JORGE MARCELO KAPROS (06.11.1955 - 27.08.2023)

Important Argentinian chess composer and International master of chess composition

Life:

Born in Buenos Aires in 1955 and died on 27 August 2023. He lived in the town of El Palomar, in the municipality of Morón, province of Buenos Aires.

Chess composing:

He started composing when he was motivated by the direct mate problems in two moves by Arnoldo Ellerman which were regularly published in the Sunday columns of the newspapers "La Prensa" and "La Nación". In 1973 he joined the Peña del Mate Ayudado, in the Club Argentino de Ajedrez de Buenos Aires, which allowed him to participate in that world that only reached him in newspapers and magazines.

His first works were direct mates in two. Later, influenced by other composers who were members of the Peña, he also began to work on aides, inverses and fantasy problems. For a time he produced some works on finals, but the problem attracted him more.

He composed direct mate problems in pairs with his epistolary friend, the composer Dante Hugo Rizzetti, a native of the province of Santa Fe. Most of his assisted problems were done with his friend Jorge Joaquín Lois.

He has represented Argentina in World Team Composition Tournaments (WCCT), and has participated in the Italy-Argentina 2010 and Argentina-Brazil 1987-1989 matches.

He was an International Master of Composition and had been a judge in international competitions.

From 1973 to 1982 Kapros wrote a permanent section on composition in the magazine "Ajedrez Postal Americano" and from that year onwards he edited the same page specialising in "Ajedrez de Estilo" for as long as it was in print.

He participated assiduously in international composition competitions and won numerous prizes, distinctions and accolades.

On this site a collection of his problems (direct and aided mates) will be exhibited where the special quality of his work can be evaluated.

Notable Composers – The Amazing Jorges
Jorge Joaquin Lois and Jorge Marcelo Kapros

    by Mike Prcic

"I have known of Kapros and Lois for some time. I always admired their work and looked forward to more.

They published often in StrateGems and won some awards as well. I had an opportunity to meet them thanks to the Congress in Rio in 2009. They flew in from Buenos
Aires and were part of the Argentine contingent which also included Roberto Osorio. We often talked (Roberto is nearly fluent in English and Kapros knew enough to communicate). This was
their one chance in lifetime to participate in the workings of the Congress and to meet composers. They were happy to be there.
This is their story.

Jorge Joaquin Lois was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on December 5, 1946. He studied medicine at La Plata University, graduating as Doctor of Medicine in 1975. He is a specialist in
Labor Medicine. Now retired, he has worked in that capacity for different institutions in his home town. He is married to Norma and they have two sons, Maximiliano and Fernando.
Jorge Lois learned the rules of chess at the age of 8, playing sporadically until 1962, when he met Jacobo Bolbochán (who won the Argentine chess championship twice, in 1931 and
1932), at the Huracán Soccer Club, where Jorge was a member and Jacobo was working as a chess teacher. Jacobo was his first chess instructor and opened the doors of the chess world to
him.
It was during 1972 that a series of helpmates appeared in La Prensa and a photo of Peña del Mate de Ayuda, the group of fairy composers (at the time helpmates were considered fairy
chess) who met every Saturday at Club Argentino de Ajedrez, was published in the then wellknown magazine Ajedrez (no longer existing). Owing to those events, Lois contacted Emiliano
F. Ruth, problemist and then President of the Peña del Mate de Ayuda. Lois joined the group because he adopted fairy chess or perhaps fairy chess adopted him.
Jorge Marcelo Kapros was born in Buenos Aires also, on November 6, 1955. His family moved to El Palomar, near Buenos Aires, when he was 5 years old. He studied at an elementary
school with commercial orientation, and has worked as a Cobol programmer. He hopes to retire soon.

Jorge Kapros learned about chess problems by reading the weekly chess columns in newspapers.
He enjoyed twomovers, especially when he discovered the themes explained in a magazine called Joker.
He composed his first twomover in 1972 and sent it to the Editor of Joker, Luciano Wilfrido Cámara, who published the problem.
Cámara invited him to join Peña del Mate de Ayuda a few months later than Lois. Kapros, who was fond of twomovers at the time,
was gradually integrated as he discovered that the strategies of twomovers could be used in helpmates.

Jorge Kapros edited a permanent section for chess composition in the magazine Ajedrez Postal Americano from 1973 to 1982, and later did the same in the magazine Ajedrez de Estilo while
its printed version was available. Lois wrote another permanent section of fairy composition with Julio Alberto Pancaldo in the magazine Mundo del Ajedrez (no longer existing).
Luciano Wilfrido Cámara had a weekly chess column in the newspaper La Prensa until 1980 and La Nación later, until his death in 2004. Those columns and his two pages in Joker
made known the activity of Argentine composers, explaining what they did, how and where.
This helped both Jorges to learn as much as possible. They started composing together. This relationship, which started 43 years ago, still goes strong. They both have fun composing
mainly helpmates together, whether at the club, at Lois's house, or on the phone.

Oscar Jorge Carlsson used to say that he reserved his endgame studies with short solutions for La Prensa and La Nación because he knew that space in these newspapers was at a premium.

They still compose helpmates with few moves and solutions because they would
have a better chance of being published in any chess column also. Feenschach and Problemas were the first specialized magazines to publish their originals.
Emiliano F. Ruth translated the comments of solvers of problems published in feenschach. There were no language difficulties with the Spanish magazine Problemas. Today they do their
best to manage English with online translators. Sadly, they are not working much together now because of transportation problems. The telephone is good, but not the best, for this."

Source: Website of ARVES

              UNION ARGENTINA DE PROBLEMISTAS DE AJEDREZ

On the Website of ARVES a selection of chess studies by JORGE MARCELO KAPROS  are presented.