Since 2007, our community has been marking January 4th as the International Day of Chess Composition, inspired by an article from 155 years ago, where chess composition was declared a kind of art. Today we are doing it in the contemporary spirit, launching the 1st WFCC Online Solving Challenge for Youth (OSCY).
The 1st OSCY unites efforts of very different generations. You may see here the OSCY video promotion made by the young Anirudh Daga, who also contributed to some elements of design.
And here is the Press Release text by our senior member Brian Cook, the heart and soul of the whole project:
As the WFCC announce their new bi-monthly Online Solving Challenge for Youth (OSCY), never has there been a better time for young chess players from 5 to 21 years old to test their skills at chess problem solving. It isn’t unusual to find that those who have taken the plunge converting their modest FIDE ratings into much higher solver ratings, earning norms and titles in the process. Free of the need for detailed knowledge of openings and strategy, their exceptional tactical skills have flourished with astonishing results. Rather than solving/composing a fast evolving web of typical threats & traps set by/for their opponents, solvers are generally confronted with a few won positions (often composed by GMs of Chess Composition) of greater complexity and/or featuring an unusual concept. Greatest of the many success stories in this regard are GMs of Solving:
Danila Pavlov – 21 year-old 3 x World Champion and No.1 (rated 2820 for solving, 2361 by FIDE), Ural Khasanov – 17 year-old World No.5 (solving at around 1000 rating points higher than he plays), not to mention 14 year old Anna Shukhman, World No.1 for women.
Full OSCY details are provided at the tournament website along with much of what needs to be known by beginners PLUS World Champion coaching and, except for <€10 for coaching, it’s all FREE. See the WFCC Announcement.
As Online and @Home solving has become more popular (at both grass-roots and elite levels), a smooth pathway is emerging from informal to the many rated/physical tournaments at which titles are earned. So, please give OSCY a try and avoid missing out on what may be your personal chess paradise.
NOTES:
- Unusual pieces such as ‘nightriders’, ‘grasshoppers’, etc are not indulged in OSCY. They remain strictly for the ‘fairies’
- For anyone pressed for time – the home of our QuickStart Guide