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.