Week 4 Roundup / League Overview (part 1)

Another exciting week of USCL play. The GOTW contest, which til this point has been less than competitive, ought to pick up steam and controversy this week, with a number of sparkling games and upsets taking place. We are now 40% through the season and the playoff picture is starting to emerge.

In the East, New England (3.5-0.5, 9.5) and New York (3-1, 12) have emerged as front-runners, with Baltimore (2.5-1.5, 10) and Boston (2.5-1.5, 8) close behind, while Manhattan (1-3, 4.5) and Carolina (0.5-3.5, 5.5) need to make a mid-season surge to remain viable.

Out West, Arizona (4-0, 11.5) and San Francisco (3-1, 10.5) have created some distance from the field, though Chicago (2.5-1.5, 8) remains within striking distance. Storied franchises and perennial contenders Dallas (1-3, 6.5) and Miami (0.5-3.5, 5.5) have a lot of ground to make up to stay in the hunt.

What has separated the best from the rest? After four weeks, it looks to be the performance on board 2. The top 4 teams in the league (Arizona, New England, San Francisco and New York) happen to have the top 4 scores on board 2 (though not necessarily in that order), while the bottom 4 teams (Miami, Carolina, Manhattan and Seattle) have 4 of the bottom 5.

This was also the case in the regular season for 2009 (board 2 being most significant as a predictor of team result). In 2008, board 3 was most indicative.

On to the games!

The Philadelphia Inventors (1.5-2.5, 7.5) drew the Baltimore Kingfishers (2.5-1.5, 10) in a rare match where all the games were drawn! On board 1, GM Magesh Panchanathan drew GM Sergey Erenburg in a relatively placid game, where first minor pieces, then rooks left the board leaving a drawn queen and pawn endgame. Board 3 saw FM Karl Dehmelt play the Panov-Botvinnik against IM Ray Kaufman's Caro-Kann. In a very theoretical line, Dehmelt played a dubious novelty (17. Rc1 vs the standard 17. 0-0-0) and soon his king was far away from the action developing on the queenside and in the center. Instead of the critical 25. ..Kd7, Kaufman acquiesced to a 3-fold repetition with 25. ..Kf5, returning to that square on move 27. Board 4 was the next to finish, where NM Ricky Selzler was unable to convert his slightly better position against IM Richard Costigan into a concrete advantage and a drawn N vs B endgame soon resulted. The longest and most exciting game of the match was a battle between GM Larry Kaufman (2008 World Senior Champion) and FM Thomas Bartell, an early front-runner for league MVP. Bartell chose the rare 10. ..h6 (10. ..c6 and the sharp 10. ..ed are more popular) and quickly found himself in a difficult position with little space and even less counterplay.

Kaufman chose 21. f5!? which soon netted him a pawn, but 21. e5! would have nearly won the game on the spot. If 21. ..de 22. Re5 Qb6 23. Na4 Qc7 24. Re6! decides or 21. ..d5 22. cd cd 23. Rc1! and white's positional advantage is overwhelming. Bartell was able to escape into a pawn-down endgame. On move 35 (diagram), Kaufman had a chance to win in style with 35. Nd8!! cb 36. Be2! when the c-pawn and the lineup on the d-file will cost black at least a piece. Instead, 35. Kg1 kept black on life support.

Bartell defended resourcefully and move 58 began to seize the initiative with ..h4, weaving the beginnings of a net around white's king. Kaufman bailed out on move 67 and forced a 3-fold repetition draw.

St. Louis (2-2, 8.0) drew a bizarre match against Miami (0.5-3.5, 5.5), last year's Western champions who need a strong finish to get back to the playoffs. A big problem this year for St. Louis' top heavy lineups has been the lack of production on board 4. Shocking, then, was the ease with which Spencer Finegold achieved a winning position with the black pieces against NM Andres Santalla and, more surprisingly, his decision to take a draw (diagram) when after 21. Bc5 Nc3! 22. Be7 Rd7 23. Rd2 Re7, black not only has a clean extra pawn, but superior pieces as "compensation".

Next to finish was GM Ben Finegold getting into opening trouble for the second consecutive week with the black pieces and Miami's GM Renier Gonzalez was up to the challenge and finished him off in style. In a sharp Grand Prix (diagram), Finegold played the disastrous 19. ..Bd5 and was lost after 20. c4! Bc6 21. Rd1!. Forced was the "greedy" 19. ..Ba2! 20. Rd1! Kd5! 21. c4 Bc4 22. Nb3 Ke4! 23. Nd2 with perpetual.

GM Hikaru Nakamura's homage to the late, great Bent Larsen was as volatile as the legendary Grandmaster's own play and quickly landed him in a difficult position. Already up two pawns, GM Julio Becerra missed an opportunity for an immediate knockout (diagram).

28. ..Re5! 29. Ne5 Qh2 30. Kf1 Qh1 31. Ke2 Ne3! 32. Kf3 Qh5! 33. Kf2 Qd1! would have been a picturesque finish. Instead, after 28. ..Ne5?! 29. Ne5 Qg7?! (29. ..Qd6! would have been better, with the idea 30. d4 f5!!) 30. d4 f6 31. b4! fe 32. ba Rd8 33. Qe5 Qe5 34. de, Nakamura had escaped into a likely drawn R+P endgame, though he still had to demonstrate some technique (keeping the pawn on g2). This game was the last to finish as Becerra played on to the bitter end (50-move rule draw), though the drama had been lost for the spectators long prior to the official result.

The Archbishops needed a win on board 3 from IM Michael Brooks against All-Star NM Eric Rodriguez. Brooks chose the rare 7. a4 in the Ne7 Winawer (as played by Fischer in the first game of his match against Larsen - more usual is 7. Qg4) and Rodriguez chose Korchnoi's 7. ..Qa5 treatment. Brooks innovated by finally playing 9. Qg4, rather than the usual 9. Nf3, which has been championed by GM John Nunn and netted him a sparkling victory against Tiger Hillarp Persson in 2000. Both players seemed a bit out of sorts as Rodriguez eschewed castling and Brooks refused to take the proffered g7 pawn. Perhaps influenced by Rensch's convincing win against Abrahamyan in last week's GOTW, Rodriguez played the creative but incorrect 13. ..Ke7?! (diagram), which was not necessary as the e6 pawn is taboo after 13. ..0-0! due to the pin on the Qg4.

After 14. h4 h6 15. Nh3 Be8 16. Nf4 Bf7 17. Ng6 Bg6 18. Qg6, Brooks had won a pawn but Rodriguez fought hard and after queens left the board was close to being equal (diagram)

Unfortunately, Rodriguez chose a too-passive regroupment, starting with 28. ..Rc8 29. Rf3 Ke8 30. Rf1 Rc6 31. Rb1 Rb6 32. Rb6 ab and now white's extra pawn would tell after 33. h5! as it is impossible to avoid zugzwang given the plan of Ke2-f3-g4-f5 and Bd2-c1-a3. Instead, 28. ..a5! would prevent a rook exchange (29. Rf3?! Rf3! 30. Kf3 Nc7! and black creates an outside passed pawn ensuring at least a draw) and give black sufficient counterplay.

Monday night's final match was an exciting battle between two teams headed in opposite directions. The Arizona Scorpions (4-0, 11.5) defeated the Dallas Destiny (1-3, 6.5) by a narrow 2.5-1.5 margin to cement their grip on the West. Most games in this match were at critical moments simultaneously, so I'll aim to avoid a too-chronological narrative. First to finish was IM Julio Saddora refuting FM Warren Harper's interesting but incorrect exchange sacrifice with precise, aggressive play (27. ..d5 and 28. ..d4 were star moves) on board 2, giving Dallas an early lead. FM Keaton Kiewra risked the condemnation of opening theoreticians and certain GOTW judges when he played 1. e4 c5 2. a3!? against FM Robby Adamson (whose league excellent recap post this week beat me to the punch!). After the standard 2. ..g6!, Kiewra surprisingly backed away from his enterprising opening and transposed (a tempo down) into "main lines" with 3. d4? and Robby took full advantage (see his excellent annotations at http://arizonascorpionchess.com/2010/09/week-4-recap-of-us-chess-league-by-robby-adamson/) . If you're going to say "A", you must say "B" - next time, play 3. h4!

IM Salvijus Bercys outplayed IM Levon Altounian in a Dutch, starting with the extremely nice 18. e4! in the diagrammed position.

After piling up and winning the e-pawn, Bercys had a chance to clarify matters on move 30 with 30. d5! (the bishop is taboo due to Rf8) cd 31. Qd5 and white's extra pawn should tell. Instead, after 30. Bg2?! Bg2 31. Kg2 Rad8 black organized a defense in a heavy-piece endgame and held the draw.

The decisive game, then, was a battle between two of the league's top board 4s, NM David Adelberg and two-time All-Star WFM Bayaraa Zorigt (looking to bounce back from an 0/3 2009 campaign after scoring 11.5/16 in 2007-2008, including 4-0 in the playoffs). It was classic USCL - sharp, sometimes sloppy but always entertaining. Zorigt had the better of it early, but missed 25. ..Bd4! (instead playing 25. ..Nd6) and the more straightforward 30. ..de! (instead 30. ..Ne4?? allowing 31. Nf5!). Adelberg seized the initiative with gusto, finding the strong 35. b4! / 36. e4! / 37. f5! sequence (see diagram) but failed to continue with 38. h4!! Rg4 39. Bh3, winning a piece. After 38. Kh2??, Zorigt had an excellent opportunity to turn the tables and level the match with 38. ..Qc7! after which white is forced to shed a pawn and close the beautiful a1-h8 diagonal with 39. e5 Nf5. Alas, it was not Dallas' night - Zorigt played 38. ..Nh5 and after 39. Qb2 f6 40. Qd2 Qc7?? (h6 was necessary) 41. e5! and white converted 15 moves later.

Week 4: Lucky

The final score often fails to tell the full story and so it was Monday night when the New York Knights beat their cross-town (and not really, because we both play on what is technically the West Side of Manhattan) rivals, the Manhattan Applesauce by a 3.5-0.5 margin. There were no boring games as the advantage changed hands and clocks ticked toward 0.

New York quickly got into trouble on boards 3 and 4, where GM John Fedorowicz and Alex Katz (making his Knights debut) faced SM Greg Braylovsky and James Black.

Braylovsky found a novel opening plan against the BronxBattler.

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. d4 e6 3. c4 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. Nbd2 Bb4 6. Qc2 Bb7 7. Bg2 (69) Be4 (83)

Greg spent 12 minutes on Bg2 and his time disadvantage would later play a decisive role.

8. Qb3 Bd2 9. Bd2 0-0 10. 0-0 d6 11. Rfd1 Nbd7 12. h3!?N (45)

Played after a 13 minute think, this move (and associated plan) is new. More popular is 12. Rac1, after which Michael Adams has ably defended the black side of the resulting complex position.

12. ..Qe7 (80) 13. g4 Rfc8 14. Rac1 (27) a5 (78) 15. Bg5 Qe8 16. Qe3 (19) h6 (73) 17. Bf4 Bb7 18. g5 hg 19. Bg5 Rab8 20. h4 Ne4 21. Bh3 Nf8 22. d5! ed 23. Bc8 (5) Qc8 (54)

Braylovsky has achieved a much better position, but is dangerously low on time. Fedorowicz's position looks to be tough to crack, with strong squares (c5 and f8) for his knights, pressure on d5 and the c8-h3 diagonal for the queen.

24. cd Nc5 25. Kh2

An interesting idea was 25. Rd4 f6 26. Bf6!! gf 27. Kh2! when white's heavy pieces will overwhelm black's defenses. Black had the resource 25. ..Qf5.

25. ..Qd7 26. Qe7! Qc8 27. h5!?

Safer was a regroupment starting with 27. Be3 Ng6 28. Qg5, when it's hard to find black's compensation for the exchange. Braylovsky saw an opportunity to plunder white's queenside, but Fedorowicz calculated further!

27. ..Qf5 28. Rc5?

It was better to immediately capture the c7 pawn. 28. Qc7 Re8 29. Rc4! Re2 30. Rf4 forces 30. ..Qd7 and white maintains the extra exchange.

28. ..bc 29. Qc7 Re8! 30. Qb7 (2) Re2 (47)

The last critical moment of the game.

31. Kg3??

In desperate time pressure, Braylovsky misses the narrow path to a draw: 31. Qb3! Rf2 32. Kg3 Rf3 33. Qf3 Qg5 and white holds the balance.

31. ..Re4 32. Qb3 Qg4 33. Kh2 Qh5 34. Kg2 c4 35. Qc3 g4 36. Kf1 Rg5 37. Rd4 Rd5 38. Rh4 Qf5 39. Rc4?

39. Ne1! prolonged resistance

39. ..Rd3! 40. Rf4 Qh3 41. Ke2 Rc3 42. bc Qe6 0:1

The Knights got the better of extreme time pressure on board 4 as well, in a shocking turn of events that changed the complexion of the match.

1. e4 (74)

Alex arrived 15 minutes late and, unfortunately, stayed in severe time trouble throughout the game.

1. ..c5 (88) 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cd 4. c3 Nf6 5. e5 Nd5 6. cd d6 7. Bc4 Nc6 8. 0-0 Nb6!?

Rare. More popular is 8. ..Be7 9. Qe2

9. Bb3 de 10. de Qd1 11. Rd1 (71) Be7 (80)

Alex began spending lots of time trying to generate an advantage.

12. Be3 (63) Nd7 (78) 13. Ba4 (58) 0-0 (76) 14. Bc6 (52) bc (76) 15. Nbd2 (45) Ba6 (74) 16. Nb3 (30) Rfd8 (69) 17. Rdc1 (18) Rdc8 (66) 18. Nc5 (9)

Also worth considering was 18. Bc5!?

18. ..Bc5 (62) 19. Bc5 Bd3 20. Bd6 (5) Be4 (61) 21. b4 (3) a6 (60) 22. Nd2 (2) Bd5 (59) 23. Nc4 f6 24. f4 Kf7 25. Rc3 Bc4 26. Rc4 Nb6 27. Rc2 Ke8 28. Rd1 Nd5 29. Rf2 Kd7?!

29. ..f5 seemed most straightforward

30. Bc5 a5 31. a3 ab 32. ab Rcb8 33. Rf3 Ke8 34. f5 ef 35. ef g6! 36. Rh3?

36. g4! was necessary

36. ..h5! 37. Rb3 Nf6 38. Re3 Ne4 39. h3 Rd8 40. Rf1

Down to a minute and in a losing position, Katz looks for a miracle swindle...

40. ..Rd2??

And gets it! 40. ..Ra2! was the right way to double on the 2nd rank. Another tragic miss for James.

41. Re4!

and white is just up a piece

41. ..Kf7 42. Re7 Kf6 43. Rc7 Raa2 44. Rc6 Kg7 45. Rc7 1:0

Pascal won a smooth game on board 2 against IM Dmitry Schneider

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 Bd6!?

This unsightly move has become quite popular. In the absence of an exchange on c6, the d6 square is a temporary home that allows black to cover e5 while completing his kingside development, before redeploying the bishop to a more active square.

5. 0-0 0-0 6. d3 h6 7. a3 Re8 8. Ne2 Bf8 9. Ng3 g6 10. Re1 Bg7 11. c3 a6 12. Ba4 b5 13. Bb3 d6 14. a4 Rb8

And...we have a Ruy Lopez.

15. ab ab 16. h3 Be6 17. Be6 Re6 18. d4 d5!

Black achieves this standard break and is close to equalizing.

19. ed Qd5 20. de Qd1 21. Rd1 Ne5 22. Nd4 Ree8 23. Bf4 Nfd7?!

First step in the wrong direction. More dynamic was 23. ..Nc4! 24. Bc7 Rb7 25. Ba5 Nb2 26. Rdb1 Nc4 27. Bb4 Nd5 when black is for choice.

24. Nc6 Rb6?!

Again, a less critical path. More accurate was either removing the offending knight with 24. ..Nc6 25. Rd7 Ne5 26. Rc7 Nd3 27. Bd2 Nb2 28. Raa7 Rf8 29. Ne4 Nc4 30. Bf4 Rbe8 31. Nd6 Nd6 32. Bd6 Re1 33. Kh2 Be5 34. Be5 Re5 when white's advantage is slight or 24. ..Rbc8 providing additional support for c7.

25. Nb4 Rb7 26. Ne4 f5 27. Be5 Ne5 28. Nc5 Rbb8 29. Ra7 Nc4 30. b3!?

Also playable was 30. Nc6 Rbc8 31. b3 Nb2 32. Rd7 Bf8 33. Nb7!?

30. ..Nb2 31. Rc1 Rbd8 32. Rc7 Rd1 33. Rd1 Nd1 34. Ncd3 Nc3 35. Nc6

Material balance has been restored, but white maintains a pull with his piece activity. Black falls headlong into a trap.

35. ..Re2?? 36. Ne7 Kh7 37. Ng6! Rc2

If 37. ..Kg6 38. Rc3! Rd2 39. Nf4 and white retains an extra pawn

38. Nf8 Kg8 39. Ne6 Ne2 40. Kf1 Rc7 41. Nc7 Nd4 42. b4 Kf7 43. f4 Ke7 44. Kf2 Kd7 45. Nd5 Kd6 46. Ne3

46. ..Ke6?!

More accurate was 46. ..h5 forcing white to trade at least a pair of pawns on the kingside.

47. g4! Bf6 48. Nc5 Kd6?

48. ..Kf7 was safer

49. Nf5 Nf5 50. Ne4!

The point

50. ..Ke7 51. Nf6 Nd4 52. Nd5 Kd6 53. Nc3 Kc6 54. h4 Nc2 55. g5 hg 56. fg Kd6 57. h5 Ke5 58. h6 1:0

With the match turning New York's way on the lower boards, the battle between Giorgi and GM Alex Stripunsky had less say on the outcome of the match than the high drama and creative play between the two grandmasters warranted.

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nd4 4. Bc4 e6 5. Nge2 Nf6 6. 0-0 a6 7. a4 d5 8. ed ed 9. Ba2 Bd6!?

Carlsen chose 9. ..Bg4 against Radjabov earlier this year. That game continued 10. f3 Be6 11. d3 Nc6 12. Nf4 Qd7 13. Bd2 Be4 14. Nce2 0-0 15. c3 b5 16. Bb1 Rab8 17. ab ab 18. Bc2 with a double-edged game that eventually ended in a draw. Kacheishvili's move order sets some additional problems for white, as he waits for the exchange on d4 to develop his c8 bishop.

10. d3 0-0 11. Nd4 cd 12. Ne2 Bg4 13. f3 Bd7 14. Nd4 Qc7 15. Kh1 Ba4

16. Be3?!

Too passive. More energetic was 16. Nf5 Bh2 17. Qd2! menacing the kingside. After 17. ..Be5! 18. d4 Bd6 19. Qg5 Ne8 20. Re1 white appears to have ample compensation for the pawn.

16. ..Rfe8 17. Bg1 Bd7

White's pawn structure may be slightly better, but black's pieces are much more actively placed and that allows him to grab the initiative.

18. c3 Re5! 19. f4 Rh5

Guarding d5 and hitting h2!

20. Qf3 g5!?

Giorgi not holding back. At this point in the match, it was quite possible black would have to press for a win, given the situation on the bottom two boards.

21. Be3 Bg4 22. Qf2 Re8 23. Bd2 Bc8

As GM Alex Lenderman put it "a real grandmaster move"

24. Rae1 Re1 25. Qe1 gf 26. Nf3 Bf5

Consistent, but also possible was 26. ..Bd7, intending to pressure white on the a6-f1 diagonal.

27. Bb1 Kg7 28. Qd1 Bg6?!

A bit slow. Possible was 28. ..Ng4!? 29. h3 Ne3 30. Be3 fe 31. Nd4 Bg6 with an extra pawn.

29. Qa4 Ng4 30. h3 Nh6 31. Qd4 f6 32. Qf2 Nf5 33. Kg1

33. ..Bc5?!

Why rush? White is in a sort of middlegame zugzwang, where most moves contain a positional or tactical concession. 33. ..a5, intending a5-a4 continues to put the squeeze on white. One venomous idea is 34. Bc1 a4 35. Bd2 d4!! 36. Nd4 Nd4 37. cd Rb5 38. Bc3 a3!

34. d4 Bd6 35. Bf5 Bf5 36. Ne1 Rg5 37. Qh4 Qb6 38. Bf4 Bf4 39. Qf4 Be4 40. Rf2 Qe6 41. Nf3 Rf5 42. Qc7 Qf7 43. Qf7 Kf7 44. Nd2 Rg5!?

Better to suffer in a pawn down R+P ending than get squeezed in N vs B.

45. Ne4 de 46. Rf4 f5 47. Kf2 Ke6 48. g4 fg 49. hg h5 50. Re4 Kd5 51. Kf3 Kc4! 52. gh Rh5 53. Re7 b5 54. Rc7 Kd3

54. ..Kb3 55. Ke4 Kb2 56. d5 a5 57. d6 Rh8 58. d7 Rd8 59. Kd5 a4 60. Kd6 a3 61. Rb7 Kc3 62. Rb5 a2 is also drawn.

55. b4 Rf5 56. Kg4 Rf1 57. Rc6 Rf8 58. Kg5 Ke4 59. Rc5 Rf1 60. Kg6 Rf2 61. Re5 Kd3 62. Rc5 Ke4 63. Rc6 Kd5 64. Rf6 Rc2 65. Rf3 Kc4 66. Kf7 Re2 67. Kf6 Re1 68. Kf5 Re8 69. Rh3 Re1 70. Kf4 Re8 71. Re3 Rf8 72. Kg3 Ra8 73. Rf3 a5 74. ba Ra5 75. Kf4 Ra3 76. d5 b4 77. cb Rf3 78. Kf3 Kd5 79. b5 Kc5 80. b6 Kb6! 0.5 : 0.5

Week 4 Preview

The Knights are back in action in week 4 against their cross-town rivals, the Manhattan Applesauce, with some intriguing individual matchups in play.

On board 1, GM Giorgi Kacheishvili faces a former board 1 for the Knights, 2009 All-Star GM Alex Stripunsky. Last year, in their only USCL matchup, Giorgi was on the verge of winning before a mouseslip cost him a half-point.

If board 1 involved Knight history intrigue, board 2 is a little closer to home. GM Pascal Charbonneau faces former roommate IM Dmitry Schneider. Dmitry won a complicated game against Pascal in 2008, but Pascal struck back with a bit of home-cooking, destroying Dima's Two Knights Defense in convincing fashion.

GM John Fedorowicz faces another former Knight, SM Greg Braylovsky on board 3. Greg started his USCL career on a torrid 5.5/6 pace, though work and lineup specifics have kept him out of significant USCL action since 2005.

On board 4, less history but a rivalry nonetheless. Alexander Katz makes his USCL debut against James Black in a battle of two of the top scholastic players in the country. Alex won the U2400 prize at the 2009 National Chess Congress (scoring 4.5/6, losing only to your author), while James has provided some significant excitement in the first two weeks - winning a lost game in week 1 before losing a winning position in week 2. As usual in USCL play, this board may be the decisive factor in the match. Alex will be looking for revenge for his rapid-play loss to James this past weekend.

Week 3 Roundup

It was an exciting and blunder-filled week 3 in the USCL, though a few spectacular games stood out amidst the chaos. With the season in full-swing, there were already gut-check matches for some storied franchises.

The Baltimore Kingfishers (2-1, 8.0) continued their road back to prominence with a 3.5-0.5 victory over the Carolina Cobras (0-3, 3.5). With IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat and IM Ray Kaufman dominating on boards 2 and 4 for Baltimore, Carolina's best chances to equalize the match were with the black pieces on boards 1 and 3. On the top board, IM Jonathan Schroer missed the incredible 20. ..Qf2! 21. Kf2 Bf5 22. Qg5 Bb1 23. Qf6 gf 24. Rb1 with an extra pawn, instead trading queens and being squeezed in a painful endgame by GM Larry Kaufman.

On board 3, NM Carlito Agner eschewed the free pawn offered by WGM Sabina Foisor with 34. Ne3?, instead playing 34. ..Rg6 35. Rg6 hg and again ignored it after 36. Qg3? and soon the game petered into a draw.

The Seattle Sluggers (1-2, 5.5) sent the defending Western Divison Champion Miami Sharks (0-3, 3.5) to a stunning third loss in a row to start the season. GM Varuzhan Akobian dominated two-time league MVP Julio Becerra in a Grunfeld to get things started for Seattle. Play on boards 2-4 was not so clean, with wild swings falling Seattle's way on boards 2 and 4 to compensate for a shocking loss on board 3, where FM Charles Galofre was the recipient of a gift from WGM Katerina Rohonyan. In the popular g4 sacrifice line of the Semi-Slav, Galofre has just played the rare 8. ..Nh6 (diagram). Rohonyan blitzed out 9. Rg7?? and after 9. ..Qf6! white was down a piece and could have resigned.

On board 4, Miami's Robert Perez was up two pawns before slowly bleeding away his advantage and eventually losing to Seattle's Alex Guo. In a must-win game on board 2, FM Marcel Martinez was pressing FM Costin Cozianu in a R+B vs R+N ending before dropping a piece with 60. Bd5??.

Cozianu frittered away his edge after 60. ..Nb4 61. Rd4 Rc5 62. Ke4 f5 63. Kf4 Nd5? (63. ..Rd5! was winning) and Martinez retained decent drawing chances (though not enough to save the match) after 64. Kf5 Nc7 65. Kg6 Rg5 66. Kh6 Rg2 67. b4 Ne6

Seeking to keep the black knight restrained, Martinez played 68. Re4?? (68. Rd1! would have sufficed), but lacked sufficient checking distance after 68. ..Kf6!, after which there was no way to avoid mate or a devastating loss of material. Cozianu finished nicely after 69. ba Rg6 70. Kh5 Ng7 71. Kh4 Nf5 72. Kh5 Rg5#!, giving Seattle a 3-1 margin of victory.

It's been a great start to the season for two of the league's newer franchises, the Arizona Scorpions (3-0, 9.0) and the New England Nor'easters (3-0, 7.5). Arizona took sole possession of first place in the West with a 3.5-0.5 destruction of another new team, the Los Angeles Vibe (1-2, 4.0). IM Rogelio Barcenilla won a smooth game on board 1 against GM Melikset Khachiyan, as did Amanda Mateer against NM Christian Tanaka on board 4. With an exciting and complicated draw on board 2 between FM Joel Banawa and IM Dionisio Aldama providing the winning margin, what's left, you ask? Merely an early contender for Game of the Year by IM Daniel Rensch whose 2/2 start has leaguewatchers forgetting his disastrous 2/10 debut. His foil was the dangerous WFM Tatev Abrahamyan who took the black side of a French Winawer.

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 Ne7 5. a3 Bc3 6. bc c5 7. Qg4 0-0 8. Bd3 Nbc6 9. Bg5

A rare move, championed by GM Lenier Dominguez against legendary GMs Artur Yusupov and Evgeny Bareev in 2006. More popular is 9. Qh5 Ng6 10. Nf3 Qc7 11. Be3 when after both 11. ..c4 and 11. ..Ne7, white has done quite well.

9. ..Qa5 10. Ne2 Ng6 11. 0-0 c4 12. Bg6 fg! 13. a4 Bd7!?

This logical move appears to be new. Yusupov and Bareev both chose 13. ..Qc7.

14. f3 Rf7 15. h4 Raf8 16. Bc1 Re8 17. Bd2 Ne7 18. Rfb1 b6 19. Nf4 Ref8 20. Nh3 Nf5 21. Rb4 b5!

With black now gaining a passed a-pawn, white has no choice but to assail the seemingly untouchable black king.

22. h5 gh 23. Qh5 ba?!

Better was 23. ..g6!, driving white's queen to either g4/g5 and making it harder for white to develop his h-file counterplay.

24. Ng5 g6 25. Qh3 Rg7 26. g4 Ne7 27. Kf2!

White makes his intentions clear. Ra1-h1 and crash through on the h-file. Who will get there first?

27. ..a3!

Abrahamyan goes for it.

28. Rh1 a2 29. Nh7 a1Q 30. Nf8! Qh1!

Forced! Black perishes after 30. ..Q1a3?? 31. Qh8 Kf7 32. Nd7 Ng8 33. Rh7! Rh7 34. Qh7 Ke8 35. Rb8.

31. Qh1

31. ..Bc8!

The knight is taboo! 31. ..Kf8 32. Qh8! Rg8 33. Qf6 Ke8 34. Bg5! Nc6 35. Rb8!! and white wins

32. Bg5 Nc6??

After walking a tightrope for the last dozen moves, Abrahamyan loses the thread, though her position may already be lost. After 32. ..Qd8!? 33. Ng6!! Rg6 34. Bf6 Rg7 35. Bg7 Kg7 36. Qh4! Kf7 37. Qf6 Ke8 38. Ra4! Qc7 39. g5! white has a big advantage. More practical chances, as defined by forcing white to find a more narrow winning path, were offered by 32. ..Qc7!? 33. Qh6! Kf8 34. Qh8 Rg8 35. Qh7!! (threatening 36. Rb8!!) Rg7 36. Bh6 Ng8 37. Qh8!! a6! 38. Rb8! Qb8 39. Qg7 Ke8 40. Qg8 Kd7 41. Qf7 Kc6 42. Qe8 Kb6 43. g5! a5! 44. Bf8! (diagram) when it will be impossible to stop white's g-pawn in this picturesque position.

33. Bf6??

Missing the immediate win to be had with 33. Qh6! Kf8 34. Qh8 Rg8 35. Bh6 Kf7 36. Qh7 Ke8 37. Qg8 Kd7 38. Qf7 Ne7 39. Bg5 Qd8 40. Rb8!

33. ..Kf8??

The knight is still untouchable! Forced was 33. ..Qc7! 34. Ng6! Rh7! 35. Qc1! Rh2! 36. Kg3! Qh7! 37. Nh4! Rh4 38. Bh4 Nb4 39. cb Qg6! when black may try to grovel in the BOOC ending. Instead, Rensch finishes in style.

34. Qh8 Rg8 35. Qh6 Ke8 36. Qh7 Rf8 37. Rb8! 1:0

The Nor'Easters (3-0, 7.5) maintained command of the East with a 2.5-1.5 victory over the New Jersey Knockouts (1-2, 5.0), dispelling the chatter about NE's easy schedule during the first two weeks. With GM Joel Benjamin creating magic on board 1 against US Junior Champion IM Sam Shankland and IM Dean Ippolito finding a three-fold repetition against IM Jan van de Mortel (in the position below, van de Mortel is winning a pawn after 50. ..Bc8!), New Jersey had to feel great about their chances. Unfortunately for them, New England's dangerous third and fourth boards, FM Christopher Chase and NM Alex Cherniack outplayed the Brothers Shen to win the match. [Ed: As David Vigorito correctly points out in the comments, van de Mortel's draw was the last game to finish, with the repetition draw providing the winning margin for NE, and was the most team-friendly/pragmatic decision. In most cases, I'm looking to highlight critical moments on the board and will occasionally get the match chronology wrong.]

Arthur Shen missed the venom in Cherniack's 23. ..Qe7 (diagram) and responded with 24. h4??. After 24. ..Nc5!, white's queen is trapped and he can safely resign.

Boston (2-1, 6.0) appears to have fully recovered from their week 1 debacle and is back to their traditional regular season dominance, dispatching the Manhattan Applesauce (1-2, 4.0) with a 3.5-0.5 drubbing. GM Eugene Perelshteyn held a comfortable draw on board 1 against GM Alex Stripunsky and WGM Anya Corke and NM Vadim Martirosov won smooth games against the volatile FM Andrei Zaremba and Shaun Smith. Board 2 saw the return of IM Marc Esserman, coming off a first-place finish in the New York State Championship. His face-off against IM Eli Vovsha, who started the season with two straight wins with the black pieces was another spectacular win for Esserman, his sixth straight with the white pieces in USCL play (and 9.5/11 lifetime).

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3!?

No Smith-Morra?

2. ..d6 3. d4 cd 4. Nd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bc4 e6 7. 0-0 b5 8. Bb3 b4!?

This line has an excellent pedigree, having been played by Anand and Najdorf expert Matthew Sadler, both in games against French GM Joel Lautier. Vovsha lost a tough game to GM Hikaru Nakamura in 2007 in this line, no fault of the opening.

9. Na4 Bd7 10. c3!

Lautier's improvement against Sadler and also played in Kudrin-Fedorowicz, US-ch 1999, a miniature where Kudrin followed Lautier's analysis to an 18 move victory. Nakamura chose 10. f4.

10. ..Nc6!?

Fedorowicz lost quickly after 10. ..Ne4? 11. Qf3 d5 12. c4 Nc6? 13. Ne6!!. Sadler survived a few more moves with 12. ..Qf6 13. cd! Qd4 14. Be3 Qe5 15. Bf4! Qf5 16. Rfe1 and white's attack offered tremendous compensation for the piece.

11. cb Nb4 12. Be3!

This logical move is new.

12. ..Be7!

Most prudent. If 12. ..Ne4 13. Rc1 Nc5 14. Nc5 dc 15. Ne6!! (calculated by Esserman during the game, diagram). Either capture loses as 15. ..Be6 16. Ba4! Bd7 17. Re1! creates a deadly discovery or 15. ..fe 16. Qh5! g6 17. Qe5! Nd3 18. Qh8 Nc1 19. Rc1 Qe7 20. Bh6 0-0-0 21. Bf8 Rf8 22. Qc3! and black's position is riddled with weaknesses.

13. Rc1 Ne4 14. Nb6!

Esserman spent a full 22 minutes weaving his way through the complications before uncorking this nice shot.

14. ..0-0

14. ..Qb6 15. Ne6 Nc5 16. Ng7 and if 16. ..Kd8 17. Bf7! or 16. ..Kf8 17. Bh6! and white's attack rages.

15. a3! Qb6 16. Ne6 Qb5 17. Nf8 Rf8 18. ab Qb4 19. Rc7 Nf6 20. Bd4 Bd8 21. Rc3 Be6 22. Re1 Re8 23. Rce3 d5 24. Bc3 Qb6 25. Bd5! Nd5 26. Qd5 h6 27. Rg3!

And the rest is a rout.

27. ..f6 28. Qh5! Kf8 29. Rg7! Kg7 30. Qe8 Bf7 31. Qe4 Qd6 32. Qg4 Kh7 33. Rd1 Qe7 34. Qd7 1:0

The St. Louis Archbishops (1.5-1.5, 6.0) got back to .500 by defeating the Dallas Destiny (1-2, 5.0) who, now two years removed from their back-to-back championships, are in an early fight for their playoff life. It was the first victory for St. Louis' impressive 3GM lineup, as GM Hikaru Nakamura and GM Yury Shulman (recovering from his shocking upset defeat at the hands of Chicago's IM Florin Felecan in the week 2 Game of the Week) defeated GM Alejandro Ramirez and NM Tyler Hughes on the top two boards. Although Tony Rich nearly held a draw on board 4 against NM Nelson Lopez, the match could have had a dramatically different outcome. On board 3, FM Keaton Kiewra had a promising opening position against GM Ben Finegold after 18 moves (diagram)

After 19. f3!, temporarily preventing black from castling and securing e4 against the b7 bishop, white would have had a good opportunity to squeeze black's weakened pawn structure. Instead, after 19. Rac1?! 0-0! 20. Qd7 Qd7 21. Rd7 Be4, a drawish endgame was soon reached, snuffing out Dallas' chances.

Last, but certainly not least, was a marquee matchup between two previously undefeated teams, the Chicago Blaze (2.5-0.5, 7.0) and the San Francisco Mechanics (2-1, 8.0). Chicago's GM Dmitry Gurevich conducted a sparkling mating attack against IM Dmitry Zilberstein, providing Chicago the winning margin as boards 2-4 were drawn. [Ed: As Chaos correctly observes, after surviving an inferior opening, Andy Lee had winning chances against Gauri Shankar on board 4, before 45. Re4?? allowed the stunning 45. ..Reb3! which converted the game into a holdable R+P endgame.] San Francisco's best chance to level the match seemed to be on board 2, where FM Daniel Naroditsky was squeezing early MVP candidate IM Florin Felecan in a Pirc. In the position below, the prophylactic 14. c3! would have prevented Felecan's equalizing plan of Na6-b4 and d6-d5 and given white an opportunity to exploit the advantage indicated by his bishop pair and extra space. Instead, after 14. 0-0 Nb4! 15. Bc4 d5 16. Bb3 Nb6, black had untangled and comfortably held the draw.

Also of note was FM Steven Zierk's cute defensive move 18. ..h6!? (see diagram) against IM Angelo Young creating a rare sight - tripled e-pawns after 19. Ne4 Ne4 20. fe. Though Young played on for an additional 79 moves, once Zierk's king reached e6, the drawish outcome was never in doubt. [Ed: As correctly pointed out by Chaos in the comments, Young had a winning opportunity late in the game, but only after a gross blunder by Zierk - the endgame itself was drawn until that point.]

Week 3: Back on Track

The New York Knights moved back above .500 with a convincing 3-1 victory over the Philadelphia Inventors.

In a year where, through two weeks, black has scored 59% the Knights have been the outlier, scoring 3.5/4 with the white pieces. Last night continued that trend as the Knights won convincingly on boards 1 and 3, while holding draws from initially dubious positions on boards 2 and 4. Let's go to the games!

Board 4 was the first to finish as Justus Williams, making his Knight/USCL debut, introduced the league to his dynamic style with an intriguing opening pawn sacrifice against IM Richard Costigan.

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 g6 3. c3 Bg7 4. d4 cd 5. cd d5 6. ed!?

White transposes to a Panov-like structure. 6. e5 was another alternative.

6. ..Nf6 7. Bb5 Nbd7 8. d6

First played by the great David Bronstein in 1961 against Istvan Bilek.

8. ..0-0!

Exclaim for style! 8. ..ed promised a very dry game after 9. Qe2 Qe7 10. Qe7 Ke7.

9. de Qe7 10. Be2 Re8 11. Nc3 b5!

11. ..Ne4 held the possibility of a quick draw after 12. Ne4 Qe4 13. Be3 Nb6 14. Bd3 Qd5 15. 0-0 Bg4 16. Be2 Nc4 17. Bc4 Qc4 18. Ne5! (Arribas Robaina-Mellado Trivino, Hostafrancs 2002)

12. a3 Nb6!?

More traditional was 12. ..Bb7 denying white the e5 square. After 13. 0-0 a6, black has decent compensation for the pawn.

13. 0-0 a6 14. Ne5 Bb7 15. Bf3 Rad8 16. Nc6 Bc6 17. Bc6 Rf8 18. Bf4 Nh5 19. Be3 Nc4 20. Qe2 Qd6 21. Bf3?!

21. d5 seemed better, though after 21. ..Bc3 22. bc Ne3 23. fe Nf6 24. e4 Qe5, black's dark squared blockade ought to be enough to hold. Now the initiative passes to black.

21. ..Nf4! 22. Qc2 Bd4 23. Bd4 Qd4 24. Rfd1 Qf6 25. Rd8 Rd8 26. Rd1 Rd1 27. Bd1?

27. Nd1 offered the possibility of entangling white's queenside.

27. ..Ne6?!

After 27. ..Qd4, re-centralizing the queen, white would find it difficult to move.

28. Qe2 Kg7?!

28. ..Nd4 was more logical.

29. g3 Nd4 30. Qe4 Nd2 31. Qe3 Nc4 32. Qe4 Ne6 33. Qe2 Nd4 34. Qe4 0.5 : 0.5

Irina's game was next to finish, a smooth win and a great start to her season.

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e5 3. de d4 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. a3 Nge7 6. b4 Ng6 7. Bb2 Nce5?!

Including 7. ..a5 8. b5 is a critical nuance.

8. Ne5 Ne5 9. e3 Be6 10. c5 Ng4

10. ..Nc6 11. ed Be7 seemed to offer black some counterplay on the d-file

11. Bd4 Qh4 12. g3 Qh6 13. Bg2 c6 14. b5 Bd7 15. h3 Nf6 16. bc Bc6 17. Bc6 bc 18. Qf3 Nd7 19. 0-0 Be7 20. Nd2 0-0 21. Kg2 Rab8 22. Rac1 Rfd8 23. Rfd1 Bf8 24. Ne4 Qg6 25. Nd6! Nc5 26. Bc5 Bd6 27. Ba7 Ra8 28. Bb6 Ba3 29. Rc6 1:0

Giorgi won an easy game on the white side of a Kings Indian, as Smith's pawn pushes on the queenside accelerated white's play.

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Be2 0-0 6. Nf3 e5 7. 0-0 Nc6 8. d5 Ne7 9. Ne1 Nd7 10. Be3 f5 11. f3 f4 12. Bf2 g5 13. Rc1 a5? 14. a3 Ng6 15. Nd3 b6 16. b4 Nf6 17. c5 ab 18. ab bc 19. bc Rf7 20. cd cd 21. Nb4 h5 22. Nc6 Qf8 23. Na4 Bb7 24. Nb6 Ra2 25. Bc4 Ra3 26. Rc2!

26. ..g4 27. Qc1 Re3! 28. Be3 fe 29. Qe3 Bh6 30. Qe1 gf?! 31. Rf3 Ng4 32. Rcc3 Bf4 33. g3 Bg5 34. Be2 Nf6 35. Bf1 Qh6 36. Nc4 Rg7 37. Rb3 h4 38. Nd6 hg 39. Rg3 Bd2 40. Qf2 Bf4 41. Nf5 1:0

Fed held the worse end of a draw against Bartell.

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. d4 Bg7 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 d5 6. cd Nd5 7. O-O Nb6 8. Nc3 Nc6 9. e3 Re8 10. Re1 h6!?

10. ..a5 is standard, with the idea of 11. Qe2 e5 12. Ne5 Ne5 13. de Be5 14. e4 Be6 15. f4 Bc3! (Bocharov-Nepomniachtchi, Russia Higher League 2010)

11. Qe2

Now 11. ..e5 doesn't work as h6 is exposed after an eventual e3-e4.

11. ..a5 12. Rd1 a4 13. Ne5! Bd7 14. Nd7 Qd7 15. Ne4 Qc8 16. Bd2 e5 17. de Be5 18. Bc3 Bc3 19. Nc3 Ra5 20. Rac1 Qe6 21. Ne4 Qe7 22. h4 Re5 23. Nc3 Qe6 24. Nb5 Qa2 25. Bc6 bc 26. Rc6 Nd5 27. Nc7 Nc7 28. Rc7 Rb8 29. Qc2

Black needs to find 29. ..Rd5 to hold the balance. Instead...

29. ..Ree8?! 30. Rd6! Re6 31. Rc8 Rc8 32. Qc8 Kh7 33. Re6 fe 34. Qd7 Kg8 35. Qe8 Kg7 36. Qe7 Kg8 37. Qf6 Qb1 38. Kh2 Qe4

39. f3! Qc2 40. Kh3 and white will win another pawn, though the position remains difficult. Bartell tries a different path, but Fed's careful defense holds the draw.

39. Qd4?! Qc2 40. Kg2 h5 41. e4 Qc6 42. Kf3 Kf7 43. Kf4 Qc7 44. e5 Qc1 45. Kf3 Qc6 46. Ke2 Qc2 47. Kf1 Qc1 48. Kg2 Qc6 49. Kh2 Kg7 50. Qa7 Kg8 51. Qd4 Kg7 52. Qf4 Qb6 53. Qd2 Qc6 54. Kg1 Kh7 55. Qe2 Qc1 56. Kh2 Qc5 57. f3 Qd4 58. g4 Qf4+ 59. Kg2 Kh6 60. Kh3 Qc1 61. Kg2 Qf4 62. Kh3 Qc1 63. Kg2 0.5 : 0.5

Labor Day Action

It was quite an active and successful Labor Day weekend for participants in the USCL. The New York State Championship was shared by GM Joel Benjamin (NJ Knockouts) and IM Marc Esserman (Boston Blitz) who both scored an undefeated 5/6, drawing their individual encounter.

Shocking the world, however, was NY Knight board 4 NM Alex Ostrovskiy who took clear third with 4.5/6, losing only to Benjamin while drawing GM Mark Paragua and beating fellow Knight FM Alec Getz. As the highest scoring NY State resident (Benjamin is from NJ and Esserman is from MA), Alex is the 2010 New York State Champion! Knight legend IM Jay Bonin scored an undefeated 3.5/6 to tie for 7th.

Further from home, GM Pascal Charbonneau won the "Battle at the Border" tournament in Alberta, Canada with a 5.5/6 score, defeating world #15 GM Hikaru Nakamura (St. Louis Archbishops)!

Yours truly tied with IM Ilya Figler with 4.5/5 to win the Marshall Labor Day tournament.

Week 3 Preview

Looks like Arun Sharma will not get his wish, for this week at least (see the last blog post).

In week 3, the Knights (1-1, 5.5) will take on the Philadelphia Inventors (1-1, 4.5), looking to bounce back from our first loss of the season. Philadelphia is also coming off their first loss, a 2.5-1.5 decision against Boston, proving once again that chess strength is not transitive (we beat Boston who beat Philly who beat NJ who beat us).

On board 1, GM Giorgi Kacheishvili faces IM Bryan Smith, a dangerous tournament player who has scored a number of victories in the last 12 months, including an undefeated 7/9 performance en route to winning the 2010 Philadelphia Open, undefeated =2nd at the 2010 Liberty Bell Open, =2nd at the 2009 Eastern Open and =1st at the 2009 National Chess Congress (where he defeated your author in a complicated round 3 game on board 1). Smith scored a shocking upset victory in week 7 with the black pieces against Giorgi last year, so expect both players to be out for blood.

On board 2, we see the return of legendary GM John Fedorowicz against FM Thomas Bartell, who is off to a 2/2 start (both wins with the black pieces), including his monumental upset of GM Boris Gulko in week 1 that has him tied for 1st in the MVP race. Fedorowicz and Bartell have faced twice in USCL history. John had a smooth win with the white pieces in 2008 and unfortunately missed a winning continuation last year en route to a draw with the black pieces in his only showing for the Knights. Should be quite a battle.

On board 3, Knights manager and 2010 US Women's Champion IM Irina Krush makes her 2010 debut with the white pieces against FM Karl Dehmelt. Dehmelt, who is nearly as old as Philly's board 1 and 2 combined, won a sizzling game in round 1, defeating Arthur Shen with a violent kingside attack after sacrificing/blundering a pawn in the opening.

On board 4, Justus Williams, the #5 ranked 12 year old in the country, makes his USCL debut against veteran IM Richard Costigan. Costigan's 41 games make him one of the most active USCL players, though his activity has leveled off the last two years. His career record is only 3/8 against the Knights, but in 2006 he scored an upset against GM Pascal Charbonneau in week 1 and drew IM Irina Krush in week 10 to bookend an impressive season. Justus may be the key to this match, as an upset (either draw or win) with the black pieces would put significant pressure on Philadelphia's top 3 boards.

Happy Labor Day Weekend!