Above: (Left-to-Right) IM Hans Niemann, GM Djurabek Khamrakulov, & GM Mark Paragua each finished with 6/9 at the 103rd Club Championship. GM Khamrakulov won the blitz tiebreak.
GM Djurabek Khamrakulov Wins the 103rd Club Championship!
2019 is drawing to a close and we're getting ready to usher in the new decade with our infamous New Year's Ridiculousness Insane Person Championship from December 30–January 1. First, let's get you up to speed on important happenings at the club.
In October, the club won a thrilling match against our friends from the Mechanics Institute Chess Room in San Francisco. Using chess.com to host the games, ten Marshall members battled ten Mechanics members in a transcontinental contest. Each player received white and black against the same opponent (for fairness, the players were grouped by ratings) using a G/25 +5 time control. It wasn't looking good for the Marshall squad out of the gate. The team scored just 3/10 in the first round. Then, somehow, out of nowhere, inexplicably, they regrouped late to secure a 10.5–9.5 victory with some sharp play in time pressure (now you know why the club runs so many blitz and rapid events ; D). Charles Hua (representing the U2100 players) and John Gruska (U1900) led the way, each scoring 2/2 for the Marshall. If you want to read more about the match, John Hartmann covered it for the USCF. His article (with some nice photos) can be found here. We are planning a return match with the Mechanics in the spring.
The new format for the Edward Lasker Memorial/MCC Championship proved to be a resounding success. From November 14–18 ten of the Club's strongest players competed in an invitational round robin. The thrilling games were live streamed on all the major chess websites: chess.com, Chess24, ChessBase, FollowChess, and ChessBomb. Heading into the final round it was a three horse race. IM Hans Niemann, GM Mark Paragua, and GM Djurabek Khamrakulov each had 5.5/8, a 1.5 lead over the rest of the field. To add to the intrigue: IM Niemann and GM Paragua were scheduled to play against each other in round nine, and IM Niemann needed at least a draw to score his second GM norm.
Despite the stakes, Niemann and Paragua made a quick repetition—earning IM Niemann his norm. This, however, left GM Khamrakulov in control of the tournament: A win would earn him the championship outright. When asked about their draw, Niemann provided an interesting insight. GM Khamrakulov was playing black against IM Kassa Korley in round nine. Norm aside, he explained, Kassa is a very difficult player to beat when he has the white pieces. He has a deep knowledge of his white openings and is well prepared, so it didn't seem like a huge risk to take a draw and hope for a tiebreak. GM Paragua concurred. For many hours we waited to see if their gamble would pay off. GM Khamrakulov defended a worse position—IM Korley was never in any danger—but managed to squeeze out the draw. The three leaders remained tied. It was time for a tiebreak to determine the new Marshall Champion.
The tiebreak format was a double round robin, G/3 +2, with games played one after the other. GM Khamrakulov jumped out to a quick lead, winning his first two games, but a draw with GM Paragua left the door open for IM Niemann going into round 5. It was here that the young prodigy—Hans became 11th grade National Champion this weekend—missed his chance, stumbling with the black pieces in a closed Sicilian. And that was it. There was no need for a final round match as IM Niemann (1/3) could not catch GM Khamrakulov (2.5/3). (If you'd like to download a PGN with all the games from the championship, including the blitz tiebreak, you can do so on the Marshall website.)
We want to offer Djurabek a BIG congratulations for his achievement. In addition to being a congenial presence at the Club, he is quite deserving of his place in Marshall history. He earned the GM title last year and his play has kept improving since then. This past weekend, he won the Marshall Open Championship with a tremendous score of 8/9. (The talented eleven year-old, FM Liam Henry Putnam, came in second with a not-too-shabby 7.5!) In January, Djurabek will again represent the NY Marshalls in the PRO Chess League.
Speaking of the PRO Chess League . . .
PRO Chess League 2020
We are THRILLED to announce that The New York Marshalls will be led by the world-class GM Hikaru Nakamura in the 2020 roster of the PRO Chess League (PCL)! GM Nakamura's accomplishments need no introduction, but for the uninitiated: he is the current (and five-time) US Champion, a five-time Olympian (Gold medalist in 2016), and the #1 rated blitz player on earth (#4 in rapid). As a scholastic player, GM Nakamura was a Club member and, in 1998, he earned the National Master title while playing in the 4 Rated Games event that the Club continues to hold each Thursday. Both GM Nakamura and the club hope that this is the beginning of a long-term relationship.
But there's more:
The PCL has undergone some radical changes this season. In an effort to grow its brand and attract bigger sponsors, relegation has been eliminated. Going forward the league will be made up of twenty-four permanent teams, representing twenty countries and four major US cities, of which the Marshalls will be one. The league has also abolished team rating caps. Now, each match will truly be a battle among the world's elite.
To keep pace with the arms race, the Marshalls are surrounding GM Nakamura with some stellar talent. In addition to four Club Champions (GMs AlexLenderman, Yaroslav Zherebukh, Sergei Azarov, and Djurabek Khamrakulov), the team reached an agreement with the eighteen-year-old GM Sam Sevian (World top 100, USA top 10). Rounding out the team are three elite foreign players: World top 10 in rapid chess, GM Vladimir Fedoseev (Russia) is expected to provide quite the one-two punch with GM Nakamura. GM Gadir Guseinov (Azerbaijan; world top 100) figures to provide a strong presence on boards two and three, and, of course, the heart and soul of last year’s team, GM Wojciech Moranda (Poland), returns to complete the roster.
Matches will begin on Monday, January 6th when the team squares off with the powerful Saint Louis Arch Bishops. Full details are coming soon. Stay tuned!
The playing hall for the 103rd Club Championship & IM Norm Round Robin.
Other Upcoming Events
ROUND ROBIN NORM TOURNAMENT
From February 27–March 2 the Club is running another set of FIDE GM & IM Round Robin norm tournaments. Both sections are almost full, but there is still some availability for norm seekers. If you are interested, please email td@marshallchessclub.org ASAP.
For complete details on the Round Robins, visit our Club calendar.
GM CHESS WORKSHOPS
GMs Irina Krush, Giorgi Kacheishvili, & Tamaz Gelashvili will run day workshops at the Club for scholastic players during school breaks. There's no better way for young players to improve than to spend a few days studying with them. For more information, and to sign up, visit the GM Chess School page.
NEW TOURNAMENTS In an effort to spice up our Thursday nights, the Club is introducing some fun changes beginning in mid-March! The Guaranteed Action will become the $500 Action. What does this mean, you ask? It means we're guaranteeing $500 in prizes. One of these prizes will be a new $50 mixed doubles prize for the highest scoring male/female tandem. But wait, there's more. Are you tired of always being paired way above or way below your rating? Then come to the Club on the third Thursday of the month for the new Thursday Quads—prizes guaranteed!
Start cross the days off your calendar now. March is just around the corner.
