model mates are nice too, but I prefer the author’s priority to avoid unnecessary fairy capturing on c3 and rebirth on c7. As for B:f3 (Pf7) it seems unavoidable and includes fairy dual-avoidance (Be2?).
The mate is not model (the bishop f3 is not part of it). I don’t mind the rebirth on c7. Perhaps in such a heavy task the dry economy – 20 instead of 21 – is the decisive argument in favor of the author’s version.
The more I look at it, the more I like it