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
ProblemĀ 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 offāsurely 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 andĀ 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 gamesāif you know to look for it. In KorchnoiāLukin (Stockholm, 2004) the following position was reached after move 81:
Here Korchnoi played 82. Qf6+! Qxf6 83. exf6+ Kxf6 84. Kf4 and won. Another exampleā what Dvoretsky would have called a ātragicomedyāāhappened in Wang YueāNi 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 thenĀ 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.
āNM Alex King, former MCC Assistant Manager
Beginner's Corner:
Over-the-Board (OTB) for the First Time
Many of us learnĀ chess when we're kids. Remember those Milton BradleyĀ sets,Ā with the plastic pieces and a red and black board?Ā Or maybe (younger folks!) you dabbled with the gameĀ online. But if you've never played an over-the-board (OTB)Ā tournament before, there are some formalĀ aspects of the game you'll have to get used to when you come to the Club.
First, the good news:Ā You don't have to bring anything when you play at the Marshall!Ā 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)Ā andĀ pencils for everyone. OnceĀ you've registered, youĀ literally justĀ have to show up and play. Some folks choose to bring their own scorebooksĀ but it's not necessary. And the Club actually discouragesĀ the use of outside chess sets and clocks, for the sake of uniformity.
Now about those scoresheets.Ā Under US ChessĀ rules, notating (keeping score of)Ā your game is required. This means that eachĀ player must writeĀ down all the moves that are made on the board.Ā In case there is a dispute,Ā the written record of the game serves as the official account of what happened.Ā If you don't know how to notate, it's easy to learn. You can learn onlineĀ or ask our staff for assistance. And don't worry, there's no penalty per se for incorrect notating. Some players' scoresheets areĀ highly illegible. . .Ā
The other big differenceĀ in an OTB tournamentĀ is that the the games are timed.Ā Each player has a predeterminedĀ 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 timerĀ stops and yourĀ opponent's starts. You don'tĀ 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.Ā Most of the timeĀ you don't have to worry about them. But one rule that you should really get used to is:Ā touch move. In tournament chess, if you touch a piece, you must move it (as long as it is legal to do so).Ā 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 myĀ 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 orĀ just aĀ question about the rules. Never try to discuss an issue with yourĀ opponent orĀ 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 actuallyĀ give false information. So don't be shy:Ā If you are unsure, stop the clock and get the tournament director.
Most importantly:Ā Have fun!Ā
āKen 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.Ā
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 willĀ be required to join Zoom during play. All donations will go to Indian's for Collective Action (ICA), a 501(c)3 charitableĀ organization.
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For complete information, andĀ to register, please email:Ā
hanleychessacademy@gmail.com.
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Carlsen Wins FTX Crypto Cup
Magnus Carlsen has defeated Wesley So in an ArmageddonĀ match to win the FTX Crypto Cup!Ā 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'sĀ part of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour.
Okay. Whoa. Slow down. What is the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour?
It'sĀ 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 itĀ 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 thatĀ currency'sĀ 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"Ā who'sĀ the World Champion. . . doesn't FIDE have some sort of thing for that already?
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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.Ā Blackās king will capture Whiteās pawn. The question is how to position Whiteās king so that it can occupy the critical opposition square after the capture: if the capture takes place on c4 (c5) then Whiteās king must thereafter occupy c2 (c3).
If youād 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).Ā
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[Solution to Lommer, 1947: 1.Rh6+ Kd7 2.Rf7+ Ke8 3.Ra7 Qe5 (if 3ā¦QxR then 4.Rh8+ and 5. Rh7+, winning the queen) 4.Rh8+ QxR 5.Ra8+.]
āAlexander George
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