The Marshall Spectator
May 1, 2024 edition
In This Issue: From The Skittles Room King's Kibitzes, by FM Alex King Across the Table, with Kai Chu 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.
Looking ahead on the calendar, we have a very special Memorial planned to honor the life and achievements of U.S. Women’s Chess Champion Lisa Lane on May 7.
Another exciting event that we are planning is the New York 1924 Centennial. This will be a 9 round, FIDE rated Swiss event held in July. For full details and an updated list of confirmed players check here. Also, be sure to check our teasers on youtube about the event too.
Another exciting event in May is a poker event in support of Chess in the Schools. Join Chess in the Schools for an exciting evening of POKER and CHESS! Come play with masters like Jennifer Shahade while donating to NYC's first chess education nonprofit. Secret celebrities, dinner and unique experiences to be anticipated...
Your participation will support over 10,000 children and youth from low-income backgrounds as they gain access to chess while in elementary school and college readiness and success as they get older. The intellectual and social benefits of the game are an incredible societal equalizer and we are thrilled to support NYC communities through education and tournaments! Click here by Thursday May 2nd to join in our KNIGHT OF GAMES!
Over the last two weeks we have had a plethora of events for our members to play in.
The Under 2000 Morning Action on April 27 had 34 players registered and was won by Davin Chen and Kyla McRoy who scored a perfect 3 out of 3 to win $140 each, while Shu Chen won $120, scoring 2.5 out of 3 to win a class prize.
The Morning Masters on April 27 had 10 players registered and was won by IM Kevin Wang who scored 2.5 out of 3 to win $68 each, while IM Liran Zhou, Kiven Nasta and Jessica Hyatt scored 2 out of 3 to win $15.33.
The FIDE Blitz on April 26 had 52 players registered and was won by FM Tanitoluwa Adewumi who scored an impressive 8 out of 9 to win the $260 first place prize. The $130 second place prize went to GM Maxim Dlugy, who scored 7.5 out of 9 to win $130. IM Nico Chasin and Qindong Yang scored 6.5 a piece to win $32.50 each, while John Hughes and Levon Tadevosyan scored 6 out of 9 to win $65.00 each.
The Alexei Navalny Action on April 25 had 50 players registered and finished in a 5-way tie between the following players who scored 3.5 out of 4 to win $79.80 each: IM Alexander Katz, Joseph Zeltsan, FM Tanitoluwa Adewumi, IM Justin Sarkar and Evan S Rosenberg. There were also no fewer than 7 players who scored 3 points to share in a class prize of $13.14 each: Aritro Chakravarty, David Bernat, Aditeya Das, Judah Schizer, CM Rachel Miller, Daniel Wang, and Andrew Colwell.
The Monthly Under 2400 on April 21 had 44 players registered and concluded with a 4-way tie. IM Justin Sarkar, Ethan Kozower, Chase Knowles and George P Berg scored 4 out of 5 to win $349.75 each.
The Rated Beginner Open on April 21 had 39 players registered and was won by Avi Adlerstein, Wythe Wang, and Benedict Wasserfallen who scored 3 out of 3 to win $158.33 each.
The Under 1800 that concluded April 21 had 28 players registered and was won by Alvin Lou who scored a perfect 4 out of 4 to win the $467 first place prize. Aileen Lou, Mason Lou Zhou, Julian Spedalieri, and Hannah Chan scored 3.5 out of 4 to win $146 each.
The Under 2000 Morning Action on April 20 had 47 players registered and concluded with a 3-way tie between Mouhamadou Tall, Paul Calderon and Aziz Abdijalilov who won $134.33 each for their perfect 3 out of 3 score. Kieran Davis won a class prize of $173, scoring 2.5 out of 3 in the event.
The Morning Masters on April 20 had 10 players registered and was won by IM Liran Zhou who scored 2.5 out of 3 to win $75, while IM Kevin Wang, Caleb Klenoff and Chenxuan Ling scored 2 out of 3 to win $17 each.
The Friday Rapid on April 19 had 27 players registered and was won by FM Brewington Hardaway and WFM Chloe Gaw, who scored a perfect 4 out of 4 to win $101.25 each. Alexandra Lussie and Tommy Kozlek scored 3 out of 4, winning #33.75 each. While Leonid Shangin and Grayson Xiang scored 2.5 out of 4 to win $16.88 each.
The Alexei Navalny Action on April 18 had a remarkable turnout with 57 players registered. NM Bryan Weisz won clear first, winning $210 for his 4 out of 4 score. Aritro Chakravarty scored 3.5 to win a $105 class prize, while IM Alexander Katz, IM Jay Bonin and Ted Belanoff scored 3.5 out of 4 to win $81.67. The following 5 players shared in a class prize, winning $21 each for their 2.5 out of 4 score: WFM Raydily Rosario Almanzar, Jeremy Graham, Denis Suprun, Carlos Rodas and Tommy Kozlek.
We look forward to seeing you at the club soon!
Reti Player One
King’s Kibitzes, by FM Alex King
We are in the centennial year of the famous New York 1924 tournament, won by 55-year-old Emanuel Lasker ahead of an all-star field including five other past and future World Championship match participants:
crosstable from Wikipedia
Among the many notable aspects of this tournament was its importance for the development of the Reti Opening (1.Nf3 d5 2.c4), named for fifth-place finisher Richard Reti, who introduced it to tournament practice the previous year.
Reti played 1.Nf3 in all ten of his White games in New York, but only half of his opponents responded with 1…d5. In Round 6 against Yates he employed his pet method of queen development:
Richard Reti - Frederick Yates
New York (6), 23 Mar 1924
1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 e6 3.g3 Nf6 4.Bg2 Bd6 5.b3 O-O 6.O-O Re8 7.Bb2 Nbd7 8.d3 c6 9.Nbd2 e5 10.cxd5 cxd5 11.Rc1 Nf8
12.Rc2!? Bd7 13.Qa1!?
White eventually won, although so far Black is fine.
The following day Reti again fianchettoed both bishops, eventually taking over the entire center after Black failed to organize any liberating pawn break:
Richard Reti - Edward Lasker
New York (7), 24 Mar 1924
1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 e6 3.g3 c6 4.b3 Nf6 5.Bg2 Ne4 6.Qc2 Be7 7.Bb2 O-O 8.O-O Nd7 9.d3 Ng5 10.Nbd2 Nxf3+ 11.Nxf3 Bf6 12.d4 Re8 13.e4 Nb6 14.Ne5 Bd7 15.Ng4 Rc8 16.Nxf6+ Qxf6 17.a4 Red8 18.a5 Na8
19.e5Â
White is already positionally winning.
In Round 12 Reti won again with an elegant combination:
Richard Reti - Efim Bogoljubow
New York (12), 2 Apr 1924
1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 e6 3.g3 Nf6 4.Bg2 Bd6 5.O-O O-O 6.b3 Re8 7.Bb2 Nbd7 8.d4 c6 9.Nbd2 Ne4 10.Nxe4 dxe4 11.Ne5 f5 12.f3 exf3 13.Bxf3 Qc7 14.Nxd7 Bxd7 15.e4 e5 16.c5 Bf8 17.Qc2 exd4 18.exf5 Rad8 19.Bh5 Re5 20.Bxd4 Rxf5 21.Rxf5 Bxf5 22.Qxf5 Rxd4 23.Rf1 Rd8
24.Bf7+! Kh8 25.Be8! 1-0
Against the eventual tournament winner Reti managed to tag both corner squares with his queen:
Richard Reti - Emanuel Lasker
New York (16), 9 Apr 1924
1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 c6 3.b3 Bf5 4.g3 Nf6 5.Bg2 Nbd7 6.Bb2 e6 7.O-O Bd6 8.d3 O-O 9.Nbd2 e5 10.cxd5 cxd5 11.Rc1 Qe7 12.Rc2 a5 13.a4 h6 14.Qa1 Rfe8 15.Rfc1 Bh7 16.Nf1 Nc5 17.Rxc5 Bxc5 18.Nxe5 Rac8 19.Ne3 Qe6 20.h3 Bd6 21.Rxc8 Rxc8 22.Nf3 Be7 23.Nd4 Qd7 24.Kh2 h5
25.Qh1!?Â
Although White has sufficient compensation for his small material disadvantage, Lasker eventually won a complicated struggle.
Reti finished strong with a comfortable last-round win:
Richard Reti - Dawid Janowski
New York (22), 17 Apr 1924
1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Na3 Nf6 4.Nxc4 e6 5.g3 Nbd7 6.Bg2 Nb6 7.O-O Nxc4 8.Qa4+ c6 9.Qxc4 Be7 10.b3 O-O 11.Bb2 Nd5 12.d4 f5 13.Ne5 Bf6
14.e4
Just as in Round 7, Reti has taken over the center while Black has failed to liberate his light-squared bishop.
Five years later, Reti was dead from scarlet fever at the age of only 40. Still very much alive today, though, is his concept of controlling the center without necessarily occupying it with pawns. Our new World Championship challenger provided a recent successful demonstration of this approach:
Gukesh Dommaraju (2746) - Andrei Volokitin (2660)
London (3), 3 Dec 2023
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 c5 3.g3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Bg2 Nc7 6.b3 e5 7.Bb2 Be7 8.Rc1 O-O 9.Ne4 b6 10.Bxe5 Bb7 11.Ba1 Qc8Â
I think Reti would have approved of White’s position, and of Gukesh’s next move:
12.g4!? Ne6 13.Nh3 Nc6 14.e3 Nb4 15.O-O Nxa2 16.Rb1 Nb4 17.f4 f6 18.Qf3 Bc6 19.f5 Nc7 20.g5 fxg5 21.Qg3 h6 22.f6 gxf6 23.Bxf6 Bxe4 24.Nxg5 Bxf6 25.Rxf6 Rxf6 26.Nxe4+ Kh8 27.Nxf6 Qf5 28.Rf1 1-0
If you’ve never played the Reti Opening, this is a good year to try it out! Bonus points if you can put your queen in the corner…or both corners…all four corners?!
FM Alex King, spectator to the stars
Across the Table, with Kai Chu- Why a Chess Dad Designed a Notation Book
Unlock 20% Off: Elevate Your Chess Journey with Chess Cannon Notation Book
As a novice chess player and dedicated chess dad, I originally learned chess just to teach my son the basics. My elder son, Leon, started playing in tournaments about three years ago and has been playing at The Marshall Chess Club for a year and a half. My younger daughter, Caroline, has been playing chess for less than a year and is also a member at The Marshall Chess Club.
Developing good notation habits and conducting post-game reviews are essential for any serious chess player. I previously bought hardcover notation books for my children, but found the options limited, the designs monotonous, the quality average, and the prices high. Therefore, I decided to design a better notation book. A superior notation book can encourage players to take the game more seriously, as has been the case for my children.
The Chess Cannon notation book stands out from other products on the market in several ways:
Inspiration: Every eight games, the book features an inspiring chess quote to motivate players. The first quote is "All I want to do, ever, is play chess" by Bobby Fischer. I've carefully selected quotes that resonate with young players and reflect the right approach to the game. For example, to discourage rash gameplay, one quote reads "When you play chess, the idea is to make good moves, not quick ones!" As players improve, they find quotes like "Good positions don't win games, good moves do." Some quotes are also meant to connect with chess parents, like myself. The last quote, "Chess is a great game. No matter how good one is, there is always somebody better," reminds us that it’s normal for our children to lose to lower-rated players as they also need to challenge higher-rated players to grow.
Thoughtfulness: The book includes a clear board chart with notation explanations at the beginning, a dedicated time column for new players to track their pace, an hourglass icon next to move 40 as many tournaments use the 40/80 time control, 65 instead of 60 moves per game for longer games, and a journal page every eight games for recording chess thoughts.
Fun and Engagement: Players can express their feelings by circling out different face emojis about each game in a stats table and track their USCF rating progress in a chart at the end of the book.
Quality: The cover is made of synthetic leather and the inner pages uses 120gsm high quality paper. It features a pen holder, a concealed sheet compartment on the back cover, a ribbon bookmark, and a book band.
I am selling this notation book in limited quantities at ChessCannon.com. An exclusive 20% discount is available to all Marshall Chess Club members. You can purchase directly through this link. Simply add the product to your cart and use the coupon code ‘MARSHALL’ at checkout. Additionally, you can choose free local pickup at the Marshall Chess Club.
Kai Chu, Marshall Chess Club Member
Chess Toons
En Passant
International chess could be heading for an Indian era to match the Soviet Union’s dominance of the 20th century. Gukesh Dommaraju’s victory in last week’s Candidates in Toronto has the potential to spark a boom in a nation where, in its Chennai and Tamil Nadu heartland, the indoor game is already a credible rival to cricket.Â
IM Ulviyya Fataliyeva won clear first at the European Women's Championship on Monday. Fataliyeva was unstoppable throughout the event, finishing undefeated a full point ahead of the field.
GM Magnus Carlsen says he fears that reigning World Champion Ding Liren could be 'permanently broken' and fail to recover after his world championship victory. At the same time he praised the 17-year-old Candidates Tournament winner GM Gukesh Dommaraju.
Former Women's World Champion Tan Zhongyi won the 2024 FIDE Women's Candidates Tournament by a 1.5-point margin after leading the tournament the entire way through. She attained a winning advantage against GM Anna Muzychuk, but a draw was still enough to secure tournament victory. She will play GM Ju Wenjun in the next FIDE Women's World Championship in 2025, which will be a rematch of their 2018 encounter where Tan lost.
Problems, Problems, curated by Alexander George
M. Euwe, 1934
White to move and win.
Continuing our look at problems or studies from the World Champions, here's something from Max Euwe published in a newspaper the year before he ascended the throne (1935-37). Nothing earth-shattering here, but nevertheless a useful maneuver to know.
(If you have any problems by World Champions—or any feedback at all—please send them my way: mcc-chess@ahg.slmail.me.)
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Last issue’s problem: Alekhine 1933:
White to move and win.
Solution to Alekhine 1933: 1.a6 Rh4 2.Rd8 Kxd8 a7 and wins. Not 2.Ra3? bxa3 3.a7 axb2
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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