Chess Room Newsletter #991

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Chess Clubs From Around the Country: Silver Knights Chess

by Abel Talamantez

We continue to spotlight different chess clubs this week with one of the largest chess organizations: Silver Knights. Providing chess enrichment and tournaments in the Virginia, D.C., and Maryland area, they have weathered the storm of the pandemic and are continuing to provide programs to their community. Here below, Founder and President NM Adam Weissbarth wrote a few paragraphs about his organization. 

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The Story of Silver Knights Chess

I realized I wanted to start a company teaching chess to kids in 2005, as I was unenthusiastically finishing a masters degree in statistics.  In 2006, I left my prior career for good and started Silver Knights Chess.  I was a lifelong chess player (and national master) and had done a bunch of teaching - mostly math, but also some chess.  To get started, I cold-called 100 schools in the Philadelphia area.  Four of them answered, and that’s how Silver Knights began.  For the first few months I was a one-man operation teaching chess in schools and community centers; by halfway through the first year, demand for the chess program had grown so much that I was teaching in more than 15 schools and I started hiring other coaches.

After growing that program to more than 1,000 kids weekly and teaching a pair of national scholastic champions, I sold the business to focus full-time on growing a similar organization in the Washington, DC area with my brother Daniel.  We grew pretty steadily for the next ten years.

At the time COVID hit, Silver Knights had grown to teach chess to nearly 4,000 kids per week throughout Washington, DC, Northern Virginia, and Maryland.  We had more than 100 chess coaches and aides, supported by a team of staff in our office.  In addition to our after-school program in schools, we also ran numerous summer chess camps and weekend tournaments.

Silver Knight's Tournament Training classes prepare students or live tournament play

COVID was devastating -- we lost all of our revenue overnight.  It forced us to put all our energy into developing an online chess program.  We experimented nonstop to see what worked.  After a couple of months, we settled on a format for group lessons and tournaments that worked well for the kids.  With everything online, we were able to do some fun things that hadn’t been possible before, like play matches against clubs from other countries or bring in guest instructors including Judit Polgar, Sam Shankland, and Rochelle Ballantyne and Pobo Efekoro from Brooklyn Castle.

In August 2021 something amazing happened: we joined the Play Magnus Group, the company of world champion Magnus Carlsen!  We’re excited to be part of Magnus’ team, and are inspired by their mission of making the world a smarter place by encouraging more people to play chess.  We’re now very busy restarting after school chess programs in hundreds of schools throughout the DC area, continuing to teach online lessons to a broader audience of kids, and looking forward to introducing more people to chess!

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Tuesday Night Marathon Round 7 Report

by Abel Talamantez

The Tuesday Night Marathon played its final round of the September-October edition, with a battle for 2nd place in the top section. FM Ezra Chambers had wrapped up 1st place last week while Sean Kelly rose to the challenge and to the occasion, securing a draw on board 1 against IM Elliott Winslow to take clear 2nd place. A draw between Nicholas Weng and Nathan Fong helped Sean, as Fong finished with 4.5/7 along with winslow and Ako Heidari, who got there with a final round win against an always tough Kevin Sun. 

Sean Kelly and IM Elliott Winslow battle for 2nd place on board 1, Daniel Wang (playing white in the picture to the right) takes clear 1st in the under 1800 section.

In the under 1800 section, Daniel Wang finished the tournament with the same pace he started, getting the win against Christopher Dessert and finishing with 6.5/7, a full point ahead of the field in a large section. Stephen Parsons finished in clear 2nd with 5.5/7 and six players tied for 3rd with 5/7. 

We will have a break next week from our TNM and begin the November-December edition Tuesday November 2nd. IM John Donaldson will give the guest lecture at 5:30pm prior to the round with copies of his latest book Bobby Fischer and His World. To register for the next TNM, click HERE.

Here are some games from the final round, annotated by GM Nick de Firmian.

(1) IM Winslow,Elliott (2269) - Kelly,Sean (1786) [D46]
MI Sep-Oct TNM 1800+ San Francisco (7.1), 19.10.2021

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 c6 5.e3 [Avoiding the even greater complications of the Botvinnik System, 5.Bg5 dxc4 (5...h6 also has its crazy and difficult lines, but at least it lets White avoid the wildest with 6.Bxf6 (6.Bh4 dxc4 7.e4 g5 8.Bg3 b5 goes wholeheartedly into it!) 6...Qxf6 7.e3 (7.g3) ) 6.e4 b5 7.e5 h6 8.Bh4 g5] 5...Bd6 An interesting transpositional idea, to avoid some other possibilities. [5...Nbd7 has been the traditional move for over a hundred and sixty years! But since the famous game Aronian-Anand,... 6.Bd3 (6.Qc2 Bd6 is common enough) 6...dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 8.Bd3 Bd6!?] 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 8.Be2 [8.Bd3] 8...Nbd7 9.0-0 0-0 10.Qc2 Qc7 11.Bd2 Bb7 12.Rac1 Setting up some tactical possibilities, but they never quite make it to the board. [Better was, indeed, 12.e4! when after 12...e5 13.dxe5 Nxe5 14.Nxe5 Bxe5 15.f4 White mobilizes his majority successfully. 15...Bxc3 16.Bxc3 Qb6+ 17.Kh1 c5 18.Bf3 White's advantage is there, but whether it stays significant is up in the air.] 12...a6 13.b4

13...Rae8N Surely this rook will find other files of value!? [This position occured in a grandmaster game eighteen years ago! Probably then the better rook move was played: 13...Rfe8 14.h3 Rac8 15.Qb1 e5 16.Bd3 exd4 17.exd4 Bf4 18.Bxf4 Qxf4 19.Ne2 Qd6 1/2-1/2 (52) Huebner,R (2604)-Shabalov,A (2597) Willemstad 2003] 14.h3 e5 15.dxe5 [15.Bd3+/= was preferrable.] 15...Nxe5= 16.Nd4 Qd7 17.Nb1 Nd5 [17...Bb8=] 18.a3+/= f5 19.Nc3 Nb6 20.Rfd1 [20.Rcd1+/=] 20...Nbc4 [20...Qf7!=] 21.f4 [21.Qa2!?] 21...Nxa3 22.Qb3+ Double Attack 22...Nec4 Strongly threatening ...Kh8. 23.Ra1! Kh8 Hoping for . ..c5. 24.Rxa3 Nxa3 25.Qxa3 a5|^ Black is more active. 26.Nc2 [Wrong is 26.Qxa5? Ra8-+; 26.Nb1= keeps the balance.] 26...axb4-/+ 27.Nxb4 27...c5 [27...Qe7!-/+ 28.Rb1 Rd8] 28.Bxb5? [28.Nxb5=/+ cxb4 29.Qd3] 28...cxb4-+ 29.Bxd7 bxa3 Black is clearly better after 30. Bxe8 Rxe8 but the players agreed a draw. 1/2-1/2

(2) Weng,Nicholas (2001) - Fong,Nathan (2049) [B33]
MI Sep-Oct TNM 1800+ San Francisco (7.2), 19.10.2021

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Nd5 Be7 10.Bxf6 Bxf6 11.c3 Bb7 11...Rb8 is the modern continuation. [11...Ne7; 11...Bg5; 11...0-0] 12.Nc2 Ne7 13.Ncb4 [Better is 13.Nxf6++/- gxf6 14.Bd3] 13...Nxd5 B33: Sicilian: Pelikan and Sveshnikov Variations. 14.Nxd5 0-0 15.a4 [15.Be2+/= Gildardo Garcia - Nijboer, Wijk aan Zee 1996 (in Shaw); And one must always wonder what Vassily is up to: 15.Qb3 Bg5 16.Be2 Kh8 17.0-0 Rb8 18.Rad1 Bc6 19.Bg4 1-0 (39) Ivanchuk,V (2715)-Frolyanov,D (2482) Yerevan 2004] 15...bxa4 [15...Bc6!=] 16.Rxa4+/= White has more of a grip on the light squares. 16...a5 17.Bc4 Bc6 18.Ra1

18...Bg5N [18...Ra7!? 19.b4 (19.0-0!?) 19...Bxd5 20.Bxd5 Qc7 21.0-0 (21.Rc1) 21...Qxc3 22.Qa4?! (22.Ra4!) 22...Bd8 23.Qb5 Qc7 24.Rxa5 Rxa5 25.bxa5 Qxa5 26.Qxa5 Bxa5 is dead even, although somehow 0-1 (63) De Hoop,T-Rijnaarts,S Hengelo 2002] 19.0-0 Kh8 20.Qe2 f5 21.exf5! Rxf5 22.Rfd1 less urgent and later weakens f2 [22.b4; 22.Bd3!? Rf8 23.Be4 is very solid in the center] 22...Rb8 23.b3 Bxd5?! giving up the light squares should end badly [23...g6+/- is a better defense.] 24.Rxd5+- Qb6? [24...Qc7 might work better. 25.Rdxa5 (25.Raxa5 Rbf8+/-) 25...Rbf8] 25.Rb5 Qc7 26.Rxb8+ Qxb8 27.Qg4 g6 28.Rxa5 Second best -- [>=28.Be6! Rf6 29.Qxg5 (29.Rxa5 Kg7+/-) 29...Rxe6 30.Rxa5 is winning as White has b3-b4 next; 30...Qxb3? 31.Ra8+ Kg7 32.Ra7+! is mate shortly.] 28...Bd8 [28...Qd8 objectively puts up a better fight, but Black sees some tactical possibilities with the bishop on b6. 29.b4 Qc8] 29.Ra2! Bb6 30.Bd5? Throwing away the major part of White's advantage. [30.Qe4!+- uses the threat of 31. Ra8 to set up an effective defense (Qe1, g3, Kg2) with tempo. 30...Rf8 (30...Qc7 31.Qd5 Kg7 32.g3) 31.g3] 30...Kg7? [Black has the surprising 30...Qf8!= 31.Bf3 (31.Ra8?? Rxf2!) 31...d5! and Black's threat of ...e4 forces White to head for an ending: 32.Qa4 e4 33.Qc6 Qf6=] 31.Bf3? [31.g3+- Qf8 32.Ra8! Qf6 (32...Rxf2 33.Rxf8 Rf4+ 34.Kg2 Rxg4 35.Rb8 is a smash -- look at Black's rook *and* bishop!) 33.Rg8+ Kh6 34.Be4 White forces Black's pieces to strange squares: 34...Bxf2+ (34...Rxf2?? 35.Qh3+ Kg5 36.Qh4#) 35.Kg2 Rh5 36.Qe2 Bb6 37.h4] 31...Qc7 [31...d5!= 32.Bxd5 e4!] 32.Qb4 Rf4 33.c4 e4! 34.Qc3+ Kh6! The only but adequate square. [34...Kf7 35.Bxe4!+-] 35.Bd1 [35.Qd2!+/= is superior. 35...Qf7 (35...g5 36.h4) 36.Bxe4 (36.Qxd6 Bc7-/+) 36...Bxf2+ 37.Kh1] 35...Qf7 36.Qh3+ Kg7 37.Qc3+ Somewhere around here Nicholas offered a draw, expecting a repetition. 37...Kf8? [37...Kh6= 38.Qe1 d5] 38.Qd2? [38.Qh8+!+- Ke7 39.Qb8 is probably what White missed. 39...Bxf2+?? 40.Rxf2 Rxf2 41.Qa7+ gets the rook] 38...Ke7?! [Fong avoids 38...Bxf2+?? 39.Qxf2! e3 40.Qe1+-; But 38...Bc5=/+ is a better prep for ...e3. 39.Qe1 e3] 39.Qe1!+/= Kd7? [39...Qe6+/=] 40.Re2? [40.g3+- Rf6 41.Bg4+ Ke7 (41...Kc7 42.c5!! dxc5 (42...Bxc5 43.Qa5+ Bb6 44.Rc2+) 43.Qxe4) 42.Qxe4+ Kf8 43.Qe1+-] 40...e3!= Now another level of tactical precision ensues! 41.fxe3 Ba5! 42.b4! Bxb4! 43.Ba4+ Kd8 [43...Kc7= is more appropriate. 44.Qa1 Bc5] 44.Qd1 [44.Qa1 is more complex. 44...Rf5 (44...Bc5 45.Bc6 Qxc4 46.Re1) 45.g4 Ra5 46.Rf2 Qe7 47.Qh8+ Kc7=] 44...Bc5 The position is equal. 45.Bb3 Qe6 46.Qd3 Qe5 47.Re1 Re4 48.Bc2 Rxe3 49.Rxe3 Bxe3+ 50.Kh1! Qf4 51.Qe2 Bd4 52.g3 Qf2 1/2-1/2

(3) Riese,Kayven (1900) - Svoboda,Steven (1936) [B89]
MI Sep-Oct TNM 1800+ San Francisco (7.5), 19.10.2021

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bc4 e6 7.Be3 Be7 8.Qe2 0-0 9.0-0-0 a6

This is a classic Velimirovic Attack, which is great to see. It's like hearing some classic 70's music again - it never goes out of style. 10.Rhg1 Nxd4 11.Rxd4 b5 12.Bb3 Bb7!? 13.f3?! [Black's queen still on d8, Time for 13.e5! with an edge] 13...Qc7 [13...Nd7; 13...Qb8!?] 14.g4 b4!? 15.Na4 [15.Rxb4! d5 16.Rxb7! Qxb7 17.g5 Nd7 18.exd5 would be a clear edge for White] 15...Qa5 16.g5 Nd7 17.Bd2?! [17.Qe1!+/-] 17...d5? [17...Qb5!=/+ is safest. White should probably reply with 18. Kd1] 18.exd5 e5 19.d6? Many rook moves, all winning. [19.Rh4+- is the best of them. 19...g6 20.Qe4 controls the center and keeps strong attacking chances] 19...exd4! getting back in the game 20.dxe7 Rfe8 21.g6!? hxg6 22.Rxg6 Ne5?! [22...Qe5!] 23.Rg5 Rxe7 24.f4 Rae8? [24...Qb5!] 25.fxe5 Rxe5 26.Qh5? [26.Bxf7+! Kxf7 (26...Kf8 27.Rxe5 Rxe5 28.Qc4) 27.Qh5+ Kg8 28.Qxe8+ Rxe8 29.Rxa5 wins] 26...Rxg5 27.Bxg5 Bd5? [27...Re1+ 28.Kd2 Rf1 is very good for Black] 28.Bh4? [28.Bd2!+- Rd8 (28...Qb5 29.Bxd5 Qf1+ 30.Qd1) 29.Bc4! (29.Nb6!) ] 28...Qb5!= 29.Bxd5 Qf1+ 30.Kd2 Qf4+ 31.Kd3? too ambitious [31.Kd1= forces Black to take the perpetual.] 31...Re3+ 32.Kc4 32...d3+!-+ 33.Kb3 [33.Kc5 dxc2] 33...dxc2+ 34.Kxc2 Qxh2+ White has three pieces for a rook, but Black has a winning attack. 35.Kd1 Rd3+ 36.Ke1 Qg1+ 37.Ke2 Qd1+ White resigns. A great and entertaining battle! 0-1

(4) Starr,Albert (1500) - Fairchild,JP. (1177) [D02]
MI Sep-Oct TNM u1800 San Francisco (7.21), 19.10.2021

1.d4 What? no 1.b4? 1...Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.Bf4 The London System. It's very popular when both Magnus Carlsen and Albeert Starr take it up. 3...c5 4.e3 Nc6 5.c3 Bf5 6.Bd3 Bg6 7.0-0 Qb6

Aggressive play by JP. 8.Qc2?! [8.Bxg6 hxg6 9.Nbd2 would be a better way to sacrifice the b-pawn. 9...Qxb2 10.Rb1 Qxa2 11.Rxb7 probably gives White an edge.; 8.dxc5 Qxb2 9.Bxg6 hxg6 10.Qb3 Qxb3 11.axb3 is also possible and about equal] 8...Bxd3 9.Qxd3 Qxb2 10.Nbd2 c4 11.Qf5? charging forward, but it's often bad to lead with the queen [11.Nxc4!? dxc4 12.Qxc4 Qb6 13.d5=] 11...e6-+ Black has just gotten a free developing tempo. Now White should probably retreat with 12. Qb1, but there is no fun or honor in that. 12.Qh3?! Qxc3 13.Rab1 b6 Two pawns ahead for Black should be winning. He is behind in development though. 14.Rfc1 Qa5 15.Rc2 This doesn't help. White really needs to do something and should try 15. e4 or 15. Nxc4 to open lines. It's still very good for Black but it could get tricky. 15...Nb4 16.Rcb2 16...c3! 17.Nb3 Qa4 18.Re2 c2 19.Rc1 Qxa2

A curious position. Black still has the kingside completely undeveloped and has the king in the center, yet is completely winning on the queenside. 20.Nfd2 Nd3 21.Rf1 Rc8 22.Nc1 Nxc1 23.Rxc1 Ba3 finally developing, and with deadly effect 24.e4 Bxc1 25.exd5 Qxd5 26.Re5 Bxd2! The back rank finishes White off. Nice aggessive play by Fairchild. It may make Albert go back to the Orangutan Opening. 0-1

(194) Stafford,Adam (1665) - Gimelfarb,Ilia (1752) [C34]
MI Sep-Oct TNM 1800+ San Francisco (7.7), 19.10.2021

1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 OMG, it's the King's Gambit Accepted! Don't these guys know what MILLENIUM this is?? 3.Nf3 The main move, avoiding ridiculous king marches via ...Qh4+; Ke2, or massive material sacrifice with g2-g3. [3.Bc4 There was an article in ChessBase Magazine a few years ago, claiming that only 3.Bc4 held the draw as proved by the strongest computers -- published on April First <ahem>...] 3...d6 Black has tried everything under the sun, and a few things from darker places, but this has become the most popular *if* you conveniently forget a few centuries! [3...g5 has been featured ever since Greco vs. "NN" (i.e. probably made-up games by the 17th Century Italian professional) used it as a foil for many crushing wins -- mostly for White, but Black won a fair share as well. Yes, as NN vs. Greco. In any case, not too many grandmaster games since the turnof the Century/Millenium.] 4.d4 Praxis has been evenly divided, both frequency and overall score, between this and [4.Bc4 , but 4...h6! looks to be quite a troublemaker here, scoring better than three to two for Black.] 4...g5 But here this is the overwhelmingly played return -- blame Kasparov perhaps, for playing it (and winning) against King's Gambit superstar Morozevich in 1995. 5.h4 Morozevich *and* Short, among others 5...g4 6.Ng1 Wait, what? Book move! [6.Ng5?! h6 won the piece, with a clear advantage which Kasparov brought home. (But the computers of now favor 6...f6!? , which might be an easier go.) 7.Nxf7 Kxf7 8.Bxf4 Bg7 9.Bc4+ Ke8 0-1 (23) Morozevich,A (2630)-Kasparov,G (2795) Paris 1995. But it isn't so easy if your rating is under 2800!] 6...Bh6 The "theoretical" continuation, (dropping to just a couple dozen games though). [Computers have it in for 6...Qf6 -- that is, they like it even more.] 7.Nc3

A good all-purpose move, but not purposeful enough to convince modern analysis that White has a good game. 7...Bd7?!N This gets the old chess proverbs all wrong. It's "Knights Before Bishops," which is a blunt version of "Play the pieces where know where they should go (i.e. knights to f3/c3/f6/c6) and leave the pieces with options (i.e. bishops) alone for a while, to keep those options open." [A fairly recent game featured a well-known GM playing 7...Nc6 8.Qd3 Bd7 9.a3 f5 10.Nge2 fxe4 11.Qxe4+ Qe7 12.Qxe7+ Ngxe7 13.d5 Ne5 14.Bxf4 Bxf4 15.Nxf4 0-0 and it got uncomfortable fast: 0-1 (24) Shytaj,L (2472)-Almasi,Z (2663) Reggio Emilia 2009; Most analysis has 7...c6 when no solid equality -- for White -- quite shows up, although 8.Nge2 Qf6 9.e5 dxe5 10.Ne4 Qg6! 11.N2c3! comes pretty close.; 7...Be6!? 8.d5 Bc8!! is *very* interesting! Giri did something very similar recently, but in the Russian Variation of the Gruenfeld Defense -- and it was rather earth-shaking there as well. 9.Qd4 Nf6 10.Nge2 c5 11.dxc6 Nxc6 (because d6 is guarded!) and *my* computer (and others) gives Black some edge after 12.Qd3 Nh5 I admit, not convincing. 13.Nd5!? (13.Qb5!?) ] 8.Nge2 8...c6?? [The best *try* is 8...f3 except that the computers all raise their digital hands and jump around in their chairs and point out 9.Nf4! Nc6 10.Be3! with a definite advantage, but how big isn't so definite.] 9.Bxf4 [9.Nxf4 ain't bad, either.] 9...Bxf4 10.Nxf4 Qf6 11.Qd2+- White has a dream King's Gambit position. 11...Ne7 12.0-0-0 [12.Nh5 Qg6 13.Ng3 is a nice repositioning as well.] 12...0-0 13.Be2 Not really on point, but plenty good enough. 13...Ng6?! Frying pan 14.Nh5 Fire 14...Qe7 15.Bc4 A conspicous threat [15.Qh6 f6 16.Bd3 is not better enough to make a difference] 15...Kh8 16.Qh6 f5 Here it's too late for the proverb about opening lines for your opponent's better developed pieces to matter. 17.exf5 Bxf5 18.Rde1 Qc7 Well yes, but now ...Nd7 is back off the table. 19.Rhf1 Black is pretty helpless by now. 19...Na6 (else 20.Rxf5)

20.Qg5 [20.Ng3 is too easy.] 20...Qc8 21.Nf6 Stockfish 14 really likes this. [Stockfish 14 really *really* likes 21.Re7] 21...d5 22.Bxa6 bxa6 23.Rxf5 Here one score ends (under five minutes) 23...Nxh4 (here the other says "23...Nxh3") and here we must appeal to the players. It goes on the one sheet: "24.Raf8+ Qxf5 25.Qg7#." Probably: 24.Re7 Qxf5 25.Qg7# An impressive and entertaining (except for Black!) King's Gambit in the "Modern Style," i.e. not too swashbuckling, just solid central control, better structure, play against Black's weakened kingside. Beware double-kingpawn players! 1-0

SwissSys Standings. TNM_finalround: 1800+

Thursday Night Triathlon Report

by Abel Talamantez

There was some excitement and anticipation prior to the start of the final leg of our first ever Mechanics' Institute Online Chess Triathlon. This tournament experiment, which was a mix of rapid, blitz, and this week's Fischer random was bound to produce surprises, as the format itself is an enigma and part of the fun of this variant is the unknown waters the pieces will lead the players. For those not familiar with Fischer random, also known as Chess 960, it is a variant game in which the pieces in the back row are randomly placed. This challenges players' convention of what should be done at the start of the game, and the ensuing chaos is bound to lead to entertaining action. And did it ever.

Adam Mercado came into the round as the leader after the rapid and blitz rounds, and was just a point ahead of Mansoor Mohammed. Mercado needed all the skill he could muster to hold onto his lead, and he did so with a little luck along the way just to make sure, producing one of the most fantastic tournaments we've broadcast. He finished the Fischer random leg 5.5/6, winning the event with a combined 16.5/21. There was a 3-way tie for 2nd place with 13 points between Mansoor Mohammed, Mark Drury and Sanjeev Anand. Sean Kelly finished with a very impressive 12/21, despite missing the 6 rounds of the 1st rapid leg. Congratulations to tall the participants!

It is a Latin proverb that says fortune favors the brave. To give you a sense of how everything came together for Adam, let's take a look a 2 incredible positions, from round 1 and round 5.

In round 1, Mercado found himself on the ropes, headed for defeat in this position as black against Mark Drury.

Drury in a little bit of time trouble played Be5??, leading Mercado to snap off Qxc2 mate. There were comments in the Twitch chat saying black should have resigned some time ago, but this shows that resilliency can pay off, especially in a format such as this.

Now let's go to the highlight of the evening, definitley must see T.V....

In round 5, Mercado found himself in a seemingly hoplessely lost position here as white against Nilufer Sagat:

Mercado had been tenacious in playing on in this position, delvering check after check looking for opportunities and chasing the opposing king to the other side of the board. Mercado quickly played 1. Qb3 in this position and black quickly captured with Qxb3?? creating a stalemate!

It is worth watching the broadcast and capturing the dramatic moment from the 1:37:00 mark here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34W6IUfnMzY

Congratulations to Adam for winning the event and to all the players for participating in this experimental inaugural event. It was a great deal of fun and the chat was lively. We will hold another triathlon in the future, and we hope the tournament showcased the potential for both competition and fun.

Final standings can be found here:

Combined Final Standing

#	Name	Handle	ID	Rating	Rapid	Blitz	FR	Total
1	Adam Mercado	A-boy415	16571026	1756	5.5	5.5	5.5	16.5
2	Mansoor Mohammed	Mansoortaj	16086550	1893	4.5	5.5	3	13
3	Mark L Drury	BirdOrBust	12459313	1830	5	5	3	13
4	Sanjeev Anand	chessp1234	14436451	1753	3	6	4	13
5	Nilufer Sagat	snowodis	17256603	unr.	3	5.5	3.5	12
6	Sean Kelly	SlowCynicalQuip	16962568	1848	0	7	5	12
7	Casimir Dudek	Thechesskid2021	30101045	1733	3	5	3	11
8	Adithya Chitta	adichi	16695036	1057	2.5	5	2	9.5
9	Ian Liao	victor6688	16738735	1054	2	4	3	9
10	Pratyu Bhingarkar	GreenNinja2019	30015889	unr.	2	4	2	8
11	Bruce A Hedman	Bruce_Hedman	17344551	unr.	0.5	4	2.5	7
12	Aaron D Craig	aaroncraig602	12872385	1416	3	0	3.5	6.5
13	Pras Chandramouli	5upe5	30279272	unr.	3	3	0	6
14	Aryan Renjith	SavageAryan	15027127	1241	3	3	0	6
15	Marcus Casaes	SucramJman	30290420	unr.	2	3	1	6
16	NM Mike Sailer	MikeSailer	12451516	2233	0	4.5	0	4.5
17	Lisa Willis	LittlePinkCorvette	12601676	1500	0	4	0	4
18	Aiden Zhu	aiden2020	30141156	778	2	2	0	4
19	IM Elliott Winslow	ecwinslow	10363365	2276	0	3	0	3
20	Abel Talamantez	MechanicsChess	12465386	1800	1.5	1	0	2.5
21	Oskar Zoffer	OskarZoffer	16471866	1826	0	2	0	2
22	Judit Sztaray	JuditSztaray	14708926	757	1.5	0	0	1.5

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MI Member Spotlight: Andrew Imbens

Guido Imbens was a co-recipient of the Nobel Prize in economics this year, but his son Andrew Imbens is making his own waves at the Mechanics' Institute. The 15-year old Imbens has been rising up the rating charts after beginning live tournament play this year, making it to 1400 after this recently concluded TNM. I asked him why he plays at Mechanics' Institute, and why he became a member and here is what he shared.

Andrew Imbens (left) and family. Photo by Andrew Brodhead, Stanford University

I became a Mechanics’ Institute member after becoming interested in chess again during the quarantine, and I was looking for somewhere where I could play over-the-board. I really like longer time controls, and the schedule of the tournaments (especially the Tuesday Night Marathons) are very convenient for me to get to after school. I have come to especially appreciate the ability to get to know some of the other players I have met here, by playing the same people again over multiple tournaments, playing blitz games and/or discussing our games between tournament rounds, as well as just seeing familiar faces for each tournament.

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Tony's Teasers

Tony challenges with an even tougher problem, white to move and mate in 4!

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