[Retros] Probleemblad 1-2009

[Rol, Guus]

The "new beehive" was one of my early attempts and Harry Goldsteen
progressed quite a bit from that point. He himself refers to these heavy
structures unpoetically as "closets" which he divides into hardware (the
unmoving containing structure) and software (the flexible units inside).
He has done extensive systematic research on different software
configurations within almost identical hardware setups. I've seen the
stack that overflowed his shoebox and upcoming issues of Probleemblad
will present more of this work. I am always in favor of honoring
forerunners so "Breyer patch" seems quite an attractive suggestion to
me.
 
Regards,
Guus Rol


________________________________

Van: retros-bounces at janko.at [mailto:retros-bounces at janko.at] Namens
Pastmaker at aol.com
Verzonden: donderdag 2 april 2009 5:40
Aan: retros at janko.at; andrew at anselan.com
CC: thomasv at mosessinger.com
Onderwerp: Re: [Retros] Probleemblad 1-2009



Dear friends,

The progenitor of these compositions, I think, is the extraordianry 1922
Breyer composition (the original 50-move draw composition), a Rubik's
Cube-like position of such complexity that it was erroneously thought
sound for decades, was recognized to be unsound as a 50-move position in
the 1960s, and needed computer work by Gerd Wilts in the 1990s (amended
yet again by further computer work by Pascal Wassong, if I remember
correctly) to finally be adjusted to soundness, all with only very small
modifications to the original presentation.  In other words, the
computer-corrected position looks a whole lot like the original 1922
position.

For those even slightlyh familiar with the Uncle Remus stories retold by
Joel Chandler Harris, the phrase "Breyer Patch" (from Chandle's "briar
patch") is almost irresistible as a description of these problems.

There are wonderful examples by Wassong (the magnificent "Dedicated to
Babette" problem, which, with a little modification by Wilts that
probably exalts the task to the detriment of artistic merit in the
original), represented for some time (and may still represent, I don't
know) a record for determined last moves, and by Borodatov (1995, I
think, with 50-move draw effect).  Goldsteen's (and Rol's?, forgive me
Guus for not remembering clearly) well-known "New Beehive" is a superb
example as well. 

Regards to all,
Tom Volet


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