Marshall Spectator 06.02.2021
Contents 06.02.2021:
Fearful Symmetry
Beginner's Corner
Chess for COVID Relief in India
Carlsen Wins FTX Crypto Cup
Problem of the Week
Fearful Symmetry
What could be more peaceful than this position?
The pawn structure is completely symmetrical, all the pieces have been traded off—surely a draw is inevitable, right? And yet, after 1.Kf4!, White is winning. Here are the key lines:
1...Ke6 2.Kg5! Ke7 (2...Ke5 3.f3! Ke6 4.f4!+- transposes.) 3.f3! (wasting a move in order to reach the following zugzwang) 3...Ke6 (after 3...Kf8 4.Kf6 White simply continues with 5.f4 and 6.f5+-) 4.f4! (zugzwang!) 4...Ke7 5.f5 gxf5 6.Kxf5+- followed by 7.Kg5 and 8.Kxh5+-.
1...Kg7 2.Ke5! and now in order to avoid 3.Kf6 followed by f4-f5 as in A) above, Black has to try 2...f6+ 3.Ke6 f5 (Or 3...g5 4.f4+- followed by f4-f5.) but after 4.f4 Black will fall victim to a series of new zugzwangs: 4...Kg8 5.Kf6 Kh7 6.Kf7 Kh6 7.Kg8+-
In a recent online blitz game, I tricked a master-level opponent into simplifying to this position. Afterward I felt a strong sense of deja vu, but I conducted a search and was unable to find this position in any of my own previous games. However, I did find good examples in the Mega Database. It turns out this theoretical ending does show up frequently in real games—if you know to look for it. In Korchnoi–Lukin (Stockholm, 2004) the following position was reached after move 81:
Here Korchnoi played 82. Qf6+! Qxf6 83. exf6+ Kxf6 84. Kf4 and won. Another example— what Dvoretsky would have called a “tragicomedy”—happened in Wang Yue–Ni Hua, Jinzhou 2009:
White has just played 35.Bc6-f3?? Fortunately for him, black agreed to a draw. Had Black known his theory, he would have won easily with 35...Nxf3! 36.Kxf3 Kf5! To make matters worse, after dodging this bullet, Wang Yue went on to win the tournament by a half point. Ouch!
Once I'd concluded my research, I decided to post my findings on social media for the benefit of my chess friends. Much to my delight, FM Joshua Postuma read my post and then used the idea to win a game while streaming on Twitch. His opponent's reaction sums it up best.
The moral of the story: Even in symmetrical positions, remain fearful.
—NM Alex King, former MCC Assistant Manager
Beginner's Corner:
Over-the-Board (OTB) for the First Time
Many of us learn chess when we're kids. Remember those Milton Bradley sets, with the plastic pieces and a red and black board? Or maybe (younger folks!) you dabbled with the game online. But if you've never played an over-the-board (OTB) tournament before, there are some formal aspects of the game you'll have to get used to when you come to the Club.
First, the good news: You don't have to bring anything when you play at the Marshall! This is not the case for other venues, but the club is fully equipped with chess sets, clocks, scoresheets (more on those in a moment) and pencils for everyone. Once you've registered, you literally just have to show up and play. Some folks choose to bring their own scorebooks but it's not necessary. And the Club actually discourages the use of outside chess sets and clocks, for the sake of uniformity.
Now about those scoresheets. Under US Chess rules, notating (keeping score of) your game is required. This means that each player must write down all the moves that are made on the board. In case there is a dispute, the written record of the game serves as the official account of what happened. If you don't know how to notate, it's easy to learn. You can learn online or ask our staff for assistance. And don't worry, there's no penalty per se for incorrect notating. Some players' scoresheets are highly illegible. . .
The other big difference in an OTB tournament is that the the games are timed. Each player has a predetermined amount of time to play the whole game; if you run out of time you lose. After each move you have to hit the chess clock so your timer stops and your opponent's starts. You don't have to know how to set the clocks at the club. The club staff (the tournament directors) will set them for players each round.
Of course there are many detailed rules in tournament chess. Most of the time you don't have to worry about them. But one rule that you should really get used to is: touch move. In tournament chess, if you touch a piece, you must move it (as long as it is legal to do so). Sometimes, people will want to take a move back. You can't. Don't get mad at someone if they don't let you. And likewise, don't let someone off the hook if they try to do it to you. It happened to me once. I said no, and my opponent got angry. In that situation, pause the clock and get the tournament director.
It is always okay to pause the clock and get the director if you have a problem or just a question about the rules. Never try to discuss an issue with your opponent or other players or spectators. Only the tournament director's ruling counts. Sometimes well-meaning players or spectators will try to step in and help and actually give false information. So don't be shy: If you are unsure, stop the clock and get the tournament director.
Most importantly: Have fun!
—Ken Kubo, MCC Board of Governors
Chess for COVID Relief in India
While the number of COVID-19 cases is in steep decline in the United States, the pandemic is reaching new heights in other parts of the world. India is currently being hit the hardest, with staggering numbers of recorded cases and fatalities each day. This coming Sunday (June 6th), some of our friends in the Bay Area are organizing a chess tournament/fundraiser to help India fight the virus.
This free event will begin at 12:30 pm PST (3:30 pm EST) on the Internet Chess Club. The tournament will be played with quick time controls and structured in quads. Players may register for a USCF online rated section or an unrated section and will be required to join Zoom during play. All donations will go to Indian's for Collective Action (ICA), a 501(c)3 charitable organization.
For complete information, and to register, please email:
hanleychessacademy@gmail.com.
Carlsen Wins FTX Crypto Cup
Magnus Carlsen has defeated Wesley So in an Armageddon match to win the FTX Crypto Cup! Incredible! You're probably wondering, "But um. What is the FTX Crypto Cup???" And if you are wondering that then you are not alone.
A bit of internet research explains that (according to the organizers) the event is the "World's first Bitcoin chess tournament. . ." and it's part of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour.
Okay. Whoa. Slow down. What is the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour?
It's a series of ten rapid events, played online from November 2020 through September 2021, to "determine the world's best player over a full season of online competitive chess." The tour is composed of the usual suspects: Carlsen, Caruana, So, Aronian, Giri, Vachier-Lagrage, Nakamura, Nepomniachtchi, just to name a few.
The FTX Crypto Cup marked the sixth of the tour's ten events. What made it unique was its stated goal to bring together chess fans and crypto (as in, crypto currency) enthusiasts. As such the prize pool for the event was $220,000 USD and an additional $100,000 USD in Bitcoin (as of that currency's value on May 17th).
Carlsen has now won the past two tour events and, coupled with his two runner up finishes prior to that, sits comfortably in first place. (Wesley So is in second). Perhaps we didn't need an online tour to "determine" who's the World Champion. . . doesn't FIDE have some sort of thing for that already?
Problem of the Week
A. Mandler, 1949
2 + 2
White to move and draw.
I will be featuring a number of compositions of Artur Mandler (1891-1971), a Czech composer, one of the greats. His problems have been collected together in English by John Beasley and published as Depth and Beauty: The Chess Endgame Studies of Artur Mandler, October 2003. The above problem is a very useful one for players to analyze. Black’s king will capture White’s pawn. The question is how to position White’s king so that it can occupy the critical opposition square after the capture: if the capture takes place on c4 (c5) then White’s king must thereafter occupy c2 (c3).
If you’d like to learn more about endgame studies, visit arves.org, which is the homepage of ARVES (the Alexander Rueb Vereniging voor SchaakEindspelStudie, that is, the Dutch-Flemish Association for Endgame Study).
[Solution to Lommer, 1947: 1.Rh6+ Kd7 2.Rf7+ Ke8 3.Ra7 Qe5 (if 3…QxR then 4.Rh8+ and 5. Rh7+, winning the queen) 4.Rh8+ QxR 5.Ra8+.]
—Alexander George
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