The Marshall Spectator
October 1, 2025
In This Issue: From The Skittles Room Recent Games Analyzed, by GM Aleksandr Lenderman Jon Jacobs Brings Chess History to Life, by FM Jon Jacobs Chess Toons En Passant Problems, Problems, curated by Alexander George Editor’s Note
Welcome back, fellow chess players, to this edition of the Marshall Chess Club’s fortnightly bulletin, The Marshall Spectator.
Looking ahead on the calendar, please save the following dates for our upcoming championships. You can register for these special events here.
Rapid and Blitz Championship, October 11-12
Jerry Simon Memorial Amateur Championship, November 21-23
We also have the Mona Karff Memorial Women’s Championship, November 7-9 with $5,000 in prizes and our Senior Championship, November 7-9. Be sure to register in advance for these events as they are likely to fill up quickly.
And of course, our 109th annual Edward Lasker Memorial Marshall Chess Club Championship, December 18-21. With $10,000 in prizes, this event is sure to be full of strong players battling for the title of club champion.
Looking back over the last two weeks, we have had a plethora of events for our members to participate in.
The 2025 Rapid & Blitz Championship Qualifier on September 26 had 62 players registered and was won by Rohan Lee, who scored a near-perfect 8 out of 9 to win the $775 first place prize. Lucas Lu scored 7.5 out of 9 to win $387.50, while the following players won $62 each for their 6.5 out of 9 score: Quan Anh Le, Armaan Jain, joseph Otero, Misha Raitzin, and Jayden Feng. Finally, Connor Junda Wang won $77.50 for a 6 out of 9 score.
The Women & Girls’ Open on September 26 had 8 players registered and was won by Mahati Kashyap and Dhruthi Rao, who scored 2.5 out of 3 to win $36 each.
The Thursday Action on September 25 had 29 players registered and was won by IM Justin Sarkar, who scored 3.5 out of 4 to win the first-place prize of $105. Farirai Gumbe and Nicholas Richardson won $26.50 each for their 2.5 out of 4 score, while the following players won $25.14 each for their 3 out of 4 score: FM Leif Pressman, NM Bryan Weisz, IM Jay Bonin, Oliver Chernin, Dane Zagar, Sasha Arthur Kagle, and Rolando La Placa.
The Marshall Masters on September 23 had 24 players registered and was won by GM Andrew Tang and IM Liam Putnam, who scored 3.5 out of 4 to win $259 each, while Aakaash Meduri and Daniel Smith scored 3 out of 4 to win $86.50 each.
The Monthly Under 2400 that concluded on September 21 had 64 players registered and concluded with a clear first-place winner, IM Justin Sarkar, who won $1067 for his perfect 5 out of 5 score. Marzouq Chowdhury won $427 for a 4.5 out of 5 score, while Jack Boyer-Olson, Leandro Nicols Ulloa won $293.50 each for their 4 out of 5 score. Finally, Liam Kojuharov, Arko Chakrabartiroy, and Adrian Sommerstein scored 3 out of 5 to share in a class prize, winning $106.67 each.
The Rated Beginner Open on September 21 had 56 players registered and was won by the following players who all achieved a perfect 3 out of 3 score to win $112.50 each: Ziyang Su, Praveen Venkateswaran, Nikola Scekic, Noah Spiegel, Benjamin Frye, and Denzel Nile Miller.
The Monthly Under 1800 on September 21 had 26 players registered and was won by Gennadiy Reznikov and Kyle Cheng who won $304 each for their 4 out of 4 performance, While Grigory Razygraev and Phiip Xia scored 3.5 out of 4 to win $109 each. The following 4 players won $32.50 each for their 2.5 out of 4 score: Anthony Arias, Jeffrey Otto, Vladimir Chesbro, and Reid Katzovitz.
The Morning Masters on September 20 had 6 players registered and was won by Jack Yang, who scored 2.5 out of 3 to win the $45 first place prize, while Evan Kauffmann and Naveen Paruchuri won $15 each for their 1.5 out of 3 score.
The Under 2000 Morning Action on September 20 had 57 players registered and concluded with the following 5 players winning $100 each for their perfect 3 out of 3 score: Gavin Liu, Nico Alvarado-Yoshida, Chris Weldon, Anderson Woo, Carlo He. The following 4 players won $53.50 each for their 2 out of 3 performance: Ethan Wang, Eli Sidman, Charles Wang, and Ross Abramowitz.
The Friday Rapid on September 19 had 23 players registered and was won by GM Brewington Hardaway and Nicolas Marchese who scored a perfect 4 out of 4 to win $150 each. Robert Thorstad won $25 for his 2.5 out of 4 score, while Joseph De Villa, David Shen, and Noah Hsu won $16.67 each for their 3 out of 4 score. Finally, Dhruv Srikanth and Nikolai Varfolomeev won $12.50 each for their 1.5 out of 4 score.
The Thursday Action on September 18 had an even 40 players registered and was won by Vladimir Bugayev and IM Jay Bonin, who scored 3.5 out of 4 to win $119 each. Leon Chu and Elliot Yashayev scored 2.5 out of 4 to win $36 each, while the following players won $24 for their 3 out of 4 score: GM Michael Rohde, NM Bryan Weisz, Daniel Austin Wang, Evan Kauffmann, William Aepli, and Kenneth Fernandez.
The Thursday Open that concluded on September 18 had 18 players registered and was won by Nkosi Nkululeko who scored 5.5 out of 6 to win the $360 first-place prize. Luis Manuel Ulloa scored 4.5 out of 6 to win $144, while Aleksandr Gutnik (4 points) and Aadit Mordani (3.5) won $72 each for their performances. David Shenk won a class prize of $36, and the following 4 players shared in the remaining prize funds, winning $9 each for their 2 out of 6 score: Avin Pawar, Jonas Majauskas, Dmitry Guller, and Ken Jennings.
We look forward to seeing you at the club soon!
Recent Games Analyzed, by GM Aleksandr Lenderman
This month’s edition of the Marshall Premier featured a very strong tournament, and yours truly also decided to jump in the action. The tournament was swept by young IM Liam Putnam, who has had a great year so far, gaining a GM norm and a good amount of rating, inching close to the crucial 2500 FIDE mark, the other requirement for the GM title. My favorite game of Liam was his last round win against IM Josiah Stearman. Josiah was 0.5 points behind, so he needed to win to get clear first, and Liam just needed a draw. Despite needing only a draw, Liam played principled chess, and was able to win a nice and quick attacking game.
Round 5: Putnam, Liam - Stearman, Josiah
You can play through the games in this article with annotations here.
1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Bg5 Nbd7 6. cxd5 exd5 7. e3 c5 8. Bd3 Qa5 9. Qc2 c4 10. Bf5 O-O 11. O-O g6?! (11... Re8 Is the main line.) 12. Bxd7 Nxd7 13. e4! White has a strong initiative and wins a nice game from here.
13…Nb6 14. e5 Bf5 15. Qd2 Rfe8 16. a3 Bf8 17. Nh4?! Bd3 18. b4 Qa6 19. Rfe1 Rac8 (19... Nd7 20. Nxd5 Qc6 21. Nc3 Nb6 Would be more resilient.)
20. g3 Nd7 21. Nxd5 Qc6 22. Nc3 Nb6 23. Ng2 Qd7 24. Qf4 h6?! 25. Bxh6 Bxh6 26. Qxh6 a6?? (Qxd4 was best.) 27. Ne4 Congratulations to Liam Putnam on a very powerful performance! 1-0
Round 5: Sarkar, Justin - Brodsky, David
IM Justin Sarkar was also able to win a very clutch last round game against a strong young GM David Brodsky to get into a big tie for second.
1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 Nf6 4. Bg5 dxc4!? This is a modern line. 5. e3 c5 6. Bxf6!? An interesting wrinkle. 6…Qxf6 7. d5 g6 8. Bxc4 Bg7 9. Qa4+! Justin knows this line quite well. This has already been seen in several GM Sam Shankland games where he was on both sides of this opening line. 9... Bd7 (9... Nd7 Is the other main option for Black.) 10. Qb3 O-O 11. Qxb7 exd5? This was also played by Shankland and Sindarov, two very strong GMS, but it is a mistake. (11... Qh4 Turns out, this is the only move to not be much worse. From here, the lines get quite sharp. 12. Qb3 exd5 13. Bxd5 Nc6) 12. Nxd5 Qh4?
Possibly, Brodsky confused his line, remembering the Qh4 part, but forgetting the exact move order. 13. Rc1! Qd8 (13... Nc6 Is probably a better practical try but White is still winning after. 14. Qxd7 Ne5 15. Qh3 Qd8 16. e4! Qa5+ 17. b4 cxb4 18. Bb3)
14. Qxa8 Bxb2 15. Rd1 Qa5+ 16. Rd2 Bc1 17. Nf3 Bxd2+ 18. Nxd2 Rd8 19. Qb7 Bc6 20. Nf6+ Kh8 21. Qb2 A very nice game by Justin Sarkar, demonstrating very strong opening preparation, followed by very precise calculation. Congrats to Justin on a great performance at the Marshall Premier. He was also able to follow up this performance with another great performance later in the month at the Marshall U2400, where he swept the field with a strong 5/5 performance. 1-0
Round 5: Mark Paragua - Hebbar, Eshaan
1. c4 Another very clutch performance was demonstrated by young IM Eshaan Hebbar against an experienced GM Mark Paragua with Black. Mark got a slight upper hand in the opening, but then Eshaan defended very well, and at some point even took over the game. This was a long game, so we will focus on the highlights of the end part of the game. 1… Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. d4 Bg7 4. Nc3 O-O 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 d6 7. e3 Nbd7 8. Be2 e5 9. Qc2 Re8 10. O-O c6 11. Rfd1 Qe7 12. h3 Nf8 13. b4 exd4 14. Nxd4 Ne6 15. Nf3 a5 16. a3 axb4 17. axb4 Rxa1 18. Rxa1 g5 19. Bg3 d5 20. cxd5 Nxd5 21. Nxd5 cxd5 22. Rd1 Rd8 23. b5 Nc5?! 24. b6 Be6 25. Nd4 Ne4 26. Bc7?! Ra8 27. Bd3 Bd7 28. Rf1 Ra3 29. Nb5 Ra5 30. Nd4 Ra3 31. Be2 Qb4 32. Qc1 Ra2 33. Bf3 Bxd4 34. exd4 Qxd4 35. Bxe4 dxe4 36. Bg3 Qxb6 37. Qc4?! Qe6 38. Qc7?! Bc6 39. Qb8+ Kh7 40. Be5 Qe8?? 41. Qd6 Ra5 42. Bc3 Rf5 43. Qd4?! f6 44. Re1 Qf7 45. Ra1 Qd7 46. Qb4 e3 47. fxe3?! Qd5?! 48. Qg4 Kg6 49. Rd1 Qe6 50. Bd4?? h5? 51. Qe2 Qe4! The start of the strong plan.
52. Rc1 g4 53. hxg4 hxg4 54. Rf1?? After a long tough defense, Mark made the decisive blunder. Trading rooks makes sense to release the pressure. However, it runs into a tactic. (54. Qa2 Was the only move to keep the game, but white is still under heavy pressure.)
54... Bb5 And White resigned. Strong game by Eshaan. 0-1
Round 5: Brain, Logan - Venkatesh, Naray
The last person who joined the shared 2nd circle was Logan Brain, a strong master, and an ambitious adult improver. He had a very nice win in the last round against a young player, Venkatesh using a nice tactic.
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nge7 5. d4 exd4 6. Nxd4 Nxd4 7. Qxd4 b5 8. Bb3 Bb7 9. O-O Ng6 10. c4 Bd6 11. Nc3 bxc4 12. Bxc4?! O-O 13. f4 Re8 14. Be3 Rb8 15. e5?! Bf8?? The opening has already gone wrong for black, but now, black is losing after a nice sequence. (15... Be7)
16. Bxf7+! Kxf7?! 17. Qc4+ Ke7? 18. f5! d5 19. exd6+ Kd7 20. fxg6 Bxd6 21. Rf7+ Re7 22. Bg5 Rxf7 23. Qxf7+ Be7 24. Rd1+ Congratulations to Logan on a very nice game and a strong tournament performance. We actually had very similar tournaments, both drawing with White in the first round from nice positions, and had exactly the same results the same exact rounds the rest of the tournament. 1-0
Round 5: Lenderman, Aleksandr - Zhu, Linxi
After a solid draw against GM-elect, Josiah Stearman, I had White in the last round against a young, rising star, 11-year old Linxi Zhu. Both of us needed to win to have a chance to share second place, so we were both going for an interesting fight.
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 An interesting move order, designed to avoid Bb4+ in some lines for Black. Given that I already played this move order earlier in the tournament, my young opponent, Linxi was well prepared.
3. g3 c5 4. Bg2 cxd4 5. O-O (5. Nxd4 e5 Would already be comfortable for Black, so I am delaying capturing on d4, and wanting my opponent to commit to something.)
5... h6!? Black responds with another semi-waiting move, waiting for Nxd4, to be able to play e5, where h6 will still be a waiting move, preventing moves like Bg5. (5... e6 6. Nxd4 e5 Would also be ok for black, but he would lose a tempo on e6 followed by e5.) (5... Nc6 6. Nxd4 Here, I can take on d4 under better circumstances, given that I can take on c6 with a tempo. 6... e5 7. Nxc6 bxc6 8. c4 And I apply pressure on d5.)
6. b3!? I respond with another interesting waiting move, and this move seemed to have surprised Linxi, as he went into a fairly long think after this move. (6. Nxd4 e5) 6... Bg4!? Linxi responded with not the very best move according to the engine, but it had good surprise value, as I got out of book here as well, and the “refutation” to this move is far from obvious. (6... e6 Is the most common move here. 7. Bb2 Bc5 8. Nxd4) (6... Nc6 Is also fine for black. 7. Nxd4 e5 8. Nxc6 bxc6 9. c4 (9. Bb2))
7. Ne5! I thought for about 12 minutes and correctly came to conclusion that this is the only way to fight for an advantage. (7. Nxd4 e5 8. Nf3 Nc6 9. Bb2 Bd6 Is very comfortable for black.) (7. Bb2 Bxf3 8. exf3 (8. Bxf3 e5) 8... Nc6 9. Bxd4 e6 (9... Nxd4 10. Qxd4 e6 Is also very comfortable for Black.))
7... Nc6 (7... Bh5 This is the move I spent a lot of time calculating, and then, I came to the conclusion that white has very strong initiative after sacrificing a pawn. 8. Qxd4! (8. h3 Nc6 9. Nxc6 (9. f4 e6 10. g4 Bg6) 9... bxc6) (8. f3 Nc6) (8. Bb2 Nc6 9. Nxc6 bxc6) (8. Ba3 Nc6) (8. c4 dxc3 9. Nxc3 e6) 8... Bxe2 (8... Nc6 9. Qa4) 9. Re1 I correctly evaluated that white has very strong initiative here. 9... Ba6 10. c4 (10. Nc3) 10... Nc6 11. Nxc6 bxc6 12. cxd5 Nxd5 13. Nc3) (7... Bf5 8. Qxd4 { Would also be very strong for white. } 8... Bxc2 9. Nc3 e6 10. e4 dxe4 (10... Nc6 11. Qa4) 11. Qxd8+)
8. Nxg4 Nxg4 9. e4!? Leads to an interesting game. (9. e3 was my original intention and safety option, but I realized that Black is probably quite comfortable here. 9... Nf6 10. exd4 e6 11. c4 (11. Be3 Be7 12. c4 O-O) 11... dxc4)
9… Nf6 10. exd5 Nxd5 11. c4 Nf6 (11... Nc7 12. b4) 12. Bb2 Technically a slight inaccuracy that spoils the advantage for White. However, the path to an advantage was far from obvious. (12. b4! This move was very strong and unfortunately, it didn’t even cross my mind. However, even if I saw this move, it wouldn’t be that obvious to find the follow-up. 12... Nxb4 (12... e5 13. b5) 13. Qb3! (13. Qa4+?! Nc6 14. Bxc6+ bxc6 15. Qxc6+ Nd7 Would be very good for black.) (13. Bxb7?! Rb8 14. Qa4+? (14. Bg2) 14... Qd7 Is also great for Black.) (13. Nd2!? Would also lead to a very strong compensation for White.) 13... Qb6 14. c5! Qxc5 15. Ba3 (15. Bf4) 15... e6 16. Qa4+ Nd7 17. Nd2 White is down two pawns but has tremendous compensation due to more active pieces, a big lead in development, and a bishop pair.) (12. Ba3 Would be rather toothless for white after 12... e6 13. b4 a6)
12... Qd7 Black’s idea here to be able to capture black on c6 with the queen and to avoid an inferior pawn structure. (12... Qc7 13. Bxc6+ Would transpose into the game. (13. Na3 e5 14. Nb5 Qd7)) (12... e5 Wouldn’t hold the pawn for black since 13. Re1 Be7 14. Bxc6+ bxc6 15. Rxe5 White would get the pawn back anyway. However, Black is still objectively fine here after 15... c5 16. Qe1 Rc8)
13. Bxc6 Qxc6 14. Na3!? Objectively, this wasn’t the best move, but given that I needed to win the game for a prize, and that I didn’t see a clear refutation for Black, I decided to risk a bit more than I would normally risk, even though I felt like this move might not be the best. My point is that I want to be able to go Nb5 and take on d4, and that way, I’d have a better harmony after I capture on d4. Better would be simply to take on d4 immediately, which has already been seen in practice, and black would be totally fine there. (14. Qxd4 e6 15. Ba3 Ne4 16. f3 Nd6 17. Rd1 Nf5 { 0-1 (56) Boehme,S (2229)-Fedoseev,V (2701) Munich 2024 Black was comfortably equal, and went on to win.)
14... e6 A natural move, but black missed a nice opportunity to seize an advantage. To be fair, both me and Linxi have missed this move, so it was definitely not easy to find. (14... Ne4!! A shocking move. It seems like black needs to either try to hold the pawn or complete his development, but this move Ne4 does neither. However, it is a very concrete move, trying to organize a sudden attack on the light squares, now that the white bishop is gone. White will have to work very hard now to equalize. 15. Qf3 (15. Qxd4? e6! Another important move! How, white is in huge trouble, since now, after Ng5, there is no more Qd5, and also, Bc5 can be a threat in some positions. (15... Ng5? is premature due to 16. Qd5! $16) 16. f3 Bc5) (15. Qg4? Nd2 (15. f3 Nc3!) (15. Qe2! Might be the most likely move to equalize.) 15... Ng5! 16. Qxc6+ bxc6 17. f4 (17. Bxd4?? Nf3+) 17... Ne4 18. c5! Difficult move to find (18. Bxd4? e5 19. Bb2 O-O-O) 18... e6 19. Bxd4 O-O-O Black keeps a small advantage here.) (14... e5 15. Re1 Bd6 16. Qxd4 (16. c5) 16... O-O 17. Qd3 Rad8) (14... Nh7 15. Qg4) (14... O-O-O 15. Nb5) (14... a6 15. Nc2) (14... Rd8 15. Nb5)
15. Nb5 a6 (15... Rd8!? Would be a bit more principled. 16. Nxa7 Qd7 17. Nb5 Bc5)
16. Nxd4 Here, I was happy, since I felt like I got somewhat what I wanted (active pieces and good harmony).
16... Qc7 17. Qe2 Be7 18. Rfe1 O-O 19. Nf5!? The move that poses the most problems. 19…Bd8 (19... Bb4? 20. Nxg7 (20. Nxh6+ Also wins.) 20... Bxe1 21. Bxf6) 20. Be5 Qc6
And here, we reached a critical moment. Originally, I was simply planning Nd4-f3, and trying to play for a slow squeeze, with a queenside pawn majority. However, then I noticed that Nxg7 might be interesting. All of my pieces quickly get into the game, and I realized that my opponent doesn’t have an easy way to untangle here. In the past I feel like I’d just play the safer option, but as I mentioned earlier, I was in a more combative mood, willing to take some risks, and even though I couldn’t 100% calculate all the lines after Nxg7, I decided to go for it, since I didn’t see easy ways for my opponent to defend either.
21. Nxg7!? (21. Nd4) 21… Kxg7 22. Rad1 Be7 Otherwise, Rxd8 followed by Qg4 are coming. (22... Kh7 23. Rd6) 23. Rd4 Kh7 Again, only move. (23... Rg8 24. Rf4 (23... Kg8 24. Rh4!)
24. Qd3+ Kg8 25. Rh4 Nd7? Here, Linxi made a mistake under pressure. He saw the right move and was about to play it but luckily for me, he saw a potential problem with it. (25... h5 26. Qe2! Was the best move, which wasn’t really on my radar, so I doubt I’d play it. (26. Qe3 I calculated this, but it only leads to a draw. 26... Ng4 27. Rxg4+ (27. Rxh5 f6 28. Qd3) 27... hxg4 28. Qh6 f6 29. Qg6+) (26. Qd4? This was the move he was afraid of. Indeed, for Black, if you don’t see the two accurate moves, Black is actually losing. However, if Black finds these two moves, they are winning. 26... Nh7! (26... Qf3 Was the move Linxi thought about but then realized it fails due to 27. Rf4) (26... Rfd8 27. Qf4 Ng4 (27... Nd7 28. Qg4+! Kf8 29. Qg7+ (29. Bg7+ Ke8) 29... Ke8 30. Qg8+) 28. Qxg4+!) (26... Ne4 27. Rhxe4) (26... Qc5 27. Qxc5 Bxc5 28. Bxf6) (26... Qd7 27. Qf4 Nh7 28. Qh6 f6 29. Qg6+ Kh8 30. Rxh5) (26... Ng4 27. Rxg4+ (27. Qxg4+ hxg4 28. Rh8#)) (26... Rad8 27. Qf4 Nh7 28. Qh6 f6 29. Qg6+ Kh8 30. Rxh5) 27. Rxh5 (27. Bh8 f6) 27... Qf3! The point! Now, this move is the saving grace for Black. Black attacks the rook and brings the queen to help the king’s defense, and black is winning. (27... f5? Wouldn’t work as well for black after. 28. Rh6 Rf7 (28... Ng5 29. Rg6+ Kf7 30. Rg7+ Ke8 31. Rxe7+ Kxe7 32. Qh4) 29. Rg6+ Kf8 30. Bg7+)) (26. Qd2 I also considered this. 26... Ng4 27. Rxh5 (27. Qc2 Bxh4) (27. Rxg4+ hxg4 28. Qh6 f6 29. Qg6+) 27... f6 28. Bc3 (28. Qc2 Rf7) 28... Bc5 29. Qf4 Nxf2 30. Rh8+ Kxh8 31. Qh6+ Kg8 32. Qg6+) (26. g4 Would lead to an interesting long-term pressure.) (26. Bb2 Rfd8) (26. Bxf6? Bxf6 27. Rxh5 Rfd8 Would of course, be good for Black.) 26... Rfd8 27. h3! (27. Rf4 Ng4) 27... Qe8 28. Bb2 (28. Rf4 Nh7 29. Qxh5 f5) (28. Rxh5 Nxh5 29. Qxh5 (29. Qg4+ Kf8 30. Qxh5 f6 31. Qh8+ Kf7 32. Qh7+) 29... f6) (28. Qf3 Nh7 29. Rxh5 f5) 28... Qf8! (28... a5 29. Qe5) 29. Rxh5 Qg7 30. h4 Kf8 31. Qe3 Even after black finds several accurate moves, white still maintains the pressure.) (25... Rfd8? Also doesn’t work due to 26. Qe3)
26. Rxh6 (26. Rg4+ Bg5)
26... f5 27. Qe3 This was good, but here, there were already several ways to win. (27. Rg6+ Kf7 28. Rg7+ Ke8 29. Bd6 Rf7 30. Rg8+ Rf8 31. Rxe6 Rxg8 32. Qxf5) (27. Rh8+ Kf7 28. Rh7+ Ke8 29. Bd6 Rf7 30. Rh8+! (30. Rxf7 Kxf7 31. Bxe7 Kxe7 32. Qxf5 Rf8) 30... Rf8 31. Rxe6 Rxh8 32. Qe2!)
27... Nc5? Loses quickly but Black was already lost. (27... f4 28. Rg6+ (28. Qe2 f3 29. Qc2 Rf5 30. g4) 28... Kf7) (27... Nxe5 28. Qxe5) (27... Bf6 28. Bxf6 Nxf6 (28... Rxf6 29. Qg5+ Kf7 30. Rh7+ Ke8 31. Rxd7) 29. Qg5+) (27... Qe4 28. Rg6+ Kf7 29. Rg7+ Ke8 30. Rxe7+ Kxe7 31. Qg5+)
28. Qe2! Nice little finishing touch, which I found after about 3 minutes of thinking. My idea was to set up a mating net with Rh8+ followed by Qh5. Black couldn’t find an adequate defense, so he resigned. I was very happy with this game, since, besides the fact that it was quite an accurate game on my part, I was glad that I was able to keep up with a young player who I know is good in calculation, in his type of game, while really posing good problems and being willing to take risks. I was glad to be able to get out of my comfort zone this game and succeed. 1-0
GM Aleksandr Lenderman, Marshall Spectator Contributor
Jon Jacobs Brings Chess History to Life as ‘Pawn Made Flesh’ Content Creator
I am a long-time club member who made my mark on the chess world in my teen and college years circa 1970… and again in the mid-2000s when I launched an anti-cheating movement culminating in a conference at the Marshall that attracted worldwide media coverage. I entered several Marshall championships, both early in my career and post-2000, but rarely managed a plus score -- although I was awarded one of three tournament brilliancy prizes for this 2017 effort in a New York International held at the club.
In the past few years, I’ve concentrated on writing about chess. Last December, I launched a social media post series called A Pawn Made Flesh, covering U.S. chess incidents and personalities mostly from 1960 to the present. The initial goal was to attract an audience for an upcoming biography book about Bill Goichberg, the founding father of the Continental Chess Association, the National Scholastic Chess Championships, and the World Open.
The series has since taken on a life of its own, the typical post pulling in thousands of views and many reactions and comments. Content bridges the gap between “chess journalism” and “chess history” -- demonstrating that original reporting on the past can deepen our understanding of today’s chess landscape. Among other chess history news scoops, A Pawn Made Flesh has unearthed never-before-reported details about Bobby Fischer and Pal Benko. In view of my long association with the Marshall, it’s no surprise that the club has figured in about 15% of the posts (such as this and this).
In August, my fellow chess authors named me as runner-up (“honorable mention”) for the highest honor in U.S. chess journalism: Chess Journalist of the Year. And my 18-page cover story interview with Bill Goichberg in December’s American Chess Magazine won recognition for Best Interview – Print in the same annual competition sponsored by Chess Journalists of America. I am now one of a select few authors to have contributed cover stories to both leading U.S. chess print magazines in the space of half a year. My story about the life and chess of Alan Trefler -- the Cinderella hero of a World Open exactly 50 years ago, when he finished tied 1st-2nd with a pre-tournament rating of 2045, and who went on to found a major business software company -- graced the cover of June’s Chess Life.
FM Jon Jacobs, Marshall Chess Club Member
En Passant
The FIDE World Junior Rapid Chess Championships concluded in Lima with remarkable victories that highlighted the strength of the new generation of players. IM Mukhammadzokhid Suyarov (Uzbekistan) and WGM Xeniya Balabayeva (Kazakhstan) are the newly crowned World Junior Rapid Champions, winning the open and girls’ sections, respectively.
The Queen’s Gambit Challenge - Intermediate Stage has officially begun, with its opening ceremony bringing together over 580 women from more than 80 countries. Organised by the FIDE Commission for Women’s Chess, the initiative provides free online training for players from developing federations, helping them improve their practical skills and prepare for Olympiad-level competition.
Argentina’s IM Faustino Oro has scored his first grandmaster norm after a stunning 6/7 start to the Legends & Prodigies 2025 tournament in Madrid, Spain. Only World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju and GM Illya Nyzhnyk have ever scored a GM norm at a younger age and, after smashing through the 2500 barrier, the 11-year-old now needs only two more norms to earn the grandmaster title. The “Messi of Chess” turns 12 on October 14 and still has five months to beat GM Abhimanyu Mishra’s record as the youngest grandmaster in chess history.
Chess Toons
Problems, Problems, curated by Alexander George
A. M. Dahl 1888
White to move and mate in 3
Another oldie but goodie. For those who would like to learn more about the charming world of chess problems, please check out the website of the British Chess Problem Society: https://www.theproblemist.org/bcps.pl.
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Solution to last issue’s problem (S. Lehner, 1864):
White to mate in 3
1.Rc2 b5/Ka8 2.Kc7, followed by 3.Ra2 mate; if 1...Kb8 2.Kxb6, followed by 3.Rc8 mate.
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Alexander George
Editor’s Note
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