chess-The Oxford Companion to Chess - First Edition by David Hooper & Kenneth Whyld

3]4 STROBECK
play (lacticr. ln its tridesr sense, howeve.. strarcgy
emb.ac€s all that happens on $e board: tactics
should accord with stateeicends, and in carying
oul a long-term plan a player shoutd examirc hh
moves io deterninc Nheiher they are tacticaUy
feasible. 'Stralegy', wrote .!wE- is a case oI
lhinking, lactics one oI seeing.' Ihc tninhng n
nodined hove by move as the position changcs
and, contrary to popul.r beliei, masteA do not
make p.econceived plans that unlold as the game
proceedsfrom stafi to6nnh. (Forthedcvclopment
ofche$ stralegy see scsooB o! .Hrss.)
Slrategy as undeAtood b! players who use rhe
wo.d in its normalsc.sc nasnoplacein problens.
ComposeBuse ihe sord to describe cenain knrds
olplay, allof whichaplayerwoutddefineastactics.
STROaEC( asrall village on the sestern edge ot
Ilalberstadt in East Cernany. SELENUS lint drcw
altennonto thevillaSewhenbe*rorein 1616olthe
chcss sldll ot the inhabilants ind rhe sr.ong
t.adition oI.ouRrER which hc found lhere. Tteie
are nreconcilable Iegends about the hntory ol ihc
game in Shdbeck, sode suggesting thar the game
was popular thcr. from as lar back !s 1(t)4. cws
visiled the village in 1831, noied that conricr had
dicd our. a.d said thd in 156l rhe Fle.ror of
Brandenbure had givcn tne village a conbined
chessdndcounerhoardandtsoscts. oncivoryind
one ol siher and 8old, ,dding rhar the DeaD and
Chaprer at Halb.stadt had boro*ed rhe silver
and gold ser and forgorten to rellm ir. Lewn
doubted whether any ol rhe inhabiianrs could have
dcfcatedanrst cl.ssplayerwhooncededoddsola
knight. No sbong player has evei been knosn to
come Iron Strdbeck althoueh chcss is said ro b.ve
been conpulsory lher€ for anl,thing up 10 a
millennium. A 20th century visilor could lind no
one who *as able toplaychess and noGdthatrhe
villageB were fed up wiih beingpcstcred aboll the
STRONG SQUARE, a square on aplayer\ Iourth
rank or beyond tbal can be used cfic.livety by th.t
playeaspicces Ttissquarewiube safeiromatta.k
by enemy pawns. sucn an aftck being either
impo$ible or inadvisable. An ADVANCE rcrNr- for
example, is likcly 10 be a slrong point.
sTUDY, a leg.l posnion usually conposed and
rarely from play that is acconrpanicd hy the
stipnlation for the solver rhat one side (usually
Whne) n to wio orto forcc a draw. Arording ro
the prRAN codex there should bc uniqueness of
solution (i.e. only one saftfactory nove for wnirc
each tine he plays) againsl Black\ best delence .
Perhaps this should read 'what appears to be
Bla.k's bcsl delenc'. The conposer inlcnds ihis
line oI play lo bc lhe main variation and it olter
ends vilh a tactical d6nouemcnt adding piquatrcy.
The u.iquc mainpiay distinguisbes the studylrom
the DIDAorc resrroN allhouAh there is somctimcs
an olerlaP. The solution may be regarded as the
correctly played finhh 10 an imaginary gaoe.
Wbite. always in difficulties, nnds a sin when tnis
sould seem to be inpossible or a dras shen he
seenrs to bc hopclcssly losl
With a feB erceptions (e.e. rLAcHUn{ rHFr!) a
sludy .onPoser is unabte lo use many of ihc
thcmcs available ro the problem conposer, bur in
other Nays hc has grcarcr scope: male is nol his
only aim: be nnotlimiledto asetnumberofmores
orrequiied ro prolide rbenalic vanadonsr and he
may usc introdu.tory play thlt leads to and
perhaps con.eah his main id€a. He avoids DUArs
that would by pass his idea. Ior lhen the study
s ould losc its poinl, and he seek EcoNow. A naid
va.iationusually ends in one ofthe lollowingNays:
.neclnale perhaps sho*ing an DEAI M^8. a
MoDLL arE. or srMMrrRyi stalemate which mighi
bc an rD.ar srAr-EMAr.
Srudy conposnion reacbed a hiSh level dunng
the great dlys ofklamic chessin rhe9ihand 10rh
ccnlurics. (Scc MAN,SiIBA and as-sirli.) subse
que.ilythe a lay almosi oeglected until rhc l9rh
cenlury. In 1851 orNc and HoRwrrz published a
pioneer work, aIcr, .Srzdi.r; ,. Endings of Cunes,
.onlaining 20? positionsi some arc s$dies (the
autbon established tbis te.ml. sonc didactic
Positions, and all $ere intended lor instru.lion.In
the 1890s adisiinct advance was nade, principally
by torzkr, RrN.(. and th. Gcrman Johann
Sehwe$ (1868 1940). They sere louowed by thc
PLAro! brotheB and K. A. L. ouBEL. since shcn
Soviet conposcrs halc dominated the lield. The
firsr large collecrion, A Thousdnd End-Cdhes
(1910 11), {.s nade by $e En8lishman crcasey
Edward CccilTaticisali (18?7 1957): he inserted
many didaciic positions. From 1939 luthori&rive
colleclions have been made by LoMM.R and
(ASPARYAN. The unPublished saRM^N collection
contaiN norc 1ha.25,000 classilied studies and is
arailable to lourncyjudgcs sho Nish to cbeck tor
anlicipation. In 1965 RoycRon founded EG, a
quarrerlynagazine devoted whollytostudicsica.n
issuc contains an alerage oI abour 70 compositions.
most oi rhcm contenporaiy.
A J. Royciofl, r..ir rrbe ar.sr (1972), repub,
lished as ftc crzs &da,h? Sr!4, (1982).
SUBA, MIHAI (1957 ), Idletuarional Grand
master 0978). Romanian pray.r who becane
widelyknown in 1982vhen he came second equal
vith ss riler rIB! at Blile Herculane and lhid
(+6=4 3) aftcr Ribri and sMysr.ov (Nho becane
.^NDrD^rrs) in theLasPalmasinreronal. Hisbest
vicror! {as.r Donnund 1983 (+6=4 1).
SUETIN, ALEXEY STEPANOVICH O92G ).
Soviet player and author, Inlcftational Grandmas
ter(i965). He played in ten USSR cha,npionships
from 1950 to 196T,athisbeslshannglourrh prize in
1963 and 1965, scoring +8=7 ,l and +6-11 2
respectively. In tounam.nl play he tishrs baid,