The Marshall Spectator
May 14, 2025
In This Issue: From The Skittles Room Recent Games Analyzed, by GM Aleksandr Lenderman Game of Note, by Ken Kubo 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.
The editorial board of The Marshall Spectator would like to congratulate all of the players, parents, and coaches who traveled to Orlando, Florida, this past weekend for the 8th Quadrennial, US Chess Super Nationals. There are simply far too many excellent results to list in our humble newsletter, but you can feast your eyes upon the final standings here.
Related to the world of American scholastic chess, we are very pleased to announce an upcoming Author Talk and book signing with legendary chess coach David MacEnulty. He will discuss the themes and stories from his book Sunrise In The Bronx, and answer questions, followed by a book signing on May 27.
In other club news, this past Sunday, May 11th, a team of 15 Marshall members squared off against a team from an Uruguayan club, Los Trebejos de Walter Estrada, in an online match that consisted of two G/10+5 games per board. IM Luis Henrique Coelho provided commentary on Twitch, alongside the Uruguayan club organizer, Gonzalo Muniz.
The Marshall team was packed with strong players: IM Alex Katz, IM Eshaan Hebbar, FM Zachary Tanenbaum, FM Juan Pereyra, NM Daniel Yang, NM Jessica Hyatt, NM Mark DeDona, CM Miles Hinson, Arnd Luetkemeyer, Connor Wang, Grant Rheingold, Mitchell Stern, Wyatt Wong, Howard Lederer, and Zoë Wong. In a well fought match with many exciting games, our members put up a dominant performance, winning 21-9, with the top board and bottom four boards all sweeping their games. This is yet another triumph in a series of online matches that the club has played with teams around the world, and we hope to expand these exciting opportunities to more of our members this year, so keep an eye out in your inboxes for the chance to represent our club in future matches.
There is still time to register for our summer camps before they sell out. If you’re interested in attending, registration is open for our summer camps here. The camps feature an all-star staff. Along with GM Djurabek Khamrakulov, we will be joined by a strong roster of GM and IM instructors and guests! See below for a confirmed list of instructors and guests. Please note that we are still in talks with other guests, including a five-time classical World Champion!
For the month of July, we will be joined by GM Andrei Maksimenko of Ukraine. He graduated from Lviv University of Physical Culture, Chess Department, in 1993 and received a diploma as a chess coach and physical education teacher. In his 26 years of coaching, Andrei has worked with GMs Vasyl Ivanchuk (including work as a second at the World Championship in Las Vegas) and Andrei Volokitin (first board of the Ukrainian national team). This summer, Andrei will bring the “soviet school of chess” to New York, and we look forward to welcoming him.
Looking back over the last two weeks, we have had a plethora of events for our members to participate in.
The FIDE Premier Open on May 4 had 31 players registered and was won by IM Eshaan Hebbar, Max Mottola, and IM Jay Bonin, who scored 4 out of 5 to win $389 each, while CM Sasha Schaefer scored 3.5 out of 5 to win $234.
The FIDE Premier Under 2000 that concluded on May 4 had 61 players registered and was won by Connor Liao, who scored 4.5 out of 5 to win the $1000 first-place prize. Howard Lederer, Richardson Qiao and Liam L Kojuharov scored 4 out of 5 to win $133.33 each, while Eli Stern and Marissa Lu scored 3.5 out of 5 to win a $150 each prize each. Taekyum Kim also won a class prize of $300 for scoring 3 points, while Teejan Jallow and Gabriel Lin won $125 for their 2 out of 5 score.
The Rated Beginner Open on May 4 had 36 players registered and was won by Nima Jones, Austen Keene, and Aaron Reyes, who scored a perfect 3 out of 3 to win $150 each.
The Under 2000 Morning Action on May 3 had 49 players registered and was won by Julio Alberto Aguilar Huang, Dihren Hemdev, Charlotte Chang, and Amiel Urilov, who scored 3 out of 3 to win $150 each.
The Thursday Action on May 1 had 34 players registered and was won by IM Michael Song, IM Jay Bonin, and Oliver Chernin, who scored 3.5 out of 4 to win $92.33 each. Joshua Block and Yuxing Jack Yang scored 3 out of 4 to win $32 each, while Misha Raitzin, Jeremy Graham, and Wan Qin Li scored 2.5 out of 4 to win $21.33.
The Sunday Quads on April 27 had 17 full quads and a small swiss of 6 players. There were 7 players who won their group in clear first, winning $50 for their effort: Alisher Podavonov, Riley Duda-Thomson, Axel Peters, Oliver Chung, Mark Xu, Lucas Ma, and Jameson Wong. The following players shared in the prize, winning $25 each: Kevin Zhang, Tommy Koslek, Winsley Wu, Anson Leong, Rio Bossola, Jeremiah Beckles, Darren Wu, Will Nieder, John Moina, Eli Stern, Warren Liang, Leah Yang, Artem Aleksenko, Ari Hoffman, Marissa Lu, Aadit Mordani, Dervin Kouyate, Oliver Liu, Ken Jennings, and Chase Yuen.
The Rated Beginner Open on April 27 had 50 players registered and was won by the following 5 players who scored 3 out of 3 to win $117.60 each: Live Yemini, Angelo Gascon, Jack Troast, John Modzeleski, and Philip Anderson.
The Under 2000 Morning Action on April 26 had 47 players registered and was won by Dante Mayeno, Aidan Amin, and Sascha Mayers who scored 3 out of 3 to win $137.33 each. Avya Chopra also had a perfect 3 out of 3 score to tie for first, but was awarded the class prize of $177.
The Saturday Night Blitz on April 26 had 22 players registered and was won by Santhosh Ayyappan, who scored a perfect 9 out of 9 to win the $110 first place prize. FM Juan Pereyra scored 7 out of 9 points to win $55, while Jayden Feng, Shami Abdullayev, and Ari Drucker scored 6 out of 9 to win $28 each. The following players won $5.60 for their performance: Wan Qin Li, Takki Tanaka, Nathan Peyton, Robert Thorstad, and Victor Kenny-Maheux.
The FIDE Blitz on April 25 had 49 players registered and was won by IM Maximillian Lu who scored 7.5 out of 9 to win $235. GM Maxim Dlugy, IM Brewington Hardaway Viyaan Doddapaneni, FM Jonathan Subervi, and Morris Stranger won $59 each for their performance, whie Jayden Feng and Nilo Man Nissinen won $29.50 each for their 5 out of 9 performance.
The Women & Girls’ Open on April 25 had 22 players registered and was won by Jessica Hyatt and Emmi Gaskins who both scored a perfect 3 out of 3 to win $99 each.
The Thursday Action on April 24 had 36 players registered and was won by Jack Levine, who scored 4 out of 4 to win the $128 first place prize. FM Leif Pressman scored 3.5 out of 4 to win $85, while Bryan Weisz, Rishan Malhotra, Benito Kestelman, and Kenny Bollin won $48 each for their 3 out of 4 score.
We look forward to seeing you at the club soon!
Recent Games Analyzed, by GM Aleksandr Lenderman
In the May edition of the Marshall Premier, 3 players tied for first with 4/5. They were IMs Jay Bonin and Eshaan Hebbar, and NM Max Mottola.
You can play through the games with annotations here.
May FIDE Premier Round 5: Pressman, Leif - Bonin, Jay
1. e4 Nf6!? A small surprise by Jay. He hasn't trotted the Alekhine's defense in a while as far as I'm aware, although I do remember him playing it against me and winning about 20 years ago, when I was around 2200 USCF. Of course, someone like Jay, who has played as much as he has in his life, is capable of playing just about anything in any given game, and this unpredictability is definitely one of his superpowers, keeping his opponents off-balance.
2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. c4 Nb6 5. exd6 cxd6 6. Nc3 g6 7. Be3 Bg7 8. Rc1 O-O 9. b3 Nc6 (9... e5 Is arguably the most accurate move.) 10. Nf3 (10. d5! Is the engine's suggestion, and also scores very highly for White in the database. 10... Ne5 11. Be2! Stops Ng4.)
10... Bg4 (10... d5!? 11. c5 Bg4!! 12. cxb6 e5!! Is a very cute engine line, leading to an unclear game.)
11. d5 Ne5 12. Be2 Nxf3+ 13. Bxf3 Bxf3 14. Qxf3 Nd7! 15. Qd1 Qa5 16. Bd4?! (16. Bd2 b5)
16... Bh6?! (16... Bxd4 17. Qxd4 a6 Would likely equalize.)
17. Rc2 e5 18. dxe6 fxe6 19. Qe2 Rae8 20. O-O a6 21. Rd1 d5 22. cxd5 exd5 23. Qd3?! (23. Qf1! Would be a safe square for the queen, and now, Black is worse due to static weaknesses like the d5 pawn and a chronically weak king. A sample line can be 23... Rd8 24. Qe1 Rf7 25. Re2 Nf8 26. g3 Qb4 27. Re8 Rxe8 28. Qxe8 Qd6 29. Qe5)
23... Ne5 24. Bxe5 Rxe5 25. Nxd5?? This seems tempting but it turned out to be a miscalculation. (25. g3 Rd8 26. Kg2 Still maintains some advantage)
25... Rd8 26. Rc5! Possibly, Leif Pressman was counting on this move, and perhaps, Jay, even overlooked this move. However, the tactics ended up working out for Jay in his favor.
26... Re1+! 27. Rxe1 Qxe1+ 28. Qf1 Qe5! 29. Qc4 Qa1+! 30. Qf1 Qd4! 31. Ne7+ Kf8! 32. Rc7 Re8?? Jay was playing the winning sequence perfectly until this critical moment. (32... Qd1! Would lead to a winning position. 33. g3 (33. Rxb7 Qc2) 33... Qf3 34. Rc8 Kxe7 35. Qe1+ Kd7) (32... Qe5!? 33. Rxb7 Qh5! Was also winning. For example 34. f3 Qc5+ 35. Kh1 Qc2)
33. Rxb7 Rxe7 34. Rxe7 Kxe7 35. Qxa6
Now, white gets a lot of pawns, and objectively, white should be able to hold the endgame. However, white was low on time, and Jay used his endgame experience to make the most of this endgame. He showed impressive technique this game.
35... Qa1+ 36. Qf1 Qxa2 37. Qe1+ Kf7 38. Qd1 Qd2 39. Qf3+ Kg8 40. g3 Bf8 41. h4 Bc5 42. Kg2 Qd4 43. Qa8+ Kf7 44. Qb7+ Ke6 45. Qc8+ Ke5 46. Qe8+ Kf5 47. Qf7+ Ke4 48. Qf3+?! A step in the wrong direction. (48. h5) (48. f3+ Ke3 49. Qxh7 Qd2+ 50. Kh3 Would lead to a draw.)
48... Ke5 49. Kg1 Qe4 50. Qc3+ Kd5 Now, the Black queen is centralized, and White will be running out of useful moves.
51. Qd2+ Kc6 52. Qb2?? (52. Qd1 Would likely still hold 52... Bb6 53. Qa1 Qf5 54. Qe1 Kd5 55. Qd2+ Ke6 56. Qe2+ Kf6 57. Qd2 Qe5 58. Kg2)
53…Qf3 53. Kf1 Kd5 54. Qd2+ Ke4 55. Qa2 Kd3? Seems logical but apparently, inaccurate. (55... Qd3+ 56. Kg2 Qf3+ 57. Kf1 Would just repeat.) (55... Ke5 Would apparently lead to a tricky zugzwang.)
56. Qa6+ Kd2 57. Qa5+ Kd1 58. Qa1+ Kc2 59. Qa2+ Kc3 60. Qa5+ Bb4 61. Qc7+ A mistake in a difficult position with low time. (61. Qa2) (61. Qa4) (61. Qa7)
61... Kxb3 Logical but mistake according to the engine. (61... Kd2!! 62. Kg1 Bc3! Would be winning.
62. Qxh7?? Checkmate is now unavoidable. Kg1 was best. (62. Kg1 This was still, holding, apparently. (62. Qa7)
62... Bc5 Now, Black wins by force.
63. Qg8+ Ka3 64. Ke1 Bxf2+ 65. Kd2 Qe3+ 66. Kc2 Qe4+ 67. Kd2 Be1+ 68. Kd1 Bb4 69. Qd8 Kb2
The queen, bishop and king created a beautiful mating net to White's king.
70. Qf6+ Kb1 71. Qf1 Qc2# A beautiful end to a very nice endgame by Jay, winning a very clutch game to get to the winner's circle with 4/5. It was very good to see Jay going back to his winning ways after going through a bit of a slump a few weeks ago, and always encouraging to see him playing good chess! 0-1
Round 4: Mottola, Max - Goodrich, Elliot
Max Mottola had a great tournament, tying for first with two IMS, Jay Bonin and Eshaan Hebbar. I thought his best game was against another young rising star, Elliott Goodrich, who has been on a good streak in the last few months, tying for first at Nationals in December, States in March, and breaking master for the first time shortly after. This game, though, Max ended up overpowering Elliiott with a very strong opening prep followed by a powerful attack.
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nxc6 bxc6 6. Nd2!? A somewhat of a rare sideline (the 5th most popular move according to the main database), but it turned out to be quite venomous. (6. e5 This is the main line, of course.)
6... Bc5!? The principled move. (6... d5 Is of course, the other logical choice for black, which would be most likely met by 7. exd5 cxd5 8. Bb5+ Bd7 9. Bxd7+ Qxd7 10. O-O Be7 11. b3 O-O 12. Bb2 And while the position is equal, perhaps, white has some slight pressure, from a practical point of view.)
7. Nb3 Bb6 (7... Nxe4!? Is another very important alternative. 8. Nxc5 Nxc5 9. Be3 This is probably White had in mind, where white has good compensation for the pawn, but black is objectively fine, probably.)
8. e5 Qe7 The most popular move but perhaps, already inaccurate. (8... Ne4!? 9. Qg4 d5 10. Qxg7 Bxf2+ 11. Kd1 Ke7 12. Bg5+ Nxg5 13. Qxg5+ Ke8 14. Qg7 Rf8 15. Bd3 Would be another interesting line, leading to an unclear position.)
9. Qe2 Nd5 10. c4 Ba6?! (Nb4 was best. This has been played by some strong players, but this is the first true mistake of the game. (10... Nb4! 11. a3 Na6 Would be a better alternative for black. 12. h4 O-O 13. Bg5 Qe6 14. O-O-O h6 White is likely still better though)
11. Bd2 Nb4 12. O-O-O! A very strong idea for White, giving up the a2 pawn for strong initiative.
12... c5 13. a3 Nc6 14. a4! Nxe5? (14... d5 Would be the lesser evil but still, Black is in trouble here. 15. exd6 cxd6 16. Qf3 Qb7 17. Bc3 O-O-O 18. Bxg7 Rhe8 19. Bf6 Nb4 20. a5)
15. Re1 f6 16. a5 d5?! (16... Kd8 17. Qh5 Qf8 18. Qh4 Kc8 19. Bc3 g5 20. Qh5 Bb7 21. f3 Rg8 22. h4) 17. f4 Bxc4 18. Qd1 Bxb3 19. Qxb3 c4 20. Qa4+ White wins a piece, and also has a strong attack.
20... Kf7? Mistake. Qd7 was best. (20... Qd7 21. Qxd7+ Kxd7 22. axb6 Nc6 23. bxc7 a5 24. Be2 Kxc7 25. Bf3 Kd6 26. Rd1)
21. fxe5 Bd4 22. exf6 Qd6 23. Re7+ Kxf6 24. Rd7 Qe6?! (24... Rad8 25. Rxd6+ Rxd6 26. Be2 Rb8 27. Rf1+ Ke7 28. Bg5+ Bf6 29. Bxf6+ gxf6 30. Bh5) 25. Bxc4 Be3?! Checkmate is now unavoidable. Raf8 was best. (25... Raf8 26. Bxd5 Qe3 27. Qc6+ Kg5 28. Rxg7+ Kh5 29. Bxe3 Bxe3+ 30. Kb1 Bg5 31. Bf3+) 26. Rf1+ Kg5 27. Rxd5+ A very impressive game by Max, and this game shows how important good preparation can be at the master and above level. Congrats to him on a good performance. In fact, he might even be disappointed that he only shared first instead of winning clear first, as he had a draw from winning position in the last round, which had he won, he would've gotten clear first. Even still, a very nice performance by Max. 1-0
Round 1: Zhao, Austin - Hebbar, Eshaan
Eshaan also joined the leaders group by winning the most games of everyone in the tournament, including 3 games in the row in the end of the tournament. My favorite game of his, from this tournament, though is his first round miniature win with black. Games like this show his uncompromising style, and shows why he is able to win so many games.
1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 This opening shows his ambitious approach and willingness to take risks in the opening to try to get an unbalanced game. It definitely paid off for Eshaan this game.
4. Be3 c6 5. f3 (5. Qd2 Is the main line.)
5... Bg7 6. Qd2 b5 7. a3 h5?! A slight inaccuracy. (7... Nbd7 Was the more accurate move order.)
8. Nge2?! Inaccuracy. e5 was best. (8. e5 Would've given White an advantage. 8... dxe5 9. dxe5 Qxd2+ 10. Bxd2 Nfd7 11. f4 Na6 12. Nf3 Nc7 13. g3)
8... Nbd7 9. O-O-O?! (9.Nf4 was best. Castling into it. 9… O-O 10. Be2 e5 11. dxe5 dxe5 12. Nd3 a5 13. O-O Re8 14. a4 b4)
9... Nb6 10. Nf4 Nfd7 (10... a5!? 11. e5 b4)
11. h4?! Inaccuracy. e5 was best. (11. e5 dxe5 12. dxe5 Bxe5 13. Bd3 Qc7 14. Rhe1 O-O 15. Nxh5 gxh5 16. Bh6 Bf6)
11... a5 12. Nb1 Nc4? (12... b4! Would be stronger 13. axb4 (13. b3 Qc7) 13... axb4 14. Qxb4 Qc7)
13. Bxc4 bxc4 14. Nh3?? Blunder. Nc3 was best. One mistake and it's over for White. (14. Nc3! Rb8 15. Kb1! Qb6 16. Qc1! Would be better for White.)
14... Qb6 Now, Black has a winning attack.
15. Ng5 Nc5! 16. Qe2?! Inaccuracy. Qc3 was best. (16. Qc3 Qb5)
16... Ba6 17. Nc3? Mistake. b4 was best. (17. b4 axb4 18. dxc5 dxc5 19. c3 bxc3 20. e5 Rb8 21. Qc2 Bxe5 22. g3 Bd4)
17... Rb8 18. b4?! (18. b3 Nd3+ 19. Kb1 Nb2 20. Kxb2 cxb3 21. Rd3 bxc2+ 22. Kxc2 Qb2+ 23. Kd1 Qxa3)
18... axb4 19. dxc5 Qa5 20. Nb1?! Inaccuracy. Rd4 was best. (20. Rd4 Qxa3+ 21. Kd1 Qxc3 22. Qd2 Qa1+ 23. Ke2 c3+ 24. Kf2 Qxh1 25. Qd1 Qxd1)
20... bxa3 21. Bd4? Checkmate is now unavoidable. c3 was best. (21. c3 a2 22. Kd2 axb1=Q 23. Ke1 Bxc3+ 24. Kf2 Rb2 25. Rxb1 Rxe2+ 26. Kg3 O-O)
21... a2 A very nice attacking game by Eshaan, which jump-started his great performance in this tournament. 0-1
GM Aleksandr Lenderman, Marshall Spectator Contributor
Game of Note, by Marshall Chess Club Board Member Ken Kubo
Please enjoy this recent game played by one of the Marshall Chess Club’s board members. Ken’s commentary on the game can be found below, and you can play through the game here. Commentary, notes and analysis by Ken Kubo.
Marshall Games 2024: Kubo-Gallimore-2025-04-16
I play one rated game a week, and win maybe 2 or 3 games a year, and here's one of them.
1. e4 d5 I used to play the Scandinavian as black, but totally forgot how to play it as white. But openings don't matter so I'll just play...
2. exd5 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nxd5 4. d4 Nc6 5. Nf3 Bg4 6. Be2 e6 7. O-O g6 8. Bg5 Qd7 9. Ne5 Nxe5 10. Bxg4 Nxg4 11. Qxg4 Be7 12. Rfe1 Nxc3 13. bxc3 O-O-O 14. Bxe7 Qxe7 15. Qe4 Rd6 16. Rab1 c6 17. Rb3 Rhd8 18. Reb1 R8d7 19. a4 c5 20. Rd1 e5 21. Re1 cxd4 22. Rd1 dxc3 23. Rxc3+ Rc7 24. Rxc7+ Qxc7 25. Re1
As is typical in my games, I have mindlessly sleepwalked into a terrible position, down a pawn and awful pawn structure on the queenside. At this point, I am thinking I would be lucky to get away with a draw. I know enough now to not trade any more pieces if possible as it would just be totally lost...
25... Rd4 26. Qe2 Rxa4 27. g3 ...at least get rid of my back-rank problem... 27... e4 ...at this point, I figure my only hope is to find a perpetual, so I start checking, desperately...
28. Qg4+ f5 29. Qe2 Rc4 30. Rc1 a5 31. Qd2 b5 32. Qd5 Rc5 33. Qg8+ ...from here on, all I am looking to do is to make sure I have a check next move.
33... Kd7 ...if he went to Kb7, I would have had no more checks...
34. Rd1+ Ke7 35. Qh8 ...I don't remember why I didn't take the pawn on h7. That would have been an easy win for me. All I can remember is, I was calculating to make sure I have a check next move, so I probably miscalculated something complicated and missed something simple...
35... Ke6 It's incredible how wildly the engine evaluation swings in my games, like the stock market responding to every utterance from the White House...
36. Qg8+ Kf6 37. Qf8+ Kg5 38. h4+ Kh5 39. Qf6 f4 40. g4+ Kxg4 41. Qe6+ Kxh4 I missed a lot of simple moves, but that's typical of my play... 42. Kh1 This is a hopeless position, but of course, I had no idea at the time. I was only going for a draw, but he finally blundered at the end, even if I didn't know it at the time...
42... Rxc2 43. Rg1 Qc8 44. Qf6+ Kh3 45. Qg5 Rxf2 46. Qh6# In the world of trading, we used to say, "better lucky than smart." I got lucky this time! 1-0
Ken Kubo, Marshall Chess Club Member
En Passant
GM Magnus Carlsen and his wife, Ella Victoria, have announced the heartwarming news that they are expecting their first child.The couple officially tied the knot in Oslo on January 4 this year. On Monday, the newlyweds shared the joyful news that they are set to become parents.
The Taliban has banned Afghans from playing chess until it works out whether the game is compatible with Islamic law...
The 2025 Chess for Freedom Workshop and Continental Chess Championship for Americas, organized by FIDE and Mexico Chess Federation, are scheduled to take place from May 14-18, 2025, in Mexico. The event will bring together leaders and experts from the continent to share their experiences and strategies for leveraging chess as a powerful tool for rehabilitation in correctional facilities. Attendees will have the unique opportunity to learn from diverse international perspectives.
World’s largest chess piece erected in Argentina - to rival the one in St. Louis.
Chess Toons
Problems, Problems, curated by Alexander George
Sam Loyd, 1859
White to mate in 2
One last retro problem before moving on to new vistas. By now, this one shouldn't be too challenging.
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Last issue’s puzzle: T. R. Dawson, 1927
Black is to move. Specify one move that Black must have played.
Black must have played an even number of moves with his knights and rooks. Since Black has the move, White must have played an odd number of moves. Consequently, White's king-side rook must have been captured on g1. So the solution is that Black must have played Nh3xRg1 (the Black knight could not have captured from f3, otherwise White would have been in check). Another move Black must have played is Ng1 to h3.
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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!
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