The Marshall Spectator
December 11, 2024 Edition
In This Issue: From The Skittles Room Endgame Corner, by IM Silas Esben Lund Game Analyzed by Chess Author, Original Life Master Eric Fleischman 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.
Dear Marshall Member,
We are excited to announce season three of the Marshall Team Tournament!
When: There will be one round per month on the second Tuesday of each month beginning January 14th. Pizza and light refreshments will be served around 7pm and the round will start by 7:30.
Format: The time control will be 60 minutes with a 30 second increment. We expect the tournament will be approximately 6 rounds, but the exact format and number of rounds will be determined based on the number of registered teams.
Teams: Each team will consist of 3 players with an average rating of 1700 or less, based on USCF ratings as of December 1st. Each team may also have an alternate(s), in which case the average is determined based on the three highest-rated players. All players must be members of the club.
Registration Process:
1. Each team must designate a team captain and provide a team name and each team member’s name, USCF ID and rating as of Dec. 1 to td@marshallchessclub.org as soon as possible.
2. The entry fee is $120 per team, regardless of the number of alternates on a team.
3. The team captain must register on behalf of the team and pay the entry fee via PayPal based on instructions from the TD.
4. The registration period will end on January 10th.
Prize: The winning team will be crowned Marshall Team Champion! In addition, each member of the winning team will receive a free entry into a Marshall tournament for which they are otherwise eligible, excluding certain special tournaments (e.g., the Club Championships).
All the best,
Carlos Chavez
The Marshall Chess Club’s Holiday Party was a huge success, with many members attending and enjoying the pizza, wine, snacks, and holiday music. We also had a casual blitz event, which was won by Justin Sarkar, Mike Ching, and Oliver Chernin who scored 5 out of 7 each to tie for first place. Also in attendance was one of the club’s newest members, Natalie Sbaraglie (pictured below with her younger sibling), who just moved to New York City with her family from Italy. The event was a huge success and many new friends were made.
The Marshall Chess Club is excited to announce our next offsite scholastic tournament in partnership with the Speyer Legacy School. This event will be held on January 12, 2025. You can register your child in advance here.
Here are some details of the event:
Format: 4 player Quad sections - Time Control: G/45, d5 Entry Fee: $50 Members; $65 Nonmembers - Prize: $20 Amazon gift card to Quad winners Location: The Speyer Legacy School, 925 9th Ave, New York, NY 10019. (Please don’t come to the club!)
Round Times: CHECK-IN: 8:45 - 9:15 AM Rd1 10:00AM Rd2 12:00PM Rd3 2PM- Please note these round times are approximate. Rounds will begin approximately 15 minutes after the conclusion of the previous round. All guests must be out of the building by 4:30 PM.
Other details: This event is only open to scholastic players (K-12) and invited adult players. This is not a drop off event, parents and guardians are responsible for their child for the whole duration of the tournament. Team rooms are available upon request!
In an exciting pop culture note, it would appear that the new Indiana Jones video game has a reference to the Marshall Chess Club in it. While the plot has the main character wandering the halls of the “Marshall College” for notes, clues, and maps of antiquity related to the adventure, we couldn’t help but notice a similarity to how its halls are depicted.
Looking ahead to the winter, we are happy to announce a continuation of our Grandmaster Chess Classes with a Winter Chess Class with Grandmaster Djurabek Khamrakulov. For further details or to register for the classes please visit our website. We are also thrilled to launch a new series of Chess Workshops for Kids at our historic club. Registration dates for all camps this year are up. Our camps will be open to all scholastic members and we will cap each camp date at 40 kids. The entry fee is $130 per camp session, and will be led by GM Djurabek Khamrakulov. We look forward to inviting special guests for simuls and lectures.
The club will provide lunch (chipotle/ pizza) and snacks throughout the day, as well as park play if the weather permits. We will also have a camp “piggy bank” in which a portion of registration fees will go into for each camp day. Campers who participate in at least 4 camp days this year will be eligible for a free super tournament next year with prizes (up to $2000 in value!) in the form of private lessons, trophies, merchandise, and much more.
Over the last two weeks we have had a plethora of events for our members to play in.
The Wesley Hellner Action on December 5 had 21 players registered and was won by Byran Weisz, who scored 3.5 out of 4 to win the $75 first-place prize. Andrew Colwell, Sarathi Ray, and Mike Ching scored 3 points to win $42 each. Robert Cheng, Travis Henry-Reid, and Serge Adelson scored 2 points to win $12.67 each.
The Weekly Under 1600 that ended on December 4 had 22 players registered and was won by Marco Ramdas who scored a perfect 6 out of 6 to win the $184 first place prize. Alfred Garcia scored 4.5 to win $110, while the following 4 players won $37 for their performance: Luis Lara, Thomas DeDona, David Smith, and Noah Zucker.
The Weekly Under 2200 that ended on December 4 had 29 players registered and was won by Anthony Levin, who scored an impressive 5 out of 6 to win the $290 first-place prize. Alexander Golosovker scored 4.5 out of 6 to win the clear second-place prize of $194. John Brendel, Chase Knowles, and Thomas Knoff scored 4 points to win $32.33 each, while Kara Chan won a $97 class prize for the same score. Raphel Garcia, Aaron Asbury and Joseph Segich scored 3 out of 6 to win $16.33 each.
The Rated Beginner Open on December 1 had 29 players registered and was won by Julian Cho, Kaito Sautner and Abeer Sethi who scored a perfect 3 out of 3 to win $121 each.
The Sunday Quads on December 1 had had more players than we could count, and concluded with the following players winning $50 for getting clear first in their quad: Miles Hinson, Austin Zhao, Dylan Kang, Leqi Han, Jaime Jariton, Sophie Zhu, Daisy Yuen, Akeil Williams, Aiden Chan, Ekam Anand, Dena Wang, Patrick Luo, Vladimir Chesbro, Nate Wyeth, Shokhrukh Abdijalilov. The following players shared in their quads prize fund, winning $25 each: Milo Su, Wan Qin Li, Alvin Lou, Rio Bossola, Kara Chan, Alfred Garcia, Fabrizzio Quinonez, and Dervin Kouyate. Finally, Oliver Liu, Callum Vonwiller and Philip Xia won $16.67 for their 2 out of 3 score, while Noah Spiegel and William Pang won $12.50 for their performance in the small swiss.
The Under 2000 Morning Action on November 30 had 43 players registered and was won by Viaan Suthar and Brandon De La Rosa who scored a perfect 3 out of 3 to win $210 each. The following 6 players shared in the remaining prize fund, winning $17.50 each for their 2.5 out of 3 score: Theodore Stoffa Kowalski, Davin Chen, Abigail Yang, Gabriel Negussie, Dario Golden, and Arnav Harish Abichandani.
The Saturday Game 50 Open on November 30 had 57 players registered and was won by Lucas Lu and IM Jay Bonin, who scored a perfect 4 out of 4 to win $247.50. Patrick Tomporowski scored 3.5 to win $110, while Aaron Gonner and Bharat Bhatia won $55 each for their 3 out of 4 score.
The At Least Twenty One (ALTO) on November 30 had 5 players registered and was won by Christopher Estiverne who scored 2.5 out of 3 to win $50, while Tyshaune Mack won $13 for their 2 out of 3 performance.
The Friday Blitz on November 29 had 45 players registered and was won by GM Aleksandr Lenderman, who scored a perfect 9 out of 9 to win the $220 first place prize. Aston Roberts, Nkosi Nkululeko, and Jack Levine scored 6.5, winning $73.33 each, while Wyatt Wong scored 6 out of 9 to win a $55 prize. Anson Leong and Joseph Otero won a class prize of $27.50 each for their 5 out of 9 performance.
The Day After Thanksgiving Action on November 29 had 61 players registered and was won by GM Aleksandr Lenderman and FM Justin Chen who scored a near perfect 5.5 out of 6 to win $393.50 each. IM Jay Bonin, Joseph Otero, and Arko Chakrabartiroy won $197 for their performance, while FM Leif Pressman scored 5 points to win $99.
The Marshall Masters on November 26 had 14 players registered and was won by IM Jay Bonin and CM Aditeya Das, who scored 3.5 out of 4 to win $169 each. FM Corey Acor scored 3 points to win $63, while Evan Kauffmann scored 2.5 out of 4 to win a $50 prize.
The Adult Rapid on November 26 had 11 players registered and was won by Arvie Lozano, who scored a perfect 4 out of 4 to win the $25 first place prize. Daniel Kozintsev scored 2.5 to win a class prize of $13, while Chris Weldon and Druss Nitis won $6.50 for the same score.
We look forward to seeing you at the club soon!
Endgame Corner by IM Silas Esben Lund
In this column, we shall continue with the theme of queen versus 2 rooks. Try to solve the 2 diagram positions first, the solutions will be given later. As the theme of the article is a big clue, I shall pose the questions differently. The answers will give a good explanation as to how these tricky positions should be correctly evaluated.
You can play through all of the games in this article with annotations here.
Von Bardeleben, Curt vs Wolf, Heinrich
Position 1: Why is 22. Rxf6 a strong move here?
Von Bardeleben, Curt vs Wolf, Heinrich
22. Rxf6 Qxf6 (22... Rxf6 23. Qxg5+ Kf7 24. Qg6+ wins the rook back with a decisive attack.)
23. Rxf6 Kxf6 (Or 23... Rxf6 24. Qxd6) 24. Qxd6 Black has an unsafe king and multiple weaknesses that can be attacked: b7, e6 and g5. Black is not able to coordinate his two rooks for an attack, and will soon find himself on the backfoot, trying to defend.
24…Rh7 (Taking the h5-pawn fails too: 24... Rxh5 25. e5+ Kf5 26. g4+ Pretty but not the only win. Kxg4 27. Qd4+ Kg3 (27... Kf5 28. Qe4#) 28. Qe3+ Kg4 29. Kg2 Black can parry the mating threat with Rf8 but that loses the rook to (29... Z0 30. Qf3+ Kh4 31. Qh3#) 30. Qg3+ Kf5 31. Qf3+ Kxe5 32. Qxf8)
25. e5+ Kg7 26. Qxe6 Rf8 27. Qg6+ Kh8 28. h6 Black is utterly passive and cannot withstand more added pressure. 28…g4 29. Kh2 g3+ 30. Kh3 (30. Kxg3 Rg8) 30... Rc7 31. e6 Rg8 32. Qf6+ Kh7 33. e7 Rcc8 34. d4 b5 (Played to thwart White's idea of 34... Z0 35. c4 and 36. d5 to create an extra passed pawn.) 35. Kh4 a5 36. Kh5 b4 37. Qf7+ Kh8 38. h7 Black resigned due to Rg7 (or 38... Rge8 39. Kh6 with mate to follow.) 39. e8=Q+ 1-0
Bakonyi, Elek vs. Ruester, Otto
Position 2: Why is 25. Rh1 a strong move here?
Bakonyi, Elek vs. Ruester, Otto
25. Rh1 Qg4+ (25... Qxh1 26. Rxh1 Rxh1 27. Bxg3 In this open position, the queen and bishop will pose serious threats against the black king. This is the main point of White's 'sacrifice' of two rooks for the queen. Furthermore, there are multiple weaknesses in Black's position to point to, giving White many targets to aim at.)
26. f3 exf3+ 27. gxf3 Rxh1 28. fxg4 g2 (28... Rxa1 29. Bxg3) 29. Kf2 Nc4 30. Kxg2 Rxa1 31. Qb4 b5 Not the best way to put up resistance. (31... O-O-O 32. Bf4 Nb6 is harder for White to deal with. The most convincing continuation here is 33. e4 A dynamic move with the purpose of stopping Nb6-d5, and thus get to the f6-pawn to make a passer of the g-pawn. In the process, White breaks up his 'beautiful' anchored bishop position with d4-e3-Bf4. (Instead, 33. Qa5 Nd5 34. Qxa7 Nxf4+ 35. exf4 Rd5 gives a typical position where the 2 rooks are active and coordinate beautifully. The d5-square is a strong outpost on the fifth rank, and White can hardly make any pawn advances without creating weaknesses for the rooks to attack.) 33... Rd1 34. Qe7 Rd7 35. Qxf6 R1xd4 36. g5 The important e4-pawn is untouchable: Rxe4 37. Qf8+ Rd8 38. Qf5+)
32. Qc5 Kd7 33. Bf4 Black has too many weaknesses (c6, f6, loose pieces and open king).
33…Rxa2 34. d5 Rxb2+ 35. Kg3 Nb6 36. Qxc6+ 1-0
IM Silas Esben Lund, Marshall Spectator Contributor
Game Analyzed by Chess Author, Original Life Master Eric Fleischman
Marshall Senior Championship
Eric Fleischman vs. Ernest Colding
You can play through the game with an engine here.
1. d4 d6 2. e4 e5 This move allows for an exchange of pawns followed by a queen exchange whereby Black will not be able to castle.
3. dxe5 dxe5 4. Qxd8+ Kxd8 5. Bc4 White develops the light-squared bishop with tempo attacking f7.
5…Be6 Better was Ke8 defending f7 and avoiding the doubling of Black’s e pawns.
6. Bxe6 fxe6
7. Be3 White simply restrains Black from playing Bc5 while developing the dark-squared bishop to a good square.
7…Nf6 8. f3 Another good move for White was Nd2, also protecting the e4 pawn.
8…Bd6 9. Nd2 Ke7 10. Nh3!
My plan was to reroute the Nh3 back to the center via f2 and d3, where it stands well attacking e5 and guarding c5.
10…Nc6 11. c3 h6 Black was better off playing Nd7 overprotecting e5 and getting ready to play Bc5.
12. Nf2 Nd7 13. Ke2 Perhaps better was 13.Nd3 preventing 13…Bc5.
13…a5 14. a4 Played to limit Black’s space gaining idea of a4 and/or b5 with play on the queenside.
14…Rhb8 Better was 14…Bc5 to exchange dark-squared bishops, since White has the more active bishop.
15. Nd3 Played to prevent 15…b5? since Black would lose a piece for 2 pawns (e.g. 15…b5? 16.axb5 Rxb5 17.c4 Rb8 18.c5 wins a piece.)
15…b6 16. g3 Stockfish prefers the immediate 16.Nc4, however, I delayed 16.Nc4 in favor of a possible f4 pawn break supported by g3 at some point and as a waiting move to see how Black will proceed.
16…Nd8 Stockfish prefers 16…Bc5 to trade off one or two sets of minor pieces.
17. Nc4 b5 Better was 17…Nc6 keeping the position closed, however, White maintains a 3.0 advantage according to Stockfish. Nevertheless, 17…b5?! isolates Black’s a5 and c7 pawns with a superficial attack on b2.
18. axb5 Rxb5 19. Ra2 Perhaps better was the immediate 19.b4! However, my plan was simply to follow with Rha1 doubling rooks on the “a” file with more pressure on a5.
19…Nb6 Better was c5!? preventing b4 by White 20. Bxb6!
20…cxb6 20…Rxb6 was the only chance for Black to avoid the following continuation whereby the Rb5 becomes trapped. However, 20…Rb6 does go down the exchange for Black.
21. Nxd6 Stockfish once again prefers b4, however, I decided to exchange Nc4 for Bd6 first.
21…Kxd6 22. Rd1!? Threatening possible discovered attacks by the Nd3, however, 22.Ra3!? may have been better preventing a possible Rb3 by Black.
22…a4 22…Rc8! offered much more resistance. Now White is clearly winning.
23. b4! Now the Rb5 is trapped.
23…Rc8 24. Nb2+ Stockfish prefers 24.Rc1, however, I wanted to keep the Rd1 on the open “d” file for future activity.
24…Ke7 25. Rd3 Nc6 26. Rxa4 Much better than 26.Nxa4 since Black could play 26…Ra8 pinning the Na4.
26…Na5 If 27.bxa5 then Rxb2+ gives Black good counterplay.
27. Nd1 Nb3 Threatening 28…Nc1+ winning the exchange, although the Rb5 would still be trapped.
28. Ra7+ Kf6 22…Kf8 offered more resistance. This move allows a mating net by White.
29. Rdd7 h5? This move loses. Black must try 29…Rg8 to defend the g7 pawn. 30. Rxg7
30…Rf8 The only move. Black must defend against mate with Raf7#. 31. g4 White threatens to win with g5#. Black resigns. However, play might proceed with 31…Nd4+ 32.Kf2 Nxf3 33.gxh5 (threatening 34.Rg6#) Nh4 34.Ne3 and there is no stopping 35.Ng4#. Black is in Zugzwang.
In addition to being a member of the Marshall Chess Club, Original Life Master Eric Fleischman is also the author of The Richter-Veresov Attack: Qd3 Variation.
Original Life Master Eric Fleischman, Marshall Chess Club Member
Chess Toons
En Passant
GM Fabiano Caruana won the 2024 U.S. Masters with 8/9, winning all of his games except for a loss in round six against GM Nikolas Theodorou, who finished in clear second. Besides receiving $7,500 plus a trophy, Caruana also gains 17.11 FIDE Circuit points and only trails GM Arjun Erigaisi by one point on the leaderboard, which will determine one spot in the 2026 Candidates Tournament.
A new conference during the 2024 FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championships in New York is set to bridge the world of chess and finance. The event is bound to be a treat for anyone able to afford the $1,000 ticket—or the $5,000 VIP tickets that give you a shot at playing a chess legend!
Gawain Jones delivered a brilliant performance at the 2024 London Chess Classic, winning the tournament with an undefeated 5/7 score. The 36-year-old grandmaster topped a strong field, gaining 15 rating points and securing a stellar 2795 Tournament Performance Rating. Jones, who led from start to finish, clinched victory with a final-round win over women's world champion Ju Wenjun.
China’s Ding Liren struck back against Gukesh Dommaraju on Monday in the 12th game of their $2.5m world championship match in Singapore, one day after the feisty Indian teenager appeared to have taken command of a deadlocked best-of-14-games showdown with a dramatic Game 11 win.
Problems, Problems, curated by Alexander George
L. Prokes, 1941
White to move and win.
Prokes was a Czech chess master and a very prolific composer of endgame studies. Here, we have a lovely maneuver with three different sacrificial variations.
---
Last issue’s puzzle: V. Kosek, 1923
Solution to V. Kosek, 1923: 1.Nf5! Ba8 2.Nd4+ Kc5 3.Ne6+ Kc6 4.Nc7 Bb7 5.Nd5! Bc8 6.Ne7+ Ke7 7.Nxc8 and wins.
---
Alexander George
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
23 West Tenth Street New York, NY 10011
212.477.3716
Thanks for reading The Marshall Spectator! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support the club.
Always an enjoyable read.