Month: December 2016

The last week of the year, a black week for the players of the saturday’s Non Stop tournament.
They solved only one of the 5 tasks.
We wish you better results in the New, 2017 Year.
Goldchess team

When I started my Goldchess adventure I wondered how the problem solving will influence my practical chess playing abilities. I confess that I had several concerns because solving consists in playing a sort of game against CEEC engine which is set to a relatively weak 5th level. Actually it always meant playing against a much weaker rival. Of course, I cannot say that I played “normal” games, because in Goldchess you start from a given position and look for solution “upon request” (taking into account specific requirements, such as checkmate in 30 moves after sacrificing the queen), which means solutions that are far from being standard and that enrich the chess player’s imagination.
I also believe that solving Goldchess problems enhances the player’s creative powers and sharpens his or her tactical skills which constitute basic chess competence that all the players should possess.

Since the moment I started to solve Goldchess problems, almost 2 months ago, I have played 15 tournament games, of which I won 7 and tied 8 without suffering any defeat. Maybe it is much too early to jump to some definite conclusions but I can certainly say that solving had no negative impact on my playing skills. Moreover, I get the impression that all this makes me play better. Particularly when it comes to counting variants.

If anyone still has any doubt I can say that the tests performed on myself brought forth some positive results 🙂

GM Artur Jakubiec

Why prizes for solutions other than the author’s original ones are lower? (Such solutions can be rewarded with up to a half of the prize or the players can receive no prize at all).
The reason is quite simple. We don’t know and we can’t be sure if they have been worked out by the player on his or her own, or with the use of another piece of chess software. And we do not reward “solutions” provided with the use of chess software.
As regards the author’s original solutions, stronger chess programs generally don’t provide them, so they are recognized without any reservations. Nevertheless, a prize can always be divided between the author’s original solution and a better or an outstanding solution different than the author’s original one.
Goldchess team