[Retros] "Logical play" in classical retros.

Fri May 1 11:00:35 EDT 2020

Dear Andrey, dear all,

in a way, it's a pity that Wolfgang Dittmann's Der Blick zurück was published in German. For he had not only intensively dealt with „logical" Procas (both orthodox ones and, from 2006, logical Anti-Circe Procas), but also presented them in the spirit of the New German School (according to Herbert Grasemann: „Logic + Purity of Aim = New German"). 

Unfortunately, the solutions given in the PDB are usually quite scarce, so that this structure is difficult to recognize there. Today I've presented the solutions for two of this Procas in more detail (i.e. an english summary of the solutions in his book), see https://pdb.dieschwalbe.de/P000556 <https://pdb.dieschwalbe.de/P000556> and https://pdb.dieschwalbe.de/P1012765 <https://pdb.dieschwalbe.de/P1012765>, these are No.119 and 145 in Der Blick zurück. Dittmann avoided the term „pure-of-aim", because he was aware that this is even more complex in retro than in forward play.

Last year, Günther Weeth and I had published an article on this topic in Die Schwalbe: "Logik und Zweckökonomie im Verteidigungsrückzüger" (298-2 Die Schwalbe August 2019, pp. 272-283). There we discussed, among other ones, four Procas of Joaquim and you, including that one which I had awarded 1st Prize in the Dittmann Memorial 2015.

Best,

Thomas

> Am 30.04.2020 um 16:13 schrieb afretro <afretro at yandex.ua>:
> 
> Dear Pascal, dear all,
> A little over a decade ago Joaquim Crusats and I started working on what we referred to, among ourselves, as “logical Proca retractors.” We focused on the main plan and the preliminary plan(s) in our numerous problems, discussing logical details with some German colleagues. As a result, several of our logical Procas were awarded high places in a number of tourneys. We did not claim to be the pioneers of logical Procas; some authors may have published Procas with a main plan and a preliminary plan before; but, to the best of our knowledge, no one before us presented the content of their problem that way – in the terms of the Logical School.
> My other composing partner, Andrei Kornilov, and I worked for two years on an article on retro cages that was published in feenschach after Kornilov’s death, in 2012; we explored a multitude of nuances associated with what is known as the retro cage. Retroanalysis is of course the most “logical” section of chess composition. The release of cages is based on all sorts of logical sequences and conclusions. Almost any classical-style retro features “logical retractions.” Usually, several events must happen in retro play before a cage can be released. By contrast, a logical moremover in most cases involves a long maneuver to overcome a single obstacle. When I composed the problem that eventually won the World Cup – and it was one in a series of problems based on this matrix – I realized that the solution looked almost ideally logical. So I presented it that way, noting that probably no composer has done this before. Retro composers may have published Procas with a logical pattern before; but presumably no one presented the solution in logical terms before Joaquim and me. With this problem, it is the same story. I suppose the main reason for the lack of a description in terms of the Logical School of the solution of a classical-style (release-the-position) retro in the past was that usually the release of a cage must be preceded by several retro events, which is similar to overcoming several obstacles rather than one in logical moremovers.
> Yours,
> Andrey
> 
> 
> 30.04.2020, 15:13, "Pascal Wassong" <pascal.wassong at free.fr>:
> Hello all,
> 
> I just saw the results of WCCI 2016-2018, Section H - Retros. The PDF
> file with the problems and the solutions is here:
> https://www.wfcc.ch/wp-content/uploads/WCCI7-H-Winners.pdf <https://www.wfcc.ch/wp-content/uploads/WCCI7-H-Winners.pdf>
> 
> From this document, I extract the following problem.
> 
> H229-1, by Andrey Frolkin
> The 6th FIDE World Cup in Composing, 2018 1st Prize
> +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
> | N | . | | . | | . | |*B |
> +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
> | . | |*P |*P | . |*P |*P |*R |
> +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
> | | . | | . | |*P | | N |
> +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
> | . | | . | | . | | . | K |
> +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
> |*P | . | | . | | . | P | R |
> +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
> | . | | . | P | . | P | R | N |
> +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
> | P | . | P |*R |*B | P |*P |*K |
> +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
> | . |*N | . | B |*Q | | . | Q |
> +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
> N6b/2pp1ppr/5p1N/7K/p5PR/3P1PRN/P1PrbPpk/1n1Bq2Q
> 14 + 14 Release the position
> 
> After the solution, there is a comment saying: "Most likely, this is the
> first-ever cage-based retro with “logical play” (a clear main plan and a
> clear foreplan)."
> 
> I think that this not at all the "first-ever" retro with these features.
> There are probably dozens of already published retros with a clear main
> plan and a clear foreplan. It was probably just not presented like that
> in their solutions. I give one example (problem P1320062 in the PDB):
> https://pdb.dieschwalbe.de/search.jsp?expression=PROBID=%27P1230062%27 <https://pdb.dieschwalbe.de/search.jsp?expression=PROBID=%27P1230062%27>
> 
> Thomas Volet
> 6301 Phénix 205 04/2011
> dedicated to M.Pavelitch & S.Volobuev
> +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
> | N |*B | | . | | . | | . |
> +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
> | B | |*P | | . |*P | . | B |
> +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
> |*R | P | | . | | . | P | . |
> +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
> | R |*P | . | | . | |*P |*B |
> +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
> |*R | P |*P | . | | . | | . |
> +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
> |*K |*P | . | | . | P | . | |
> +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
> |*Q | . | P | P | |*P | P | . |
> +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
> | . | | K | R |*N | | . | |
> +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
> Nb6/B1p2p1B/rP4P1/Rp4pb/rPp5/kp3P2/q1PP1pP1/2KRn3
> 13 + 14 Release the position
> 
> After taking back bPd5xQc4, the main plan is to unpromote that wQ on e8,
> bring the wP back to e2, and uncapture bPe3xf2 to unlock the position.
> The try fails because the wB did not return to f1.
> 
> So there is a foreplan to bring the wBh7 back to f1: the wQ goes to b1
> to free bQa2. bQ unpromotes on h1, the bP returns to h6, white
> uncaptures wPh5xQg6. The wBh7 can now return to f1 and the uncaptured
> bQ back to a2. The wQ is free again, and can now play the main plan.
> 
> I would be glad to read your comments, and maybe see other classical
> retros with clear foreplan and main plan.
> 
> Courage and patience,
> Pascal
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