The Retrograde Analysis Corner
Do you want to announce a Retro tourney, either for composers or for solvers? Please contribute to the Retro Mailing List or the Webmaster of the Retro Corner!
On occasion of 3rd International Solving Contest, that will take place on 21st of January, a quick composition tourney is held in France. Problems featuring "Multicaptures" Chess are required.
Multicaptures was invented by Romeo Bedoni in 1993: A piece (including royal piece) can be captured only if it is directly attacked in at least in 2 ways. Otherwise, it is invulnerable.
Example:
Romeo Bedoni, Phenix 2000
White: Kd1 Pb7d5f7
Black: Kd8 Pd2
h#3 Multicaptures (4+2) C+
1.b1=R (attacked only once, wK is not in check) b8=Q (same for bK) 2.Rb7 d6 3.Rd7 f8=Q# (if 1...b8=R? bK can escape by 4.Kc7! if 1.b1=Q? 3.Qd7, black can parry the final check by 4.Qc8! or 4.Qe8!).
All stipulations, as well as combinations with other fairy pieces or conditions are allowed.
(Retros are of course very welcome!!)
Problems are to be sent to neutral judge Guy Sobrecases (sobrecases(at)yahoo.fr) who will transmit them to me in anonymous form. (Guy can help to test some entries with Winchloe, as Multicaptures are not available in Popeye).
Closing date is Sunday 14th of January, 24:00 (french hour).
Award will be announced on spot of the French ISC, on 21st of January
(and slightly later on Internet).
Merry Christmas and best wishes for the New Year 2007 to all of you!!
Michel Caillaud
Best Problems organizes a tourney for orthodox SPG, free theme, for the years 2006/2007. Please send the original problems to <antgarofalo(at)tiscali.it>
Thematic requirement of the Keym-Task is the combination of an excelsior (a white pawn moves from the 2nd to the 8th rank or a black pawn moves from the 7th to the 1st rank), a total of four different promotions (to queen, rook, bishop, knight of white or black [AUW]), castling and an en-passant-capture, shown in either a directmate, a selfmate, a (single-line) helpmate problem or in an endgame study. Promoted force is not permitted in the starting position. No fairy elements permitted.
The first achievement of the task in each of the four types will be awarded 100 Euros.
Entries should be sent to
Werner Keym Herzog-Wolfgang-Straße 15, 55590 Meisenheim (Germany)
or to
w.keym(at)gmx.net
Answers to individual enquiries
The pawn making the excelsior need not be the one which makes the en passant capture.
The pawn making the excelsior need not be involved in any of the four promotions. If the promotion of the excelsior pawn is to a specific piece (e.g. a knight) then only the three remaining promotions (e.g. to queen, rook and bishop) need additionally be shown. In the simplest case the same pawn carries out the en passant capture, the excelsior and the four promotion choices (in the direct-mate, self-mate or endgame study this will be in four different variations). Conversely in the most complicated case six pawns (making four consecutive promotions) will be needed. The color of the promoting pawns is unimportant.
The following applies in case of directmates, selfmates and endgame studies (i.e. genres with adversarial play):
It is admissible (but less desirable) for a black pawn to have a choice
of single or double step move if it is then immediately captured by
a white pawn.
It is admissible for the same white pawn to promote alternatively to
Q, R, B or S, provided that the preceding play contains four variations
which differ from each other on at least one move.
It is admissible for the same black pawn to promote alternatively to Q, R, B or S, provided that the subsequent play contains four variations which differ from each other on at least one move.
The following applies to helpmates (i.e. in the case of cooperative play):
The only admissible type is the single-line helpmate with four consecutive promotions. Consequently forms such as set-play, multi-solutions, twins, duplex etc. are excluded. It is not admissible for a pawn to have the alternative of making a single or double step move before being captured by an opposing pawn, since that constitutes a dual. The double step must be the only possible move.
Etero Scacco is a new fairy chess magazine on-line. You can find it at
It is only in Italian for now, but there will be an English translation soon.
Besides fairy chess games theory and tournaments, there's also a problem column with fairy chess and retro tournaments.
At present there will be two informal tourneys for retro
Please send originals to
Marco