Helpmates in two with grasshoppers and nightriders 6

Older files introducing this combination of stipulation and fairy pieces:

Hans Peter Rehm judged friendly match between two German regions in section dedicated to h#2 with grasshoppers and nightriders. Although I knew about it, he (beeing of course unaware of that) kindly pointed it to me after my request to CCM subscribers to inform me about problems of this type. As I don't understand German precisely, I will only touch his comments at some points (where I think I understand well) and these provided below are by me. Complete report in German language you can read in Die Schwalbe August 1998.

Hemmo Axt 1st Place Bayern-Sachsen 1995-97	a) 1.Qd4 Be3 2.Qxf6+ Bc5# b) 1.Sd4 Ne3 2.Se6+ Na5# c) 1.Rd4 Ge3 2.Rd7+ Ge6# Black pieces have various ways to their destination squares, but need for closing grasshopper a7-f2 line forces them to go through d4. Then wahite can play to e3. Clear and it is well done in three phases with varying mating pictures.

h#2 (6+12) 3+2 grasshopper, 1+1 nightrider b) e6 -» c8 c) e6 -» e5

Sven Trommler 2nd Place Bayern-Sachsen 1995-97	1.Bc6~? Ga1 2.Sb5?? 1.Bxd5 Ga1 2.Gb5? Nb7+, Ng2+ 3.Gxb7!, Gc4! 1.Bxd5 Ga1 2.Sb5 Nb7# 1.Re7~? Ga2 2.Gb5?? 1.Rxe5 Ga2 2.Sb5? Ng2+, Nb7+ 3.Ge3!, Gxb7! 1.Rxe5 Ga2 2.Gb5 Ng2# Nightrider halfpin and doublepin mates. There are interesting try phases pointing motivation of arrival of B on d5 and R on e5 as well as choice of piece aiming to b5 on black second move. Unfortunately it is not pure dual avoidance as Gb3 must unguard e3 in second solution. In version below this defect is removed, also geometry of white first move is a bit changed and some piece are saved.

h#2 (8+13) 5+4 grasshopper, 2+1 nightrider 2.1.1.1

Sven Trommler 2nd Place Bayern-Sachsen 1995-97 version judge Hans Peter Rehm	1.Bc6~? Ge8 2.Sb5?? 1.Bxd5 Ge8 2.Gb5? Nb7+, Ng2+ 3.Gxb7!, Gc4! 1.Bxd5 Ge8 2.Sb5 Nb7# 1.Re7~? Gd1 2.Gb5?? 1.Rxe5 Gd1 2.Sb5? Ng2+, Nb7+ 3.Re3!, Gxb7! 1.Rxe5 Gd1 2.Gb5 Ng2# The end of HPR's comment I understand in a way that in this version ST's problem would finish the first in competition. Good lecture in construction, isn't it?

h#2 (8+11) 5+3 grasshopper, 2+1 nightrider 2.1.1.1

Sven Trommler 3rd Place Bayern-Sachsen 1995-97	a) 1.Qb6 Gd5+ 2.Rd4 Nc5# b) 1.Ra4 Gd3+ 2.Qd4 Nc4# Great construction and very good analogy. Free black king in diagram position.

h#2 (7+3) 2+0 grasshopper, 4+0 nightrider b) f2 -» g4

Hemmo Axt 4th Place Bayern-Sachsen 1995-97	1.Qd3? Qxd3 2.Gc3 Qg6+, Qd4+ 3.Nhxe2!, Nbxe2! 1.Gc3! Qd3 2.Qf4! Qd4# 1.Ne4? Qxe4 2.Gc6 Qg6+, Qe~+ 3.Re4!, Gxg3! 1.Gc6! Qe4 2.Ng7! Qe6# 21 black pieces. Complicated strategy incorporating tries and various line effects.

h#2 (5+21) 2+5 grasshopper, 1+3 nightrider 2.1.1.1

Theodor Steudel 5th Place Bayern-Sachsen 1995-97	1.e1G e8N 2.f1G cxd8N# Black opens 2nd row twice, white guards g2 and pins. Compare to two other fairy promotion helpmates with the only solution by W. Krämer and V. Kotesovec.

h#2 (6+8) 1+0 grasshopper, 0+1 nightrider

Norbert Geissler 6th Place Bayern-Sachsen 1995-97	1.Na5 Na4 2.Ne3+ Nc8# 1.Nc3 Nb3 2.Ne2+ Nh6# Similar idea to 1st place, but in much more schematical rendering.

h#2 (7+8) 4+4 grasshopper, 2+1 nightrider 2.1.1.1

Theodor Steudel 7th Place Bayern-Sachsen 1995-97	a) 1.g1G exf8G 2.Gd4 g8G# b) 1.h1N gxf8N 2.Nb4 e8N# Just another fairy promotions helpmate, but less intensive due to moves without promotion. Of course, it is much easier to motivate then and everything seems mechanical - promotion, promotion with guard, block, mate.

h#2 (4+8) grasshopper f8, nightrider c3 b) g2 -» h2

Dieter Müller 8th Place Bayern-Sachsen 1995-97	a) 1.Ne4 Gh6 2.Qc3 Na5# b) 1.Qc3 Na5 2.Ne4 Gh6# Line closings and openings and some other effects, but save the change of black battery aiming at white king the play is the same in both phases, only move order is changed.

h#2 (4+12) 2+4 grasshopper, 1+2 nightrider b) a4 -» a1

Dieter Müller Stefan Dittrich 9th Place Bayern-Sachsen 1995-97	1.Qe4 Gh1 2.Nc4 Nf1# 1.Re4 Gh8 2.Nb7 Nd7# Nice nightrider lines, but use of grasshoppers is artificial, normal line pieces would work well too (except cooks, but it is not good to have kind of fairy pieces only to avoid cooks).

h#2 (4+16) 1+2 grasshopper (a1), 1+2 nightrider (b3) 2.1.1.1

Dieter Müller Michael Barth 10th Place Bayern-Sachsen 1995-97	a) 1.b1N Ng5 2.Ne7 Gf8# b) 1.g1G Nc4 2.Gg4 Nb8# Block on e7/g4 with dual avoidance of white play motivated by covering c6 / opening Bf1. Not very deep though.

h#2 (4+15) 1+4 grasshopper, 2+0 nightrider b) turn 90 degrees clockwise (a1 -» a8)

Comments to Juraj Lörinc.
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