Судья Александр Ставриецкий: “На конкурс составления этюдов-миниатюр поступило 19 этюдов от 12 авторов. Лучшие этюды на выигрыш демонстрируют, как необходимо умело реализовать преимущество, то есть победить более слабого. Даже у призовых этюдов не хватает настоящей пуанты, которая в миниатюре может смотреться особенно привлекательно. Хотелось бы в миниатюрах острой борьбы равных по силе противников. А ещё лучше, когда у чёрных преимущество, но оно всё-таки становится мнимым”.
Семь шахматных нот 2023
My top-1 is the miniature by Minski. The important intermediate move 10.Bd7! is available thanks to the precise refusal 5.Kc7! Arestov’s studies are not for humans.
I also like this miniature for its good flow and the inventive White defense but 5. Kc7 is completely automatic. Capture loses on the spot, d8 and b8 are nonsense and Kb7? has two disadvantages: no attack on the bishop and Black can gain a tempo with checks. There is no conceivable advantage to Kb7.
It reminds me of this one with its prolonged suspense.
https://eg.org.ua/chessgame/tkachenkosi-0044-11a4h7/
Logical try 5.Kb7? shows the obstacle – it’s Bb5, not the place of the white king. We have to put the king on c7 to save the bishop and make Kxb5 unavailable.
You can have as much purity of purpose in the logical try as you like: if you can reason to the best choice on the basis of general considerations, without even perceiving the future obstacle, it is worthless as a try. Not for nothing, we translate it in German not only as “Probespiel”, but also as “Verführung” (temptation).
As said before, I do like Martin’s study, but above all for the extraordinary flow.
Of course, an elegant battle of pieces is the main theme of this miniature. A logical combination is just an episode in it. Temptation is a not a requirement. You may find the right continuation Kc7 at once and later ask yourself why not Kb7?
Fair enough: one can also look at a try retrospectively and ask oneself about uniqueness of the solution.
This study by Martin I would have put in my award.
There are certainly worse things than experts not agreeing on whether logic is important or it’s just a matter of flow (I think the flow is main thing). Thank you for your praise! Even Oleg already wrote to me!
I had the idea with 4… Bd7+! and the rest was simply included in the scheme. Such “discoveries” are rarely made. Maybe my best miniature.
Of course it is self-promotion, but I cannot withstand the temptation to mention my miniature with similar material from 2022. Those who like Martin’s piece may like it, too. Both are essentially sub-miniatures with six pieces preceded by an introductory pawn sacrifice.
Note the analogous play in the lines 4. Na6? and 4. Ne6! highlighting the domination of the white knight (and White’s successful escape in the solution).
https://eg.org.ua/chessgame/sprengerj-0034-11e3h8/
Dear Jan, (slightly) worse miniatures can be shown for comparison with my pleasure! 🙂