Echesspedia

GENS UNA SUMUS

Latin for “we are one family,” it is FIDE’s official motto since the 1950’s.

GIRAFFE

An elemental piece. A 4-1 leaper. Placed on b2 a giraffe would attack a6, c6, f3 and f1.

GRAND MASTERS ASSOCIATION

Non-profit association funded in February 1987 at Brussels by the World Champion G. Kasparov and the Belgian businessman B. Kok with the aim to generate ‘a high quality environment for chess and to promote professional chess by Grandmasters’. It created also chess events named ‘World Cup Tournaments’ (final standing won by Kasparov) running from 1988 until 1991. After an agreement signed with FIDE in 1990, GMA co-organized the world chess championship in New-York and Lyon 1990. Following internal problems starting in 1990 with the resignation of Kasparov as President, the association stopped its activities in March 1993.

Kutin, Anderton, Makropoulos, Kok, Timman, Ditt, Kinzel and Schulz

GNU

A combined piece that has the powers of the Knight and the Camel.

GOOD COMPANION CHESS PROBLEM CLUB

A club founded by the American problemist F. Magee (1867-1955) in Philadelphia, 1913, and ran untill 1924.

The name came from the translation of Bonus Socius, the name of a medieval manuscript containing  many chess problems. The club united more than 600 chess composers amateurs. Leading members and participants of the competitions were K. Mansfield, Ellerman. A. Mary, J. Gudelli, K. Larsen. Ten times a years he club issued the “Our Folder” magazine which periodically held the composing tourneys of two-movers. A. White was the constant (permanent) Arbiter  who played a great role in the Club. According the results of the competitions held before 1921, Ellerman was considered to be a winner. Selected two-mover problems (around 900) from competitions of Good Companion were published in “Christmas series” by Hume and White in 1922.

GOTTINGEN MANUSCRIPT

A Latin text of 33 leaved held in the University of Göttingen Library said to be published in 1471 by Lucena. One of the earliest works on  modern chess. Twelve openings (English Opening , Bird’s Opening, Queen’s Pawn Openings, King’s Pawn Openings and Bishop’s Opening) and 30 problems are described. Many of the thirty problems are given special conditions, such as specific pieces that can’t move or requirements that mate be delivered by a pawn or by two consecutive checks by pawns

GRANDMASTER

See International Grandmaster

GRANDMASTER DRAW

A quick and uninteresting draw. The term is used since the end of the 19th century caused by the appearance of a special tactic to win from the weakest players and to make a draw with the strongest ones. A draw up to a certain move without a special permission of an Arbiter was forbidden in many competitions… On its 33rd Congress of 1962, FIDE regulation committee ruled to reject any agreement for a draw before the 30th move without permission of the Arbiter. However three years later, on the 34th Congress, this restriction was annulled.(See drawing master)

GRASSHOPPER

A fairy piece invented by T. R. Dawson in 1913 in the Cheltenham Examiner newspaper. The Grasshopper, which in diagrams has the symbol of an upside-down Queen and in texts the letter G, belongs in the category of the hoppers. It moves along Queen lines, but must hop over another piece of either colour and land on the next square beyond. If that square is occupied by a piece of the same colour as the grasshopper the move is not playable.

T. R. Dawson,
British Chess Magazine, 1943
Mate in 2. (Grasshoppers).
1+3 grasshopper
[8/7p/7K/1g2Sbp1/G3g1Sk/2B3gp/8/6s1]

The Grasshopper Gb5 is threatening Bf5.
The Grasshopper Ga4 can move to c6 and f4.
The Grasshopper Ge4 can move to e6 and g6 (not to h4).
The Grasshopper Gg3 can move to b3 and d6 (not to g5).
The Grasshopper Ga4 keeps the Ge4 pinned because, if Ge4 is lifted, then Ga4 is threatening Kh4 which is exactly behind the hurdle Sg4.

There are some tries: [1.Bxe4? ( > 2 Be4~#) Se2!], [1 Sf3+? Sxf3!], [1 Sg6+? hxg6!], [1 Sh2? Gxf5!], [1 Gf4+? gxf4!].

Key: 1 Se3!
It so happens that the key unpins Ge4 (!), but black is in zugzwang.
In the next three variations white forms battery arriving on the line of Ga4, and removing at the same time the hurdle of the black G which has moved but it cannot come back!
1…Ge6 2 S5g4# (if Ge6xg4 is played, the Grasshopper from e6 becomes the hurdle for Ga4).
1…Gg6 2 Bg4#
1…Ge2 2 S3g4#

Other variations: [1...Sg1~ 2 S(x)f3#], [1...Gg3~ 2 Be1#], [1...h2 2 Sg2#], [1...Gxf5 2 Sxf5#], [1...g4 2 Gf4#].

GREEK GIFT

Term given to the Bishop sacrifice on h7 (unmoved) without Knight on f6 or e8. First shown by Polerio in the 16^th century.

GRID BOARD

A board used for fairy problem invented by W. Stead in 1953 which is divided as grid of 16 (non-overlapping) square areas each having 2×2 squares of the chessboard. Legal moves are those that cut at least one line of this grid. (Example : In Southwest corner of the grid the 2×2 area covers the squares a1-a2-b2-b1. Consider bK in a1 and wR in b1. King is not in check. Then wR moves to c1 (crossing one grid line, moving to another 2×2 area c1-c2-d2-d1) and gives check from there). (Emmanuel Manolas)

GRIMSHAW

In chess composition, a pair of interference variations created by Walter Grimshaw (1832-1890) around 1850, in which piece X interferes with piece Y and vice versa.