Ilya Krasik – Marc, hello and welcome to the Boston Blitz. Where were you born, grew up? Do you remember your first steps in chess?

Marc Esserman – Good evening. I was born and grew up in Miami. My first steps… I sharply remember going for the four move checkmate as a 7 year old but when I played Qxf7 and announced mate to my shock my opponent took my queen as he had already played e6! I have not made this mistake since. I would play often with my older brother who was a national champion in elementary school and he started my interest in chess. From ages 7-13 I worked with my first coach from Miami, Randall Smith, and he took me to around 1000 to 2000 strength. Along the way I won a national title in middle school which I was very proud of. However, I quickly realized there was much to learn, and I was fortunate enough to be surrounded by so many strong Cuban chess players in Miami. All of the difficult games from blitz to classical time controls at IM Blas Lugo’s club were a constant reminder of how much I didn’t know about chess. For example, players like Blas and Marcel Martinez would just beat me over and over in the Friday night game/10 tournaments for years.

Who were your biggest influences in chess as far as top players, did you study with any prominent coaches?

From 14-19 I studied with IM Calvin Blocker. As he was in Ohio and I in Miami/Cambridge, every single one of our lessons was via telephone. Calvin introduced me to the great history and depth of chess and how to approach chess at a more professional level. Calvin is most responsible for the style of chess that I try to adopt today. In college I also worked with both Grandmasters Anatoly Lein and William Lombardy, both famous players and coaches whose accomplishments and deep knowledge of chess speak for themselves. While in Moscow for a month I got to work a little with Grandmaster Igor Zaitsev as well. My favorite player is Paul Morphy, and its not because I am American

What made you recently trade Miami for Boston, do you envision dropping anchor in Boston or are you going to cut tail and run away back to Miami when winter hits?

Now to the serious business, I’m not sure I will be able to handle Boston in a few months with the Miami tennis shorts that got me through 5 long New England winters. I am older now and frostbite will take its toll. I think I may run to the beach after the finals.

How would you describe your style of play?

You know me, I like to trade the pieces and go for technical endings

What other hobbies, sports and activities do you enjoy?

I’ve played tennis seriously my whole life, and some friends recommend I get into chess boxing but I don’t think that will be a wise idea. I also pretend to speak Russian.

Do you have any weird superstitions, beliefs?

“I believe, whatever doesn’t kill you, only makes you, stranger…”

I know you are a crazy advocate of Batman, what in the world attracts you to this movie and how will this movie make you a better chess player?

Yes, speaking of quoting the Batman, I actually took a chess student of mine to see this movie tonight as training and he started snoring and disturbing the audience. I am not sure I can work with this student anymore Another very strong chess player, who shall remain anonymous and who happens to be a member of the Blitz, dismisses the Batman as superficial and the product of the dumbing down of American society, but of course he hasn’t seen it yet. I cannot reveal any of my preparations regarding the Batman, but my second in Batman studies, Eric Rodriguez of the Miami Sharks may be able to divulge more information. All I can say is “do I look like a guy that plans things?”

Tell us something about Marc Esserman that no one knows, it can be a curious fact, an interesting story.

Surely at least one person will have heard any story worth telling, so as a child I used to bring little plastic pigs to tournament games for good luck. One pig even sat lounged in a beach chair sipping some kind of fruit drink. Some opponents found the pigs cute, others not so much.

There is a rumor flying out there that you have nowhere to live and you might have to live out of a cardboard box, what’s the story here?

Yes, yes. As my lease expired last minute I was caught in the chaotic rush for Boston fall housing, and the Bolyston Blog made a desperate post “Chess Player Needs Housing, Support the Boston Blitz.” One comment read “you can stay in my cardboard box in the garage.” It was an intriguing offer which I politely declined because I felt it could get cold in the garage, but the price was unbeatable.

Let’s talk about the USCL a bit, you played for Miami, last Wednesday you were a spectator at the Blitz match and hung out with your new teammates afterwards, what is the difference between the Sharks and the Blitz?

For Miami I only played one game and played board 1, for Boston I will be playing my first game on board 4, so this is quite a difference I was mostly disappointed that Miami, known for its beautiful women, did not have any adoring female fans in attendance. However, in Boston, this is not a problem!

Last week, Boston won a huge match vs NY by a score of 3-1, it is rumored some Knights players displayed poor sportsmanship after the match (those players were not actually present in NY at the time), making ridiculous accusations, what’s your take on this issue and how do you think the league should deal with these infractions in the future?

I think that those who made the accusations should come to Boston and get the full experience of playing Jorge live in blitz, in a money match, of course. Accusing someone of cheating is a serious allegation and these things cannot be tossed around trivially, as the accuser is basically saying that for all the energy the player has poured into chess, he is willing to throw that all away and risk his reputation to win a game by copying moves from a computer. The league should have a zero tolerance policy for this sort of talk, which should result in suspensions like any other professional league. Cheating allegations should be dealt with by the commissioner like other professional leagues.

This week we face Carolina Cobras, what do you know about your opponent and what do you think of Carolina in general?

Why so serious a question? I will not give the underdog any motivational fire.

I am sure being from Miami you have seen “Scarface.” Do your best Tony Montana expression and tell us what you are going to do to Craig Jones on Wednesday.

Ok, if you insist. “You wanna play? Ok. Ok. Say chello to my little friend.” “I’ll bury those cockroaches.”

Thanks for your time and good luck on Wednesday.