The Marshall Spectator
October 15, 2025
In This Issue: From The Skittles Room Endgame Corner, by IM Silas Esben Lund Frequently Asked Questions, by Greg Keener 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 weekend, we held our 2nd annual Rapid and Blitz Championships, and both events were once again well attended and a huge success, concluding with drinks and pizza for all participants.
Congratulations to IM Nico Chasin, who won the Rapid event and is the 2025 Marshall Chess Club Rapid Champion, as well as IM Mykola Bortnyk, who won the Blitz event and is the 2025 Marshall Chess Club Blitz Champion. These two events kick off our season of championships, and we look forward to more high-stakes events over the next couple of months.
We also have our next camp on Monday, October 20th, which will feature a simul with MCC Rapid Champion IM Nico Chasin! Here is the link to register.
As Halloween approaches, we are looking forward to a spooky night of puzzle solving on October 28, for our annual Halloween Puzzle Contest! Join us for a night of Halloween puzzles and studies, where the ghosts of study composers past will be in the room. Participants will have the opportunity to challenge themselves in one of two formats, with special prizes from the Marshall’s bookstore. Costumes are optional, but there will be an award for the best one of the night.
Two sections: 1) IRL Puzzle Rush - 6-7pm - Kids only, 2) Studies - 7:30-8:30pm - Adults only
Puzzle/Study Skill Level: 1600-2000 (players below this rating range are also allowed to register). Registration: Free (members only)
Prizes: 1st-3rd in each section, choice of book from Marshall bookstore inventory.
Best Costume Award: free entry into next tournament.
For the IRL Puzzle Rush section, each participant will have 5 min alone in the main hall (supervised by a TD) to solve as many puzzles as possible. First move is sufficient. Written answers only, no touching the pieces :)
For the Studies section, all participants are allowed to be in the playing hall together for 1 hour. No kibitzing during solving period.
Looking further ahead on the calendar, please save the following dates for our upcoming championships. You can register for these special events here.
We also have the Mona Karff Memorial Women’s Championship, November 7-9 with $5,000 in prizes and our Senior Championship, November 7-9. Be sure to register in advance for these events as they are likely to fill up quickly.
And of course, our 109th annual Edward Lasker Memorial Marshall Chess Club Championship, December 18-21. With $10,000 in prizes, this event is sure to be full of strong players battling for the title of club champion.
Looking back over the last two weeks, we have had a plethora of events for our members to participate in.
The Sunday Night Action on October 12 had 12 players registered and was won by NM Bryan Weisz who scored 3.5 out of 4 to win the $75 first place prize, while William Aepli, Alvin Lou, and Jeffrey Ho scored 2.5 out of 4 to win $42 each, and the following players finished with a score of 2 points to win $9.50 each: Sergei Zakharov, Cameron Hull, Eli Roane, and Mendel Lemmer.
The 2025 MCC Blitz Championship on October 12 had 45 players registered and was won by IM Mykola Bortnyk, who scored a near-perfect 8 out of 9 to win the $1000 first-place prize and the title of 2025 Marshall Chess Club Blitz Champion. GM Mark Paragua scored 7.5 out of 9 to win $500, and GM Maxim Dlugy scored 7 out of 9 to win $250. FM Leif Pressman and Alan Hiroshi Morris-Suzuki scored 6 out of 9 to win $125 each.
The Rated Beginner Open on October 12 had 33 players registered and was won by Angelina Cheng, Joel Ollivierre, Aidan K Young, and Aidan Wang.
The Morning Masters on October 11 had 6 players registered and was won by GM Michael Rohde who scored a perfect 3 out of 3 to win $45, while Mike Ching scored 2 out of 3 to win $30.
The Under 2000 Morning Action on October 11 had 58 players registered and was won by Kenny T Bollin, Aidan Amin, Terrance Zeng, and Carlo He who scored 3 out of 3 to win $127 each, while the following players shared in a class prize, winning $31.14 for their 2 out of 3 score: Rayyan Sayeed, Aadi Doshi, Ethan Guo, Jacky Zheng, Kevin Liam Collins, Ridhan Venkatesan, and Wythe Wang.
The 2025 MCC Rapid Championship on October 11 had 36 players registered and was won by IM Nico Chasin, who scored a near-perfect 6 out of 7 to win the $700 first-place prize and the title of 2025 Marshall Chess Club Rapid Champion. IM Mykola Bortnyk scored 5.5 out of 7 to win $350, while GM Maxim Dlugy, IM Tanitoluwa Adewumi and FM Bryan Lin scored 5 out of 7 to win $58.33 each. Finally, Luis Ulloa and Wan Qin Li shared in the remaining prize funds winning $87.50 each for their 3.5 out of 7 performance.
The Women & Girls’ Open on October 10 had 5 players registered and was won by Dhruthi Rao, who scored a perfect 3 out of 3 to win the $30 first-place prize. Shruthi Rao and Christy Zeng won $7.50 each for their 2 out of 3 score.
The FIDE Blitz on October 10 had 54 players registered and was won by IM Nico Chasin and IM Tanitoluwa Adewumi who scored 7.5 out of 9 to win $195 each, while the following players $65 each for their performance: Santhosh Ayyappan, Leandro Nicols Ulloa, Wan Qin Li, Joseph De Villa
The Thursday Action on October 9 had 31 players registered and was won GM Michael Rohde, IM Jay Bonin, and Sasha Kagle, who scored 3.5 out of 4 to win $81.67 each. Hoang Huynh, Kenneth Fernandez, and Travis Patay scored 3 out of 4 to win $19 each. The following players won $11.40 each for their 2 out of 4 score: Akeil Williams, Joseph De Villa, Jeremy Graham, Lane Moore, Travis Henry-Reid, and Carlos Macher.
The Weekly Under 2200 on October 8 had 34 players registered and was won by Aleksandr Gutnik who scored a near-perfect 5.5 out of 6 to win the $330 first-place prize. Jesse Sun came in clear second place, scoring 4.5 points to win $220, while Marco Ramdas won a $110 class prize for scoring 4 out of 6. Anthony Levin and Sarathi Ray won $55 each for their 4 out of 6 score, while the following players won $18.33 each for their 3-point performance: Anjuy Fujita, Rohit Jagga, and Ruari Morrison.
The Weekly Under 1600 on October 8 had 28 players registered and was won by Aaron Brown and Trevor Craig Lanford, who scored a near-perfect 5 out of 6 to win $187 each, while Garry Portugal scored 4.5 out of 6 to win $94. The following players won $23.50 each for their 3 out of 6 score: Kevin Liam Collins, Caleb Rakestraw-Morn, Aidan Kassir, and Stephane Derveaux.
The Premier Under 2000 that concluded on October 5 had 45 players registered and was won by Noah Hsu who scored 4.5 out of 5 to win $750, while Eli Stern came in second place with 4 out of 5 to win $300. Scarlett Kong scored 3.5 out of 5 to win $225, and Shyra Nigam and Carolina Vasilatos shared in a class prize winning $112.50 each for their 2 out of 5 score. Gabriel Lin and Wythe Wang shared in the remaining prize funds, winning $94 each for their 1.5 out of 5 score.
The Premiere Open that concluded on October 5 had 50 players registered and was won by IM Kassa Korley, who scored 4.5 out of 5 to win the $1000 first-place prize. GM David Brodsky and FM Linxi Zhu scored 4 out of 5 to win $375 each, while the following players won $62.50 for their 3.5 out of 5 score: CM Carter Ho, CM Kevin Zhao, NM Elliot Goodrich, and Ethan Kozower.
The Rated Beginner Open on October 5 had 36 players registered and was won by Curtis Priester, Jason Cams, and Jayden Roh who scored 3 out of 3 to win $137.67 each.
The Under 2000 Morning Action on October 4 had an even 64 players registered and was won by the following players who scored a perfect 3 out of 3 score to win $93.33 each: Alec Hyunmook Choi, Dante Mayeno, Nikhil Shah, Kyle Clayton, Kenny T Bollin, and Anay Varma. Abeer Sethi and Meira Ramaswamy scored 2.5 out of 3 and shared in a class prize, winning $120 each.
The Morning Masters on October 4 had 9 players registered and was won by FM Alexander B King and GM Michael Rohde, who scored 2.5 out of 3 to win $56.50 each.
The After Game 50 on October 2 had 7 players registered and was won by Michael Wang who scored a perfect 2 out of 2 to win $42, while IM Justin Sarakar won $28 for his 1.5 out of 2 score. Peter Marston and Arthur Sebert won $10.50 each for their 1 out of 2 performance.
The Thursday Action on October 2 had 31 players registered and was won by GM Michael Rohde and Vladimir Bugayev, who scored 3.5 out of 4 to win $91 each, while the following players won $27.50 for their respective performances: IM Liam Putnam, Aston Roberts, Hoang Huynh, Miguel Garcia, Kameliia Sharuda, and Leon Chu.
The Monday FIDE that concluded on September 29 had 27 players registered and was won by NM Bryan Weisz who scored 5 out of 6 to win $270 first place prize. Grant Xu scored 4.5 out of 6 to win the $180 second place prize, while Chase Knowles and Quan Anh Le scored 4 out of 6 to win $45 each. Leo Paas won a $90 class prize for his 3 out of 6 score, while Takki Tanaka and Stephen Hrop won $22.50 each for their 2.5 out of 6 performance.
The Monday Under 1800 that concluded on September 29 had 24 players registered and was won by Cameron Hull and Abhijith Venkat who scored 4.5 out of 6 to win $140 each. Yuvik N Umapathy and Jeffrey Ho scored 4 out of 6 to win $80 each, while Sydney Strauss and Thyge Knuhtsen scored 3 out of 6 to share in a class prize, winning $20 each.
The Sunday Quads on September 28 had 86 players registered. The following players won their quad and a $50 prize: Arhan Javeri, Grant Weyman, Lisa Sun, Omar Ibrahim, Alexandra Liu, Oliver Liu, Jude Badawi, Jacob Modzelewski, Arianna Lu, Nicholas Kan, Garry Portugal, Vladimir Chesbro, Kemar Lynch, Yotam Doron-Repa, and Sheldon Yu. The following players tied in their quad, winning $25 each for their performance: Lucas Lu, Winsley Wu, Phineas Weingarten, Isaac Noah Lui, Ian Singh, Eric Liu, Darren Wu, Dervin Kouyate, Mark Xu, and Amir Monir. Finally, the following players shared their prize three ways, winning $16.67 each: Carolina Vasilatos, Jacky Zheng, and Mateo Maurentt.
The Rated Beginner Open on September 28 had 33 players registered and was won by Jude Mahmoud, Christopher Sales, and Maximus Chesbro who scored a perfect 3 out of 3 to win $137.67 each.
The Under 2000 Morning Action on September 27 had 36 players registered and was won by Alec Hyunmook Choi, Gavin Liu, and Kenny T Bollin who scored a perfect 3 out of 3 to win $102.33 each, while the following 5 players won $26.40 each for their 2 out of 3 performance: Emileo Martinez, Carlos Macher, Anderson Chen, Hugh William Verrier, and Meira Ramaswamy.
The Morning Masters on September 27 had 5 players registered and was won by Wiliam Aepli who scored a perfect 3 out of 3 to win $38, while Evan Kauffmann and Jack Yang won $12.50 each for their 2 out of 3 score.
The Saturday Game 50 Under 1800 on September 27 had 38 players registered and was won by Sean Huang who scored a perfect 4 out of 4 to win the $228 first place prize. Kirk Jobe and Charlotte Chang won $133 each for their 3.5 out of 4 score.
The Saturday Game 50 Open on September 27 had 44 players registered and was won by IM Jay Bonin, who scored a perfect 4 out of 4 to win the $258 first-place prize. GM Michael A Rohde came in clear second place, scoring 3.5 out of 4 to win a $172 prize. Leandro Ulloa and Anthony Li won $64.50 each for their 3 out of 4 score.
We look forward to seeing you at the club soon!
Endgame Corner, by IM Silas Esben Lund
In this article, we shall once again deal with epaulette mates. This time, I have chosen positions that resemble a ‘normal’ endgame position. My favorite endgame studies are those that are closely connected to endgame theory. In the first position, White finds a creative way to deal with the exchange of his last pawn. In the second position, the composer has tried to create a similar idea, this time with knight instead of bishop. Try to solve the positions as exercises first, the solutions will be given later.
You can play through all positions with annotations here.
Exercise 1:
Exercise 1: White to move and win. 1-0
Exercise 2:
Exercise 2: White to move and win. 1-0
Solution to Exercise 1. 1. Bf5+ (1. Be4 Kxh4 2. Kf5 Kg3 3. Kg5 h4 Black plays h4-h3 and eliminates White’s last pawn.) 1... Kxh4 2. Bh3 g5 (Aiming to win the bishop but without being trapped on h4, backfires: 2... Kg5 3. Ke5 Kh6 4. Kf4 g5+ 5. Kg3 g4 6. Bxg4 hxg4 7. Kxg4 Due to the reserve tempo with the pawn, White is winning. Kg6 8. g3) 3. Kf5 g4 4. Kf4
The key idea: because of a looming Epaulette Mate, the bishop can be sacrificed on the h3-square. gxh3 (4... g3 5. Kf3 Kg5 6. Kxg3 wins slowly.) 5. g3# 1-0
Solution to Exercise 2
I will show the study in its full length. 1. Nd4 Kg6 (1... e1=Q 2. Nf3+ Kg6 3. h8=N+ is similar to the main continuation.) 2. h8=N+ This move slows Black down in his quest to exchange White’s last pawn. Kh7 (2... Kg5 3. Nxe2 Kh4 {doesn’t work due to: 4. Ng6+ Kxh3 5. Nef4+ Kg4 6. Ng2 h4 7. N2xh4
The pawn on g7 has not crossed the Troitzky Line, so White is able to checkmate in all four corners - and the win is therefore simply a matter of time (and the right technique!). In a later Endgame Corner-article, I plan to give a brief overview of 2N vs pawn - probably the most complicated endgame there is.) 3. Nxe2 Kxh8
And here is the solution to the position given as Exercise 2. 4. Kc7 Kh7 (Black must bring the king in. White can easily deal with Black’s attempt to exchange the last pawn: 4... g5 5. Kd6 g4 6. h4) 5. Kd6 Kg6 6. Ke5 Kg5
7. Ng1 Kh4 8. Kf4 g6 (8... g5+ 9. Kf3 wins faster.) 9. Ke5 White must be able to attack g6 if the black king goes for the knight. g5 (9... Kg3 10. Kf6 Kg2 11. Kxg6 Kxg1 12. Kxh5) 10. Kf5 g4 11. Kf4
The key idea: the price for exchanging the last pawn is getting epaulette-mated. gxh3 (11... g3 12. Kf3 loses slowly for Black.) 12. Nf3# 1-0
IM Silas Esben Lund, Marshall Spectator Contributor
Frequently Asked Questions: Where Can I Get a Coffee?
One of the most common questions that I get at the Marshall Chess Club is the following: Where can I get a cup of coffee around here? I sometimes pause before responding - not because there are too few options but rather because there are simply so many, but it really depends on what someone is looking for.
If you’re looking for a quick and simple bodega coffee “regular,” then you can get one on the corner of West 10th and 6th Avenue at the aptly named “6th Ave Deli and Grill,” which also sells iced coffee to go. On the other end of the coffee spectrum, if you’re looking for a single-origin espresso served with an effervescent mineral water, then I recommend O Cafe, an amazing Brazilian spot just a block up 6th Avenue that also sells various treats such as pão de queijo.
Lately, we have had some newcomers to the coffee scene in our area, complicating my answer to the above question. Just a couple of blocks away on 8th Street and Broadway, the Chinese chain Luckin has opened to much fanfare. If you’re unfamiliar, the New York Times described Luckin “as China’s coffee king. It offers an abundance of creative lattes made with arabica beans and a gamelike app that provides users with an addictive feed of coupons.” There is also Joe and Juice on University, Joe’s Coffee on 13th street, and soon-to-be Blank Street Coffee on the corner of 6th Avenue and West 10th Street.
For those who are interested in an espresso paired with an alcoholic dessert after a game, there is a new “Ice Cream Bar” that just opened up on 6th Avenue and West 10th called Aubi & Ramsa. They serve a decent espresso, but their claim to fame is a selection of alcohol infused ice cream flavors - my favorite is “The Highland Truffle,” which pairs a single malt scotch with a chocolate truffle ice cream.
My favorite option overall for coffee, however, is Madman Espresso on University between 9th and 10th, just a short walk from the Marshall. They have excellent espresso, a hip staff, and - perhaps most notable for readers of this humble publication - a chess challenge. For anyone who is able to play and beat Marco, you can get a free “super small, no milk, no sugar, no ice, barely the lid cup of coffee.” Marco is pictured below, in case you stop in and see him behind the counter.
On a recent weekday, Marshall Member Cameron Hull invited me to meet him at Madman for a quick coffee before the round. When I arrived, he was nowhere to be found, but he texted me, “I’m here, where are you?” As fate would have it, there is another Madman Espresso on Bleeker, not too far from the Marshall in the other direction, where a confused Cameron was wondering where I was. I have not been to that one yet, so I am unable to confirm whether the chess challenge exists at that location, too.
Greg Keener, Marshall Spectator Editor
Chess Toons
En Passant
The 2025 US Chess Championships are taking place on 12-24 October at the Saint Louis Chess Club. Each tournament is a 12-player single round-robin with a classical time control.
It just feels wrong calling a match between GMs Garry Kasparov and Viswanathan Anand an appetizer or opening act, but this year’s prequel to the U.S. Chess Championship was indeed a 12-game exhibition Chess960 match between the two legends…(the match format and scoring is explained here).
GM Fabiano Caruana has won the U.S. Championship for the past three years, and IM Carissa Yip won the U.S. Women’s Championship in both 2023 and 2024. Coverage of 2023 is available here and 2024 can be found here. Both players have to be considered the odds-on favorites this year, with dreams of a four-peat and a three-peat, respectively.
‘I was always going to throw D Gukesh’s king’: Hikaru Nakamura drops clarification on controversial celebration.
Problems, Problems, curated by Alexander George
W. A. Shinkman, 1877
White to move and mate in 3
William Shinkman (“The Wizard of Grand Rapids”), 1847-1933, is arguably the greatest American chess problem composer and one of the greatest composers of all time. With almost 4,000 compositions under his belt, he is second to none, including the great Sam Loyd, who said of Shinkman that he finds “the sparkle of genius in all his problems.” For more on Shinkman, see this excellent report published a few years ago in American Chess Magazine.
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Solution to last issue’s problem (Dahl, 1888):
White to mate in 3
1.Ke5 h6 2.Kf4 h5 3.Qh1 mate. If 1...h5 then 2.Qf2 Kg4 3.Qg2 mate.
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Alexander George
Editor’s Note
As always, if you have any feedback, comments, or would like to submit an article please contact us directly at td@marshallchessclub.org.
Enjoy, and thanks for reading!
The Marshall Chess Club
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