The Marshall Spectator
In This Issue:
From The Skittles Room
King's Kibitzes
Chess Houseboat, by John Towson
Recent Member Game Contest
Chess Toons
En Passant
Problem of the Week
Editor's Note
Welcome back, fellow chess players, to this edition of the Marshall Chess Club's fortnightly bulletin, The Marshall Spectator.
Have you checked out a book from the Marshall Chess Club Library yet? With over 300 books covering openings, tactics, middle-games, endings, collected games, biographies, history and more, you'll be sure to find something worth reading. You can check out up to 5 books for three weeks from the club office. Have any questions? Call us or visit us.
This week we are hosting the Marshall Chess Club Winter IM Invitational. This will be an IM Norm Round Robin event at the club from February 22 through February 26, organized by NYC Chess Norms. While on site spectators are prohibited from attending this event in person, all 9 rounds will be streamed live with commentary by IM Luis Henrique Coelho.
Looking ahead, we have a number of interesting events on the calendar for our fully vaccinated membership.
April is National Autism Awareness Month. The Marshall Chess Club will host a panel called 'Chess on the Spectrum' on April 25, 2023 with Dr. Joel Sneed, Pranav Shankar and IM Justin Sarkar.
Following the panel discussion, IM Justin Sarkar will conduct a simul, the proceeds of which will be donated to Autism Speaks.
For more details about these events or to register in advance please visit our website. We look forward to seeing you soon.
In the last few weeks, we have had an abundance of rated chess events at our historic club.
The Saturday Under 2000 Morning Action on February 11 had 55 players registered and had a 5-way tie for first place between Claudio Martin Mariani, Harper Wallace, Bas Jaspers, Caden Cao and Ashton Bellur who all scored perfect 3 out of 3’s and earned $75.60 each for their efforts. Misha Raitzin won the class prize of $162 after scoring an impressive 2.5 out of 3.
The Saturday Game 50 Open on February 11 had a full house with 69 players registered. GM Michael Rohde and NM Tyrell Harriott scored 4 out of 4, winning $310.50 each for their perfect performance. Suvan Baranwal and Mouhamadou Tall scored 3.5 each and won $69 each for their performance, while the remaining class prize was awarded to Ryan Hao who scored 3.5 and earned $138 for his performance.
The Friday Night Blitz on February 10 had 30 players registered and only one clear first place winner. It was GM Mark Paragua who scored an impressive 8.5 out of 9, winning the $145 first place prize. NM Tyrell Harriott scored 7 points and won $73 for his effort, while FM William Graif, Kiren Nasta and Joseph Otero won $36.25 each for their performance, and the remaining class prize money was shared by Lev Shangin and Chloe Gaw who scored 5.5 out of 9 and won $18.33 each.
The Women and Girls Open on February 10 had 12 players registered, and was won by Zimu Zhang and Dena Wang who both scored a perfect 3 out of 3 and earned $45 each for their performance. This event is rapidly growing in popularity, so be sure to register in advance for next months women and girls open on Friday March 10.
The Ed Kopiecki Action on February 9 had 42 players registered and was won by IM Kevin Wang who scored a perfect 4 out of 4, taking home $183 for his performance. Aditeya Das and IM Michael Song both scored an impressive 3.5 out of 4 and won $91 for their effort. The class prize went to Joseph Otero, Elliot Goodrich and Neal Thio Hong, who scored 2.5 out of 4 and won $30.33 each for their effort.
The FIDE Premier that concluded on February 5 had 28 players registered, and was won by Lev Paciorkowski and FM Gus Huston who scored 4 out of 5 each and won $578.50 for their efforts. FM Tejas Rama and WFM Iris Mou scored 3.5 out of 5 and won the remaining prize money of $96.50 each.
The Sunday Beginner Online on February 5 had 21 players registered, and one clear first place finisher. It was joshr_0 who finished with a perfect 4 out of 4 winning the $78.75 prize for the online event.
The Sunday Rated Beginner Open on February 5 had 42 players registered and saw a 4-way tie for first place. Samuel Negussie, Rohan Chopra, Daniel Nambiar and Dashiell Pape scored a perfect 3 out of 3 each and earned $102.50 for their efforts.
The Under 2000 Premier that concluded on February 5 saw a full house with 40 players registered and a three-way tie for first place. Matthew Vincent Tripodi, Miguel Garcia and Toma Matsunaga scored an impressive if not perfect 4 out of 5’s to take home $268.33 each. The remaining prize money was shared by Summer Loh and Leah Yang, who both scored 2.5 and took home $73 each for their effort.
The Saturday Under 2000 Morning Action on February 4 had 36 players registered and had a three-way tie for first between Anjyu Fujita, Harper Wallace and Jeremy Yoon who won $84. The remaining class prize was shared by Warren Liang, Jake Exkorn, Pat Sukhum and Max Goldsand who scored 2 out of 4 and earned $27 each.
The Ed Kopiecki Action on February 2 had 37 players registered, and was won by two International Masters: IM Michael Song and IM Kevin Wang both scored perfect 4 out of 4’s to take home $126.50 each. NM Bryan Weiz, Yusuf Mansurov and Kiren Nasta scored 3 points and won $28 each, while Jonathan Ritter and Jose devilla shared a class prize for their 3 out of 4 performance, taking home $42 each.
As always, you can see all recent results by visiting our results page.
There were six players who gained more than 150 rating points in a single tournament over the last few weeks. Roman Rubinstein Mash gained an eye-popping 151 rating points in the Game 50 Under 1600. Carter Berry gained a remarkable 158 rating points in that same event. Another player who gained a lot of points in a single event was Axel Fynn Peters, who gained an incredible 158 rating points in the Rated Beginner Open. In that same event, Kenneth Kaplan gained a whopping 165 rating points. Gabe Bencosme-Lee played in the Game 50 Open on February 11, and saw his rating sky rocket by 178 rating points. In that same event, Ryan Hao gained an incredible 197 rating points! What's more, there were no fewer than fifteen players who gained more than 100 rating points in a single event over the last two weeks. Want to see your rating sky-rocket? Come play some tournaments!
To see these and all other recent big point gainers click here.
— Greg Keener, Editor of the Spectator
King's Kibitzes: Valentine Sampler
For February, that most assorted of months, I gift you, dear reader, a Valentine sampler of tasty miniatures confected in-house:
Chess valentine
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My first chess game of 2023: I defended this position for 109 more moves with 40 seconds vs White's 7 minutes, and no increment.
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Left: Anand-Mamedyarov, Norway Chess 2022, after Anand played 22.Qb5? and resigned without waiting for Mamedyarov to reply with 22...Qxf3+! 23.Kxf3 Nh4#!.
Right: an online rapid game of mine from 2020, after my identical blunder 19…Qb4?. I went on to win the game!
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A blitz game I won with two queens vs three. QQQ vs QQ is very unusual, appearing in only 17 games out of the 9.3 million in Mega Database.
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My opponent has just played 18.a4. Can you guess how the game continued?
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After defending R+B vs R for a long time, I finally cracked and ended up in a losing position. I have just played 162.Rd6!?. Sure enough, instead of 162...Kxd6! my opponent chose the more "efficient" 162...Ra7+? -- after which the server rendered a draw by the 50-move rule! The last capture had been Black's 112th move.
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My 2796-rated opponent, with 28.6 seconds left, missed the winning move for White here. Can you do better?
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My 800-point-lower-rated opponent has defended solidly with White for 71 moves, but here made his one and only decisive mistake of the game. What was it, and how did I take advantage of it?
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My first time checkmating with a knight promotion.
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Mate in 3 by Sam Loyd.
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May your February be filled with romantic gambits and attraction sacrifices! xoxoxo
— FM Alex King, Spectator Columnist and head confectioner
CHESS HOUSEBOAT 2023
KERALA, INDIA
How did someone who hadn’t played OTB tournament chess in 15 years, and had no real plans to do so, end up last month playing in an international chess tournament in Kerala, India? Good question.
It all began in November when I chanced upon a small piece on the Chessbase website promoting a very affordable, week-long chess tourism event, Chess Houseboat 2023, modeled on the Chess Train of the Czech Republic. It was only a couple of hours of chess a day, with the rest of the time devoted to exploring Kerala. Curiosity and some gorgeous photos got the better of me.
(Scuba chess match in the swimming pool at Bolgatty Palace Jiri Navratil (Czech Republic) on the right, me on the left)
I knew that India had become a hotbed of chess activity since Vishy Anand won the world title, and that two Indian teenagers, Gukesh D (age 16) and Praggnanandhaa R (age 17) were rapidly rising in the grandmaster ranks, but all I knew about Kerala was that it was a state in the south of India and the home of traditional Kathakali dance-drama. A little research revealed that it was well known for its natural beauty and growing economy, and indeed last year Time Magazine listed it as one of the top fifty destinations in the world and this year the NY Times included it in its list of Places to Go in 2023. Though English is widely spoken, it has its own native language, Malayalam (a palindrome!) and its own robust movie industry, Mollywood. Its largest city, Kochi, has been a multi-cultural center of commerce for the past 800 years, and it was Kochi that Christopher Columbus was hoping to sail westward to in 1492, only to run into an obstacle that came to be known as North America. Instead, Vasco de Gama of Portugal got to Kerala in 1498, and soon Kochi became the first European settlement in India, remaining under Portuguese control until 1663.
Interesting stuff but, oh, those photos! The first four rounds to be played in a houseboat traveling the scenic, tranquil backwaters east of Kochi. Two days in a top-notch resort on the Arabian Sea. A journey inland to the Periyar Tiger Reserve high in the mountains. Two days at the canal-laced, visually stunning Kumarakom resort, fancy enough to soon be hosting top ministers and execs as part of the G20 economic summit. And finally, back to Kochi for a night’s stay at historic Bolgatty Palace, crammed with an afternoon blitz tournament, an awards ceremony, and a morning underwater scuba chess match! And did I mention that the week somehow managed to fit in a half-dozen different cultural performances of dance, music, and martial arts?
(Playing hall on the boat.)
I don’t know if I was seriously thinking of going, but the idea was attractive enough for me to show the article to my partner, Riley Kellogg, who some Spectator readers will remember as manager of the Marshall from 2003 to 2008, where I was also active as a player. Yes, it was a wild idea, but we kept thinking, what’s not to like? An unrated, nine-round rapid (20/5) tournament would leave plenty of time for exploring Kerala, but having chess as a common interest would be a natural icebreaker for the group and we would all get to know each other more naturally than with a random group of strangers.
We figured that if this turned out to be half as good as it sounded, it would be worth it, so we surprised ourselves and signed up. Long story short, it was twice as good as we hoped! The organizers were super friendly and did a terrific job. A big shoutout to N R Anilkumar and V. Saravanan and the entire team. They had done this once previously, before covid hit, and were clearly excited to be able to do it again. The participants, from India, Europe, and (only us) from the United States, truly enjoyed one another’s company. There were 28 players, ranging in age from 12 to 75 and in rating strength from 1050 to FIDE masters, plus the spouses of many of the players. Pavel Matocha, founder of the Czech Chess Train, led a spirited contingent of Czech players. And of course the food! Bountiful and amazing, and only some of it real spicy. And, yes, it didn't hurt that it was January and we were enjoying 80 degree weather and outdoor swimming pools. But the true star of the show was Kerala, which more than lived up to its reputation for natural beauty and warm people.
(Riley & me.)
Plans are already underway for 2024, so check out chesshouseboat.org for information as it comes in. And if you are considering joining the tour next year, feel free to ask me any questions at johntowsen@gmail.com. Maybe we’ll see you in Kerala!
— John Towsen, Former Marshall Chess Club Member
Recent Member Game Contest
The Spectator is thrilled to continue a contest for our current members. If you have played a recent game at the Marshall Chess Club that you think may be appealing to a wider audience, please submit it with your annotations to td@mashallchessclub.org. We will select the most interesting game based both on the quality of play and annotations and publish it here for our readership to enjoy. We look forward to reading your submissions and sharing your recent brilliancies with our readership.
Congratulations and thank you to Alex Jacobs, who contributed the below game and annotations for the enjoyment of our readers.
Alex Jacobs vs Alex Morano
Monday Under 1800 Round 4
(You can play through the game here.)
This tournament was my first longer time control game, let alone tournament, in many years. Round one was a grinder where I was OK after the opening, overlooked a great move from my opponent, had opportunities to equalize, but couldn't seize them as I played as if I had lost the middle game. Round two, I was sick and requested a bye. Round three, I was bad from the jump. So I approached this round knowing I'm down on the cards and just hoping to play a tough, thought out game of chess, and to recover a little bit of my score in an otherwise fun tournament.
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 The initial inflection point in the opening. While my opponent can dictate that we play the Dragon, I get an opportunity to avoid familiar lines.
7. Be2 Nc6 8. O-O O-O 9. f4
I was trying to remember Be2 lines in other Sicilians, thinking about long term strategic plans for my pieces, and I recalled positions where a Queen would be on f3, staring down the a8-h1 diagonal and figured that f4 here couldn't be that bad and at least puts us both in a spot where we're just playing chess.
9...Nxd4 10. Bxd4 Qa5 11. a4 Be6 12. Bf3 Rfd8 13. Qe1 I wasn't sure where to put my Queen. I'd want it on d2 but then I'm voluntarily gluing my Knight down and letting myself get x-rayed on the d-file. Qe2 could leave some skewers if I'm not careful, and I'm not, so Qe1 with the thought of potentially lifting my Queen up to g3 at a convenient time seemed OK and maybe I get an attack on both flanks with the piece.
13...Qb4 14. Nb5 Qc4 15. Qc3 a6 16. Nc7 Rac8 17. Nxe6 Qxe6 18. Qd3 Qc4 19. Qxc4
With plans for my Queen not coming to fruition, it seemed like a good chance to avoid more tactical problems where consolidation would hopefully just not leave me worse. If I'd get my Rooks some activity, I think my Bishop on f3 is doing more work than black's Dragon Bishop, so why not get a threatening piece off the board.
19...Rxc4 20. c3 Nd7 21. Rfd1 Moving my Bishop back is too fancy for me.
21...Bxd4+ 22. Rxd4 Taking with the c-pawn gives a superficially strong center that likely loses a pawn and cedes control of the open file.
22...Rxd4 23. cxd4 e6 24. Rc1 The first time I felt like I had an advantage in the game as opposed to fighting for space.
24...Nb6 25. b3 Rc8 26. Rxc8+ My Bishop should overwork the Knight. ...Nxc8 27. Kf2 Ne7 28. g4 d5 is apparently the superior move here. If black goes ...e5, I get a passer. If he moves ...exd5, I should play e5 after, but I never would because I wouldn't see that I can run my king up to d5 to trade off the pieces and have a comfortable pawn storm. Instead, I played g4 to prevent the move ...f5 which seemed like it could cause me some trouble.
28...f5 f5 anyway.
29. gxf5 Taking the wrong way, because chess is hard. 29...gxf5 30. exf5 Nxf5 31. Bxb7 Nxd4 32. Bxa6 Nxb3 33. Bc4 Nd4
And now it becomes a matter of technique. With a long range piece versus a Knight, my a-pawn gives me a decisive advantage. While I have no technique, I had the latter benefits going for me.
34. a5 d5 35. a6 Nc6 36. Bb5 Na7 37. Bd3 h6 The game continued on for another thirty or so moves while I slowly realized my advantage.
— Alex Jacobs , Marshall Chess Club Member
Chess Toons
En Passant
– Two-time US women’s chess champion Jennifer Shahade has accused Grandmaster Alejandro Ramirez of sexually abusing her.
– Celebrating Black Excellence: An Interview With FM Joshua Colas, the superstar who made headlines in 2010 after breaking the record of youngest African-American to become a US national master.
– Levon Aronian defeated Nodirbek Abdusattorov from the white side of a Sicilian Dragon in a rather lopsided game to take the lead in the WR Chess Masters in Düsseldorf.
– FIDE has joined the Sport Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA). SIGA is a non-profit, global, independent organisation with a mission to ensure that sporting organisations are run to the highest standards of integrity in order to protect the values of sport.
Problem of the Week
J. Hartong, 1920
White to mate in 2.
Another charming asymmetric. Here, the reason the mirror image move won't work will be pretty obvious.
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H. A. Adamson, 1924
White to move and draw.
Solution to H. A. Adamson, 1924: 1.Kd6! Kf3 2.KxP Kg2 3.b4 KxP 4.b5 g4 5.b6 g3 6.b7 g2 7.b8=Q+ and wins. If 1.Kf6? Kd3 2.KxP Kc2 3.h4 KxP 4.h5 c4 5.h6 c3 6.h7 c2 7.h8=Q+ Kb1 9.Qh7 Ka1! (10.QxP stalemate).
—Alexander George, Marshall Chess Club Member
Editor's Note
As always, if you have any feedback, comments, or would like to submit an article please contact us directly at td@marshallchessclub.org.
Enjoy, and thanks for reading!
The Marshall Chess Club
Address: 23 West Tenth Street New York, NY 10011
Contact: 212.477.3716; td@marshallchessclub.org
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