The Marshall Spectator
September 18, 2024 edition
In This Issue: From The Skittles Room Games from the Marshall Labor Day Invitational, by IM Ostrovskiy Across the Table, with Zim Pickens 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.
A special announcement from the Executive Director, Carlos Chavez:
Adult members, join us for our Adults Only Tournament (ALTO) on September 28th, 2024. Only the grown ups get to compete with each other in this special tournament we have the 4th week of every month. The format consists of 3 swiss system games at a time control of 60 minutes with a 10 second delay per move. Round times are at 12:30pm, 3:30pm, and 6:30 pm. Entry fee: $25 and prizes: $250 based on 20 paid entries.
Also, save the following dates on your calendar: our very first club Rapid and Blitz Championship will take place on October 11th-13th.
Our second edition of the Women's Championship will be on November 15th-17th with a minimum prize fund of $5,000. We will also have our first Senior Championship for players 50 and older on November 15th-17th. Both events will have qualifications to the Club Championship.
Our Amateur Championship will be November 22nd-24th with qualifications to the Club Championship. To top it off and end the year on a big note we will have our famous Club Championship on December 12th-15th with a minimum prize fund of $10,000! Save the dates!
Don’t forget - for parents of our scholastic and youth players - join us on Tuesday, September 24 from 5pm-9pm for a parent BBQ. We will have food, music, casual blitz, and a good time. ONLY FOR PARENTS AND THEIR SCHOLASTIC/YOUTH MEMBERS.
Looking ahead to the fall, we are happy to announce a continuation of our Grandmaster Chess Classes with a Fall Chess Class with Grandmaster Djurabek Khamrakulov. The classes begin starting on Tuesday, October 1. For further details or to register for the classes please visit our website.
We are also happy to report that the team tournament has concluded, with “The Other Team” finishing in first place. Hunter Ku, who was a member of the winning team, had this to say about the event:
The Marshall team event was a lot of fun and had an exciting finish! Two teams were tied for first heading into the last round. With the Other Team down one team member, players on Board 1 and Board 2 had to win both games in order to clinch the team title.
With that said, it wasn’t going to be easy as Board 1 (1800 rated) was facing a 2100+ opponent. It was a nail biter that lasted 3 hours and with White pressuring Black in the mid-game, Black unfortunately made an error which White capitalized on and managed to win the game!
Keep an eye out for the next cycle starting later this winter after New Years. Get your friends together to make a team, choose a team name, a captain who will communicate pairings on behalf of the team, and email td@marshallchessclub.org to register your team. A team must have 3 members.
Over the last two weeks we have had a plethora of events for our members to play in.
The Weekly Under 2200 that concluded on September 11 had 37 players registered and was won by George Berg, who scored 5.5 out of 6 to win the $360 first place prize. Ciprian Solomon and Whitney Tse scored 4.5 out of 6 to win $180 each, while Jun Xiang, Paul Cruz, and Nicholas Frederick Beirne scored 4 out of 6 to win $60 each.
The Weekly Under 1600 that concluded on September 11 had 31 players registered and was won by Logan Mirza who scored a near perfect 5.5 out of 6 to win the $250 first place prize, while Gilberto Astor scored 5 out of 6 to secure the second place prize of $150. Noah Zucker and Jim Ferraiuolo scored 3 out of 6, winning a class prize of $50 each, while Peiyu Shi, Eric Vader Weele, and Dmitriy Guller scored 4 out of 6 to win $33.33 each.
The Marshall Premier Under 2000 on September 8 had 59 players registered and was won by Andrew Colwell, who scored 4.5 out of 5 to win the $984 first place prize. Justin Dalhouse scored 4 out of 5 to win the 2nd place prize of $394. Marco Ciacci scored 3.5 points, winning a class prize of $295, while Ari Hoffman also won a $295 class prize for his 2.5 out of 5 score, while Henry Mingzhe Li and Shawn Jiang won classes prizes of $123 each for their 2 out of 5 performance.
The Marshall Premier FIDE Open on September 8 had 41 players registered and was won by Bryan Lin and Josiah Stearman, who scored 4.5 out of 5 to win $729.50 each. Chenxuan Ling, Luc Hoffman, and Terry Huang scored 3 out of 5 to share in a class prize, winning $97.33 each.
The Rated Beginner Open on September 8 had 43 players registered and was won by the following 5 players, who scored a perfect 3 out of 3 to win $102.60 each: Jayson Hu, Arthur Luetkemeyer, Oliver Liu, Joseph Fermin, and William Pelak.
The Morning Masters on September 7 had 10 players registered and was won by Chase Knowles, who scored a perfect 3 out of 3 to win the $68 first place prize. Second place went to Paul Schepel, who scored 2.5 out of 3 to win $45.
The Under 2000 Morning Action on September 7 had a huge turnout, with 56 players registered. It concluded with the following 6 players earning $81.67 each for their perfect 3 out of 3 score: Isaac N Lui, Marshall Kaiser, Joseph Otero, Noe Solorio Valderrama, Mason Welch, and Lucas Fugate. The following 4 players earned $52.50 as a class prize for their 2 out of 4 performance: Eugene Bang, Akira Endo, Alexander Rosenberg, and Zack Aronov.
The Wesley Hellner Action on September 5 had 46 players registered and was won by Vladimir Bugayev and Jay Bonin who both scored a perfect 4 out of 4 to win $141 each. Qian Qian finished with 3.5 points, winning an $85 prize, while Elijah Gerson also won an $85 class prize for his 3 out of 4 score. The following four players won $21.25 for their 3 out of 4 performance: Levi Kalani Alexa Fogo Esquivel, Andrew Colwell, Mubassar Uddin, and Daniel Johnston.
The Labor Day Action on September 2 had 41 players registered and was won by Michael Ocido and Bryan Weisz, who scored 5 out of 6 to win $205.50 each. Sasha Schaefer, Noe Solorio Valderrama, and Alec Hyunmook Choi scored 4.5 points to win $86 each, while Owen Mak and Arlo Joshua Scherr won a class prize of $51.50 each for their 3 out of 4 performance.
The Monday Night Action on September 2 had 18 chess players registered to play, and was won by Bryan Weisz who scored a perfect 4 out of 4 to win the $68 first place prize. It was Joseph Otero who finished in clear second, winning $45 for his 3 out of 4 score, while the following 5 players won $20.40 each for their 2.5 out of 4 score:Nicolas Marchese, Nathan Peyton, Travis Henry-Reid, William Aepli, and Nune Melikian.
The Sunday Game 50 Under 1600 on September 1 had 22 players registered and was won by Trinity Tan and John Mekus, who scored 3.5 out of 4 to win $105 each, and Hiroki Winter was awarded a class prize of $66 for a 3 out of 4 performance.
The Rated Beginner Open on September 1 had 37 players registered and was won by William Kelly, Brett Harvey, Christian Dittmeier and Robert Johnson who scored a perfect 3 out of 3 to win $115.75 each.
The Sunday Game 50 Open on September 1 had 18 players registered and was won by Harper Wallace, who scored a perfect 4 out of 4 score to win the $108 first place prize. Maximillian Mills-Wren and Mikhail Kobanko scored 3 out of 4 to win $36 each, while Daisy Yuen and Laasya Mada scored 2.5 out of 4 to win $27 each.
The Morning Masters on August 31 had 7 players registered and was won by Elliot Goodrich and Sasha Schaefer who scored 2 out of 3 to win $44 each.
The Saturday Game 50 Under 1800 on August 31 had 26 players registered and was won by Dante Mayeno, who scored a perfect 4 out of 4 score to win the $156 first place prize. There was a 6-way tie for the remaining prize funds, with the following players earning $30.33 for their 3 out of 4 score: Winston Ruiying Chen, Nova Travis, Sourya Gurram, Maximilian Almers, Manish Suthar, and Luoxi Lin.
The Under 2000 Morning Action on August 31 had 28 players registered and was won by Joseph Otero and Jayden Feng, who scored a perfect 3 out of 3 to win $118.50 each. Mattingly Taveras also scored 2 points to win a class prize of $102.
The Saturday Game 50 Open on August 31 had 16 players registered and was won by Thomas Knoff, who scored an impressive 3.5 out of 4 to win the $90 first place prize. Jayden Feng and Jordy Leon scored 3 out of 4 each to win $52.50.
The Friday Rapid on August 30 had 22 players registered and was won by Dominic Paragua, who scored a perfect 4 out of 4 to win the $110 first place prize. There were 4 players who finished with 3 points, earning $27.75 each: Hema Vikas, Wan Qin Li, Harper Wallace, and Jeremy Graham. The following 5 players shared in a class prize, earning $11.20 each for their 2 out of 4 score: Matt Schwartz, Abraham Centeno, Raymond Leu, Jacob Bleiberg, and Emileo Martinez.
We look forward to seeing you at the club soon!
Games from the Marshall Labor Day Invitational, by IM Aleksandr Ostrovskiy
The penultimate round matchup between IMs Robert Shlyakhtenko and KyronGriffith was poised to be a slugfest not only as a battle between the tournament leaders, but as a battle to secure a coveted Grandmaster norm! IM Kyron was the leader with 5.5/7 (requiring 1.5/2 for his norm) but after a smooth win over GM Mark Paragua, IM Robert stood at an undefeated 5/7 and needed to score 2-0 for his norm.
You can play through the games with annotations here.
Shlyakhtenko, Robert v. Griffith, Kyron Marshall Labor Day Invitational 2024
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 e6 The Semi-Slav variation was an interesting choice for IM Kyron as he was seemingly in a position where a draw would be a reasonable result. Nevertheless the Semi-Slav can lead to very complex lines such as the Botvinnik Variation or the Anti-Moscow Gambit... which of these exciting lines would White choose in the must win game?
5. Qd3 IM Robert goes for a sideline electing to avoid any gambits and defending the c4 pawn (5. Bg5 Leads to the aforementioned complicated lines such as after dxc4 (5... h6 6. Bh4 dxc4 7. e4 g5 8. Bg3 b5 9. Be2 The Anti-Moscow Gambit where Black has collected a pawn at the cost of structural weaknesses.) 6. e4 b5 7. e5 h6 8.Bh4 g5 9. Nxg5 hxg5 10. Bxg5 Nbd7 The famous Botvinnik Semi-Slav with wildly complicated lines that have been analyzed exhaustively till the 40th move) (5. e3 Another main line when after Nbd7 6. Qc2 The Anti-Meran variation. Recently GM Christopher Yoo won a crushing game after (6. Bd3 dxc4 7. Bxc4 b5 The Meran Variation}) 6... Bd6 7. g4 in the final round of the US Junior Closed Championship to become the US Junior Champion)
5... dxc4 6. Qxc4 b5 The most principled approach from Black is to gain tempi against the wayward Queen, just as the basics taught us
7. Qd3 a6 Preparing to challenge White's center with the ..c5 push 8. g4
Although I had seen this idea before I was still surprised to see that it had become firmly established as White's main line in the position! Nevertheless, it is the top choice of the engines. Of course nowadays it is not unusual to see flank pushes of h4 or g4 becoming fashionable in a variety of openings. As Black has mostly been playing with pawns instead of developing in the opening, White finds a radical way to try to create a fight to make use of the dynamic advantage. (8. e4 The old move was giving White nothing to play for after c5 9. dxc5 Bxc5 10. Qxd8+ Kxd8 There is no inconvenience with the Black king and the minor pieces will develop effortlessly.)
8... c5 A flank attack is best met by a strike in the center! Despite the rarity of the 5. Qd3 variation we'll see the IM Kyron is excellently prepared and with good reason... (8... Nxg4 is the most common when White can secure long term compensation 9. Rg1 Nf6 10. Bf4 Bb7 11. e4 Nbd7 12. O-O-O White is controlling the center and Black is finding difficulty developing due to the pressure on the g-file. The following game was an impressive demonstration of White's long term chances: g6 13. e5 Nd5 14. Nxd5 cxd5 {It may seem that Black has profitably closed the position to reduce the danger to his King, but now the Bb7 is hopelessly passive and there is no ..c5 break. The extra pawn is not felt at all 15. Kb1 b4 16. h4 Bc6 17. Ng5 Bb5 18. Qf3 Qe7 19. Bd2 Bxf1 20. Rdxf1 a5 21. h5 Nb6 22. Rc1 h6 23. hxg6 hxg5 24. Bxg5 Qd7 25. Bf6 Rg8 26. g7 Rc8 27. gxf8=Q+ Rxf8 28. b3 Qb7 29. Qd3 Kd7 30. Qb5+ Rc6 31. Rc5 Rfc8 32. Rgc1 R8c7 33. Ka1 a4 34. Bd8 {1-0 (34) Xue,H (2335)-Mchedlishvili,M (2553) Dubai 2023})
9. g5 c4 Gaining space and establishing a long-term Queenside majority
10. Qe3 Nd5 11. Nxd5 Qxd5 12. Bg2 Bb4+ (12... Bb7 Was played in 2021 against... Robert! This game was actually played in our first ever NYC Norms RR and I was present to observe it as well. Robert ended up securing an IM norm in the event on his way to the title so he certainly had pleasant memories of utilizing the g4 idea before. However it can be inferred that the presence of this singular game in the databases allowed IM Kyron to potentially expect the idea...such is preparation nowadays! 13. O-O Be7 14. b3 cxb3 15. axb3 O-O 16. Bd2 Qd6 17. Rfc1 Nd7 18. Qf4 Bd5 19.Qxd6 Bxd6 20. Ne1 Bxg2 21. Kxg2 Nb8 22. Nd3 Ra7 23. Ba5 Be7 24. f4 with positional domination that was converted in: 1-0 (48) Shlyakhtenko,R (2361)-Prilleltensky,M (2189) New York 2021)
13. Kf1 It might look strange to give up castling rights but White doesn't want to waste time on trading pieces with Bd2. Instead the Kf1 will defend the Bg2 and the h1 Rook can find activity after a subsequent h4 push
13…Bb7 14. h4 Qf5 15. h5 A multipurpose move that strives to gain space, create weaknesses and activate the Rh1 (15. a3 was played in the infamous 2022 Hangzhou Chinese tournament that allowed Ding Liren to reach the activity threshold necessary to qualify to the Candidates Tournament before ultimately becoming the World Champion! Bd6 16. h5 Nd7 17. h6 {½- (36) ½ (36) Li,D (2579)-Ding,L (2799) Hangzhou 2022})
15... Nd7 16. h6 IM Robert is deeply familiar with the ideas of the position; he still had 1:30 on the clock here! 16…g6
Natural but White has the long term advantage now on the Kingside. In the endgames the h7 pawn can be a major liability for Black (16... Rg8 was seen in a correspondence game which continued: 17. a3 Be7 18. Bd2 gxh6 19. Rxh6 The situation is complex but Black's piece activity handily compensates any pawn structure defects Rd8 20. Rh2 Nb6 {½- (32) ½ (32) Cirulis,I (2287) -Susla,V (2262) LSS email 2023})
17. Qf4 Robert fails to properly assess the dynamic situation; it was better to preserve queens on the board as Black's queen can be tactically vulnerable to getting trapped! (17. Bd2 Would've been strong, a sample idea is Be7 18. Rh4 O-O (18... Nb6 19. d5 Nxd5 20. Qd4 19. d5 Bxd5 (19... Qxd5 20. Ne1 20. Qc3 f6 21. Bh3 Trapping the Qf5!)
17... Qxf4 18. Bxf4 Ke7 19. Ne5 Bxg2+ 20. Kxg2 Rhc8 Black will rely on the Queenside pawn majority to create play
21. Ng4 Bd6 22. Kf3 (22. Bxd6+ Kxd6 23. Rh3 Would've been an interesting approach from White to stall Black's c3 push while activating the Rook) 22... c3
While IM Robert is hoping to create play in the center/Kingside utilizing his pawn majority, IM Kyron strikes first on the Queenside and infilatrates with his rooks. Although the engine claims equality it feels like Black's moves are easier to find
23. bxc3 Rxc3+ 24. e3 Rac8 Dominating the sole open file. 25. Bxd6+ Kxd6 26. Rhb1 R8c4 Preparing b4-a5, very consistent play 27. Rb3 b4 28. Rxc3 Rxc3 29. Ke4 a5 Very direct play from IM Kyron who utilizes his Queenside trumps
30. Rb1 White activates the rook at the cost of allowing a dangerous passer
30…Rc2 31. a3 bxa3 32. Rb5 a4 33. Rb4 a2 34. Rxa4 Rd2 A good practical decision to prevent Kd3. White has the a2 pawn under control for now but both his King and Knight are frozen out of Queenside participation.
35. f4 A natural move for White... but it loses! White undoubtedly wanted to remove the f2 pawn from harm before playing Ne5/Nf6. As we'll see the shocking downside is that the White king is now trapped in a key variation! (35. Ra6+ I'm sure there's a lot more reliable setup for White to choose but I found the following line entertaining: Kc7 36. f3 Kb7 37. Ra3 White has resources of Nf6/Ne5/Ke5 to get counterplay if Black tries to advance the King or Knight to help the a2 pawn but it's not so easy, White must be very precise. For example Nb6 38. Ne5 Nd5 39. Nxf7 Re2 40. Nd6+ Kb6 41. Nc4+ Kb5 42. Kd3 Rg2 43. Ra5+ Kb4 44. Ra6 Nc3 45. Rb6+ Nb5 46. Ra6 Kb3 47. Na5+ Kb2 48. Nc4+ Kc1 49. f4 Rc2 50. Ke4 Kb1 51.Nb6 a1=Q 52. Rxa1+ Kxa1 53. Ke5 And apparently this endgame is all 0.00!)
35... Kc6 Suddenly the Black king is coming to support the a2 pawn. White hadn't missed it though and was relying on:
36. Ne5+ Kb5 I was observing the game in person and thought at first White was winning.. obviously IM Robert went for this position assuming the same thing but then we both realized the nasty trap that IM Kyron had set!
37. Ra3 IM Robert thought down to his final minutes but there is no saving the game as he played out the last moves through inertia. (37. Rxa2 {White was relying on this resource f5+ This in between move is the point and why White's f4 push was so disastrous! (37... Rxa2 38. Nxd7 Would be winning for White!) 38. gxf6 (38. Kf3 Nxe5+ 39. fxe5 Rxa2) 38... Nxf6+ 39. Kf3 Rxa2) 37... f5+ 38. gxf6 Nxf6+ 39. Kf3 Nd5 40. Nxg6 Kb4 41. Ra7 Nc3 42. Rb7+ Nb5 43. Ne5 a1=Q
A very high quality win for Kyron which was a well deserved way to crown his 5th victory and his 2nd GM Norm. For fans of Kramnik and accuracy scores, Chess.com gave him a 97.3% accuracy. The game was also a great demonstration of Kyron's strengths in the event which propelled him to his norm: 1. Strong preparation 2. Great practical decision making 3. Accurate Calculation Credit must also be given to IM Robert who came to fight with a very interesting approach in what was no doubt a difficult loss. Nevertheless he was able to bounce back with a final round victory over IM Levy "GothamChess" Rozman to finish 6/9 and in shared 2nd place with GM Oliver Barbosa 0-1
Narayanan, Samrug v. Putnam, Liam Marshall Labor Day Invitational 2024
{FM Samrug Narayanan came into the event in great form as he was fresh off a silver medal finish at the North American Juniors, earning his 2nd IM norm in the process. He ultimately completed all the requirements for the IM title in event by earning his 3rd norm and crossing the 2400 rating barrier! His 5.5/9 performance was powered by a strong performance with the White pieces, scoring 4/5 with smooth victories. His winning ways started against the very strong junior IM-elect Liam Putnam in round 4.
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 Bc5 The Arkhangelsk (or the "Archangel" as it is called now) is a very popular modern choice against the Ruy Lopez for Black. Compared to some of the older ways of navigating the "Spanish Torture" Black seeks active play with theory developing in very forceful directions owing to the increased strength of recent engines.
7. c3 White fights for the center in classic formation and uses the ..Bc5 as piñata for the d4 break. 7…d6 8. d4 Bb6 Black is banking on piece pressure against White's steamroller center.
9. a4 Rb8 10. a5 The modern main line which has replaced the older attempt of 10. axb5 (10. axb5 axb5 11. Na3 O-O 12. Nxb5 And Black has proven to have adequate counterplay starting with Bg4 13. Bc2 Bxf3 14. gxf3 Nh5
10... Ba7 (10... Nxa5 11. Rxa5 The tactical justification for White's pawn push 11…Bxa5 12. dxe5 Nxe4 (12... dxe5 13. Qxd8+ Kxd8 14. Nxe5) 13. Qd5 Be6 14. Qxe4 Bxb3 15. Nd4)
11. h3 Bb7 A very concrete idea for Black to rapidly develop. (11... O-O 12. Be3 Ra8 13. Nbd2 Can lead to a more strategic battle where White tries to maintain control of the center against Black's pressure.)
12. Re1 (12. Be3 One example of the type of memorization that is required here: Nxe4 13. d5 Bxe3 14. dxc6 Nxf2 15. Qe2 Nxh3+ 16. Kh1 Nf2+ 17. Rxf2 Bxf2 18. Qxf2 Bxc6 19. Nxe5 Bxg2+ 20. Kg1 Qf6 21. Nxf7 Qxf2+ 22. Kxf2 Rf8 23. Kxg2 Rxf7 24. Bxf7+ Kxf7 25. Nd2 {½- (93) ½ (93) Yoo,C (2583)-Mishra,A (2626) Saint Louis 2024})
12... O-O 13. Be3 exd4 14. cxd4 Nb4 15. Nc3 c5
It seems like the players were playing more on their own at this point, relying on typical and natural ideas (15... Bxe4 GM Christopher Yoo grabbed the pawn vs GM Dariusz Swiercz in the US Championship and got away with it after} 16. Nxe4 Nxe4 17. d5 Bc5 18. Bd4 Re8 19. Re3 Qd7 20. Rc1 Re7 21. Qe2 Rbe8 {0-1 (33) Swiercz,D (2652)-Yoo,C (2563) Saint Louis 2022})
16. dxc5 dxc5 17. e5 The battle lines are being set. White is carving out files and diagonals in the center/kingside while Black has a menacing Queenside majority. Whoever can get their play going first will be on top
17…Nfd5 18. Nxd5 Bxd5 19. Bxd5 Qxd5 20. Qe2 Rbd8 21. Rad1 Qe4 This natural active move leads to big problems for Black and FM Samrug plays with ultimate precision. (21... Qe6 Was preferable to prevent Rd6 22. Bg5 Rxd1 23. Rxd1 Bb8 Preventing Rd8 and preparing to play c4-Nd3 with advantage. White is just in time with 24. Be3 Qe7 25. Qd2 c4 26. Bg5 Qc5 27. Be3 Qe7 28. Bg5)
22. Rd6 Preparing to invade via the d-file 22…Rxd6 IM-elect Liam goes for the critical approach and seeks to prove the advanced pawn will be a weakness. Unfortunately for him this runs into a fantastic refutation. (22... Bb8 One of the the difficult but necessary choices for Black 23. Rxd8 Rxd8 24.Bxc5 Qxe2 25. Rxe2 Nc6 Despite the pawn disadvantage Black will get sufficient activity and target the a5/e5 pawns.)
23. exd6 Rd8 24. Ng5 Qd3 25. Bd4 Exploiting Black's back rank just like the puzzle books. (25. Qg4 {Strictly speaking 25. Bd4 was not the only winning move, there was also an engine-win here after} Qxd6 26. Bf4 Qd5 27. Bc7 {luring} Rf8 28. Be5 Nd3 (28... f6 29. Bxf6 Rxf6 30. Re8+ Rf8 31. Ne6) 29. Nxh7)
25... Qxe2 26. Rxe2 f6 (26... cxd4 27. d7 Rf8 (27... Kf8 28. Nxh7+ 28. Re8 Nc6 29. Nxh7 Perhaps this wonderful point was missed by Black)
27. d7 Kf8 28. Ne6+ Ke7 29. Nxd8+ Kxd8 30. Bc3 Nd5 31. Re8+ Kxd7 32. Ra8 1-0
Griffith, Kyron v. Putnam, Liam Marshall Labor Day Invitational 2024
IM Kyron Griffith notched an impressive 5 victories on his way to securing his GM norm with the necessary 7/9 score. His preparation and energetic play was impressive in multiple victories including the following Sicilian brawl.
1.e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd3 A relatively rare alternative to the main 7. Qd2 where I can't pretend to know all the differences. (7. Qd2 a6 8. O-O-O Bd7 9. f4 Be7 10. Nf3 b5 11. Bxf6 gxf6 12. f5 A sample line that brings about the typical Rauzer structure: Black has the bishop pair but White puts the squeeze on the Kingside structure hoping to induce ..e5 to create permanent structural weaknesses)
7... Bd7 8.O-O-O a6 9. f4 Be7 10. Nf3 Qa5 11. Kb1 Rc8 12. Bxf6
Improving on a recent game IM-elect Liam played in the Summer edition of the NYC Norms GM event (12. Qd2 O-O 13. Qe1 {Qd3-Qd2-Qe1 certainly cannot be the right approach for White! Nb4 Black correctly sensed the moment to strike after White's unconfident play 14. a3 Nxc2 15. Kxc2 Ba4+ 16. Kb1 {½- (47) ½ (47) Lohia,S (2365)-Putnam, L (2376) New York 2024} Rxc3 Would've been powerful to continue the initiative after. 17. bxc3 Bxd1 18. Qxd1 Nxe4 19. Qd4 Nxg5 20.fxg5 d5
12... gxf6 13. Qe3 b5 14. Bd3 Nb4 15. a3 Nxd3 16. Rxd3 b4 17. axb4 Qxb4 Black's play has been very natural and he has successfully opened up more files on the Queenside to attack. However the lack of piece support turns out to make it difficult to create any threats.
18. Rhd1 O-O Black is aiming to hide the King on h8 while getting the f8 rook to support the attack but it turns out to be too slow in the face of pointed play by White. (18... Rb8 19. b3 a5 is consistent to attack although after (19...Rb7 A subtle idea against White's e5 push 20. e5 fxe5 {Now there's no Nxe5 21. fxe5 d5) 20. e5 a4 (20... fxe5 21. Nxe5 21. Ne4 White is defending well along the 3rd rank while edging closer to Black's king)
19. e5 d5 20. f5 Preparing the incursion of the White Queen
20…Rb8 21. b3 Rfc8 22. Nd4 Kh8 23. Na2 Qb6 (23... Qa3 May have been a better practical try. 24. Qh6 Rxc2 25. Nxc2 Rxb3+ Trying to keep things messy although White's King still escapes)
24. Qh6 Qd8 25. exf6 Qf8 26. Qh4 Bd6 27. Rh3 Qg8 28. Rdd3 Simple but still very effective, a double rook lift to bring all the pieces into attack 28…Rc4 29. Rdg3 Bxg3 30. Rxg3 Rcc8 31. Rxg8+ Rxg8 32. fxe6 Bxe6 33. Nxe6 fxe6 34. f7 Rg6 35. Qe7 1-0
Putnam, Liam v. Barbosa, Oliver Marshall Labor Day Invitational 2024
Although the "heroes" of the GM A section were the norm earners Kyron and Samrug; there were still plenty of interesting games played by all the players. For example the following positional domination by IM-elect Liam Putnam against the very solid and strong GM Oliver Barbosa: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. O-O d6 6. c3 O-O 7. Nbd2 a6 8. Bxc6 bxc6 9. Qc2 Ba7 Unfortunately for GM Oliver this natural retreat dooms his bishop for a lot of suffering. Instead a better continuation would've been: (9... Re8 10. d4 exd4 11. cxd4 Bb6 We'll see this is a better square for the bishop 12. Re1 c5 13. d5 Bg4 14. b3 Ba5 Where Black's pieces enjoy much freer prospects compared to the game)
10. d4 exd4 11. cxd4 c5 12. d5 Re8 13. Re1 Bb7 14. Nc4 c6 15. e5 dxe5 16. d6
A thematic but aesthetic breakthrough. Black's poor bishops are suffocating.16…Nd5 17. Rxe5 f6 18. Rxe8+ Qxe8 19. Bd2 Qd7 20. Re1 Re8 21. h3 Bc8 22. Qb3 Kf8 23. Ba5 Qf7 24. Rxe8+ Kxe8 25. Qc2 Qg6 26. Qe2+ Kf8 27. Bb6 Qf7 (27... Bxb6 This moment was arguably the only chance for GM Oliver to get into the game.. requiring him to find a miracle engine concept: 28. Nxb6 Bxh3 29. Nh4 Qg4 30. d7 Qxe2 31. d8=Q+ Kf7 32. Nxd5 Qd1+ 33. Kh2 Qxd5 34. Qxd5+ cxd5 35. Kxh3 Ke6 And Black holds the piece down the endgame with active central play!) 28. Bxa7 Qxa7 29. Qe4 g6 30. Ne3 Qb7 31. Nd2 Bf5 32.Nxf5 gxf5 33. Qe6 Qxb2 34. d7 Qb8 35. Qxc6 1-0
Shlyakhtenko, Robert v. Paragua, Mark Marshall Labor Day Invitational 2024
1. c4 e6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 Bb4 The Accelerated Ragozin has been tried a lot lately as a dynamic attempt for Black. GM Mark Paragua is coming for a fight after starting with a strong 4/5 score.
6. e3 h6 7. Bh4 g5 8. Bg3 Ne4 9. a3 (9. Qc2 was the continuation of the legendary final round game at the 2024 Toronto Candidates 9…h5 10. f3 Nxg3 11. hxg3 Be6 12. Bd3 c6 13.O-O-O Nd7 ½- (109) ½ (109) Caruana,F (2803)-Nepomniachtchi,I (2758) Toronto 2024)
9... Bxc3+ 10. bxc3 h5 11. f3 Nxg3 12. hxg3 Qe7 13. Ra2
Clever preparation or over the board inspiration? I have seen IM Robert play the 4.f3 variation of the Nimzo-Indian many times where such Rook swings are common place. Perhaps he was also feeling inspired by the recent amazing win by Nepomniachtchi against Giri at the Sinquefield Cup? :) (13. Kf2 Nd7 14. Bd3 Nf6 15. Qa4+ Bd7 16. Qb4 b6 17. Ne2 c5 18. Qb2 c4 19. Bc2 O-O-O {0-1 (36) Yu,Y (2735)-Le,Q (2728) Biel 2023})
13... Nd7 14. Bd3 Nf6 15. Qb1 O-O A very brave decision to castle after the g5+h5 pushes that does not go unpunished (15... b6 Seems more prudent)
16. Qc1 Qd6 17. e4 Qxg3+ 18. Rf2 Qf4 Even the Queen trade won't help Black stop the attack.
19. Qxf4 gxf4 20. e5 Ne8 21. Ne2 f6 22. Nxf4 fxe5 23. Ng6 Rf6 24. dxe5 Rb6 25. Rxh5 Be6 26. f4 Bf7 27. Rg5 Rb3 28. f5 Rxc3 29. f6 Rxa3 30. Rf3 Ra1+ 31. Kf2 Ra2+ 32. Kg1 1-0
IM Aleksandr Ostrovskiy, Marshall Spectator Contributor
Across the Table, with Zim Pickens
I began playing chess with my dad when I was five or six. I still remember part of that first game, when I trapped a knight. (I think maybe he let me.) Soon after that, my grandmother got us a chess computer that I played against over and over. This was before the days of the internet, so it was a board where you pressed the piece on the square to register moves. It looked like this:
So, I mainly learned chess by playing with my dad and against that computer. Eventually, my dad and I joined the Burlington Chess Club, a group that met every Thursday evening and had some very strong players.
I grew up in Vermont, but I used to come down to New York to visit family. I loved playing chess in Washington Square Park during those visits. So, I've long associated my time in the city with a chance to play more chess. I just started a job at a magazine on 5th Ave. and 16th St. I knew I'd be down here for one week a month, so I was thrilled when I realized how close the club is to my new office. I've been a member of the Marshall Chess Club for just one week.
My favorite opening trap is in the Sämisch, played as white. I don't want to go into all the details—in case I get a chance to use it at the club!—but it involves luring a black knight towards the center of the board, and then hoping that its escape square gets blocked by the black bishop on d7.
I've yet to play a game at the Club, but my first tournament will be today (9/12). I did play a lot of tournaments throughout my high school years, but I have not played much chess since that point. So, even though the game is in my bones, I think I'll be pretty rusty. Let's see how things go.
One surprising fact is that I defeated GM Hikaru Nakamura in a tournament game in Saratoga! Although, to be fair, I should mention that he was not a grandmaster at the time. Truth be known, he was a little kid. I had a clear sense that he would be much better than me quite soon—so I'm glad I got that game in when I did.
Zim Pickens, Marshall Chess Club Member
Chess Toons
En Passant
GM Arjun Erigaisi and India go into the rest day of the 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad on perfect scores after Arjun's round-six win over GM Sanan Sjugirov helped India to a 3-1 victory over Hungary. That meant the sole lead as China only drew with Vietnam after GM Liem Le beat World Champion Ding Liren on demand. GMs Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana fell just short in their own must-win games, so that Norway lost to Iran, while the top seeds from the U.S. only drew with Romania.
Round 4 of the Chess Olympiad in Budapest brought two major upsets: Ukraine stunned the top-seeded United States, with Vasyl Ivanchuk's victory over Wesley So securing the crucial win, while Vietnam defeated defending champions Uzbekistan in a hard-fought match.
A group of 13 Ukrainian chess players has sent a letter to the International Chess Federation (FIDE), urging the continued ban on Russian and Belarusian players from competitions due to the ongoing invasion of Ukraine…Their appeal comes ahead of the FIDE General Assembly on September 22 in Budapest, where the assembly is set to consider the possibility of lifting the ban imposed on Russian and Belarusian players after February 2022.
For the first time ever, a team from Vanuatu will compete at an international chess competition in Budapest, Hungary, starting next week. The newly formed Vanuatu Chess Federation (VCF) will be sending both a men’s and women’s team to the 45th Chess Olympiad which runs from September 10 to 23.
Problems, Problems, curated by Alexander George
S. Loyd, 1868
White to draw
Last issue, we saw a knight dueling against two pawns. Here, in this little humorous composition, we have a bishop contending with eight pawns!
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Last issue’s puzzle, F. Philidor, source unknown
Solution to Philidor: 1.Ne3 a3 2.Nd5 f1=Q 3.Nc7+ Kf8 4.e7+ Kg7 5.e8=Q Qf8+ 6.Qxf8+ Kxf8 7.Ne6+ draw.
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Alexander George
Editor's Note
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Enjoy, and thanks for reading!
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