Tempo Play
Peter's Problem World with FIDE Master of Chess
Composition
Peter Wong
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Note that Peter's articles, follow a chess problem
convention in using ‘S’ to represent the knight
(from the German word,
Springer). ‘N’ is reserved for a fairy piece called the nightrider.
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Tempo play is a paradoxical idea which,
though appearing in many types of problems, is most richly expressed in the
helpmate genre.
In certain helpmate situations, a player who
has the move is already positioned correctly, while the other side needs to
arrange the pieces further. Since to pass on a turn is forbidden, the
first player must use up the time somehow, without weakening the set-up.
The precise way to accomplish this – how to
purposefully “do nothing” in spite of the
stipulated move limit – is known as
tempo play.
A pure tempo move or manoeuvre, then, entails
no constructive effects and is motivated only by the compulsion to play.
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Both White and Black carry out tempo play in
Problem 127. The white knight is poised to
give two indirect
battery mates on e7 and f4. The first mate is currently stopped by
the e5-rook, so Black plans to move that rook away and replace the
self-block on e5 with the knight from c4.
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However, a ‘random’ placement of the
rook such as 1.Rh5? would fail, because on White’s turn every possible
move will disturb the scheme. In notation, this ‘try’ or
near-solution is given as 1.Re~ ?? 2.Se5 Se7, where ‘??’ signifies
White’s lack of a tempo move.
The solution requires Black to play
specifically to provide White with a tempo (marked by ‘!’), by freeing
the king: 1.Re3 Kg1! 2.Se5 Se7.
The second mate, …Sf4, does not protect
the rook on c6, so White wants to shift that rook away to guard that
square; any rook move along the c-file would in turn leave d6
unprotected, and this prompts Black to block that square with the
knight.
Now this plan runs into the problem of
Black not having a waiting move: 1.Sd6 Rc~ 2.?? Sf4. The scheme
will work only if White provides Black with a tempo, and this is done
by using the rook to close the first rank, to enable the b1-bishop to
move without giving a disruptive check: 1.Sd6 Rc1 2.Bd3! Sf4. |
127. Josif
Kricheli
Shakhmaty
1964
2nd Prize
 
 
 
 
 
Helpmate in 2
2 solutions |
In Problem 128, the white tempo play is coupled with subtle
line-opening strategy. Two immediate mates by the e4-knight are
prevented solely by the pinning c2-bishop, which must stay put to block a
flight.
The incarcerated white king
cannot unpin the knight directly, so one of the black knights has to arrange
it by interposing on d3. These black knights have four ways to
approach d3, two of which are thematic tries, and they fail due to the lack
of a white tempo.
In
Problem 129, the black king initially has two flights on b3 and b4,
which proved to be not controllable by the available pieces. The king
therefore goes to another square to be mated, and if d5 or d4 were unguarded
by White, Kd5 would permit …Qxe6 mate, and Kd4 would permit …Qxe4 mate.
However, Black must begin and surprisingly all legal moves seem to ruin
these intended lines.
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Thus, in the first tempo try 1.?? S~
2.Kd5 Qxe6, any move by the e6-bishop would protect e6, and any move by
the e4-rook move would create a flight on e4, stopping the queen mate in
either case.
And in the second try 1.?? B~ 2.Kd4 Qxe4,
any initial rook move would guard e4, and any initial bishop move would
pin the white bishop, spoiling White’s plan either way.
The two solutions show how Black
‘conspires’ with White to deal with these difficulties, by playing a
tempo move that has an additional paradoxical effect. 1.Bd5!
obstructs the square meant for the black king, obliging White to
clear the square again with a capture, 1…Sxd5 2.Kxd5 Qe6.
The second solution also commences with a
seemingly counter-productive tempo, 1.Rd4!, followed by similar
sacrificial play, 1…Bxd4 2.Kxd4 Qe4. |
129. Jacques
Rotenberg & Michel Caillaud
Phénix
1995
1st Prize
 
 
Helpmate in 2
2 solutions |
White’s
promotion moves are necessary to re-confine the black king, hence they
cannot be regarded as pure tempo moves. Nevertheless, the problem
overall depicts tempo play, given that the solutions are logically designed
to overcome the tempo difficulties seen in the tries.
Problem
132, which blends tempo play with another well-known idea, is for you
to solve.
138. Fadil
Abdurahmanovic
Nepuzlan
Memorial Tourney 1985
Commended
Helpmate in 2
2 solutions
Solution
to Problem 138 (To display, hold down your mouse button and select the
text below)
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>
1.a1(B) g8(R)! 2.Bf6
Sh6, and 1.Sh8 gxh8(Q)
2.a1(S)! Se5. Both White
and Black play a tempo
promotion move, as part
of the Allumwandlung
theme of four different
promoted pieces. Note
that in the first
solution, even though
the promoted white rook
is required to guard the
f8-flight, the promoting
move is still a pure
tempo, because the white
pawn was already
attacking f8 from its
initial square.>
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