The Marshall Spectator
July 23, 2025
In This Issue: From The Skittles Room Endgame Corner, by IM Silas Esben Lund Games Analyzed from the Six-Day Norm event, by Samrug Narayanan 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.
This past week, we were thrilled to host the 13th NY International Super Swiss right here at our historic townhouse in the West Village, located at 23 West 10th Street, featuring 18 Federations, 23 foreign FIDE-rated players, and 40 American players. Congratulations to GM David Brodsky for winning the Championship and to GM Andrew Tang for finishing in 2nd Place among a very strong field.
Just as exciting, the editorial staff of The Marshall Spectator would like to extend its congratulations to Bryan Enming Lin for earning his 2nd IM Norm in the event.
You can see the results, final standings, and pgns on chess results. Replays of the stream coverage are available on our YouTube channel and Twitch.
The week before the New York International, we also hosted the 2025 NY Marshall Summer Six-Day Invitational, a 9-round, Round Robin Norm event with 5 sections: GM A, GM B, IM C, IM D, and IM E. Congratulations to IM Samrug Narayanan on winning the GM A section with 6.5/9 and earning his 1st GM Norm! He has graciously shared some of his games with annotations in this issue of The Marshall Spectator.
Congratulations to GM Gabor Nagy and GM Vojtech Plat on winning the GM B section with 6/9.
Congratulations to FM Avi Kaplan on scoring 5.5/9 and earning his 2nd IM Norm!!
Congratulations to FM Gauri Shankar on scoring 5.5/9 and earning an IM Norm performance!
Congratulations to CM Ethan Guo on winning the IM C section with 6.5/9 and earning his 1st IM Norm and the FM title!!!
Congratulations to GM Mark Paragua on winning the IM D section with 7/9!
Congratulations to NM William Safranek on winning the IM E section with 7.5/9 and earning his 1st IM Norm!!!
In other club news, Summer Camps are in full swing! Thanks to the Tournament and Membership Committees, we are excited to share that for kids who register for multiple weeks of camps, we will have special prizes!
If you have any questions about our camps, you can email Kevin at kevinf@marshallchessclub.org.
Looking back over the last two weeks, we have had a plethora of events for our members to participate in.
The FIDE Blitz on July 18 had 32 players registered and was won by FM Justin Chen, who scored a near perfect 8.5 out of 9 to win the $160 first place prize. GM Vojtech Plat scored 8 out of 9 to win $80, while FM Marcus Miyasaka and Tim Shvarts won $40 each for a 7 out of 9 and 6 out of 9 score respectively. Finally, the following 4 players won $20 each for their 5.5 out of 9 performance: Hursh Mehta, Nicklas Breskin, Andrey Pichugov, and Misha Raitzin.
The Thursday Action on July 17 had 31 players registered and was won by WFM Tianhao Xue, who scored a perfect 4 out of 4 to win $117. The following 6 players scored 3 out of 4 to win $42.50 each: Oliver Chernin, Max Yarmolinksy, Alexander Goloskover, Andrew Colwell, Etan Lankri, and Ateeq Aslam Panjwani.
The Marshall Masters on July 15 had 30 players registered and was won by FM Zachary Tanenbaum, who scored a perfect 4 out of 4 to win the $320 first place prize. GM Vojta Plat and GM Gabor Nagy scored 3.5 out of 4 to win $160 each, while the following 4 players scored 2.5 out of 4 to win $20 each: Aakaash Meduri, CM Krish Bhandari, CM Kyle Dong, and Miguel Omar Garcia.
The Sunday Game 50 Open on July 13 had 41 players registered and was won by GM Michael Rohde, who scored 4 out of 4 to win the $234 first place prize. GM Vojta Plat and FM Justin Chen won $58.50 each for their 3.5 out of 4 score, while Anthony Li won a $78 prize for his 3 out of 4 performance, and Riju Bhattacharjee won the same amount for his 2 out of 4 score.
The Rated Beginner Open on July 13 had 26 players registered and was won by Logan Shmulenson, Kyle Emery, and Blake Walker who scored a perfect 3 out of 3 to win $108.33 each.
The Saturday Game 50 Open on July 12 had 19 players registered and was won by GM Michael Rohde, who scored 3.5 out of 4 to win the $114 first place prize, while IM Jay Bonin, Leqi Han, Mike Ching, and Lucas Lin won $33.25 each for their 3 out of 4 score.
The Saturday Game 50 Under 1800 on July 12 had 24 players registered and was won by Viaan S and Kai Waters who scored 3.5 out of 4 to win $90 each, while Jackson Brinckerhoff won $54 for their 3 out of 4 score.
The Under 2000 Morning Action on July 12 had 24 players registered and was won by Ivan Levcovitz and Kenny T Bollin who scored 3 out of 3 to win $105 each. Luoxi Lin won $90 for their 2 out of 3 score.
The FIDE Blitz on July 11 had 73 players registered and was won by GM Brewington Hardaway, who scored a near perfect 8 out of 9 to win the $325 first place prize. GM Gabor Nagy, IM Nico Chasin, and Ethan T Sheehan won $54.33 each for their 7 out of 9 performance, while GM David Brodsky won $82 for the same score. The following 4 players won $41 for their 6 out of 9 performance: FM Linxi Zhu, FM Avi Kaplan, Leandro Ulloa, and Isaac Statz, while Jayden Li and Jaime Jariton won $41 for their 5.5 out of 9 performance.
The Thursday Action on July 10 had 42 players registered and was won by GM Vojta Plat and GM Gabor Nagy, who scored a perfect 4 out of 4 to win $125 each. Aritro Chakravarty, Justin Dalhouse, and Thoms Knoff won $25 each for their 3 out of 4 performance, while GM Andrei Maksimenko, FM Leif Pressman, FM Weija Ma, Jonathan Pagan, and Oliver Chernin won $15 each for the same score. Finally, the following 8 players won $9.38 each for their even 2 out of 4 score: Rishan Malhotra, Ateeq Panjwani, William Culbertson, Mike Ching, Cameron Edward Hull, Travis Henry-Reid, Marcus Jedwab, and Jackson Brinckerhoff.
The Weekly Under 1600 that concluded on July 9 had 27 players registered and was won by Ruari Morrison, who scored 5 out of 6 to win the $225 first place prize. Ethan Todd scored 4.5 out of 6 to win $135, while Shreyo Banerjee won a $90 class prize for a 4 out of 6 score. The following 3 players shared in third place, winning $30 each for their 4 point performance: David Frankel, Jonathan Gordon, and Rafael Tushman.
The Weekly Under 2200 that concluded on July 9 had 38 players registered and was won by NM Anthony Levin who scored 5.5 out of 6 to win the $380 first place prize. Robert Olsen scored 4.5 out of 6 to take home the $254 second place prize, while Matthew Shirvell won a $127 class prize for his 4 out of 6 score. The following 4 players won $31.75 each for their 4 out of 6 score: Aleksandr Gutnik, Thomas Knoff Jr., George Berg, and Mike Ching, while Oliver Spohngellert, Ben Davar and Anjyu Fujita scored 3.5 out of 6 to share in a class prize, winning $21.33 each.
The Monday Under 1800 that concluded on July 7 had 31 players registered and concluded with a 3-way tie for first. Rohit Jagga, Brian Gilbert, and Kara Chan scored 4.5 out of 6 to win $155.33 each, while Kevin Reim and Micah K Jameson scored 3.5 out of 6 to win $78.
The FIDE Monday that concluded on July 7 had 37 players registered and was won by Thomas Kung, who scored 5 out of 6 to win $370. Anthony Levin and Ethan Kozower scored 4.5 out of 6 to win $185.50 each, while David Timmerman scored 3.5 out of 6 to win $124. The following 4 players shared in a class prize winning $15.50 each for their 3 out of 6 score: Dazhen Lu, Misha Raitzin, Robert Li, and Stephen Hrop.
We look forward to seeing you at the club soon!
Endgame Corner, by IM Silas Esben Lund
We continue with rook versus pawn, this time with special focus on the intermediate check. Next time, we will focus on a special case of the intermediate check: what I call the 'Magic Trick'. It will occur in a couple of the exercises in this column too. The intermediate check, I believe, is THE reason why rook endgames are hard. Rooks are very good at intermediate checks, as they can easily get to their desired square after having disturbed the opponent with a check. So, intermediate checks happen often, be it actually on the board or in the calculations by the players. Every mistake I found in Averbakh's work 'Comprehensive Endgames' on rook endgames, are rooted in an intermediate check. He wrote his work in the 1980s, before the appearance of engines. Don't get me wrong, I love Averbakh's work as it has (almost) all positions - as opposed to later works where the author has made a selection for presentation. Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual is of the latter sort - and by the way, also a great work in its own right. My advice: don't read older books about rook endgames unless you check the positions with an engine. Our first position is from Averbakh's work. Then follows two exercises that you can try to solve.
You can play through the positions with annotations here.
6. Re6+ is an in-between check to disturb black's coordination: right now, the king is perfect on d6. (Black to move can draw with 6. Rxg7 … 7. Kxg7 Kd5 The white king is too far away.) 6... Kd7 (6... Kd5 fails to 7. Re5+ Kd4 8. Rg5 with pawn promotion.) 7. Re5 Rxg7 8. Kxg7 This wins in many ways, for instance: Kc6 9. Kf6 Kb5 10. Re8 In most cases, the rook naturally belongs behind the pawn. Kc4 11. Ke5 Kd3 12. Rd8+ (But not 12. Kd5 c4) 12... Kc3 13. Rc8 c4 14. Ke4 The white king gets to d4 next. 1-0
The solutions follow at the end of the article.
Exercise 1: White to move and win.
Exercise 2: White to move and win. 1-0
Solution to Exercise 1
1. Rb4+ (The straightforward 1. Rb1 leads to the key position with Black to move: e4 2. Kb5 e3 3. Kb4 Kd3 4. Kb3 e2 (4... Kd2)) 1... Kd5 (1... Kd3 2. Kc5 e4 3. Rb3+ Kd2 4. Kd4 wins the pawn.) 2. Kb5 (2. Rb1 immediately also wins.) 2... e4 3. Rb1 With this move, White should have calculated that it ends up in the Key Position with White to move. Kd4 4. Kb4 Kd3 5. Kb3 Kd2
Black tries to avoid the key position after 5... e3
This is the Key Position with White to move, and the rook on the first rank also works as we saw last week: 6. Rd1+ Ke2 7. Kc2 Kf2 8. Rd8 e2 And here comes the magic trick: 9. Rf8+ Ke3 10. Re8+ Kf2 11. Kd2 The Magic Trick is a way to get the rook behind the enemy pawn without wasting any time. In many cases, White even wins a tempo doing it. The rook is 'magically' transfered from its square on the back rank to the square behind the pawn.)
6. Kc4 White wins the pawn after e3 7. Rb2+ Kd1 8. Kd3 1-0
Solution to Exercise 2
1. Kb1 (1. Kb3 leads to the Key Position with White to move, but with the rook on the second rank: e3 2. Ra2+ Kd3 White must lose a tempo, and thus we have the Key Position with Black to move.) 1... e3
2. Ra2+ Forcing the black king to choose side. Kd1 The kings are now aligned... (2... Kd3 3. Kc1 e2 4. Ra3+ Ke4 5. Kd2) 3. Ra8 e2 4. Rd8+ Forcing the king in front of the pawn. Ke1 5. Kc2 Kf2 White now uses the magic trick to get the rook behind the black pawn: 6. Rf8+ Ke3 7. Re8+ Kf2 8. Kd2 1-0
IM Silas Esben Lund, Marshall Spectator Contributor
Games Analyzed from the 2025 Marshall Summer Six-Day GM A by Samrug Narayanan
This was my second norm tournament at the Marshall Chess Club, and my fourth event in New York. The six-day nature of the event was particularly nice, with only one round on the fourth day. This gave me valuable time to recuperate from my previous long and tense games. As I finished the tournament with 3.5/4, the extra time to relax was an important factor. I am pleased with my experience at the Marshall Chess Club, and look forward to playing another event in the future.
You can play through the games with annotations here.
2025 Marshall Summer Six-Day GM A Posthuma, Joshua vs Narayanan, Samrug
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Bb4+ 5. Nd2 O-O 6. Ngf3 b6 7. cxd5 exd5 8. O-O Re8 9. Ne5 Bb7 10. h4 The opening phase has concluded, and the position is roughly equal
10…Bd6 Retreating to the wrong square (10... Bf8 11. Ndf3 h6 12. Bf4 Nbd7 c5 is coming next, and black is doing well)
11. Ndc4 I had seen this move, but underestimated the activity it brings
11…Bf8 (11... Bxe5 Giving up the bishop pair isn't ideal, but it is the best option here 12. Nxe5 Nbd7 13. Bf4 c5 14. e3 Qe7 With a roughly equal position) (11... Be7 Was also fine retreat, bracing for Bg5 as in 12. Bg5 Nbd7)
12. Bg5 h6 13. Bxf6 Qxf6 14. Ne3 c6 15. f4
White's pieces are much better placed. The bishop on b7 is stuck and it is difficult to develop the knight.
15…Qd8 16. Qb3 a5 (16... Nd7 Now was the best time to develop the knight 17. Rac1 (17. Bf3 Nf6 18. Rac1 Rc8) 17... Rc8 18. Bh3 Rc7 19. Bxd7 Rxd7 20. Nxc6 Bxc6 21. Rxc6 Rde7)
17. Rac1 a4 18. Qd3 a3 19. b3 (19. b4 The engine prefers this move, but over the board it is difficult to see why this is better than b3)
19... Ra7 (19... Na6 Was a natural follow up to the weakness created on b4, but deep complications arise. 20. Qf5 Re7 A long forcing line follows here 21. Rxc6 Nb4 22. Nxd5 Nxd5 23. Nxf7 Ne3 24. Nxd8 Nxf5 25. Nxb7 Nxg3 26. Bd5+ Kh7 When the dust settles, the position is roughly even)
20. N3g4 Ba6 21. Qf5 Qd6 (21... Bxe2 Calling the bluff, there are no issues with capturing the free pawn 22. Rf2 Bxg4 23. Qxg4 c5)
22. Rfe1 Re6 (22... Bc8 Was my original plan, but I figured it was difficult to dislodge the queen from h5 23. Qh5 g6 24. Nxh6+ Kh7 25. Nhxf7+ gxh5 26. Nxd6 Bxd6 27. e4 Bb4 Despite white's pawn army, the extra piece provides black with a strong advantage. At this point in the game, I had incorrectly assumed white had enough activity to equalize)
23. h5 Re8 24. Qc2 Bb5 25. e4 Na6 26. Nxc6 The first mistake, leading to a defensive position. (26. Qb1 Nb4 27. Kh2 Rc7 28. Rcd1 The position is roughly equal. Black has the bishop pair and a strong knight on b4, however white's active pieces provide compensation)
26... Qxc6 27. Qxc6 Bxc6 28. Rxc6 Nb4 29. Rxb6 Nxa2 30. e5 Nb4 (30... Bb4 It was necessary to activate the bishop, aiding the passed a pawn. 31. Rd1 Nc3 32. Ra1 Ne2+ 33. Kf2 Bc3 34. Rxa3 Rxa3 35. Kxe2 Ra2+)
31. Ne3 a2 32. Ra1 Rc8 33. Bxd5
(33. Kh2!! The only equalizer, with the point of evacuating the first rank. The move seems mysterious at first, but realizing black's plan of Rac7 and Rac1 justifies the king move)
33... Rc3 34. Rxb4 (34. e6 May have put up more resistance, forcing accuracy from Black. Rxe3 35. exf7+ Rxf7 36. Rxb4 Bxb4 37. Rxa2 Rxg3+ 38. Kf2 Rg4)
34... Bxb4 35. Kf2 Rd3 The conversion from here is fairly simple.
36. Bc4 Rxd4 37. Nd5 Rxd5 38. Bxd5 Bc3 39. Rxa2 Rxa2+ 40. Kf3 Kf8 41. g4 Ke7 42. Bc4 Rd2 43. Ke3 Rd4 44. Bd3 f6 45. exf6+ Kxf6 46. Bc4 Rd8 47. Bd3 Re8+ 48. Be4 Bd2+ 49. Kf3 Re7 50. Bd5 Re3+ 51. Kf2 Rc3 52. Ke2 Bxf4 53. b4 Kg5
The game had many complications, which were difficult to navigate through the eventual time pressure. 0-1
2025 Marshall Summer Six-Day GM A Tian, Eddy vs. Narayanan, Samrug
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. c4 e6 4. g3 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 a5 A relatively uncommon line, supporting the bishop rather than retreating. A similar line of play follows in the main line. (5... Be7 is the main line)
6. Bg2 O-O 7. Qc2 Be7 If the bishop stays on b4 too long, white can capture it and the pawn will become a weakness (7... c6 8. Bxb4 axb4 9. Nbd2 b6 10. O-O)
8. O-O c6 9. Bf4 Nbd7 10. cxd5 A comital decision. It was much better to keep the tension in the center. (10. Rd1 Is the main move)
10... exd5 The best recapture, creating a strong pawn chain against the bishop on g2
11. Nbd2 (11. Nc3 Was a better square for the knight, and a natural follow up to exchanging the c4 pawn.)
11... Nh5 Taking advantage of the bishop's lack of squares (11... a4 It was slightly more accurate to expand on the queenside, since the threat of Nh5 cannot be stopped anyway 12. Rfe1 Nh5)
12. a4 Giving away the bishop pair, however it was better to keep the bishop. (12. Be3 Re8 White's pieces are stuck, and eventually the d2 knight will need to be repositioned to c3.)
12... Nxf4 13. gxf4 White's pawns blunt the dark squared bishop, however the long term advantage will prove useful
13…Re8 14. e3 Nf8
Going the wrong way, the knight was better placed on f6. The idea was to respond to Ne5 with f6, but the knight does not have many prospects on e5. (14... Nf6 15. Ne5 g6 16. Rfd1 Bf5 17. Qb3 Bb4 The knight on e5 will eventually be kicked out)
15. Kh1 Bb4 16. Rg1 Qf6 The advantage for Black has slipped away after a few innacurate moves, however, Black is still preferred.
17. Nf1 (17. Bf1 Repositioning the bishop to d3 was most accurate, since the bishop is not doing much on g2, Ng6 18. Bd3)
17... g6 18. Ne5 Qe7 (18... Ne6 It was not urgent to kick the knight out of e5 19. Ng3 Ng7 20. Bf1)
19. Bf3 f6 20. Ng4 The knight now becomes trapped. (20. Nd3 Was the only retreat Bd6 21. Ng3 Kh8)
20... h5 21. Nh6+ Kh7 22. f5 White's best try is to complicate matters. The black king becomes weak after winning material. (22. Bxh5 Qe4+ 23. Qxe4 dxe4 Two pieces are hanging for white, resulting in a winning position for Black.)
22... g5
Returning the favor, allowing a strong tactic. (22... Kxh6 Was the only winning move, although the king is weak black has no issues.
23. fxg6 Ne6 24. g7 (24. Ng3 Ng5 25. Bxh5 Kg7) 24... Ng5 25. h4 Qf7 26. hxg5+ fxg5 It is actually white's king that is now in danger)
23. Bxh5 Missing the tactic in return. (23. Rxg5 Kxh6 24. Rg2 Bd7 25. Bxh5 Qe4 26. Qe2 Bd6 With a complicated position, but it is clear Black has gone wrong)
23... Kxh6 24. Bxe8 Qxe8 25. Ng3 Bd6 26. f4 Too rushed, it was stronger to prepare this push. (26. Rae1 Bd7 27. f4 Qf7 28. fxg5+ fxg5 29. e4 Black is still better, but White has better chances here)
26... Qxe3 27. fxg5+ fxg5 28. Raf1 Nh7 29. f6 Bf4 (29... Bxg3 Trading queens was slightly more accurate. 30. Rxg3 Qe4+ 31. Qxe4 dxe4 32. h4 Be6 33. hxg5+ Kg6 Black will pick up the kingside pawns shortly)
30. f7 Bh3 31. Nf5+ Bxf5 32. Qxf5 Rf8 Once the f pawn is lost, White does not have any counterplay
33. Re1 Qf3+ 34. Rg2 Kg7 35. Re7 (35. Re6 Was the last resort, where black only has one move to win 35…Qh5 36. Qxf4 Qd1+ 37. Rg1 Qxg1+ 38. Kxg1 gxf4)
35... Nf6 36. h4 Ne4 A topsy turvy game, where the two pieces eventually prevailed against the rook. 0-1
Samrug Narayanan, Marshall Spectator Contributor
En Passant
Levon Aronian won the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam in Las Vegas by defeating Hans Niemann 1½–½ in Sunday’s final, securing his first title and the $200,000 top prize. Magnus Carlsen beat Hikaru Nakamura to finish third and maintain his lead in the overall tour standings. Fabiano Caruana and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu claimed fifth and seventh place, respectively, as the first Freestyle Chess event held in the United States came to a close.
The semi-finals are set for the 2025 FIDE Women’s World Cup in Batumi, Georgia. With three spots in the FIDE Women’s World Championship Candidates Tournament up for grabs (and none of the semi-finalists already qualified), the question is whether it will be China or India to send not one but two players to the Candidates.
The FIDE World Cup is coming to India this year! Scheduled for October 30 to November 27, 2025, the tournament will feature the world’s best players battling for the coveted title and qualification spots in the 2026 FIDE Candidates Tournament.
Chess Toons
Problems, Problems, curated by Alexander George
Pal Benko, 1970
Helpmate in 2
(a) diagram;
(b) White bishop to f1.In a helpmate, Black moves, then White, then Black, and then White makes a second move mating Black. Both sides help one another to mate Black. Benko was a prolific composer of helpmates. A two-move helpmate, you'd think, shouldn't be too difficult, but this one is rather counter-intuitive!
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Last Week’s Problem Jacob Mintz, 1982
Solution to last issue's problem (Mintz, 1982): (c) White knight to g7: 1.a1=B Rb3 2.Bc3 Ne6 3.Ba5 Nc5 mate. (d) White knight to c4: 1.a1=N Rc1 2.Kb3 Rb1+ 3.Ka2 Rb2 mate. Over the course of the four parts, the Black pawn makes all possible promotions. The solutions are unique. And only five pieces. Bravo!
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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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