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Marc Esserman

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Marc Esserman
CountryUnited States
Born (1983-07-28) July 28, 1983 (age 41)
Miami, Florida
TitleInternational Master (2009)
FIDE rating2438 (December 2024)
Peak rating2474 (April 2016)

Marc Esserman (born July 28, 1983) is an American chess player who currently holds the FIDE title of International Master (IM).

Scholastic career

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Esserman began playing chess at the age of 7. Scholastic competition resulted in two national team titles in 1994 and 1995.[1] In April 1997, at the first-ever Super Nationals in Knoxville, Tennessee, he went undefeated (7–0) to become the K–8 co-champion, edging out several players rated over 400 points higher.[2] In March 1999, Esserman tied for 1st in the Florida State Championship, again with a perfect score.[3]

Press coverage of Esserman's chess career continued while an undergraduate at Harvard College.[4] There, he was active promoting chess on campus, serving as captain of the Harvard Chess Club for four years, and helping to organize a chess exchange trip to Beijing, China. There, he played (and defeated) the reigning women's world champion, Xu Yuhua, as part of an inter-university match.[5]

During high school and college, Esserman trained under IM Calvin Blocker,[6] GM Anatoly Lein, and later GM William Lombardy. In a trip to Russia, he also studied briefly with Igor Zaitsev.[7]

Professional career

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After graduation, he returned to Boston in 2008 to promote local chess and chess education by serving on the board of directors of the Boylston Chess Club and representing the city of Boston in the United States Chess League. As a member of the Boston Blitz, he has demonstrated a high winning percentage with a lifetime league score of 75%, ranking him No. 6 league-wide.[8] In the 2009–2010 season and the 2010–2011 season, six out of his eight games placed either 1st or 2nd in the league's game of the week contest—with Esserman winning four of those awarded games. Some of these games have been published for Esserman's "brilliant performance" and sacrificial, tactical qualities.[9][10][11] Esserman placed 3rd in the League's 2010 Game of the Year contest.[12] A number of his games have been recorded in The New York Times,[13] The Boston Globe,[14] the New York Post,[15] The Washington Times,[16] The Scotsman,[17] La Libre Belgique,[18] Новости шахмат ("Chess News"),[19] and other newspapers.

Esserman has achieved notable results in major European and U.S. open and invitational tournaments, in which he has defeated numerous grandmasters. Pre-title major tournament experience was auspicious with a tie for 1st in the 2003 Atlantic Open alongside four experienced GMs, in which he also split the U2400 1st prize.[20][21] After a return to serious tournament chess in 2008, IM norms and top finishes followed quickly.[22] He was a co-winner at the Eastern Class Championship in Sturbridge (2009),[23] the New York State Championship (2010),[24] and the Liberty Bell Open in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (2011).[25] He tied for 3rd at the Miami Open (2008) with 6½/9 and reported on the top performances, including his own brilliancy in the Smith–Morra Gambit against fellow IM Justin Sarkar.[26] He tied for 2nd at the Wunsiedel Schachfest in Wunsiedel, Germany (2011).[27] On June 20, 2010, he achieved an upset in the New York Invitational Tournament against former U.S. champion Joel Benjamin.[28] In August 2011, at the 112th US Open, he defeated Loek van Wely in a spectacular game that has been widely republished in chess database top game selections,[29] in print,[30] in chess videos,[31] and in chess blogs. In particular, GM Kevin Spraggett prefaced his game analysis by observing that "Esserman had already established a reputation for producing some Tal-like masterpieces."[32] Due to a late-round loss, Esserman finished in a multi-way tie for 8th place with 7/9, a half-point behind a 7-way tie for 1st.[33]

Esserman's games have been featured for their instructional value and deep tactical ideas in Larry Christiansen's popular Internet Chess Club broadcast, "Attack with LarryC" on 11 March 2009, 25 November 2009, and 17 August 2011.[34]

In February 2016, Esserman competed in the prestigious Gibraltar Masters chess festival. There he defeated former world championship challenger Nigel Short.[35] Later in the tournament, he had the opportunity to face five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand . As White, Esserman played his favorite Morra Gambit. The players agreed to a draw after a repetition of moves, but many commentators felt that Esserman could have won.[36][37] A few weeks later in the Capelle-La-Grande International, Esserman defeated Grandmaster Yuri Vovk, again with the Morra Gambit,[38] and drew world champion candidate Artur Yusupov.[39] In March 2016, during the Reykjavik Open, Esserman drew grandmasters Richárd Rapport and Alexander Beliavsky.

Teaching and writing

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Esserman has given lectures and simuls in his specialty opening, the Smith–Morra Gambit, at various chess clubs.[40][41] He is the author of the book Mayhem in the Morra!, published in 2012.[42]

He is an occasional contributor to Chess Life,[43] and frequent contributor to the United States Chess League news blog.[44][45][46]

Marc Esserman continues to teach on the streaming platform Twitch,[47] where he gives lectures on various chess games and concepts.

Other interests

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Esserman is an avid tennis player who has played in several professional tournaments.[48][49]

He is a frequent visitor to the Harvard Square chess scene.

References

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  1. ^ "Chess Era Will Draw to a Close". Miami Herald. March 16, 1995. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved December 28, 2011.
  2. ^ "1997 SUPER NATIONALS I". US Chess Federation. April 27, 1997. Retrieved December 24, 2011.
  3. ^ "FLORIDA SCHOLASTIC CHAMPIONSHIP". US Chess Federation. March 14, 1999. Retrieved December 24, 2011.
  4. ^ "Castling in the Square | Harvard Magazine Nov–Dec 2002". Harvard Magazine. November 2002. Archived from the original on January 15, 2010. Retrieved October 24, 2011.
  5. ^ "Harvard Chess Club". Hcs.harvard.edu. February 17, 2007. Archived from the original on October 17, 2010. Retrieved October 24, 2011.
  6. ^ "Blocker's Gambit". Clevescene.com. October 5, 2005. Archived from the original on March 3, 2014. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
  7. ^ "Ilya Krasik talks to Marc Esserman". Boston-Blitz.com. September 3, 2008. Archived from the original on April 21, 2012. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
  8. ^ "UNITED STATES CHESS LEAGUE: Stats current up to end of 2011". uschessleague.com. December 7, 2011. Archived from the original on June 14, 2012. Retrieved December 23, 2011.
  9. ^ Wolff, Patrick (October 3, 2009). "Chess Notes". Boston.com. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
  10. ^ Wolff, Patrick (October 17, 2009). "Chess Notes". Archived from the original on September 27, 2012. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
  11. ^ Wolff, Patrick (November 7, 2009). "Chess Notes". Retrieved December 27, 2011.
  12. ^ "US Chess League News: Game of the Year – 3rd Place". usclnews.blogspot.com. January 27, 2010. Archived from the original on October 1, 2010. Retrieved October 24, 2011.
  13. ^ McClain, Dylan (October 24, 2009). "An Often-Shunned Opening, for Good Reason". The New York Times. Retrieved December 23, 2011.
  14. ^ Wolff, Patrick (December 10, 2011). "Chess Notes". boston.com. Archived from the original on July 1, 2012. Retrieved December 23, 2011.
  15. ^ Soltis, Andy (August 27, 2011). "More of the Morra". New York Post. Archived from the original on September 27, 2012. Retrieved December 23, 2011.
  16. ^ Sands, David (August 16, 2011). "SANDS: Lenderman last man standing in U.S. Open". The Washington Times. Archived from the original on August 17, 2011. Retrieved December 23, 2011.
  17. ^ "Chess 12/08/2011". The Scotsman. August 12, 2011. Retrieved December 23, 2011.
  18. ^ Winant, Luc (August 27, 2011). "Du nouveau dans le gambit Morra". La Libre Belgique. Retrieved December 23, 2011.
  19. ^ Голубев, Михаил (November 8, 2011). "Как обыграть в гамбите Морра сильного гроссмейстера из Голландии ("How to beat a strong Dutch GM with the Morra")". Новости шахмат. Archived from the original on January 6, 2012. Retrieved December 28, 2011.
  20. ^ "Ehlvest leads crew in Atlantic". The Washington Times. September 5, 2003. Retrieved December 31, 2011.
  21. ^ "Atlantic Open, Open Section". Continental Chess Association. Archived from the original on April 26, 2012. Retrieved December 31, 2011.
  22. ^ "Berkeley Norm Hunt". Chess Life Online. December 22, 2008. Archived from the original on December 25, 2008. Retrieved December 31, 2011.
  23. ^ Bird, Chris (March 10, 2009). "Esserman and Sadvakasov Thrill in Sturbridge". US Chess Federation. Archived from the original on August 16, 2014. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
  24. ^ McClain, Dylan (September 8, 2010). "New York State's Chess Champion? He's 14". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 14, 2011. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
  25. ^ "The US Chess Scoop on the Liberty Bell Open". US Chess Federation. January 21, 2011. Archived from the original on March 1, 2011. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
  26. ^ Esserman, Marc (August 19, 2008). "Esserman Blogs from Miami". Archived from the original on July 25, 2012. Retrieved December 27, 2011.
  27. ^ Klaus, Stefan (August 15, 2011). "Archiv 2007 – 2011". Archived from the original on January 23, 2012. Retrieved December 27, 2011.
  28. ^ Loeb, Dylan (June 21, 2010). "Upsets Abound at New York International". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 29, 2010. Retrieved October 24, 2011.
  29. ^ "Marc of Excellence". Archived from the original on November 1, 2011. Retrieved November 7, 2011.
  30. ^ "Chess Notes". September 10, 2011. Archived from the original on January 11, 2012. Retrieved November 7, 2011.
  31. ^ Alterman, Boris (August 18, 2011). "Smith–Morra Gambit". Internet Chess Club. Archived from the original on May 26, 2012. Retrieved December 31, 2011.
  32. ^ Spraggett, Kevin (August 7, 2011). "Upset at US Open". Archived from the original on April 26, 2012. Retrieved December 27, 2011.
  33. ^ "2011 US Open Championship". August 7, 2011. Archived from the original on April 25, 2012. Retrieved December 27, 2011.
  34. ^ Christiansen, Larry. "Attack with LarryC". Archived from the original on January 2, 2012. Retrieved December 28, 2011.
  35. ^ "Marc Esserman vs Nigel Short (2016)". Archived from the original on September 23, 2016. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
  36. ^ "Marc Esserman vs Viswanathan Anand (2016)". Archived from the original on September 23, 2016. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
  37. ^ "Kostya's Chess Eurotrip: Two Months, Four Tourneys, Six Cities and 38 Games of Chess". May 3, 2016. Archived from the original on September 15, 2016. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
  38. ^ (citation http://chess-db.com/public/game.jsp?id=2018616.14113171.55164672.29123 Archived September 18, 2016, at the Wayback Machine)
  39. ^ "Artur Yusupov vs Marc Esserman (2016)". www.chessgames.com. Retrieved March 5, 2023.
  40. ^ "Marc Esserman Lecture". The Kenilworthian. April 17, 2010. Archived from the original on January 29, 2012. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
  41. ^ "IM Marc Esserman Master Lecture on the Smith Morra Gambit". Boylston Chess Club Weblog. November 24, 2009. Archived from the original on April 19, 2012. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
  42. ^ "Updated Publishing Schedule". Quality Chess Blog. January 13, 2012. Retrieved February 5, 2012.
  43. ^ Esserman, Marc (March 10, 2010). "Spring in the Air at the Eastern Class". Archived from the original on November 2, 2012. Retrieved December 28, 2011.
  44. ^ Esserman, Esserman (October 2, 2010). "IM Marc Esserman Guest Annotates". Archived from the original on April 26, 2012. Retrieved December 28, 2011.
  45. ^ Esserman, Marc (November 9, 2010). "IM Marc Esserman Guest Annotates Again". Archived from the original on April 26, 2012. Retrieved December 28, 2011.
  46. ^ Esserman, Marc (November 13, 2011). "IM Marc Esserman unconditionally retires, again". Archived from the original on April 26, 2012. Retrieved December 28, 2011.
  47. ^ "Twitch". Twitch. Archived from the original on October 24, 2020. Retrieved October 31, 2020.
  48. ^ "Marc Esserman". Coretennis.net. August 28, 2007. Archived from the original on October 2, 2011. Retrieved October 24, 2011.
  49. ^ "Marc Esserman Channel". YouTube. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved July 30, 2017.
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