Mikhail Layevskiy Memorial Blitz

A few weeks ago, this blog reported the passing of a dear friend of the Marshall Chess Club, Mikhail Layevskiy. In summary, the 35 year old passed away of cancer, devastating many chess players, friends, and family alike. Our Vice President at the Marshall, Beatriz Marinello, expressed interest in organizing his memorial service. The club went ahead to hold the Mikhail Layevskiy Memorial Blitz Tournament, organized by Fedor Khrapatin. It was held on the day that would have been his 36th birthday, January 26th. Friends posted of this on his Facebook, such as IM Jay Bonin, and many chess players celebrated his life at the club.

The event was full of speeches and there were even refreshments. The chess community showed their compassion and came together quite nicely for this tournament. Board Member Asa Hoffman who spoke at the event and later commented:

“My own remembrances of Mike began when he was a teenager playing in tournaments at the Manhattan Chess Club. I commented about how he was a fierce competitor but with a great sense of humor. I mentioned that he was also a poker player and was a master at checkers! Others echoed my sentiments.”

Although Mikhail seemed to be around a 2100 USCF chess player, he was definitely known for being great at checkers at the club, even beating GM Zvaid Izoria and many others, no doubt.

70 players showed up for the tournament, a relatively large crowd. The FIDE Blitz was 9 rounds, with GM Aleksandr Lenderman and Club Champion IM Nicolas Checa coming out on top. Lenderman has played frequently at the Marshall and also notably qualified for the upcoming U.S. Chess Championship. Checa recently beat out GM Azarov to become the club champion and played in the Match of the Millennials this summer.

IM Jonathan Tayar managed to draw the 2700 rated GM Lenderman and FM Brandon Jacobson won a game against Lenderman. FM Jacobson also won a game against GM Irina Krush. In fact, the 14 year old had a phenomenal tournament, only losing to IM Checa and primarily playing higher rated opponents. FM Jacobson was not the only player who had notable upsets, though. Logan Brain, rated almost 2200, won a game against IM Raja Panjwani and both Jeremiah J. Smith (around 2100) and Jonathan Corblah achieved an upset against IM Michael Bodek. These results all go to show that in blitz, anything can happen!

The next FIDE Blitz tournament is on February 16th, 2018. See our calendar for USCF Blitz tournaments and other events.

A Week at the Marshall

An Introduction to the Challenge
I have grown accustomed to telling people that I work at the Marshall on “Saturdays from 4 to closing!” and to come by then. This week, though, many regulars saw me on Thursdays, and proclaimed their surprise. With the Marshall’s Executive Director, Bryan Quick, and one of our tournament directors, Jarret Petrillo, on vacation, I volunteered to cover their shifts. Except for a temporary, one day break last Friday, I have been at the Marshall every day for almost a week. This is radically different than my one shift, 8 hours on Saturday schedule. Through this experience, I have come to learn a few nuances at the club that I cannot gleam from my once per week norm.

The Marshall is a great place to study during the day
Besides a few classes and private lessons on weekdays, there is often not much going on during the weekdays at the chess club. Throughout my marathon week, I saw IM Jay Bonin, David Kantey, and several other chess players come to study at the club quietly. It is clear that in the hours before the nightly rush of tournament players, the club proves to be a great space to study chess. There are copies of Chess Informant to read, chess boards and clocks, and bathrooms. The club is conveniently located near a few places to eat.

I have been the nearby chess store, Chess Forum, many times and see seniors playing there during the day. It would definitely be more beneficial to the club to have more seniors here during the day time such as the ones that appear to congregate there. Of course, regardless, chess players are welcome to stop in any time during the day.

There are many more people that you meet when you’re at the club more than once a week
Throughout the week, I met many people who I never see on my single Saturday shift. It is especially interesting to see unique faces and names. My advice for if you are tired of seeing the same players over and over again at the Marshall, try to play on a different day of the week. This is also the case if you simply want to meet new people! Of course, there are many players who play on a variety of days during the week- I saw GM Michael Rohde numerous times- but it is still a different scene.

The work doesn’t stop, even if no one is physically at the club
Every day, my club email inbox fills up with bye requests, questions, and comments about tournaments and other club activities. These inquiries are answered no matter if there are people playing at the club. Phone calls are relatively common throughout the day which was something I did not expect. Clearly, working at the Marshall can get busy even when it is quietest.

In the Lens of Our New Club Champion

This year’s 101st Annual Edward Lasker Memorial, or the Marshall Chess Club Championship, field included strong players such as GM Sergei Azarov, IM Djurabek Khamrakulov, and former Club Champions GM Irina Krush and GM Sergey Kudrin, but it was the 15 year old phenom IM Nicolas Checa that surprised everyone by seizing the title of 2017 Marshall Chess Club Champion. He did this by tying for first with GM Azarov scoring 7/9, and subsequently winning the playoff against the grandmaster in stunning fashion.

The tournament started smoothly enough for most of the top players, with almost everyone rated 2200+ winning their first round games. GM Sergey Kudrin suffered two draws in a row right from the beginning- one of them to WIM Evelyn Zhu, who is rated approximately 2100. William Yen, also rated around 2100, scored an upset victory against IM Justin Sarkar in the first round as well. Although Zhu and Yen had little chance of winning the event, they still managed to shake up the tournament with these upsets!

Going into the event, IM Checa intended to obtain a GM norm with his performance, as the Marshall Chess Club Championship has been a norm granting tournament in the past. However, the playing field did not allow him this opportunity despite his stellar performance because there were not enough foreign players.

Along the way to the championship title, IM Checa drew IM David Brodsky, GM Azarov, GM Kudrin, and IM Victor Shen, winning the rest of his games. After an exhausting 9 rounds, Checa had to face Azarov again. Like everyone else in a playoff position against a higher rated player, he felt “a bit unsettled before the playoff. Once it started, it felt like a normal blitz game.”

The playoff was a thrilling two rounds, which many spectators enjoyed watching. Nico started it off with an unusual decision by choosing to play with Black first after winning the coin toss. He explained his decision clearly: “I won the coin toss and decided to choose black for the first game… This seemed to have surprised some members of the audience. My thinking was that I would have a better chance to react to a negative outcome with White in the second game.” His strategy paid off: after a first round draw, IM Checa was able to win the second game as White.

Chief Arbiter Greg Keener added “A lot of people were surprised and maybe even a bit  confused by Nico's choice to play the first game with Black after winning the coin toss but it actually makes sense if you think about it.” He added “I think Aronian made a similar decision in a playoff recently as well, so it isn't without precedent.”

As to what we can expect from our club champion in the future, IM Checa will be looking for his norms, which he says he will earn “hopefully at the MCC.” With our big, summer New York International, he would be able to come back to earn the norm, like IM David Brodsky did earlier this year. IM Nicolas Checa wants to specifically earn a norm at the MCC “since that’s the place where [he] started to play.”

FIDE Arbiter Greg Keener offered to annotate Club Champion IM Nicolas Checa’s games, which many readers are sure to feel inspired by:

Full results from the tournament are posted on the Marshall Chess Club’s website.

Insanity at the Marshall Chess Club!

The Marshall’s New Year’s Ridiculousness Insane Person Championship is the wackiest, most unpredictable tournaments hosted at the club every year. Over 25 players showed up to the 2017/2018 event for 15 rounds over three days. Many people turned out for the last chess tournament held at the club every year, even foregoing the trip on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. With guaranteed prizes and fun prizes like the “Idiocy Prize” for the player scoring best in tournament with 1.g4 and/or 1…g5, what’s not to like?

The turnout would have been higher if not for the Empire City Open, which happened simultaneous to the tournament. A few players chose to play in that tournament instead, but there was a positive turnout at the club and a great, festive atmosphere. The end of the year must have brought a special spirit to the club, as some players stayed after the games were done and others reunited with old friends, leaving to hold separate New Year’s chess parties at their own houses.

Unsurprisingly, first seed IM Djurabek Khamrakulov placed clear first. He drew only against GM Michael Rohde and FM Leif Pressman, winning every game otherwise. Khamrakulov has been playing extensively at the club lately, a welcome sight for sure.

Impressively enough, Khamrakulov did so well that he was even able to take a zero point bye in the last round and still win the tournament. His performance pushed his rating to 2599, just shy of 2600 USCF.

“He can’t lose a game. You think you’re winning against him, but then you just lose,” commented Marshall Regular Anthony Kozikowski about Khamrakulov’s performance in this tournament. This tournament is a tough, brutal, “insane,” 15 round event and these words reflect just how skilled the IM must have been to finish with such a spectacular result.

A few other players had a great tournament as well, such as NM Majur Juac. He gained 45 rating points, even beating IM Yury Lapshun, who placed 2nd. Juac ended with a score of 10.5/15, with 3 of them byes. Perhaps the most interesting performance was from NM Ted Belanoff, who committed to winning the Idiocy Prize. The prize went to the highest scoring player who played g4 with white or ...g5 with black to start. Every player had two scores recorded: their general tournament score and their score in g4/g5 games. Belanoff played g4 or ...g5 every single game, ending up with a score of 8.5/15. With a guaranteed $118, 8 rating points was no big loss to him!

Ted generously submitted one of his games to be annotated by FM Aaron Jacobson:

Another game ...g5 game played by NM Ted Belanoff: