Chapter 2 is coming, no worries.  :)

Where's the new lesson? Or was this only supposed to cover chapter 1?

Awsome thanks.

"I like the Palm Z22 w/ Hiarcs very much. I have not been using it so much lately because my daughter is fascinated by the gadget." ;)

Ha! I know the feeling; my wife has decided that she likes to read ebooks on mine, plus play the solitare that came with it. At least I've gotten my money's worth out of it.

I bought the HP IPAQ 110. Absolutely great. Loaded with PocketGrandmaster. Fabulous!

Looking forward to your articles.

Thank you, diskamyl, that will save me some time. :)

I'm looking forward to this too. Actually, in two weeks from now, I'll get myself into a "chess camp," (at my home, in front of my computer) and I was wondering which book to focus on besides heavy tactical training, and you just helped me make my mind.

Anyway, this got me excited, thanks in advance.

P.S: I have all the games and positions from My System in electronical format (chessbase archive), if you'd find it helpful for your articles, I could happily send it to you by mail.

I like the Palm Z22 w/ Hiarcs very much. I have not been using it so much lately because my daughter is fascinated by the gadget. ;)

:)

moral of the story: never ignore patzers [in any field! incl real life]. There is always something any given patzer knows that any given expert doesn't :)

I know I know -YOU don't ignore patzers :) I was merely speaking generally ... or Alice-in-Wonderlandly ['every story has a moral' - the Duchess - one of them I mean - said it iirc] :)

Slightly off topic, but how is your Palm Z22 working out? I ended up going with the Tungsten E2, and the HIARCS has been more than I need, but a great program...

Nice! I guess you are right, it does seem human solvable with if one mixes a bit of logic with some common tactical patterns. Now I wish I had spent more time looking at it.  :)

Actually I have the book, but in russian. [it is freely available on the internet - hint: peer-to-peer filesharing!]

Now a russian book with mainly moves and side annotations is easy to read for me. But this one is concepts ....

 Okay here it is [on www.ficgs.com ->problems] -i'll post it in that thread too..


Normajean Yates    (2008-07-11 02:41:24)
try this without using a program

<that problem diaagrammed> <ie 4k/qqqqqqqq/////QQQQQQQQ/4k w>

White to play and mate in 4. There is a unique first move. Find it. Make a guess.
[I thought this one up a few years ago - i want to see how difficult it is for humans. Any good program will solve it in a few seconds.]     
                            
                            
    


Svante Carl von Erichsen    (2008-07-11 15:26:09)
first move

I think that the first move has to be 1.Qaxf7 or 1.Qfxf7.
Reason: In order to complete the task in 4 moves, we have to keep the king in check, otherwise Black can stall with checks of his own; so, one of the Queens d7, e7, or f7 has to be captured. Capturing e7 results in immediate counter-check, and capturing d7 has no continuation. Also, f7 is the only candidate under double threat.
However, I find no forcing continuation afterwards when the black King just moves to d8.


Normajean Yates    (2008-07-11 21:33:22)
that's damn good!

yes, the first move is Qaxf7!. (Qfxf7 doesn't work).
From your response ( :) ) i now feel humans can 'heuristically' conjecture that Qaxf7 begins a mate in 4, while Qfxf7 and others don't.

Normajean Yates    (2008-07-11 21:44:53)
The other one fails to:

Qfxf7 fails to Qxf7. No mate-in-3-or-less after that. In fact there is no mate in 4 either.


Normajean Yates    (2008-07-11 22:07:23)
but i dont agree with your last sentence

if 1. Qaxf7+ Kd8 2. Qhxc7+ Qbxc7 (only legal move!) 3. Qexe7+ Kc8 (only legal move!) 4. Qdxd7# (or Qexd7#).

On, 1 Qaxf7+ Qgxf7 (the only other legal move) 2. Qh8+! [unique move which gives mate in 3], now 2.. Qxh8 (forced, since the only other move is 2..Qf8 3.Qfxf8# (or 3.Qhxf8#)); now 3. Qxh8+ Qff8 (or Qfg8) 4. QxQ # (choice of two Qs here to mate with).

Svante Carl, now that you have guessed the solution (or narroed it down to two moves), and since the above is quite forcing; so it looks human-solvable to me after all!


Normajean Yates    (2008-07-11 22:09:20)
conclusion

Svante Karl and my joint research shows that this problem is human-solvable after all, it seems!

Who has not read of the exploits of a certain Lupin? That you begin one step ahead only makes the chase more worthwhile, dear friend and adversary. (I'm very interested in seeing how a human approached the 16 queens position that made it easy for them!)

Well Sherlock respected Mr Berillon, so why not Ms Lupin? Now click the 'accept' in the 'friend' offer i sent dammit - the suspense is killing me, you 16-quuens-give-me-a-headache man! [I've found out your weakness - 16 queens!] and see my note to you!

Ms. Lupin is surprised that Sherlock can still learn new tricks?  ;)

What a mean trick! "To receive articles promptly, Add me as a Friend." - indeed! That's Arsene Lupin stuff. ;)

Anyway i have decided to fall for the trick ;)

chessdadx2: I think you mean Bobby Fischer Teaches Back-Rank Mate - Over and Over and Over and...

I just bought Bobby Fisher Teaches Chess, but My system will be my next purchase.

I'm really looking forward to reading your articles on My System likesforests.