Конкурс «Те, кто в ванне икал» продолжался три с половиной года. По меркам Чарльза Осборна, икавшего 68 лет, срок небольшой, а для конкурса по составлению – марафон. 17 марафонцев прислали 40 этюдов. Мартин Мински раздал призы миниатюрам: Русу – за любимую асимметрию, Авни – за эхо в ванне.
Tehtavaniekka 2017-19
I spent 6 years on asymmetry and wrote a book about it.
The examples of this type are not as concise as the Rusz study.
As a judge, I never judge the process of composing or the tools that a
composer has used because I don’t know that. Only the end product is decisive,
no matter how it was created.
Of course, studies with 6 pieces are also possible.
There is a rule for FIDE Album judges.
It is a small tournament.
It doesn’t mean that any study automatically qualifies for the FIDE Album.
This is decided by three independent judges.
The study by Arpad Rusz will be remembered later.
The white king in my study is farther from the edge of the board where he gets stalemated than in the previous examples, and the initial position is looking more symmetrical. There is definitely some progress here.
Most probably the position is unique in the realm of 6-man endgames.
It wasn’t “composed” in the old sense of the word, but found with the help of specialized software. Trying to find “by hand” such curiosities is almost impossible, and even with the computer’s help, the workload was quite huge. I could have composed 20 traditional studies meanwhile. By the way, I guess that the birth of most modern studies gets help from a computer engine.
It is not of a prize value in a strong tourney especially compared with my other three asymmetry studies.