Old German school

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Old German School is the name for a direction or a style of chess composition from the 2nd half of the 19th century, which or which remained almost exclusively limited to continental Europe . It served as a conceptual demarcation from the New German School introduced by Johannes Kohtz and Carl Kockelkorn . The main representative of this problem school was the Austrian chess theorist and composer Prof. Johann N. Berger .

Other leading representatives of this direction include: a. M. Philipp F. von Klett , Dr. Conrad Bayer as well as Maximilian Feigl and Franz Schrüfer (from the German-Austrian area ), also Karl L. Jesper Jespersen ( Denmark ), Émile L. Pradignat ( France ) and Valentí Marín i Llovet ( Spain ).

Characteristics of the direction of composition

Their (tellingly multi-move) chess problems are characterized by:

  • a hidden, difficult main game with silent features (puzzle character) and sacrifices that i. d. Usually with model matt ( pattern matt ), but at least ends with pure matt (ideas games) and
  • an often widely ramified network of variants covering the main game (variety of playbacks).

Prof. Johann N. Berger codified essential stylistic elements of this direction in "Art Laws". He declared chess rules and blows, especially in key moves, to be frowned upon.

Composition examples

The following examples are taken from Karl-Heinz Siehndel's presentation of the old German school.

Johann N. Berger
Tournament of the West German. Chess Federation 1863
1st Prize
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7th Chess pdt45.svg Chess rlt45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess rdt45.svg 7th
6th Chess klt45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess pdt45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess pdt45.svg 6th
5 Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess kdt45.svg Chess pdt45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess blt45.svg Chess --t45.svg 5
4th Chess pdt45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess pdt45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg 4th
3 Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess pdt45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess nlt45.svg Chess --t45.svg 3
2 Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess rlt45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg 2
1 Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess ndt45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess rdt45.svg 1
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0000(7 + 14) mate in 5 moves00

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Solution:
1. Rg7! (threatens 2. Qb5 +, Rxe4)
Variants:
1.… hxg5 2. Rxe4 dxe4 3. Ne2 Kd5 (3.… Nb7 4. Qxb7, Qc7 +, Qe5 +) 4. Qe5 + Kxe5 / Kc4 / Kc6 5. Rxg5 # / Qb5 # / Qb5 #, Nd4 #
1.… Nb7 2. Qxb7 (there is a threat of 3. Qb5 +, Rd2, Rxe4, Bf6, Nf5 )
2.… Qxg7 3. Qb5 + Kd4 4. Rxe4 + dxe4 5. Ne2 #
2.… Rh2 (h4) 3. Qb5 + 4. Bf6 + e5 5. Nf5 #
1.… Kd4 2. Bf6 + e5 3. Nf5 + etc.

Such tasks are difficult to grasp and require a lot of patience and time to solve, since a large number of secondary variants must be taken into account. The New German School of Composition , founded by Johannes Kohtz and Carl Kockelkorn , whose core is a sharply defined logical idea, has dominated the multi-tasking tasks, at least in the German-speaking countries, since the 1920s .

However, Kohtz and Kockelkorn initially also composed in the old German style, as the following example shows:

Johannes Kohtz
Carl Kockelkorn
(4596) Deutsche Schachzeitung 10/1879
Tournament of the German Chess Federation 1879
1st broadcast award
Dedicated to M. Philipp F. von Klett
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7th Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess pdt45.svg 7th
6th Chess --t45.svg Chess pdt45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess nlt45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess klt45.svg 6th
5 Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess pdt45.svg Chess blt45.svg Chess kdt45.svg Chess plt45.svg Chess qlt45.svg Chess --t45.svg 5
4th Chess rdt45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess bdt45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg 4th
3 Chess plt45.svg Chess pdt45.svg Chess plt45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess rlt45.svg Chess --t45.svg 3
2 Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess plt45.svg Chess bdt45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg 2
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0000(9 + 8) Checkmate in 5 moves00

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Solution:
1. Qg8! (2. Rg5 Bg4 3. f6 + Kxd6 4. Qd8 + Bd7 5. Qb8 #)
Variants:
1.… b2 2. Rd3! (2. Qg5? B1D!)
2.… Bxd3 3. Nf7 + Kxd5 4. c4 +! Kxc4 / Ke4 / Kc6 5.Nd6 # / Qg4 # / Qc8 #
2.… Kxd6 3. Qd8 + Ke5 4. Qe7 + Kf4 / Kxd5 5. Qe4 # / Qe6 #
2.… Bf3 3. Qe6 + Qf4 4. Rxf3 + Kg4 5. Qe4 #
1.… c4 2. Nb5! Bc5 3. Re3 + Bxe3 4. dxe3 Kxf5 5. Qe6 #
1.… Ra7 2. Nc4 Bxc4 3. De6 + Kf4 4. Rf3 + Kg4 5. De4 #
1.… b5 2. Rg5
2.… Bg4 3. f6 + Kxd6 4. Qd8 + Bd7 5. Qb8 #
2.… Bd3 3. f6 + Bf5 4. Rxf5 + Kxd6 5. Qd8 #
2.… Kf4 3. f6 Bd3 4. Rg4 + Ke5 5. Qe6 #
2.… Bf3 3. Qe6 + Kf4 4. f6 etc.

The following task by M. Philipp F. von Klett, also assigned to the old German school, shows high material economy in the creation of variants.

M. Philipp F. von Klett
Münchner Latest news
08/27/1899
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6th Chess --t45.svg Chess plt45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess plt45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg 6th
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4th Chess rlt45.svg Chess plt45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg Chess --t45.svg 4th
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0000(9 + 4) Mate in 5 moves00

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Solution:
1.Ra2! ( Forced action )
Variants:
1.… Kc6 2. Rb2! (3rd Bc4 (forced draft)) Kd5 3. g3 (forced draft)
3.… Kc6 4. Bc4 (Zugzwang) S ~ 5. b5 #
3.… Ke4 4. Td2 (Zugzwang) Nf3 / Kf3, N ~ 5. Bd3 / Bg2 #
3.… Kxe6 4. Rd2 (Zugzwang) S ~ 5. Bh3 (c4) #
1.… Ke4 2. Re2 +
2.… Kf4 3. Rxe5 together with 4. Bf2 and 5. Re4 #
2.… Kd3 3. Rg3 + Nf3 (3.… Kc4 4. Rxe5 #) 4. Rxf3 + Kc4 5. Rd2 (e5) #
1.… Kxe6 2. Rd2! (threatened 3rd Be2, g3 (forced move)) Nd3 3rd Bxd3 (threatened 4th Bc4 #) Kd7 4th Bf5 + Ke8 / Kc6 5th Bg6 # / Bd7 #

literature

  • Herbert Grasemann : One of the Reverend's ideas that made history. The New German Chess Problem: Origin, Basics, Basic Concepts. Self-published, Berlin 1981.
  • Karl-Heinz Siehndel: The old German problem school . In: Fritz Hoffmann, Günter Schiller, Karl-Heinz Siehndel, Manfred Zucker: Problem chess : 407 exercises and studies. Sportverlag, Berlin 1987, pp. 36-39.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Manfred van Fondern: Lexicon for chess friends. Publishing house C. J. Bucher, Lucerne and Frankfurt / M. 1980, ISBN 3-7658-0308-1 , p. 14.
  2. ↑ Johannes Kohtz and Carl Kockelkorn: The Indian Problem - A Chess Study. Schachverlag Hans Hedwigs Nachf. Curt Ronniger, Leipzig 1903.
  3. ^ Fritz Hoffmann: A thousand years of chess problems. In: Hans Ellinger (Hrsg.): Tübingen contributions on the topic of chess. Vol. 4, Promos-Verlag, Pfullingen 2000, ISBN 3-88502-021-1 , pp. 38-40.
  4. ↑ Johann Berger: The chess problem and its artful presentation. A guide for problem lovers. Veit and Comp., Leipzig 1884.
  5. ↑ In Karl-Heinz Siehndel (general editor): Problem chess : 407 tasks and studies , Sportverlag, Berlin 1987, chapter “Historical development of problem chess”, pp. 36–39.