Daniele Guglielmo Gatti | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Country | Italy | |||||||||||
| Born | 6 November 1987 (age 37) Tradate, Northern Italy | |||||||||||
| FIDE rating | 1798 | |||||||||||
| Peak rating | 1824 | |||||||||||
Medal record
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Daniele Guglielmo Gatti (born 6 November 1987) is an Italian chess composer.
Daniele Guglielmo Gatti | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | ||||||||||||
| Country | Italy | |||||||||||
| Born | 6 November 1987 (age 37) Tradate, Northern Italy | |||||||||||
| FIDE rating | 1798 | |||||||||||
| Peak rating | 1824 | |||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||
Daniele Guglielmo Gatti (born 6 November 1987) is an Italian chess composer.
He began composing chess problems in 2015, initially focusing on selfmates and then exploring other genres, including endgame studies. [1] [2] In early 2025, he published an endgame study that achieved a complete Babson Task (4/4) in a legal and economic setting. The task has been considered one of the most difficult unsolved challenges in chess composition since its original formulation by American chess composer Joseph Ney Babson in 1884. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]
Gatti is a registered nurse. [2] [11]
Gatti's study was developed from a scheme created by Israeli-American chess composer Gady Costeff, which showed a complete Babson Task theme in an endgame study, but in an illegal position and with presence of promoted pieces. The scheme had originally been created in 2011, and Costeff spent over a decade attempting to construct a legal version. In his 2024 article, he acknowledged the illegality of the position but chose to publish it as a demonstration, inviting other composers to explore possible improvements. In EG issue 238, he wrote: “The position is unreachable by a single capture. [...] I composed this [setting] in 2011 and tried for a decade to make it legal. [...] I do think it is interesting and readers would be interested in how a Babson may look.” [13]
Gatti began working independently on the same theme and, after approximately 45 days, published a sound Babson Task in EG n. 239 (January 2025). [14] The study was dedicated to Gady Costeff, who was acknowledged as a source of inspiration. [10] [14]
Following its publication, the study was featured on various national [10] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] and international [20] [12] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] platforms.
Several chess composers and critics publicly commented on the study.
Ukrainian chess composer, critic and former WCCI world champion Serhiy Didukh referred to it literally as a “chess miracle” in his blog Chess Study Art. [28] He later included the study in his digital book 100 Memorable Studies, published on the same site. [32]
The study also received recognition by Harold van der Heijden which praised the study as an "incredible achievement", and by former WCCI champion Steffen Slumstrup Nielsen. [10] [14]
German grandmaster and FIDE Master for chess composition Jan Michael Sprenger contributed a comment on Didukh's blog, describing it as “a rather elegant position given the complexity of the task.”, remarking on the speed of its realization. [33]
Dutch composer and studies expert Martin van Essen also analyzed the study during a masterclass directed at the Schaakvereniging Paul Keres club in Utrecht, later publishing the entire video on YouTube [34] .
Outside the composition community, the study was analyzed by Austrian grandmaster and national champion Felix Blohberger in an instructional YouTube video. [35]
As of 2025, Gatti composed around 650 chess problems and 300 endgame studies, receiving a total of 200 awards in national and international tournaments. [2]
In 2018, Gatti received the title of National Master of Chess Composition from the Associazione Problemistica Italiana (API), affiliated with the Italian Chess Federation. [1] [36]
He participated in the 11th World Team Championship for chess composition (WCCT) of 2022, achieving a 19th individual placement in section F (Selfmates), the best Italian placement for that edition. [37]
In 2024, he won the 5° Italian Chess Composition Championship. [38]
In 2024, one of his original studies was selected and presented by Judit Polgar at the 'Global Chess Festival', held in Hungary on September 17, for the project 'Chess Artistry Adventure', organized in memory of GM and composer Pal Benko. [39] [40]
He is FIDE International Judge of Chess Compositions since July 2025. [41]
"Professione Problemista – Avvicinamento alla composizione scacchistica" (Messaggerie Scacchistiche - 2022). [42]
