MARK RUBERY CHESS

Henri Rinck (1750-1952) was along with Troitzky regarded as the principal founder of modern study composing. He was born in Lyon France to an affluent family who had interests in the brewing industry. In 1900 he moved to Spain where he began to compose chess problems specialising in positions without pawns –in 1929 he composed over one hundred studies on the theme of one rook and two minor pieces v Queen. In 1930, the French champion and endgame theoretician Andre Cheron paid a tribute to Rinck’s artistry, calling him “The Victor Hugo of Chess.” He was described as an immodest man when it came to his own creations while at the same time he was jealous of Troitzky’s stellar reputation in the field of composing. Rinck published collections of his studies culminating in his ‘1414 Fin de parties’ an 800 page tome containing all his studies including 130 examples of the endgame two rooks v two minor pieces. At his request a copy was buried with him under his arm.

The following study is thus described by Kavalek: ‘A playful work, in which the white King walks like a drunk, but is able to help the two Rooks defeat the black Queen.’

WHITE TO PLAY AND WIN

I play occasionally just to keep my hand in as a competition still requires putting in a fairly decent effort. And even to engage in coaching work, it is necessary not to lose touch with the real game as you may simply become an appendage of the computer. You must not just think in terms of whether an opening is any good, but whether it is suitable for human beings or not. There are some great lines, which are not for humans. I think the critical age in men’s chess is 42-43 years – that is just the age when Kasparov stopped playing chess. This happened, in my opinion, because he realized that it is very difficult to remain number one, and he did not want to be number two.’ (Alexander Belyavsky)