Bohemian School (chess)
Bohemian school is the name for a school of chess composition . In a matting task , the matt image is in the foreground, which should be represented economically as a pattern matt , also called model matt . With a pattern mate, all white pieces except for the king and pawn are involved in the mate picture.
history
In the 1860s, the Bohemian School developed in competition with the Old German School after articles on the theory and aesthetics of chess problems in Czech magazines such as Rodinná kronika , Květy , Světozor , Humoristické listy and Paleček . The weekly Světozor played a leading role here, documenting the history and development of the Bohemian school under the influence of Jan Dobruský and inspiring other composers by publishing compositions from numerous tournaments. In 1885 she was replaced in this role by Zlatá Praha . Two years later a first collection of 321 Bohemian assignments by 41 composers appeared, through which the Bohemian school gained further influence.
After two unsuccessful attempts to establish a Bohemian chess magazine, České listy šachové and Šachové listy , the Czech chess federation Ústřední jednota českých šachistů was founded in 1905 , whose organ Časopis českých šachistů first appeared in 1906. This magazine still exists today under the name Československý šach .
The temporary main representative of the old German school, Johann Berger , had in his work "The Chess Problem and its Artistic Representation", published in 1884, made certain demands on the composition, some of which were perceived as rigid. In contrast to the required, complicated four and five-trainers of the old German direction, aesthetic criteria were more in the foreground in the Bohemian school .
A Bohemian chess problem, typically a three-move, is defined by the fact that it contains at least three pattern mates including the threat . Field-shifted repetitions of a matt image - the so-called echo - are also desirable. Strategic elements are considered unimportant. Compared to the old German compositions, it is noticeable that the Bohemian problems are usually composed with fewer stones, tend to have a lower degree of difficulty and a more "natural" style.
Important representatives of the Bohemian school included Miroslav Havel , Jan Dobruský, Josef Pospíšil , Jan Kotrč , Karel Traxler and co-founder Jiří Chocholouš .
Composition example
Národní listy , 1898
a | b | c | d | e | f | G | H | ||
8th | 8th | ||||||||
7th | 7th | ||||||||
6th | 6th | ||||||||
5 | 5 | ||||||||
4th | 4th | ||||||||
3 | 3 | ||||||||
2 | 2 | ||||||||
1 | 1 | ||||||||
a | b | c | d | e | f | G | H |
Solution:
Set game : 1.… d6xc5 2. Qb3 – f3 Kd4 – c4 3. Re2 – e4 mate and 1.… d6xe5 2. Re2 – c2 Kd4 – e4 3. Rc2 – c4 mate (echo pattern mate )
1. Re2– f2! (threatens 2. Rf2 – f4 + Kd4xe5 3. Ne7xg6 mate)
1.… d6xc5 2. Rf2 – f3 c5 – c4 3. Qb3 – e3
mate 1.… Bb6xc5 2. Rf2 – f4 + Kd4xe5 3. Ne7xg6 mate
1.… Nd8 draws 2. Ne7 – c6 + Kd4 – e4 3. Qb3 – f3 mate
literature
- Fritz Hoffmann, Günter Schiller, Karl-Heinz Siehndel, Manfred Zucker : Problem chess . 407 Problems and Studies. 3rd unchanged edition. Sportverlag, Berlin 1986, ISBN 3-328-00205-7 , pp. 39-42.
Individual references and sources
- ↑ František Dedrle in the foreword to: Alain C. White (Ed.): Bohemian Garnets . Christmas Series, Stroud 1923.
Web links
- České Melodie: A collection of 202 chess problems (PDF; 12.7 MB). With a foreword by Josef Pospíšil on the Bohemian School.