Kavalek at Huffington: Henri Rinck's Magical Rooks

Chess Puzzles: Henri Rinck's Magical Rooks

By GM Lubomir Kavalek

Henri Rinck (1870-1952) began composing in 1902 and during the next half a century produced nearly 1670 studies, winning 58 first prizes in international competitions. In 1930, the French champion and endgame theoretician André Chéron paid a tribute to Rinck's artistry, calling him "The Victor Hugo of Chess."

Rinck's ultimate collection 1414 fins de partie was published six days before he died. He asked his son to be buried with this massive 795-page book under his arm. Some 500 studies were composed without pawns. He was brilliant in using two rooks and two of his creations are part of today's column.

Published in La Stratégie in 1917, the first study is a playful work, in which the white king walks like a drunk, but is able to help the two rooks defeat the black queen.

The second study is more elaborate. Rinck published it in National Zeitung in 1921. It is chess geometry at its best!

The solution to the puzzles will appear next week.

Original column here – Copyright Huffington Post

The Huffington Post is an American news website and aggregated blog founded by Arianna Huffington and others, featuring various news sources and columnists. The site was launched on May 9, 2005, as a commentary outlet and liberal/progressive alternative to conservative news websites. It offers coverage of politics, media, business, entertainment, living, style, the green movement, world news, and comedy. It is a top destination for news, blogs, and original content. The Huffington Post has an active community, with over one million comments made on the site each month. According to Nielsen NetRatings, the site has around 13 million unique visitors per month (number for March 2010); according to Google Analytics the number is 22 million uniques per month.