Kubbel
fut l'un des chefs de file de l'étude artistique en Russie, en
même temps qu'un excellent compositeur de problèmes et un
fort joueur. Ses deux frères, Arvid (188-1942) et Eugène
(1894-1942) ont été, eux aussi, de bons compositeurs.
His
full name is Karl Arthur Leonid Kubbel, born on 25 December 1891 in St.
Petersburg as a second son of Ivan Ivanovitch Kubbel, a Latvian. In his
early childhood, when he was seven years old, he learned to play chess
by observing his father to play the game. He became interested in chess
problem and study solving. In 1903 he received a special award in the
New Year´s solving contest organized by the magazine Bohemia in
Prague. In the same year he also published his first chess problem. A
year later, the Petersburg paper St. Petersburger
Zeitung published his first endgame study. It happened on the day
of his 13th birthday and 20 years later he improved it by adding two
moves. In short period
of time, he made his way into the range of the most important authors
of all kind problems and endgame studies. All together he created 2784
problems and studies. Some of them were published after World War
II from the posthumous discovered works. Leonid Kubbel perished
during the German blockade of Leningrad. He died of exhaustion and
starvation, most likely on 18 April 1942 - his body was discovered in
his apartment.
Leonid Kubbel
Even though chess problems
prevail in his work, the endgame study production is amazing. Through
his work he strongly influenced a whole bunch of Russian and soviet
chess authors, who were inspired to start their own creative activity
and work. Among the problem authors, the closest one to him was
E.Palkoska in Prague, whom L.Kubbel met personaly already 1907 and
became his permanent pen pal.
Kubbel est mort durant le siège de Leningrad, comme Troitzky...
Et tout comme Rinck, il était ingénieur chimiste.
Plusieurs ouvrages de ses études et problèmes ont
été publiés :
- 150 sachmatnych etjudov, Leonid (K.A.L.) Kubbel, Leningrad, 1925 ;
- 250 Izbrannyh Etjudow, L.I. Kubbel, Fizkultura i Sport, Moskwa 1938 ;
la plupart, de façon posthume :
- Whitworth, T Leonid Kubbel’s Chess Endgame Studies 175p. Halifax 1984 & Cambridge Revised Edition 2004 ;
- Vladimirov & Fokin Leonid Kubbel 384p. Moskva 1984 ;
- Vladimirov, Yakov Leonid Kubbel 50p. Moscow 1998 ;
- Baturin, A(Edited) Izbrannye zadatshi L. I. Kubbelja 224p. Sah 742 Moskva 1958 ;
- Izbrannye Zadatchi, L.I. Kubbelja, Sostawiteli A.A. Baturin &
O.K. Kubbel, Fizkultura I Sport Moskwa 1958, Sah 742, HB 224pp ;
250 Izbrannyh Etjudow, Moskwa 1938
Le style de Kubbel se distingue par une efficacité
immédiate, l'idée étant exploitée sans
avant-plan [voir Kasparyan sur ce sujet].
On voit par là que le compositeur fait partie, au même
titre que Rinck ou que Troitzky, des pères fondateurs de
l'école stratégique appliquée au finale artistique.
Sur les 45 études que renferme cette page, deux sont démolies : il s'agit de [+3014.74d2c5] où : 3... Nc6! procure la nulle. Cette étude, publiée en 1932, avait obtenue un 2ème prix. Et [+0010.54c8c6], après 2... d3!. Ce finale avait obtenue une 4ème MH. J'aimerais attirer particulièrement l'attention sur [+0020.24c4c1] qui se termine par un zugzwang de toute beauté [1er prix].
Une anecdote amusante se rattache à une autre étude, que rapporte G. Abrahams, dans EG :
Another
of the greatest is Kubbel. Few, if any, of his studies are other than
lifelike. Here (13) is one, which has an amusing historical epilogue.
The study is useful, as one sees at first glance. Over half a century
after composition., which was in 1914, two Kazakhstan
players arrived at the following position (14). The putative winner
was, between moves 5 and 8, wasting time. It is told that, during the
adjournment, someone showed him Kubbel. Now here (15) is Kubbel
showing, in a quite practical setting, the beauty that seems to attach
to unexpected play to empty squares. How valuable an awareness of empty
squares can be is shown in this "study" (16) from actual play, which
brings me back to the observation that chess studies seem to step from
the game into the frame.
Gerald Abrahams
EG, 15, I, March 1969, 447
Je reviendrais là-dessus dans une sous-section ultérieure.
