Latest News
update: 3-5-2020
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Amatzia Avni wins IRT 2019
The April 2020 issue of the Israeli magazine Variantim is available.
It has an interesting study article by Gady Costeff as well
as the award of Variantim 2019 (IRT 2019) judged by Steffen Slumstrup Nielsen.
The tournament saw a home victory, as Amatzia Avni triumphed with a spectacular "one move" study.
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Piotr Murdzia and Martin Minski win the Polish Chess Federation ty 2019
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In the 10th Jubilee tournament of the Union Argentina de Problemistas de Ajedraz, there were 4 sections.
For the thematic Win-Miniatures section A1: the winner is: Mario Micaloni with Arpad Rusz,
For the thematic Draw-Miniatures section A2: the winner is: Vladislav Tarasiuk,
For the no-theme Win Section B1: the winner is: Peter Krug,
For the no-theme Draw Section B2: the winner is: Michael Pasman.
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Evgeny Kopylov wins Pobeda-75
14 composers competed in a tournament to commemorate Russia's defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945.
Accordingly all six prizes were awarded to win studies.
The first place winnner was Evgeny Kopylov (Russia) in front of Vladislav Tarasiuk (Ukraine) and Luis Migual Gonzalez (Spain).
Special prizes were awarded to Yuri Bazlov, Oleg Pervakov and Alexey Sochnev (all Russia).
The tournament was judged by Sergey Osintsev (Russia), who put all 14 studies in his award.
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Steffen Nielsen with Martin Minski win the Magyar Sakkvilag 2019 tournament !
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New issue of EG 220 ready:
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Vladislav Tarasiuk
26.03.2020
Dedicated to healthcare providers and all people
In the fight against pandemic from Covid-19
The motto of the study: Noah’s Ark
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Gurgenidze and Minski win Pat a Mat 2018/19
The latest biennial tournament of the Slovakian magazine Pat a Mat saw 22 studies compete.
Judge Emil Vlasak awarded first prize to the Georgian-German duo Martin Minski and David Gurgenidze who presented a sharp rook endgame.
Pavel Arestov (Russia) and Daniel Keith (France) won second prize in front of Peter Krug from Austria (3rd prize) and Arpad Rusz from Romania (special prize).
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Grandmasters triumph in 64-Shakhmatnoe Obozrenie 2019
The 2019 study tournament of the famous Russian chess magazine Shakhmatnoe Obozrenie, best known as simply "64",
was won by Yochanan Afek (The Netherlands) and Oleg Pervakov (Russia).
The two grandmasters of composition presented a tactical struggle with black and white counterblows.
A special prize was awarded to Arpad Rush (Romania) for a malyutka study featuring the fight of rook against two black pawns.
The tournaments was judged by Pavel Arestov (Russia).
64 Shakhmatnoye Obozrenye 2019
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A new issue available of the Argentinian magazine:
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Pervakov and Stavrietsky win Borodavkin 50 JT
A tournament to celebrate the 50th birthday of Sergei Borodavkin saw the triumph of an epic study by the Russian duo Pervakov/Stavrietsky.
On a total of 14(!) occasions White refuses to capture the Black queen.
Mario Micaloni and Arpad Rusz (Romania) presented a deep logical bishop ending to secure second place,
while a special prize was awarded to Pavel Arestov's (Russia) study with a rook battling four Black pawns to secure the draw.
The judge Vladislav Tarasiuk evaluated a total of 25 studies.
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On the download page added a new zip-file with latest Awards in PGN files.
First (Register and) Logon.
Downloads || registered users only
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Rusz and Kiryakov win Shakhmatnaya Kompositzia 2019
The annual study competition of the Russian periodical Shakhmatnaya Kompositzia saw 26 works competing for the honors.
Judge Alexrandr Stavrietsky gave three prizes.
The top spot was shared between Arpad Rusz (Romania) and Petr Kiryakov (Russia), while Steffen Nielsen (Denmark) won third prize.
We have two studies so far to show you:
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Krug, Peter 1966 is the first prize winner for the Win section and
Michal Hlinka with Lubos Kekely are the winners of the Draw-section
of the Československý šach 2019 tournament.
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Nielsen wins ChessStar 2019
The 2019 informal study tournament of the ChessStar website was won by Steffen Nielsen (Denmark)
with a study combining a checkless Prokeš (5. Ra7!) with a logical try (5. Ra6+?)) where the Prokeš happens with check.
Second place was secured by Jan Timman (The Netherlands) and Mario Guido Garcia (Argentina).
Their study features eventful counterplay by Black culminating in a positional draw despite Black being a rook, bishop and two pawns up.
Third place saw another joint study by Nielsen (Denmark) and Minski (Germany), the star move being 2. Re8!! after which White's pawns become unstoppable.
The tournament was judged by Peter Gyarmati, who evaluated a total of 25 studies. Replay: ChessStar 2019
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New issue EG219 available:
The contents.
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Results of the János Mikitovics 70 JT
Winner of the win section: Oleg Pervakov, Russia
In the UAPA 9th 2019 - Iriarte Memorial ty with 3 sections, Oleg Pervakov wins the thematic section.
In the win section the victory is split between Andrzej Jasik and a co-study by Arpad Rusz and Pavel Arestov.
In the draw section the winner is: Valery Kalashnikov.
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The December 2019 issue of the Israelian magazine Variantim with an interesting study article by Gady Costeff.
PDF (Variantim_Dec_79_2019) to download.
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Dear chessfriends,
The ARVES solving tourney 2019 was the 10th and last edition of a fine tradition.
The faithful tournament arbiter Luc Palmans and myself have taken this decision sharing the feeling that this would be the moment from personal reasons
and in view of the lack of further financial resources.
To conclude this meaningful chapter for us I wish to thank all those who kindly contributed to its success:
First and foremost our devoted arbiter Luc Palmans, who selected and tested the studies, prepared the paper work and skilfully judged all 10 editions;
All distinguished composers who provided their fine original entries;
0ur photographers Harry Gielen and to Rene Olthof for helping to documentate and save the precious moments and the finest memories;
To the boards of ARVES and Tata Steel chess and Jurgen Stigter for their substantial support.
Last but not least I would like to thank you all dear participants and to wish you a happy new year and Lots of success in your future challenges!
Best regards, Yochanan Afek , Tournament director.
Addition by Luc Palmans:
Ward Stoffelen was arbiter of the first edition.
I participated at the first edition, finished last, and decided it was time for a career switch.
Thanks to all the participants and supporters of these 10 fine editions.
Of course thanks to Yochanan, who doesn't stop to promote our art.
Best wishes to everybody for the next year.
Arves Solving contests statistics
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Vladislav Tarasiuk - wins the 22nd Championship of Ukraine.
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Results of Sinfonie Scacchistiche 2017-2018
The 2017-2018 informal study tournament of the Italian problem magazine Sinfonie Scacchistiche were split into 3 sections:
In the win section (A1), the honours were shared between a tactical study by the German-Danish duo Martin Minski and Steffen Nielsen and the Pole Andrzrej Jasik.
Another win section with midboard mates (A2) was established by the judge, as he discovered that a large portion of the submitted studies fullfilled this theme.
Here the trio Bizyagin Buyannemekh (Mongolia) Michael Hlinka (Slovakia) and Mario García (Argentina) were succesful.
Finally, in the draw section (A3) Pavel Arestov won first prize with a logical study.
The tournament was judged by Michael Roxlau of Germany who evaluated a total of 59 studies. Sinfonie Scacchistische 2017-2018
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Siegfried Hornecker, Martin Minski and Hauke Reddmann won the Moscow 2019 ty with a nice miniature!
Can you solve it? White plays and wins.
You also can find the solution in the Moscow 2019 PDF on the Awards Files files page.
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Study commented by GM Pablo Ricardi
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A new book issued by Sergei Tkachenko:
The book contains almost 400 pages and is about the chess career of Yakov Vilner who lived mostly in Odessa, Ukraine and became only 31 years old.
He is the one who helped Alexander Alekhine to escape the death penalty and to leave Russia in the rural times of 1919.
The first part of the book is about his career as a chessplayer;
The second half is about all his compositions (93) which are mainly all kind of Problems.
The book contains a lot of interesting history with many beautiful pictures.
The games and compositions are extensively commented by Sergei Tkachenko
and with the compositions other examples with the same theme (of other composers) are added.
The English translation is very good.
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A new book : An English edited version of De Koning and De Koningin in one volume.
Translation by: Yochanan Afek.
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New book by Sergei Tkachenko:
100 studies with just bishop and knight.
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Dolf Wissmann has made an accurate summary with the results of the Arves Solving contests organized since 1995:
Arves Solving contests statistics
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Russian Oleg Pervakov
is the old and new world champion
of endgame studies.
Congratulations!!
The scores of the studies section of the 2016-2018 WCCI have been released, securing Pervakov the honours for the fourth time, this time scoring 42,5 points.
The judges of the championship were Harold van der Heijden (The Netherlands),
Tournament Awards
Please send new awards (if possible PDF and PGN) to
webmaster This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or also to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and they will be published at this website.
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S.Hornecker, M.Minski and Reddmann win the Moscow 2019 ty with a nice miniature.
2nd: M. Dore; 3rd: Gromov and O.Pervakov
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Preliminary award Lubos Kekely 60 Jubilee Tournament available as PDF.
Winners are Igor Yarmanov and A.Zhokiv with V. Lebedev.
PDF see Awards Files.
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Pavel Arestov wins the 5th FRME 2019 tournament.
Second prize winners Avni with Martin Minski.
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Martin Minski with Steffen Nielsen win the Phenix 2018 tournament.
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In four sections the winners of the UAPA 8th 2019 Foguelman 95 MT are:
Richard Becker, Peter Krug & Mario Garcia, Jan Timman & Mario Garcia and Peter Krug.
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Andrzej Jasik and Jan Timman win the Japanese magazine tournament: Problem Paradise 2018.
Studies to replay: Problem Paradise 2018
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Steffen Slumstrup Nielsen and Martin Minski win the Romanian tournament Bucovina 100 Years Cup 2018.
At the website of e4-e5, from page 696 to 698 you find the result in PDF.
Studies to replay: e4-e5 100 Years Cup 2018
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Jan Timman wins the Pal Benko 90 Jubilee Tournament.
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Amos Gilboa and Yochanan Afek win the Velimir Kalandadze Memorial Ty 2019
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Sergey Didukh winner of the 7th FIDE World Cup 2019 !
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Tournament Calender.
On this page a calender of all known Endgame study tournaments which are running with information:
Also a very good page to check tournament announcements is on UAPA: Informal Tournaments, Formal Tournaments.
Another good calendar for study tournaments is chess-compose blogspot.
Latest update on 24-5-2020.
Corona Tourney 2020
The German paper SCHACH announces a composition „Corona Tourney“ (Studies and n#, h#) on physical distancing on board.
Closing date is July 10, 2020; the award will be published in the October 2020 issue.
Link to the announcement with details is http://www.zeitschriftschach.de/images/2020/corona-competition.pdf
8th FIDE World Cup in Composing 2020
REGULATIONS of the Eighth FIDE World Cup 2020 in Composing
1. TASKS AND OBJECTIVES
The Eighth FIDE World Cup in Composing is held with the aim to:
- develop and promote chess;
- develop and promote chess composition as a constituent of chess culture;
- expand the geography of participants;
- decide the winners.
2. ORGANIZERS
The organizers are the International Chess Federation, with the participation of the World Federation for Chess Composition.
The holding of the tournament is the direct responsibility of the Director and the Panel of Judges:
The Director of the tournament is Aleksandr Bulavka (Belarus).
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A. Twomovers – Judge: Dragan Stojnić (Serbia)
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B. Threemovers – Judge: Miodrag Mladenović (Serbia)
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C. Moremovers – Judge: Mikhail Marandyuk (Ukraine)
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D. Endgame studies – Judge: Yochanan Afek (Israel)
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E. Helpmates – Judge: Michal Dragoun (Czech Republic)
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F. Selfmates – Judge: Aleksandr Azhusin (Russia)
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G. Fairies – Judge: Vlaicu Crisan (Romania)
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H. Retros and Proofgames – Judge: Nicolas Dupont (France)
3. TIME SCHEDULE OF THE EVENT
The closing date for submitting the entries is May 15, 2020.
The director will send all compositions to the judges on uniform and anonymous diagrams by June 1, 2020.
All judges are to submit their awards by August 1, 2020.
4. PARTICIPANTS
Anyone wishing to take part in the tournament can do so.
5. PROCEDURE FOR PARTICIPATION
In each section, only one composition by each author is acceptable and joint compositions are not allowed.
The theme is free in all sections. In the fairies section (G), there is no restriction on stipulations, conditions, the use of fairy pieces, or the number of moves.
In the selfmates section (F) and fairies section (G), only computer-tested problems (using Alybadix, Popeye, Gustav or WinChloe) are allowed;
the participants should specify the version of the program they used to test their entry.
Entries must be sent on diagrams with complete solutions and any comments by email only to the Director’s address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Participants should mention their postal address in the email.
6. TOURNAMENT AWARD
After receiving the entries in anonymous form from the Director, the judges consider the submitted compositions, determine their originality, difficulty, aesthetic appeal, search for possible anticipations, and decide their ranking in the tournament. In each section, compositions in first, second, and third places must be determined, as well as entries receiving honorary mentions and commendations.
It is also possible to specify prize-winning compositions (no more than three per section).
After ranking the entries, the judges are to send, within the preset period, their award, with the indication of numbers of the compositions in the award and related comments, to the Director of the tournament. After receiving the awards from the judges, the Director is to enter the names of the authors and provide the preliminary results for publication on the websites of FIDE and WFCC before August 15, 2020. During one month after the publication of the preliminary results, claims of defects and anticipations can be sent to the Director, who will accumulate and forward them to the judges.
After receiving the claims, the judges will make the final decision on the results of the World Cup and send the final award to the Director.
7. PUBLICATION OF RESULTS
The final results of this competition will be published on the FIDE and WFCC websites no later than Oсtober 1, 2020.
8. PRIZE-GIVING
In each section, the Cup winner will be entitled to a money prize of 500 Euro, a Cup, a medal, and a certificate.
Composers in 2nd and 3rd places will be awarded medals and respective certificates.
The certificates for 1st-3rd places will be signed by the President of FIDE.
The prizes and other distinctions are to be presented to the laureates on October 9, 2020, at the closing ceremony of the World Chess Composition Congress in Rodos (Greece)
9. ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUES
These Regulations shall constitute an official invitation to the tournament.
44th World Chess Olympiad of 2020
The All-Russian Public Organization “The Chess Federation of Russia” (CFR) and, at the request of the CFR, the Commission for Chess Composition (CCC) announce an international chess composing tournament dedicated to the 44th World Chess Olympiad of 2020.
The chess composing tournament will be conducted in the following eight sections: twomovers; threemovers; moremovers; endgame studies;
helpmates; selfmates in 2-12 moves; fairy compositions; retros and proofgames.
The number of entries from one author in a section must not exceed two.
Moreover, only one individual composition will be allowed, i.e. one author can maximally submit oneindividual and one joint composition or two joint entries.
The number of co-authors of collective compositions is not limited.
All compositions are to be sent by email to the Executive Director of the tournament Vitaliy Medintsev, email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.,
The closing date is postponed !
All participants are asked to present their entries not only on diagrams but also in FEN notation.
Information on the tournament, including the award, will be posted on the CFR website: https://ruchess.ru/.
The judges are:
Twomovers – V.Markovtsiy (Ukraine),
Threemovers – V. Kirillov (Russia),
Moremovers – V. Volchek (Belarus),
Endgame studies – M. Hlinka (Slovakia),
Helpmates – B. Shorokhov (Russia),
Selfmates in 2-12moves – V. Kopyl (Ukraine),
Fairies – P. Petkov (Bulgaria), Retros – V. Crisan (Romania).
Additional information on the Fairies section from the judge P. Petkov: 1.All types of fairy stipulations are allowed. There are no restrictions on the use of fairy pieces and conditions. 2. Only computer-tested (C+) entries will be allowed. The author must specify the pro-gram (and the program’s version) that was used to test the entry. Entries without such in-formationwill not be accepted for the tournament.
The preliminary award will be posted on the website http://www.selivanov.world/. The preliminary award may also be presented on a number of other sites. After the publication of the preliminary award, the participants will have 1 month for submitting their claims of defects and anticipations. After analyzing the claims, the judges will prepare the final award in each section. The CFR will present certificates and commemorative medals to the winners of the tournament. The judges will also receive commemorative medals.
EG 2020-2021
EG, the only periodical exclusively devoted to endgame studies, announces an informal tourney for original studies.
The studies and the award will be published in EG.
You are strongly urged to only send your best and most creative works.
The original’s editor will only select very good studies for publication.
Please send your originals in PGN-format to the editor Steffen Slumstrup Nielsen at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
The judge for the 2020-2021 tourney is Yochanan Afek.
