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| The tantalising half-battery |
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If you are new to problem solving |
White battery is an attractive
and indispensable artillery in the problemist's armoury and countless number of problems
featuring batteries have been composed highlighting the quality of the battery mates.
Almost all composers use battery play in their problems at one time or other and it serves
as a tool for exposition of a theme than as a theme by itself. What is a BATTERY? A
battery consists of a rear piece and a frontal piece where the latter unfolds a discovered
check from the rear piece. In the problem below ,without the WR at b7 or c6 , there would
be a B+R battery, the WB being the rear piece and the WR the frontal one. The arrangement
on the diagonal a8-e4 is known as half-battery where when one of the intermediary
pieces
(here one of the rooks) moves, a battery is formed with the other two. Half-battery invariably adds to the solver interest, several
moves of the battery pieces providing interesting TRIES ,moves that almost solve the
problem but for one black defense i.e. the refutation.
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H.Bartolovic, First prize, Unikonzum 1978
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Mate in two moves 1.Rc4? (threat 2.Re7) 1.Kd5 2.Rd7. 1.Sec6 2.Qf5 but 1.Sef3!
1.Re6? (threat 2.Rb4) 1.Kd5 2.Rb5 1.Sb5/Se2 2.Rd7 but 1.Sdc6!
1.Rb4? (threat 2.Re6) 1.Kd5 2.Sc3 1.Sec6 2.Qf5 but 1.Sef3!
Key : 1. Re7!! (threat 2.Rc4) 1.Kd5 2.Sc3 1.Se2 2.Rd6 1.Sdc6 2.Qc4 |
Note the
excellent double pin mate 2.Qc4 after 1.Sxc6.The point of the problem is the interesting
duel between the white rooks and the black knights and the logical tries have one
common objective-which rook to pin which knight and it is not before going through these
interesting tries that the solver can pick the right move. A typical half-battery try
problem from the Yugoslav master!
In the problem for solving the half-battery
is combined with star-flights-the four diagonal moves of the black king.The try and the
key,both by the half-battery pieces, provide eight distinct mates after king moves.
J.M.Rice, 3rd Prize,KNSB JT, 1961
Mate in two moves
Solution to problem in Two
ways of unpinning - 1.Ne7! |
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Glossary
Symbol |
Meaning |
+ |
Check |
# |
Checkmate |
x |
Capture |
! |
Good Move |
!! |
Excellent Move |
? |
Bad move |
?? |
Blunder |
!? |
Interesting Move |
?! |
Dubious Move |
1-0 |
White Wins |
0-1 |
Black Wins |
1/2 |
Draw |
Twoer |
Mate in Two Moves |
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| About the
author C.G.S.Narayanan, an international composer of repute, has been composing
Chess problems for the past thirty years. He has won
several awards for his compositions in International composing tourneys and he has an
output of over 300 problems to his credit. He is the second Indian to win the prestigious
Brian Harley Award for the best two-mover composed by a subject of British Commonwealth
twice in 1977 and 1991. He has been editing THE HINDU Chess problem column from 1982
onwards, after S.K.Narasimhan. He has captained the Indian team in the World Chess
Compositions Tournaments held by FIDE. |
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