Our cover problem is a rare case, an original problem composed in 1984 during the Sarajevo PCCC. It is based on an earlier published problem by Matti Myllyniemi, no. 1 on p. 86. Milan Velimirovic browsed recently his old notebooks and found the joint composition, which has remained unpublished until now. Milan describes the problem as follows: "The idea is to show changed mates with change of theme: active dual avoidance from the set play becomes passive (Mari theme) after the key. Unfortunately, in position 1 the latter is not pure since after 1.-Bxb6 the mate 2.Sc7 is prevented also by the Bishop’s guard-back. My idea was to replace the pinning of the Black Knight with white battery and double-check mates, in which case the guard of thematic square has no effect. It was possible to achieve it in a lighter position,but with position 2 we went a little bit further, adding three different mates after the Black King’s flights – an attractive feature despite one of which is a threat".
On p.87 another GM solver, Pauli Perkonoja, tells about a book by Aleksandr Kalinin, in which Kalinin shows his study 1) and a close relative 2) from an OTB battle. In 2), the game continuation is not a winning one, as black could have saved himself with the move 2.-Bf1!. Perkonoja has studied the position 2) and found out that there is a real winning method, which he illustrates with position 3).
Paha pähkinä, A hard nut to crack, is this time an old-fashioned three-mover. Such problems can be very difficult, what about this one, see p. 88.
The originals columns start from p. 89 and end on p. 93. Please, note the plea from Mikael Grönroos for more orthodox problems of good quality.
In Selected Helpmates, Marko Ylijoki presents helpmates of impressive length. One of these is an original one by Steven B. Dowd and Marko, see pp. 95-98.
We take a glance at other problem chess magazines on pp. 99-100. Unfortunately the Danish Thema Danicum has announced that the publication of this well-edited magazine will cease.
When turning on pp. 101-108, please take a deep breath before diving into the history. Henry Tanner has researched the history of Alain C. White's famous Christmas Series. Unfortunately for our foreign readers, most of this excellent article remains a mystery to you, because of the Finnish language.
On the final pages of this issue we invite you to solve, study and enjoy the problems from the 3rd Solving Championship of Serbia & Montenegro, held in April of 2006. Due to space limitations, we must refrain from publishing the solutions until the next ST, which is due to appear in autumn.
Published 15th July 2006