In This Issue: From The Skittles Room Endgame Corner, by IM Silas Esben Lund Club Championship Game of Note, by GM Alexandr Lenderman 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 year, the Marshall mounted an unprecedented slate of events: the first ever Mona Karff Memorial / Marshall Women's Championship, which crowned the legendary GM Irina Krush as the club's first ever Women's Champion; the return of several of the world's top players for simuls & lectures; the introduction of rapid & adult only tournaments and puzzle competitions; and a weeklong educational intensive for advanced players helmed by our very own NYS Champion, GM Djurabek Khamrakulov. Among the array of unique events were a series of online rapid matches against clubs from around the world. The Marshall squared off against clubs across three different continents, battling teams from Kenya to Poland to Kansas. One of these matches, against the Texas Chess Center, assembled one of the strongest team matchups in club history: two all-titled teams battled it out, as over 2,000 viewers tuned in to follow the action on ChessTV. As always, these remarkable events would not be possible without our incredible staff, and the vision of our board of governors. While we are proud of everything that we have accomplished this year, we also look forward to building on this exciting programming in the new year in order to provide even more unique and valuable experiences for our members.
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!
The 107th Annual Edward Lasker Memorial/Marshall Chess Club Championship concluded on December 10 with a tie between IM Mykola Bortnyk and NM Joseph Zeltsan, who both scored 5 out of 6 to win $3750 each. In a thrilling tie-break Armageddon match that was live streamed on twitch, IM Mykola Bortnyk emerged as the winner to take the title of 2023 Marshall Chess Club Champion. Congratulations Mykola! GM Harshit Raja, FM Brewington Hardaway, Grant Xu and CM Eugene Yoo won $500 each for their 4.5 out of 6 performance, while WFM Chloe Gaw and James Marsh won a class prize of $250 each for their 3.5 out of 6 performance.
See all the games from this event here, our Twitch replays here, and replays and recap videos will be posted on our YouTube channel, so stay tuned!
The Marshall Amateur Championship/Jerry Simon Memorial that concluded on December 3 had 101 players registered, and concluded with 4 players tied scoring 4.5 out of 5. Luc Hoffman, James Marsh, NM Sarathi Ray and Chase Knowles won $875 each for their near perfect performances, while Serge Adelson and Sawyer Sarwar won a class prize of $150 each for their 3.5 out of 5 performance. Brian Huang, Grant Liu, and Leah Chan won $66.67 each as a class prize for their hard fought 2.5 out of 5 performances.
The Rated Beginner Open on December 3 had 36 players registered and concluded with Carolina Vasilatos, Terrance Zeng and Donald Perdoci winning $141.67 each for their perfect 3 out of 3 score.
The Under 2000 Morning Action on December 1 had 60 players registered and concluded with 5 players getting a perfect score. Leo Cohen Solal, Zhijie Kuang, Maxime Jaccon and Maximilian Mills-Wren won $131.25 for their perfect 3 out of 3 performance, while Aaron Reyes won a class prize of $225 for his perfect 3 out of 3 result.
The Andre Harding Action on November 30 had 31 players registered and was won by Bryan Weisz, who scored a perfect 4 out of 4 to win $141 plus the upset prize. Joseph Zeltsan, IM Jay Bonin, Vladimir Bugayev and Tyrell Harriott won $17.75 each for their 3 out of 4 performance, while Kyle Dong won a class prize of $71 for the same score. Judah Schizer also won a $71 class prize for scoring 2.5 out of 4 in this event.
The Rated Beginner Open on November 26 had 19 players registered and concluded with Kai Waters and Arlo Scherr both getting perfect scores of 3 out of 3 to win $119 each.
The Sunday Game 50 Open on November 26 had 53 players registered and concluded with a 5-way tie. IM Jay Bonin, Kylan Huang, Judah Schizer, Lucas Moina and Leandro Ulloa scored 3.5 out of 4 to win $130 each.
The Sunday Game 50 Under 1600 on November 26 had 23 players registered and was won by Philip Liu, who scored 3.5 out of 4 to take home the $132 first place prize. Jeff McGinnis, Theodore Han, Mateo Cordova and Jason Qi split the remaining prize funds winning $38.50 each for their 3 out of 4 scores.
We look forward to seeing you at the club soon!
Endgame Corner, by IM Silas Esben Lund
The theme of this endgame column will remain a secret for now - to not give away too much for the 2 puzzles. Try to solve them first, and all will be revealed in the solutions.
You can play through the exercises and solutions here.
Exercise 1: Tumurbator, Purev vs. Busek, Hans, Moscow 1956 - White to move.
Exercise 2: Guimard, Carlos Enrique vs. Prins, Lodewijk, Amsterdam, 1954 White to move.
SOLUTIONS:
Exercise 1
21. b3 The exchange sacrifice is the strongest continuation, and the most convincing way to show an advantage.
21…e4 (21... bxc4 22. bxc4 b5 23. cxb5 Rxd5 24. Ke2) 22. fxe4 Bxa1 23. Rxa1 b4 Although it is difficult to suggest a better move, Black should try to open up the position for his rooks. The idea of the game move is to fix the a2-pawn as a weakness, but this problem is easily solved by White.
24. Ke3 f6 25. Rf1 Kg7 26. Kd4 White is in total control of the position, and the additional rook helps him coordinate the pieces and focus on the dark squares as well. From Black's point of view, the rooks have a hard time finding activity.
26…b6 (26... Ra8 27. Rf2)
27. g5 A pawn sacrifice to pave the way for the center pawns.
27…Rf8 28. gxf6+ Rxf6 29. Rxf6 Kxf6 30. e5+ Due to the far-advanced pawns, Black will never dig up real counterplay, and White went on to win comfortably.
30…Ke7 31. Bf1 Rf8 32. d6+ Kd7 33. Bh3+ Kc6 34. Bg2+ Kd7 35. Kd5 Rf2 36. e6+ Ke8 37. Be4 Re2 38. Ke5 Kd8 39. Kf4 Re1 40. Bd5 h6 41. Be4 g5+ 42. Kf5 Rf1+ 43. Kg6 Re1 44. Bd5 Re2 45. h3 Re3 46. Kf7 1-0
Exercise 2
In the second exercise, we once again see an exchange sacrifice - but this time in a more complex middlegame setting.
16. axb5 (16. Ne3 $2 bxa4 17.bxa4 Nd3+) (16. Nxb5 is also good: White's goal is to exchange Black's bishop on d7. However, when sacrificing an exchange, the side with the minor piece usually tries to keep as many additional pieces as possible on the board. In this position, White's pieces are very active and Black is lacking space, so the decision in the game to keep all minor pieces on the board is stronger.)
16... Qxa1 17. Qxa1 Nc2+ 18. Kd2 Nxa1 19. Rxa1 d6 is the biggest weakness in Black's position, but a7 is also a target. In White's position, the b5-pawn is a concern. Actually, the only concern for White - so let's see if Black is able to get at it.
19…Red8 Black tries to defend d6 with tactics. (19... Reb8 20. Nxd6 The following is a desperate try to get at b5, but it is doomed to fail: 20…Bxd6 21. Bxd6 Rb7 22. e5 Ne8 23. Bxc5 Bxb5 24. d6 with trouble on the long diagonal.)
20. Bxd6 (20. Nxd6) 20... Bxd6 21.Nxd6 Ne8 (21... Bxh3 loses by force: 22. Bxh3 Rxd6 23. e5 Rxd5+ 24. Nxd5 Nxd5 25. Bg2 Rd8 26. Bxd5 Rxd5+ 27. Kc3 Rd7 28. b6)
22. Nxe8 Rxe8 23. f4 Reb8 24. e5 a5 (24... Bxb5 25. d6 Again, Black is too late.)
25. Bf1 White decides to defend b5 directly.
25…h5 26. h4 Kf8 27. Bc4 Perfect domination. Notice the anchored bishop on c4 that keeps the position together.
27…Ra7 28. Ke3 g6 29. Kd2 Be8 30. Rf1 Bd7 31. e6 White is ready to go on the offensive.
31…fxe6 32. dxe6 Be8 33. f5 gxf5 34. Rxf5+ Kg7 35. Rxc5 Kh6 36. Ke3 Rg7 37. Ne4 Rb6 38. Ng5 Kg6 39. Kf4 Kf6 40. Ne4+ Ke7 41. Ke5 Rg6 42. Rc7+ Kd8 43. Ra7 Bxb5 44. Nd6 Bc6 45. e7# 1-0
IM Silas Esben Lund, Marshall Spectator Endgame Columnist
Club Championship Games of Note, by GM Alexandr Lenderman
The Club Championship featured some surprising results and fighting chess this year, and we are happy to show you some of the most interesting games from the event as selected and annotated by GM Alexandr Lenderman, who also did live commentary during several of the rounds.
You can play through these games with GM Lenderman’s annotations here.
Round 6: GM Harshit Raja - IM Mykola Bortnyk
After five exciting rounds full of incredible fighting games and upsets every round, two co-leaders emerged, IM Mykola Bortnyk and Joseph Zeltsan, who is untitled, but has a fide rating higher than 2400 and is definitely at least IM strength. Lurking close behind is GM Raja Harshit with 4/5, who is the only remaining GM in the tournament who hasn't withdrawn either before or during the tournament. Close behind are a group of players with 3.5/5, among which is the reigning Marshall Chess Club Champion, FM Zachary Tanenbaum, playing on board 2 against the other co-leader, Joseph Zeltsan. Now, this battle between Raja playing white and Mykola playing black I found very intriguing. Just a few weeks ago, a similar situation happened at the National Chess Congress tournament in Philly at the end of November between Raja Harshit (among the chasing pack at 4/5) and none other than yours truly, who was the clear leader with 4.5/5. So, I was wondering if it will be deja vu again, where Raja Harshit can overtake the leader, once again with the white pieces like he did against me, or whether Mykola can hold him off, or even win his game. One thing was clear to me that there weren't going to be any quick draws, as the players playing white were trying to knock off the leaders, and even the leaders with black were going to try to win in order to prevent their co-leader from overtaking them on the quest to obtaining the prestigious MCC Champion Title. Without further ado, here are the games!
1. e4 Nf6 Normally, the somewhat risky opening, Alekhine Defence wouldn't be the first choice for a player just needing a draw for a great tournament finish. However, this opening is a pet opening of Mykola, who along with his GM brother, Oleksandr Bortnyk have had tons of online and OTB experience with this opening, and they have an incredible feel for the types of positions that arise from it. Normally, it's best in decisive games to go with what you know best.
2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. Nf3 g6 5. Bc4 c6 6. O-O Bg7 7. Re1 O-O 8. h3 dxe5 9. Nxe5 Nd7 10. Nf3 A very logical move. Since white has a slight space advantage due to more control of the center, he wants to keep pieces on the board.
10... e6 11. Bg5 Qc7 12. a4! A very interesting move, designed to prevent b5 followed by Bb7 and c5, with a comfortable game.
12... b6 13. Bb3!? Another prophylaxis 13. Bh4 Bb7 14. Bg3 Qc8 15. Nbd2 Is objectively slightly more accurate.
13... c5?! An inaccuracy which leaves black with a somewhat difficult position. 13... Bb7?! Is also slightly inaccurate, and here is where the point of White's previous play gets revealed. 14. a5! Now White gets an annoying queenside initiative and Black cannot free himself easily. 14... c5?! (14... b5 15. a6 Here, Black won't be able to get his bishop out very easily.) (14... bxa5 15. c4! Nb4 16. c5! Here, also, Black's bishop will be smothered, and White will likely get the pawn on a5 back with a nice advantage.) 15. a6 Bc6 16. c4 Nb4 17. d5 exd5 18. cxd5 Bb5 19. Nc3 Bxa6 20. d6 Here, for example, White has a winning initiative.
13... N5f6! Was the strongest move, with the idea of c5, which gives Black the best chances for equality. 14. c4 This is the move that Bortnyk mentioned in the post-game analysis that he didn't like. However, concretely, here, black has enough counterplay with 14... c5! 15. d5 exd5 16. cxd5 c4! And with this last precise move, black reaches a 3-result game with full counterplay and no bad pieces.
14. Bxd5 exd5 15. Nc3! Bb7 16. dxc5! Nxc5 17. Re7?! 17. Nxd5! Was a missed opportunity here after a long think.
Me and GM Semyon Lomasov during live commentary were trying to figure out what exactly Raja disliked about this line, and the mystery was only revealed after our post-mortem with Mykola himself. 17... Bxd5 18. Qxd5 Bxb2 Otherwise Black is just down a pawn without compensation, so this is principled, and a line Mykola was planning and likely what Raja disliked. 19. Re7! Otherwise, Black is fine 19... Qd8!? Objectively not the best, but likely the move that discouraged Raja from going into this line, since here White has only one move to lead to an advantage, but it's also completely winning and can make for a good puzzle! (19... Qc8 20. Rae1 This is what me and Semyon looked at it, and here, it is easy to see that White's initiative is just too strong.) 20. Qa2!! The shocker! Mykola admittedly missed this move, and likely also the move Raja overlooked. Without this move, Black would've been totally fine, which makes going into the "obvious" Nxd5 line very non-obvious, since it would require seeing this move from far away. However, after Qa2!!, White is winning in all lines. 20... Bxa1 (20... Bg7 21. Rxf7) 21. Qxa1 Ne6 22. Rxe6 fxe6 23. Bxd8.
17... Qc6 18. Nb5 Ne6?! 18... d4! The engine really values piece activity. Mykola mentioned that he considered this move but wasn't sure how to continue playing this position down a pawn. For a cold-blooded engine though, such moves are very simple. The b7 bishop needs to be activated, even at the cost of a pawn, let alone weak pawn. 19. Nbxd4 Qd6! The second important move. Mykola mainly considered Qd5. Qd6 is very important since it creates a very important h6 followed by g5 threat. Looks like now, White cannot keep the pawn anymore, due to h6-g5 threat and Bxf3 threat, where b2 pawn is hanging. 19... Qd5?! 20. c3 And here, indeed it's a little bit difficult to prove full compensation for a pawn. 20. c3? (20. Re1 Bxf3! 21. Nxf3 Qxd1 22. Raxd1 Bxb2) 20... h6 21. Bh4 g5.
19. Nfd4 Nxd4 20. Nxd4 Qc8 21. Qd2 21. Ra3! Might be even stronger.
21... Re8 22. Rae1 Rxe7 23. Rxe7 Bf8 24. Re1? Missing a huge chance here.
24. Qe3!! This move, Mykola saw. Not sure if Raja saw this move. Since he spent over 10 of his 30 remaining minutes, I assume he calculated it, but maybe didn't like something. 24... Bc6 The only move to not lose immediately. 24... Bxe7?! Loses immediately 25. Qxe7 Ba6 26. Bh6 (24... Ba6?! Mykola also considered this but this also loses 25. Bh6! White's attack is too strong.) 25. b3! (25. Bh6 Bxa4 Allows some counterplay hope for Black.) 25... Bd7 26. Bh6! Bxh6 (26... Bxe7 27. Qxe7 Qc5 28. Qf6) 27. Qxh6 Qc5 28. Qe3! Qd6 29. Qe5! And here, White will transpose into an endgame where he wins the d5 pawn, and it is likely closer to winning for white than hold for Black.
24... Qd7 Black is still slightly worse due to a blocked b7 bishop and a slightly weak d5 pawn, but now, black is also out of immediate danger, has a solid position, and up a lot on time on top of it. Here, I felt like there is a good chance for Mykola to hold this game.
25. Bh6 Bxh6 26. Qxh6 Re8 27. Ra1 Re4 28. c3 Qe7 29. f3 29. Qd2 My preference would be to try to keep rooks to keep slightly more winning chances, though, even here, Black should likely hold.
29… Re1+ 30. Rxe1 Qxe1+ 31. Kh2 Qe5+ 32. f4 Qf6 33. Qg5 Kg7! Black doesn't mind a queen exchange but only on his terms. 33... Qxg5 34. fxg5 Here, at least, white has this dangerous plan of activating his king.
34. Kg3 h6 35. Qg4 Kf8 36. Qe2 Bc6 37. b3 Bd7 38. Qe3 Bf5 Rerouting the bishop to a good e4 square. Now, I felt like white's winning chances are close to nothing and Mykola didn't give Raja any more chances.
39. Qe5 Qxe5 40. fxe5 Be4 41. Kf2 Ke7 42. Nc6+ Kd7 43. Nd4 (43. Nxa7 Bc2) 43… a5 44. g3 Ke7 45. Ke3 f6 46. exf6+ Kxf6 47. b4 g5 48. bxa5 bxa5 49. c4 Bg2 50. Kf2 Here White offered a draw which Black accepted. At the point the game ended, the board two game was still ongoing and it was really heating up, and all the attention now was heading towards that game. 1/2-1/2
Round 6: FM Zachary Tanenbaum - NM Joseph Zeltsan
So, Mykola did his job and held the dangerous GM Raja Harshit to a draw with Black, and did something yours truly could not do. Deja vu didn't happen again. As for Joseph Zeltsan, I found it very fitting that the person he had to beat to become the MCC Champion was the reigning champion, Zachary Tannebaum himself, who was trying to serve as a gate keeper. He couldn't win the tournament anymore, since even with a win, he would maximum get 4.5/6, and it was a guarantee that someone on board 1 would get at least 5 points. However, 4.5/6 would still leave Zachary with a decent tournament, rating gain, a decent prize, and some bragging rights of impacting the final standings of this year's Championship. You might've thought the Mykola Bortnyk game was exciting, but this game was likely even more on the edge.
1. e4 Nc6!? When I saw this move, I couldn't believe it! This is the kind of opening I would expect from a player who is 1 point behind, NOT ahead, where he would be in a must-win with Black, trying to imbalance the game at all costs. When I had Joseph in the studio after the end of the tournament, including the blitz playoff, I couldn't resist asking what inspired such an interesting opening choice, when there are openings that are much more solid that Joseph can play. Joseph said that he also wanted to win the game to try to win the tournament outright. I can only envy such a fighting spirit! I would be super happy with a draw in a similar situation!
2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nf6 4. Nc3 g6 5. d5?! (5. Be3 Bg7 6. Qd2 O-O 7. d5 Nb8 8. Bh6 c6 9. h3 b5) 5... Nb8 6. Be3 Bg7 7. h3?! (7. Qd2 c6 8. h3 O-O 9. Bh6 b5 10. a3 Qb6 11. Bxg7 Kxg7) 7... c6?! (7... O-O 8. a4 c6 9. Bc4 cxd5 10. exd5 e5 11. O-O Nbd7 12. Re1) 8. Qd2 Qa5 9. O-O-O. Here, Black went into the tank for about 25 minutes and played the principled move, which perhaps, he slightly regretted after.
9... b5?! (9... O-O In my opinion, this is more logical since White lost a tempo earlier for h3, and now, White's attack should naturally be slightly less venomous. Meanwhile, the only real way to punish 0-0 is with Bh6 followed by h4-h5 plan. 10. Nd4)
10. dxc6 b4
Played after another very long thought, roughly 30 minutes. There were a lot of lines to calculate, but unfortunately for black, none of them are really working out very well for black. (10... O-O Is logical, but here, too, white ends up in a favorable position, although it would literally require engine-like precision. 11. Nd5! Qxa2 12. Nxe7+ Kh8 13. Qb4! The only sequence of moves that lead white to an advantage. Not sure how much of this each of the players saw. 13... Re8! (13... Na6 14. Qa3 Qxa3 15. bxa3 Nxe4 16. Ng5 ) 14. Bxb5! (14. Nxc8?! Nxe4 15. Nd2 Qa1+ 16. Nb1 Nxc6) (14. e5!? dxe5 15. Nxc8 Is also interesting since it stops Ne4 ideas.) 14... Rxe7 15. Rxd6!! Na6 (15... Qa1+?! 16. Kd2 Qxh1 17. Rd8+ Re8 18. Rxe8+ Nxe8 19. Qe7 Simply an amazing position. White is down a rook and a piece just for a few pawns, but Black's king is weak, his queenside pieces are undeveloped, and White has created a decisive invasion with his queen, while Black's queen is totally out of play.) 16. Qa4 Qxa4 17. Bxa4 Smoke has cleared and White remains better with several pawns including the very dangerous c6 pawn for the piece.
11. Nd5 Nxc6 12. Bb5! Bd7 13. Nxf6+! Bxf6 14. Qd5! Qc7 Looks like black might be fine but...15. e5!!
This amazing move played after a long thought gives White a huge initiative and objectively, a decisive advantage. Starting with 12)Bb5, until 15)e5, this was the only sequence which led to an advantage for White, and in a complicated position, Zachary found it. This game shows exactly why Zachary was able to win last year's Marshall Championship! His fighting spirit and creativity is incredible!
15... dxe5 16. Rd2! Preparing Rhd1. 16... a6 17. Ba4 Rd8 18. Qc4 18. Qc5! Was arguably even stronger 18... Rc8 19. Rxd7!! The point! 19... Qxd7 20. Rd1 Qc7 21. Bh6! The point! Without this move, Black would just castle and be fine, but now, black is totally paralyzed and losing. 21... Rg8 22. Rd5 g5 23. Qc4 And finally, this plan finishes Black off. If White found all of this, then, this game would definitely deserve a brilliancy prize.
18... Rc8 19. Qxa6?? A logical move, trying to recoup the pawn, but it was based on a huge miscalculation. 19. Rhd1 Would still lead to a decisive advantage for White. 19... Nd4 (19... Qa5 20. Qb3 Be6 21. Bxc6+! Rxc6 22. Qa4! Qxa4 23. Rd8# Would've been a nice finish for White.) 20. Nxe5 Bxe5 21. Qxc7 Bxc7 22. Bxd7+ Kxd7 23. Rxd4+ Bd6 24. Rxb4 Rc6 25. Bf4 Rhc8 26. c3
19... O-O 20. Bb6 White was likely counting on this move being winning, except here comes the cold shower!
20... Nb8! Oh, these pesky backward knight moves! They are so easy to overlook!
21. Bxc7 Nxa6 22. Rxd7 Nxc7 Black has fully equalized now. 23. Bb3? Now, Black can even play for a win. 23. Nd2 Na6 24. Ne4 It was very important to prevent the knight from stabilizing on c5. 24... Nc5 25. Nxc5 Rxc5 26. Rb7
23... Na6 24. Rd5 Nc5 25. Nd2 e6? Not sure if this was a blunder or simply a misjudgement of the position that arises later in the game compared to the current position. (25... Kg7 Would allow black to keep a huge edge. The knight on c5 for black clearly dominates the d2 knight, and once black activates the f6 bishop through e4 or Bg5, black might be strategically winning. 26. Nc4 e6 27. Rd6 Bg5+ 28. Kb1 Be7 29. Rd2 e4 30. Rhd1 Rc7 31. Nd6 f5 32. Bc4 Rb8 Is a sample line, which leaves black with a strong advantage.)
26. Rxc5! Rxc5 27. Ne4 White is very happy to liquidate into an equal opposite colored bishops endgame.
27... Be7 28. Nxc5 Bxc5 29. F3 Rd8 30. c3 Be3+ 31. Kb1 bxc3 32. bxc3. Now, it is harder for black to play for a win, since white will always have counterplay with the a-file.
32... Rd2?! 32... Rd3 Might've promised black slightly more chances 33. c4?! (33. Kb2 Rd2+ 34. Bc2 Rxg2 35. a4 Bb6) 33... Rd2!
33. Re1! Maybe black overlooked this move?
33... Bf4 34. a4! The bishop on e3 is chased away from the g1-a7 diagonal, and now comes the a-pawn running fast!
34... Rxg2 35. Rd1?! 35. a5 Might've been more accurate right away. 35... Rd2 36. Bc4 Bg3 37. Rf1 Kf8 38. Bb5 Bf4 39. a6 Be3 40. Re1 Ba7 41. Rxe5 Rd5
35... Kf8?! 35... Rg3 Looks like black could've still played for a win here since if he wins most of White's pawns and trades his bishop for the a-pawn he might be winning. 36. a5 Rxh3 37. a6 Be3 38. Rd3 Bc5 39. Rd8+ Kg7
36. a5 And now, in this still somewhat tense position, the players agreed for a draw.
This game was a great fight, although, understandably because of the tension of the game, and also, tiredness, from the long, tough fights in previous rounds, there were some mistakes/blunders made in the second half of the game. Anyway, this draw left us with two co-winners, Joseph Zeltsan and Mykola Bortnyk, and they played a very exciting playoff. They would play two 3+2 blitz games, followed by an armagedon game in case of a 1-1 tie. The 1-1 tie did happen, but in a very unconventional way. In the first game, Joseph Zeltsan was winning before making a blunder in the endgame and losing, and in the second game where Joseph was in a must-win game, Mykola made a blunder from a winning position and allowed Joseph to level the scores. The Armageddon game was 5 minutes against 4 without increment, where White had 5 and Black had 4, but White needed a win, and Black wins with a draw. Mykola ended up playing a sharp Wing Gambit against Joseph's Scandinavian defence. He developed a good initiative, which is hard to play against in blitz, and ended up finding some good tactics to finish off a great attack. Congratulations to both of the players on very deserved results. They both played some great games throughout the tournament. It was a great pleasure doing commentary for this year's Marshall Chess Club Championship, and hopefully I'll be involved in more of these in years to come! 1/2-1/2
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Chess Toons
En Passant
After defeating Richard Rapport in the final round, Fabiano Caruana won the 2023 Sinquefield Cup with a score of 5.5/9, capping off an incredible triple-crown victory which included the 2023 Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz, Sinquefield Cup, and overall Grand Chess Tour.
He started his YouTube channel a couple of months into the pandemic. By the summer of 2021, he had a million subscribers; earlier this year, he reached four million. His total page views are approaching two billion.
FIDE is expected to make significant changes to its rating system on January 1, which includes a one-time adjustment for most rated players, an increase of the rating floor, and changes to the initial rating.
Problems, Problems, curated by Alexander George
L. Prokes, 1946
White to draw.
Here's another impossible-seeming draw, in which White triumphantly pulls a trump card out of nowhere to fend off disaster.
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L. Prokes, 1947
Solution to Prokes, 1947: 1.Kc8 Kc6 2.Kb8 Kb5 3.Kb7 Kxa5 4.Kc6 h5 5.Kd5 h4 6.Ke4 h3 7.Kf3 h2 8.Kg2 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!
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