The new president for WFCC (ex PCCC) said...

The permanent committee for chess composition (PCCC) of the "Federation International des Eschecs" (FIDE) is now a Federation and has the title "World Federation for Chess Composition" (WFCC).
The statute rules have been modified (to conform with Suisse law).
After the elections for presidency (four years of service) we have :
President : Harry Fougiaxis GRE
1st Vice President : Hannu Harkola FIN
2nd Vice President : Georgi Evseev RUS
3rd Vice President - Treasurer : Thomas Maeder SWI
Two more officers are going to be elected soon in newly established positions, an auditor and a reserve auditor.

As the new president of WFCC mr Harry Fougiaxis said to us, he has the impression that the elected team has uniformity and a willingness to help the world of chess composition.

First plans for action
1. Registration of name and statute rules of WFCC in Verne, Suisse.
2. Improvement of relations with FIDE.
3. Coordination and restructuring in the work subcommittees of ex-PCCC, (Solving - FIDE album - Studies - WCC Tournament etc).
4. The titles (GM of FIDE for chess solving, GM of FIDE for chess composition) will continue to be supported by FIDE.

Some perennial problems have already been spotted (like the delayed preparation of the FIDE Albums) and there are ideas for useful usage of internet.

You have read (in world exclusiveness) the first "press conference" of the new president of WFCC, mr. Harry Fougiaxis.

Some Results from the WSCS 2010

Some results from the Championship in Chess Problem Solving, which took place this year in Crete, Greece. Judge in the Solving events was mr. Axel Steinbrick.

You may find all the problems of the solving tourneys and their solutions here.


Solvers and Points (max=60) in the Open Solving event
1. Evseev 60
2. Vuskovich 60
3. Zude 59
4. Selivanov 58
5. Comay 56.5
6. Nunn 55
7. Murdzia 54.5
8. Tummes 54
9. Fomichev 52.5
10. Kovacevic 51.5
---
17. Prentos 49
48. Papastavropoulos 33.5
72. Papathanassiou 23
75. Skyrianoglou 21
78. Konidaris 18
82. Manolas 7.5
83. Efthimakis 6

Countries and Points (max=180) in the Championship WSCS Tournament
1. Poland 130
2. Russia 129.5
3. Germany 128.5
4. Great Britain 126.5
5. Serbia 118
6. Belgium 113
---
14. Greece (Konidaris - Papastavropoulos - Prentos) 91
20. Greece B (Efthimakis - Manolas - Skyrianoglou) 44.5


Solvers and Points (max=90) in the Champioship WSCS Tournament
1. Nunn GBR 71
2. Murdzia POL 69.5
3. Pfannkuche GER 64.0
4. Evseev RUS 63.5
5. Van Beers BEL 61.5
6. Selivanov RUS 61.5
7. Vuckovic SRB 61.5
8. Kopyl UKR 61.0
9. Piorun POL 60.0
10. Viktorov RUS 59.5
11. Zude GER 58.0
12. Fomichev RUS 56.5
---
19. Prentos GRE 52.5
48. Papastavropoulos GRE 34.0
56. Skyrianoglou GRE 28.0
65. Papathanassiou GRE 20.0
68. Manolas GRE 16.5
69. Konidaris GRE 13.5
70. Efthimakis GRE 5.0


In the "Machine Gun" contest 30 two movers are presented on a screen for 1 minute each and the solvers must find and write the key. The perfect score would be +30-0 (thirty correct by +1.0 and no wrong answers by -0.9) but it is not approachable.

Solvers, Given Answers and Points (max=30) on "Machine Gun" solving contest
1. Mestel J +10-2 8.2
2. Kovacevic M +10-5 5.5
3. Selivanov A +8-3 5.3
4. Caillaud M +7-2 5.2
5. Mukoseev A +10-6 4.6
6. McDowell M +7-3 4.3


Solvers and Points (max=45) in the "Open Fairy Solving" contest
1. Juraj Loerinc 32.5
2. Vlaicu Crisan 27.5
3. Eddy van Beers 27.25
4. Boris Tummes 26.5
5. Thomas Maeder 26

In the "Solving Show" a new presentation program was used, created by Ioannis Garoufalidis, Judge - composer - solver - programmer - physics teacher. In this type of competition take part the top solvers of the WSCS tournament. It is a knock-out procedure. Each pair of solvers sees for a short time a problem and one of the solvers proposes the key-move. If his answer is correct, then he gains a point, otherwise the opponent gains a point. The first who achieves a predetermined score of points (initially 3) is the winner. The next pair steps in and the spectacular event goes on. In case of an unsolved problem, the audience can take part. Almost a hundred two-mover problems and two and a half hours were needed to complete this competition.

Final results in the "Solving Show" competition
1. Araz Almammadov AZR
2. Marek Kolcak SLO
3. Arno Zude GER
4. Dmitri Pletnev RUS

For composition contests we will have news soon.

Inactivity or not?

Of course not!
We do not post frequently this last period but there is much work done in the backstage.

First, I've prepared the translation in Greek of the Award for the composition content Manolas-60 JT. I believe that is useful for Greek-speaking friends of this blog to easily read an Award. Most of the awards I have seen are written in languages I do not understand and I try machine translation (very funny) or I see only diagrams and solutions, losing the enlighting comments of the Judges.

Second, there are new fairy conditions in the composition contests of the World championship this year in Crete, Greece. Read here for Half-Check, KoBul Kings, CapZug and who knows what new will be born from the imagination of the composers.

Half-Check : The check from a piece is "half" and if it is still preserved by the same piece in the next move, then it is "full". If it cannot be stopped then, it is mate.

KoBul Kings : The Kings take the move/capture properties of their last friendly piece captured, and become normal kings again when a friendly pawn is captured.

CapZug : In given number of moves we must bring the opponent side to a situation to capture something, while it is not under check.

In front of the new conditions all the composers are equivalent (newbie, tenderfoot?). So the new composers must rush!

We prepare our problems, and if someone needs explanations or cooperation, here we are!

Manolas-60 JT Preliminary Award

The Preliminary Award for Manolas-60 Jubilee Tourney is ready.

You may find a copy in .pdf form here

Many thanks to all participating composers.

Manolas-60 JT 2010

Section A (direct mate #3) Award
1st Prize : Arieh Grinblat & Evgeni Bourd (Israel)
2nd Prize : Leonid Makaronez (Israel)
3rd Prize : Alberto Armeni (Italy)
1st Honourable Mention : Ing. Miroslav Svítek (Czech Republic)
2nd Honourable Mention : Manos Pantavos & Nikos Pergialis (Greece)
3rd Honourable Mention : Evgeny Fomichev (Russia)
1st Commendation : Valery Kopyl (Ukraine)
2nd Commendation : Vladimir Kozhakin (Russia)
3rd Commendation : Joaquim Crusats (Spain)
4th Commendation : Carlo de Grandi (Greece)
Special Mention : Christian Poisson (France)

Section B (helpmate #3) Award
1st Prize : Christer Jonsson (Sweden)
2nd Prize : Carlos Lago (Argentina)
Honourable Mention : Evgeny Fomichev (Russia)
Commendation : Stefan Milewski (Poland)
Commendation : Nikos Pergialis (Greece)
Commendation : Menachem Witztum (Israel)

Section C (selfmate #3) Award
1st Prize : Evgeny Fomichev (Russia)
2nd Prize : Ivan Soroka (Ukraine)
Honourable Mention : Alberto Armeni (Italy)
Commendation : Ivan Soroka & Vitaliy Shevchenko & Ivan Borisenko (Ukraine)
Commendation : Soroka Ivan (Ukraine)
Commendation : Gunter Jordan (Germany)

Section D (fairy #3) Award
Prize: Juraj Lörinc & Ladislav Salai Jr. (Slovakia)
Honourable Mention: Juraj Lörinc (Slovakia)
1st Commendation: Ioannis Garoufalidis (Greece)
2nd Commendation: Alberto Armeni (Italy)
3rd Commendation: Juraj Lörinc (Slovakia)
4th Commendation: Juraj Lörinc (Slovakia)

Chess and machines

I noticed a post about [Computer Chess Algorithms] which contains a chronological list of evolutionary steps of the chess-playing-machines.
Apart from the historical content, a judgement of the facts by the blogger reaches the conclusion that [If you play in deep positional style, the computer might not be able to evaluate well the position] and you might win.
Interesting!