Study Artist December 28, 2001

Genrikh Moiseyevich Kasparian He was born in Tiflis in 1910 and died in 1996. He learned chess from his older brother at the age of 13, became a strong master and then devoted his life to the game. But not to over-the-board play but the composition of some of the greatest chess studies ever to be seen.

The depth of Kasparian's ideas and the artistry of execution has never been surpassed. Of the 400 studies that we have by Kasparian around 300 received prizes and awards. He was a Grandmaster for Study Composition and six-time Champion for study composition in the USSR. Here is my all-time favourite Kasparian study:

Genrikh Kasparian, Shakhmaty v SSSR 1935

White to play and win

Please do not send in your solution just yet – they will be collected at the end of this series of problems. Just make a note of what you think about this problem, and especially about the final position. Is there anyone out there who has seen anything like it before?

Frederic Friedel

Solution