In This Issue:
From the Skittles Room Endgame Corner, by IM Silas Lund En Passant Chess Toons Problem of the Week, by Alexander George Editor’s Notes
Welcome back, fellow chess players, to this edition of the Marshall Chess Club's fortnightly bulletin, The Marshall Spectator.
In an effort to better serve our members, we would like to remind everyone of the following Tournament Policy: All requests for byes must be made when registering for a tournament or by a subsequent email to td@marshallchessclub.org at least one hour in advance of the start of the round. Requests are not completed until a confirmation email is received from a Marshall TD.
Requests for byes after a tournament has started will no longer be accepted by phone or in person. Please refer to our Tournament Policy for further details.
In the last few weeks, we have had a plethora of rated chess events at our historic club.
The Saturday Under 2000 Morning Action on July 22 had 35 players registered and featured a four-way tie for first place between Tran Minh Hoang Huynh, Levon Tadevosyan, Claudio Martin Mariani, and Richardson Jingsi Qiao who scored a perfect 3 out of 3 to win $76.56 each. Incredibly, there was also a four-way tie for the class prize in this event. What are the odds? The following four players won $32.81 each for their 2 out of 4 performance: Lucas Lu, Chris Weldon, Alexander Grynszpan and Max Kirschner.
The Steve Immitt Action on July 20 had 49 players registered to do battle but was won by NM Joseph Zeltsan who scored a perfect 4 out of 4 to win the first place prize of $220. FM Justin Chen and Kole Moses both scored 3.5 out of 4 to win $11o each for their effort, while Alec H Choi and Neal Thio Hong shared in a class prize for their 2.5 out of four finish, winning $55 each and the upset prize went to Arya Borumand for beating the great Ted Belanoff.
The Marshall Masters on July 18 featured 40 strong players who came out to compete against the best, and was won by Haari Muthukmar who scored a near perfect 3.5 out of 4 to win the $317 first place prize. There was a gargantuan tie among 9 players for the remaining prize fund. Each of these players scored 3 points to win $49.33 each: FM Brewington Hardaway, GM Michael Rohde, FM Liam Putnam, Paris Prestia, Bilgen Sazci, FM Jonathan Subervi, William Safranek, Nathaniel Mullodzhanov, and Royal Buchanan.
The Sunday Game 50 Under 1600 on July 16 had 16 players registered and was won by Leo Paas who scored a perfect 4 out of 4 to win the first place prize of $90. Leo, who is pictured below, also saw his rating sore 235 rating points after this performance. Second place in this event went to Allyson Yu, who scored 3 out of 4 to win $60, and the remaining prize funds were distributed to Andrew Berti, Luoxi Lin, Brandon Kim, Terence Peng and Leiland Olson who scored 2.5 out of 4 to earn $9 each.
The Sunday Game 50 Open on July 16 had a whopping 57 players registered, and finished in a three-way tie for first between IM Mykola Bortnyk, GM Mark Paragua and Luc Hoffman who each scored a perfect 4 out of 4 to win $183.33. There was a three-way tie for the remaining class prize between Leo Shen, Corin Gartenlaub and Will Nieder who finished with 3 points and won $55 each for their effort.
The Rated Beginner Open on July 16 had 40 players registered and finished with a four-way tie for first between Fred Walsh, August Prasertsom, Henry Zhou and Daniel Danzinger who had perfect 3 out of 3 scores and won $125 each for the performances. Henry Zhou saw his rating spike by 125 rating points after this single event. What’s more, Henry began the month with a rating of 407 and will end this month with a rating of 1168!
The Saturday Game 50 Open on July 15 had an even 40 players registered to play and was won 3 players who scored 3.5 out of 4: GM Mark Paragua, GM Michael Rohde and Vladimir Bugayev all won $123.33 each. The remaining class prize prize was shared by Ian Nicholson and Henry Burton who scored 3 out of 4 to win $55.50 each.
The Saturday Under 2000 Morning Action on July 15 had 22 players registered and concluded with a two-way tie for first place between Claudio Martin Mariani and Chance Deas, who both scored 3 points to win $96.25 each. The remaining class prize was shared in a four-way tie between Aadit Joshi, Axel Peters, Gorden Hui and Ethan Nazimowitz who all scored 2 out of 3 to win $2o.63 each.
The Saturday Game 50 Under 1800 on July 15 had 24 players registered and was won by Dante Mayeno who scored a perfect 4 out of 4 to win $144. There was a 4-way tie for the remaining prize funds between Alvin Lou, Max Kirschner, Mingrui Ju and Santiago Rondeau who scored 3 points to win $42 each.
The Friday Blitz on July 14 had a remarkable turnout of 44 players, with IM Mykola Bortnyk coming in first place scoring a nearly perfect 8.5 out of 9 to win the first place prize of $200. Second place went to GM Zbigniew Pakleza, who scored an impressive 8 out of 9 to win $100. Tyrell Harriott won $50 for his 6.5 out of 9 performance, while Elliot Goodrich won $50 for his 5.5 out of 9 score as well. Roman Malyshev, FM Jonathan Subervi, and Glenn Cabasso scored 5.5 to share in a class prize winning $16.17 each, while Linxi Zhu and Lev Shangin also scored 5.5 out of 9 to share in a differet class prize winning $25 each.
The Women and Girls’ Open on July 14 had 13 players registered and one clear winner. It was Mariia Yeni who scored a perfect 3 out of 3 to win the $78 first place prize. There was a six-way tie among Hema Vikas, Aileen Lou, Yam Flora, Zoe Wong, Luxi Lin and Bobafet who all scored 2 out of 3 to win $6.50 each.
The always popular Steve Immitt Action on July 13 had an impressive turnout, with 46 players registered. First place went to IM Michael Song who scored a perfect 4 out of 4 to win the $202 first place prize. Second place went to GM Michael Rohde, who scored 3.5 out of 4 and won $101 for his efforts, while Mitchel Stern and Joseph Otero won $50.50 each as a class prize for their performance, and the remaining class prize funds were shared by six players who won $16.83 each: William Safranek, Kiren Nasta, Kyle Dong, Kevin Hass, Wyatt Wong and Sperber Jacob.
As always, there are many exciting events upcoming at our club and I encourage you to check out our calendar for the full list here.
Endgame Corner, by IM Silas Lund
This week's Endgame Corner contains 3 positions: the first 2 with themes from earlier columns, and the third one with a new theme - the eternal pin. So, let's see if you have been paying attention! Try to solve the 3 positions first, the solutions will be given towards the end. You can see all of the positions, games, commentary and solutions here.
Unzicker, Wolfgang vs Euwe, Max, Olympiad, Dubrovnik 1950
White to move.
Nielsen, Axel Jorgen vs Sefc, Jan, Olympiad, Moscow 1956
White to move.
Wheatcroft, George Shorrock vs. Havasi, Kornel, Olympiad, Stockholm 1937
Black to move. White is supposedly in an eternal pin... 0-1
Solution to the first position: Unzicker, Wolfgang vs Euwe, Max.
30. Re6? (30. Re7! d5 31. R1e6 White's main idea is to make sure that both rooks get to 'the other side', before Black blocks the e-file with d6-d5 and Bg6-e4. With both rooks active, White can either threaten mate or force the exchange of one pair of rooks.) (30. Rd1 Bd3 also blocks at least one rook out.)
30... d5 31. Rd6 Be4
Black has bishop and 2 pawns as compensation for the rook. And, most importantly, an additional rook to support the color blind bishop. With the additional rook, Black is able to control and attack on the dark squares as well - and this gives sufficient counterplay to keep the balance in this endgame.
32. Ra1 Kf7 33. Kf2 b4 Good timing for the counterplay - Euwe was world champion for a reason! It is worth noting that this is not Black's only option - staying in the position for a while would work too. Black could improve his position by pushing the pawns on the kingside or advancing his king.
34. Rb6 (34. cxb4 Rb8 35. a3 a5 36. bxa5 Rxb2+ 37. Ke3 c3 38. a6 c2 39. a7 Rb1 40. Rc6 Rxa1 41. a8=Q c1=Q+ 42. Rxc1 Rxc1)
34... bxc3 35. bxc3 d4 36. cxd4 c3 37. Rc1 c2 The players agreed to a draw here. Again, Black's counterplay works here because of the additional rook to assist the strong bishop and passed c-pawn.} 1/2-1/2
Solution to the second position: Nielsen, Axel Jorgen vs Sefc, Jan, Olympiad, Moscow 1956.
44. Bxd4 (44. Bf8 Ne3+ 45. Kh3 Nxc4 Black eliminates all threats against his king.)
44... Nxd4 (44... Qxd4 45. Qg8#)
45. Qd5
White forces the exchange of queens. 45…Qxd5+ (45... Qf6 46. Qg8#)
46. Bxd5 White is a pawn up and has a winning endgame. The clue to this exercise is to settle into a position where the principle of two weaknesses can be used. Technically, White still has a lot of work to do, but at least two weaknesses can easily be pinpointed: the pawn on a5, the kingside pawns, as well as White's pawn majority on the kingside that is a potential passed pawn. Add to these 3 weaknesses that the white king is more active and will head for the a5-pawn.
46…g6 47. Kf2 Kg7 48. Ke3 Nc2+ 49. Kd3 Nb4+ 50. Kc4 Na2 51. Bf3 (51. Kb5 a4 eliminates the pawns on the queenside due to the fork on c3. The pure 3 vs 2 on the kingside would be a draw.)
51...Nc1 52. Bd1 Na2 53. Bc2 Nb4 54. Bb1
The annoying knight is under control.
54…Kf6 55. Kb5 Ke6 56. Kxa5 Nd5 57. b4 Kd6 58. b5 Kc7 59. Be4 Ne3 60. b6+ Kb8 61. h4 Nc4+ 62. Ka6 Nd6 63. Bd3 Ne8 64. f5 gxf5 65. Bxf5 h6 66. g4 Nd6 67. Bd3 Nf7 68. Kb5 Ne5 69. Be2 Ng6 70. g5 hxg5 71. hxg5 Kc8 72. Bd3 Nf4 73. g6 Nh5 74. Kc6 Kb8 75. Be4 1-0
Solution to the third position: Wheatcroft, George Shorrock vs. Havasi, Kornel, Olympiad, Stockholm 1937.
34... Rxe4 The key to win this position is to forget all about the apparent 'eternal pin' on the rook on e4. (34... bxa4 35. Kc4 White gets out of the pin by attacking the bishop on c5. Rxe4+ 36. Rxe4 Bxe4 37. Kxc5 The opposite-colored bishop ending is a draw.) (34... b4 35. Kc4 with the same problem for Black.) (34... Bb6 35. axb5 a4 White is not in zugzwang here, both Re2 and Bf4 can move. If Black could get the king to d5, he would be winning, but it's just not possible. 36. Re1)
35. Rxe4 Bxe4+ (35... bxa4 36. Kc4) 36. Kxe4 bxa4
On the other hand, the same-colored bishop ending (with an extra pawn) is winning for Black!
37. Bc1 Stopping the idea of a4-a3 that would give Black a passed pawn on the a-file.
37…Bd6 38. Kf3 f5 39. Bd2 Be5 From e5, the bishop is attacking both of the targets b2 and g3. Again, we have a technical position with multiple weaknesses.
40. Bc1 Ke6 The king is on its way to b3, therefore White resigned. 0-1
En Passant
GM Ju Wenjun has won a wild final game of the 2023 FIDE Women's World Championship to claim her fourth title with a 6.5-5.5 victory over GM Lei Tingjie. The 17th women's world champion, who has held the title since 2018, also picks up the €300,000 ($334,000) winner's prize, while Lei takes €200,000.
World Chess Day is celebrated annually on July 20. It is the date when FIDE was founded, 99 years ago. The idea to celebrate this was proposed by UNESCO, and its purpose is to raise awareness of the game and its benefits (improving cognitive skills, problem-solving abilities, and strategic thinking). In an article in a German science portal mathematics professor Christian Hesse, who has written quite extensively about chess, tells us how chess offers a profound intellectual duel with a surprising thrill factor.
Round six of the U.S. Championships saw a mix of crushing attacks and subtle endgames, with the leader(s) in all three sections remaining unchanged. Read more in this recap by our very own contributor to The Marshall Spectator, FM Alex King.
Top players sign an open letter in support of GM Ivanchuk.
Chess Toons
Problem of the Week
O. Dehler, 1923
White to mate in 2.
Exactly a century old. There are three distinct mating moves - quite remarkable given the minimalist setting.
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Last issue’s problem: Bonus Socius, 13th Century
Solution to Bonus Socius: 1. Rhg7, which zugzwangs Black.
Editor's Note
Have you played an interesting game at the Marshall recently? Submit it along with some light annotations at td@marshallchessclub.org and you may win a free tournament entry!
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!
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