The Marshall Spectator
In This Issue:
From The Skittles Room
Featured Game by GM Michael Rohde
Calculation, Strategy & Endgames at the US Chess School Camp by NM Eugene Yoo
GM Abhimanyu Mishra Simul
Is It A Fortress?
Chess Toons
En Passant
Problem of the Week
Editor's Note
From The Skittles Room
Welcome back dear readers to this edition of the Marshall Chess Club's fortnightly bulletin, The Marshall Spectator.
Chess.com's Puzzle Rush remains one of the most popular tactics trainers on the web, and we're thrilled to announce our Marshall Chess Club Members Puzzle Rush Leaderboard. Want to add your name to the leaderboard and have your stats updated automatically? Simply register for the Puzzle Rush Leaderboard here.
The August FIDE Premier concluded with a clear winner: IM David Brodsky finished with 4.5/5 and earned $967 for his stellar performance. GM Khamrakulov Djurabek and FM Justin Chen both finished with 4/5 and made $242 each for their efforts. The Under 2000 section of the premier also had a clear first winner, Whitney Tse, who finished with 4.5/5 points and won the $494 first place prize for her performance. In that same event, Ilya Levkov and Jude Kazan both finished with 4 points and took home $100 each, while Andrew Louie won the class prize and made $154 for his efforts.
The Under 2000 Saturday Morning Action tournament had 25 players and a 6 way tie with 2.5/3. Sergey Nizhegorodtsev, Elliot Goodrich, Tran Minh Hoang Huynh, Leo Xiaohang Shen, and Will Neider all got $30 for their performance, while Bhavya Thakur made $75 for winning the class prize.
The Asa Hoffmann Action event had 31 players in it and was won by a dynamic trio: FM Tanitoluwa Adewumi, FM Marcus Ming Miyasaka and NM Vladimir Bugayev all finished with 3.5/4 and took home $124 each. Matteo Singer also did well in this event with 2.5/4 and won the class prize of $46.50, as did Youn Sun Rojas who finished with the same score and the same prize of $46.50.
Our FIDE Monday event continues to draw a large crowd, with 37 entries this cycle. Richard Herbst finished in clear 1st with 5/6 and took home the $432 prize, while Leonardo Liu finished in 2nd place with 4.5/6 and earned $288. There were 4 players who finished with 4 points. NM Pedro Espinosa and Daniel Frank Johnston earned $72 for their efforts, while Max Mottola and Ilya Levkov won $108.
Our Friday Night Blitz event on July 29th had 29 participants and a 2-way tie for first place. Gary Leschinsky and Nancy Wang finished with 7 out of 9 and took home $124.50 each for their performance, while there was a 4-way tie among Daniel Austin Wang, Igor Sobolev, Kyle Dong, and Alex Pakh who all finished with 6 out of 9 and won $41 each.
To see these and all other recent results, click here.
In the last few weeks there have been more than a dozen members who have seen their rating grow by more than 100 points. Matteo Singer gained a staggering 224 rating points in the G50 Open on July 30th. Not impressed? Well he gained another 106 rating points just one week later in the Thursday Action event on August 4th!
The Rated Beginner Open on August 7th saw Vicki Yan gain an amazing 191 rating points, Stephane Derveaux gain 153 and Nicholas Chen gain 149! With such remarkable performances, these players will not be eligible to play in the rated beginner open much longer. The Game 50 on July 31st had two players with enormous rating growth: Max Kane gained an eye-popping 177 rating points and Eli Russel Stern saw his rating increase by 113 rating points in that event.
Our weekly Under 2200 concluded on July 27th, and had 6 participants who gained more than 100 points: Robert Ferrero 101, Kevin Pierson 108, Connor Junda Wang 108, Rose Morden 126, Anthony Zhu 132 and Max Feingold 177!
You can see who has gained the most rating points in our recent events by clicking here.
On the horizon, there are a number of events that we are happy to offer our members. On Tuesday, August 23rd, GM Maxime Vachier-Legrave will be giving a lecture and simultaneous display. While the simul is sold out, there is still some space available to register for the lecture. No one will be permitted to attend the event who has not registered in advance so be sure to secure your spot before it sells out.
Did you miss the chance to play against MVL? DIG USA is bringing Maxime-Vachier-Lagrave to Bridgeport, CT August 19-21st, for the Bridgeport Open Chess Tournament. Register ASAP before that event sells out too!
On Tuesday, August 30th, we will have another pizza social with casual chess. The last one was very well attended and we look forward to this event growing into a tradition with continued participation and support from our members. There is no entry fee, no official pairings, just casual chess and good conversation over pizza.
Looking ahead to the month of September, on Tuesday the 13th we're thrilled to announce a lecture and book signing by Harold Scott and GM Joel Benjamin. They will be discussing their recent book published by New in Chess, Winning the World Open.
On Friday the 16th, we will be joined by Tatia Skhirtladze, who is traveling from Austria in September to present and discuss the film that she directed entitled Glory to the Queen. The film tells the stories of four legendary female chess players from Georgia, Nona Gaprindashvili, Nana Alexandria, Maia Chiburdanidze and Nana Ioseliani, who revolutionized women's chess across the globe and became Soviet icons of female emancipation. Watch a trailer of the film here.
— Greg Keener, Editor of the Spectator
Featured Game by GM Michael Rohde
A nice turnout of 30 players competed in the "Asa Hoffmann Action" on Thursday, July 21. However, a rating gap of approximately 200 points separated the top 4 ranked - Nico Chasin, Justin Chen, Joseph Zeltsan and myself from the rest of the field. In round 2, Chen was nicked for a draw by Aditeya Das, and Chasin suffered an upset victory by Ankit Raparthi. With the number of players in the tournament, this set Zeltsan and me on a collision course, and indeed we both had 3-0 going into the final round. With both of us having recently had good results in the NYC Chess Norms event earlier in the month, the below clash resulted.
GM Michael Rohde (2435) vs NM Joseph Zeltsan (2433)
July Asa Hoffmann Action Tournament
(Play through the game here.)
1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. d4 Bb4 5. e3 Transposing from the Ragozin Variation of the QGD (i.e. Black's 4...Bb4) into the Rubinstein Variation of the Nimzo-Indian Defense.
5... O-O 6. Bd3 c5 7. O-O cxd4
7... Nc6 8. a3 is the most usual continuation and one of the "main lines" of the Nimzo.
7... dxc4 8. Bxc4 Nbd7 is the The Hungarian Variation 9. Qe2 a6 10. Rd1 b5 11. Bd3 Ba5 12. e4 cxd4 13. e5 dxc3 14. exf6 g6 15. b4 with huge complications in Rohde - Miyasaka, NYC Chess Norms invitational, July, 2022.
8. exd4 dxc4 9. Bxc4 b6 10. Bg5 Bb7 11. Rc1
Based on the idea that the c-file would remain open if Black plays ... Bb4xc3. This would deny the Black queen use of the c7 square.
11... Nbd7 12. a3 If 12. Qe2 Rc8 then menaces ... Bxf3, so I felt it best to clarify any c-file issues first.
12... Bxc3 It seemed that 12... Be7 is a little passive, as in Isolated Queen Pawn positions with the bishop on e7, the Black Queen's Knight should be on c6, not d7.
13. Rxc3 Rc8 14. Re1
An interesting version of the IQP formation, and one which I felt was favorable for White. The Black queen is having trouble getting comfortable because of the pin and the lack of access to c7. On the other hand, Black does have some tactical pressure on the c- and d-files.
14... a6 15. Ne5 It is important to create an immediate threat of Nxd7 which would damage the Black structure, as otherwise, Black could play ... b5, then trade rooks, and then post the queen on c7.
15... Nxe5 16. Rxe5 Kh8 Generally focusing on h7, although giving up the dream of somehow getting the c3 rook to participate in the attack.
17. Qd3 b5 18. Bb3 h6 19. Rxc8 While 19. Qh3 was tempting, I noticed that 19... Rxc3 20. bxc3 Qe7 brings the surprising resource of ...Qxa3 into the mix, as nobody is watching White's back rank.
19... Qxc8 If 19... Bxc8 then 20. Bh4 and the threat of Bc2 is very strong.
20. Bxf6 I also considered 20. Rc5 Qd8 21. Bh4 Be4 but it seemed too off-target to me, although White's 2 bishops still confer an edge.
20... Qc1+ 21. Bd1 gxf6 22. Rc5 Qf4
22... Qxb2 23. Qe3 Kg8 is what we both overlooked: that Black can defend here. 24. Qxh6 fails to ... Qxd4 (24. h3 f5 25. Rc7 is dynamically about equal.)
23. Qe3 e5 I thought this was a good defensive try. For instance if 23... Qxe3 24. fxe3 Kg7 (24... Rc8 25. Bf3 and White wins) 25. Rc7 is a difficult endgame for Black.
24. dxe5 Another plan here was 24. Qxf4 exf4 25. d5 Rd8 26. Bf3 Kg7 27. Kf1 f5 28. Ke2 Kf6 29. b4 with a nice advantage for White was the way to proceed.
24... Rd8 A nice intermezzo. 25. Bb3 Qxe3 Whereas if 25... fxe5 26. Qxe5+ Qxe5 27. Rxe5 Rd2 28. f3 gives White good winning chances.
26. fxe3 fxe5
And while White still has an edge to work with, the game was later drawn in a time pressure scandal.
— GM Michael Rohde, Former Marshall Chess Club Champion (1990, 1994, 2012)
Calculation, Strategy & Endgames at the 53rd US Chess School Camp by NM Eugene Yoo
I attended the 53rd US Chess School hosted at the Marshall Chess Club in New York City from June 20-23. The US Chess School, founded by International Master Greg Shahade in 2006, runs free annual invitational camps to the top young chess players in the United States. This year, 12 campers were invited, from ages 9 to 17 years old, with the top rating over 2250. It was the first in-person US Chess School since the COVID-19 pandemic started.
The Marshall Chess Club, the location for this camp, is renowned for being one of the oldest chess clubs in the United States (it was founded in 1915), but recent updates with new chess pieces and boards have given this club a more modern atmosphere. Our teacher for this US Chess School was International Master Alex Ostrovskiy, who actually enrolled in the camp himself when he was 11 years old! This was Alex’s third time teaching at the US Chess School. All games and positions mentioned in this article can be found here.
Tournament chess is a very serious and intense process, but at the US Chess School, the environment was more light-hearted. There were pawns being dropped every five minutes, crafty positions being invented, and clocks being slammed during blitz games. Alex contributed to this welcoming environment by infusing humor into his lessons.
(International Master Alex Ostrovisky)
Day 1: Careful Calculation
The first lesson that Alex taught us was the importance of finding candidate moves. Oftentimes, chess players fall into the trap of looking just for tactical patterns or forced lines. As a result, sometimes it’s important to look at more alternatives. According to Alex, candidate moves are “the ability to push beyond conventional ideas.” Sometimes, though a position may appear to have only one or two good continuations, having an open mind can lead to the discovery of amazing alternatives.
Calculate 4
Annotations by NM Eugene Choi Yoo
One tactic that we spent over an hour on really confused the class. We had to calculate 5 moves deep into a position, but this became even more complex when we had to calculate different lines for black.
Ostrovskiy, Pascetta Game, Move 20
Annotations by IM Alex Ostrovskiy
After calculation puzzles, we broke off into groups to analyze compositions, positions that are specifically crafted to help train calculation. Just when it seemed like one side was completely winning, a teammate would point out another move that the opposing side could make, so we had to calculate further into the position. The composition below was my personal favorite because it involved being resourceful and thinking about all of the possibilities in a position, and just when it appeared that black would simply resign, there was a resource to keep the game going.
Class Study 2
Annotations by NM Eugene Choi Yoo
An interesting composition created by Campers Aditya Das and Eric Liu! In this position, it seems that black can shuffle his king between a1 and a2, but it turns out that white can go bf1, ne2, nc1, and then force black to take one of white’s rooks, removing black’s aspirations of forcing a draw.
(IM Greg Shahade (left) & NM Eugene Choi Yoo - that’s me! (right) Playing Blitz)
Breaks: Blitz & Bughouse
One of the integral parts of the US Chess School camps are the blitz and bughouse breaks, and this camp was certainly no different. While playing blitz and bughouse, I talked to some of the campers to see if they would be interested in tutoring for my 501(c)(3) nonprofit chess organization NYC Chess Connections, which offers one-on-one chess lessons to disadvantaged students all across the country and currently has over 50 tutors and 100 students. I know personally that I am going to stay in touch with a lot of the campers, and see many of them at future tournaments (in fact, many of us played together at the World Open!).
(Alex Playing Camper Gary Leschinsky)
Day 2: Sophisticated Strategy
The theme for Day 2 was strategy! After a grueling first day of long calculations, I was looking forward to something a little more dynamic. To start the day off, we talked about the mini-plan, a short, concrete series of moves that improves a position even if it doesn’t lead to a forced win. Mini-plans maximize the potential of pieces, while allowing the opponent to slip up. Here is an example of one in action:
Moon Ostrovskiy Move 20
Annotations by IM Alex Ostrovskiy
The mini-plan particularly stuck with me because it emphasized the greater lesson of finding resourceful ways to push equal positions. For example, Alex showed us a game in which Magnus Carlsen won a rook and four pawns versus rook and four pawns position against Ruslan Ponomariov, a strong player who was 2737 FIDE, simply by being willing to play on and allow his opponent to make mistakes. In some of my own games, there have been times when I’ve taken a draw because the material is equal or I don’t see a concrete way to win, but sometimes it isn’t so easy for the opponent to hold such positions, and even one slight inaccuracy can completely alter the position.
Ponomariov Carlsen Move 40
Annotations by NM Eugene Choi Yoo
We also learned about the importance of having a space advantage. Today’s modern engines will give the side with more space a huge edge, and for good reason. As Grandmaster Boris Gelfand once said, “If I control 40 squares, you only control 24, no matter who you are.” More space means more room to coordinate pieces and to maximize the utility of each piece, while also giving less room for the opponent to coordinate their pieces. This is why openings such as the Benoni or King’s Indian Defense for black can be risky as they don't offer much space in the position — if misplayed, black can wind up completely constricted. Below is an example of Alex (who is playing the white pieces) controlling all of Black’s major plans while simultaneously harmonizing his pieces and preparing a deadly center push.
Ostrovskiy vs Herman
Annotations by IM Alex Ostrovskiy
After discussing the importance of space, we discussed psychology, which is closely linked to strategy. When I was younger, I thought that psychological pressure was all about getting up from the board at the right times, offering draws in critical positions, and playing with little hesitation, and this is by no means incorrect. However, this camp made me realize that psychology can also be in the moves themselves. As Grandmaster David Navara said, “I like to play moves that highlight the drawback of the opponent’s previous move.” If a queen leaves a particular file, for example, placing a rook on that file could make the opponent begin to second guess themselves.
Day 3: Elusive Endgames
To start off the third day, the campers went around the room, each describing a different endgame that we knew off the top of our heads. The first person said Philidor, the second person (me) said Lucena, the third person didn’t know, the fourth person didn’t know, and then Alex opened the question up to the entire group, to which there was dead silence. Everyone was stumped, and suddenly nobody could name any other critical endgame position. Alex pointed out a few more to us — such as bishop and knight versus king, or two knights versus pawn. Nevertheless, the fact that a group of 12 experienced chess players struggled to come up with even five critical endgame positions illustrates that the endgame at its core is primarily calculation, not fundamental knowledge. Alex summed up the crucial components of endgames as knowledge of concrete theoretical endgames, calculation skills, and patience and persistence.
One particular endgame theme I enjoyed was king, queen, and pawn endgames. These positions can be tricky because of queen checks and perpetuals, but what I like about them is that they create rich positions that revolve around strategy. Though an opposing queen can almost always find a check, by placing our king next to the enemy’s pawns, the opponent will have to give up their pawns if they’d like to continue checking.
At the end of the third day, we did training games! Training games are games that players play from starting positions, and they emphasize pure strategy and calculation rather than opening preparation. The time control for the games was G/25 + 5 second delay, and before we started playing, we were given three minutes to look at the position and come up with possible plans. We practiced training games on the second day as well, during which we played out positions where one side clearly had the edge, but today we played more balanced positions. The training games were a nice way to wrap up a long day of hard endgame calculation, and the campers particularly enjoyed playing them.
(The campers playing)
Day 4: Personal Play
On Day 4, we analyzed each of our chess games. It was an interesting exercise because unlike the model games that we had reviewed up until this point where games were well-executed, the campers’ games highlighted the natural volatility of chess and how a player can always come back from a position no matter the circumstances.
(Alex reviewing one of Eric’s games)
With that, this wraps up my recap of the 53rd US Chess School! Special thanks to Dr. Jim Roberts, Chessable, and Chess.com for sponsoring the US Chess School. I’ve used Chessable for over a year now (to bulk up some of my black repertoire in particular) and Chess.com my whole life (where I play a lot of blitz and also created a 500 member club to raise awareness for the Black Lives Matter movement), so I can personally attest to the greatness of these two resources for any aspiring chess player, no matter the skill level. And of course, I can’t forget — thanks to International Master Greg Shahade for organizing the camp, and International Master Alex Ostrovisky for teaching all of the campers not just the essential themes of calculation, strategy, and endgames, but also practical advice to use in chess tournaments, whether it be the importance of declining draws in advantageous positions, utilizing psychology, or being mindful of the clock.
— Eugene Yoo, Marshall Chess Club Member
This article was reprinted with permission from the author
GM Abhimanyu Mishra Event
The Marshall Chess Club was thrilled to welcome GM Abhimanyu Mishra to our club for a simultaneous display and book signing last night, Tuesday, August 9th. GM Mishra made news when he broke Sergey Karjakin's long-standing record to become the youngest chess player ever to achieve the GM title, a record previously held by the likes of Judit Polgar and Bobby Fisher. After a thoughtful introduction by our President, Sarathi Ray, Abhi fielded several questions from the audience and signed copies of his book, The Youngest Grandmaster in the World.
One of the participants in the question and answer portion of the lecture asked Abhi what his next goal was having already achieved so much at such a young age. It should come as no surprise that Abhi was prepared for the question and answered immediately that he would like to be the youngest ever Super GM, a lofty title defined as having a FIDE rating over 2700. There were 19 chess players who challenged the young grandmaster in the simul. Abhi finished with an impressive score of 18 wins, 1 draw and zero losses. Christopher Seck was the only player to hold Abhi to a draw, in a rook and bishop of opposite color position where the pawns were locked.
— Greg Keener, Editor of the Marshall Spectator
Is It A Fortress?
Last week in the final moments of a game in our weekly Thursday Night Action Tournament, a small crowd of players gathered around the final board to witness a time scramble finish. As the tournament director, I was paying more attention to the clock, the players and the noise level of the spectators than the position itself. However, once I had a moment to think I noticed a rather interesting position had arisen on the board with only seconds left for both players. Before scrolling to the bottom of this article and looking at the position, give yourself 30 seconds on a timer and see if you can find the winning idea. It's Black's turn to move and you're looking at the chess board from Black's perspective. Can you find the winning plan fast enough to convert?
Are you ready?
To see the solution, scroll to the bottom and see the editor's note.
Want to submit your games or interesting tactics to The Marshall Spectator? Simply email an annotated game that you played recently at the Marshall to us at td@marshallchessclub.org and you will automatically be entered into the contest.
We look forward to reading your submissions and sharing your recent brilliancies with our readership.
— Greg Keener, Editor of the Marshall Spectator
Chess Toons
En Passant
Chess News En Passant:
– New York won the state versus state championship at the national tournaments of state chess champions held July 30–August 2, 2022. Each state could send five representatives, and each representative played six games.
– Uzbekistan grabbed gold in the open section of the Chess Olympiad after defeating the Netherlands, ahead of Armenia and India 2. In the women’s tournament, India gave away the lead in the last hurdle with a loss against the United States. Gold thus went to Ukraine thanks to a final-round win over Poland.
– At the beginning of August, FIDE published the new world ranking list. With a rating of 2864, Magnus Carlsen remains the undisputed number 1. Ding Liren follows in second place with 2808, 56 points behind, Ian Nepomniachtchi is in third place with 2792.
– The 2022 U.S. Open Chess Championship finished with an exciting tiebreak game. After nine days of grueling classical chess, Russian GM and Texas Tech student Aleksey Sorokin is our 2022 U.S. Open champion. Sorokin tied for first with GM Elshan Moradiabadi as both went undefeated with seven wins and two draws. All games can be viewed here.
Problem of the Week
Joseph Peckover, 1966
White to move and draw.
I was reading - unable to stop reading - Asa Hoffmann's The Last Gamesman where he mentions being shown problems by Joseph Peckover at the Flea House. So here's one - perhaps Asa remembers (not) solving this one!
---
Solution to Pal Benko, letter "C": 1.Kh5 Kg1 2.Rg6+ Kh1 3.Rf1 mate; 1...Kh1 2.Rg3 Kxh2 3.Kg4 mate. Notice that this problem is a twin of the one two issues ago: take the latter and shift the pieces to the right one file and down one rank.
—Alexander George, Marshall Chess Club Member
Editor's Note
Did you break the "fortress?" Pushing the pawn to f5 immediately would be a terrible blunder, as it would obstruct the bishop and allow h7 when White would win. While there are many possible paths to victory, the shortest path is 1...Ke6 2.Kf8 Bg6! 3.Kg7 Kf5 4.Kh8 Kg5 and the Black pawn is free to run.
As always, if you have any feedback, comments, or would like to submit an article please contact me directly at gregk@marshallchessclub.org.
Enjoy, and thanks for reading!
—Greg Keener, Editor of the Spectator
The Marshall Chess Club
Address: 23 West Tenth Street New York NY 10011
Contact: 212.477.3716; td@marshallchessclub.org
Hours: M-F 1pm-Midnight; S/Su 9am-Midnight
