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MatPlus.Net Forum General Are there any juniors among composers?
 
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(1) Posted by Marjan Kovačević [Wednesday, Mar 11, 2015 23:43]

Are there any juniors among composers?


Since June 2013, I've been training a small group of juniors willing to compose and solve chess problems. They are now between 10 and 16, and they face a strange to them situation: there are no international composing tourneys for juniors...
To my delight, two recent composing events were meant for juniors. Peter Wong created wonderful series of reconstructions that may attract any beginner, in his Open championship of Australia. At about the same time, one of the thematic SuperProblem tourneys introduced a category for juniors.
My delight turned into disappointment: both challenges were accepted by only two juniors, both from my "school".
Please, let me know if there are any juniors (up to 20) among composers in any other country? If there are, we could gather them for a better future of our community.
 
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(2) Posted by Ian Shanahan [Thursday, Mar 12, 2015 07:12]

Here in Australia, there is an annual solving tourney embedded in the national Junior Chess Championship. Though the winners of the oldest category are quite skilled, not a single one of them ever appeared as solvers in Geoff Foster's (now defunct) Problem Potpourri, nor in Peter Wong's weekly solve in the OzProblems website. I suspect the reason is that the juniors are more interested in beating someone else than embracing the aesthetic niceties of chess problems. This, of course, is tragic.
 
 
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(3) Posted by seetharaman kalyan [Thursday, Mar 12, 2015 19:05]

Real pity. I don't know of any junior composer in India (in fact Shankarram is youngest I know and he is ~50 !!), though in Chennai there are many younsters willing to attend solving events (thanks to Naryanan's initiative). Even the number of solvers is not too many compared to hundreds of juniors who play open chess tournaments.

I realise that more serious efforts are needed by us, the handful of Indian composers in this. Will discuss with my friends and take serious efforts - hopefully in the near future.
 
   
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(4) Posted by Marjan Kovačević [Saturday, Mar 14, 2015 00:28]

Perhaps the question should be reformulated:
Do you know any active composer younger than 23?
 
   
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(5) Posted by Ian Shanahan [Saturday, Mar 14, 2015 07:36]

No, but the Australian problemist Linden Lyons is in his mid- to late-twenties.
 
   
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(6) Posted by Hauke Reddmann [Sunday, Mar 15, 2015 16:14]

Geir and Steffen are e.g. youngsters...well, according to the schach-welt blog :-)
 
   
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(7) Posted by Marjan Kovačević [Sunday, Mar 15, 2015 19:35]

How old are they?
 
   
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(8) Posted by Kostas Prentos [Monday, Mar 16, 2015 06:00]; edited by Kostas Prentos [15-03-16]

I was proof-reading the April issue of StrateGems, when I noticed the following brief presentation in the #3 section:

"A warm welcome to Aydan Huseynzade from Azerbaijan...
Aydan is 17 years old. She started playing chess at the age of eight and now she is a strong OTB player in her age group. She likes to compose (first composition published at the age of 13!) and solve chess problems. She ended up second among women solvers in 2013 in Batumi, Georgia."

Also, we should not forget the very talented retro composer from Bulgaria, Nikolai Beluhov, who is now 25 years old and unfortunately, not very active in the last 2-3 years. But, the few years he was actively composing, were enough to give him the FIDE Master title; an amazing achievement in a very difficult genre. Let's hope he finds his way back to our small community, sooner than later. His short biography is available in the KobulChess website: http://kobulchess.com/en/composers/bulgarian-composers/12-nikolay-beluhov.html

Finally, I don't see why we should limit this discussion to juniors only. I am very pleased to see new composers (or others returning after a long hiatus) joining us, even if they are adults. For example, Julia Vysotska, to name just one, who started composing only a few years ago, has already had a huge contribution to our community. So, we may be growing older as a group, but for as long as we keep finding interesting ideas for new original problems, I am not worried that our craft will die with us.
 
   
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(9) Posted by seetharaman kalyan [Monday, Mar 16, 2015 10:25]

Yes. Aidan Huseynzade! She was 16 when she published this helpmate in Kobulchess.com

See it and another of her problem here:
http://kobulchess.com/en/problems/chess-originals-2014/640-aydan-huseynzade-helpmate.html
http://kobulchess.com/en/articles/9-2011-08-02-06-15-19/506-women-chess-composers-2.html
 
   
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(10) Posted by Geir Sune Tallaksen Østmoe [Monday, Mar 16, 2015 11:34]

If I am a youngster, then we don't have many juniors. I am 30.

But has there ever been a lot of junior composers? Composing a problem is a difficult task, and not something I would expect many juniors to be capable of. Chess problems are an art, but while every child can paint a picture and call it art, composing a chess problem requires knowledge of the rules, and the ability to create a problem without cooks. And while everyone can play a game of chess once you know the rules, creating a position from scratch with a valid solution is much harder. I do not find it surprising at all that the average age among chess composers is considerably higher than the average age among chess players.

I can also assure you that I know many chess players who enjoy chess problems, including juniors.
 
   
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(11) Posted by Hauke Reddmann [Monday, Mar 16, 2015 15:14]

I made quite a few studies around 15 or so...but just because I didn't
know that they would be soooo anticipated :-)
 
 
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(12) Posted by Harry Fougiaxis [Monday, Mar 16, 2015 19:30]

 QUOTE 

I was proof-reading the April issue of StrateGems, when I noticed the following brief presentation in the #3 section:
"A warm welcome to Aydan Huseynzade from Azerbaijan...

Kostas, since you are proof-reading, I think that her name should be Huseynzada.
 
 
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(13) Posted by seetharaman kalyan [Monday, Mar 16, 2015 19:44]

There is also Azer Abbasov, another youngster from Azerbaijan. I was happy to get a couple of good problems from him. He is just 16. It seems Kenan Velikhanov is doing some good work there.

http://kobulchess.com/en/problems/chess-originals-2014/544-azer-abbasov-helpmate.html
 
   
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(14) Posted by Kostas Prentos [Tuesday, Mar 17, 2015 05:15]; edited by Kostas Prentos [15-03-17]

Harry, I am not sure the version of the name you suggest is the correct one. For example, the site "Chess composers' names in various alphabets" (http://database.wfcc.ch/index.php?-table=writings&-action=browse&id=%3D152894) gives the name Aydan Hüseynzadə in her language with the transcription to English as Aydan Hüseynzade. This is how she appears in KobulChess.com and also in the Batumi WCCC Bulletin. On the other hand, her FIDE profile (http://ratings.fide.com/card.phtml?event=13407147) is as Huseynzada.

However, I would expect our #3 editor, Rauf Aliovsadzade, who originates from Azerbaijan, to know exactly how to write her name.
 
   
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(15) Posted by Steffen Slumstrup Nielsen [Tuesday, Mar 17, 2015 08:50]

Well Hauke, I am 39: In my thirties just like Geir :-) At the meetings of the Danish Chess Problem Society I will probably be called "that new guy" for the next twenty years unless a miracle happens and some one even younger turns up.

I agree with Geir that is not easy for young chess players to start composing. I've had an interest in chess problems since I was twenty but it was not until I was 35 that I started composing myself. The social aspect of OTB chess is important to young players and this is close to nonexistent in composition - in Denmark anyway.
 
   
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(16) Posted by seetharaman kalyan [Tuesday, Mar 17, 2015 12:05]

Shankar Ram started composing good problems in his early twenties. Luckily he was not a serious OTB player. But that was long time ago !
 
   
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(17) Posted by Marjan Kovačević [Tuesday, Mar 17, 2015 14:11]

Thanks Kostas and Seetharaman, these were exactly the cases I was looking for!
It means we could cooperate with Kenan and, for instance, organize a junior match between Azerbaijan and Serbia in composing (or an individual TT) to give the kids feeling they are not alone in their generation. With some constructional thematic conditions, asking no deep knowledge of theory, this might work nicely.
There is still a hope juniors from other countries could join such a project. In the times of internet they easily communicate, create their own generation, and get to know each other better.
"The social aspect of OTB chess is important to young players and this is close to nonexistent in composition - in Denmark anyway."
Yes, this is very true, but the social aspects of composition may be created, too.
You may remember the huge effects of the British U21 composing tourneys. In our country national Student championships and Amateur championships in composing had similar effects. In fact, more than a half of prominent Serbian composers began publishing their problems as juniors.
 
 
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(18) Posted by shankar ram [Tuesday, Mar 17, 2015 16:05]

Huseynzade seems to be a common name in Azerbaijan..
See for example: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mehdi_Huseynzade
So the spelling is correct..
 
   
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(19) Posted by Harry Fougiaxis [Wednesday, Mar 18, 2015 19:08]

I asked Ilham Aliev, the delegate of Azerbaijan, and he confirmed that the correct spelling is Huseynzada as shown in https://ratings.fide.com/card.phtml?event=13407147
 
   
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(20) Posted by Kostas Prentos [Thursday, Mar 19, 2015 00:21]

Harry, I brought this discussion to Rauf's attention. It is up to him now. Thank you for the suggestion.
 
   
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MatPlus.Net Forum General Are there any juniors among composers?