Subject
Re: Poems & Problems. Problem 18. Chess problem butterfly
From
Date
Body
EDITOR's NOTE. Darryl Schade sent NABOKV-L the query below on Wed, 23
May 2001 13:29:43 -0700. In reviewing some older postings on VN's chess
problem, I ran across Tadashi Yakashima's posting which answers and
antedates DS's suggestion. Below, I rerun DS's question/suggestion and
Mr. Wakashimi's solution and butterfly image proposal. Mr. Wakashima is
the translator of Nabokov's DEFENSE into Japanese and an International
Master of CHess problem solutions.
-----------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------
Darryl Schade wrote:
> This message was originally submitted by schadedarryl@MCLEODUSA.NET to the
> NABOKV-L list at LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU.
>
> ----------------- Message requiring your approval (8 lines) -------------------
> For the sake of curiosity, do either of the color patterns developed in
> the 2 different solutions to problem 18 resemble in any vague manner,
> any true patterns in natural butterflies or moths?
> Perhaps a silly Question, but with N's vast knowledge about seemingly
> everything, this would be uniquely appropriate to be stored in his mind.
>
> Darryl
--------------------
EDITOR's NOTE on above. I assume DS is referring to problem 18 in the VN
book POEMS and PROBLEMS. Interesting question. VN did do a few poems in
which the stress pattern, when connected by dots, would form a relevent
picture. So why not for chess and butterfly problems?
------------------------------------------------------------
NABOKV-L archives -- January 2000 (#29)
Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2000 09:49:00 -0800
Subject: LUzhin & Chess Problem: Translator's Afterword (fwd)
From: Tadashi Wakashima <auabq710@wombat.zaq.ne.jp>
To Vladimir Nabokov Forum,
As Akiko Nakata informed to you, the Japanese translation of The
Defense
was published last November. My "Translator's Afterword" is intended
for
general readers, but one thing which I suggested there may interest
Nabokovians (especially those who are keen on the subject of Nabokov
and
Chess).
What I suggested is a probable reason why Nabokov mentioned one of
his
chess problems as "my most amusing invention" in the Foreword of Speak
Memory. Actually, it is Problem No.18 of Poems and Problems, and it
belongs
to the genre of "retrograde analysis." The position and the stipulation
are
as follows:
V. Sirin
Poslednie novosti 17/11/1932
Dedicated to Evgeniy Znosko-Borovski
White: Kf5, Qf8, Rc7, Rc8
Black: Kd6, Qb8, Re7, Re8, Pd5 (Diagram 1)
White retracts its last move and mates in one.
Solution: Retract -1.Pd7xNc8 and then 1.dxe8=N#.
Mating position is
White: Kf5, Qf8, Rc7, Ne8
Black: Kd6, Qb8, Re7, Nc8, Pd5 (Diagram 2)
So what did Nabokov see in this amusing but not so great problem? I
guess
the answer lies not in the brilliancy or difficulty of the solution but
in
the positions. One evidence to support my guess is Black Queen on b8.
Without it, the problem is still sound (i.e. there is no other
solutions).
My guess is that Nabokov put the unnecessary BQ to make the position
quasi-symmetrical. And doesn't it resemble a butterfly folding its
wings?
Needless to say, butterfly is the emblem of Speak, Memory.
I have another point to make. In the mating position, Rooks on c8
and e8
magically change into Knights of different colors. Can't this be
regarded as
"the mysteries of mimicry" which captivated Nabokov so much in
butterflies
and moths?
I am almost certain that Nabokov sensed the keen aesthetic pleasure
when
he composed this little problem.
Tadashi Wakashima
International Master in solving chess problems (granted by F.I.D.E.)
Hata 1-14-10-A
Ikeda-shi, Osaka 563-0021, Japan
tadashi@wombat.zaq.ne.jp
May 2001 13:29:43 -0700. In reviewing some older postings on VN's chess
problem, I ran across Tadashi Yakashima's posting which answers and
antedates DS's suggestion. Below, I rerun DS's question/suggestion and
Mr. Wakashimi's solution and butterfly image proposal. Mr. Wakashima is
the translator of Nabokov's DEFENSE into Japanese and an International
Master of CHess problem solutions.
-----------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------
Darryl Schade wrote:
> This message was originally submitted by schadedarryl@MCLEODUSA.NET to the
> NABOKV-L list at LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU.
>
> ----------------- Message requiring your approval (8 lines) -------------------
> For the sake of curiosity, do either of the color patterns developed in
> the 2 different solutions to problem 18 resemble in any vague manner,
> any true patterns in natural butterflies or moths?
> Perhaps a silly Question, but with N's vast knowledge about seemingly
> everything, this would be uniquely appropriate to be stored in his mind.
>
> Darryl
--------------------
EDITOR's NOTE on above. I assume DS is referring to problem 18 in the VN
book POEMS and PROBLEMS. Interesting question. VN did do a few poems in
which the stress pattern, when connected by dots, would form a relevent
picture. So why not for chess and butterfly problems?
------------------------------------------------------------
NABOKV-L archives -- January 2000 (#29)
Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2000 09:49:00 -0800
Subject: LUzhin & Chess Problem: Translator's Afterword (fwd)
From: Tadashi Wakashima <auabq710@wombat.zaq.ne.jp>
To Vladimir Nabokov Forum,
As Akiko Nakata informed to you, the Japanese translation of The
Defense
was published last November. My "Translator's Afterword" is intended
for
general readers, but one thing which I suggested there may interest
Nabokovians (especially those who are keen on the subject of Nabokov
and
Chess).
What I suggested is a probable reason why Nabokov mentioned one of
his
chess problems as "my most amusing invention" in the Foreword of Speak
Memory. Actually, it is Problem No.18 of Poems and Problems, and it
belongs
to the genre of "retrograde analysis." The position and the stipulation
are
as follows:
V. Sirin
Poslednie novosti 17/11/1932
Dedicated to Evgeniy Znosko-Borovski
White: Kf5, Qf8, Rc7, Rc8
Black: Kd6, Qb8, Re7, Re8, Pd5 (Diagram 1)
White retracts its last move and mates in one.
Solution: Retract -1.Pd7xNc8 and then 1.dxe8=N#.
Mating position is
White: Kf5, Qf8, Rc7, Ne8
Black: Kd6, Qb8, Re7, Nc8, Pd5 (Diagram 2)
So what did Nabokov see in this amusing but not so great problem? I
guess
the answer lies not in the brilliancy or difficulty of the solution but
in
the positions. One evidence to support my guess is Black Queen on b8.
Without it, the problem is still sound (i.e. there is no other
solutions).
My guess is that Nabokov put the unnecessary BQ to make the position
quasi-symmetrical. And doesn't it resemble a butterfly folding its
wings?
Needless to say, butterfly is the emblem of Speak, Memory.
I have another point to make. In the mating position, Rooks on c8
and e8
magically change into Knights of different colors. Can't this be
regarded as
"the mysteries of mimicry" which captivated Nabokov so much in
butterflies
and moths?
I am almost certain that Nabokov sensed the keen aesthetic pleasure
when
he composed this little problem.
Tadashi Wakashima
International Master in solving chess problems (granted by F.I.D.E.)
Hata 1-14-10-A
Ikeda-shi, Osaka 563-0021, Japan
tadashi@wombat.zaq.ne.jp