Marco Campioli (Sassuolo, * 10.06.1954 - † 17.10.2021)

Italian chess player and master

Important chess composer and expert of endgame studies

Life

In october 2021, a great chess composer closed his eyes forever.

Professionally, he was an office worker. In his spare time devoted to chess and to poetry (poetry, following poets of the last century and haiku = Japanese Poetry).

Titles in chess

OTB Candidate Master
Correspondence (ICCF) Master

Judge

He also was very often a judge for international endgame study tournaments.

Source: Website arves.org (editor Peter Boll)

Chess composing

Meaning of Maro Campioli

Marco Campioli and Professor Pietro Rossi were the dominant study composers in Italy for an extraordinary long period of time. Both sent their works to countless chess magazines in many countries. Both composers have received numerous awards in composition competitions. This outstanding achievement is unrivalled in Italy. M. Campioli composed with great energy for many years and was one of the most active study composers in Italy. Campioli's death in 2021 is therfore a great loss for Italian chess composition and chess players. His strong passion for chess and compositional energy over many years which created beautiful compositions will be held in honourable memory. 

Campioi´s view on the subject of chess study

“Mi sono avvicinato al mondo degli scacchi – ha detto – dalla fine del liceo, poi mi sono dedicato alla studistica che, a mio parere, rappresenta la ricerca della bellezza degli scacchi”

Collaboration with the famous chess study composer, master Pietro Rossi

Marco Campioli also composed a lot with the great study composer Pietro Rossi. Together they created some perfectly formed, high-quality works of chess art.

About his compositional style

His great passion and energy for chess studies was extraordinary.
Master Mario Campioli had composed chess studies that were quite close to a game of chess. The collaboration with Prof. Pietro Rossi is worth mentioning.
However, a large number of his endgame studies have a part-deep starting position, which as a rule cannot occur in a chess game. His compositional style therefore can be described as grotesque. He was a very creative and original composer. His style can be compared with Michael Roxlau, who also often needed strong passed pawns immediately before the promotion to a queen, or a knight for the construction. 

Campioli's style compared to Pietro Rossi

While master Pietro Rossi largely composed in the style of the old masters, Marco Campioli was comparatively much freer and more experimental. Marco Campioli did not have a study composer whom he imitated.

 While Campioli had the great help of powerful chess engines, like Stockfish with which Campioli built his chess studies, Professor Rossi had to rely largely on his own analytical skills and endgame knowledge during his many compositional years. This is also one of the reasons why Rossi is regarded as Italy's greatest ever study composer. -This partly explains the difference in style between the two endgame study composers. Since the chess engines became better than the best chess player in man, chess as a whole became freer and more experimental. The same can be said of the chess compositions of the 21st century.

  An endgame study (Aloni 75 Jubilee Tournament 2013) by master Marco Campioli that received a particularly high honour

A triplet study (2013), a real masterpiece which received particularly high recognition and praise sent by Mario Campioli in an Israeli tournament on Hillel Aloni's 75th birthday. In the starting position, the white king is on a6 and the black king on a8. In the first position, the white knight is on h8. By moving this white knight from h8 to d1, a second study is created and by repeatedly moving the white knight from d1 to b1, a third study is created. The solution of this study in all three positions begins with black knight: 1...Nd7 - c5+. It won the first price in the Israeli tournament and was the far best study. This highly original study takes more than 12 move and is in all three starting positions amazingly correct. The style of this quite unbelievable chess study with its many advanced passed pawns is reminiscent of the great studies by Michael Roxlau.

The judge Hillel Aloni (1937 - 2017) wrote in August 2013 in the city of Netanya (Hebrew נְתַנְיָה Nɘtanjah [nɛ'tanya]; Arabic نتانيا, DMG Natāniyā; also Netanya or Nathania or Natanya is a city in Israel) about this outstanding Drilling -endgame study (Ka6/Ka8):

"In this chess study (which bears resemblance to a more-mover), each piece has a defined role, while the juicy position is about to explode in artistic tactics. White intends a mate in two (1.c:d7+), which forces black to defend energetically, starting with a knight sacrifice. As play continues, black promotions emerge, some of it ends by sacrificing the new queens to open up the position. On his ninth move white employs a new factor: 9.Ng6! ("you too, Bruknightus?"), when the fearless knight contributes towards mate-threats in a field full of queens! It is only at move 11 that the secret of this bold knight is revealed; sacrificing itself, together with the black knight sacrifice on the very first move, paves the path to force stalemate – a first in a series. In the second phase, the white knight is placed at the heart of black's promotions system, but this time, due to its proximity to the main action, it starts its role – and ends it – already in the third move, disrupting black's defensive options. On the 14th move, a promoted phoenix-like white knight reappears, forcing a perpetual check! The composer could have been contented with these twins, but he made a third phase: Once again, the white knight is on the board's margins, yet it assists in a dual avoidance and later on in stalemate prevention. It should be noted that white's grandiose winning move (12.Rd8!!) would have been meaningless, were it not for the presence of the white knight! The study reminds us the grand composing style of Gady Costeff… "

Un ricordo … Marco Campioli

Article from 21 October 2021: 

(translated from Italian into English)

"He was the first Italian of all time to be included in the official international studistics ranking, as well as having edited the 'studies' section of the magazine 'Rook & Knight: Checkmate' for years. He was twice Italian composition champion, winner of more than 165 awards and numerous mentions in specialist chess magazines, as well as President of the jury of countless international composition competitions. From 1995 to 1997, he also coached the world correspondence chess champion, Alessandra Riegler. He loved to distinguish studies from problems, specifying that it was mainly the former that fascinated him as, he said, 'they represent the search for the beauty of chess'. Those who knew him appreciated his reserve and humility, to which, however, he combined a great passion for studying, to which he dedicated his entire life."

Source Website scacchiemiliaromagna.it 

Some Websites in Internet

 - 37 endgame studies with solution composed by master Marco Campioli are selected on Website ARVES (arves.org).

 - Website chesscomposers.blogspot

 - Website Yet another chess problem database yacpdb.org 76 chess problems (mainly endgame studies) by him are shown.

 - On the Germain Website pdb.dieschwalbe.de 22 works composed by Campioli can be found. In addition to chess studies, Marco Campioli had also composed some auxiliary mate problems. 

Photos by Marco Campioli on Club 64 Asd Modena (07.02.2013)
On the Italian Internet website club64.it there are 13 photos of Marco Campioli, in which he gave a lecture on the study composition.