Composition: The Art of Chess
The Gist:
Chess composition is an artificially created chess position, meant to be solved in a specific way. At least that's how I'd define it. Quite simply, it's a tactic that did not come in the process of a chess game, but instead from the composers imagination. In some cases it may have been inspired by a specific game. Still, it is based on the creativity and chess understanding of the composer.
I have become enamoured with this side of chess. I've found a lot of fun in trying to come up with tactics. I posted a blog, when I first grew interested in this subject. I have to admit that it was nothing short of a failure, but I didn't give up. I tried very hard to perfect the puzzle that started it all. I learned a few things from my efforts, which I intend to share today.
The Plan:
To start, I think we can look at the initial blueprint I made for my first composition post. This was what I found in the original blog. Interestingly, when I decided to fix my puzzle a month later, I didn't check the original blog. I simply redrew what I remembered on a piece of paper and got to work on chess.com. So I was surprised to see that I had perfectly reconstructed the planned path.
The Process:
So that's the plan. Simple without any of the extra pieces right? Yeah... Unfortunately it gets WAY more complicated as you add pieces. Next we'll take a look at a small part of the process. An extremely small part, since there were simply too many small changes before the final piece.
In fact that's something you need to be prepared for. Minuscule changes in positions that could completely turn your idea into something else. Sometimes you would have a piece that helped with one part of your puzzle, but blocked your pieces 2 moves down the line. And you'd need to figure out how to get the same effect with a different piece. It was exhausting spending hours slowly refining the position.
Here are 3 positions that became vastly different tactics. Simply because of small changes to the piece placement.
As good as these puzzles are, they clearly do not follow the path I'd set up. If I'm being honest, making these changes broke me. Imagine it from my perspective. I'd been trying for hours to get a specific move from the engine, but each change only made things more different. Sometimes it felt like banging my head on a wall would've been a more productive use of my time.
Still, I kept going. I think there came a point, when I was being fuelled by spite and obsession. Passion can not explain how I managed to finish my puzzle in only one day. Oh right... I haven't showed you the puzzle yet. Well, I guess now is as good a time as any to show you my piece.
The Result:
It's not bad right? I mean, I was forced to give up the first move. Still it ended up pretty good in my opinion. I'm very proud of myself. Especially considering that I couldn't find any instructions on composing tactics. So what did I learn? Well a few things actually.
- Thinking backwards - In order to make this, I chose to use a different strategy from my first try. I started from the final position, and slowly made my way to the first position. I don't know how this'll ever be useful to me, but it was a fun change in mindset to make.
- Perseverance - I mean, is there anything more I can say? I think I've made it clear how many times I considered giving up.
- Giving up - Sometimes you need to know when to stop. I think I spent way too much time with the first move. I couldn't get the result I wanted, and chose to be content with what I already had.
- Sanity - I learned I have none, so that was a strange revelation.
The Door:
So... Yeah! That's it, I hope you enjoyed. I'm honestly not sure how good this post is. I was never really knew how I would write this, but I've had the idea for months and I just want it out of my head. By the way if you know any chess composition books, please recommend them. I didn't look very hard, but my initial search turned up nothing. And some feedback on the new thing I'm doing. The whole "Gist" and "Door" thing. Seemed unique enough, but I'm open to thoughts.
Anyway, feel free to take a look at the bonus puzzle below and be on your way. Have a nice day.
