In This Issue: From The Skittles Room King's Kibitzes, by FM Alex King Recent Game Submission 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 2023 Grade National Championships were held this month in Orlando, Florida over the weekend of December 15th - December 17th. We were thrilled to see so many New York based teams win their sections and would like to recognize a few of our members who won as individuals in their respective sections. The following Marshall members are the 2023 National Chess Champions of their grade: Gus Huston and Maximillian Lu tied for 1st place in the 12th grade section, Brewington Hardawary and Aiden Reiss tied for 1st place in the 9th grade section, Aditeya Das and Alexander Sukhiashvili finished 1st place in the 7th grade section, Phineas Weingarten, Derek Zhang, Kyle Dong and Megan Paragua finished 1st place in the 5th grade section, Linxi Zhu finished 1st place in the 4th grade section, Sasha Schaefer finished 1st place in the 3rd grade section and Darren Wu finished 1st place in the 1st grade section. Be sure to congratulate these National Champions the next time that you bump into them. You can find these and all of the results from the event here.
Looking ahead, The Marshall Chess Club is thrilled to extend an invitation to all its members for a New Year Celebration. The event is scheduled for Tuesday, January 2nd, from 6:30 to 9:00 pm. We invite you to join us for an extraordinary celebration featuring chess, art, and music.
One of the highlights of the evening will be a presentation of the book "Look of the Champions." This compilation chronicles the stories of World Chess Champions over the past 135 years, starting from Wilhelm Steinitz in 1886 to the current champion, Ding Liren. The author, Nistal Mayorga, will be present at the club, and we will showcase lithographs of her remarkable work. The author has portrayed the 20 champions in two distinct collections (oil on canvas and watercolor on paper), both of which are showcased in their entirety in this book.
Adding to the festive atmosphere, we have the pleasure of hosting Carnegie Hall Soloist FM Nathan Resika, who will perform classic songs. Additionally, Laila and her band will contribute to the musical ambiance of the evening. Nathan and Laila will enchant us with their wonderful music, creating a special gathering to extend our heartfelt wishes to all members for a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2024!
After numerous flagship events, the club has finished a banner year with a number of rated events over the past couple of weeks.
The Saturday Game 50 Open on December 23 had 39 players registered and was won by IM Nico Chasin who scored a perfect 4 out of 4 to win the $234 first place prize. GM Michael Rohde and Theodore Pimanoff finished with 3.5 to share in the remaining prize funds, winning $136.50 each.
The Saturday Game 50 Under 1800 on December 23 had 22 players registered and was won by Leandro Ulloa, who scored a perfect 4 out of 4 to win the $132 first place prize. Justin Rosales, Jacob Modzelewski and Peter Weil won the remaining prize funds of $51.33 each for their 3 out of 4 performance.
The Under 2000 Morning Action on December 23 had 33 players registered and finished with 4 players getting a perfect score. Hoang Huynh, Jack Yang and Mouhamadou Tall won $90.67 each for their perfect performance, while Eli Blei-Gantz won a $117 class prize for his perfect score in the event.
The Friday Blitz on December 22 had 24 players registered to play and was won by Theodore Coyne, who scored 8 out of 9 to win $120. Jack Yang won the second place prize of $60 for his 7 out of 9 score, while Lev Shangin, Anthony Wang, and Aston Roberts won $30 each for their 6 out of 9 score and James Franco also won $30 for his 5.5 score.
The Andre Harding Action on December 21 had 28 players registered and was won by IM Alexander Katz and Aditeya Das, who scored 3.5 out of 4 to win $99 each. Andrew Colwell won a $66 class prize for his 3 out of 4 performance, while CM Kyle Dong, Linxi Zhu and Ethan J Klein shared in a prize earning $22 each for their 3 out of 4 score. The upset prize went to Borys Angel.
The Marshall Masters on December 19 had 23 players registered and was won by John Hughes who scored a perfect 4 out of 4 to win the $191.66 first place prize. GM David Brodsky took 2nd place, scoring 3.5 out of 4 to win $115, while NM Bryan Weisz took 3rd place with $76.66 while IM Jay Bonin and Jessica Hyatt shared in a class prize, winning $38.33 each for their 2.5 out of 4 score.
The Monthly Under 2400 that concluded on December 17 had 25 players registered to play and was won by WIM Iris Mou who scored a perfect 5 out of 5 to win the $180 first place prize. Dwight Dans came in second place, scoring 4 points to win $90, while whil Grant Liu and Caleb Klenoff also won a $90 class prize each for their performance. IM Justin Sarkar and Stanislav Busygin won $30 each for their score of 3.5 out of 5.
The Rated Beginner Open on December 17 had 35 players registered and ended in a 4-way tie for first place. Jonathan Katz, Geovanny Melendez, Jonathan Hsieh and Anderson Antoine all finished with a perfect 3 out of 3 to win $109.50 each.
The Under 2000 Morning Action on December 16 had 28 players registered and was won by Aaron Kudryavsky and Colton Choi, who both scored a perfect 3 out of 3 to win $135.50. Noah Michael Feldman and Kyla McRoy won the remaining prize of $34 each for their 2.5 out of 3 score.
The Andre Harding Action on December 14 had 26 players registered and was won by NM Bryan Weisz, who scored 3.5 out of 4 to win the $118 first place prize. There were 4 players who shared in 2nd place, Joseph Zeltsan, IM Alexander Katz, IM Jay Bonin and Vladimir Bugayev won $14.75 for their 3 out of 4 score. There were also 4 players who shared in the class prize: Arthur Tollefson, Jack Yang, Gary Patella and Judah Schizer won $29.50 for their 2.5 out of 4 performance, while the upset prize went to Anson Leong.
We look forward to seeing you at the club soon!
King’s Kibitzes: The Latest First Mistake
I’ve been enjoying the recent book Grind Like a Grandmaster by Magnus Carlsen and David Howell, two leading exponents of the “grinding” style: slow but steady pressure applied from a position of control until the defender finally collapses.
One example that particularly struck me was Game 6 of Carlsen’s first World Championship match against Anand in 2013. Carlsen, playing Black, won what I classify as a “perfect game”, in which he made no mistakes (i.e. moves which change the WDL evaluation - see my previous Spectator column The Myth of the Mistake for more about this “fundamentalist framework”) and Anand therefore made exactly one mistake, on move 60:
This got me thinking: what is the longest grind like this, in which the winner made no mistakes? Most wins do not meet this narrow criteria - for example the famous Game 6 of Carlsen’s last World Championship match against Nepomniachtchi, which saw at least two and possibly three mutual mistakes earlier in the game, before Nepo’s final mistake on move 130:
To specify even more strictly: what is the latest move number on which the loser of a perfect game made their first and only mistake? I am less interested in perfect wins where the winner was already winning early on and just took a long time to convert, as in Caruana’s win vs Dominguez in the World Cup earlier this year:
Even knowing for sure whether or not a win is perfect is not always feasible. For example, in one of Howell’s grinds in the book, there is a moment where the engine’s evaluation is within the range which I consider “indeterminate” regarding whether the true evaluation is W or D:
If 40.Bb4 is winning here, then it was an objective mistake for Howell not to play it, and the game is therefore not a perfect win. But if Black can still hold a draw with correct defense after 40.Bb4, then Howell’s choice of 40.Bb2 is objectively no worse, and Black’s only true mistake was on move 58. But we don’t know for sure which of these is the true case - the engine does not provide sufficient evidence (according to my standards) one way or the other.
Among the ~15% of my own OTB wins which I have determined to be definitely perfect, the latest mistake by my opponent was on move 46:
But in a Lichess blitz game earlier this year, my opponent’s first and only mistake was on move 81:
Carlsen himself posted his longest perfect win in the first round of the 2021 World Rapid when his opponent Merab Gagunashvili survived 102 moves of torture before blundering a simple tactic in the quintessential grindy endgame of RB vs R:
Carlsen bemused by his opponent’s elementary mistake.
I successfully defended this endgame against Leif Pressman in a Marshall G/25 tournament; the moves weren’t notated due to a time scramble but I doubt we played perfectly. Here is what Carlsen says about it in the book:
Indeed, this endgame also appeared in the longest perfect win in Mega Database, a 176-move grind in which the defender made his one and only mistake on move 172:
It’s hard to imagine that record being bested any time soon. But that’s also what I said at the end of my last column, and someone immediately set out to prove me wrong. Prove me wrong this time too if you will - but you and your opponent will both need to play at least 172 straight non-mistake moves to break the record. Maybe holiday-gift each other Carlsen’s book!
FM Alex King, Spectator columnist and grindhouse denizen
Recent Game Submission, by Joseph Otero
I played this game in a Thursday Action tournament on July 13, and this was probably one of my best tournaments of 2023. I scored 3/4, winning my first round game, losing the second round, and then finishing the tournament by winning my last 2 games against 2000+ players. In the third round, I won against Joshua Block, and then finished the tournament with the below game against Luc Hoffman.
Joseph Otero vs Luc Hoffman Marshall Thursday Action, July 13 2023 You can play through the game here.
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nf3 e6 5. Be2 Nd7 The First 5 moves were very normal, just development on the pieces, and nothing out of the ordinary.
6. O-O Ne7 7. Nc3 c5 8. Nb5 Nc6 9. Bg5 Qb8 Then, a few moves later Qb8 was played, and I felt it was peculiar to the position.
But, I understood its purpose, and it was to put pressure on e5. I decided to attack the center with c4.
10. dxc5 Bxc5 11. c4 a6 12. cxd5 exd5 13. Nc3 d4 14. Bf4 dxc3 15. e6 Qxf4
On move 14., I believe I could complicate things with Bf4 and x-ray the Queen on b8. I thought Bf4 dxc3, e6 Qc8, trade everything and its an equal game. Black’s King is exposed and has some problems to fix, but has a better endgame if done right. But then the Blunder, Qxf4 and it is mate in 2 for white. Who can find it?
16. Qxd7+ Kf8 17.Qxf7# 1-0
-Commentary and Analysis by Marshall Member, Joseph Otero.
Chess Toons
En Passant
Abu Dhabi has been selected as the host city for the 47th Chess Olympiad in 2028, triumphing over Genoa with a vote of 96 to 60 during the FIDE Council meeting on December 17th.
Bodhana Sivanandan is not only making headlines in England. The 8-year-old took part in the European Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships in Zagreb and was the best female participant in the blitz tournament with 8½/13 points!
The chess world had a busy year in 2023. From the World Championship in the spring to a busy December that featured the Champions Chess Tour Finals and a mad dash to the next Candidates Tournament, there was no shortage of chess being played.
Problems, Problems, curated by Alexander George
Pal Benko, 1975
White to mate in 2
Benko said of this problem: "Hungarian Grandmaster G. Paros told me that this problem is the best he's ever seen of its kind. I recall starting to compose the Christmas Tree in the early evening and only finishing when the morning's light began to pour through my window!" May light pour into the New Year for all!
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L. Prokes, 1946
Solution to Prokes, 1946: 1.Kf7 a5 2.f4 a4 3.f5 a3 4.f6 a2 5.Kg8! Kg5 6.f7 a1=Q draw.
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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!
The Marshall Chess Club
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