www.arves.org - 6th YCCC 2022

Studies awarded for the 6th Youth CCC 2022.

[Event "6th YCCC, section B"] [Site ""] [Date "2022"] [Round ""] [White "1st place"] [Black "Ilija Serafimovic"] [Result "1-0"] [Annotator "stjef"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "6R1/8/3p4/3N4/1pK5/8/Pkp2B2/5n2 w - - 0 1"] 
 {The winning study sets off with a nice elimination of the bishop on f2 which turns out to be in the way on the second rank. Then, as White seems to have sufficiently halted Black's dangerous pawn, Black springs a major surprise with 3…b3 followed by 4…Nd2 aiming for a stalemate. But as it turns out the restricted position of the Black king on a3 is also suitable for mate (6. Nc3+!). The rook must be deflected to d5, but amusingly the mate falls on a2 anyway via the detour d2-d5-a5-a2. The Black king, beginning on b2, leaves for both b1 and a3, before returning to its destiny. One small shame about this study is the fact that the b3-pawn is not necessary in the final mating picture Another shame is the similarity of the study to a favorite of mine, Birnov’s masterpiece from 1947 (Trud, 2nd prize, HHDBVI #68608). That study features the same mate, a queen promotion on c1 and even a pawn sacrifice on d5. On the other hand it has no stalemate and the present study shows many other creative aspects. Very pleasing throughout!} 1. Bd4+ Kb1 (1... Ka3 2. Ra8#) 2. Bb2 Kxb2 {Initial position, only difference is that there is no Bf2.} 3. Rg2 b3 (3... Kb1 4. Rxc2 Kxc2 5. Kxb4 Nd2 6. a4 Nb3 7. Ne3+ Kb2 8. Nc4+ Kc2 9. Nxd6) 4. axb3 Nd2+ $1 5. Rxd2 Ka3 $1 6. Nc3 d5+ ( 6... c1=Q 7. Ra2#) 7. Rxd5 c1=Q 8. Ra5+ Kb2 {theme} 9. Ra2# {theme Black play on stalemate.} 1-0

[Event "6th YCCC, Section B"] [Site ""] [Date "2022"] [Round ""] [White "2nd place"] [Black "Ben Smolkin"] [Result "1-0"] [Annotator "stjef"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "8/8/8/5B2/8/k3pp2/2K2p2/2R5 w - - 0 1"] [EventDate "2022"] 
 {This miniature study grew on me as I studied the motivation of the play and the excellent economy with only one pawn being captured. The king leaves and returns to its mating square A3 twice in two different directions, just as is the case in the first prize. The simple starting position suggested to me that the study might turn out to be anticipated, but luckily those fears turned out to be unfounded. Studies almost without captures have a tendency to become a little boring, but I dont’ think this is the case here, because of the imminent danger to Black’s king throughout the study. A subtle and mature work. The two top studies both show thematic moves of the kings, which are not in response to a White check. 1…Ka4, 2…Ka3 and 5…Ka3 in this study and 5…Ka3 in the first place study. In other words, both studies show more subtlety than is the case in the remaining studies. Creative Black play is very important in studies!} 1. Kc3 Ka4 2. Kc4 Ka3 (2... Ka5 3. Kc5) 3. Ra1+ Kb2 4. Rb1+ (4. Rf1 e2 5. Rxf2 Kc1) 4... Ka2 5. Rf1 Ka3 ({Main} 5... e2 6. Rxf2 Ka1 7. Kb3 e1=Q 8. Ra2#) 6. Bb1 (6. Kc3 {waste of time}) (6. Ra1+ {waste of time}) 6... e2 7. Rxf2 e1=Q 8. Ra2# 1-0

[Event "6th YCCC, Section B"] [Site ""] [Date "2022"] [Round ""] [White "4th place"] [Black "Ural Khasanov"] [Result "1-0"] [Annotator "stjef"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "n1NR1r2/5k2/8/3K2P1/4RB1P/8/8/5q2 w - - 0 1"] [EventDate "2022"] [SourceVersionDate "2022.09.09"] 
 {This study ends just out of the medals. The main point of the study (9. Nd5!) is nice and clear, and leads up to the same mating position as we have already seen in the first prize study. Some good technique is used throughout, for instance the march of the h-pawn to take the Black king out on a walk. My main issue with the study is the capture of rook-f8 without it having moved. Also the starting position appears a little messy, especially with the two rooks facing each other on the 8th rank. Also, compared to the first placed study, the starting position bears no real resemblance to a game.} 1. g6+ (1. Nd6+ Kg8 2. Rxf8+ Kxf8 3. h5 Qd3+ 4. Ke6 Nb6 5. g6 Nc8 $11) 1... Kxg6 2. h5+ (2. Rxf8 Qb5+ $11) 2... Kg7 (2... Kxh5 3. Re5+ Kg4 4. Rg5+ Kh4 5. Rxf8) (2... Kf7 3. Nd6+ Kg8 4. Rxf8+ Kxf8 5. Re8+ Kg7 6. h6+ Kg6 7. Rg8+ Kh5 8. h7 $18) 3. h6+ Kg8 (3... Kg6 4. Re6+ Rf6 5. Rg8+ Kh5 6. Rg5+ Kh4 7. Rxf6) 4. h7+ Kxh7 5. Rxf8 Nb6+ (5... Qb5+ 6. Ke6 Qc6+ 7. Nd6) (5... Nc7+ 6. Ke5 Qb5+ 7. Kf6 Nd5+ 8. Kf7 Qb3 9. Rh8+ Kxh8 10. Be5+ Nf6+ 11. Kxf6 Kg8 12. Ne7+ Kf8 13. Nf5 Ke8 14. Bc7+ Kd7 15. Re7+ Kc8 16. Nd6#) 6. Nxb6 Qb5+ 7. Ke6 Qc6+ (7... Qxb6+ 8. Bd6) 8. Kf5 Qc5+ 9. Nd5 Qxf8+ (9... Qxd5+ 10. Be5 Qd7+ 11. Kg5 Qe7+ 12. Rf6) 10. Nf6+ Kg7 11. Bh6+ Kxh6 12. Rh4+ Kg7 13. Rh7# 1-0

[Event "6th YCCC, Section B"] [Site ""] [Date "2022"] [Round ""] [White "5th place"] [Black "Taras Rudenko"] [Result "1-0"] [Annotator "stjef"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "4k1br/2p1p1p1/5p1P/4PKp1/5NP1/R7/1pp3p1/8 w k - 0 1"] [PlyCount "17"] [EventDate "2022"]   
 {Here we have another study with good flow, including Black’s castling, which one can almost always guess coming when seeing the starting diagram. Thematically the study is quite strong, with the king starting on e8, coming to h7, leaving that square again, only to be mated there anyway. My main critique concerns the pawns on b2,c2 and g2. Especially the pair on the queen-side, which never move, are only on the board for correctness and that is very unfortunate.} 1. e6 $1 (1. Ra8+ $2 Kd7 $1 $19 (1... Kf7 $2 2. e6#)) 1... Bxe6+ (1... Bh7+ 2. Ng6 Bxg6+ 3. Kxg6 O-O 4. hxg7 $1 Rb8 5. Rh3 b1=Q 6. Rh8#) 2. Kxe6 O-O $1 3. h7+ $1 Kh8 (3... Kxh7 4. Rh3+ Kg8 5. Ng6 $18) 4. Ng6+ Kxh7 5. Nxf8+ Kg8 6. Ng6 g1=N $1 (6... c1=Q 7. Nxe7+ Kh8 (7... Kf8 8. Ra8#) 8. Rh3#) 7. Ra8+ Kh7 8. Kf7 (8. Kf5 $2 e6+ $1 $19) 8... Nf3 9. Rh8# {Thematic mate to the black king which in option returns on three squares (g8, h7 or h8) in a different way.} 1-0

[Event "6th YCCC, Section B"] [Site ""] [Date "2022"] [Round ""] [White "7th place"] [Black "Sergiienko Andrii"] [Result "1-0"] [Annotator "stjef"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "8/2PB2K1/2R5/7k/b7/3P2b1/p2p1pPp/8 w - - 0 1"] [PlyCount "13"] [EventDate "2022"] 
 {6. Bf3 is a very good move, which opens c8-h3 and closes f1-f7! But it deserves a better setting, with fewer extra pieces. It is a good exercise to try to find the “cleanest” position (with as few pieces as possible) where Bg4-f3 is still the only winning move. Having found that, one can try to build an even better introduction, for instance without four Black pawns already on the second rank, which is too unnatural (although they are nicely used in the sidelines)} 1. Bg4+ (1. Rc5+ $2 Kh4 2. c8=Q a1=Q+ 3. Kg6 Qf6+ 4. Kxf6 f1=Q+ 5. Rf5 Be5+ 6. Kxe5 Qa1+ 7. d4 (7. Ke4 Qe1+ 8. Kd5 Bb3+ 9. Kd6 Qg3+ 10. Kc5 Qe3+) 7... Qxd4+ 8. Kxd4 d1=Q+ 9. Ke5 Qa1+ 10. Ke6 Bb3+ 11. Kd6 Qd4+ 12. Ke7 Qg7+ $11) (1. c8=Q $2 a1=Q+ 2. Kh7 Bxc6 3. Qxc6 Qh8+ 4. Kxh8 h1=Q 5. Kg7 Be5+ 6. Kh7 Kg5+ 7. Bh3 Qxh3+ 8. gxh3 d1=Q $11) 1... Kh4 2. Rh6+ Kg5 3. Rg6+ Kh4 4. c8=Q a1=Q+ 5. Kh7 f1=Q 6. Bf3 Qxf3 7. Qh3# 1-0

[Event "6th YCCC, Section B"] [Site ""] [Date "2022"] [Round ""] [White "8th place"] [Black "Nikita Ushakov"] [Result "1-0"] [Annotator "stjef"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "1rr5/2N4R/2p2n2/pNn2p2/2B1k3/5p1P/5qpB/2KQ4 b - - 0 1"] [PlyCount "28"] [EventDate "2022"]   
 {The best thing about this study is the mating finale, with a pleasing mating picture. The introduction is too wild, however. By “wild” I mean that there are too many captures/exchanges and too many checks. Often introductions become better when they consist of fewer, more pointed moves. Here I had the feeling that the composer tried to make the study as long as possible, and that is no quality in itself. In addition, I believe the Black-to-move-stipulation ought only be used as an absolute last resort.} 1... Qe3+ 2. Kc2 (2. Kb2 $2 Rxc7 3. Rxc7 Rxb5+ 4. Bxb5 Nd5 (4... Qd4+)) 2... Qf2+ 3. Kc3 Na4+ 4. Qxa4 Ke3 (4... Qe1+ 5. Kc2 Ke3 6. Qa3+ Kf2 7. Qc5+ Qe3) 5. Re7+ Ne4+ 6. Rxe4+ fxe4 7. Qd1 Rd8 8. Nd5+ Rxd5 9. Bxd5 cxd5 10. Bxb8 (10. Bg1 Rc8+ 11. Kb3 Qxg1 12. Qxg1+ Kf4 $11 ) 10... g1=Q 11. Ba7+ (11. Qxg1 d4+) 11... Kf4 12. Qxg1 Qxg1 13. Bxg1 e3 14. Bh2+ (14. Kd3 f2) 14... Ke4 15. Nd6# 1-0