Above: Bobby Fischer would have received an invitation to the Closed MCC Championship, had it existed when he was playing at the club.
A cool and breezy welcome to autumn, one of our four favorite seasons, from all of us at the Marshall Chess Club!
By now the kids are back in school, the beaches are getting chilly, and your summer holiday is long in the rear view. But who's to say there isn't plenty of fun to still be had in 2019? The Marshall Chess Club's got a bunch of special things in store for the rest of the year that we're eager to tell you about—so please read on below.
To start, we have big changes to announce regarding the Marshall Chess Club’s Championship, which will hold its 103rd edition later this year. To combat flagging enrollment, it’s no surprise that in recent years we've been tinkering with changes to the format. Most notably, we did away with co-champions by creating a tiebreak system. However, none of our tinkering has been successful in drawing many of the club’s top players to participate. So this year we're trying something more innovative.
In November, the club will hold a Closed Club Championship from November 14–18. This event will retain the Edward Lasker Memorial name and the winner will receive the title of "Marshall Chess Club Champion." Ten club members—including a number of recent champions, the strongest scholastic players, and the strongest overall active players at the club—will be invited to participate. The tournament will be a single round-robin. We expect it to be broadcast on a number of chess websites. The official roster will be posted on our club website in October once it’s finalized.
Then, in December, we will hold an Open Championship, in the form of a nine round swiss over two weekends. This event will carry on the legacy of the Jerry Simon Memorial, which has traditionally been the club’s "Amateur Championship." Whoever wins this event will earn the title of Marshall Chess Club Open Champion.
The club is very excited for these changes. We feel they will restore the integrity of having a truly contested event to determine our champion while remaining true to the club's longstanding traditions.
Shelby Lyman Memorial
On Tuesday, October 1st, the club will host a memorial for Shelby Lyman, a longtime friend dear to many in our community. Speakers will include Dr. Frank Brady, Asa Hoffman, Allen Kaufman, Sal Matera, Stu Morden, and Bruce Pandolfini.
Hoffmann wrote the following tribute to Lyman:
I first met Shelby Lyman in the early '60s at the Chess and Checker Club of New York, a.k.a. "The Flea House." He was already a well-known master, having been taught by his uncle Harry Lyman from New England. We played many spirited sessions of blitz chess and Scrabble. He was ferociously competitive and a worthy opponent. I also played him a couple of games in the Marshall Chess Club Championship, which he won in 1964.
In 1972, Shelby began his famous show on PBS covering the games of the World Championship Match in Iceland between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky. I well remember some of his regular guests on the show: GM Reshevsky, IM Mednis, IM Sherwin, NM Bruce Pandolfini, WIM Rachel Crotto (and especially NM Steve Brandwein who was dragged off the show for making inflammatory political statements). The show also featured guest appearance by many others including talented junior players. The show caught the public’s eye and soon had over a million viewers!
Many famous players started playing chess as a result of watching Shelby’s show, including IM Jay Bonin. My wife, Virginia D’Amico Hoffmann, was also inspired by his show and rose to be one of the top female players. The show had a mesmerizing effect on people and inspired thousands to start playing serious chess. Shelby’s show was a big part of the “Fischer Boom” in the early '70s. Alas, the videotapes of the shows appear to have been lost. And now the chess world had lost Shelby Lyman as well. Rest in Peace.
Above: IM Silas Esben Lund will lecture at the club and teach the fall endgame class.
Upcoming Events
Our Fall calendar is full of special events, and we hope you will join us for some of them.
FALL CLASS: BASIC & SHARP ENDGAMES Tuesdays 10/1–12/17
For the fourth consecutive year, we are pleased to offer a college-style course to help you improve your chess. Taught by IM Silas Esben Lund, registration for Basic & Sharp Endgames is now open. This twelve week course will be held each Tuesday from 8–10 pm. Students will learn critical strategies and techniques for endgame play. The classes will draw partly on material from IM Lund's acclaimed books. The enrollment fee is $250 (a Trial membership to the club is required for all non-members).
MARSHALL vs. MECHANICS MATCH!
Tuesday, October 15th Join us at the club—or tune in on chess.com—at 8:30 pm to watch ten Marshall members face off in an online match against the Mechanics Institute—a battle between the two oldest chess clubs in the United States. The Marshall squad will be led by GM Michael Rohde and IM Yury Lapshun, both former MCC Champions. Many club-level players will also be featured, as players on each side will be divided into five categories: U2500, U2300, U2100, U1900, and U1700. Go Marshall Chess Club!
9/24: IM Silas Esben Lund IM Silas Lund will lecture from his new book: Opening Simulator: King's Indian Defence. The book contains both opening information and puzzles. It is co-authored with Danish IM Andreas Hagen.
10/29: GM Dimitri Komarov GM Komarov, whose career has spanned many decades, will discuss what he considers to be the three primary areas of chess skill: Technical knowledge, calculation ability, and talent (including imagination and intuitive understanding). Using puzzles and important games, he will detail how he believes players can improve each of these skills at any age.
11/5: GM Sam Shankland 2018 US champion GM Sam Shankland joins us to lecture from his new book, Small Steps 2 Success: Mastering Passed Pawn Play. It's all about passed pawns! Signed copies will be available for purchase.
12/3: IM Dmitri Shneider
IM Shneider, the youngest MCC Champion and now Director of Operations for Chessable, joins us to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of his MCC Championship title. He will lecture on middle game improvement, focusing on the concept of active piece play. He will also provide a brief tutorial on how using Chessable can help you improve your chess.
