The Marshall Spectator
July 10, 2024 edition
In This Issue: From The Skittles Room FIDE Premier Games Analyzed, by GM Lenderman Alessia Santeramo's Games Analyzed, by GM Noel Studer 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.
The club will be closed from July 17-July 21 to host the 1924 Centennial. No Spectators will be allowed.
It has been 100 years since the famous chess tournament known as “New York, 1924” was held in the Alamac Hotel. The competitors included top players from Europe and America. Emanuel Lasker met Alexander Alekhine, Efim Bogoljubow, Géza Maróczy, Richard Réti, Savielly Tartakower and Fred Yates in Hamburg and together they steamed aboard the SS Cleveland for New York. In New York, they were joined by Capablanca, Frank Marshall, Dawid Janowski and Edward Lasker to compete in what was one of the most elite invitationals ever organized at the time.
In honor and recognition of this legendary event, the Marshall Chess Club is honored to organize a Centennial Super Swiss, in which more than 2 dozen foreign titled players will be participating for $15,000 in prizes. This will be a 9 round, FIDE rated Swiss event held at our historic club. For full details and an updated list of confirmed players, check here. The participants include IM Levy Rozman (Gotham Chess), as well as our club champion, the Ukrainian IM Mykola Bortnyk.
Over the last two weeks we have had a plethora of events for our members to play in.
The Marshall Premier Under 2000 had 25 players registered and was won by Anand Vaneswaran who scored 5 out of 5 to win the $384 first place prize. Ethan Kurian scored 4 out of 4 to win $154, while Sophia Ng and Brian Huang scored 3.5 out of 5 to win $57.50 each. Laeho Youn and Niklas Kelletshofer scored 3 out of 5 to win a class prize of $105.50 each.
The Marshall Premier Open had 21 players registered and was won by IM Yury Lapshun and Aditeya Das, who scored a near perfect 4 out of 5 to win $396 each. James Marsh won $159 for his 3.5 out of 5 score.
The Rated Beginner Open on July 7 had 38 players registered and finished with 4 players winning $118.75 for their perfect 3 out of 3 score: Christian Mekhael, Ziyi Claire Chen, Konstantin Vaniev, and Mark Shalygin.
The Morning Masters on July 6 had 8 players registered and was won by Aditeya Das who scored 3 out of 3 to win $60. Miro Reverby and GM Mackenzie Molner scored 2 out of 3 to win $20 each.
The Under 2000 Morning Action on July 6 had 27 players registered and was won by Jayden Feng and Ateeq Panjwani who scored 3 out of 3 to win $114, while Hillel Doron-Repa scored 2.5 out of 3 to win a class prize of $98.
The Brother John McManus Action on July 4 had 12 players registered and was won by Owen Qian, who scored a perfect 4 out of 4 to win the $45 first place prize. Joseph Otero and William Ren scored 3 out of 4 to win $26.50 each, while David Kantey, Raffi Magarian, Jephson Mathew and Mike Ching scored 2 out of4 to win $11.50.
The Independence Day Action on July 4 had 35 players registered and was won by IM Michael Song, who scored 5.5 out of 6 to win $292. Oliver Chernin, Sasha Schaefer, Alec Hyunmook Choi, and Aditeya Das scored 4.5 out of 6 to win $117 each. Misha Raitzin won a class prize of $117 for their 3.5 out of 6 performance.
The Sunday Quads on June 30 had 14 quads with 61 total players. The following 14 players won $50 for their performance: August Malueg, Dillon Robinson, Sharlene Yang, Theodore Han, Selvin Ramirez, Mason Zhou, Naman Mehta, Brandon De La Rosa, Chrisos Boulis, Takki Tanaka, Anushka Ayyappan, Austin Zhao, Zachary Yu, and Jason Jiang,
The Rated Beginner Open on June 30 had 31 players registered and concluded with the following 4 players scored a perfect 3 out of 3 score to win $97 each: Nick Tiger Poe, Anshel Kenkare, Alex Park, and Elvin Huang.
The Saturday Game 50 Open on June 29 had 50 players registered and was won by Alisher Podavonov, who scored 4 out of 4 to win the first place prize of $300. IM Jay Bonin, Ethan Kozower, and Oliver Chernin won $50 each for their 3.5 out of 4 score, while Brian Huang won a class prize of $100 for his 3 out of 4 score.
The ALTO Open on June 29 had 5 players registered and was won by Nile Smith, who scored a perfect 3 out of 3 to win $50, while Gianluca Montalti scored 2 out of 3 to win $13.
The Morning Masters on June 29 had 12 players registered and was won by Jessica Hyatt, who scored a perfect 3 out of 3 to win $72. Aditeya Das scored 2.5 out of 3 to win $36, while CM Krish Bhandari and Elliot Goodrich won $6 each for their 2 out of 3 score.
The Under 2000 Morning Action on June 29 had 17 players registered and was won by Favor Idemudia and Vasilev Arkadii who scored a perfect 3 out of 3 to win $70 each. Ethan Deng and Ethan Nazimowitz both won a class prize of $30 for their score of 2 out of 3.
The ALTO Under 1600 on June 29 had 8 players registered and was won by Ben Davar, who scored a perfect 3 out of 3 to win $60, while Abraham Centeno scored 2.5 out of 3 to win $16.
The FIDE Blitz on June 28 had 54 players registered and was won by GM Vojtech Plat, who scored 7.5 out of 9 to win the $250 first place prize. IM Aaron Jacobson scored 7 out of 9, winning $125, while FM Jeevan Karamsetty and John Hughes scored 6.5 out of 9 to win $63 each.
The Thursday Open on June 27 had 21 players registered and was won by IM Wojtek Sochacki, who scored 5 out of 6 to win the $117 first place prize. Aleksandr Gutnik, Anthony Levin, Luc Hoffman and Aadit Mordani scored 4 points to win $57 each, while Richard Koppenaal scored 3 points to win $29.
The Brother John McManus Action on June 27 had 44 players registered and was won by GM Vojtech Plat, who scored a perfect 4 out of 4 to win $158. Nicolas Marchese and Eli Roane scored 3 points to win a class prize of $39.50 each, while the following 7 players won $37.50 each for their 3 out of 4 score: Jason Jiang, Hursh Mehta, IM Jay Bonin, Aritro Chakravarty, Aditeya Das, Alec Hyunmook Choi, and Nathan Booncharoen.
The Monthly Under 1800 on June 24 had 33 players registered and was won by Robert Thorstad who scored 4 out of 5 to win $550. Lowell Brooks Begley won a $165 class prize for a 3.5 out of 5 performance, while the following 4 players won $130.75 each for their 3.5 score: Matthew Brendan Hughes, Gregor A Bonnell, Milo Su, and Kimani Thompson.
The Rated Beginner Open on June 23 had 33 players registered and concluded with the following four players winning $103.25 each for their perfect 4 out of 4 score: Rowan Goranson, John Modzelewski, Lve Wang, and Nick T Poe.
The Monthly Under 2400 on June 23 had 69 players registered and concluded with Cameron Goh winning the clear first place prize of $1,134 for his 4.5 out of 5 performance. Derek Li Chen and Theodore Chachere won $397 each for their 4 out of 5 score, while Connor Junda Wang won a class prize of $340 for a 3.5 out of 5 performance. The following 10 players won $28.40 each for their 3.5 out of 5 score: IM Jay Richard Bonin, FM Konstantin Dolgitser, Luc William Crim Hoffman, Jason Jiang, Jessica Hyatt, Roman P Malyshev, James Jiho Marsh, Nick Panico, Miles Hinson, and CM Rachel Miller.
The Under 2000 Morning Action on June 22 had 32 players registered and concluded with David Campbell, Ben Lazaroff and Favor Idemudia scoring a perfect 3 out of 3 to win $90.67 each, while Eugene Bang won a $117 class prize for a 2 out of 3 performance.
The Morning Masters on June 22 had 11 players registered and finished with Brian Arthur, Cameron Goh and Kenneth Fernandez scoring 2.5 out of 4 to win $46.33 each.
The Friday Rapid on June 21 had 20 players registered and was won by WFM Chloe Gaw, who scored a perfect 4 out of 4 to win the $100 first place prize. Linxi Zhu, Kevin Stern, and Nathan Booncharoen scored 3 points, winning $25 each, while Anna Radchenko also won a $25 class prize for a 2.5 out of 4 performance. Robert Thorstad and Rishan Malhotra scored 2 out of 4 each to win $10.
We look forward to seeing you at the club soon!
Marshall FIDE Premier Games, Analyzed by GM Aleksandr Lenderman
You can play through all of the below games complete with Grandmaster Lenderman’s annotations here.
Round 1: Cheung, Kyle - Lapshun, Yury
The Marshall Premier this month was a smaller field than usual, most likely overshadowed by the World Open, but it still boasted a good amount of strong titled players and strong young juniors. One of the young players, Kyle Cheung made a mark in the first round, drawing the experienced international master, Yury Lapshun, who went on to tie for first with a strong young junior, Aditeya Das with 4/5. The game itself wasn't the most interesting as white chose a solid line, and the game was mostly equal throughout the game, but Yury did miss one narrow chance to win the game on move 32.
1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 d6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 g6 5. Be2 Bg7 6. O-O O-O 7. h3 e5 8. dxe5 Nxe5 9. Nxe5 dxe5 10. Qxd8 Rxd8 11. Be3 a6 12. Rfd1 Be6 13. Rxd8+ Rxd8 14. Rd1 Rxd1+ 15. Bxd1 b5 16. a3 Bf8 17. Be2 c6 18. f3 Nd7 19. Nd1 f5 20. Nf2 f4 21. Bd2 c5 22. a4 c4 23. axb5 axb5 24. b3 h5 25. bxc4 bxc4 26. Nd1 Kf7 27. Nb2 Nb6 28. Ba5 Ba3 29. Bxb6 Bxb2 30. Kf1 Bc3 31. Bf2 Ke7
32. Be1?? A blunder in a defensible position. White understandably is trying to trade bishops and simplify the game, but in this position it doesn't work concretely.
32... Bd4?? Lapshun misses a golden opportunity, and even though the game lasted a long time with Yury trying for a long time to win, it was to no avail, and the game never went beyond equality after this. (32... Bxe1! This was a bit counterintuitive since black wants to keep pieces on the board to keep more winning chances, but concretely, getting the pawn to c3 fixes a weakness on c2, and that allows black to win using the principle of two weaknesses (g2 is also weak, and black's king will be more active). 33. Kxe1 c3 One sample variation can be 34. Ba6 Kf6 35. Kf2 Bb3 36. Bd3 Ba4 37. Ke2 g5 38. Kf2 Ke7 39. Ke2 Kd6 40. Kf2 Kc5 41. Ke2 Bd7 42. Kf2 Kb4 And black eventually wins. However, it was probably not immediately obvious that black was winning in this line which is why Lapshun might've not went for this.)
33. Bb4+ Now it's a draw. 33... Kd8 34. c3 Bb6 35. Bd6 Bc7 36. Bxc7+ Kxc7 37. h4 Kd6 38. Ke1 Ke7 39. Kf2 Kf6 40. Bd1 Bd7 41. Be2 Be6 42. Bd1 g5 43. hxg5+ Kxg5 44. Ba4 h4 45. Bb5 Kf6 46. Ke2 Ke7 47. Ke1 Kd6 48. Kd2 Kc7 49. Be8 Kb6 50. Ba4 Kc5 51. Be8 Kd6 52. Bb5 Bf7 53. Ke2 Kc7 54. Kd2 Be6 55. Ke2 Kb6 56. Be8 Ka5 57. Ke1 Bc8 58. Kd2 Ba6 59. Bd7 Bb7 60. Kc2 Kb6 61. Be6 Ba6 62. Bd7 Kc7 63. Be8 Bb7 64. Bg6 Kd6 65. Kd2 Ke7 66. Bf5 Bc6 67. Ke2 Ba4 68. Kd2 Kd6 69. Bc8 Bb5 70. Bf5 Kc7 71. Be6 Kb6 72. Kc2 Ba4+ 73. Kc1 Bb3 74. Bd5 Kb5 75. Be6 Ka4 76. Kb2 Bd1 77. Bg4 Be2 78. Bh3 Bf1 79. Bd7+ Ka5 80. Bh3 Ka4 81. Bd7+ Ka5 82. Bh3 Be2 83. Bg4 Bd1 84. Kc1 Ba4 85. Be6 Bb5 86. Kc2 Ka4 87. Kb2 Ba6 88. Bd7+ Ka5 89. Be6 Bb5 90. Kc2 Kb6 91. Kc1 Kc5 92. Kc2 Kd6 93. Bf5 Ba4+ 94. Kd2 Bd7 Good defense for White. 1/2-1/2
Round 2: Lapshun, Yury - Gerorge Berg
After Lapshun played what was probably the longest game of the tournament, he compensated for that by bouncing back in a very quick fashion, winning a miniature against a very experienced player, George Berg.
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 George Berg's regular opening, an opening in which I've had games with him in the past. 3. d5 b5 4. Nd2!? A poisonous side line.
4... bxc4 5. e4 Qa5? A very greedy approach which does not pay off for Berg. (5... e6 6. Bxc4 exd5 7. exd5 d6) (5... d6 6. Bxc4 g6 Were both viable alternatives.) 6. Bxc4 Nxe4?
Now white is already winning by force. (6... Ba6 Was worse for black but still should be played to justify Qa5 without taking a poisonous pawn.)
7. b4! White wins a piece by force. (7. Nf3 Even after this, white has more than enough compensation for a pawn.)
7... Qxb4 8. Rb1 Qc3 9. Ne2 Qe5 10. f4! Qf5 11. Bd3 A nice bounce back win for Lapshun, putting him in position to be able to make a comeback on the last day to tie for first. 1-0
Round 4: James Marsh - Sorkin, Igor
This tournament was not without upsets. Besides the first round draw that Kyle had against Lapshun, the tournament took a dramatic turn when a young player around 2150 USCF, James Marsh took down, at the time, the leader of the tournament, IM Igor Sorkin in spectacular fashion.
1. d4 d6 2. Nf3 g6 3. c4 Bg7 4. Nc3 Nd7 5. e4 e5 6. Be2 Ne7 7. h4 h6 8. Be3 f5 9. dxe5 dxe5 10. Qc2 f4 11. Bd2 c6 12. O-O-O O-O 13. g3 Qb6 14. Rdg1 Nc5 15. gxf4 exf4 16. Rh2 a5 17. Rhg2 Bh3 18. Rxg6 Nxg6 19. Rxg6 Kh7 20. h5 Rae8 21. Nh4!
After an interesting opening, and early middle game, a very sharp position has arisen with chances for both sides.
21... Re5? A dynamic mistake, possibly caused by overlooking white's next move. The idea of blockading the e5 square was correct, but generally, a rook is not the best blockader. (21... Be5 Would keep the balance but black probably didn't want a draw after. 22. Nf3) (21... Qc7! 22. e5 Kg8! Would have been a very interesting attempt to play for a win, which practically forces white to play 23. Ne4 Nxe4 24. Qxe4 Qxe5 25. Qxe5 Rxe5 26. Bc3 Rg5 27. Bxg7 Rxg6 28. Nxg6 Re8! 29. Bxh6 Rxe2 30. Nxf4 Re1+ 31. Kd2 Rh1 And at the end of a fairly forcing line, which was quite difficult to calculate, the position liquidates to an equalish endgame, most likely with black having the slightly better winning chances.)
22. Nd5! Qd8 Forced 23. Bc3? Now, it's White's turn to make a mistake. (23. Qc3! Was the way to go. Once again, the right square but the wrong piece. 23... Qxh4 (23... cxd5?! 24. Rxg7+ Kxg7 25. Qxe5+) 24. Rxg7+ Kxg7 25. Qxe5+ Kf7 26. Qxf4+ Qxf4 27. Nxf4 White has the better chances in this endgame.)
23... Nd7?? None the less, it is Black who makes the last mistake, which ends up being fatal. (23... Qxh4! Not exactly sure why black didn't play this.
24. Rxg7+ Kxg7 25. Bxe5+ Kg8 Black is winning here simply. 26. Bd6 Qxf2 27. Bxf8 Kxf8 28. Qc3 (28. Nc3 f3) 28... cxd5)
24. Nf5! Now, white is crashing through. 24... Rf7 25. Nxf4 Rexf5 26. exf5 Bxc3 27. f6! A very clutch win for white. 1-0
Round 4: Das, Aditeya - Kumar, Aravind
While IMS Sorkin and Lapshun were battling it out at the top, Aditeya Das was starting to creep up closer to the leader boards. After a slow start of two draws, Aditeya won his third game, and now he's playing a higher rated master, Aravind Kumar. After a difficult opening, Aditeya was able to defend quite well to reach a drawn position. Then, just as Aravind was about to make perpetual check, he decided last minute to play for a win, and that ended up being a costly decision for him, and allowed Aditeya an unexpected winning opportunity, which Aditeya fully capitalized on, not only in this game, but by winning the next game and tying for first in the tournament as well.
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Nc6 4. Ngf3 Nf6 5. e5 Nd7 6. c3 f6 7. exf6 Qxf6 8. Bd3 Bd6 9. Nf1 e5 10. Ne3 Nb6 11. dxe5 Nxe5 12. Be2 c6 13. a4 O-O 14. O-O Nxf3+ 15. Bxf3 Qe5 16. g3 Bh3 17. Bg2 Bxg2 18. Nxg2 Rae8 19. Bf4 Qf6 20. Bxd6 Qxd6 21. b3 Qc5 22. Qd2 Nd7 23. Nf4 Nf6 24. Rac1 Ne4 25. Qd3 g5 26. Nh3 Re5 27. b4 Qe7 28. f4 gxf4 29. Rxf4 Rxf4 30. Nxf4 a5 31. bxa5 h5 32. Ng6 Qg5 33. Nxe5 Qxc1+ 34. Qf1 Qe3+ 35. Kg2 Ng5 36. Qf4
36…Qxf4?? (36... Qe2+ 37. Kh1 Qe1+)
Would simply force perpetual, but black wanted to win, given that he was better earlier in the game, and that he's the higher rated, and also to keep his chances to fight for first before the last round.)
37. gxf4 Ne4 38. Nxc6! My guess was that Aravind missed Nxc6, but he actually told Aditeya that he supposedly saw Nxc6 but missed Nd8. Anyway, as for me, if I saw Nxc6, I would almost certainly dismiss this line as a winning attempt after that, and I'd think that I'm only playing for a loss here.
38... Kf8 39. Nd8! (39. Nd4 Nxc3 40. Kg3 Even without Nd8, white is still likely winning, or at least the only one pressing.)
39... Nxc3 40. Nxb7 Nxa4 41. Kf3 Ke7 42. a6 Nb6 43. a7 Kd7 44. f5 Impossible to stop both passed pawns.
44... Kc6 45. Na5+ Kd6 46. Kf4 h4 47. h3 Na8 48. Nb7+ Ke7 49. Ke5 Nc7 50. Nd6 d4 51. f6+ Kd7 52. f7 Ke7 53. Kxd4 A smooth conversion by Aditeya, and a clutch win putting him in position to fight for first before the last round. 1-0
Round 5: Lapshun, Yury - James Marsh
Before the last round, James Marsh had 3.5/4 after his clutch win over IM Sorkin, while Lapshun was starting to make a comeback after his first round draw. After drawing with Sorkin in round 3, he won another game in round 4, setting up a showdown between him and Marsh in the last round, where Lapshun needs a win to at least tie for first. Having the white pieces, I think Lapshun was quite optimistic about his chances to come through, and he did.
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 a6 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bg5 Be6 7. e3 Nbd7 Black chose a fairly solid line.
8. Be2?! (8. Bd3 This is much more common.)
8... c6 9. Ne5?! Objectively this shouldn't work. However, black missed an interesting opportunity to take over the initiative.
9... Qc7?! Missing the chance. (9... Nxe5! 10. dxe5 h6 11. Bh4 g5 12. Bg3 Ne4! And in this dynamic position, black is doing quite well. White's g3 bishop is restricted, their pawn on e5 is weak, and black has more than solved his opening problems.)
10. f4 Bb4 11. Nxd7 (11. Bd3! Stopping Ne4 was more accurate.) 11... Nxd7 12. O-O f6?! (12... Bf5! 13. g4 Bxc3 14. bxc3 Be4) 13. f5! Now, at least White will get some play on the kingside. 13... Bf7 14. Bf4 Bd6 15. Bd3 O-O 16. Qg4 Kh8?! A bit passive. 17. Ne2! Transferring the knight to the kingside.
17... Rae8 18. Rf3! Getting the rook in the game. 18... Rg8 19. Rh3 Nf8 20. Rf1 g5?! Probably black should've defended passively, but of course, it's psychologically, hard to do.
21. fxg6 Bxg6 22. Bxg6 Rxg6 23. Qf5 Kg8 24. Rff3 Ne6 25. Bxd6 Qxd6 26. Rfg3! Ng5
27. Rxh7!! A very nice combination by Lapshun. 27... Kxh7 28. Nf4 Rg8 29. h4! The most accurate. The rook on g6 is pinned and there is no rush in taking it, while the knight on f4 blocks the queen's attack on g3 for now, so it plays a useful role.
29... Kh8 30. hxg5 fxg5 31. Nxg6+ Hard to criticize a clearly winning line, but White had an even more brutal finish. (31. Rh3+! Rh6 32. Ne6!! Was even nicer. 32... Rxh3 (32... Qxe6 33. Qxe6) 33. Qxh3#)
31... Rxg6 32. Qc8+ Kg7 33. Qxb7+ Kg8 34. Rf3 Rf6 (34... Qe6 { Was slightly more tenacious but should still be losing in the long run.) 35. Rxf6 Qxf6 36. Qxa6 White later won, and this game propelled Lapshun to tie for first. 1-0
Round 5: Gordon Li - Das, Aditeya
In the end, two players tied for first, Yury Lapshun and Aditeya Das, and after having a good break in the previous round where Adiyea won after opponent could've forced a draw, he also won a clutch game in the last round against another young player, Gordon, who was giving a great tournament up to this point.
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e5 7. Nb3 Be6 8. Qd2 Be7 9. O-O-O Nbd7 10. f4 Ng4 11. g3 b5 12. Kb1 b4 13. Nd5 Bxd5 14. exd5 Nxe3 15. Qxe3 O-O 16. f5?! The first inaccuracy for white. Now, white's bishop will always be a bit restricted. (16. Bh3 Is the main line here, trying to take on d7.)
16... a5 17. h4 Nf6 18. Bg2 a4 19. Nd2 Ra5 20. Nc4 Rc5 21. b3 Qc7 22. Qe2
22…Rc8? Black was playing a great game up to this point, but here, he allowed a bit too much counterplay to his opponent. (22... h5!! Would've been a great prophylaxis move. 23. Bf3 Rc8 24. Bxh5 Nxh5 25. Qxh5 Rxc4! 26. bxc4 Qxc4 27. Rh2 e4 Black will have a winning attack here with the combination of queen, bishop and rook and pawns against White's weakened king, while White's attack is nowhere to be found.
23. g4 Nd7 24. Be4 (24. g5) 24... Nb6 (24... Rxc4!! 25. bxc4 Qxc4 26. Qxc4 Rxc4 Was very strong for Black.) 25. Nxb6 Qxb6 26. g5 f6 27. h5! Now, White has good counterplay. 27... Rc3 28. Bd3 fxg5 29. h6? (29. f6! Bxf6 30. Qe4 Would be more logical. In general, sacrificing a pawn to open up the diagonals for the bishops is a big theme in this game.) 29... Bf6? (29... axb3! Was stronger 30. cxb3 (30. axb3 Qa7 —30... Bf6 31. hxg7 Qc7!!)
30. hxg7 Qa7 31. Rh6? (31. Rxh7! Kxh7 32. Qh5+ Kg8 33. Qh8+ Kf7 34. Qh5+ Would've most likely led to a draw.)
31... Qxg7? (31... axb3! 32. axb3 (32. cxb3 Qxg7 Again, including cxb3 makes sense since it declares White's intentions, and depending on how White recaptures, Black can decide how they continue depending on that.) 32... Ra8)
32. Rdh1 R8c7 (32... axb3 33. axb3 { Now, already axb3 is good for white since there isn't an attack on the a-file anymore.)
33. Qe4 Qf8 (33... axb3) 34. Qxb4 (34. bxa4) 34... axb3 35. axb3 Another critical moment arose here. 35... R3c5 (35... e4! This idea of sacrifising a pawn for activity occurs many times in this game.
36. Bxe4 R3c5 The key is that the presence of opposite colored bishops increases the attacking potential for the attacking side, and it makes sense to activate your bishop even at a cost of a pawn since opponent won't be able to defend the opposite colors.) 36. Kc1 (36. Be4) 36... Rg7 (36... e4) 37. Qg4 (37. Qe4) 37... Ra5 (37... e4) 38. R1h3 Qe7 (38... e4) 39. Kd1 Kh8 40. Qb4 Ra8 41. Ke2 g4! 42. Rh1? (42. Rg3) 42... g3! Now, black is winning as the pawn on g3 is too strong and distracts white's forces.
43. Qe4 Rag8? { Inaccurate move order. (43... g2 44. Rg1 Rag8) 44. Rg6 Qa7 45. Qg4? The final mistake. } (45. Qf3 { Still held. White was in time pressure though and couldn't quite keep up with the complexity of the position with just the 30 second increment.) 45... Qf2+ 46. Kd1 Ra8! Perhaps, white missed this. Now it's all over for white. 47. Kc1 Ra1+ 48. Kb2 e4+ 49. Rxf6 Qd4+ 50. c3 Qxf6 51. Qxe4 Rxh1 52. Qxh1 g2 53. Qg1 Rg3 54. Kc2 h5 55. b4 h4 56. b5 Qe5 57. Qb6 g1=Q 58. Qd8+ Rg8 59. Qxh4+ Kg7 60. f6+ Qxf6 61. Qh7+ Kf8 62. Qc7 Rg2+
A smooth conversion for Black and a very clutch finish for Aditeya, winning his last 3 games to finish at 4/5 with no losses and tying for first with Yury Lapshun. After also winning the morning masters with 3/3 on Saturday the same weekend, Aditeya scored a total of an impressive 7/8 during the weekend, and getting back to above 2200, and breaking a new peak. Very impressive play by our young junior star player, Aditeya. 0-1
GM Aleksandr Lenderman, Marshall Chess Club Spectator columnist
Game Analysis, by GM Noel Studer
Marshall Game Analysis:
You can play through all of the below games complete with Grandmaster Studer’s annotations here.
Hyatt, Jessica - Santeramo, Alessia
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. e3 This is a clash of two styles. Alessia loves to play attacking chess, while Jessica seems to be on the positional side. This move transposes to a Queens-Gambit-Accepted. Not the type of position Alessia loves to play, especially after move 8.
5... c5 (5... a6 I will recommend Alessia to play this in the future. 6. a4 (6. Bxc4 b5 7. Bd3 Bb7 this is more dynamic and with chances for both sides) 6... c5 the introduction of a6-a4 is generally good for black. The square on b4 will be weak and Black can often jump Nc6-b4-d5 to block the isolated Queen pawn. Also in a possible endgame after dxc5, White already weakened their Queenside while black wants to play a7-a6 anyway to avoid annoying Knight jumps.)
6. Bxc4 Nc6 7. O-O Be7 8. dxc5 I'm sure Alessia wasn't happy to see this move on the board.
8... Qxd1 9. Rxd1 Bxc5 10. b3 a6 a little bit too ambitious. Both pieces on the c-file will be weak and Black is not fully in time to solve all problems. (10... O-O 11. Bb2 b6 is a smidge better for White, but black should be able to equalize down the line
11. Bb2 b5 Short puzzle alert: White to play and punish black!
12. Be2 (12. Nxb5!! was a great shot both players missed. 12... axb5 13. Bxb5 Bd7 (13... Bb7 14. Bxf6 gxf6 15. Rac1 something along the c-file will fall 14. Bxf6 it is important to remove the defender of the d7 Bishop (14. Rac1 Na7! is a crazy way for black to save the game 15. Bxd7+ (15. Rxc5 Bxb5) 15... Nxd7 would be unclear.) 14… gxf6 15. Rac1 White will win back the piece with 2 extra pawns, for example: 15... Ba3 16. Rxc6! Bxc6 17. Bxc6+ Ke7 18. Rd7+ Ke8 19. Ra7+)
12... Bb7 13. Rac1 Ke7!? An interesting decision to give up the pawn. I'd prefer the King safely on g8 though } (13... O-O 14. Nxb5 axb5 15. Rxc5 Ne4!? 16. Rxb5 Rxa2 17. Rxb7 { this would be a check with the King on e7 } 17... Rxb2 $10 { black is very active and should hold the draw.
14. Nxb5 The principled way to play 14... axb5 15. Rxc5 Rxa2 16. Bxf6+ (16. Rc2! Keeping the bishop pair and still winning the b5 pawn was very strong. White threatens Bxf6+, so black is forced to protect the a2 rook and give up b5 nevertheless 16... Rha8 17. Bxb5)
16... gxf6 (16... Kxf6 we will soon see why keeping the pawns intact would have been better)
17. Bxb5 Rc8 18. Rdc1 Kd6 19. Bxc6?! This is making Black's life much easier. With pawns on both sides, the bishop is a powerful piece! } (19. h4 { Jessica could have slowly improved her position. Ba4 can be played, maybe R5c2 to trade a rook, then bringing the King via h2-g3 )
19... Rxc6 20. Rxc6+ Bxc6 21. Nd4 Bd5?!
(21... Bd7! This is very instructive. The Bishop covers both b5 & f5 (important after e6-e5). The activity on d5 is just an illusion, what matters is how many key squares the Bishop protects and how well it can limit the Knight on d4. 22. Rb1 e5 23. Nf3 Bf5 at last the Bishop gets active! 24. Rd1+ Ke6 There is nearly no way to stop Rb2, Bc2 and picking up the pawn })
22. Rb1 e5? same idea, but the Knight has two juicy squares! 23. Nb5+ now White can trade the knight against the bishop with Nc3 or Nc7+
23... Kc5 24. Nc3 after the trade of Knight and Bishop Jessica gives Alessia no more chances. Impeccable technique from here on, watch and learn!
24... Rd2 25. b4+ Kb6 26. Nxd5+ Rxd5 27. g4! Fixing the second weakness. If the black's pawn structure was intact (e.g., capturing Kxf6 on the move 16), this endgame wouldn't be as simple to win for White.
27... Kb5 (27... f5! would have been the best try 28. gxf5 e4 29. Rc1 Rxf5 30. Rc4 $18 { still, with an active rook and the weak black pawns, White should win })
28. Kg2 Rd2 29. Kf3 Rc2 30. Rd1! giving up the b-pawn for an active rook
30... Kc6 (30... Kxb4 31. Rd7 Black has no hopes saving the pawns. Eventually, all of them will fall 31... h6 32. Rxf7 Rc6 33. Rh7)
31. b5+!
If Black takes, we get the same as before 31... Kc7 (31... Kxb5 32. Rd7) 32. Rd5 wins as well (32. b6+ Kxb6 33. Rd7 Rc7 was probably what Jessica wasn't sure about, but White wins 34. Rxc7 Kxc7 35. Ke4 Kd7 36. Kf5 Ke7 37. e4 Black will soon be in Zugzwang and lose the f6-pawn)
32... Rb2 33. Rc5+ Kd7 34. Rc6 Ke7 35. b6 the weaknesses on the Kingside paired with an annoying passed pawn are just too much to defend. 35... Rb4 36. Rc7+ Ke6 37. b7 Rb2 38. h4 Rb4 39. Ke2 e4 40. Kd2 Alessia can't move her King, f7 will fall. And the Rook is binded by the b7 pawn. 40... Rb5 41. Kc3 Rb1 42. Kd4 Rb4+ 43. Kc5 Rb1 44. Rc6+ Ke5 45. Rb6 building a famous bridge!
45... Rc1+ 46. Kb5 Rb1+ 47. Kc6 Rc1+ 48. Kd7 Rd1+ 49. Ke7 Kd5 50. Rd6+ 1-0 White wins. Great game, Jessica! 1-0
Jay Bonin vs Alessia Santeramo
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. c4 d5 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. e3 c5 6. dxc5 Another clash of styles! Jay seems to fancy his chances in an endgame. 6... Qxd1+ 7. Kxd1 Bxc5 8. Bxc4 O-O 9. Ke2 a6
Now White is too slow to create problems on the c-file. Black equalizes without any problems. 10. a3 b5 11. Bd3 Bb7 12. b4 Bb6 a tiny mistake. The diagonal a7-g1 isn't that attractive here. It is more important to keep an eye on the b4 pawn, so White can't play a3-a4. (12... Be7)
13. Bb2 Nc6 14. Rhd1 Rfd8 15. Ne4 Nxe4 16. Bxe4 Rxd1 (16... Nd4+? fancy but doesn't work 17. Bxd4 Bxe4 18. Bxb6) 17. Rxd1 Rd8 18. Ne5 Rxd1 19. Kxd1 Nxe5?
I don't like giving White the Bishop pair. Black is in a little bit of trouble here } (19... Nd8! 20. Bxb7 Nxb7 With White's pawns on a3-b4, Black even has some future potential with the dark-squared Bishops on the board. This game should end in a draw)
20. Bxb7 Nc4 21. Bc1 a5 We start a segment where White should take bxa5, and black should take axb4 on basically every move. White wants some imbalance to have winning chances; black should try to keep things simple.
22. Bc6 Nd6 (22... axb4 23. axb4 Nd6 It is very hard to break through here, even though only White has some chances to win.)
23. Bb2 (23. bxa5! Bxa5 24. e4 e5 25. Be3 Black is in a world of trouble here. The key difference is that White has access to the b4 square for the King! For example 25... f6 26. Bc5 Bc7 27. Kc2 Kf7 28. Kb3 Ke6 29. Kb4)
23... Kf8 (23... axb4 24. axb4 f6)
24. Be5 now the problem is of tactical nature. 24... Nc4 (24... Ke7 25. Bxg7)
25. Bg3? missing a big chance. I remember watching and spotting the nice win. (25. Bc3! axb4 (25... Nxa3 26. bxa5 Bc5 27. a6 Bd4 and a7 to follow, White wins.) 26. Bxb4+ with check and b5 falls.)
25... Ke7 now no trades because we need to attack a3! 26. bxa5 Bxa5 27. Bxb5 Nxa3 it looks like this is an easy draw, but Jay has one more trick down his sleeve 28. Bd3! The knight has nowhere to go! It is nearly impossible to catch it, but this is a little annoying.
28... f6?! (28... g6 Black will be able to bring back the knight without losing a pawn.
29. Bb8 (29. Bxh7 I would have taken the gift!) 29... Kd7 30. Ba7 Kc6 31. Bxh7 Now Jay accepts the gift. 31... Nb5 32. Bd4?! Opposite Bishop endgames are super drawish. So Black's instinct should be to capture in 0.0001 seconds on d4. (32. Bb8 looks very scary especially low on time, but might be worth a try 32... e5 33. Be4+ Kd7 34. Bd3 in time to semi-rescue the Bishop 34... Nd6 35. Ba7 Kc6 36. e4.)
32... e5 (32... Nxd4 33. exd4 Black even wins the pawn back, but that wouldn't be needed 33... Bc3)
33. Bb2 Now White has real winning chances 33... Nc3+ 34. Kc2 (34. Bxc3 Would be bad for the same reasons as explained before.) 34... Nd5 35. Be4 Kd6 36. Bxd5!?
This is an interesting approach. Now White is in a Bishop endgame with same-colored bishops and all Black’s pawns are on dark squares, thus vulnerable.
36... Kxd5 37. Kd3 Now we see the experience of Jay paying off. If White can fix all black pawns on dark squares, White will win. So what should Black do? 37... Bc7 missing the last chance (37... e4+! get the pawns on light squares! 38. Ke2 Ke6 Black creates a nice pawn chain on light squares, and White doesn't have enough pawns left to win. This is a relatively easy draw.
38. e4+ Ke6 39. g4 I definitely understand this, but it gives black one last counter-intuitive chance. 39... Bb6 (39... g5! Now White has achieved a lot positionally, but can't create a passed pawn anymore. Black will simply pass forever and capture gxh4 after h4.)
40. Ke2 g6 41. h4! Now, white creates a passed pawn and is winning. 41... Bd8 42. h5 no need to rush, again a chance for Black. 42... Kf7 Now there is no f5 anymore and without f5 no draw. (42... gxh5 43. gxh5 f5 44. Kd3 Bg5 Trading off another pair of pawns will save black.) 43. Kd3 Kg7 44. Bc1 Bb6 45. f3 Kf7 46. Kc4 Bf2 47. Kd5 gxh5 48. gxh5 Bh4 49. h6 Bg3 50. h7 Kg7 51. Ke6 Bh4 Everything went according to Jay's plan. He used the h-pawn as a decoy, now it is time to grab the f6&e5 pawns and win. But just now he thought he blundered and played.
52. f4? (52. Be3 Kxh7 53. Kf7!! This was the key move both players missed. Black's king is too far away to protect the f6 pawn and White will play Bc5-e7-xf6-xe5 and win the game. 53... Kh8 54. Bc5 Kh7 55. Be7 Bg3 56. Bxf6 Kh6 57. Ke6)
52... exf4 53. Bxf4 Kxh7 54. e5 fxe5 55. Bxe5 1/2-1/2
The game is a draw.
A very instructive end game with many interesting moments. This was a blitz game, so both players played on a high level and we can learn a lot from the game. 1/2-1/2
GM Noel Studer, Marshall Chess Club Spectator columnist
Chess Toons
En Passant
GM Fabiano Caruana ended up winning the $68,750 first prize at the Superbet Chess Classic Romania after a dramatic final day in Bucharest. Although he lost his classical game to a strong-playing GM Anish Giri, the American GM won all three games in the playoff to retain last year's title.
Due to urgent family matters, Magnus Carlsen had to cancel his participation in the Superunited Rapid & Blitz Croatia in Zagreb. Levon Aronian is standing in for the world number one. The third stage of the Grand Chess Tour 2024 begins on Wednesday with the blitz tournament.
In the 12th round of the Bangladesh Championship, 50-year-old GM Ziaur Rahman suffered a heart attack after his 25th move in his game against GM Enamul Hossein. He died before he could be taken to hospital. Rahman was Bangladesh's second grandmaster after GM Niaz Murshed, and he was also a 15-time national champion and represented Bangladesh in 17 Chess Olympiads.
Problems, Problems, curated by Alexander George
J. Vancura, 1922
White to win.
While there are many tactics puzzles generated from the games of Mikhail Tal (Champion 1960-61), I can find no composed problems. (There is a co-composed problem, but it's too complicated for our purposes.) Instead, I'll offer the above gem, which German GM Klaus Darga used to stump strong players around the world. In fact, he's quoted as claiming: “Even Tal and Spassky gave it up after they tried in vain for three-quarters of an hour to work it out.” Can you do better?
(If you have any problems by World Champions—or any feedback—please send them my way: mcc-chess@ahg.slmail.me.)
---
Last issue’s puzzle, Smyslov, 2003:
Solution to Smyslov, 2003:
1.Kc4 Ka5 2.Kc5 Ka6 3.Rh6+ Kb7 4.Rh7+ Kc8 5.Kc6 Kd8 6.Kd6 Ke8 7.Ke6 Kf8 8.Kf6 Kg8 9.Rg7+ Kh8 10.Rb7 (10.Ra7 b2) 10...g2 11.Rb8+ Kh7 12.Rb7+ Kh6 13.Rb8 Kh5 14.Kf5 Kh4 15.Kf4 Kh5 (15...Kh3 16.Rh8# ) 16.Kf5 1/2-1/2
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.