The new Fairings issue (August 2012) is here! You can find there twelve interesting fairy problems presented by Chris Feather.

FAIRINGS…                                                No. 25: August 2012

C.J.Feather 10 Tinwell Road STAMFORD PE9 2QQ UK   [ This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ]

   Two visitors this time. Geoff's hs# is a radical reinterpretation of my F24/1, but it is certainly a very economical one. Juraj's miniature is a perfect little gem. Before looking at 3 please read my definition of Kamikaze! Best wishes to all.

1 1.Kxd6 BSa8=Q 2.Kd7 Qd5#, 1.Kxc6 BSc8=Q 2.Bd5 Qa6# & 1.Kxe6 BSe8=R+ 2.Kf7 BSf8=Q#, a cyclic Zilahi.       

2 a) 1.Kxd5[TRe5] NDe3 2.Kxc5[BPd5] BPc6# b) 1.Kxf4[NDe5] TRd3 2.Kxg3[BPf4] BPg5# The b6- & h3-Ps end up pinned behind their king.          

3 a) 1.Rxc6[Qa8;–R] Rc2 2.Se3 Be4# b) 1.Bxc6[Qc8;–B] Bf3 2.Sd2 Rc3# Redoubling with the stronger piece behind. Please computer-test this if you can!

4 1.Qe1 NDe3 2.Qxa5[TRe1] NDxf4-g5[SIe3]# & 1.Qc6 TRd5 2.Qxc1[NDc6] TRxf5-g5[SId5]# Double pin mates in which one of the pins is created by the mating move. 

5 1.Sa4xb6-b7 Qxf5-g6 2.Kxa3-a6 Rxc6-b6# & 1.g4xh3-h4 Qxc6-c8 2.Kxa3-h3 Bxf5-g4# More redoubling. Note the guard provided by the static white piece each time: 3.Kxb6-b5?/Kxg4-f3?          

6 1...Sd4 2.LIh4 LId1 3.LIh6 Sf3# & 1...Sf8 2.LId7 LIh8 3.LIg4 Sh7# Diagonal/orthogonal echo elements with appropriate knight play (JL); the clarity here makes a splendid contrast with the previous problem!

7 1...PAg6 2.Kg2 VAd4 3.Qe3 CGg7# & 1...VAb6 2.Kf2 PAg7 3.Qg4 CGa7# Distant mates.     

8 1.nBSf1=nQ nQc4 2.nSPxc4[nQd1] nQd1-c2 3.nSPc3 Kf7# & 1.nBSc4 nBSd5 2.nSPxd5[nBSd2] nBSc3 3.nBSa1=nB+ Kg6# The idea was the (unexpected?) king-#s.     

9 1.nPg1=nS Kxf4-f2[Re5] 2.nPh2xg1-e2[nSh2] nSf1 3.nPe1=nR Kxf1-g3[nSf2]# & 1.nPg1=nB Kxf4-b4[Re5] 2.Kxg1-d4[nBh1] nBf3 3.nPh1=nQ nBxh1-a1[nQf3]# A fairly intricate AUW; on e5 the R stops a dual mate from h8.

10 1...NDd5# 1.R2g7 4.Ke3 5.Kxf3[NDe3] 6.Ke4 7.Kxe3[NDe4] 9.Kd5 10.Kxc6 [CBd5] 11.Kd6 12.B2b8 13.Kc7 14.R2a7 16.Ka8 CBf3#        

11 1...TRg1# 1.G4a8 4.Kxa4[Sa3] 7.Ka7 8.G4xa3[Sa8] 10.Kxa8[Sb8] 12.Kxb8[Sb7] 15.Kxb7[Sb6] 18. Kxb6[Sb5] 20.Ka4 21.G4a8 22.G4xh1[CRa8] Sa7# Change of (anti-)battery mate. The G4 is unusual, but all pieces are useful for something!            

12 1.Qh3 h5 2.Bf2 h4 3.Bg3 hxg3 4.Rg8 gxh2 5.Sg6 h1Q 6.Qh6+ Qxh6# Here the introductory move in F24/1 will obviously not transfer to the hs#. Does the neatness justify using this genre, or should the hs# be expected to show themes which the h# cannot? Opinions, please!

Definitions

ABC (Alphabetical Chess): The squares are considered in the order a1, a2...a8, b1...b8, c1 and so on to h8. The player whose turn it is may move only his unit standing on the square which comes earliest in this order. However check and mate are normal.

Circe: Captured units (not Ks) reappear on their game-array squares, of the same colour in the case of pieces, on the file of capture in the case of pawns, and on the promotion square of the file of capture in the case of fairy pieces. If the rebirth square is occupied the capture is normal.

CouscousCirce: As Circe, but the captured piece reappears on the Circe rebirth square of the capturing unit. Pawns reappearing on promotion squares are promoted instantly, at the choice of their own side; those appearing on their 1^st rank have no moving or checking power until reactivated by being captured again.

PWC (PlatzWechselCirce): Captured units reappear on the square just vacated by the capturing unit. Pawns appearing on their 1^st rank have no moving or checking power until reactivated by being captured again; those appearing on their 8^th rank are promoted instantly, at the choice of their own side.

Take&Make: Every capturing move consists of two steps. The capturing step ("take") must be complemented by a further step ("make": not a capture) by the capturing piece, using the movement of the captured unit, otherwise the capture is illegal. Pawns may not end up on their own first rank. Captures lead to promotions only if the pawn is still on the promotion rank after the "make" step. Promotions at the end of the "make" step are normal.

Kamikaze: Pieces disappear from the board when they capture. Popeye appears to think that, when combined with rebirth conditions such as Couscous, this means that they then reappear – that is complete nonsense, at least as far as I am concerned, so there are no such rebirths in my compositions. The name "kamikaze" would not be appropriate if it caused any rebirths! Popeye also treats kamikaze as a piece-characteristic; while that interpretation is possible, it seems to me that the norm should be to treat it as a condition applying (like Circe) to all pieces except Ks (or, with "K-inclusive" added, to all the pieces). So in problem 3 above the kamikaze condition applies to all the pieces except the kings, and capturing pieces disappear permanently.

Neutrality: A unit with this characteristic may be regarded as of either colour by the side whose turn it is to play. Neutral pawns promote to neutral pieces.

Grasshopper G (better: Queenhopper): Hops on Q-lines over any one unit (the hurdle) to the next square beyond.

Rookhopper RH: a grasshopper confined to R-lines.

Bishopper BH: a grasshopper confined to B-lines.

Grasshopper-/Rookhopper-/Bishopper-2/3/4 G2/R2/B2 (etc.): Move like the basic hopper but 2/3/4 (etc.) squares past the hurdle.

ContraGrasshopper/ContraRookhopper/ContraBishopper CG/CR/CB: Move like G/RH/BH, but in reverse: the hurdle must be adjacent to the contrahopper, which may land anywhere on the line beyond.

Lion LI: a grasshopper which can move to any square beyond the hurdle, which may be at any distance.

Pao PA / Vao VA: Move as R/B respectively, but capture by hopping over a hurdle at any distance to any square beyond, i.e. like a lion.

Locust L (=Queen-locust): a piece which moves only to capture. It lands on the same squares as a grasshopper, but the arrival square must be empty, because the locust captures its hurdle.

Rook-locust LR: a locust confined to R-lines.

Bishop-locust LB: a locust confined to B-lines.

Siren SI / Triton TR / Nereid ND: Move as Q/R/B respectively, but capture by hopping over and removing an adverse unit, landing on the next (necessarily empty) square, i.e. they capture like the corresponding locusts.

SuperPawn SP: behaves as a P except that (when moving or capturing) it may go as far as desired along the usual lines, provided that they are clear, e.g. white SPe2-e8=S or white SPg2xb7.

Berolina Pawn BP: a P which moves diagonally, captures straight ahead and promotes normally.  

BerolinaSuperPawn BS: behaves as a Berolina P except that (when moving or capturing) it may go as far as desired along the usual lines, provided that they are clear, e.g. white BSa2xa8=S or white BSc2-h7.

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Note on computer testing in Fairings:

Problems in Fairings are tested by Popeye wherever possible.

In this issue problem 3 has not been computer-tested (see definition of Kamikaze!).

Problems 10 & 11 have been tested by Fairybadix because Popeye does not know all these pieces.

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The complete set of Fairings 1-25 is available from me on request (.doc file format).