Die Schwalbe

12 problem(s) found in 4255 milliseconds (displaying 12 problem(s)). [COMMENTDATE>=20200919 AND NOT K='Hilfsrückzüger' AND NOT A='Büchner, Richard' AND S='www.chess.com'] [download as LaTeX]

1 - P1360105
Marken Foo
www.chess.com 2014
P1360105
(14+15)
PG in 4.0
Add the black queen
Author was inspired by a series of computer educational games entitled "Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego", starring the eponymous villainess.
Moldenhauer: Computerprüfung: C+ Jacobi v0.7.5 in 5 Sekunden.
Notation: 1.h4 e6 2.Th3 De7 3.Ta3 Dxa3 4.b4 Dxc1 (2023-07-31)
comment
Keywords: Unique Proof Game, Add pieces (d)
Genre: Retro
FEN: rnb1kbnr/pppp1ppp/4p3/8/1P5P/8/P1PPPPP1/RN1QKBN1
Reprints: 1 Phénix 287, p. 11251, 07-08/2018
Input: A.Buchanan, 2019-01-25
Last update: A.Buchanan, 2019-01-25 more...
2 - P1360119
Marken Foo
www.chess.com 2016
P1360119
(14+12)
PG in 7.0 moves
Add the black queen
b) +wSb1
Marken Foo: There is a twin (b) +wSb1 pointed out by the chess.com user caveatcanis back in 2016, when accidentally misreading the diagram. It turns out to be a cute twin that fits the idea. (2020-10-21)
A.Buchanan: How many of these "Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?" problems have you got, Marken? is it worth making a keyword? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmen_Sandiego (2020-10-21)
comment
Keywords: Unique Proof Game, Add pieces (d)
Genre: Retro
FEN: rnbN1knr/pppppp2/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPP1/R1BQKB1R
Reprints: 9 Phénix 287, p. 11252, 07-08/2018
Input: A.Buchanan, 2019-01-25
Last update: A.Buchanan, 2020-10-21 more...
3 - P1368554
Andrew Buchanan
OzProblems.com 16/10/2019
P1368554
(4+3) C+
Gewinn
1. Sd3! Kf8 2. Se3 Sg6+ 3. Kd4 Td8+ 4. Kc3 Tc8+ 5. Sc4 Kg7 6. Sf2 Sh8 7. Tf1 Sf7 8. Se4 Td8 9. Sf6 Sg5 10. Se3 Ta8 11. Kb4 Tb8+ 12. Kc4 Tc8+ 13. Kb5 Tb8+ 14. Kc6 Ta8 15. Sfd5 Ta3 16. Kb5 Se4 17. Te1 Sg5 18. Kb4 Ta2 19. Tf1 Kg6 20. Tf6+ Kh5 21. Kb3 Ta7 22. Sf4+ Kh4 23. Se2 Tb7+ 24. Kc4 Sf7 25. Tf1 Kg5 26. Sd4 Se5+ 27. Kd5 Sd3 28. Se6+ Kg6 29. Sf8+ Kg5 30. Ke4 Sc5+ 31. Kd4 Sd7 32. Se6+ Kg6 33. Sd5 Ta7 34. Se7+ Kh5 35. Tg1 Ta4+ 36. Ke3 Tg4 37. Ta1 Sb6 38. Kf2 Sd7 39. Ta8 Tc4 40. Tg8 Tc2+ 41. Ke3 Tc3+ 42. Kf4 Tc4+ 43. Kf5 Kh4 44. Sf4 Sf6 45. Tg2 (thr 46.Sg6#) Tc5+ 46. Kxf6 Tc6+ 47. Kf5 Tc5+ 48. Sed5 (thr 49.Tg4#) Txd5+ 49. Sxd5 (switch to Syzygy DTM) Kh3 50. Sf4+ Kh4 51. Tg4#
Compare 44. ... Tc5+ which gives a longer DTM at the cost of a slightly sub-optimal DTZ. 45. Sed5 (thr 46.Tg4#) Txd5+ 46. Sxd5 (switch to Syzygy DTM) Kh3 47. Tc8 Kg3 48. Ke6 Sb6 49. Sxb6 Kf2 50. Sc4 Ke1 51. Td8 Ke2 52. Td2+ Ke1 53. Kd5 Kf1 54. Ke4 Kg1 55. Kf3 Kh1 56. Kg3 Kg1 57. Td1#
play all play one stop play next play all
According to the Syzygy tablebase, *any* move wins for White except the silly 1. Sa2??
However, the tablebase does not know about castling!
The quickest winning move 1. Sd3!? would be defeated by 1. ... 0-0-0!? which attacks Sd3 and threatens the skewer Re8+. After this, White can only draw - or even loses after 2. Sc1??
But by a simple retro argument, Black cannot castle.
Since this retro point is essential to the solution, we have a retro problem, and hence the 50 move rule, which by Codex default is disengaged, is switched on.
When working with the 50 move rule, the key concept is not the number of moves to mate, but the number of moves to the first capture, pawn move or checkmate, known as DTZ.
All the alternatives to 1. Sd3 take more than 50 moves to force the first capture. The closest are 1. Sc3 & Se3 which according to Syzygy require exactly 50.5 moves, so seem *just* too slow. (For positions close to the cut-off, one has to be careful about *rounding*, see https://syzygy-tables.info/metrics. The number of half-moves for DTZ can be n or n+1. In fact here, after 1. Sc3/Sf3, the zeroing move is at its earliest White's 52nd move, not 51st.)
By the retro property therefore *only* 1. Sd3!, which requires 45 moves to force the first capture, can win. So this removes all the cooks for the first White move.

Lomonosov DTM #59: 1. Nd3!! Kf8!! 2. Ne3! Ng6+! 3. Kd5 Rd8+ 4. Kc4 Rc8+ 5. Kb5 Rb8+ 6. Ka6 Kf7 7. Nc5 Ne5 8. Nd5 Re8 9. Kb7 Nc4 10. Rf1+ Kg7 11. Kc6 Re5 12. Nd3 Re6+ 13. Kc5 Ne5 14. N3f4 Nd7+ 15. Kb5 Rd6 16. Nc7 Kf7 17. Nfd5+ Kg6 18. Ne7+ Kg5 19. Ncd5 Kg4 20. Rf4+ Kg5 21. Rf2 Kg4 22. Ne3+ Kg5 23. N7d5 Kg6 24. Rf1 Nf6 25. Nf4+ Kf7 26. Nc4 Rd8 27. Ne5+ Kg8 28. Rg1+ Kh7 29. Kc6 Rc8+ 30. Kd6 Re8 31. Re1 Ra8 32. Rh1+ Kg8 33. Ke7 Ra4 34. Rg1+ Kh7 35. Ne6 Nd5+ 36. Kd6 Nf4 37. Nc5 Rd4+ 38. Ke7 Rd2 39. Rg4 Rf2 40. Ncd7 Nd5+ 41. Ke6 Nf4+ 42. Kd6 Rd2+ 43. Ke7 Nd5+ 44. Kf8 Kh6 45. Rh4+ Kg5 46. Nf3+ Kf5 47. Nxd2 (zeroing 50M) Nc7 48. Re4 Ne6+ 49. Ke7 Nf4 50. Nf6 Ng6+ 51. Kf7 Ne5+ 52. Kg7 Kg5 53. Nf1 Kf5 54. Ne3+ Ke6 55. Nc4 Ke7 56. Rxe5+ Kd8 57. Rc5 Ke7 58. Rd5 Ke6 59. Re5# 1-0.
http://www.ozproblems.com/walkabout/walkabout2019#WA1610
https://www.chess.com/blog/Rocky64/a-heraldic-endgame-tablebase-composition

The school shield which inspired the problem:
http://www.calvert-trust.org.uk/images/colour.jpg
Henrik Juel: With White to move, last move was made with Ta8 or Ke8, so Black may not castle
An endgame connaisseur may supply the solution... (2019-10-25)
James Malcom: It is now supplied, Henrik. :) I worked through the Sygyzy tablebase, move by move, to get the computer recommended line. (2020-10-09)
A.Buchanan: Thanks James for this hard work to record a solution. Alas there is not just a single recommended line - White has a choice as early as W3. I wonder too if there is a DTM line which is faster than #57, and still clears the DTZ hurdle although maybe not as quickly as B45 as here. There is no DTM engines for 7 pieces yet.
What is certain is that the key works, and is unique. The exactly details of the best mating line remain to be revealed by improving technology. (2020-10-09)
A.Buchanan: For example, 2. Nc5 has DTZ 90, compared to the "superior" 2. Ne3 DTZ 88. However, if you keep picking the top move all the way through, then the final DTZ is in fact checkmate! I haven't all the Black choices though, but there aren't that many of them (2020-10-09)
A.Buchanan: The Lomonosov tablebase is DTM, and is available for free on Android. Today I found a PC app called Blue Stacks which emulates Android. According to Lomonosov, the position is #59, compared to Syzygy's DTZ offering #57 via zero at B45. When I run through the L. indicative solution (very quick to download and grab all of it), it is close to S.'s choices and all the mainline positions are safe from 50M. The zero is at W47, and the final mate is attractive in the middle of the board.
The real questions are:
(1) Is the #59 sound from 50M perspective? Or can Black force White to delay a few moves in order to avoid 50M trouble somewhere?
(2) How dualized is the solution? How does 50M play into pruning that?
What is clear is that both tablebases agree the solution begins 1. Nd3!! Kf8!! 2. Ne3! Ng6! (2020-10-10)
A.Buchanan: James' Syzygy solution had seemed a little odd, because it seemed to go against Syzygy's assertion that DTZ=n means that zeroing happens at n or n+1 ply (it's not exact because of Syzygy's rounding of the units bit of the integers, which apparently saves a vast amount of data, and is allegedly "safe"). But James's solution has zeroing at n-1. If Black was indeed forced to zero prematurely in this way, this would show a bug in Syzygy.

In no sense is this a criticism of James: for whose talent, hard work & existence I am incredibly grateful. But it turns out there is a tiny issue in the solution he posted, just before DTZ=0.

Quarantine lockdown in Hong Kong has given me a chance to look at the position after W44, https://syzygy-tables.info/?fen=6R1/3nN3/8/5K2/2r2N1k/8/8/8_b_-_-_0_1, Black has two choices Tc5+ & Sf6. James chose the first for simplicity, as sensibly he always did, but 45. Sed5 threatens 46. Tg4#. The only way to avoid this 45. ... Txd5+ prematurely zeroing. But Syzygy makes no promises about DTM - it just happens that the random path that James found has mate as the zeroing move! This is not typical, so a better illustrative solution has 44. ... Sf6. With best play by both sides, I think this results in mate at W51.

How to compare this with the Lomonosov solution with mate at W59? How is it possible that Syzygy, with the extra constraint of avoiding 50M draw, has found a *shorter* mate? If you think about it, there is no issue here. Syzygy is only focusing on DTZ, and there are many points in the long solution at which there are choices of equal DTZ. What Lomonosov tells us is that Black can somehow force a Syzygy branch which gives #59 or longer. For 6 or 7 pieces, we just don't have the visibility in Syzygy to find that DTM path. That is the explanation. However for 5 pieces, Syzygy also gives us the DTM value, and as long as one has escaped 50M range, it makes case to switch to that as soon as 5 pieces are reached. (2022-08-05)
A.Buchanan: As problemists, what we would really like to know is the minimum number of moves to mate, while not falling foul of 50M. Even with both DTZ & DTM values known, this is not easy to find. Here is a toy example to show one difficulty: https://syzygy-tables.info/?fen=7k/8/7K/4P2R/8/8/8/8_b_-_-_0_1 Black's forced move leads to DTZ=1 DTM=3, but White must choose which he wants to achieve, as they are mutually exclusive. If the 50M clock is low, 1.e6 gives DTM=16. But otherwise 1.Rf5 gives DTM=2. Now White will know which he wants, but Black is usually free to decide whether to defend the DTZ or the DTM or potentially to delay the commitment. The tactical richness of a position is not captured by simply the DTZ & DTM values (2022-08-05)
A.Buchanan: OK it turns out that what I'd been arguing for already exists to some extent: it's called DTM50 - see http://galen.metapath.org/egtb50/ (2022-08-05)
comment
Keywords: Cant Castler, Aristocrat, 50 move rule, Miniature
Genre: Retro, Studies
Computer test: www.syzygy.com
FEN: r3k2n/8/8/4K3/8/8/8/2NNR3
Reprints: www.chess.com 17/10/2019
Input: A.Buchanan, 2019-10-25
Last update: A.Buchanan, 2022-08-05 more...
4 - P1380320
James Malcom
www.chess.com 9/7/2020
P1380320
(9+9)
#5
1. Kd3! droht 2. Ke4 ... 3. Kf3 ... 4. Lxg2#,Lxg4#
1. ... Sh5 2. Txh5 b5 3. e8=T! b4 4. Te6 Sxe5+,S~ 5. Txe5#,Tx~#
1. ... Se6,Sf5 2. Lxe6,Lxf5 b5 3. e8=L! b4 4. Lh5 Lf6,L~ 5. Lhxg4#
1. ... b5 2. e8=L! Se6,Sf5 3. Lxe6,Lxf5 b4 4. Lh5 Lf6,L~ 5. Lhxg4#
play all play one stop play next play all
https://www.chess.com/forum/view/more-puzzles/a-challenging-mate-in-5-can-you-find-the-first-move?page=1

http://matplus.net/start.php?px=1601166179&app=forum&act=posts&fid=gen&tid=2507
Henrik Juel: Correct key, but damaged by multiple threats and duals, e.g.
1.Kd3 thr. 2.e8=DTLS,Ke4 (2020-09-27)
James Malcom: Typo fixed. And Henrik, the threats are not the point here. The point here is how the different play of the Black knight changes White's promotions. (2020-09-27)
A.Buchanan: It's a beautiful idea, still looking for its rendering though as the many duals and the obstreperous wL are quite distracting (2020-09-28)
James Malcom: There aren't any duals in full-length variations, though. The extra bishop is indeed annoying, but unfixable so far. (2020-09-28)
A.Buchanan: There are still some trivial duals in the mating move, but yes. This problem is trying to ignore threats: you can see that the computer solution. The solution is much more coherent with "nosh noth" switched on. So when are the cases, Henrik, when you switch those options on? It would be event better if one was able to switch threats on for the 4th move. This underscores that there should be a Popeye option for any white move "noth" is self-selecting, depending upon the number of variations. (2020-09-29)
Henrik Juel: Andrew, I use the Popeye option 'nosh' when the output without them is overwhelmingly large
The 'not' option is tricky, and usually expands the output; in some cases it shows apparent duals that are not real ones, when you apply the rule that dualistic play should be ignored, when it appears after black moves that do not prevent the threat
In the case of multiple threats things get messy, like in this problem, as I recall (2020-09-29)
more ...
comment
Keywords: under-promotion (T, L), Changed mates, Non-standard material (L)
Genre: n#
FEN: 2B4R/4P1n1/1p6/4P3/6nb/1P2p2k/2K1Pprp/5B1N
Reprints: MatPlus.net Forum 10/7/2020
Input: James Malcom, 2020-09-27
Last update: James Malcom, 2020-09-29 more...
5 - P1380353
James Malcom
Guus Rol

www.chess.com 15/7/2020
P1380353
(11+11) C+
#4
1. d8=L!
1. ... Tb8 2. cxb8=L! d4 3. Le5 Lxf4+ 4. Lxf4#
1. ... Txd8 2. cxd8=S! d4 3. Se6 Lxf4+ 4. Sxf4#
1. ... Ta8 2. h8=D! Txd8 3. Txe3+ Kxe3 4. De5#
2. ... d4 3. Dxd4 ... 4. Dxe3#,Txe3#
1. ... Txc7 2. Lxc7 d4 3. Le5 Lxf4+ 4. Lxf4#
1. ... d4 2. Sc4 ... 3. Txd2+ Ke1 4. Lxf2#
play all play one stop play next play all
https://www.chess.com/forum/view/more-puzzles/a-challenging-mate-in-5-can-you-find-the-first-move?page=3
Henrik Juel: C+ Popeye 4.61 (except for a mate dual) (2020-09-27)
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comment
Keywords: under-promotion key (L), Promotion (D), under-promotion (S)
Genre: n#
Computer test: Popeye 4.61
FEN: 2r1R3/2PP3P/1N5K/1P1p4/1p3P2/1B1pbp2/3pkrp1/3R1bB1
Input: James Malcom, 2020-09-27
Last update: A.Buchanan, 2020-10-13 more...
6 - P1380454
James Malcom
www.chess.com 19/8/2019
P1380454
(7+10) C+
h#3
1. Ka4 0-0 2. Lh1 Le1 3. g2 Tf4#
play all play one stop play next play all
Theme: Double square vacation in a helpmate

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/helpmate-in-3-moves
A.Buchanan: I really like this one :-) (2020-10-01)
A.Buchanan: If you can start the bishops on f1 & g1, then could have #h4 with the end position being double platzwechsel. Easy to get the h#3.5 - shift Lf2 to g1 & change Be3 to White. I can't help the nagging feeling that I might have seen this double swap somewhere before, but I think it was Black doing the castling (2020-10-01)
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comment
Keywords: Cheney-Loyd, Castling
Genre: h#
Computer test: Popeye 4.61
FEN: 8/N7/2p5/k4p2/4b1p1/p3p1pp/P1p1PB1P/4K2R
Input: James Malcom, 2020-09-30
Last update: James Malcom, 2020-09-30 more...
7 - P1381928
Guus Rol
www.chess.com 14/11/2020
P1381928
(4+5) C+
#1
a) 1. Df5#,De6#,Df7#? aber Schwarz ist am Zug!
a) 1. ... Kxg6 2. Df5#
1. ... Lxg4 2. Df7#
1. ... Lxg6 2. De6#
play all play one stop play next play all
Henrik Juel: C+ Popeye 4.61
missing variation: 1. ... Kxg6 2. Df5#
If White had the move, 1.Df7,De6,Df5# would mate immediately
But Black has no last move, so he has the move, and his three possibilities are met with just these mates (2020-11-15)
comment
Keywords: No legal last move for Black, Fleck Theme (3)
Genre: Retro
Computer test: C+ Popeye 4.61
FEN: 8/6p1/3K1kPb/3Q2pb/6P1/8/8/8
Input: A.Buchanan, 2020-11-15
Last update: Alfred Pfeiffer, 2020-11-17 more...
8 - P1381962
James Malcom
www.chess.com 15/11/2020
"X Marks The Spot"
P1381962
(11+11) C+
#2
1. Dxc4!
1. ... Kxe5 2. Dxd5#
1. ... Tdxe5 2. Sxd6#
1. ... Texe5 2. Txf4#
1. ... Lxe5 2. Dxe4#
1. ... dxe5 2. Txf6#
1. ... fxe5 2. Tg5#
play all play one stop play next play all
https://www.chess.com/forum/view/more-puzzles/x-marks-the-spot-mate-in-2?page=1
more ...
comment
Keywords: x pieces capture on one square (6), x pieces move to one square (6), x pieces defend on one square (6), Capture key
Genre: 2#
Computer test: popeye 4.85
FEN: B7/5K2/R2p1p2/1NprPk2/Q1pbrpR1/2p1pP1N/2P1P3/8
Input: James Malcom, 2020-11-16
Last update: Alfred Pfeiffer, 2020-11-17 more...
9 - P1399232
James Malcom
www.chess.com 11/10/2019
P1399232
(5+5) C+
h#7
3.1
1. a5 gxh3 2. a4 h4 3. a3 h5 4. a2 h6 5. a1=T h7 6. Ta2 h8=D 7. Tc2 Da1#
1. a6 gxh3 2. a5 h4 3. a4 h5 4. a3 h6 5. a2 h7 6. a1=T h8=D 7. Tb1 Dc3#
1. Kc2 gxh3 2. gxh3 g4 3. h2 g5 4. h1=L g6 5. Lf3 g7 6. Lxe2 g8=D 7. Kd3 Db3#
play all play one stop play next play all
https://www.chess.com/forum/view/more-puzzles/helpmate-3
Yuri Bilokin: you can see 1...gxh3 2.a5 h4 3.a4 h5 4.a3 h6 5.a2 h7 6.a1=R h8=Q 7.Rb1 Qc3# (2022-06-12)
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comment
Keywords: Kindergarten Problem, Promotion (tD, lD)
Computer test: Gustav 4.2a, Brute Force
FEN: 8/p7/8/8/4p1p1/4P1Pp/4P1P1/2k1K3
Input: James Malcom, 2022-02-18
Last update: James Malcom, 2022-06-12 more...
10 - P1403863


P1403863
(10+10) C+
#9
1. g4+! Kg5 2. Sf7+ Kf4 3. Ld6+ Ke4 4. Sg5+ Kd4 5. Se6+ Kc3 6. 6. Lb4+ Kc2 7. Sd4+ Kb2 8. Sc4+ Kxa1 9. 0-0#
5. ... Ke4 6. f3+ Kxf3 7. Sg5+ Kg2 8. Th2+ Kg1 9. 0-0-0#
play all play one stop play next play all
Unknown Author, shared on chess.com

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/more-puzzles/0-0-0-mate
more ...
comment
Keywords: Castling
Computer test: Gustav 4.2b, Brute Force
FEN: 8/1b2B3/rN3nnr/4N2k/8/Pp1pp2P/p4PP1/R3K2R
Reprints: www.chess.com 07/03/2017
Input: James Malcom, 2022-08-27
Last update: James Malcom, 2022-08-28 more...
11 - P1411670
Andrew Buchanan
idee & form 159, p. 5394, 07/2023
after Sam Loyd
P1411670
(15+10) C+
PG in 13.5
1. e4 a6 2. Lxa6 h5 3. Lxb7 Ta6 4. h4 Tah6 5. Th3 f6 6. Tc3 Kf7 7. Txc7 Sc6 8. Lxc6 La6 9. d3 Lxd3 10. e5 Lh7 11. Dxd7 Kg6 12. De6 Dd4 13. Ke2 De3+ 14. Lxe3 = pat
Try 12. ... Dd3? 13. Le3 De2+ DP as 14. Kxe2 (&Sxe2) = pat
play all play one stop play next play all
Shortest known PG where DP provides dual removal. Previous record was massacre P1281143 15.5 moves
Henrik Juel: for completeness: the try fails as 14.Kxe2,Sxe2 = pat (2023-08-09)
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comment
Keywords: Unique Proof Game, Dead Position (dual elim)
Genre: Retro
Computer test: HC+ Stelvio 1.4 finds no solutions in 13.0 moves and a slightly dualistic solution in 13.5 moves, use manual DP logic to eliminate this try.
FEN: 5bnr/2R1p1pb/2B1Qpkr/4P2p/7P/4B3/PPP1KPP1/RN4N1
Reprints: www.chess.com 18/12/2023
Input: A.Buchanan, 2023-08-09
Last update: A.Buchanan, 2023-12-18 more...
12 - P1413923
Andrew Buchanan
R611 The Problemist 07/2023
P1413923
(15+11)
Proof Game in 12.5
Game over!

A long-standing question (since a problem by Michel Caillaud P1004030, and also one by Guus Rul) asks how the Draw by Triple Repetition (3Rep) convention interacts with the Dead Position rule (DP). This is not an issue over the board, since 3Rep must be claimed. Miguel Ambrona proposed that for retro problems, DP rule has visibility of any looming 3Rep or 50M draw, while for purely forward problems, e.g. help dead position (HDP), it does not. This distinction works extremely well: it enables problems such as Michel's and this new one, while allowing us to eliminate a class of cooks which would be ubiquitous in longer HDP problems. So the HDP design space does not hit an effective ceiling at 4.0 moves. The concept of "retro problem" is already used in Codex Articles 17 & 17A for 50 move rule & DP, so is not new.
more ...
comment
Keywords: Unique Proof Game, Constrained problem, Draw by repetition, Castling, En passant
Genre: Retro
FEN: 2Q1kb1r/1pp1ppp1/3q3p/2Pp1R2/8/1P6/1P1P1PPP/1NB1KBNR
Reprints: www.chess.com 18/12/2023
Input: A.Buchanan, 2023-12-05
Last update: A.Buchanan, 2023-12-18 more...
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The problems of this query have been registered by the following contributors:

A.Buchanan (6)
James Malcom (6)