Leopold Mitrofanov
Encyclopedia
Leopold Adamovich Mitrofanov (July 2, 1932 November 26, 1992) was a Russia
n chess composer
, an International Judge of Chess Composition (awarded 1971) and an International Master of Chess Composition (awarded 1980). He was born in Leningrad
(now St. Petersburg) and, by profession, was a chemical engineer
.
Beginning in the 1950s, Mitrofanov published over 300 endgame studies
, 40 of which were awarded first prizes in competitions. Between 1955 and 1985, he participated in the finals of 7 USSR Championships for chess composition. In FIDE competitions, he and Vladimir Korolkov were jointly awarded 3 gold medal
s. Mitrofanov composed a number of studies jointly with grandmaster Alexander Beliavsky
.
In 1967, Mitrofanov's most celebrated chess study was awarded first prize from 250 entries to a tournament commemorating the twelfth-century Georgia
n poet Shota Rustaveli
. Former world champion
Mikhail Tal
was among the judges. Their report stated that Mitrofanov's entry "doesn't look like any other, and is beyond the rest of the studies." Another judge, composer Alexander Herbstmann, said: "Immediately after the first preview, Mitrofanov's masterpiece created a tremendous impression by the intensity and novelty of the idea. The ranking of the other studies was designated by us beginning with the second place."
or reach a drawn
ending. After correction, the study remains stunningly beautiful. According to Tim Krabbé
, "[i]t would be my candidate for 'study of the millennium'".
From the position at above left:
1.b6+ Ka8 : Allows Black's bishop to interpose on b8 after White queens
his g-pawn.
If 1...Kb8, then 2.Re1! Nxe1 3.g7 Nc4+ 4.Kb5 Nxb6 5.Kxb6 Bc7+ 6.Kc6! h1(Q) 7.g8(Q)+ Ka7 8.Qc8 wins.
2.Re1! : Sacrifices
the rook to avoid checks along the first rank from Black's soon-to-be-created queen on h1.
2...Nxe1
3.g7 h1(Q) : If 3...Nc4+, then 4.Kb5 h1(Q) 5.g8(Q)+ Bb8 6.a7 Na3+ (or 6...Qh2 7.axb8(Q)+ Qxb8 8.Qxb8+ Kxb8 9.Kxc4 +-) 7.Kc6 Qh2 8.axb8(Q)+ Qxb8 9.b7+ Ka7 10.Qg1+ Ka6 11.Qb6#.
4.g8(Q)+ Bb8
5.a7 Nc6+ : Since 5...Qxd5+? is met by 6.Qxd5, Black must sacrifice the knight in order to enable his queen to give check.
6.dxc6 Qxh5+ : (see position at above right) Now what? If 7.Ka6 Qe2+ or 7.Kb4 Qh4+, Black will keep checking.
7.Qg5!! : Mitrofanov's amazing conception. Having previously sacrificed the rook in order to avoid horizontal checks by Black's queen, White now sacrifices the queen, with check, simply to avoid diagonal checks from Black's queen. At first blush, the move looks like a misprint. Upon being shown this move, grandmaster Leonid Yudasin
reportedly said: "What?! The queen is given for nothing and with check!" Victor Charusin, an ICCF
International Master and author of the book Mitrofanov's Deflection, called it "a move from another world." Krabbé observed: "White lifts his mating threat, the pin of [the bishop on b8], lets his Queen be captured with check on an unguarded square, remains with a few pawns against Queen, Bishop and Knight and wins."
7...Qxg5+ : 7...Qe8 8.b7+! Kxa7 9.Qc5#
8.Ka6 : Threatens 9.b7#
8...Bxa7 : If 8...Qb5+, then 9.Kxb5 Nc2 10.c7! wins. Following 8...Bxa7, White can resign after 9.bxa7?? Qc5, while 9.b7+? Kb8 10.c7+ Kxc7 11.b8(Q)+ Kc6 (11...B(K)xb8 is a stalemate) 12.Qb7+ Kd6 13.Kxa7 is only good for a draw
9.c7!! : (see diagram below) An incredible position. Black, with a queen, bishop, and knight against White's two connected passed pawn
s, is helpless against the dual threats of 9.b7# and 9.c8(Q)+. Note that if the queen were on any other square of the board where it is not already giving check, Black would be winning easily. Only on g5 does the queen have no checks that do not simply lose the queen.
9...Qa5+ : Neither 9...Qd5 10.c8(Q)+ Bb8 11.b7+ Qxb7 12.Qxb7# nor 9...Qg6 10.c8(Q)+ Bb8 11.Qb7# fares any better.
10.Kxa5 Kb7 : If 10...Bxb6+ 11.Kxb6 and mate next move. The paradox
ical nature of this problem is highlighted by the fact that Black is now losing because of the two minor pieces. Without the knight, Black draws with 10...Bxb6+ 11.Kxb6 stalemate
; without the bishop, Black draws with 10...Kb7 followed by Nd3-e5-d7xb6.
11.bxa7 1-0 : Black cannot stop both pawns. White queens a pawn and wins easily.
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n chess composer
Chess composer
A chess composer is a person who creates endgame studies or chess problems. He usually specializes in a particular genre, e.g. endgame studies, twomovers, threemovers, moremovers, helpmates, selfmates, fairy problems...
, an International Judge of Chess Composition (awarded 1971) and an International Master of Chess Composition (awarded 1980). He was born in Leningrad
Leningrad
Leningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...
(now St. Petersburg) and, by profession, was a chemical engineer
Chemical engineer
In the field of engineering, a chemical engineer is the profession in which one works principally in the chemical industry to convert basic raw materials into a variety of products, and deals with the design and operation of plants and equipment to perform such work...
.
Beginning in the 1950s, Mitrofanov published over 300 endgame studies
Endgame study
An endgame study, or just study, is a composed chess position—that is, one that has been made up rather than one from an actual game—presented as a sort of puzzle, in which the aim of the solver is to find a way for one side to win or draw, as stipulated, against any moves the other side...
, 40 of which were awarded first prizes in competitions. Between 1955 and 1985, he participated in the finals of 7 USSR Championships for chess composition. In FIDE competitions, he and Vladimir Korolkov were jointly awarded 3 gold medal
Gold medal
A gold medal is typically the medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture...
s. Mitrofanov composed a number of studies jointly with grandmaster Alexander Beliavsky
Alexander Beliavsky
-External links:...
.
In 1967, Mitrofanov's most celebrated chess study was awarded first prize from 250 entries to a tournament commemorating the twelfth-century Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
n poet Shota Rustaveli
Shota Rustaveli
Shota Rustaveli was a Georgian poet of the 12th century, and one of the greatest contributors to Georgian literature. He is author of "The Knight in the Panther's Skin" , the Georgian national epic poem....
. Former world champion
World Chess Championship
The World Chess Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the board game chess. Men and women of any age are eligible to contest this title....
Mikhail Tal
Mikhail Tal
Mikhail Tal was a Soviet–Latvian chess player, a Grandmaster, and the eighth World Chess Champion.Widely regarded as a creative genius, and the best attacking player of all time, he played a daring, combinatorial style. His play was known above all for improvisation and unpredictability....
was among the judges. Their report stated that Mitrofanov's entry "doesn't look like any other, and is beyond the rest of the studies." Another judge, composer Alexander Herbstmann, said: "Immediately after the first preview, Mitrofanov's masterpiece created a tremendous impression by the intensity and novelty of the idea. The ranking of the other studies was designated by us beginning with the second place."
Famous study
Unfortunately, Mitrofanov's original study (as below, but with Black's knight on f3 rather than g2) was subsequently found to have a cook, a miraculous defense that enabled Black either to obtain perpetual checkPerpetual check
In the game of chess, perpetual check is a situation in which one player can force a draw by an unending series of checks. Such a situation typically arises when the player who is checking cannot deliver checkmate; while failing to continue the series of checks gives the opponent at least a chance...
or reach a drawn
Draw (chess)
In chess, a draw is when a game ends in a tie. It is one of the possible outcomes of a game, along with a win for White and a win for Black . Usually, in tournaments a draw is worth a half point to each player, while a win is worth one point to the victor and none to the loser.For the most part,...
ending. After correction, the study remains stunningly beautiful. According to Tim Krabbé
Tim Krabbé
Tim Krabbé is a Dutch journalist and novelist.Krabbé was born in Amsterdam. His writing has appeared in most major periodicals in the Netherlands. He is known to Dutch readers for his novel De Renner , first published in 1978...
, "[i]t would be my candidate for 'study of the millennium'".
From the position at above left:
1.b6+ Ka8 : Allows Black's bishop to interpose on b8 after White queens
Promotion (chess)
Promotion is a chess rule describing the transformation of a pawn that reaches its eighth rank into the player's choice of a queen, knight, rook, or bishop of the same color . The new piece replaces the pawn on the same square and is part of the move. Promotion is not limited to pieces that have...
his g-pawn.
If 1...Kb8, then 2.Re1! Nxe1 3.g7 Nc4+ 4.Kb5 Nxb6 5.Kxb6 Bc7+ 6.Kc6! h1(Q) 7.g8(Q)+ Ka7 8.Qc8 wins.
2.Re1! : Sacrifices
Sacrifice (chess)
In chess, a sacrifice is a move giving up a piece in the hopes of gaining tactical or positional compensation in other forms. A sacrifice could also be a deliberate exchange of a chess piece of higher value for an opponent's piece of lower value....
the rook to avoid checks along the first rank from Black's soon-to-be-created queen on h1.
2...Nxe1
3.g7 h1(Q) : If 3...Nc4+, then 4.Kb5 h1(Q) 5.g8(Q)+ Bb8 6.a7 Na3+ (or 6...Qh2 7.axb8(Q)+ Qxb8 8.Qxb8+ Kxb8 9.Kxc4 +-) 7.Kc6 Qh2 8.axb8(Q)+ Qxb8 9.b7+ Ka7 10.Qg1+ Ka6 11.Qb6#.
4.g8(Q)+ Bb8
5.a7 Nc6+ : Since 5...Qxd5+? is met by 6.Qxd5, Black must sacrifice the knight in order to enable his queen to give check.
6.dxc6 Qxh5+ : (see position at above right) Now what? If 7.Ka6 Qe2+ or 7.Kb4 Qh4+, Black will keep checking.
7.Qg5!! : Mitrofanov's amazing conception. Having previously sacrificed the rook in order to avoid horizontal checks by Black's queen, White now sacrifices the queen, with check, simply to avoid diagonal checks from Black's queen. At first blush, the move looks like a misprint. Upon being shown this move, grandmaster Leonid Yudasin
Leonid Yudasin
Leonid Grigoryevich Yudasin is a prominent chess grandmaster and trainer, now living in New York City.Awarded the International Master title in 1982, he secured the International Grandmaster title in 1984, the year he became Leningrad Champion...
reportedly said: "What?! The queen is given for nothing and with check!" Victor Charusin, an ICCF
ICCF
ICCF may stand for:*International Conservation Caucus Foundation*International Correspondence Chess Federation...
International Master and author of the book Mitrofanov's Deflection, called it "a move from another world." Krabbé observed: "White lifts his mating threat, the pin of [the bishop on b8], lets his Queen be captured with check on an unguarded square, remains with a few pawns against Queen, Bishop and Knight and wins."
7...Qxg5+ : 7...Qe8 8.b7+! Kxa7 9.Qc5#
8.Ka6 : Threatens 9.b7#
8...Bxa7 : If 8...Qb5+, then 9.Kxb5 Nc2 10.c7! wins. Following 8...Bxa7, White can resign after 9.bxa7?? Qc5, while 9.b7+? Kb8 10.c7+ Kxc7 11.b8(Q)+ Kc6 (11...B(K)xb8 is a stalemate) 12.Qb7+ Kd6 13.Kxa7 is only good for a draw
9.c7!! : (see diagram below) An incredible position. Black, with a queen, bishop, and knight against White's two connected passed pawn
Passed pawn
In chess, a passed pawn is a pawn with no opposing pawns to prevent it from advancing to the eighth rank, i.e. there are no opposing pawns in front of it on the same file nor on an adjacent file. A passed pawn is sometimes colloquially called a passer...
s, is helpless against the dual threats of 9.b7# and 9.c8(Q)+. Note that if the queen were on any other square of the board where it is not already giving check, Black would be winning easily. Only on g5 does the queen have no checks that do not simply lose the queen.
9...Qa5+ : Neither 9...Qd5 10.c8(Q)+ Bb8 11.b7+ Qxb7 12.Qxb7# nor 9...Qg6 10.c8(Q)+ Bb8 11.Qb7# fares any better.
10.Kxa5 Kb7 : If 10...Bxb6+ 11.Kxb6 and mate next move. The paradox
Paradox
Similar to Circular reasoning, A paradox is a seemingly true statement or group of statements that lead to a contradiction or a situation which seems to defy logic or intuition...
ical nature of this problem is highlighted by the fact that Black is now losing because of the two minor pieces. Without the knight, Black draws with 10...Bxb6+ 11.Kxb6 stalemate
Stalemate
Stalemate is a situation in chess where the player whose turn it is to move is not in check but has no legal moves. A stalemate ends the game in a draw. Stalemate is covered in the rules of chess....
; without the bishop, Black draws with 10...Kb7 followed by Nd3-e5-d7xb6.
11.bxa7 1-0 : Black cannot stop both pawns. White queens a pawn and wins easily.