The Forgotten Mozarts of Chess
Chess composers have played an important role in the history of chess, similar to the role that Bach and Beethoven played in the development of classical music. Chess composition is an undeniable art form, but the significance of these people is often undervalued. Without the contributions of these composers, the world of chess would not have been graced with some of the all-time greats that the chess world knows today.
Today, I will shed light on lesser-known chess composers who passed away before they could establish themselves in the chess world, resulting in their works being largely forgotten.
Table of Contents
Sergei Mikhailovich Kaminer was born on the 26th (13th) of August, 1908. He was a Soviet chess player and composer. He was also a chemical engineer. A lot of Kaminer's work took place in the 1920s and 30s. He was a good friend of Mikhail Botvinnik, a former World Chess Champion.
Sergei was a talented chess player and was interested in the game since childhood. He was one of the founders of the Soviet sketch school and wrote the first cooperative checkmate problem in the USSR in 1927. He published 65 sketches in total, 27 of which were marked with high distinctions at competitions, and 3 received the highest prize. Nine sketches were awarded second or third place, and 12 of his studies were included in the FIDE Album for the years 1914-1944.
A Composition of Kaminer's
In this chess position, White needs to win. All Black's pawns are blocked by White's and cannot move. Additionally, the Black King is also trapped on h3. Black's only movable piece is their Rook. However, White has their own dilemma to deal with. If White does not act, Black's Rook will come down the board and checkmate the White King. But, if Black's Rook moves from the 8th rank, White will promote the h7 pawn and deliver checkmate. There is only one winning move. (I explain the rest of the composition in the annotations of the below diagram).
Due to Black's cramped position, White was able to take advantage of it and was able to get an amazing win. A very nice composition by Kaminer.
Death
At the age of 30, Kaminer became a victim of Stalin's Great Terror. On August 17, 1938, he was arrested and charged with belonging to a counter-revolutionary terrorist organization. On September 27, 1938, the Military Department of the Supreme Court of the Soviet Union sentenced him to death by firing squad, and he was executed the same day.
Mikhail Platov was a Soviet chess player and composer born in Riga, June 5, 1883. He graduated as an engineer-technologist and worked in a factory in Serpukhov. By 1938, Mikhail published more than 200 compositions, most of them co-authored by his brother Vasilis.
Mikhail Platov and his brother competed in 30 composition-competitions and his compositions usually took high place in the standings.
A Composition of Platov's
In this chess position, White needs to win. Black's a-pawn needs only one move to promote. The only piece for White which can stop the passed pawn from promotion is the dark-squared Bishop. Black might be able to prevent White's Bishop from stopping the passed pawn, so how can White win?
After the fork, White is winning. White can move the King up the board, capture the remaining Black pawn and then promote the h-pawn. A very brutal composition.
Death
Platov's last sign of life was a letter dated August 22, 1938, while packages sent to him at the end of 1938 were returned. He died probably around August or September 1938, due to the Great Purge.
Arvid Ivanovych Kubbel, born on September 12th, 1889, was a chess player and composer from the Soviet Union. He was known for his expertise in endgame studies and chess problems. He was also the brother of Leonid Kubbel, who was considered one of the most renowned chess composers. Arvid Kubbel was among the strongest players in the Soviet Union during his time.
He made more than 500 chess compositions and won many prizes. He usually sent his compositions to Czech-schools. He also worked as an accountant at the sports company "Spartaks".
A Composition of (A.) Kubbel's
In this situation, Black's pawns are going to promote and White needs to stop them in order to win. White's only way of winning will be to use the King, the Bishop and the Knight and trap the Black King in a corner of the board. How can White win?
White blocked the Black pawns and was able to checkmate Black. A truly beautiful checkmate and composition.
Death
On 21 November 1937 he was arrested under Article 58 1a of the RSFSR penal code (counter-revolutionary activities) and was later given the highest level of punishment - execution. It is believed that he was executed for sending chess compositions to newspapers outside of Russia.
Mikhail Barulin was a Soviet chess composer and USSR Master of Sports. He was born on the 19th of October, 1897. He was also a chemical engineer and chess journalist. He compiled 250 sketches mainly two-movers, and discovered several themes in chess composition.
Barulin edited many Chess magazines and newspapers - 64 and Шахматы в СССР. He was the Secretary of the Chess Composition Commission of the All-Union Chess Section for 9 years. His compositions were always simple but brutal.
A Composition of Barulin's
In the above position, Black is going to promote the a-pawn and if so, the position will be drawn. White has two moves which can deliver checkmate, one faster than the other. Can you find White's best move and the second best option?
The second best option would be for the White Queen to take on g7 and then continue with the same plan of moving the g5 pawn. A three move masterpiece.
Death
In 1943, Barulin was arrested and sent to a gulag. He was eventually executed.
Leonid Kubbel, born 25th December, 1891, was a Soviet chess player and composer. He was one of the first USSR masters of sports in chess composition and he is still considered as one of the best chess composers of all time. Throughout his career, K.A.L Kubbel published over 2,800 compositions and won approximately 500 prizes at both domestic and international competitions, including 120 first prizes. His works were highly regarded and 36 of them have been featured in FIDE albums. Kubbel was also the brother of chess composers Arvid and Evgeny Kubbel.
The Alekhine of chess composition - A.A.Triotsky
Like most of the people in this blog, Kubbel was also a chemical engineer by profession. Kubbel became interested in chess compositions after seeing them in a newspaper multiple times. By the age of 12, he had written five notebooks of chess problems, which he sent to various newspapers.
A Composition of (L) Kubbel's
In the above chess position, Black's a-pawn is close to promotion and it seems like White won't be able to stop it. However, there is one move that can allow White to win the game. Can you identify the sacrificial move that will eventually lead to White checkmating the Black King?
Black's a-pawn promotes but the promotion has no use. The Black King is surrounded by White's pieces like a shiver of sharks and is checkmated. That might be the most beautiful checkmate I've ever seen.
Death
Unfortunately, Leonid and his brother Evgeny were starved to death during the Siege of Leningrad. Until his last day alive, Leonid was trying to make a chess composition, but died before he could finish it.
Alexey Alexeyevich Troitsky was a Russian chess player and theoretician. Like Leonid, Alexey is also considered one of the best composers of all time. In fact, he is often regarded as the pioneer of the modern art of composing chess studies. He has composed more than 800 highly regarded problems.
In 1928, he became the first chess composer in the USSR to receive the title of Honored Artist. In 1934, he was awarded the title of Master of Sports of the USSR for chess composition. He lost his chess books twice - once in a fire and once due to the revolution of 1917. He worked in Forestry, unlike most of the others in this blog.
A Composition of Troitsky's
A very simple yet nice composition. This is one of the shorter and more famous compositions by Troitsky.
Death
Troitsky died of starvation during the siege of Leningrad in World War II. Due to the war, some of his chess problems were never published as many of his notes got destroyed or lost.
Walter Grimshaw, born on 12 March 1832, was a British composer of chess problems during the 19th century. He won the first ever chess problem composition tournament in London in 1854. Grimshaw is widely recognized for his contribution to the development of the Grimshaw, a popular problem theme.
Grimshaw was a pawnbroker by profession and he published numerous problems in the chess column of the Illustrated London News and in the Staunton's The Chess Player's Chronicle. Grimshaw contributed significantly to the discovery and presentation of themes that are still part of the core of chess composition today. He was not only a prolific chess composer but also a strong player who is said to have beaten Wilhelm Steinitz, the future world champion at the time, in an unrated game.
A Composition of Grimshaw's
In the above chess position, Black is up by 3 points and looks to be winning. But with an amazing set of sacrifices, White can win this game in 5 moves. Can you find the winning move for White?
Sacrificing the Queen and the Bishop to remove squares for the Black King and then performing sort of a smothered mate, in the middle of the board. A piece of art.
Death
It is believed that in 1890, Walter Grimshaw suffered from depression, possibly due to the multiple deaths in his family and his wife's illness. On December 27th of the same year, he was found dead in his bedroom, with a razor and a cut on his neck. The verdict of the inquest was suicide, as he was in a state of mental confusion.
Despite their relative obscurity in the discussions of chess history, chess composers played (and still play) a very important role in the formation of many ideas of the game. They deserve more recognition than what they have and I'd suggest you go and search for some of their other compositions if you want to find more amazing puzzles.
Credit to Wikipedia, Arves.org and Chess.com for the information and images in this blog. A special thanks to @AstroTheoretical_Physics, top blogger and great friend of mine, for giving me the idea for this blog.
I hope you enjoyed, thanks for reading, and I hope you have a great day!
NOTE:
I've lost motivation to write blogs here. I've enjoyed writing these long article-like blogs for a while now but it's very tiring and I have an important year of academics ahead of me. I probably won't be writing much for a while.
I want to specially thank @AstroTheoretical_Physics and @OnyxOrca for helping me improve. Without them, I wouldn't be a top-blogger. Thank you so much, to all of you who read my blogs.
Have a great day!!
