Today’s exercise
SPRAGGETT ON CHESS
Troitzky
Troitzky was a shy, somewhat reclusive person who worked alone in remote places. He died of starvation in 1942 during the siege of Leningrad. All his papers and notebooks were destroyed during the siege.
Aleksey Troitzky, was a victim of the legendary and fearsome 900-day seige of Leningrad. There are no tombstones. The Piskarevskoye Cemetery is said to commemorate half a million dead.
”This was certainly the most tragic period in the history of this city. It was full of suffering and heroism. For everyone who lives in St. Petersburg the Blokada (the Siege) of Leningrad is an important part of their heritage and for the older generations it brings the memories that they will never forget.
Less than two and a half months after June 22, 1941, when the Soviet Union was attacked by Nazi Germany, German troops were already approaching Leningrad. The Red Army was outflanked and on September 8, 1941 the Germans had fully encircled Leningrad and the siege began. It lasted for about 900 days, from September 8, 1941 till January 27, 1944. Two million 887 thousand civilians (including about 400 thousand children) plus troops didn’t even consider any calls for surrender.
Food and fuel stocks were very limited (1-2 months only). All the public transport stopped. By the winter of 1941-42 there was no heating, no water supply, almost no electricity and very little food.
In January 1942, in the depths of an unusually cold winter, the lowest food rations in the city were only 125 grams (about 1/4 of a pound) of bread per day. In just two months, January and February, 1942, 200 thousand people (!!!) died in Leningrad of cold and starvation. But some of the war industry still worked and the city did not surrender. ”
Troitsky 1910 White to play and win
Today’s brilliant study is by none other than by the legendary Alexei Troitsky (or Troitzky). The solution is a bit long winded (more than 25 moves), but do not let that discourage you! The winning manoeuvre is cyclic (repetitive) but easy to comprehend and execute. Good luck! (Solution below in the pgn-viewer)
Troitzky Alexei Alexeyevich Troitzky ( 1866-1942) is one of the main founders of modern study composition. He has more than 1000 studies to his credit (some sources say more than that!). Troitsky started creating endgame studies when as a young student in Leningrad he met Mikhail Chigorin, who at the time was the editor of a chess column.
A number of his compositions were published, but after a few years Troitsky lost interest and moved to Smolensk, where he took up a post as assistant forester. He resumed his occupation with chess endgames nine years later, when in 1906 he published the most profound and definitive analysis of two knights against pawn in the Deutsche Schachzeitung. A few years later he started composing endgame studies again and in 1910 wrote an article defining the principles of study composition.
He also composed chess problems, being especially virtuose in the area of retrograde analysis. In 1924 he published his classic book 500 Endspielstudien. In 1928 Troitzky was awarded the title of Honoured Art Worker, as the Soviet government for the first time officially recognised chess composition as an art form.
Troitzky was a shy, somewhat reclusive person who worked alone in remote places. He died of starvation in 1942 during the siege of Leningrad. All his papers and notebooks were destroyed during the siege.
Aleksey Troitzky, was a victim of the legendary and fearsome 900-day seige of Leningrad. There are no tombstones. The Piskarevskoye Cemetery is said to commemorate half a million dead.
(From the internet)
”This was certainly the most tragic period in the history of this city. It was full of suffering and heroism. For everyone who lives in St. Petersburg the Blokada (the Siege) of Leningrad is an important part of their heritage and for the older generations it brings the memories that they will never forget.
Less than two and a half months after June 22, 1941, when the Soviet Union was attacked by Nazi Germany, German troops were already approaching Leningrad. The Red Army was outflanked and on September 8, 1941 the Germans had fully encircled Leningrad and the siege began. It lasted for about 900 days, from September 8, 1941 till January 27, 1944. Two million 887 thousand civilians (including about 400 thousand children) plus troops didn’t even consider any calls for surrender.
Food and fuel stocks were very limited (1-2 months only). All the public transport stopped. By the winter of 1941-42 there was no heating, no water supply, almost no electricity and very little food.
In January 1942, in the depths of an unusually cold winter, the lowest food rations in the city were only 125 grams (about 1/4 of a pound) of bread per day. In just two months, January and February, 1942, 200 thousand people (!!!) died in Leningrad of cold and starvation. But some of the war industry still worked and the city did not surrender. ”