We have a tie! The ACF Website would like to congratulate
Ed Atkinson, Harrisburg, PA, the composer of Line Dance and
Roy Little, Oklahoma City, OK, the composer of Rainy Daze
who have tied with 5 votes.
Ed Atkinson, Harrisburg, PA, the composer of Line Dance and
Roy Little, Oklahoma City, OK, the composer of Rainy Daze
who have tied with 5 votes.
The two problems with the shortest solutions and fewest star moves ran away with this contest. Their similarities split more than 70% of the votes. Both were 5x5s and both received 5 votes. Using a term borrowed from chess, both put Red in Zugzwang, which means they reached a point where Red had to move reluctantly into an immediate coup. In both cases, the coup involved a delayed 2-piece pitch into a decisive single-corner finish. Both composers have won past Problemist of the Year honors, and between them they have won every contest this year.
The winners were Rainy Daze, by Roy Little, and Line Dance, by Ed Atkinson.
Slide Rule, by Bill Salot, took 3rd place with 2 votes. It was the only problem with significant afterplay.
AM&SPHR, by Jim Loy, also received 2 votes, but was disqualified. The title is an acronym for the "Ankh-Morpork & Sto Plains Hygienic Railway" in the Terry Pratchett novel "Raising Steam" (Don't ask!). The 2-for-2 shot, colors reversed, was missed by L. Ginsberg versus S. Levine, Checker Classics, P. 156; however Jim disqualified AM&SPHR by inadvertently publishing the correction on P. 17, Note D, of the same ACFB issue as the contest.
The contest had 309 visitors, about average over the past several contests.
Here is how Contest 28 was introduced:
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Two-Piece Pitches: Usually, when you are a piece up, you win, or when the pieces are even, you draw.
This contest is no exception. If you can find a way for White to give away two pieces in a single move, you will probably solve all four of these problems.
That and some really tricky shots are what these unpublished masterpieces have in common. Even Grandmasters should be impressed. They seldom pull off stunts like these in play. Their comments would be appreciated.
Which entry is best? Help us decide by voting for it here before the contest ends. A World Championship is at stake.
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