The Marshall Spectator
April 3, 2024 edition
In This Issue: From The Skittles Room King's Kibitzes, by FM Alex King My Optimization Method and the Age Factor, by IM Justin Sarkar 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.
In the last issue, the Marshall Chess Club requested the support of our 1,400 plus members and the wider community to reach the goal of $20,000 to support the Marshall Chess Foundation. We have blown past that goal and have raised $27,071! at the time of writing. We sincerely appreciate your donations to allow the Marshall Chess Foundation to continue its primary mission of developing educational programs for children from different backgrounds, communities, and cultures.
In other exciting news, Marshall Chess Club member Jason Jiang recently broke 2200, achieving the title of National Master for his performance in the FIDE rated Wednesday Night Under 2200 event.
Looking ahead on the calendar, starting in April we will be running a new 3 round, 2000+ tournament on Saturday mornings. The Morning Masters will run adjacent to the U2000 Morning Action and will start at 9AM, with the next rounds starting immediately after the round finishes.
In scholastic news, the Marshall Chess Club is excited to kick off the first ever offsite scholastic tournament in partnership with the Speyer Legacy School. The first event will be held on Sunday, April 7. You can register your child in advance here.
Here are some details of the event:
Format: 4 player Quad sections Time Control: G/55, d5 Entry Fee: $45 Members; $60 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 AM Rd1 9:30AM Rd2 11:45AM 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). 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!
Looking ahead, we have a very special guest visiting the club. Please join us on Tuesday, April 9 for an author talk and book signing by GM Maurice Ashley, who was recently featured on the cover of chess life magazine! See banner below for more information:
Over the last two weeks we have had a plethora of events for our members to play in.
The Weekly FIDE Monday that concluded on March 25 had 23 players registered and was won by John Towsen and Chase Knowles who scored 4.5 out of 6 to win $192 each. Aleksandr Gutnik and Anthony Levin scored 4 points to win $38.50 each, while Moshe Blank and Stephen Hrop shared in a class prize, winning $58 each for their 3 out of 6 performance.
The Weekly Monday Under 1800 that concluded on March 25 had 15 players registered and was won by Neal Thio Hong, who scored 4.5 out of 6 to win the $100 first place prize. Konrad L. Klinkner and Dandrea Dey scored 4 points to win $62.50 each.
The Rated Beginner Open on March 24 had 33 players registered and concluded in a 4-way tie. Robert Babbage, Geovanny Melendez, Emily Springer, and Logan Shmulenson scored 3 points to win $100 each.
The Sunday Game 50 Under 1600 on March 24 had 41 players registered and was won by Kimani Thompson who scored a perfect 4 out of 4 to win the $246 first place prize. Sharlene Yang and Seamus Brady scored 3.5 out of 4 to win $143.50 each.
The Sunday Game 50 Open on March 24 had 60 players registered and concluded with 2 perfect scores. IM Mykola Bortnyk and IM Jay Bonin scored 4 out of 4 to win $290 each, while, the following players shared in a class prize winning $34.80 each for their 3 out of 4 score: Abigail Zhou, Andrew Zhang, Ashton Bellur, Raza Patel, and Cian Pathange.
The Adults only Over 1700 on March 23 had 8 players registered and was won by Aleksandr Gutnik and Gianluca Pane who scored 2.5 out of 3 to win $44, while Alexander Wang scored 1.5 to win $25.
The Adults only 1400-1700 on March 23 had 7 players registered and was won by Michael Straus who scored 3 points to win $63 each, while Chris Weldon scored 2.5 winning $25 for his efforts.
The Adults only Under 1400 on March 23 had 10 players registered and was won by Victor Omilabu who scored 2.5 out of 3 to win the $63 first place prize. Cameron Kingsbury, Andy Reyes, and Angelo Gascon scored 2 points to win $16.67 each.
The Under 2000 Morning Action on March 23 had 51 players registered and finished in a huge tie among players with a perfect 3 out of 3 score. Davin Chen, Alvin Lou, Rai Mukherji, Will Nieder, and Kyla McRoy scored 3 points to win $89.40 each, while even the class prize winner Noah Lee scored a perfect 3 out of 3 to win the class prize of $192.
The FIDE Blitz on March 22 had 48 players registered and was won by the club champion, IM Mykola Bortnyk, who scored a nearly perfect 8 out of 9 to win the $235 first place prize. FM Brewington Hardaway and FM Tanitoluwa Adewumi scored 7 points, winning $88.13 each, while FM Jonathan Subervi scored 6.5 to win $58.75. The following players won class prizes of $29.38 each for the performance: William Alexander Aepli, Linxi Zhu, Naveen Paruchuri, and Noah Gillston.
The Afternoon Action on March 21 had 10 players registered and was won by Naveen Paruchuri who scored 2 points to win $15.
The Alexei Navalny Action on March 21 had an impressive turnout, with 47 players registering for the event. It was won by FM Tanitoluwa Adewumi and Vladimir Bugayev who scored 4 points to win $166 each. The following 5 players scored 3 points to win $22 each: Aditeya Das, Samuel Kahn, Kimani Stancil, Jack Yang, and Andrew Colwell. Cameron Hull and Nico Alvarado-Yoshida won $55 for their 2.5 score.
The Weekly Under 1600 that concluded on March 20 had 37 players registered and was won by Bed Drevitch, who scored 5 out of 6 to win the $300 first place prize. Daniel Lasko, Chris DeDona and Ken Jennings scored 4 out of 6 to win $100 each. George Rodnikov, Thomas DeDona and Matt McColgan shared in a class prize, winning $40 each for their 4 out of 6 performance.
The Weekly Under 2200 that concluded on March 20 had an impressive turnout with 51 players registered. Jason Jiang and Chase Knowles both scored 5 out of 6 to win $417 each, and what’s more, Jason Jiang became a master in process as his rating crossed the 2200 rating threshold. Aleksandr Gutnik and Jose De Villa scored 4.5 out of 6 to earn $83.50 each. Ethan Zornow scored 4.5 points to win a $167 class prize, and Giovanni Merrit earned $84 for his 4 out of 6 score.
The Marshall Masters on March 19 had 26 players registered and was won by FM Tanitoluwa Adewumi and Rohan Lee who scored 3.5 out of 4 to win $293 each. FM Leif Pressman and IM Jay Bonin scored 3 points to win $54.50 each, while Chenxuan Ling won a class prize of $87 for the same score.
The Adult Rapid on March 19 had 14 players and was won by Denis Suprun who scored 3.5 out of 4 to win the $35 first place prize. Thomas Zeller won second place, scoring 3 points and earning $18 for his efforts.
We look forward to seeing you at the club soon!
March FIDE Premier
King’s Kibitzes, by FM Alex King
The March FIDE Premier saw Joseph Zeltsan, Tejas Rama, and Eshaan Hebbar tie for first with 4.0/5, while top seed IM Mykola Bortnyk surprisingly finished out of the money with only 3.0/5.
Bortnyk started off strong, winning his first three games including a smooth endgame grind against Zeltsan:
Mykola Bortnyk (2453 FIDE) - Joseph Zeltsan (2419 FIDE)
Round 3, 2024.03.02
1. e4 c5 2. c3 Nf6 3. e5 Nd5 4. Bc4 e6 5. Nf3 Be7 6. d4 d6 7. exd6 Qxd6 8. dxc5 Qxc5 9. Bxd5 exd5 10. O-O O-O 11. Bf4 Nc6 12. Nbd2 Bg4 13. Qb3 Na5 14. Qc2 Nc4 15. Ne5 Be6 16. Rfe1 Rae8 17. Rad1 Qc8 18. Ndf3 Bf6 19. Qc1 Rd8 20. Nd4 Rfe8 21. Nxc4 dxc4 22. Bg5 Bxg5 23. Qxg5 h6 24. Qf4 Bd7 25. h3 Qc5 26. Nf3 Rxe1+ 27. Nxe1 Re8 28. Rxd7 Rxe1+ 29. Kh2 Re7 30. Rxe7 Qxe7 31. Qxc4 Qd6+ 32. g3
Down a pawn for nothing, Black’s last chance for activiity is 32…Qd2!? Instead of the move in the game, after which Bortnyk converts without issue.
32…Qb6 33. Qe2 g6 34. b4 h5 35. h4 Qc7 36. c4 Qd6 37. c5 Qd4 38. a3 a5 39. Qe3 Qc4 40. Qf4 Qd5 41. Qe3 axb4 42. axb4 Qc4 43. Qe8+ Kg7 44. Qe5+ Kh7 45. Qf4 Qd5 46. Qd6 Qf5 47. Qd4 Qb1 48. Qc4 Kg8 49. b5 Kf8 50. c6 bxc6 51. Qc5+ Ke8 52. Qxc6+ Kd8 53. b6 Qb2 54. Qd6+ Ke8 55. Kg2 Qc2 56. Qb8+ Kd7 57. Qa7+ 1-0
But in Round 4 Bortnyk fell to Tejas Rama, who played in impressively ambitious style right from the opening:
Tejas Rama (2221 FIDE) - Mykola Bortnyk (2453 FIDE)
Round 4, 2024.03.03
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 a5 5. a3 Bxd2+ 6. Qxd2 d6 7. Nc3 Nbd7 8. e4 e5 9. O-O-O exd4 10. Nxd4 O-O 11. Bd3 Ne5 12. Be2 Nfd7 13. f4 Nc6 14. Ndb5 Nc5 15. Kb1 a4 16. Qc2 Be6 17. f5 Bd7 18. Nd5 Rc8 19. f6 Be6 20. fxg7 Kxg7 21. Rhf1 Bxd5 22. exd5 Ne5 23. Nd4 Kh8 24. Rf4 Ng6 25. Qc3 f6 26. Rf5 Qe7
Here White would be winning after 27.Bd3, but even after stumbling a bit, Rama manages to keep the pressure up, and is eventually rewarded for it.
27. Rdf1 Rce8 28. Bh5 Qe4+ 29. Ka2 Qe3 30. Qxe3 Rxe3 31. Rxf6 Rxf6 32. Rxf6 Nb3 33. Re6 Rxe6 34. Nxe6 Ne5 35. Nxc7 Nxc4 36. Be8 Nc5 37. Ne6 Nd3 38. Bxa4
Now White is up two pawns, and Rama demonstrates solid technique in the endgame.
38…Ne3 39. Bb5 Nc1+ 40. Kb1 Nb3 41. Nf4 Kg7 42. Ba4 Nd4 43. Kc1 Kf6 44. Kd2 Nf1+ 45. Kd3 Ke5 46. Ne6 Nf5 47. Nd8 Nxh2 48. Nxb7 Ng4 49. Bd7 Nge3 50. g4 Nxg4 51. Bxf5 Kxf5 52. Nxd6+ Kf4 53. Nc4 Nf6 54. d6 Nd7 55. a4 Kf5 56. a5 Ke6 57. b4 Kd5 58. a6 Kc6 59. b5+ Kd5 1-0
Meanwhile, Eshaan Hebbar kept pace with Rama after a tricky rook ending against Ryan Peterson:
Ryan Peterson (2025 FIDE) - Eshaan Hebbar (2187 FIDE)
Round 4, 2024.03.03
1. Nf3 d5 2. e3 Nf6 3. c4 c6 4. Nc3 e6 5. b3 Nbd7 6. Bb2 Bd6 7. Qc2 O-O 8. d4 Re8 9. Be2 e5 10. cxd5 cxd5 11. Nb5 Bb4+ 12. Bc3 Bxc3+ 13. Qxc3 e4 14. Ne5 Re7 15. Rc1 Nb6 16. O-O Ne8 17. h3 a6 18. Na3 g6 19. Ng4 h5 20. Nh2 Nd6 21. Qa5 Nf5 22. Nb1 Re6 23. Nc3 Qg5 24. Rfd1 Kg7 25. Bf1 Nh4 26. Kh1 Qf5 27. Rd2 g5 28. g3 Nf3 29. Nxf3 exf3 30. e4 Qg6 31. Nxd5 Nxd5 32. Qxd5 Rxe4 33. Bd3 Qe6 34. Qxe6 Rxe6 35. Bf5 Re8 36. Bxc8 Raxc8 37. Rxc8 Rxc8 38. g4 hxg4 39. hxg4 Rh8+ 40. Kg1 Rh4 41. d5 Rxg4+ 42. Kf1 Re4 43. d6 Re8 44. Kg1 Kf6 45. Kh2 Ke6 46. Kg3 Rd8 47. Kxf3 Rxd6 48. Rc2 Rc6 49. Rd2 b6 50. Kg4 f6 51. f4 Rc5 52. fxg5 Rxg5+ 53. Kf4 Rd5 54. Rc2 Rd4+ 55. Ke3 Ke5 56. Rc6 Rd6 57. Rc8 f5 58. Re8+ Re6 59. Ra8 a5 60. Rd8 f4+ 61. Kf3 Rc6 62. Re8+ Kd4
63. Kxf4?
Throwing in 63.Re4+ before taking on f4 would prevent Black’s reply in the game.
63…Rf6+! 64. Kg3 Kc3
Now despite the reduced material Black is winning.
65. Re3+ Kb2 66. Re2+ Ka3 67. Rd2 b5 68. Rd5 Rb6 69. Rd2 b4 70. Kf3 Rc6 71. Ke3 Rc1 72. Kd3 Ra1 73. Kc4 Rxa2 74. Rd3 Rc2+ 75. Kb5 Rc3 76. Rd4 Kxb3 77. Kxa5 Rc4 78. Rd3+ Kc2 79. Rh3 b3 80. Rh2+ Kb1 81. Kb5 Rg4 82. Rh1+ 0-1
In the final round Hebbar and Rama made a solid draw against each other, leaving open a path for Bortnyk and Zeltsan to catch up to them. Instead Bortnyk lost again to Michael Li, while Zeltsan managed to take care of business and join the tie for first place:
Linxi Zhu (1981 FIDE) - Joseph Zeltsan (2419 FIDE)
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. h3 e6 7. g4 h6 8. Bg2 Be7 9. h4 Nc6 10. g5 hxg5 11. hxg5 Rxh1+ 12. Bxh1 Nd7 13. Nxc6 bxc6 14. Qh5 g6 15. Qh8+ Nf8 16. Qh6 e5 17. Be3 Ne6 18. O-O-O Bxg5
19. Qh8+
More solid was 19.Bxg5. Zhu’s move is a bit of a wild goose chase, and the queen even ends up getting trapped.
Nf8 20. f4 Bf6 21. Qg8 Qe7 22. f5 Bg5 23. Bxg5 Qxg5+ 24. Kb1 Ke7 25. Bf3 Qf6 26. Rh1 Bb7 27. Be2 d5 28. exd5 cxd5 29. Bf3 e4 30. Bg2 Nd7 31. Qh7 gxf5
32. Rd1 Rh8 0-1
Congratulations to the three co-winners, and see you at next month’s FIDE Premier!
FM Alex King, spectator to the stars
My Optimization Method and the Age Factor, by IM Justin Sarkar
I recently tied for first place in the Western Class Championships; a 120 Grand Prix Points event held in Southern California from March 1st-3rd. I also did well at the Mid-America Open in St. Louis even more recently and may consider annotating a game from the latter in a coming article.
In a moment I'll tell you about one of my games from the Western Class that really stood out. Before I do that, though, I want to touch upon my challenges with ASD and share a highly personal discovery in how I fight aging and turn my rejection complex into rejection resilience, while being kind to others. I'm sharing this information in the hopes that it will improve my interactions with some of you. I'm also sharing this in the hopes that it will help others with ASD and improve interactions that you may have with others who are on the spectrum. While no two people are the same, I hope that my experiences and discoveries may be a small help.
As a well-known International Master, my challenges with autism are no secret, at least to the Marshall Chess Club. Concerns of aging in chess and a tendency to peak by a certain age no matter how hard you work on the game are also prevalent. My approach, still VERY new relative to how long I've been playing chess, is to sincerely greet a younger person or two per day during chess events, preferably for the first time. This way I can feel young at heart, while giving a little something in terms of a genuine greeting. There is a catch to it: I do NOT try to converse beyond the brief greeting. It's a bit outside of the box, but my friendly greetings serve more as a substitute for conversation than a prelude to conversation. Also, I don't randomly say hi to strangers (of any age), unless they say hi to me. I'm very methodical with any new greeting I initiate, having a quick explanation in mind as to how I know the person or know of the person. As you can imagine, I'm far more likely to have enough context to greet another chess player, so I can only dream of being able to go over and greet a new person per day or anything close to it outside of the chess world, where I lack the obvious "common bond".
My new greetings may be surprisingly brief, but authentic and from the heart. You kind of have to see (or hear) it to believe it. Most notably, the joy of sincerely greeting a new person lies in the greeting itself, NOT in the response (if any) that I get. That alone is a big discovery, as it fights my chronic sensitivity to people not responding to other communications of mine such as emails. I've found it harder to go wrong with a brief but genuine greeting - even with misinterpretation it tends to come across as just being nice. Most of the time the person will respond in kind, not think twice. With increased belief in the fundamental correctness of my gesture and discovery that my validation comes from the sincerity of my greeting alone, NOT the response I get or any follow-up talk, it's much easier for me to shrug off an occasional lack of response to an in-person greeting.
Moreover I think my personal touch of going over to greet roughly a new person per day while playing in a tournament really stands out given my otherwise quiet and introverted nature - as a "man of few words", I prefer to let my chess play do the talking and can struggle to discuss a game I just played. Indeed it took me a very long time to go from barely saying a word during events to becoming able to greet new people.
I think my last few paragraphs give a picture of why I find it optimal to just briefly greet a given person. Instead of conversation I prefer to more quietly cherish a new greeting by playing my next chess game... I also keep an eye out for the progress of young players who I recently greeted, seeking future opportunities to congratulate them - and to continue with my theme of brief, friendly gestures that are no undertaking for the recipient - they can simply respond in kind (or in rare cases not respond). It's like seeking to be in their corners and giving a small gift, without even coaching. Also, young players tend to be less likely than older ones to strike up a conversation. If I wish to leave it at a friendly greeting, they are most likely to be content with it as well without having a longer chat, so this is another plus.
My short, sweet and in person greetings can be a refreshing change from my habitually wordy written communications (such as this article). There's no mathematical formula or scientific proof that greeting younger people helps fight the effects of aging (or a rejection complex), but I think at least for me this has led to some significantly improved moods during tournaments. My new greetings a) feel good, regardless of response, b) are in person, c) are quick, friendly and no undertaking for the recipient, and d) I can reproduce a similar greeting with new people, without giving it randomly so there's a special touch for each new person. By meeting the mentioned criteria I can fight head on with what has perhaps been my biggest illness, namely "seeking approval" of specific individuals. My new greetings are neither dependent on a response nor a specific individual, rather I can focus on the big picture of connecting with more people and always look forward to the next new person who I may be able to greet.
With my ASD and some OCD, I'm trying to navigate the world. As for "navigating the world", I was all the way on the West Coast for my brother's wedding, which took place shortly before the Western Class. Here's my final round win over FM Eugene Yanayt, which earned me a tie for first place with a few GMs:
IM Justin Sarkar (2332) - FM Eugene Yanayt (2228), Western Class Championships (5) 3/3/2024 (You can play through the game here.)
We had just a few minutes to get ready for the final game and although I anticipated a King's Indian, I chose to play something I've rarely played.
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 So here we have a Kings Indian, which is a specialty of Eugene. 5.Nge2 Here I go with my choice of the Hungarian variation, even though I've almost never played it. 0-0 6.Ng3 The knight has to move again, to clear the way for the king's bishop; even if this may not really be the best square for the knight, it can clear the way for the f-pawn to move and avoid some positions in the mainline Classical variation where Black gets to attack on the kingside. c5 I was not so sure what move/setup Black would choose and did not particularly expect this, but we soon transpose to a branch of the Benoni where my "vague recollections" will serve me well. 7.d5 e6 8.Be2 ed5 9.cd5
Now we're actually in a Modern Benoni that can arise from 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 ed5 5.cd5 d6 6.e4 g6 7.Nge2 and now 7...Bg7 8.Ng3 0-0 9.Be2. 9... a6 10.a4 This move in the Benoni is usually automatic, to stop Black's play that would occur with b5. 10…h5 I was aware of this move and it's a typical theme with a knight on g3, to possibly kick it back with h4, but here the timing may not be the best and it can weaken Black's kingside. 11.Bg5! A strong developing move. Qc7 Black breaks the pin and aims to move the knight, such as to h7 kicking the bishop on g5 followed by possibly h5-h4 kicking the knight on g3 once the bishop leaves the h4-d8 diagonal, but the queen may turn out not so great on c7. 12.Qd2 Re8 Moves the rook to its best square; a semi-open e-file with pressure on the e4-pawn, while preventing ideas of Bh6 that would force a trade of the g7-bishop. 13.0-0 Nbd7 14.f4! I was aware of this move in conjunction with my next move. White ought to play for the initiative while striving to utilize the extra space along with Black's weakened kingside in addition to a cramped position. Nh7 15.Bh4! A very important move. The bishop may seem out on a limb, but Black has no good way to exploit it let alone trap it. Here's where a vague recollection of something I looked at a long time ago in this system of the Benoni served me well. It could be tougher to confidently play f4 and then put my bishop on the kind of clumsy square h4, without knowing it's a theme in this variation. Even if it was not this exact position, it was very similar and I knew the concept had to apply here and be at least as good. I also knew that in these Benoni positions, White wants to play the pawn break e4-e5, even as a pawn sac. Rb8 16.e5!
Very strong and thematic. The idea is after Black takes, White plays f4-f5 and Black has no play. Here it's a crushing position for the pawn sac, as Black is also very cramped and weak on the kingside. White opens up lines with very active pieces and sacrifices such as on h5 will soon be on the table. Also, d5-d6 with a tempo on the black queen, exposing its placement on c7 is on the cards. c4 Black desperately tries to get some play, rather than taking the pawn. 17.Nce4 This was probably my biggest mistake of the game. I saw 17.e6 and thought it may be a crushing move, but talked myself out of it and simply chose to force him to take on e5 to get a position similar to what I aimed for on the last move. But White should play 17.e6! It's crushing. I saw ghosts in 17...Nc5 and felt it was a bit more to calculate than I wanted. On 18.Bxc4 he can play 18...Nxe6 and try to resist. I can win a pawn with 18.exf7+ Qxf7 19.Bxc4 but it really seems to free up his position and give him realistic hopes to defend. But absolutely crushing is 18.f5! Just ignore the knight fork on b3. After 18...Nb3 19.Qf4 it does not take much calculation to see White's play is too fast to have to worry about the rook on a1. Simplest after 19...Nxa1 is 20.fxg6 fxg6 21.Qf7+ Qxf7+ 22.exf7+ Kf8 23.fxe8/R+ Kxe8 24.Nge4! Winning back the material with interest. 17...dxe5 Apparently, sacking the knight for two pawns with 17...Nxe5 18.fe5 Rxe5 is a better try, giving more activity and White still has to solve some piece coordination issues. 18.f5 Nc5 18...b5 was perhaps a better try but White can even play a seemingly slow prophylactic move like 19.Kh1 and Black can't do much to untangle while White has ideas of serious threats soon. 19.fg6 fg6 20.d6 Qb6 21.Bxc4+ Be6 the best try, exchanging the undeveloped bishop and hoping to deal with the strong advanced passed d-pawn somehow. 22.Bxe6+ Nxe6+ 23.Kh1 Qd4 I expected this move and still have some decisions to make such as whether or not to trade queens. 24. Qc2 I seemed to get it right. I was right to intuitively avoid 24.Qxd4 ed4 with his pawn being much better on d4 than e5 (or even 24.d7 Rf8 when I have to trade queens), unless I saw a clear win. While White should be able to win at least an exchange with accurate play, it will take more concrete calculation to be absolutely sure it's winning (let alone an easy win). Also there's some advantage to keeping queens on when I have a safer king (whereas my king is less great on h1 in an endgame) and he has some weaknesses including the pawn on g6. Rec8 25.Qb1 I'm still eying g6 while being ready to play Rd1 with a tempo on the queen followed by pushing the passed pawn to d7 and possible promotion. On 25.Qb3 Black would play 25...Qc4, when the queen trade would be unpromising for me so I'd have to move the queen again. Kh8 26.Qa2 26.Rd1 is about equally strong. Qc4 27.d7!
Trading queens on my terms with a tempo gaining pawn to d7 move. He's forced to move the rook along the c-file to avoid immediately losing decisive material. Now after I trade his active rook on c4, my pawn on d7 will be too strong. Rc7 28.Qxc4 Rxc4 29.Rac1 b5 29...Rc6 won't change much. White has multiple ways to win. 30.ab5 ab5 31.b3 Bh6 32.bc4 Bxc1 33.Rxc1 g5 34.cb5 Kg7 35.Nf5+ Kg6 36.Ne7+ Kf7 37.Nc6 Black resigns 1-0
This got me a tie for first with 3 GMs and a 2300. It was a testament to my ability to play many things, not cling too closely to any one particular thing, and how it can work out ideally on a good day. There are thousands of opening variations in chess, even within major openings (e.g. French, Sicilian, Nimzo Indian) so it's like trying to "briefly greet" various positions without "conversing at length" with any particular one. Or how to give something just enough attention without giving it too much attention. Same thing can apply to people. One thing for sure is that chess mirrors life. Or simply, the game of chess has helped me better understand myself.
IM Justin Sarkar, Spectator Contributor
Chess Toons
En Passant
14-year-old IM Alice Lee is the first player ever to emerge from the Elimination Bracket to win the American Cup. She defeated GM Irina Krush for the second time on Thursday, in the blitz playoffs after four decisive rapid games, to win her maiden title at the Women's 2024 American Cup.
The conference “Chess in Education - Methodology and perspectives” will take place on May 18, 2024 via online. This activity is organized by the Armenian State Pedagogical University (ASPU), the Chess Scientific Research Institute and the Kasparov Chess Foundation, and led by GM Smbat Lputian. These conferences are significant because they provide a platform to explore the relationship between chess, cognitive science and education.
Lisa Lane, an early star of American chess who was a two-time United States women’s champion and the first chess player to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated, died on Feb. 28 at her home in Carmel, N.Y., in Putnam County. She was 90.
Problems, Problems, curated by Alexander George
Jose Raul Capablanca, 1921
From the World Champion's (1921-27) Chess Fundamentals (1921). This might seem straightforward, but there is a moment when going on autopilot will lose the full point.
(If you have any problems by World Champions, please send them my way: mcc-chess@ahg.slmail.me.)
---
Last issue’s problem: E. Lasker, 1917
White to move and win.
Solution to E. Lasker, 1917: 1.Bd4 Bg3 2.Ba7 Bf4 3.Bb8 Be3 4.Bc7 Ba7 5.Bb6.
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.