[Retros] Champagne 2004; the results

[CAILLAUDM at aol.com]

[From the initial award published in the Congress Bulletin, some comments  
have been changed (for more completion and clarity, it is hoped!)
Also, some  changes have been done in the award due to cooks found :
4th Prize was  cooked; initial 5th, 6th Prize and 1st HM become 4th, 5th, 6th 
Prize and initial  4th Prize with half a move less becomes 1st HM
3rd HM was cooked; inital 4h,  5th, 6th HM become 3rd, 4th, 5th HM
one of 3 5th-7th Commendations was  cooked, what leaves 2 5th-6th 
Commendations.
Now, there are left only 2 non  computer-tested problems (by the same 
composer!) for the cook hunters in the  award (3rd, initially 4th, HM was by mistake 
indicated C+ in the Congress  Bulletin).]
 
This tourney attracted 47 entries by 27 composers. 
18 were submitted by  e-mail and the remaining 29 at the Congress.
 
Unfortunately, an important part of the judging time was devoted to proove  
unsoundness of problems “obviously cooked” but not obvious to cook. To avoid  
this in the future, the participation will be limited to 1 non  
computer-tested(testable) problem per composer...
 
11 problems were cooked and the level of the remaining 36 is very high : no  
less than 13 of them showed the theme more than once!
 
Unfortunately no fairy game stays in the award, as 5 of them were cooked  and 
in the last one, the condition was used to avoid cooks in an orthodox  game.
 
As was the case in Messigny, delivering an award for such a large amount of  
entries in a short time was quite a challenge and the result may well be  
imperfect. I had to make some short cuts : 
1. elimination of only once the  theme with nothing more connected to the 
theme (with exception for shortest  realization (1st Com.) and "beauty prize" for 
the most beautiful position (5th  HM)) 
2 : elimination of twice the theme with promoted force apparent on the  board 
(with notable exception of serie 1!!)
3 : separating the entries in  "series", then classifying problems in a 
serie; comparing problems between 2  series once they were established would have 
been too long a judging  process...
 
Great thanks are due to Kostas Prentos in particular for allowing me to  
include so many problems in the award, though it gave him additional work in  
producing the Congress Bulletin!! 
 
Special Prize :
Rustam Ubaidullaev  (Russia)
8/p1ppkpB1/2pb2b1/4p1b1/3q4/3PBP2/PPPQPrP1/2K5
SPG 21,5 (11+12)  C+
1.Sf3 e5 2.Sd4 Bd6 3.Sc6 bxc6 4.h4 Ba6 5.h5 Bd3 6.h6 Bg6 7.hxg7 h5 8.d3 h4  
9.Sd2 h3 10.Sf3 h2 11.Sg1 hxg1=B 12.Be3 Rxh1 13.Qd2 Bh2 14.0-0-0 Rxf1 15.f3 Rf2 
 16.Rh1 Bf4 17.Rh8 Qh4 18.Rxg8+ Ke7 19.Rxb8 Bg5 20.Rh8 Rxh8 21.gxh8=B Qd4  
22.Bg7
The only entry that TRIPLES the theme. A remarkable  achievement!!.
The method for the 2 Rooks is one that was the most used and  will be called 
the « standard    Rook». This is not the most  subtle method for showing the 
theme (but it shows it anyway!!) and this is why  it is a Special Prize rather 
than a 1st Prize.
 
serie 1 : the 3 first Prizes go to the most ambitious idea displayed in  
doubling the theme : « reciprocal sibling » (or exchange of place of  the 
thematical units). Each of them use an extra promoted man in the diagram  (this is 
acceptable as long as there is no demonstration that the same can be  done 
without using it...), and as each has its own distinctive strong points, it  was 
difficult to establish an order...
 
1st Prize :
Reto Aschwanden  (Switzerland)
1s2b1s1/1P3pp1/1Bkp2q1/b1p1p1p1/2B1P3/1S1P1P2/1PPQr3/r1S3Kq
SPG  23,0 (12+15) C+
1.g4 e5 2.g5 Bb4 3.g6 hxg6 4.a4 Rxh2 5.a5 Qh4 6.a6 g5 7.axb7  a5 8.Ra3 a4 
9.Rh3 a3 10.e4 a2 11.Bc4 a1=Q 12.Se2 Qa6 13.0-0 Qg6 14.d3 d6 15.Be3  Kd7 16.Bb6 
c5 17.Sd2 Kc6 18.Sb3 Bd7 19.Qd2 Be8 20.Ra1 Rxa1+ 21.Sec1 Ba5 22.f3  Re2 23.Rh1 
Qxh1+
The most specific example supported by a splendid mechanism.  As the 2 others 
use standard exchange of place mechanism as a basis, here the  only reason 
why Rh1 has not to be captured on its original place (with  Ke1-f1-g1 instead of 
0-0) is that is no other place to get rid of Ra1!!
 
2nd Prize :
Noam D. Elkies  (Israël)
rs1qk2r/p1p1pS1p/3p3b/5p2/7P/2P2KQq/1P1PPPP1/1b4s1
SPG 19,0  (10+15) C+
1.h4 b5 2.Rh3 b4 3.Ra3 b3 4.ç3 bxa2 5.Qb3 g5 6.Kd1 g4 7.Kc2 g3  8.Kd3 axb1=Q+ 
9.Ke3 Qxç1 10.Sf3 Qxf1 11.Se5 Qh1 12.Kf3 Qh3 13.Rh1 d6 14.Raa1 Bf5  15.Rag1 
Bb1 16.Rh2 f5 17.Qxg8 gxh2+ 18.Qg3 Bh6 19.Sf7 hxg1=S#
The manoever  Qb1-h1-h3 cleanly forces the exchange of place. This is the 
only example where  the exchange is effective (position after 14th white move). 
Interestingly, the  Rooks are not captured on the sibling squares with an « 
almost  circuit » by Rh1. 
 
3rd Prize :
Göran Wicklund  (Sweden)
rs1qk1s1/pp3pp1/3p1s2/3Q4/8/3PP1R1/PP2PPP1/R1B1K1r1
SPG 17,0  (10+15) C+
1.Sc3 c5 2.Sd5 c4 3.Sxe7 c3 4.Sg6 Bc5 5.Sf3 Be3 6.dxe3 d6 7.Qd5  Bf5 8.Sd2 
Bd3 9.cxd3 c2 10.Sb1 cxb1=S 11.Sf8 Sd2 12.Sxh7 Sxf1 13.Sg5 Sxh2 14.Sf3  Sg4 
15.Rh3 S4f6 16.Rg3 Rh1+ 17.Sg1 Rxg1+
Technically, the Knights are more  difficult to exchange than the Rooks with 
indeed 12 moves (2 of them anyway with  captures, which I considered as a 
drawback) needed to achieve this instead of 4,  and nevertheless this game is the 
shortest among the 3 due to the clever  sequence imagined by the composer! 
 
serie 2 : « only » once the theme but with strong additional  interest 
connected to the theme that is better than twice the theme in a (after  this 
tourney) standard way.
 
4th Prize :
Andreï Frolkin (Ukraine) & Kostas Prentos  (Greece)
r2qk1s1/ppps1p2/Bq6/2R5/3q4/4P2b/PPPP2P1/R1BQK1r1
SPG 16,0  (12+13) C+
1.f4 g5 2.f5 g4 3.f6 g3 4.fxe7 gxh2 5.exf8=S hxg1=Q 6.Rh5 Qb6  7.Rc5 h5 
8.Sxd7 h4 9.Se5 h3 10.Sf3 h2 11.Sg1 hxg1=Q 12.Sc3 Qgd4 13.e3 Rh1 14.Se2  Bh3 15.Sg1 
Sd7 16.Ba6 Rxg1+
THREE different Knights captured on g1 :  original, Pronkin and sibling. An 
amazing and unique feature!! 
 
5th Prize :
Unto Heinonen  (Finland)
r2qkbsQ/p1pppp2/p1s5/P7/7p/1P1P1P2/S2RPP2/2BBK1SR
SPG 20,0  (13+12) C+
1.h4 g5 2.hxg5 h5 3.g6 Rh6 4.g7 Rc6 5.d3 Rxç2 6.Sc3 Rd2 7.Qa4 h4  8.Qa6 bxa6 
9.a4 Bb7 10.a5 Bf3 11.gxf3 Sc6 12.Bh3 Rb8 13.Be6 Rb5 14.Bb3 Rh5  15.Bd1 Rh8 
16.b3 Ra2 17.gxh8=Q Ra4 18.Ra2 Rb4 19.Rd2 Rb8 20.Sa2 Ra8
The  exchange displayed in the 3 first Prizes but without capture of the 
second piece  (and also without apparent promotee on the board!). A very 
attractive game with  long trajectories by the thematical Rooks.
A problem without apparent  promoted man on the diagram had to be among the 
Prizes!!
 
6th Prize :
Göran Wicklund  (Sweden)
7r/qkppp2p/2q2p1r/3s4/P7/5S2/1PPPPP2/1SBQKB1R
SPG 16,5 (13+11)  C+
1.h4 g5 2.Rh3 gxh4 3.Ra3 h3 4.Rxa7 hxg2 5.Rxb7 Ra6 6.Rxb8 Rh6 7.Rxç8 Sf6  
8.Ra8 Qb8 9.a4 Kd8 10.Ra3 Kc8 11.Rh3 Kb7 12.Rh1 Qa7 13.Rxf8 gxh1=Q 14.Rg8 Qc6  
15.Sf3 Sd5 16.Rg1 f6 17.Rh1
A lovely conception. The sibling  is  captured, then the original piece goes 
back home after performing a circuit!! 
 
1st Honourable Mention :
Göran Wicklund  (Sweden)
1s1q2r1/4sp1p/2q1p1r1/3b1k2/1b6/8/1PPPPP2/1SBQKBSR
SPG 17,5  (11+12) C+
1.h4 g5 2.Rh3 gxh4 3.Ra3 h3 4.Rxa7 hxg2 5.Rxb7 Ra6 6.Rxc7 Rg6  7.Rxd7 Kxd7 
8.a4 Ke6 9.Ra3 Kf5 10.Rh3 Be6 11.Rh1 gxh1=Q 12.a5 Qc6 13.a6 Bd5  14.a7 e6 
15.a8=R Bb4 16.Ra3 Se7 17.Rh3 Rhg8 18.Rh1
The same scheme as 6th  Prize and the same idea as 4th Prize, incomplete here 
as Rh1 is not captured  (with 18...Bxh1 added, this was initially 4th Prize, 
but was later  cooked).
 
serie 3 : in the following examples of doubling the theme without promoted  
man on the board (series 3 and 5), advantage was a given to the thematical  
quality rather than to other additional features that could have caused a  
different order in a non thematical tourney. Generally, non capture of the  original 
piece and last capture with check were considered as drawbacks.
 
2nd Honourable Mention :
Gianni Donati (USA)
SPG 15,5 (13+12)  C+
1Rbqkb2/1ppp1pp1/1p1Qp1p1/4P3/8/5PR1/1PPSSPPP/6K1
1.d4 Sc6 2.Be3 Se5  3.dxe5 e6 4.Bb6 axb6 5.Qd6 Rxa2 6.Sd2 Ra4 7.Ra3 Rf4 8.Rg3 
Rf3 9.exf3 Se7 10.Bd3  Sc6 11.Bg6 hxg6 12.Se2 Rh4 13.0-0 Ra4 14.Ra1 Ra8 
15.Rxa8 Sb8 16.Rxb8
A  beautiful clearcut game with visually satisfying sibling of 2 adjacent  
pieces.
 
3rd Honourable Mention :
Eric Pichouron  (France)
b1k5/3ppp2/1p1p1s2/p2Sp3/1bBsP1p1/q1PP1P2/P1P1SP2/3QK3
SPG 24,5  (12+14) 
1.e4 h5 2.Qg4 hxg4 3.Sc3 Rh3 4.Sd5 Rc3 5.bxc3 Sc6 6.Ba3 Sd4 7.Bd6  cxd6 8.h4 
Qa5 9.h5 b6 10.h6 Bb7 11.h7 0-0-0 12.Rh6 Ba8 13.Rf6 gxf6 14.Bc4 Bh6  15.d3 Bc1 
16.Se2 Ba3 17.Kd2 Bb4 18.Rh1 Qa3 19.Rh5 a5 20.Re5 fxe5 21.h8=Q Sf6  22.Qh1 
Rh8 23.Qd1 Rh3 24.Ke1 Rf3 25.gxf3
A well oiled game using the  « standard Rook » to double the theme, 
displaying an additional  Pronkin and switchback by Ke1
 
4th Honourable Mention :
Eric Pichouron  (France)
3qkB2/pppRpp2/1P1pb1p1/6P1/6B1/2P2r1P/P1P1PR2/1S2QKS1
SPG 23,5  (15+11)
1.g4 d6 2.g5 Sd7 3.g6 Sdf6 4.gxh7 g6 5.hxg8=R Rh3 6.Rh8 Sg8 7.b4 Bg7  8.b5 
Bxa1 9.b6 Bc3 10.dxc3 Kf8 11.Bg5 Kg7 12.f4 Rf3 13.Bh3 Sh6 14.Bg4 Qg8 15.h3  Qh7 
16.Rd8 Be6 17.Rd7 Rh8 18.Rh2 Qg8 19.Rf2 Qd8 20.Kf1 Kf8 21.Bxh6+ Ke8 22.Bf8  
Rh5 23.Qe1 Rg5 24.fxg5
A complex game with 1 « standard  Rook » and a less standard Knight, and 
additional Phénix and switchbacks.  Technically more difficult than the preceding 
one, but the unbalanced thematic  play blurs the impression.
 
serie 4 : again once the theme with additional interest connected to  it
 
5th Honourable Mention :
Gligor Denkovski  (Macedonia)
3qk3/1ppp1ppp/4p3/8/8/8/PPPPP1PP/RSBQKBSR
SPG 10,0 (15+9)  C+
1.f4 e6 2.f5 Qg5 3.f6 Se7 4.fxe7 Sc6 5.exf8=R+ Ke7 6.Rxc8 Rd8 7.Rxa8 Ke8  
8.Rxa7 Ra8 9.Rxa8+ Sd8 10.Rxd8+ Qxd8
A marvellous position that speaks for  itself and is worth a HM! And the 
content is far from bad with Ceriani-Frolkin  promotion and double switchback 
hiding the thematical manoever.
 
1st Commendation :
Hitochi Yanami  (Japan)
r1bq2R1/pppkppp1/3p4/8/8/8/PPPPPP2/RSBQKBSr
SPG 7,0 (14+12)  C+
1.g4 d6 2.g5 Sd7 3.g6 Sdf6 4.gxh7 Kd7 5.hxg8=R Rxh2 6.Rxf8 Sg8 7.Rxg8  Rxh1
The only shorty entry. A candidate for the next article on this subject  by 
Mark Kirtley!
 
2nd Commendation :
Ivan Denkovski  (Macedonia)
1sbq2sR/1ppp1pk1/1p2P3/8/8/4b3/PPP1PPP1/RSBQKBS1
SPG 10,5  (15+11) C+
1.h4 e5 2.h5 Bç5 3.h6 Bhxg7 h6 e3 4.5.gxh8=R Kf8 6.R8xh6 Kg7 7.Rb6  axb6 8.d4 
Ra4 9.dxe5 Rh4 10.e6 Rh8 11.Rxh8
Thematical capture by Anti-Pronkin  piece
 
serie 5 (the last!) : other examples of doubling the theme without apparent  
promotee that were  considered less successful than those of serie 3 by the  
subjective eye of the judge.
 
3rd Commendation :
Alexandre & Valery Semenenko (Ukraine)  
rsb1k3/pppp1p2/4p2s/8/P7/8/1PP1PPP1/2BQKRr1
SPG 10,0 (10+12) C+
1.a4  e6 2.Ra3 Qh4 3.Rg3 Qxh2 4.Rxg7 Qxg1 5.Rgxh7 Qxf1+ 6.Rxf1 Bb4 7.Rhh1 
Bxd2+ 8.Sxd2  Rxh1 9.Sf3 Sh6 10.Sg1 Rxg1
The shortest doubling easied by the non capture of  the original piece
 
4th Commendation :
Kostas Prentos (Greece) & Andrei¨Frolkin  (Ukraine) 
8/ppkpppp1/1qp2S2/s5Kp/3S4/1QP5/1PrPPPPP/8
SPG 19,5 (11+12)  C+
1.Sc3 h5 2.Se4 Rh6 3.c3 Ra6 4.Qb3 Rxa2 5.Kd1 Rxa1 6.Kc2 Rxc1+ 7.Kd3 Rxf1  
8.Sf3 Rc1 9.Sd4 Rc2 10.Ra1 Sc6 11.Ra6 Sa5 12.Rh6 c6 13.Rh8 Qb6 14.Rxg8 Kd8  
15.Rxf8+ Kc7 16.Rxc8+ Rxc8 17.Ke3 Rh8 18.Kf4 Rh6 19.Kg5 Rf6 20.Sxf6
 
5th-6th Commendation e.a. :
Andrei¨Frolkin (Ukraine) & Kostas  Prentos (Greece)
2k3R1/ppp1qBP1/4p3/3prb2/8/P3P3/PBPP1PP1/RS1QK1S1
SPG  12,5 (16+9) C+
1.e3 d5 2.Bd3 Sd7 3.Bxh7 Sdf6 4.Bxg8 Rh5 5.h4 Re5 6.h5 Bf5  7.h6 e6 8.hxg7 
Ba3 9.bxa3 Qe7 10.Bb2 0-0-0 11.Bxf7 Rh8 12.Rxh8+ Sg8  13.Rxg8+
 
5th-6th Commendation e.a. :
Mario Parrinello  (Italy)
2k4R/pppqppp1/4b3/P2p4/6P1/1S5r/1PP1PPBP/2B2KSR
SPG 13,5 (14+11)  C+
1.a4 Sf6 2.a5 Se4 3.Ra4 Sxd2 4.Sxd2 d5 5.Sb3 Sd7 6.Qd3 Sf6 7.Qxh7 Sg8  8.Qxg8 
Rh3 9.Rh4 Be6 10.g4 Qd7 11.Bg2 0-0-0 12.Qxf8 Rxf8 13.Kf1 Rh8  14.Rxh8+
 


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