Interview with New National Master Abby Marshall

Abby Marshall

From my Chess Examiner site:

Following the conclusion of the recent U.S. Chess School session in St. Louis, Abby Marshall was kind enough to share some of her thoughts from the chess camp:

Goldberg: What were some of the more important things you learned from the camp?

Abby: Kaidanov emphasized that it’s difficult to play good moves when you are focusing on the result, especially with that half point lead because “draw” is always on your mind. He advised choosing a specific aspect to focus on to counteract that focus on results. It can be on time management, calculating deeply, trading, pawn structure, candidate moves, anything to do with good chess moves. We also talked about women’s chess. One of the funny things I learned was if someone is acting really condescending to you, like when you’re analyzing the game afterward and the guy is acting like he was winning the whole game when you actually crushed him easily and are being nice to go over the game, a good strategy is not to argue with him, but agree with everything. Secretly you are making fun of him for being so wrong. You sometimes have to pick your battles. We also did exercises on intuition and prophylaxis, topics I’ve never studied deeply before.

Goldberg: Gregory Kaidanov mentioned that it will be very difficult to really absorb everything presented that week immediately - it will take time to do so. Has the chess camp altered how you plan to approach your chess in coming months? Anything in particular you feel you need to work on to reach even greater heights?

Abby: I need to work on openings. Kaidanov said that when you make a big rating jump, normally openings lag behind. Mine have lagged behind for years. Also, Greg (Shahade) talked about how important it was to review the opening right after you play a blitz game.

Goldberg: At this camp, you were the highest rated of all the participants, by a large margin. Did this prove to be a problem at all?

Abby: No, not at all. I was really impressed by Darrian and Rochelle, who had lots of great suggestions that I hadn’t considered or hadn’t found as quickly. The lessons were complex and open ended enough that everyone had something to add.

Goldberg: It appeared to me that all the girls seemed to get along nicely, both at the camp sessions and at the recreational activities away from the club. Is this an accurate read on things? Were you especially close with any of them prior to this camp?

Abby: Yeah, we all got along really well. A lot of us knew each other before the camp, so that helped. I’ve known Linda and Darrian for a couple of years.

Goldberg: How were the accommodations at the hotel? Were things handled okay by Greg and by the chess club to take care of everyone pretty well?

Abby: Yeah, it was all great.

Goldberg: Any comments on the private session at the end with Kaidanov?

Abby: We talked about openings and strengths and weaknesses.

Goldberg: How were Kaidanov and Shahade as instructors?

Abby: They are the best. I felt that they really respected everyone’s chess.

Goldberg: Any other thoughts you care to add?

Abby: I hope Greg organizes a similar camp in the future, maybe for the many many younger girls who are ridiculously good.

For more information, see the extensive U.S. Chess School 10th session reports at the Chess Examiner site. I have also profiled Abby in my September 2009 Scholastic Chess column at ChessCafe.

Two New National Masters

Eric Rosen; photo: MonRoi
Abby Marshall; photo: MonRoi

This month, in my ChessCafe Scholastic Chess column, I discuss two of America's newest national masters - Eric Rosen and Abby Marshall. Some great games are included - see the entire column here. It is also permanently archived here.

Breaking news about Magnus Carlsen

I've reported over at the Chess Examiner site about a ChessBase article regarding a Norwegian media outlet discussing Magnus Carlsen and his famous new trainer ...

I'm too cool to be a chess master

Abby Marshall; Photo: Elizabeth Vicary

Abby Marshall stands oh, so close to the magic 2200 mark. How close? Try 2199. Read her brief comment about getting so close at my Chess Examiner site, which also includes her final round game from the World Open that brought her to 2199.

2009 Arctic Chess Challenge Includes IM Ray Robson

Gary Robson, father of phenom Ray Robson, mentioned to me that Ray's next tournament following his victory in the U.S. Junior Closed will be the Arctic Chess Challenge, taking place August 1-9, 2009. All the photos here are from the 2008 event, by photographer Bjørn Berg Johansen.

Elliott Liu and the U.S. Championship

These are two different topics; both appear in my July Scholastic Chess column now posted online at ChessCafe.

Elliott Liu has a lot to say about combining an active college life with high-level chess, and I share a few thoughts and photos from the recent U.S. Championship. Enjoy!

June Scholastic Chess ChessCafe column online

David Adelberg

My June Scholastic Chess column is now online at ChessCafe. It's about David Adelberg, the young man who has been called “the brightest star in the Arizona scholastic chess scene.”

Update on Kayden Troff

My April 2009 Scholastic Chess column at ChessCafe covered the 10-year-old Utah phenom Kayden Troff.

TD Damian Nash reports that after Kayden's showing in the latest Utah Expert Series tournament in which Kayden beat two experts, his rating stands at 2013. One of these experts is a five-time Utah state champion and the other is currently the highest rated active player in Utah.

In the April 2009 USCF Top Ten Age 10 list, Kayden was ranked #10 with a 1907 rating. But Nash states that Kayden is likely to jump to #1 in the next rating supplement (Nicholas Nip will apparently turn 11 by this next supplement).

Congratulations to young Kayden Troff!

A Sad Day

Landon Brownell Photo: Chess Life Online
I was notified yesterday of the tragic passing of 19-year-old Landon Brownell, who had been an integral part of the powerful Catalina Foothills High School chess teams which won three national titles between 2005 and 2008.

A Bakersfield, California website reported that Landon "became fatigued and dozed off" while driving. Ironically, friend and fellow chess master Elliott Liu just finished taking a class on sleep deprivation at Stanford University. His professor stressed the highly dangerous effects of inadequate sleep when driving, claiming that it is even more dangerous than driving drunk, as horrendous as that is.

"To have Landon fall asleep at the wheel, mirroring exactly what we learned in class, hits me hard," said Liu. "[My professor's] persistent message just turned into reality for me. We will all miss Landon greatly."

Catalina Foothills coach Robby Adamson has written a touching memorial to Landon at Chess Life Online. May his family, which has suffered too many tragedies, be comforted by his memory, and may we all learn to avoid such preventable accidents.

Irina on Gibraltar

Photo: Chess Life Online
IM Irina Krush wrote a not-to-be-missed article about her experiences at the recent Gibraltar tournament - always one for great pictures. Take your time, though. I lost count of how many annotated games she included in this excellent article. You can find it at Chess Life Online.

Tournament Preparation

The SuperNationals mega-tournament takes place next month in Nashville, in which all three Spring scholastic championships (elementary, junior high and high school) occur at the same time and at the same location. Some 5,000 players are expected to attend this combined event that only takes place every four years.

In advance of this big event, I thought it would be interesting to hear from a variety of talented players, coaches and parents regarding how best to prepare for a chess tournament, physically, nutritionally and psychologically. Our esteemed “panel” members offer a number of interesting suggestions!

The Panel

WFM Abby Marshall – prominent high school player.
WGM Jennifer Shahade – editor of Chess Life Online.
Jonathan Hilton – prominent high school player and editor of World Chess Live newsletter.
Michael Goeller – author of The Kenilworthian blog.
FM Darwin Yang – prominent scholastic player.
IM Greg Shahade – founder of the U.S. Chess League and the U.S. Chess School
Dan Heisman – full-time chess tutor and author of many books, as well as the popular ChessCafe.com Novice Nook column.
Dr. Gary Robson, father of teenage IM Ray Robson.
WIM Dr. Alexey Root – author and lecturer at University of Texas at Dallas.
FM Robby Adamson – won multiple national scholastic championships and has coached multiple national championship teams at Tucson’s Catalina Foothills High School; he is featured on the cover of the March 2009 issue of Chess Life.

To read all about what our panel had to say about what should be done prior to and during a big tournament, see my March ChessCafe Scholastic Chess column here, or in the ChessCafe archives.

Nice Video About the University of Texas-Dallas Chess Program

2009 Scholar Chessplayer Award

The USCF has published a press release of interest to high school senior and junior students:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Jerry Nash jnash@uschess.org
(931)787-1234 ext:145

Reminder! The applications are due on March 1st, 2009, for the 2009 Scholar Chessplayer Awards. These annual scholarships awarded by the USCF and the US Chess Trust, are intended to recognize and encourage high school junior or senior students who promote a positive image of chess. Current USCF members (high school juniors or seniors) who have shown outstanding merit in academics, sportsmanship, and chess are eligible to apply for a National Scholar-Chessplayer Award. Five awards of $1000.00 each (for a total of $5,000.00) in scholarship money are available. The applications are available online. The link to the Scholastic National Invitational Event and Reward Requirements is http://main.uschess.org/content/view/7865/131/. The link to the application is:
http://main.uschess.org/images/stories/scholastic_chess_resources/2009_scholar-chessplayer_application_-_10-14-08.pdf.

A Note from Bruce Pandolfini

Legendary chess coach and writer Bruce Pandolfini sent me a note following the publication of my review of the Soviet classic Questions of Modern Chess Theory. He commented that seeing the review of the book brought back some fond memories for him.

"As I recall, Fischer really liked the Gawlikowski endgame books, Lisitsin's big tactical work, and especially the Lipnitsky, which supposedly he carried around with him for a full year and, according to Bobby's own claims, helped make him a grandmaster. I was able to get all of the above books, in fact, Fischer's very copies, when I was a teenager myself. His worn and tattered copy of the first edition of Lipnitsky's classic, which Bobby signed in his characteristic printed scrawl at the time, is one of my most prized possessions."

I'm glad to see that Bruce agrees that Questions of Modern Chess Theory, originally published in 1956, remains a book "every serious chess player should know about."

Thanks, Bruce, for the informative comments.

January 2009 Scholastic Chess column now online

That's me at the Disney Animal Kingdom park

Well, it's been awhile since I've been able to write. Our family spent a week at the beautiful Coronado Springs Resort, part of the Disney World complex near Orlando, Florida. This was the site, just two weeks prior, of the National K-12 Championships, which I write about in my January 2009 ChessCafe Scholastic Chess column.

Also covered is the Pan American Intercollegiate Championship, held in Fort Worth, Texas.

December Scholastic Chess Column Online

The 28-player U.S. squad at the 2008 World Youth Chess Championships in Vung Tau, Vietnam did quite well, including bronze medals for Sam Shankland and Darwin Yang, as well as an international master title for Shankland. As a treat for our readers, Darwin annotates his victory over the eventual winner of his section.

The inaugural edition of the Mind Sport Games took place in Beijing. Although not a scholastic event, up-and-coming teenager Abby Marshall was one of the U.S. participants. Her fascinating game against her Swedish opponent is included below.

The full column can be read here.

Extensive Sam Shankland Interview and Annotations

IM Sam Shankland; Photo: Dujiu Yang, Chess Life Online
Jennifer Shahade has a wonderful piece about new IM Sam Shankland at Chess Life Online. It consists of an encompassing interview with the bronze-medal winner from the recent 2008 World Youth Chess Championships in Vietnam, as well as, remarkably, all eleven of Sam's games at the WYCC, all annotated by Sam. It's a treasure!

The Future of Scholastic Chess, Part Two

In last month’s column, we began looking at why chess “dropouts” occur during and after high school. Eighteen chess personalities prominently involved in the world of scholastic chess were consulted, and their responses were presented. We continue with the second part of this series this month.

At the end of the article, I've summarized some of the key issues, and I give my two cents as well. Part One can be found here, and Part Two is here.

TV Video About 10-Year-Old Margaret Hua

Margaret Hua is a tiny ten-year-old St. Louis girl who was one of the U.S. players at the recent World Youth Chess Championships in Vietnam. This video, from local television station KETC, highlights this special young woman:

Abby Marshall on the Mind Sport Games in China

Varuzhan Akobian, Iryna Zenyuk, Alexander Shabalov and Abby Marshall; photo: Chess Life Online

Ever-interesting WFM Abby Marshall writes about her experiences in China at the 1st Mind Sport Games, at Chess Life Online.

Here's a brief sample of what Abby has to say:

The first day of any trip, no matter how good or bad it actually is, is always one of the most exciting days. How cool is it to wake up halfway around the world? So I’ll start there. Unfortunately, I instantly knew breakfast was going to be a big problem cause it ends at 10, but luckily jet lag saved me and I woke up reasonably early, was excited and took a bunch of dumb pictures of the room, and then fell back asleep and missed breakfast anyway. Well, the extra sleep definitely helped me because the American team made history by being, according to the hotel, the first tourists to walk to Tiananmen Square! We thought this was strange, because Jenn asked how long it would take and they said “one hour.” Huh. So by the third hour we are all probably thinking the same thing (one hour, maybe the only thing that could have been one is…day?), but this turned out to be one of the greatest decisions we made. We stopped in a park with lots of beautiful stone statues, and then in a cute tea shop where everyone drank endless amounts of Jasmine while Jenn read Cosmopolitan. The articles were in Chinese, but had teasing English subtitles (“how to have a blingy lifestyle”).