Amazing Achievement by Daniel Stellwagen

The De Feijter Festival held last Sunday in Deventer, The Netherlands, was a big success. In the endgame study solving contest, which was held simultaneously, there was a unique occurrence: 16-year-old Daniel Stellwagen made an unprecedented 100% score, leaving four-time champion Marcel van Herck (Antwerp, Belgium) nine points behind.

Daniel Stellwagen explaining a position to young chess players in the audience

Stellwagen is an avid endgame study fan and indeed composer. He used the championship as a training for his upcoming appearance in the Grandmaster B Group of the 2004 Corus Tournament. What an amazing achievement.

Not only did Stellwagen solve all studies in impeccable manner, he also seems to have improved the solution of a 1927 study by the Swedish composer S.Clausen by interposing 1...Ra1+!

IM Hans Böhm receiving his third prize

IM Hans Böhm made his debut as a study solver and took bronze another ten points behind Van Herck. Mr. Böhm sponsored an endgame study tourney last year (theme: Quiet Move) and is currently sponsoring another tourney (theme: Humour! – see below).

Eddy van Beers, member of the Belgian Olympiad squad in Istanbul, came in fourth, ahead of endgame database guru Harold van der Heijden and Dolf Wissmann, winner of the bronze medal at this year's World Championship Solving Chess Problems and Studies, and winner of the Dutch Solving Championship for Endgame Studies in 1999.

Here are the eight studies from the contest for you to solve.

1. Smyslov,V, Moi Etyudi #41, 2000

White to play and draw

2. Bergqwist,D Tidskrift för Schack , 2002

White to play and win

3. Zachodjakin,G, 1st prize Shakhmaty Listok, 1930

White to play and draw

4. Stavrietsky/Ryabinin, Studium 1999

White to play and win

5. Bazlov,Y, 1st prize Shakhmaty v SSSR, 1971

White to play and win

6. Clausen,S, 2/3rd prize, Sveriges SF, 1927

White to play and win

7. Vukcevich,M, 1951

White to play and draw

8. Smyslov,V, Moi Etyudi #44, 2000

White to play and draw

Please try to solve at least one of the above studies.

Here are the full solutions and analysis
Note that you can click the notation to follow the moves!

Note that the first study by former World Champion Vasily Smyslov had the lowest solving-rate in the competition! And the second Smyslov study also contributed heavily to the final standings. Here are the percentages of each study, and the total scores of the 12 participants:

Humor – Theme Tourney

Theme: After the successful "Quiet Move" tourney, here is another tourney with an emotional theme: humor! Publication: Humor must inspire all composers to create at least one study. Therefore we decided to publish all thematic, interesting, correct, not-fully-anticipated studies in EBUR 2004-2005. So it's an informal tourney with a formal prize fund. Please send your studies and make study lovers all over the world laugh. Prizes: Prize fund: 500 EURO. Judges: Jan Timman, Tim Krabbé, Hans Böhm. Tourney director: Harold van der Heijden. Submission deadline: December 31st 2004. Send original studies to: "HUMOR Tourney", Harold van der Heijden, Michel de Klerkstraat 28, 7425 DG Deventer, The Netherlands. Sponsor: Böhm Communications.

Thanks to tournament director René Olthof for the above material