ST starts the year 2002 with a cover problem by a late National Master of Chess Composition, Erkki Heinonen. Heinonen was born 80 years ago, on March 21, 1922 and he passed away in 1993. His 3# shows Finnish Plachutta with tries 1.Bf5? and 1.Bd3?, in addition to the basic try 1.Bc2?
On p. 4 we invite ST members both to society´s annual meeting and Finnish Quick Solving Championship, held February 23, 2002, in Helsinki. The membership and magazine subscription fees for 2002 will be decided in the meeting, this is why the fees are not mentioned on p. 2.
The announcement for FIDE-Album 1998-2000 is published on p. 5, along with information for Finnish composers on how to participate on the previous page. On the following pages we have the pleasure to introduce a new contributor to our magazine, Mr. Mip. His story deals with a mysterious retroanalysis, an interesting story worth reading!
Altogether 29 Finnish h# moremovers by eleven composers, successful in recent tourneys, are presented on pp. 10-15.
A short presentation of the 6th WCCT moremovers award fills the pages 8-9. Finnish composers were not at their best in this competition, perhaps the ongoing competition will bring more success.
The pages 16-22 are devoted to Alice Chess, an invention by Vernon Parton. Timo Aitta, a new name on the Finnish composing scene, explains the rules and presents interesting problems of his own, pp. 16-19. Henry Tanner has gathered 17 Alice Chess problems from previous years, pp. 20-23.
Our originals section starts on p. 23, consisting of 35 originals and one correction. Pay special attention to no. 2239, based on the idea of the late Matti Myllyniemi.
ST web page has a new address: http://www.sci.fi/~stniekat/st/index.htm and some new twists as well. The navigation system should be easier than previously and ST awards in PDF-format are available.
A selection of interesting helpmates, compiled by Marko Ylijoki, is on pp. 34-36. Jan Hannelius 85 JT for orthodox three-movers with a free theme was announced in ST 6/2001, p. 185. We have the pleasure to announce that Mr. Victor Chepizhny will act as a judge in this competition, p. 37. On the same page Neal Turner continues to tease solvers with another hard nut to crack.
In ST 6/2001 we published a computer analysis by Ken Thompson showing an interesting way to win an ending Q,R vs Q, R in 124 moves. The position after 86 moves was: Ka8 Qa5 Rd6 - Kc4 Qg4 Re4, with 87.Rc6+ leading to a mate in 124 moves. Pekka Staven has established an easier way to win: 87.Qc7+ Kb3 (87...Kb4 88.Rb6+ Ka3 89.Qc3+ Ka2 90.Qb2#; 87...Kb5 88.Rb6+ Ka5 89.Qa7#) 88.Rd3+ Kb2 (88...Kb4 89.Qc3+ Ka4 (89...Kb5 90.Rd5+ Kb6 91.Qc5+ Ka6) 90.Qb3+ Ka5 91.Rd5+ Ka6 92.Qb5#) (88...Ka289.Qc2+ Ka1 90.Ra3#) (88...Ka4 89.Qc6+ Ka5 90.Qc5+ Ka6 91.Rd6#) 89.Qc3+ Kb1 (89...Ka2 90.Rd2+ Kb1 91.Qb2#) 90.Qb3+ Kc1 (90...Ka1 91.Qa3+ Kb1 92.Rb3+ Kc2 93.Rb2+ Kd1 94.Qa1#) 91.Qa3+ Kc2 (91...Kb1 92.Rb3+ Kc2 93.Rb2+ Kc1 94.Qa1#) 92.Rc3+ Kd2 (92...Kd1 93.Qc1+ Ke2 94.Rc2+ Kf3 95.Qf1+ Ke3 (95...Kg3 96.Qf2+ Kh3 97.Qh2#) 96.Qf2+ Kd3 97.Qd2#) 93.Qc1+ Ke2 94.Rc2+ Kf3 95.Qf1+ Ke3 96.Qf2+ Kd3 97.Qd2#.
The Four Corner Project and Small Is Beautiful close this issue, pp. 38-41 and 42-47 respectively.
ST 2/2002 is due to appear in within a few months.
Published 6th February 2002