1 September 00:05

End of the competition! The two newly found solutions are at the results page. Ivan & Vladimir should really be congratulated for their great tenacity till the end. They were so close to actually fulfilling the challenge, and maybe with some more time they would have finally found such matrix. If such exists that is, and they have actually not found the best in both categories! In category B, it may well be, in A, I believe it may still be possible to go a little higher, although the actual highest must not be that far away. Their category A's best, A/17/68/4, is an improvement over their competition's first in category A; and their category B's best, B/16/60, is an improvement over Guy's first in category B!

30 August, 21:12

Two days left! This will probably be the definitive end of the competition as I do not intend on another such challenge... :-) Maybe another such competition in the (far) future, it was/is such a wonderful experience. Quite different than actually being a competitor, both sides are interesting.

27 August, 15:35

Ivan & Vladimir found an A/14/70/4 and an A/18/73/6, but with a dual solution for the first, and a promoted piece too much for the second. Must be quite frustrating. They are so close one could feel, yet those two more moves seem so hard to find. One should congratulate them for their determination! Only 5 days left!

15 August, 21:47

And... Ivan & Vladimir are getting very very near to the target!!! They found an A/17/68/4!!! Will they succeed in the two weeks to come?! Now that we know that such heights are possible, we may get inspired!

9 August, 21:51

Ivan & Vladimir found an A/17/64/1 matrix!!!

9 August, 21:48

Jean-Marie improves the 71 moves with a 73 moves!!! Splendid.

9 August, 00:48

And the grand duo strikes again!!! They already found a B/16/60!!!!!! Again as it is a challenge, I will only publish the compositions either if the challenge has been met, or the deadline has past. This could be seen as a short add-on to the tournament... :-)

8 August, 22:45

I forgot to mention... Jean-Marie found a 71 moves using Jean-Christian's idea!!! Unfortunately with one extra pawn... :-) But still beautiful. It's in the results page.

8 August, 21:35

A, I must be crazy... :-) I decided to add one more challenge to this tournament, thus in a way it is still going on (reopened)! I offer 500€ to the first who will succeed in attaining 70 moves in category A, and 57 in category B. The same rules apply as in the tournament. One can of course base one's composition on one already made, but computer programs still cannot be used for composing. The deadline is 1st of september @ 00:00. This challenge is quite different from the actual tournament's. In the tournament one had to find the best without knowing anything about the others compositions. In the present challenge, all the solutions are given, and it is a matter of either finding improvements in those, or coming out with all new ideas. It is a most interesting aspect. Of course to achieve 70 is far from easy, that's sure, but I am convinced it is possible. Now the question is: will it be achieved before the deadline? By whom if yes? Would it be the actual competitors, or a "complete stranger" (to the previous competition). Giving the challenge as it is, a "complete stranger" may well be possible. Of course the actual competitors have a substantial advantage in that they have quite more experience with the position, still...

7 August, 00:03

A, I missed writing something here... :-) The originality and beauty prizes have been awarded!

1 August, 00:22

Again, thank you all for this most pleasant experience! I hope you also enjoyed it. I do not know if I will ever organize such a tourney again, maybe, time will tell... ;-)

1 August, 00:21

I decided to add an originality and beauty prize. For this all the compositions sent will be taken in account, even those that were rejected for one reason or another. I will present this on the 7th of August at 00:00. All the compositions and results can now be found at: http://www.geocities.com/ifaybish/results.html

1 August, 00:00

The competition is over!!! Congratulation to the winners, Ivan & Vladimir in category A, and Guy in category B! Congratulation to all the participants, for your great effort and kindness in correspondance! This was a great experience for me, and I am sure (hope) for most participants. In about 10 minutes I will present the page with all the compositions, which is like a gem of originality, patience and human's creative power. Ok ok, I get carried away now, let's stop here... :-)

31 July, 09:32

Ralf finds Vladimir's C/7/32, C/8/36 and C/9/40!!! Could it be a turning point just hours from the end?!

29 July, 22:46

Ivan & Vladimir would like to dedicate their A/64/17/3 composition to Vaclav Kotesovec (http://web.telecom.cz/vaclav.kotesovec) who just turned 50! We wish him all the best!

26 July, 23:23

Reminder: the competition ends on the 1st of August at exactly 00:00 GMT+1. When this will be attained, I will post a specific news and no more entries will be accepted. Thus if you are planning on working on it also on the last day, be sure to verify what you country's time is, with respect to GMT+1!

23 July, 18:32

That is quite interesting, Ivan & Vladimir find a quite creative 5x8 board, category C like 8/43!!! No official category yet for that one... :-) In addition they find Guy's C/11/41 and C/12/46!

22 July, 10:16

Nothing new... just a few more days left! The battle is raging at the top, who will finally win in both categories?! It is not clear. I believe The Duo and Guy will still find some improvements, and others may find good matrices permitting them to eventually at least equalize at the top.

19 July, 23:48

Well, just a few hours more, and they find a C/11/41 and a B/54/16! Guy, time to panic!

19 July, 20:15

Ivan & Vladimir are getting closer and closer to Guy in category B with a B/53/17!!!

18 July, 22:00

We are getting near the end of this pleasant journey, I am expecting some surprises to come still, we will see... :-) One nice news is that a third competitor found the C/6/23!!! Guess who?! Yes, Vladimir... ;-) Well done, it may well be one of the toughest puzzle of this competition I would say.

16 July, 14:26

A dear colleague introduced me to a great game I never heard about before, yet apparently it is very well-known. I mention it here because in some ways, I find similarities between it and this competition's idea, and some of you may want to try it out! :-) Its name is Sokoban, its rules cannot be simpler, yet it gives rise to beautiful logic puzzles! Try this version: [...], and more particularly, problems number 86, 87 and 88. These last ones took me a little bit of time to solve, they are masterpieces by Yoshio Murase (you can download more of his problems on that site, and try maybe the beautiful ym366)!

16 July, 12:56

They (who else?) improved a ranking in category D with a D/10/46/1!

14 July, 20:30

Ivan & Vladimir continue their journey with some category D's solutions. Would one have believed that during the tournament there would be a tie at 63 moves with 16 pieces and 3 promoted ones (with different matrices!) ?! Quite incredible don't you agree? :-)

14 July, 07:56

And we have a new leader(s) in category A!!! The mighty duo (Ivan & Vladimir for the uninitiated) found an A/17/64/3! 64... isn't this a nice symbolic number for chess?! Can a symbolic number be surpassed?! I believe it can, most probably of course as said previously, but it is getting quite tough to say the least! What will be Guy's reaction?!

13 July, 22:29

Axel improves in category B with a nice B/11/34, and starts category A with an A/11/38/2! He also finds the C/5/17, exactly 10 competitors found that one. Welcome to Etienne Dupuis! He starts category puzzles finding the second and third ones.

12 July, 20:21

Well... I guess many went to vacations... maybe it is now the opportunity for me too... :-) Or has an enchanter put all the competitors to sleep?! Guy, is it you? Not many news lately! Pascal finds one of the logic puzzles.

07 July, 23:38

Hmm... thinking about it, I am not so sure I must say on this site that it was a "crazy morning", and all this story... if my boss see that... ouch... ;-) Ok, could be seen as a way to "improve one's problem-solving expertise", yes, right... not sure that would pass either as good argument. Ok, he doesn't (I think!) yet know about this tournament, I'm safe - for now -.

07 July, 19:02

Must be one of those rare days when I did not receive anything new... :-) Thus time for another most beautiful puzzle. This was given to me and my colleagues, by another colleague, about 6 years ago I think. It was a crazy morning... we all wanted to solve that one, I was the first to succeed, although very luckily. Here it is: Given a 10x10 square, and a 1x8 rectangle. One is allowed to cut in any way one whishes to, one and only one of those pieces to make two pieces. You want to make a 9x12 rectangle from the three pieces. How do you do it? No "tricks" allowed.

07 July, 00:43

Ivan & Vladimir continue their gradual ascent to the zenith with an A/16/60/4! And they are the second authors to reach the magical 60 barrier! They also find a D/10/42/1, taking thus for the moment all the lower records in category D... will there be a third, fourth... maybe fifth (!) author who will reach the 60 barrier before the end of the competition?! Time will tell of course, but I believe it has reasonable chances to happen. And will there be someone reaching at least 70?! This too I believe has reasonable chances to happen before the end of the tournament.

05 July, 23:45

Welcome to a new contestant: Juha Saukkola from Finland! Starting with the C/3/6, a C/4/12 and C/5/17. Maybe one should note all the different countries participating: Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Finland, France, Germany, and Rumania! Actually there could also be the United States, but I am not sure... :-) For curiosity sake, I just opened the Atlas - something I have not done in many many years - and looked for those countries. I found it actually quite refreshing! Like as many different rooms we are living in, in the same house, like brothers and sisters... :-)

05 July, 06:53

Jean-Christian finds a nice D/10/41, just the minimum to actually take that spot, as there is a C/9/40! Interestingly, the C/10 remains empty...

05 July, 00:53

The mighty tandem finds a D/11/51! ;-) Some times ago I asked who would reach 60 moves in category A, well, now that we have that reached, and probably by several composers in the near future, we can go further: who would reach 60 moves... in category B!!! :-) Ok, time to go to sleep now...

04 July, 18:39

Guy, it is time I tell you something too... :-) The mighty Ivan & Vladimir are coming very (very) fast!!! They found a D/12/55 and a D/13/56! Time to ask the third wish from Aladdin's Genie! Do not ask for an A/17/70/1, or he may well bring you back to Amsterdam, on the 1st of January 1770. Be very very precise in your formulation... :-)

03 July, 23:57

Axel starts category B with a nice C/11/32!

03 July, 21:16

A, I waited a long time for his participation, and he sent me his first entry! Welcome to Jean-Christian Galli! And I am not deceived, he sent an absolutely incredible composition! I will not say more, but those laying eyes upon it may turn to stone! ;-) It is an A/17/56/7, yes... 7 promoted pieces!!!!!!

03 July, 10:45

Ralf, I do not know how to tell you that, Guy is in highly inspired mode lately, probably went to meditate some times in the Himalayas or ate some spinach, and... well... he finds a B/56/15!!! Very nice matrix too. For the other news, the first collaborative entry has been sent, by Ivan and Vladimir, reaching a very nice B/17/50! We will surely hear more of those two in the (near) future...

02 July, 16:01

Pascal finds Jean-Marie's C/6/23!!! The end of an era...

01 July, 15:52

Who thought that the C/7, C/8 and C/9 were the best? Well, far far far from the truth... :-) Welcome to Vladimir Janal!!! He found a C/7/32, C/8/36 and C/9/40!!!!! Beautiful ones too... I feel he could be a very strong competitor indeed. Ralf, Guy, time to put in extra work to stay at the top! ;-) One other point of concern that came up is that of collaborative work between composers. Unfortunately I did not think about it when making up the rules. My view is that I accept collaborative work, of maximum two composers working together. In the previous Caissa's tournaments this did not turn up, but in Problem-Online TT1 it did, and it was accepted there. Thus I do too and I have no problem with it.

30 June, 10:00

So, what has been happening lately?! Well, Guy improves even more to arrive at a very impressive A/63/16/3! He is also the first to send specific problems to the category D: D/11/44/1, D/12/49/1, D/14/58/1 and a D/15/60/2. Ivan improves in category B with a B/14/45, and finally Nicolas finds the second C/7/25. And, not wanting to repeat myself, but... still only Jean-Marie who found the C/6/23! This may well be one of the surprises of the tournament if it remains like that till the end!

27 June, 21:47

Hmm... actually that was an optical illusion, when I actually went out, it was cloudy and gloomy... ;-) No new news... soon we reach half the tournament time span, to those who just came in, do not be discouraged by this fact! There were many great matrices found by the competitors, and most probably many more to be found! Thus everything is yet possible and one can still reach the top even by starting now, but of course hard "work" and great focus are still needed.

27 June, 09:33

Good morning everyone! A... a bright sunny day today, good for the spirit. Welcome to a new contestant, Joshua Houk! He starts the competition with the C/3/6 and a C/4/12.

26 June, 23:18

Well, incredible times... just after the previous results, I have just received a mail from Ralf, which, well, is quite great... he found an incredible B/53/16!!! With a beautiful matrix what's more. Guy, time to "retrousser ses manches" as we say in french... ;-)

26 June, 21:51

Wao!!! A new competitor arrives very very strong! Welcome to Ivan Skoba! And luckily that I received his present email, he sent me some emails before, but I never received them! Guy, Ralf, have you hacked the Exchange Servers? ;-) Just kidding, just kidding, nobody is accused of course... :-) It is not yet Guy's records, but getting very close. Thus a C/3/6, both C/4/12, the C/5/17, two C/7/25, a B/14/44 and... an A/15/58/3!!! On another note, Pascal found the second puzzle, and Mario sent the first one (found it before, but forgot to send... :-) ), thus being the first to find all three!

25 June, 12:35

Welcome to Pascal Wassong! He makes a remarkable entry with an A/15/50/5!!! He also found some of the category C's entries, C/3/6 and both C/4. Mario is the first to solve the second puzzle, and also solves the third one!

24 June, 21:07

Cédric engages the Turbo and finds a nice B/17/42! To pass 40 moves in category B is far from obvious...

24 June, 18:21

Cédric sends the second C/4, and improves in category A, passing the symbolic 40 moves!

24 June, 13:15

Ralf finds a second C/11/41! And Jean-Marie stays the unique finder of a C/6/23, one may think that it should not be that tough to find a C/6/23, after all, it is just 3 pieces added to the initial position, no?! Well... as always, it is easier said than done... :-) It is all but easy! If you are not really interested in investing a lot of time in this competition for the high rankings, and just want a nice puzzle, try it! That would make the headlines! ;-)

23 June, 20:32

Well, this must be the biggest break without anything new to tell... actually I still do not have anything to tell, thus I tell that I have nothing to tell... hmm... sounds rather silly... Well, actually it is not 100% true, I changed the category D specification so that each solution in it must be better than its equivalent category C. Ok, not a record breaking news or anything, but it is something... ;-)

20 June, 20:13

Ralf improves the C/10 with a 39 moves!!! And with what must be one of the most creative idea so far, beautiful... :-)

20 June, 00:07

Given a just remark, I opened a new category for those positions having at least one promoted piece in the initial position, category D is officially started! ;-)

18 June, 11:50

And I just did! Thus a new table added... :-)

18 June, 11:37

No new news today... Guy is secretly working on a A/17/100/1, but don't tell him I told you that, it is a secret after all... ;-) Ok, when there are no news, I must say something, otherwise you'll run away... so, what can I say... a, another logic puzzle?! Maybe I should add a table with those who solve those, that would be quite interesting I think... here it is then, also one of my favorite problem due to the simplicity of its statement, and the beauty of its solution: You have two ropes and a lighter. If set on fire from one of their ends, each rope burns in exactly 60 minutes. You want to measure 45 minutes, how do you do it? Of course the ropes do not burn linearly, otherwise it would be, well, quite a trivial question... :-)

16 June, 21:51

And Guy is still (a)live and kicking... :-) He breaks some new barriers: C/11/41, C/12/46 and... an A/17/62/3!!! Welcome to Mario Richter! He starts the competition with the C/3/6 and C/4/12.

15 June, 08:49

Ralf finds another C/11/39!

14 June, 21:55

Guy finds a third C/10/38, and Vlaicu finds the (unique?) C/5/17. One can note that each category's C ranking can be considered as a problem in itself! And finding any is quite rewarding I believe... :-)

14 June, 10:41

Ralf finds a new C/10/38 different than Guy's!

13 June, 21:49

Nothing new today... everybody tries to recover from Guy's records... ;-) I am completely lessivated, I have a hard time moving any joint of my body, just returned from one of the toughest Badminton matches I have ever played, in, literally, a sauna hot gymnasium, and if you do not hear of me for several days, know that I have entered a deep, deep, recovering (?) sleep... ok, my life is not really that interesting, forget all that... a, another very nice logical puzzle for you: given a chess game with the same rules as the normal one, except that one must play two moves consecutively each turn. Prove that there exists a strategy for White that permits him to obtain at least a draw. Sounds impossible?! Well, the solution is really great, and not that tough.

13 June, 00:09

Cédric starts category A with a 16/39/1!

12 June, 23:21

Ralf finds Guy's C/8/33!

12 June, 21:44

Welcome to Axel Gilbert! It is nice to have new competitors. He finds several solutions: C/3/6, both C/4/12, and Nicolas's C/7/25. Ralf also finds this last one.

11 June, 12:50

And Guy finds a new... no no, just kidding, he is resting now... so, a few days ago I asked who will be the first to reach 60... hmm, dare I say now, who will be the first to reach 70?! By the way things are going, I wouldn't be much surprised! ;-) No, ok, 70 may be possible, but let us put it more modestly to: who will be the first to reach 65 moves? Guy, Ralf, Jean-Marie and all the others, if you're listening... :-)

10 June, 18:14

And it ain't over... Guy improves with an A/17/61/4!

10 June, 16:53

Well... everybody, I have an important announcement to make: Guy finds an A/16/60/3!!!!!! :-) Fantastic... that's quite an achievement! The competition is not yet over, do not despair all the other competitors, but, it surely got a "little bit" tougher... ;-)

10 June, 11:39

Cédric starts Category B with a 14/37!

9 June, 14:20

Guy improves his C/8 and finds a 33 moves!

9 June, 10:41

Nicolas finds a third C/7/25! It is the first entry having 3 solutions found!

8 June, 21:30

Just one left! Guy finds Ralf's C/7/25...

8 June, 21:02

The first part is done, Guy finds the C/5/17, two left... :-)

8 June, 19:57

Guy improves on the C/9 and finds a 35 moves. He also completes the C/11 and C/12. Just the C/5, 6 & 7 more and it would be a full suite... :-)

8 June, 14:28

Guy finds the same C/8/32 as Ralf! He also finds a different C/9/34, and a brand new entry in category C: 10/38! Can anybody stop him?!

8 June, 11:53

Ralf is getting very close to Guy with a nice A/52/17/3! He also finds the second C/4/12. The battle is raging at the top! I believe it should be possible to arrive to at least 60 moves somehow in the category A, although I have no idea how... ;-) Who will be the ultimate record breaker?!

7 June, 22:54

No competition news... :-) As a small digression, I just thought about sharing a beautiful logic problem that a dear colleague of mine asked me about a month ago and that I hope you would like. Everybody at work knows that I love math and logic puzzles / problems, thus a colleague told me that he has a very nice one, that apparently was used for a recruitment test! I thought he would give me one of those classics, that I know well... ;-) But no... surprise, one I never heard about, and that I consider as one of the best! The reason being that the data is so simple, yet the solution is, well, tricky... (but not really tough). Here it is: Given 100 identical pieces of money laid flat on the table. 90 side tail, the other 10 side head. Now you are asked to close your eyes (the pieces are scrambled), and then to make two separate sets of pieces, both having exactly the same number of pieces being side head. Of course these sets must contain at least 1 piece, otherwise it would be the trivial O - O. You must also wear gloves, thus you cannot use the aspect of the pieces for that matter. How do you do it?

7 June, 20:56

Guy finds the second C/4/12. It seems there is not a third solution for that particular entry!

7 June, 12:28

Nothing new today, the competitors are now busy brainstorming ideas to find promising matrices. I really wonder who will be the second person to pass - or equalize - my records, and if it will be with some brand new matrix, or with Guy's one... Actually, I would say that a first important "milestone" for category A to reach is 48 moves, and for category B, 44 moves. For the moment Ralf is the only other competitor to reach those.

6 June, 22:53

Jean-Marie enters the dance in Category B with a B/14/34. Soon to be followed by a B/17/60. Noooo Jean-Marie, just kidding, no pressure, no pressure... ;-)

6 June, 14:16

Congratulation to Guy! He finds an A/15/54/2 and is thus the first to surpass both my pre-tournament records for the categories A & B! I can now give them, they were A/17/54/4, and B/17/48. Who's next? ;-)

6 June, 12:10

As there are some entries having more than one solution, I have decided to show it in the tables. Thus those having more than one are split in as many solutions as were found. This is an extra challenge... to find all the solutions for a particular entry! ;-) Note that there are some solutions which differ so slightly from one another, that I do not consider them as different.

6 June, 11:36

Not much news this morning, after yesterday record breaking performance, one needs some rest... :-) Nicolas finds a C/5/17. Actually the same matrix as the others have found... is there another possible matrix for that particular entry? As soon as my record for category A is also broken, I would reveal those for A & B, and as they served their purpose, I would remove the corresponding columns from the rankings. I must say I am quite happy with the way the competition unfolds! Many surprising stuff...

6 June, 00:00

Incredible!!!!! I can't believe my eyes... Guy finds a beautiful B/13/51!!!! and an A/14/52/1!!!!! And... he is the first to surpass me in the B category, not yet A! Well done Guy! Any candidate to follow Guy on his galactic quest? Ralf also improves in category B and finds a nice B/16/46.

5 June, 14:29

Cédric finds a C/4/12, 9 competitors have now found this particular entry, even more than the C/3! Hmm... something in the grand order of things is not right... :-)

5 June, 13:42

Jean-Marie finds the C/5/17, and is the only one for the moment to have everything from C/3 to C/7!

5 June, 11:46

Quite interesting (or not), without doing it on purpose, it happens that I did the "Add a line above the other one" in the News table at exactly the same time as yesterday, that is 11:46! Hmm... ok not so interesting after all is it?! so, what is new today? Well, nothing... ;-) I have a free day today (monday), God bless the holidays... A yes, on request, and with good reasons, I split the page with the News & Rankings, from the one with all the rules, etc. This should make it load faster, and more logical.

4 June, 11:46

Calm day, just one entry, but an important one. Ralf increases his lead in Category B with a B/16/44!

3 June, 11:39

Ralf also takes the lead in Category B with a B/15/41! For the moment Jean-Marie is the only who has found a C/6/23. It's a nice challenge in itself to find that one!

2 June, 21:56

Ralf explodes the counters with a very nice composition!!!!!! A/17/51/2!!! So, any candidate for a follow up? ;-)

2 June, 20:25

Many things going on... Guy is on fire and found many solutions, and is the first to reach 40 in the category B! And Ralf finds a C/8/32! Guy, time to improve something somewhere... :-) This is getting serious... :-) A dear colleague of mine, Michel Tavernier, starts with a C/3/6. He didn't yet really take this competition seriously, not sure he will at all, but if he does, I believe he will be quite a strong competitor.

2 June, 09:35

Second day, rather calm... Ralf takes the lead with a A/41/16/1, first one to pass 40! Guy finds a A/39/15/2, a C/12/34, and a C/13/35, Vlaicu improving in category A with a A/38/14/4. Have a nice day everyone!

1 June, 23:58

Ralf finds another 7/25, completely different than the one of Jean-Marie!!!

1 June, 23:31

Vlaicu finds a C/3/6 and C/4/12. Ok, I think we can now safely say that the 3/6 is most probably the best, and that 4/12 has a good probability of also being so. Otherwise it would be a big surprise.

1 June, 21:15

Welcome to Nicolas Dupont! He enters the competition with a C/3/6 and a C/4/12.

1 June, 21:01

Guy finds a nice C/12/31. Still some free spots to take, who's next? :-)

1 June, 20:21

Ok, came back from work alive, I am not fired (yet)... :-) A, several new competitors, welcome to all of them! Guy Sobrecases is the first to enter the Category B ranking, Jean-Marie Choreïn does very strong, he is the first to pass my records for 6 & 7 pieces! Nice finding. I had the feeling that the C/6 was not the best, now I am sure... :-) For the C/7, I did not know. Several composers also found things I did not really think about... Jean-Marie, so, when are you attacking the Categories A & B? ;-)

1 June, 09:41

News of the night: Ralf finds a C/4/12, and a C/8/28. He is "going strong" as the saying goes. Welcome to the newcomers: Olivier Pucher with a C/5/15, David Antonini with a C/3/6 and a C/5/15. Eric Huber with a C/4/12, and finally François Perruchaud with a C/4/12! Great start! Ok, it was time to go to sleep yesterday, now, it is time to fly to work!!! By the way, if I make a mistake in the ranking, please tell me so. As I receive many emails with many compositions, I may eventually make a mistake or forget one.

1 June, 00:59

Ralf finds a 6 moves in Category C 3 pieces. Welcome to Vlaicu Crisan who is the first to enter the Category A ranking with a nice problem. Ok, I think I will go to sleep and leave you now... :-) Good night!

1 June, 00:26

Second entry, by Ralf Krätschmer who starts tough in Category C 8 pieces.

1 June, 00:19

The first entry has been sent! Guy Sobrecases takes the lead in the Category C 4 pieces.

1 June, 00:00

The competition has been launched. Good luck to all!

30 May, 20:59

1 day until kick-off. Prepare the coffee. Please, do not blame me if you do not sleep well for 2 months from now on... :-)

22 May, 21:41

I decided to add a special prize of 100€ to the first competitor who will surpass both my records for category A and B. This should spice it up a little bit... :-)

21 May, 18:47

The more I am searching, the more I am amazed at the richness of the possibilities of the chosen position. Every time I think I found something very nice, that could eventually be the best in one of the ranking of category C (not A or B, thinking that one attained the maximum in those would be pure vanity... :-) ), I find something better... I am really looking forward to the start of the competition, I am sure many would find things I totally missed.

20 May, 03:16

Rule number 8 was changed. This would give me more work, but I believe it would make it tougher for the competitors, more interesting, and maybe more fun for me... ;-) On the 1st of June, I will not give any of my results, but, in the ranking table, there will be a column indicating if it is better, equal, or less good than what I found. On that day I will "freeze" my results, that is, I won't work on it anymore. These will probably not be the best, but they will be good enough to give some incentives to at least reach them.

Competitor

Number of moves

Number of pieces

Number of promoted pieces in the initial position

Date of sending

Ivan Skoba & Vladimir Janal

64

17

3

13 July 23:59

Guy Sobrecases

63

16

3

29 June 12:57

Ivan Skoba

58

15

3

26 June 11:40

Jean Christian Galli

56

17

7

3 July 10:18

Ralf Krätschmer

53

16

0

26 June 23:00

Pascal Wassong

50

15

5

25 June 11:10

Cédric Moretus

42

17

0

24 June 20:52

 Axel Gilbert

38

12

2

13 July 12:18 

 Vlaicu Crisan

38

14

4

1 June 00:59

Competitor

Number of moves

Number of pieces

Date of sending

 Guy Sobrecases 

56

15

3 July 09:56

Ivan Skoba & Vladimir Janal

54

16

19 July 23:39

Ralf Krätschmer

53

16

26 June 23:00

Cédric Moretus

42

17

24 June 20:52

Axel Gilbert

34

11

13 July 12:18

 Jean-Marie Choreïn

34

14

6 June 21:37

 Vlaicu Crisan 

34

15

3 June 00:32

Number of pieces in the initial position

Competitors

Number of moves

3

Ralf Krätschmer, David Antonini, Jean-Marie Choreïn, Guy Sobrecases, Cédric Moretus, Nicolas Dupont, Vlaicu Crisan, Michel Tavernier, François Perruchaud, Axel Gilbert, Mario Richter, Pascal Wassong, Ivan Skoba, Joshua Houk, Juha Saukkola

6

4

Ralf Krätschmer, Eric Huber, Guy Sobrecases, Vlaicu Crisan, Nicolas Dupont, François Perruchaud, Axel Gilbert, Mario Richter, Cédric Moretus, Pascal Wassong, Ivan Skoba, Juha Saukkola

François Perruchaud, Jean-Marie Choreïn, David Antonini, Nicolas Dupont, Cédric Moretus, Guy Sobrecases, Ralf Krätschmer, Axel Gilbert, Mario Richter, Pascal Wassong, Ivan Skoba, Joshua Houk

12

5

Ralf Krätschmer, David Antonini, Cédric Moretus, Jean-Marie Choreïn, Nicolas Dupont, Guy Sobrecases, Vlaicu Crisan, Ivan Skoba, Juha Saukkola, Axel Gilbert

17

6

Jean-Marie Choreïn, Pascal Wassong, Vladimir Janal

23

7

Vladimir Janal, Ralf Krätschmer

32

8

Vladimir Janal, Ralf Krätschmer

36

9

Vladimir Janal, Ralf Krätschmer

40

10

11

Guy Sobrecases, Ivan Skoba & Vladimir Janal

Ralf Krätschmer

Ivan Skoba & Vladimir Janal

41

12

Guy Sobrecases, Ivan Skoba & Vladimir Janal

46

13

Guy Sobrecases

51

14

Guy Sobrecases

54

15

Guy Sobrecases

56

16

17

18

Number of pieces in the initial position

Competitors

Number of moves

Number of promoted pieces in the initial position

5

6

7

8

9

10

Ivan Skoba & Vladimir Janal

46

1

11

Ivan Skoba & Vladimir Janal

51

1

12

Ivan Skoba & Vladimir Janal

55

1

13

Ivan Skoba & Vladimir Janal

56

2

14

Guy Sobrecases

58

1

15

Guy Sobrecases

Ivan Skoba & Vladimir Janal

60

2

16

Guy Sobrecases

Ivan Skoba & Vladimir Janal

63

3

17

Ivan Skoba & Vladimir Janal

64

3

18

Puzzle

Statement

Competitors

1

Given 100 identical pieces of money laid flat on the table. 90 side tail, the other 10 side head. Now you are asked to close your eyes (the pieces are scrambled), and then to make two separate sets of pieces, both having exactly the same number of pieces being side head. Of course these sets must contain at least 1 piece, otherwise it would be the trivial O - O. You must also wear gloves, thus you cannot use the aspect of the pieces for that matter. How do you do it?

François Perruchaud, Mario Richter

2

Given a chess game with the same rules as the normal one, except that one must play two moves consecutively each turn. Prove that there exists a strategy for White that permits him to obtain at least a draw.

Mario Richter, Pascal Wassong, Etienne Dupuis

3

You have two ropes and a lighter. If set on fire from one of their ends, each rope burns in exactly 60 minutes. You want to measure 45 minutes, how do you do it?

François Perruchaud, Ralf Krätschmer, Mario Richter, Pascal Wassong, Etienne Dupuis

4

Given a 10x10 square, and a 1x8 rectangle. One is allowed to cut in any way one whishes to, one and only one of those pieces to make two pieces. You want to make a 9x12 rectangle from the three pieces. How do you do it? No "tricks" allowed.