Raaphy Persitz MT 2019 – Studies Award

Judge: Amatzia Avni

Raaphy Persitz (1934 – 2009) was a dear friend. Bright, knowledgeable, versatile,
kind, generous, always ready to assist and help. He excelled in three independent
fields: chess, economy and linguistics.
In his obituary (British chess magazine) I wrote "ordinary people have a mixture of
good qualities and bad ones... Raaphy Persitz was a distinct type: one sided, positive
only; pure gold".
A study tourney to commemorate him drew 37 entries, of mixed level, which were
delivered to me anonymously.
N. 13 by Kiryakov was already published in 1997 (Moscow-850 AT). Perhaps the
composer was unaware of this.
N. 1 and N. 25 (by Tarasiuk) are both anticipated; details were handed by the TD to
the composer.
The theme required "clear, straightforward, easy to understand studies". A few
respectable entries were disqualified because they didn't correspond to the theme. For
example, N. 16 (by Hlinka, Buyannemekh & Garcia) presents an integration of three
drawing lines - in two of them a proof of the DB, exceeding human understanding,
was required.

Ofer Comay acted as ty director and Gady Costeff checked anticipations in Hvdh5. I
thank them heartily for their dedicated efforts.

Here follows my ranking; I find the chosen entries enjoyable and of a very good
quality.
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No. 22, 1st Prize, Oleg Pervakov
(6+4) White to play and win
Beautiful combinative play on the theme of overloaded pieces. Active counter play and
stalemate avoidance, culminate in reciprocal Zugzwang. All this in an economical setting.
Flowing, impressive play.

1.Nf7+! [1.c8Q? Qf4+/h3+ -+; 1.Rxe3? Qf4+ 2.Kh5 Qxd6! (2...Qxe3? 3.g7+! Kh7 4.Ng5+
Kxg7 5.Nf5+) 3.c8Q Qxg6+! 4.Kxg6= stalemate (or 4.Kh4 Qh6+=) ] 1...Bxf7 2.c8Q+ Bg8
3.Re4!! [Accurate. Not 3.Re5? Qf4+ 4.Rg5 Re6! 5.Qc3+ Rf6!=; or 3.Rf6? Re6! 4.Qc3 Qh3+
5.Kg5 Qg3+ 6.Kf5 Qh3+ 7.Kf4 Qh6+ 8.Ng5 (8.Kg4 Qg7=) 8...Rxf6+ 9.Qxf6+ Qg7=; 3.Rxe3?
Qxg6+ 4.Kxg6 stalemate=] 3...Rxe4 4.Qf5!! [4.Qc3+? only draws after 4…Rd4 5.Qxd4+ Qxd4
6.Nxd4 Ba2! 7.Nf5 Kg8! 8.g7 Kf7=] 4...Qxg6+! [4...Qxf5 5.g7#; 4...Qf4+ 5.Qxf4 Rxf4 6.g7#;
4...Rf4 5.Qe5+] 5.Qxg6! [5.Kxg6? Bh7+=] 5...Re6 6.Ne5! zz [6.Nh4? Bf7!=] 6...Rxg6+ [There
is no salvation: 6...Bf7 7.Nxf7#] 7.Nxg6# 1–0

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No. 29, 2nd Prize, Yuri Bazlov
(5+4) Black to play, win

The double sacrifice of a rook, 6.Rd8 and 9.Re7, creates an amusing echo, as does black's
defences 2.Kb4 Be7+! and 2.Kb5 Bf6!. Each of these motives have partial anticipation, but the
elegance in which they are combined is admirable. During the solution white must take care to
avoid stalemate traps. This work makes aesthetic impression, the central part is easy to follow
and to grasp.

1...Rc2+ [1...Qc8+ 2.Kd4] 2.Kb5! [2.Kd3 Qxf3+ 3.Kxc2 Qe2+; 2.Kb4 Be7+! 3.Qxe7 Rb2+
4.Kc5 Qc8+ 5.Kd6 (5.Kd4 Qh8+ 6.Kd3 Rb3+ 7.Ke4 Rb4+ 8.Ke3 (8.Kf5 Qh3+ 9.Kg6 Rg4+!=)
Rb3+ 9.Rd3 Qh6+ 10.Kd4 Qb6+) 5...Qa6+ 6.Ke5 (6.Kd7) 6...Re2+ 7.Bxe2 Qxe2+ 8.Kd6
Qa6+! (not 8...Qxd1 9.Qe8+ Ka7 10.Qd7+, winning) 9.Kd7 Qc8+! with stalemate] 2...Bf6! [a
strong shot. 2...Kb8 3.Rb1; 2...Be7 3.Ra1+ Kb8 4.Qxe7; 2...Ra2 3.Qf8+ Ka7 4.Qf7+ Kb8 5.Rb1
loses without a chance] 3.Qxf6 [3.Qf8+ Qc8 4.Qxc8+ Rxc8=] 3...Qd7+ white loses his queen,
but still wins 4.Qc6+ Rxc6 5.dxc6 Qe8 6.Rd8+! Ka7 [6...Qxd8 7.c7+ Ka7 8.cxd8B (8.cxd8N)
] 7.Rd7+ (7.R:e8? stalemate) Kb8 8.Rb7+ Ka8 [8...Kc8 9.Bg4+ Kd8 10.Rb8+] 9.Re7! Qc8
[9...Qxe7 10.c7+ Ka7 11.c8N+] 10.Kb6! Kb8 [10...Qb8+ 11.Kc5] 11.Bg4 (the shortest, but
11.Be2 and even 11.Re8 are good enough) Qxg4 12.Re8+ 1:0
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No. 32, 3rd Prize, Steffen Slumstrup Nielsen & Martin Minski
(10+7) White to play and win
Black's ingenious 2…Qh3!!, is parried by a counter Q-sacrifice 3.Qd6!!; and later on, by a
minor promotion to escape stalemate. The heavy structure made the difference between this
study and the former prizes.
1.Be4 Nf5 [with a devious threat – see next move. 1...Qg4 2.Bxg6+! Qxg6 3.Bg5 Be5 4.a7+-]
2.Bg5 [after 2.h5? gxf6 white has several options but they are all insufficient for the full point=]
2...Qh3!! 3.Qd6!! [3.gxh3?? Ng3#; 3.B:f5? Q:g2#] 3...Ng3+ [3...Nxd6 4.gxh3 Nxe4 5.Bf4
Bxf4 6.exf4+-; 3...Bxd6+ 4.gxh3 Ng3+ 5.Kg1 Nxe4 6.Bf4+-] 4.Qxg3 Qxg3 5.a7 Re1+ 6.Rxe1
Qxe1+ 7.Kxh2 Qa1 8.a8B!!+- [8.a8Q? Qh1+ /Qg1+! 9.KxQ stalemate.; 8.Bc6? Qxa7=; 8.b6??
Qe5+ 9.Bf4 Qxe4–+] 1–0

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No. 2, Special Prize, Jan Timman
(8+8) White to play and win

The double pawn-sacrifice to force en-passant had been shown before (Dolukhanov &
Korolkov, Ka2/Kf7 1937; Eucken, Ke7/Ke5 1948); but the motivation here behind this
mechanism is fresh: it is designed to hide the mating square from both black queens. In addition,
3.Qg1!! is lovely.
1.Rb8 [1.Bxd4 a1Q 2.Bxa1 Qxa1+ 3.Kxg5 Qg7+=] 1...Qd1! 2.Rb4! [2.Qg2 a1Q 3.Rb4 d3+
4.Bd4 Qxd4+ 5.Rxd4+ Kxd4 6.Qf2+ Kc3=] 2...a1Q [2...c5 3.Qg2+-] 3.Qg1!! (3.Qg2? d3+)
3…Qxg1 (3…d3+? Q(R) d4+ mates) 4.c4+! dxc3 5.e4+! fxe3 6.Rd4# 1–0
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No. 6, 1st Honor Mention, Pavel Arestov & Alexander Zhukov
(6+3) White to play and win
Implementing the tactical devices of ambush and fork, white drags the royal couple to a position
where they surrender against equal force.
1.Rg5+!! [1.e4+? Qxe4!=; winning material with 1.R1xg4? enables perpetual check by
1…Qc7+ 2.Kf8 Qc8+=] 1...Kxg5 2.Nf3+! [2.Rxg4+? Kh5=] 2...Kh5! [2...Kf5 3.Nd4+] 3.Rh1+
Nh2 4.Rxh2+ Kg4 5.Ne5+ Kf5! [5...Kg5 6.f4++-] 6.e4+! Qxe4! [6...Kxe5 7.f4++-; 6...Kxe4
7.f3++-; 6...Kg5 7.f4+ (Rg2+) +-] 7.Rh5+ Kf4 8.Kf6! [8.Rh4+? Kxe5=] 8...Qb1 9.Rh4# 1–0

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N. 33, 2nd Honor Mention, Vladimir Samilo
(4+7) White to play and draw
After black's strong shot 4...Rc2!, the immediate activation of WK fails. But following a series
of checks the BK is drawn to the center, when 9.Kg3!! now saves the day. The tries 1.Q:a2+
and 1.Qb3+ are also of interest.
1.Qb8+! 1.Qxa2+? Rc4+ 2.Kg5 h1Q 3.Ra8+ Kh7 4.Rh8+ Kxh8 5.Qa8+ Kh7 6.Rh3+! Qxh3?
7.Qh8+ Kxh8 stalemate; but 6…Rh4! refutes black's plot. 1.Qb3+? Kh7! (1...Rc4+ 2.Kg5
R6c5+ 3.Kg6 Rc6+ 4.Kg5=) 2.Rh3 Rg6! and white is lost, despite his huge material advantage.
1...Kh7 2.Qxh2 Rh6+ 3.Kg3 Rxh2 4.Kxh2 4.Rxa2? e1Q+ 5.Rxe1 Rxa2
4...Rc2!
4...Rc3?= 5.Raxc3
5.Rh3+! 5.Kg1? Rc3! 6.Rxa2 (6.Rxe2 Rxa3) 6...Rxe3; 5.Kg3? Rc3!
5...Kg6 6.Rhg3+ Kf5 7.Rgf3+ Ke4 8.Rfe3+ Kd4 9.Kg3!! Rc3 9...a1Q 10.Red3+ Kc4 11.Rxa1
Kxd3 12.Kf2=
10.Raxc3 a1Q 11.Red3+ Ke5 12.Re3+ Kf5 13.Rc5+ Kf6 13...Kg6 14.Rce5=
14.Rc6+ ½–½
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No. 11, 3rd Honor Mention, Pavel Arestov & Daniel Keith
(4+3) White to play and win
A delicate miniature where decision is arrived by precise king moves and by placing the white
knight twice in succession on an unguarded square: 6.Nf5!; 7.Ne3!

Black threatens to exchange his knight for the e-pawn and capture the h-pawn with the king.
1.Kd6! [1.Kf5? Ke3 2.e5 Nf3 3.Nd8 g6+! 4.Kf6 Nxe5 5.Kxe5 Kf3=; 1.Kf4? Nd3+ 2.Kf5 Ke3
3.e5 g6+! (3...Nxe5? 4.Kxe5 g6 5.Nd6+- transposes to main line) 4.Kf6 Nxe5 5.Kxe5 Kf3
6.Nd6=; 1.Nc5? Ke3= (1...Nf3+? 2.Kf4 Ke2 3.h3! Kf2 4.Ne6!+-) ] 1...Ke3 [1...Nf3 2.e5
transposes] 2.e5 Nf3 [2...Nc2? 3.Nd8 (a5) Nd4 4.Nc6 Nf5+ 5.Kd7 g5 6.e6+-] 3.Kd5! [3.e6?
Nd4 =; 3.Nc5? g5! 4.e6 Nd4 5.Ke5 g4!=; 3.Nd8? Ke4!=] 3...Nxe5! [3...Nd4 4.Nd6+-; an
attractive side-line is 3...Ng5 4.h4 Nh3 5.Nc5 Nf4+ 6.Kd6 g6! 7.Nd3!! Ng2 8.h5 gxh5 9.e6+-]
4.Kxe5 g6! [4...Kf3 5.Kf5 g6+ 6.Kg5+-] 5.Nd6 Kf3 6.Nf5! [6.Kf6? Kg4=] 6...g5! [6...Kg4
7.Ne3+/ Ng3 Kh3 8.Nf1+-] 7.Ne3! Kxe3 [7...g4 8.Nf1+-] 8.Kf5 Kf3 9.Kxg5 1–0
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No. 20, 4th Honor Mention, Mike Pastalaka
(6+6) White to play and win

White seems to have a large advantage but in fact he has to play accurately, cross several
obstacles and even execute a same color light-square bishop promotion, before he can bring
home his superiority.

1.g7 [1.g:h7? Bg6+=] Bf7 2.Nxf3 Bg8 [2...d6 3.Ne5+! dxe5 4.Kxe5 Nb4 5.Kf6 Bg8 6.Ke7
Nxa2 (6...Kh5 7.Kf8 Nxd5 8.Kxg8 Nf6+ 9.Kf8 Kxh6 10.Kf7 Kg5 11.Be6+-) 7.d6 Nb4 8.d7 Nc6+
9.Kf8 Ba2 10.g8Q+ Bxg8 11.Kxg8 Kg5 12.Kxh7 Kf6 13.Kg8+-] 3.Ne5+ [3.Ke5? Nb4 4.Kf6
Nxa2 5.Ke7 Kxf3 6.Kf8 Bxd5 7.g8Q Bxg8 8.Kxg8 d5 9.Kxh7 d4 10.Kg6 d3 11.h7 d2 12.h8Q
Ke2 is only a draw] 3...Kg5 4.Nxd7 Kxh6 5.Bc4! Nc7 [5...Nb4 6.d6! Bxc4 7.Nb8! Nd3
8.Na6!+-] 6.Nf6 [6.d6 Ne8! 7.Bxg8 Nxd6+ 8.Ke5 Kxg7=] 6...Bxd5+ [6...Kxg7 7.Nxg8 Kxg8
8.d6++-] 7.Nxd5 Ne8 [7...Nxd5 8.g8N+ Kg7 9.Bxd5+-] 8.g8B!! [just like that. 8.g8Q Nf6+
9.Nxf6=; 8.g8N+ Kg7 9.Nge7 Nd6+ 10.Kd4 Nxc4 11.Kxc4 Kh6! and black achieves a draw=]
8...Kg7 9.Ne7! [9.Be6? Nf6+=] 9...Kf8 10.Nf5 Nf6+ 11.Ke5 Nxg8 12.Ke6 and white wins, as
the black knight is doomed; e.g. 12…h5 13.Be2 h4 14.Bb5 h3 15.Ba4 h2 16.Bc6 1:0
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No. 19, 5th Honor Mention, Oleg Pervakov
(6+5) White to play and win
A beautiful knight maneuver. The point 5.Nh1! to liquidate into a winning pawn ending, had
been demonstrated by Kaila, Ke2/Kg1, 1934. Here the play is definitely better and more elegant.
The composer notes that during the solution there are four 'Umnov' but there are more than
200(!) examples of such a feat in the DB.

1.Nd1! [1.Nc4? Kh1!=; 1.Rf4? gxh2–+] 1...f1Q! 2.Ne3+ Kh1! 3.Nxf1 g2 4.Ng3+ Kxh2 5.Nh1!
Note the knight's trip from b2 to d1–e3-f1–g3-h1. 5...g1Q! [5...f5!? 6.Rh4+! (but not 6.gxf6?e.p.
g5!=) 6...Kg1 7.e4+-] 6.Rh4+ Kg2 7.Rg4+ Kxh1 8.Rxg1+ Kxg1 9.Kd4 Kf2 10.Ke5 Ke3!
11.Kf6 Kf4 12.e3+! Ke4 13.Kxf7 Kf5 14.e4+ Kxg5 15.e5 1–0

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No. 18, 1st Commendation, Beat Neuenschwander
(5+4) White to play and draw

Refusal of immediate capture in order to choose a better capture-square had been performed
many times before, as does a temporary withdrawal of a knight from the enemy's advanced
pawn. Still, the present study is neat and makes a worthwhile contribution.

1.Bd3+ The h-pawn and Black's material advantage will prevail after [1.c7 c1Q 2.Nb7 (2.Bg4
Rxc7 3.Nxc7 Qg5) 2...Qf4 3.Bb5 Qf8+ 4.Nd8 (4.Ka7 Ke5) 4...Qf5 5.Be8 Qa5 6.Kb7 Rb3+]
1...Kxd3 [1...Rxd3 2.Nc5+ Ke3 3.Nxd3 Kxd3 4.c7 c1Q 5.c8Q] 2.Nb4+ Ke4 3.Na2! [3.Nxc2?
(thematic try) 3...Rxc2 4.c7 Kf5! 5.Nb7 (5.Kb7 Rxc7+ 6.Kxc7 h5 7.Nc6 h4 8.Nd4+ Kg4; 5.Nf7
h5 6.Nd6+ Kf4 7.Nb5 h4 8.Nd4 Rxc7 9.Kxc7 h3; 5.c8Q+ Rxc8+ 6.Kxc8 h5 7.Nc6 h4 8.Nd4+
Kg4) 5...h5 6.Na5 Kf4! wins] 3...c1Q 4.Nxc1 Rxc1 5.c7 Kf5 [5...h5 6.Ne6 h4 7.Ng5+ Kf4
8.Nh3+] 6.Nb7 h5 7.Na5 Kf4 [7...h4 8.Nb3 Rxc7 9.Kxc7 h3 10.Nd2 h2 11.Nf1; Gurgenidze's
save] 8.Nb3 Attacking the Rook wins the important tempo. 8...Rxc7 9.Kxc7 Ke3 10.Na5! h4
11.Nc4+ Kf4 [11...Ke2 12.Ne5 h3 13.Ng4] 12.Nd2 h3 13.Nf1 draw. The Gurgenidze study in
the sideline is: W: Ka2, Nh7; B: Ke7, b5, h6. 1.Ka3! (Kb3?) Ke6 2. Nf8+ Kf5 3. Nd7 h5 4.Nc5
h4 5.Nb3 h3 6.Nd2 h2 7.Nf1=
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No. 5, 2nd Commendation, Yochanan Afek
(10+5) White to play and win

Sacrifices which lead eventually to a fork of king and queen are known; e.g. Wotawa Ka2/Ka4
(flawed), 1936; Avni, Kg3/Kh5, EG 2017 N. 21353. Here we have a precise choice of white's
first move and two active white sacrifices, the second one inviting check, to bring the BQ to its
"forking position". One feels that the idea could be performed more economically.

1.Rd1!! [The motive is not for the control of the central open file but rather to stay away of the
f2 pawn. 1.Rf1 /Re1? b1Q 2.h3!? (2.f4 Qxf1+ (2...a1Q? 3.Rxb1 Qxb1+ 4.Kf2 Qxe4 5.g3+ Kh3
6.g8Q+-) 3.Kxf1 a1Q+ 4.Kf2 Qxg7 5.Ne5 Qxg2+ 6.Kxg2 stalemate=) 2...Qxf1+ 3.Kh2 Qxf2
4.g8Q Qg1+! 5.Kxg1 a1Q+ 6.Kf2 Qg1+ 7.Kxg1 stalemate] 1...b1Q 2.h3!! [2.Nc3? Qxd1+
3.Nxd1 a1Q 4.f4 Qxd1+ 5.Kf2 Qb3 6.f5=] 2...Qxd1+ 3.Kh2 Qg1/h1+! [3...a1Q? 4.g3+ Kg5
5.g8Q+ mating.] 4.Kxg1/h1 a1Q+ 5.Kh2 Qxg7 6.Nd4! gives away a knight... 6...Qxd4
[6...Kg5 7.Ne6+] 7.Ne5! ...and now the other one with check! 7...Qxe5+ [7...Kg5 8.Nf3+] 8.g3+
Kg5 9.f4+ Qxf4 10.gxf4+ Kxf4 11.e5! [11.Kg2? h4 draws.] 11...Kxe5 12.Kg3 Ke4 13.Kh4
winning by a single tempo. 1–0