Players News

GM Larry Kaufman tied for 1st with 8.5/11 (and took 4th place on tie-breaks) in the World Senior Championship!

View the results at USCF Chess Online,
chess-results.com,and the Official Site.

Quarterfinals Lineup/Preview

Monday, 7:30 PM EDT
Time Control 90 min. with 30 sec. increment

Baltimore Kingfishers vs. Boston Blitz
GM Sergey Erenburg (2646) - GM Larry Christiansen (2665)
IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat (2425) - IM Marc Esserman (2492)
FM Ralph Zimmer (2279) - NM Vadim Martirosov (2248)
NM Adithya Balasubramanian (2255) - NM Ilya Krasik (2253)

Note: Players in italic have the white pieces.

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The playoffs are finally here and we see a rematch of Week 9 between Baltimore and Boston. Boston receives draw odds and Baltimore chose white on Boards 1 and 3. Baltimore is using a similar lineup as in Week 9 (and the same as Week 10) but with IM Enkhbat replacing IM Kaplan on Board 2. Boston counters with a new lineup headed by their stalwart Board 1, GM Larry Christiansen.

Board 1: GM Sergey Erenburg vs. GM Larry Christiansen. GM Erenburg is (+2 =1) against Boston and (+4 =4) on the season while GM Christiansen is (+1 =2 -2) against Baltimore and (+3 =4 -1) on the season. This is the only pairing that has played before in the USCL and that was just 2 weeks ago. In that game, GM Christiansen surprised GM Erenburg with a rare Philidor's Defense variation that eventually went into a drawn rook ending. What's in store for this game is anybody's guess, but it has got to be more exciting especially since this is the playoffs!

Board 2: IM Marc Esserman vs. IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat. IM Esserman is (+1 =1) against Baltimore and (+2) this season. IM Enkhbat is (+2 -2) against Boston and (+2 =1 -2) this season. At 67 points, this game has the largest rating difference of the match. With a 75% (15.0/20) career scoring percentage, IM Esserman is one of the most successful players in the USCL. On the other side of the board, IM Enkhbat has a solid 51% (22.5/44) career scoring percentage. Expect IM Esserman to steer toward sharp play and press for a win here.

Board 3: FM Ralph Zimmer vs. NM Vadim Martirosov. FM Zimmer is (=1 -1) against Boston and (+1 =2 -2) on the season. NM Martirosov is (=2) against Baltimore and (+2 =3 -1) this season. This game is the first time since Week 6 that FM Zimmer has not been at a severe rating disadvantage. In fact, he has a 31 point advantage. If Baltimore wants to overcome Boston's draw odds, FM Zimmer may have to push for a victory.

Board 4: NM Ilya Krasik vs. NM Adithya Balasubramanian. NM Krasik is (+2 =1 -2) against Baltimore and (=4 -1) this season. NM Balasubramanian is (=1) against Boston and (+2 =3) this season. NM Krasik is one of the most experienced players in the USCL with 41 games played while NM Balasubramanian is new to the league this year. With a 70% score in 5 games, NM Balasubramanian has been nice addition for Baltimore. He'll need to stay undefeated to help Baltimore continue further this season.

Player News

GM Larry Kaufman is currently playing in the World Senior Championship and has scored 4.0/5.

Follow the results at USCF Chess Online,
chess-results.com,and the
Official Site's Live Games.

Week 10 Results/Review

New Jersey Knockouts vs. Baltimore Kingfishers 1-3
GM Joel Benjamin (2614) - GM Sergey Erenburg (2646) 0-1
IM Mackenzie Molner (2548) - IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat (2425) 0-1
IM Albert Kapengut (2372) - FM Ralph Zimmer (2279) 1-0
Sean Finn (2123) - NM Adithya Balasubramanian (2255) 0-1

Knowing that just one draw in the match would clinch a playoff berth creates a strange kind of tension. You know it is just so close, yet it is not guaranteed. Inevitably, you wonder "What if the incredible happens? What if we lose 0-4?" I knew that it's happened before - Carolina defeated Tennessee 4-0 (thanks to a win on time in a dead lost position) to edge Philadelphia on game points for the final playoff spot in 2006. Perhaps it was best that most of the players didn't know about that incident!

The match didn't start out very well for Baltimore. You just know it's not going good when your pieces are forced back to the starting rank as in the above position from Board 3. FM Zimmer played on, looking for any complications, but IM Kapengut allowed nothing and even trapped black's queen to seal the game.

The match looked even worse when Board 4 reached the above position. NM Balasubramanian was losing the exchange with 27. Qe3 Nxe1 28. Qxe1 (28. Bxf8?? Qg2#) Kxg7 and would have to fight hard to even draw.

Meanwhile, GM Benjamin was trying hard to drum up an attack on GM Erenburg's King as seen in the following position:

Perhaps 21...g5 was best, but it would have allowed white to expose the black king after 22. Nxh6+ Bxh6 23. Bxg5 (23... Bxg5 24. Qxg5+ Qg6 25. Rxe5 Nxe5 26. Qxe5 =/+). GM Erenburg chose to defend his king (and offer a queen-trade) with 21... Ng6. The game continued 22. Qg4 Qc6 23. Qe2 Rd5 24. Rf1 Nf6 25. Re3 Rad8 26. Qf3 Qd7 27. Bxh6 gxh6 28. Qf4?? Nxf4. With that dropped queen, Baltimore finally clinched the playoff spot and was then playing for a chance at the 3rd seed. Also, GM Erenburg had clinched at least 2nd in the MVP race. GM Becerra would take a draw Wednesday to win the UCSL MVP for the 3rd time.

IM Mackenzie Molner fought hard to keep the game complicated, culminating with 24... Nxf2 in the above position. However, IM Enkhbat calmly diffused those complications with 25. Qxf2 Ng4 26. Qf4 Qxf4 27. gxf4 Bxc3 28. Ra2 Ne3 29. Rd3 Nxg2 30. Kxg2 and came out with a nice plus in the advanced c-pawn. He used that advantage to convert into a winning king and pawn endgame that brought about a resignation on move 47.

After IM Enkhbat's game finished, we saw that Boston-New York was going to be drawn, so NM Balasubramanian needed to at least draw his game for Baltimore to take the 3rd seed from New York. The game had become about even (around move 50) despite white going down that exchange earlier. Then, black made a final inaccuracy with 52... Rd8? that would give white the advantage:

NM Balasubramanian played 53. d7! e3 (53... Rxd7 54. Qa8+ Kh7 55. Nf8+ Kg7 56. Nxd7 Qxd7 57. Qxe4 +/=) 54. fxe3 Rf8 55. Nxf8! Qxa2 56. d8=Q Qb1+ 57. Kf2 Qf5+ 58. Ke2 and Finn resigned seeing as there was no compelling reason to continue playing.

So Baltimore clinched the playoff spot and passed New York for the 3rd seed. That sets up a Baltimore-Boston match in the Quarterfinals with Boston having draw odds but Baltimore having color-choice.

Week 10 Lineup/Preview

Monday, 7:45 PM EDT
Time Control 90 min. with 30 sec. increment

New Jersey Knockouts vs. Baltimore Kingfishers
GM Joel Benjamin (2614) - GM Sergey Erenburg (2646)
IM Mackenzie Molner (2548) - IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat (2425)
IM Albert Kapengut (2372) - FM Ralph Zimmer (2279)
Sean Finn (2123) - NM Adithya Balasubramanian (2255)

Note: Players in italic have the white pieces.

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The final match of the regular season is upon us! The Baltimore Kingfishers face the New Jersey Knockouts in an elimination match for the final playoff spot. The catch is that Baltimore has a special kind of draw odds: 1 draw on any board means New Jersey is eliminated, but Baltimore could keep playing to have a shot at 3rd place in the Eastern Division. Thus, the New Jersey players will have to go all out for wins from the beginning, which should make for a very entertaining match!

Board 1: GM Joel Benjamin vs. GM Sergey Erenburg. GM Benjamin is (+4 =2 -1) on the season and (+2 =2 -2) against Baltimore. GM Erenburg is (+3 =4) on the season and (+2 -1) against New Jersey with each of those games played against GM Benjamin. Both players are tied for 3rd in the USCL MVP race with 15.0 points (GM Erenburg holds the 2nd tie-breaker, Overall Team Record). GM Erenburg would win the league MVP with a win (20.0 points), a GM Becerra loss, and a non-win by GM Nakamura. GM Benjamin could tie for first with 19.0 points but would not be able to pass GM Becerra on the first tie-breaker (Total games played). With all the possible individual and team achievements on the line, this should be the Game of the Night!

Board 2: IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat vs. IM Mackenzie Molner. IM Enkhbat is (+1 =1 -2) on the season and (+1 =2 -2) against New Jersey. IM Molner is (+1 =1 -2) on the season and (+3 =1 -1) against Baltimore. The must-win situation fits well with IM Molner's well-known aggressive style. Will the white pieces be enough for IM Enkhbat to counter the 123-point rating difference? After all, Baltimore is 3rd best (tied with Arizona at 11.0/18) in the league with the white pieces and New Jersey is last in the league with the black pieces (6.0/18).

Board 3: IM Albert Kapengut vs. FM Ralph Zimmer. IM Kapengut is (+1 =3 -1) on the season and (+1) against Baltimore. FM Zimmer is (+1 =2 -1) and (-1) against New Jersey. Here is another rating advantage for New Jersey in this matchup; this time it is 93 points and the white pieces. However, FM Zimmer has been able to draw his last two games against higher-rated opposition (145 and 192 point differences), so he has proven to be up to the task. The question is how will IM Kapengut needing to play for a win affect the gameplay?

Board 4: NM Adithya Balasubramanian vs. Sean Finn. NM Balasubramanian is (+1 =3) on the season and this will be his first time playing New Jersey. Sean Finn is (-2) on the season and (+1) against Baltimore. This time, Baltimore has a sizable 132-point rating advantage and the white pieces. Also taking into account the previously mentioned color-specific scoring statistics for these teams, this board might be the toughest of all for New Jersey to try to win. Try they will, and that'll be a win for the audience on Monday night!

Week 9 Results

Baltimore Kingfishers vs. Boston Blitz 1.5-2.5
GM Sergey Erenburg (2646) - GM Larry Christiansen (2665) 0.5-0.5
IM Sasha Kaplan (2482) - SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (2603) 0-1
FM Ralph Zimmer (2279) - SM Denys Shmelov (2471) 0.5-0.5
NM Adithya Balasubramanian (2255) - Grant Xu (2061) 0.5-0.5

Boston beat Baltimore 2.5-1.5 to clinch 2nd place in the Eastern Division. Meanwhile, Baltimore stays in 4th place. Also, thanks to Philadelphia's defeat of Manhattan, Baltimore only needs 1 drawn game against New Jersey to clinch the final Eastern Division playoff spot. However, New Jersey can pass Baltimore with a 4-0 win, so they will have to play all out in the final regular season match.

Week 9 Lineup/Preview

Monday, 7:15 PM EDT
Time Control 90 min. with 30 sec. increment
(Note: On Board 3, FM Zimmer will have 101 minutes to SM Shmelov's 79 minutes due to a late lineup change)

Baltimore Kingfishers vs. Boston Blitz
GM Sergey Erenburg (2646) - GM Larry Christiansen (2665)
IM Sasha Kaplan (2482) - SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (2603)
FM Ralph Zimmer (2279) - SM Denys Shmelov (2471)
NM Adithya Balasubramanian (2255) - Grant Xu (2061)

Note: Players in italic have the white pieces.

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In a tightened Eastern Division playoff race, the Baltimore Kingfishers face the Boston Blitz. Both teams are looking to secure playoff berths this week. Boston has a playoff berth by at least drawing the match or if Manhattan does not win its match. Baltimore gets a playoff berth if it can keep a 1 match-point and 4.5 game-point lead on Manhattan and New Jersey. Furthermore, Boston, Baltimore, and New York are each striving for 2nd place, which gives draw odds (or color choice) in at least the first round of the playoffs. Also, Boston still has an outside shot of catching New England for 1st place in the Eastern Division. Therefore, both teams have plenty on the line for which to play!

Board 1: GM Sergey Erenburg vs. GM Larry Christiansen. GM Erenburg is (+2) against Boston and (+3 =3) on the season while GM Christiansen is (+1 =1 -2) against Baltimore and (+3 =3 -1) on the season. Both players have a chance to be the USCL MVP, with GM Erenburg in 4th place (15.0 points) and GM Christiansen in 8th place (10.0 points). GM Erenburg took 2nd in Week 7's Game of the Week contest and GM Christiansen won Game of the Week in both Weeks 6 and 8. Though the team result will be most important, I am sure both these individuals want to score the full point with that special flair. Make sure you catch this game live!

Board 2: SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun vs. IM Sasha Kaplan. SM Sammour-Hasbun is (+1 -1) against Baltimore and (-1) this season while IM Kaplan is making his USCL debut. SM Sammour-Hasbun had a brilliant rookie season in 2007, but his USCL performance rating has dropped markedly in the years since then. However, he is still a very dangerous player who has shown many flashes of brilliance as seen by his 3.5 Game of the Week awards including 2007 Game of the Year. This is definitely a tough spot to make one's USCL debut as IM Kaplan will be a 121-rating point underdog with the black pieces. This year's President's Cup (College Chess Final Four) program lists IM Kaplan's chess accomplishments as: 2007 Israel Junior Champion, Under 20; 2008 Army Champion; 2nd Place, Herzeliya International Round Robin Tournament. Anticipate a solid opening and then a sharp late-middlegame.

Board 3: FM Ralph Zimmer vs. SM Denys Shmelov. FM Zimmer is (-1) against Boston and (+1 =1 -1) on the season while SM Shmelov is (+1 -1) against Baltimore and (=1 -3) on the season. FM Zimmer has played once each on Boards 2, 3, and 4 while SM Shmelov has played twice each on Boards 2 and 3. SM Shmelov is a 192-point rating favorite. However, SM Shmelov has the black pieces and starts with a time disadvantage (101 to 79 - the 22-minute difference is approximately one-fourth of the original 90 minute starting time) as he is a late lineup replacement for IM Marc Esserman. Expect this game to deviate from theory early with some original play afterward.

Board 4: Grant Xu vs. NM Adithya Balasubramanian. Grant Xu has only played one USCL game, a win. NM Balasubramanian is (+1 =2) this season. Coincidentally, both players got the win against Philadelphia. However, NM Balasubramanian did it on Board 3, and he is a 194-point rating favorite. Baltimore will probably need to win here to counter its rating disadvantages on Boards 2 and 3, so look for NM Balasubramanian to mix it up in the middle game.

Week 8 Results/Review

Baltimore Kingfishers vs. Philadelphia Inventors 2.5-1.5
GM Sergey Erenburg (2646) - FM Tom Bartell (2429) 1-0
FM Ralph Zimmer (2279) - IM Jay Bonin (2424) 0.5-0.5
NM Adithya Balasubramanian (2255) - FM Karl Dehmelt (2308) 1-0
NM Richard Selzler (2252) - IM Richard Costigan (2288) 0-1

In the shortest 90/30 match I can remember Baltimore playing, the Kingfishers edged the Philadelphia Inventors 2.5-1.5. Although the match was decided in Baltimore's favor after only 3 boards finished, you will see in the analysis below that the match could just as likely have been drawn. Also, during Monday night, New Jersey was able to comeback from a 0-2 deficit to draw the match against Manhattan. Thus, Baltimore is now 1 match point clear of Manhattan for the 4th and final playoff spot in the Eastern Division. Now, let's take a look at the games which actually finished in board order.

The Board 1 battle between GM Sergey Erenburg and FM Tom Bartell began with a Sicilian: Taimanov. The novelty occurred when FM Bartell played 13... e5 instead of 13... Nxe3 (=1 -1 for white). Later, FM Bartell tried the overly-ambitious 19... e4:

GM Erenburg neatly diffused the aggression in the center with 20. fxe4 fxe4 21. Rxe4! Bd5 (21... Nxe4 22. Bxe4 and the black king comes under heavy fire) 22. Rd4 Be4 23. Rc4 Qd5 24. Bc3 Bxd3 25. Rxd3 Qxg2 26. Rg3 Qf1+ 27. Kb2 (Black resigned as Rf4 and Rxf6 are coming).

GM Erenburg now has 15 USCL MVP Points along with GM Joel Benjamin and IM Julio Sadorra (GM Benjamin holds the tiebreaker with the most games played). Also, GM Julio Becerra, GM Hikaru Nakamura, and GM Pascal Charbonneau each have a chance to tie or pass that total on Wednesday night.

The IM Jay Bonin and FM Ralph Zimmer game on Board 2 looked as if it was going to be a King's Indian Defense, but soon switched to a Sicilian: Maroczy Bind. The novelty was IM Bonin's 13. Bxg7 (13. Rac1 [+1 for white] and 13. b4 [-1] have been tried). IM Bonin gained space after 14. b4 and seemed to have a good edge through 20. Nxe5 fxe5:

White could keep a clear edge with 21. Rd2! planning to double rooks on the d-file. Instead, the game continued 21. Qd2 h6 22. cxd6 exd6 23. Qxd6 Qxd6 24. Rxd6 Rc2! This active rook allows black to win back the pawn on a2 as in the game or with 25. Bd1 Rc4! (Not 25... Rxa2? 26. Rxa2 Bxa2 27. Bh5! when white wins either the b-pawn or e-pawn). The game ended in the 3-fold repetition that put Baltimore up 1.5-0.5 with Boards 3 + 4 looking slightly better for Baltimore but far from conclusive.

Board 3 between NM Adithya Balasubramanian and FM Karl Dehmelt started "very quietly" with a Giuoco Pianissimo: Four Knights variation. The novelty came quickly with 7... Bb4 (7... Bxe3 with one draw has been played). The middle game was anything but quiet with 12. Nh4 g5 (12... Nxe4 is impossible due to 13. dxe4 Qxh4 14. Qd5! attacking a5 and f7) 13. Nf5 Bxf5 14. exf5 Qd7 15. Qf3 d5 16. Rfb1 0-0-0 17. Rb4 e4!? 18. dxe4 dxe4 19. Qe2 Qxf5?! (19... Nd5 was better):

Here, white missed a chance to play the imaginative shot 20. Rxb7! Nxb7 (20... Kxb7 21. Rb1+ +/-) 21. Qxa6 Qa5 (otherwise Rb1 and xb7 are coming) 22. Qxf6 Nd6 23. Rb1 (+/=; Black could even blunder into mate with 23... Rdf8? 24. Be6+! fxe6 25. Qxe6+ Kd8 26. Rb8+ Nc8 27. Rxc8#). Now, the game actually continued: 20. Bxf7 Rhf8 21. Bh5 Nxh5 22. Qxh5 c5 23. Rb6 Nc4 24. Rxh6 Nxe3 25. fxe3 Qf2+ 26. Kh1 Qxe3 27. Qg4+ Kb8 28. Rh7 Rd6 29. Re7 Rdf6 30. Qxe4 Rf1+ 31. Rxf1 Rxf1+ 32. Kh2. Here, I am not sure if FM Dehmelt felt he had to play for a win due to the match situation or simply missed the draw that NM Balasubramanian admitted he overlooked earlier:

32... Qg1+ 33. Kg3 Qf2+ 34. Kh2 (Definitely not 34. Kg4? Qh4#) Qg1+ with perpetual check. The game actually went 32... Qf4+? 33. Qxf4+ Rxf4 34. a5 Rc4 35. Rg7 Rxc3 36. Rxg5 b5 37. axb6 Kb7 38. h4 Rc4 39. h5 Kxb6 40. Rg3 Rf4 41. h6 Rf7 42. Rh3 Rh7 43. g4 a5 44. g5 a4 45. g6 a3 46. gxh7 and Black resigns. With this win, Baltimore was assured the match victory with at least 2.5 points.

The Board 4 game between IM Richard Costigan and NM Richard Selzler began in an offbeat variation: 1. Nf3 c5 2. b3 d5 3. Bb2 f6 (NM Selzler said he saw this move in the game Petrosian-Fischer, 1971; however, IM Costigan deviated from that game on the next move) 4. d4 cxd4 5. Qxd4 Nc6 6. Qd2 e5 7. e3 Be6 8. Be2 Bb4 9. c3 Ba5 10. 0-0 Nge7 11. Rc1 (Novelty - 11. Rd1 tried with one draw) O-O 12. b4 Bb6 13. c4 Rc8 14. c5 Bc7 15. a3 Qd7 16. Nc3 Rfd8 17. Bb5 Qe8 18. Ne2 Qg6 19. Ng3 h5 20. Qe2 Qh6 (20... e4 21. Nd4 Nxd4 22. exd4 h4 =/+) 21. h3 g5 (21... e4 is playable still) 22. Nh2 h4 23. Nh1 Qg6 24. f3 Kf7?! (24... a6 25. Bd3 f5 or 24... f5 immediately seem more to the point) 25. Nf2 f5 26. Rf1 Kg8 27. Rad1 e4? (It is bad now due to white's rooks, which are better placed on the soon to open files):

28. fxe4 dxe4 29. Rxd8+ (29. Nxe4! is even stronger as the e6-bishop won't be supported when Rf6 is played) Nxd8 30. Nxe4! (30. Nhg4! is also good) Bxh2+ 31. Kxh2 fxe4 32. Rf6 Qh7 33. Qf1 (33. Bc4! Bf7 34. Qg4 +/-) Bf7 34. Bc4 Rc6 (34... a6 35. Be5 b5 36. Ba2! +/=; Black is still worse but can play on for awhile with the extra piece for a pawn) 35. Qd1 Rc8 36. Qd7 Kf8 37. Be5 Kg8 38. Qxe7 (Black resigns with mate coming soon; 38... Qe8+ is the threat).

The match would have been drawn had FM Dehmelt taken the perpetual check on Board 3, so Baltimore had a little luck this week to take the match victory. However, Capablanca said "A good [team] is always lucky," no? Look for Baltimore to try to cement a playoff spot next week against the very tough Boston Blitz!

Week 8 Lineup/Preview

Monday, 7:15 PM EDT
Time Control 90 min. with 30 sec. increment

Baltimore Kingfishers vs. Philadelphia Inventors
GM Sergey Erenburg (2646) - FM Tom Bartell (2429)
FM Ralph Zimmer (2279) - IM Jay Bonin (2424)
NM Adithya Balasubramanian (2255) - FM Karl Dehmelt (2308)
NM Richard Selzler (2252) - IM Richard Costigan (2288)

Note: Players in italic have the white pieces.

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This week the Baltimore Kingfishers face the Philadelphia Inventors. This is another same-season rematch as these teams faced each other in Week 4, which ended in all-draws. Five of the players (2 Baltimore, 3 Philadelphia) in this match also played in the first match. However, the stakes in this match are much higher as Philadelphia cannot lose if they want to keep playoff hopes alive. Meanwhile, Baltimore is trying to hold onto its half-match-point lead for the 4th and final playoff spot in the Eastern Division.

Board 1: GM Sergey Erenburg vs. FM Tom Bartell. GM Erenburg is (+1 =4) against Philadelphia and (+2 =3) in the USCL this season. FM Bartell is (+1 =3) against Baltimore and (+2 =4) this season. Both players are also competing for this season's USCL MVP as GM Erenburg has 11.0 points and FM Bartell has 10.5 points while GM Becerra and GM Nakamura lead with 14.0 points. This game will only be FM Bartell's 2nd time on Board 1 this season, but he has played 3 GM's on Board 2 with a 2.0/3 score including an Upset of the Week with the black pieces against GM Boris Gulko. The 217-point rating difference in this game will be even tougher to overcome, but it is clear one should not underestimate FM Bartell. I anticipate this game could turn into quite a tactical melee!

Board 2: IM Jay Bonin vs. FM Ralph Zimmer. IM Bonin is (+1 =1 -3) against Baltimore and (=2) this season. FM Zimmer is (+3 =1) against Philadelphia and (+1 -1) this season. This match is FM Zimmer's third consecutive time playing and he's been on a different Board each time! This time, he has a 145-point rating disadvantage and the black pieces against one of the most active USCF players ever, IM Bonin. Last week, IM Bonin played 1. b3 and got a good position against IM Hungaski. Perhaps he'll try the Larsen Opening again this week? If so, I am sure it will lead to some very interesting play!

Board 3: NM Adithya Balasubramanian vs. FM Karl Dehmelt. Both players are new to the USCL this year, but FM Dehmelt has played nearly every week for Philadelphia. NM Balasubramanian is (=2) this season while FM Dehmelt is (+1 =1 -4) with the draw coming against Baltimore's IM Ray Kaufman this season. They both played black against New England's FM Braden Bournival with NM Balasubramanian scoring a draw, but FM Dehmelt having a loss. Transitivity suggests NM Balasubramanian should win despite a 53-point rating disadvantage. However, FM Dehmelt's win came the only time he had a rating advantage this season. I think the game will end more peacefully but not without bloodshed on the board!

Board 4: IM Richard Costigan vs. NM Richard Selzler. This game is the one rematch (with colors reversed) from Week 4. IM Costigan is (+1 =3 -4) against Baltimore and (+1 =4) this season while NM Selzler's only USCL game was the draw against IM Costigan. NM Selzler has since won the title of UMBC Student Champion. Now, there is only a 36-point rating advantage for IM Costigan, but he also holds the higher title and has the white pieces. Who will win the Richard-Row, Round 2? Watch Monday on ICC to find out!

PS. Good luck to GM Larry Kaufman, IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat, and IM Ray Kaufman, who are playing in the Continental Class Championships in Arlington, Virginia this weekend.

Week 7 Results/Review

Manhattan Applesauce vs. Baltimore Kingfishers 2.5-1.5
GM Alex Stripunsky (2659) - GM Sergey Erenburg (2646) 0-1
IM Lev Milman (2501) - GM Larry Kaufman (2452) 1-0
IM Eli Vovsha (2539) - FM Ralph Zimmer (2279) 1-0
James Black (2102) - NM Adithya Balasubramanian (2255) 0.5-0.5

The Manhattan Applesauce defeated the Baltimore Kingfishers by the score 2.5-1.5, keeping the Eastern Division Playoff Race going for at least another couple weeks. The match featured a few hiccups, including two takebacks for Manhattan and a complete network (wireless and LAN) outage for Baltimore around 10:30 PM! Thankfully, the outage lasted less than five minutes, but coincidentally, it (re)asks the question of what is to be done if the network did not come back up, which was the topic of conversation on ICC channel 129 about half an hour before the outage when New York also had trouble with their connection. Phone relay; Adjournment; Restart at a later date; Agreed Draw; Adjudication; Forfeiture?! Any reader preferences/suggestions? Meanwhile, let's get back to the games:

This Board 2 rematch (with colors reversed) saw a relatively long theoretical line of the Queen's Gambit: Semi-Slav played between GM Larry Kaufman and IM Lev Milman. 13... b5 has only been played twice before with wins for white in both games, but the real novelty was 15... gxf6 (15... Nxf6 likely leads to a Rook+Pawn for Bishop+Knight imbalance). IM Lev Milman was down approximately 50 minutes when he tried to open up the diagonals for his bishops with 17... f5?!

White should have responded with 18. Qd2 (or Qd3) fxe4 19. Qxd6 Qxd6 20. Rxd6 exf3 21. Bb5 Ne5 22. Nxc5 and white is better due to his iniative and more active rooks. However, the game continued: 18. e5 Nxe5 19. Qxf5 Nxf3+?! (19... Ng6 seems safer) 20. gxf3? (missing Black's defense played in the game; 20. Bxf3 +/= as white has the Qg5+ Kh8 Qf6+ maneuver) Bxh2+ 21. Kh1? (Wanting to clear the g-file for Rg1+ Bxg1 Rxg1+, but still missing black's next move; 21. Kg2 supporting f3 was safer) Qe5! 22. Qg4+ Kh8 23. Bd3 c4? (Black is still better, but after 23... f5, there is nothing white can do to get at the black king.)

White could have fought much longer for a draw with 24. Bxh7! Black must be careful as 24... Kxh7? (24... Qf4 =/+) runs into 25. Qh4+ Kg8 26. Rg1+! Bxg1 27. Rxg1+ Qg7 28. Rxg7+ Kxg7 and white is slightly better since black's rooks are not yet active. Instead, play went 24. Bxc4 Rg8 25. Qh3 Rg5 26. Rd3 Rag8 and GM Larry Kaufman resigned with his king under heavy fire. This was the first game to finish and a big setback for Baltimore as it was a loss with white.

The next game to finish began with a surprise! I expected a Reti/KIA on Board 1, but instead, it appeared (albeit a different variation) on the Board 4 game between NM Adithya Balasubramanian and James Black. The novelty was 10. Nh4 (10. Qc2 [+1 =4 for white], b4 [+1]). White went on the offensive early and pressed against Black's kingside. However, Black allowed the opening of the g-file and actually seemed to get better use of it as he doubled his rooks quickly. A takeback occurred when 24... Bd4 was played instead of the obviously intended Bxe3. The advantage then slipped once white was allowed to play the Bg4-Bf5 manuever. White could have capitalized on this advantage after 32... Qe7:

33. Qg4! Qf8 34. Qg3 Qg7 35. Qh2! (35. Qxe5 Rg6 is +/=) Qf8 36. Qxe5 Qd8 37. Bg4 (important to answer Ng7 with Rd1) Qe7 38. Rf1 Kg7 39. Bf5 Qd8 40. Bxh7 (+/-). Instead, NM Balasubramanian played 33. Qh2 (right idea, but black now has a defense) Nf8! 34. Qg3 Ng6 35. Qg5 Rd6 and the players traded into a Rook and Pawn endgame that was eventually drawn. Baltimore would now need a draw and win to tie the match or two wins for a victory.

The Board 3 encounter between IM Eli Vovsha and FM Ralph Zimmer was a Scandinavian Defense. IM Eli Vovsha played the novelty 8. Be3 (8. Be2 [+1 =1 -1], Nh4 [+2 for white], Bd3 [+1]). Both players spent their time developing pieces until black decided to open the center with 15... e5. After 15. a3 exd4 16. Bxd4 Bxc3?! (16... Bc5 breaking up white's bishop pair was better) and here:

White apparently typed "bc3" and the server took with the b-pawn. IM Vovsha intended to take with the Bishop but would have needed to capitalize the B for the command. Originally, I mistakenly thought he had capitalized it, and then, the server prioritized pawns over bishops, but an ICC admin assured that capitalization does work, and I have since tested that it does. In any case, another takeback was granted by the league. Once that was fixed, IM Vovsha slowly increased his advantage, playing against black's weak a-pawn and c-pawn. FM Zimmer played on, looking for any chance at a perpetual check with just Queens and Pawns on the board. However, none were to be found and he resigned when it was clear white could force a queen-trade and then promote a pawn. Thus, Manhattan was guaranteed the match victory with at least 2.5 points.

Finally, the Board 1 rematch (with colors reversed) of GM Stripunsky and GM Erenburg began with another surprise as GM Erenburg played the rare 3... a6 in a Caro-Kann: Two Knights variation. However, it was GM Stripunsky who played the novelty 6. Nf4 (6. d3 [=1 -1 for white], c3 [+1], Ng3 [-1]). Early play revolved around the e5-pawn, but soon black changed targets by placing pressure on the long h1-a8 diagonal. Black seemed to have all the play as white's knights were reduced to blockers on the diagonal. The most interesting point of the game came when GM Erenburg played the rank-clearing move 32... f6!?, leaving the knight en prise on f5, but threatening a rook invasion of the h-file.

Perhaps GM Stripunsky's best chance was to accept the sacrifice and try to complicate the position as GM Erenburg had only 5 minutes at this point. One line (see game viewer below) runs: 33. gxf5 Rch7 36. Rd2 Rh3 35. Nd6!? Qd7 36. Qxh3 Rxh3 37. Rc2 Bb7 38. fxe6 (38. exf6 gxf5! {only move to stay -/+}) Qxe6 39. exf6!? {when} Rh1+! (39... Qxd6 40. Re8+ Ka7 41. f7 Qd5 42. f8=Q Qh5 43. Ra8+! Ba8 44. Rc7+ Bb7 45. Rxb7+ Kxb7 46. Qf7+ {White gives perpetual check along the a4-g8 diagonal}; 39... Qxf6 40. Re8+ Ka7 41. Nb5+ Ka6 42. Nc7+ {Knight gives perpetual check}) {is the only move that keeps the advantage for black} 40. Kxh1 Qxe1+ {as the g2-knight is pinned} 41. Kh2 Qe6 {-/+}.

Later, GM Erenburg could probably have ended the game faster with 34... Rh1+ 35. Kf2 R1h3 (white still has some counter play with 36. Qxh3 Rxh3 37. f7 Rh8 38. Rh1 Rf8 39. gxf5 Qxf5 40. Rh7), but since he was low on time, he chose the safer 34... Qd7 and eventually converted the win in the endgame with two extra pawns. Although the match was already decided in Manhattan's favor by the time this game finished, the victory gave Baltimore some extra cushion in the first tie-break in case the playoff race comes down to that as a decider.

However, the Baltimore Kingfishers will certainly try to make it unnecessary in the coming weeks! See you next week when the Philadelphia Inventors are the matchup.

Week 7 Lineup/Preview

Monday, 7:15 PM EDT
Time Control 90 min. with 30 sec. increment

Manhattan Applesauce vs. Baltimore Kingfishers
GM Alex Stripunsky (2659) - GM Sergey Erenburg (2646)
IM Lev Milman (2501) - GM Larry Kaufman (2452)
IM Eli Vovsha (2539) - FM Ralph Zimmer (2279)
James Black (2102) - NM Adithya Balasubramanian (2255)

Note: Players in italic have the white pieces.

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The Baltimore Kingfishers are rematched against the Manhattan Applesauce, but colors are reversed from Week 2's encounter. Actually, Manhattan is using the same lineup as in Week 2 while Baltimore changed the lower 2 boards. This is an important matchup as Manhattan is in 5th place in the Eastern Division, one and one-half points behind the 4th place Kingfishers. A win here by Baltimore and the Eastern Division Playoff Race could just be a matter of positioning between the top four teams. A Baltimore loss and the final playoff spot could be still be taken by any of five teams though Baltimore would still be up by half a point.

Board 1: GM Alex Stripunsky vs. GM Sergey Erenburg. A rematch from Week 2 with colors reversed. GM Erenburg won that encounter to improve his record against Manhattan to (+2 =2), and GM Stripunsky is now (=4 -1) against Baltimore. Meanwhile, GM Stripunsky has won one game and drawn two games since Week 2 while GM Erenburg has drawn three straight games. I wonder if we'll see a three-peat of the Reti/KIA-like opening of which GM Erenburg has been on the black side twice this season since in neither game was white in any serious trouble. However, let's hope for something different, for variety's sake!

Board 2: GM Larry Kaufman vs. IM Lev Milman. Another rematch from Week 2 with colors reversed! Last time, GM Larry Kaufman won to improve to (+2) against Manhattan while IM Milman is now (+1 =3 -3) against Baltimore. GM Larry Kaufman has played every week since that match, amassing a (+3 =1 -1) season record while IM Milman has played only one game to bring his season record to (+1 -1). GM Kaufman seems to have the hot hand, especially with the positions he has been getting with white. Though don't sleep on IM Milman's chances, as this is the same player who held down Board 1 during Carolina's division-winning run in 2008!

Board 3: IM Eli Vovsha vs. FM Ralph Zimmer. IM Vovsha is (+1 =2 -1) against Baltimore after defeating IM Enkhbat in Week 2, but he has lost two games since that match. His opponent this time is FM Ralph Zimmer, who is (-1) against Manhattan, but won his game last week on Board 4. He will have a much tougher time as FM Zimmer will be outrated by a whopping 260-points and have the black pieces. Anticipate some good preparation!

Board 4: NM Adithya Balasubramanian vs. James Black. Both players are new to the USCL this year. NM Balasubramanian is (=1) on the year and James Black is (+1 -2). NM Balasubramanian has a 153-point rating advantage and the white pieces. He's also known to play some unusual openings, so I don't really know what to expect from this game, except that it will to be fun to watch!

Week 6 Results/Review

Arizona Scorpions vs. Baltimore Kingfishers 1.5-2.5
IM Rogelio Barcenilla (2583) - GM Sergey Erenburg (2646) 0.5-0.5
IM Daniel Rensch (2471) - GM Larry Kaufman (2452) 0-1
FM Warren Harper (2408) - IM Ray Kaufman (2433) 1-0
NM David Adelberg (2275) - FM Ralph Zimmer (2279) 0-1

In a tense match that lasted past midnight EDT, the Baltimore Kingfishers defeated the Arizona Scorpions by 2.5-1.5 as GM Sergey Erenburg held onto a draw as black on Board 1. On all the other boards, the player with the white pieces won. Let's take a look at how they did it in order of their finish.

Board 2 started with a Queen's Gambit Declined: Classical variation. IM Rensch played the novelty, 7... Nh5 (other common moves played before include 7... dxc4, Nbd7, or c5). After 11. Be2 Nxg3 12. hxg3, it was clear white would have significant play against the black kingside. GM Larry Kaufman doubled his rooks on the h-file, centralized his knights, and then fended off the black's attempts at disturbing the queenside. Take a look at the position after 27... Rd2:

GM Larry Kaufman secured his advantage with 28. R1h5! Black offered his queen, knight and pawn for the two rooks with 28... Qg7 29. Rg5 Ng6 30. Rhxg6 hxg6 31. Rxg6 Qxg6 32. Qxg6+ Kf8 33. Qf6+ Ke8 34. Bf3 and black resigned as white's material advantage is clearly too great once the e- and f-pawns fall. This was the first game to finish, and on the lower two boards, white seemed to have an advantage on both, but they were not clear wins yet.

The next game to finish was Board 4, which began in the English Opening. NM Adelberg played the novelty 8... Qe7 (only 8... 0-0 has been tried with +2 =2 for white). The c-file opened with 9. cxd5 cxd5. Black took control of it quickly, but white prevented any good use of the open c-file. Then, it was white who made use of it after 22. Nc6 Nb8:

23. Qc2! (23. Bh3 was also good) Nxc6 24. Rc1 Qd6 25. bxc6 Nd7?! 26. Bh3! and white kept the initiative after 26... f5 27. e4 Nc5 28. Bxa5! Qxc6 29. exd5. Eventually white ended up with an extra a-pawn, which FM Zimmer managed to promote before NM Adelberg resigned. Baltimore was up 2-0 at this point, but Board 3 was looking good for Arizona and Board 1 was drawish, but still unclear.

Board 3 began sharply as FM Harper played a version of the Halloween Gambit (a month early!): 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. a3 (avoiding the critical 4. Nxe5 Nxe5 5. d4 Nc6 6. d5 Bb4!) g6 5. Nxe5!? Then, after 5... Nxe5 6. d4 Nc6 7. d5:

IM Ray Kaufman chose to give the piece back with 7... Bg7 rather than having to "undevelop" his pieces as in the variation 7... Nb8 8. e5 Ng8 9. d6 cxd6 10. exd6. The game continued 8. dxc6 bxc6 9. Be2 0-0 (Novelty; 10... d6 played in one game that black won) 10. 0-0 Re8 11. Bf3 d6, and now, the position looks more like it came from a Pirc. 12. Bg5 h6 13. Be3 a5 14. Qd2 g5 (Perhaps 14... Rb8 15. Bxh6 (15. Rab1 g5) Bxh6 16. Qxh6 Rxb2 was better in view of white's following moves):

15. e5! Rxe5 16. Bxc6 Rb8 17. f4! and black sacrificed the exchange with 17... Rxe3 (17... gxf4 18. Bxf4 Rc5 [18... Rf5 19. Rab1 =/+] 19. Bxh6! and the c6-bishop cannot be taken due to Qg5 and if 19... Rxb2 20. Bxg7 Kxg7 21. Nd5! a move similar to the game and gives white an even larger advantage) to slow white's attack. However, FM Harper showed that he still had enough of an advantage to win the game. This was the third game of the match to finish, so all eyes turned to Board 1.

Board 1 started out pretty quietly. It actually followed Week 4's game, GM Panchanathan - GM Erenburg, up through 8. e4. Not wanting to allow his opponent to simply follow that game, GM Erenburg deviated first with 8... dxe4. However, the game was still very similar to the one against GM Panchanathan. 13. Bf4 was actually the novelty (13. Qb3 tried once, leading to a draw; in fact, IM Barcenilla offered a draw around here and GM Erenburg was given a bonus 2 minutes by the league. Warning: Don't offer early draws!), but the new idea was trading trading black's light-squared bishop for white's remaining knight with 15... Bxf3. This kept a pair of minor pieces on the board, allowing for the complications that would arise later. Around move 25, it became clear that IM Barcenilla would have to play for a win with white in order for the Arizona Scorpions to draw the match, and so the game opened up after 26. g5. The game became really exciting after 47... Ne3+:

IM Barcenilla sacrificed the exchange for a pawn with 48. Kxf4! (48. Kh3 Rf2 was too drawish with white needing to win) Ng2+ 49. Kg4 Nxe1 50. Rxe1. Then, it looked like white had made progress after 65. Rg8:

However, GM Erenburg sacrificed the exchange back with 65... Rxe4! Both sides were under a minute here. For several moves in a row, GM Erenburg nearly flagged as he would move with less than 5 seconds to go (the closest was 1.6 seconds left). However, the position had simplified and both players soon gained time from the increment. It seemed like black's rook could always disturb the white king, preventing promotion threats, so the game was drawn by repetition. While the match victory was clinched, the Kingfisher players were just so enthralled by this endgame that they continued to analyze for awhile after the match ended around half past midnight.

The Kingfishers gained ground on the New York Knights, who are now in 3rd place in the East, while also adding to their lead over the 5th-8th place teams in the East. With only 4 matches to go, Baltimore is in firm control of the final Eastern Division playoff spot.

Week 6 Lineup/Preview

Wednesday, 9:00 PM EDT
Time Control 60 min. with 30 sec. increment

Arizona Scorpions vs. Baltimore Kingfishers
IM Rogelio Barcenilla (2583) - GM Sergey Erenburg (2646)
IM Daniel Rensch (2471) - GM Larry Kaufman (2452)
FM Warren Harper (2408) - IM Ray Kaufman (2433)
NM David Adelberg (2275) - FM Ralph Zimmer (2279)

Note: Players in italic have the white pieces.

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It's Interdivision Week in the USCL; that is, Eastern Division teams play against Western Division teams. That also means the time control is shorter (60 min. with 30 sec. increment) than usual for both teams this week. You may think that would favor Western Division teams as they are used to shorter time controls than the Eastern Division teams, but USCL history shows that interdivisional matchups are fairly even with the West leading the East by only 1 match point (36-35).

For Interdivision Week, the Baltimore Kingfishers face the Arizona Scorpions. They are matched up for the second year in a row. Could this be a budding rivalry? Only the Kaufmans are returning to play from the previous matchup, so it will take some time to grow the individual matchup histories. Now, Baltimore is looking to stay ahead of the pack for the fourth and final Eastern Division playoff spot while Arizona is neck-and-neck with San Francisco for first place in the Western Division. Baltimore is using its highest-rated lineup to date with a 2452.5 rating average. Arizona counters with a strong lineup having a 2434.25 rating average.

Board 1: IM Rogelio Barcenilla vs. GM Sergey Erenburg. IM Barcenilla is (+2 -2) this year while GM Erenburg is (+1 =2). This is the only board with a somewhat significant rating difference as GM Erenburg holds a 63-point rating advantage. All other boards have a rating difference of 25-points or less, so a Baltimore win here and draws on the other boards or another all-drawn match would seem likely. However, who plays just to draw? Expect sharp, exciting battles, especially with the shortened time control! Look for GM Erenburg to come out swinging after being held to two draws previously.

Board 2: GM Larry Kaufman vs. IM Daniel Rensch. GM Larry Kaufman is (=1) against Arizona and has a good (+2 =1 -1) record on Boards 1+2 this season. He will be looking to rebound after an opening miscue last week. However, his opponent, IM Rensch, is spectacular (+3) on Board 3 this season. He moves up a board this week, but that don't take that to mean much as he has achieved that perfect record against 2400-level competition.

Board 3: FM Warren Harper vs. IM Ray Kaufman. FM Harper is (-1) this season while IM Ray Kaufman is (=1) against Arizona and (+1 =1) for the year. Last time against Arizona, IM Ray Kaufman played a tense 119-move draw against FM Adamson. I don't imagine this game will be quite as long, but anticipate that it will be just as tense a struggle!

Board 4: FM Ralph Zimmer vs. NM David Adelberg. Both players have won their last two USCL games, but FM Zimmer is playing his first game of the season while NM Adelberg has played 1 game already. Let's see if either player can keep their streak going, which may turn out to be the key game in this relatively even match.

Week 5 Results/Review

Baltimore Kingfishers vs. New York Knights 1-3
GM Sergey Erenburg (2646) - GM Alex Lenderman (2608) 0.5-0.5
GM Larry Kaufman (2452) - GM Pascal Charbonneau (2566) 0-1
IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat (2425) - NM Matt Herman (2313) 0.5-0.5
NM Ian Schoch (2245) - NM Aleksandr Ostrovskiy (2289) 0-1

The Baltimore Kingfishers fell to the New York Knights by 3-1. With Boston's victory over New Jersey, Baltimore falls to 4th place in the Eastern Division. Three teams (Philadelphia, New Jersey, and Manhattan) are one match point behind the Kingfishers for the final playoff spot.

The Board 1 battle between GM Erenburg and GM Lenderman was not as exciting as anticipated, but it did have some interesting points. They opened with a Caro-Kann: Advanced Variation. The position with 7... f6 8. 0-0 has been played three times, all within the past two years. 8... fxe5 was tried once before with white winning (the other two times, 8... Ne7 was tried with +1 =1 for white). GM Lenderman played the novelty with 9... 0-0-0 (9... Nxe5 played previously). Now, take a look at the position after 12... Qd7:

In the game, played continued 13. Nxe6 Bxe6 14. Rxe6 Nf6 (GM Erenburg said he missed this move as he thought he could play 15. Rxf6 gxf6 16. Bg4, but 16... f5 saves the queen). He added that he should have tried 13. Rxe6 as 13... Bxe6 14. Nxe6 would give white a slight advantage i.e. 14... Rd8 (14... Nf6 15. Nxd8 Kxd8 16. Be3) 15. Nxf8 Rxf8 16. Bg4 Rf5 17. Qd3. Later in the game, GM Erenburg won a pawn here:

29. Bxh7 g6 30. Bxd6 Bxd6 31. f5 but with opposite-colored bishops, GM Lenderman was even able to jettison another pawn for a blockade of white's pawns, and the game was drawn by repetition.

The Board 2 matchup between GM Charbonneau and GM L. Kaufman was another Caro-Kann: Advanced Variation. 8... Nc6 appears to be an error as white has scored (+3 =1). Instead, 8... Ne7, which is only (+1 =4 -2) for white, should be played intending to recapture on d5 with the knight. However, after 9. cxd5:

9... cxd4 became the critical mistake. 10. Nc4 Qc2 and white could have played 11. Qxc2 Bxc2 12. dxc6 dxe3 13. cxb7 Bb4+ 14. Kf1 Rb8 15. Rc1 Ba4 16. Nb6! Bd7 (16... axb6 17. Rc8+) 17. Rc8+ Bxc8 18. bxc8=Q+ Rxc8 19. Nxc8 and since the knight can escape to a7 or d6, white is a clear piece up. Instead, the game continued 11. dxc6 Qxd1+ 12. Rxd1 dxe3 13. Nd6+ Bxd6 14. exd6 bxc6 15. d7+ Kd8 16. Ne5 and here:

Black could try for better drawing chances with 16... exf2+ 17. Kxf2 Ne7 (The knight takes a more central position and keeping the c6-pawn instead of the f7-pawn provides the king cover on c7, where it will be forced to move anyway). However, it would still be clear that white is the only one playing for a win, and that is exactly what GM Charbonneau did in the game.

On Board 3, the game between IM Enkhbat and NM Herman appeared to start as an expected Queen's Gambit, but then, it transposed into a Grunfeld Defense: Russian, Szabo (Boleslavsky) variation with 13... Bg4 as the novelty. Previous moves include 13... Be6 (=2 -4 for white) and 13... Na6 (+3 =2 for white). Then, 14. Rad1 Nd7, and black offers the e-pawn:

White declined the offer with 15. Qc2 seeing as 15. Bxe7 Rfe8 16. Ba3 Rab8 17. Qd3 Ng5 gives black plenty of play. There after, the game never strayed far from equality. Perhaps white's best chance to play for the advantage was here:

22. Bd3 Re8 23. Qf4 and wait to see how black deals with his slightly cramped position. The game would eventually liquidate into a drawish ending with Queens and opposite-colored bishops when both players agreed to a draw as the match result was clear.

Board 4 was an Alekhine's Defense played by NM Ostrovskiy and NM Schoch. Black chose a plan involving the king's knight moving from g8-f6-d5-b6-d7-f6. The 9... Nb6-d7 maneuver has actually been played at least 24 times before but with only a 37% score. The novelty occurred with 13... Bf5 (13... b6 [+1 for white] and 13... h6 [-1 for white] were tried before). Black's position in the middle game actually was not as bad as might be expected after losing so many tempos with the knight. After 21. Qe2, black missed an interesting shot at white's center:

21... Bxd4! 22. Nd5 (if 22. Bxd4 Nxd4 23. Rxd4 [23. Nxd4 Qxg5+ 24. Kh2 Rxd4 25. Rxd4 Qxc1 26. Rd8 Bg4! 27. Qxe7 Rxd8 28. Qxd8 Be6! 29. Nd1 Kh7 -/+] Rxd4 24. Nd5 [24. Nxd4 Qxg5+ 25. Kh1 Qxc1 -/+] Rxd5 25. cxd5 =/+) e5 with chances for both sides. The game actually continued 21... Nd6 22. Bg2 Qa5 23. Nb5 and here:

NM Schoch erred with 23... Nxb5? (23... a6 or 23... Nf5 instead were better) 24. cxb5 Nb4 (24... Nb8 25. Bf4 Re8 26. Ne5 and black's queenside pieces are stuck since 26... Nd7? 27. Rxc8! Raxc8 28. Nxd7 +/-) 25. Bd2 Bf5 Qc4 and black resigns as there is no compensation for the lost knight.

Week 5 Lineup/Preview

Wednesday, 7:15 PM EDT
Time Control 90 min. with 30 sec. increment

Baltimore Kingfishers vs. New York Knights
GM Sergey Erenburg (2646) - GM Alex Lenderman (2608)
GM Larry Kaufman (2452) - GM Pascal Charbonneau (2566)
IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat (2425) - NM Matt Herman (2313)
NM Ian Schoch (2245) - NM Aleksandr Ostrovskiy (2289)

Note: Players in italic have the white pieces.

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The Baltimore Kingfishers (3rd in East) battle against the New York Knights (2nd in East) in a fight for 2nd (or possibly even 1st) place in the Eastern Division. The Kingfishers have the same lineup as in Week 2 when they defeated Manhattan 3-1. If this match plays out just as well for Baltimore, perhaps we should call this lineup "The New York Special." However, that won't be an easy feat as the New York Knights counter with a very strong lineup, featuring GM Alex Lenderman, who holds the highest win percentage (10+ games) in the USCL with a score of 12.5/14 (89%). Now, let's take a look at the individual matchups:

Board 1: GM Sergey Erenburg vs. GM Alex Lenderman. These are two of the highest performing players in USCL history. GM Erenburg is (+1 -1) against New York, and GM Lenderman is (+2) against Baltimore. Their ratings are relatively close with GM Erenburg having a 38-point advantage. So what happens when two USCL titans face-off? Fireworks? Game of the Week? Game of the Year? Don't miss this game!

Board 2: GM Pascal Charbonneau vs. GM Larry Kaufman. GM Charbonneau is (+2 =1 -2) against Baltimore, and GM L. Kaufman is (+4 -1) against New York. This matchup is another duel of GMs, showcasing two USCL veterans - both are New York Knight-Slayers, but for opposing sides!. GM Charbonneau holds a significant 114-point rating advantage and has the white pieces, with which New York has a near-perfect 7.5/8 score this season, so New York will look to win here. However, Larry has been getting good positions so far this year. Will he continue his strong track-record against New York? Keep an eye out (or board window up) for this game as well.

Board 3: IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat vs. NM Matt Herman. IM Enkhbat is (+2 =2 -3) against New York, and NM Herman is (+1 =1 -2) against Baltimore. IM Enkhbat holds the rating advantage here at 112-points. He will be looking to break even in this season's MVP points with a win. NM Herman is making his season debut, and he will be out to start it off positively. Expect a Queen's Gambit Declined with sharp play.

Board 4: NM Aleksandr Ostrovskiy vs. NM Ian Schoch. Neither player has played the other team. Both players are 2-0 this season and have not played since Week 2. However, NM Ostrovskiy recently became the youngest player to win the title of New York State Champion. He also has a 44-point rating advantage and the white pieces. On the other side, NM Schoch has played well from worse positions this season - it just looks like the worse position starts earlier than the middle game this time. Will he be able to turn it around once again?

PS. Both Baltimore and New York have a player - WGM Sabina Foisor and IM Irina Krush, respectively - representing the U.S.A. in the Women's Team Olympiad, starting Tuesday, September 21st. Games start at 5 AM EDT (1 AM for the final round), but you can follow the results for both the Open and Women's Olympiad Teams at USCF Online, Official Olympiad Site, Chess-Results.com, and TWIC.

Week 4 Results/Review

Philadelphia Inventors vs. Baltimore Kingfishers 0.5-0.5
GM Magesh Panchanathan (2535) - GM Sergey Erenburg (2646) 0.5-0.5
FM Tom Bartell (2429) - GM Larry Kaufman (2452) 0.5-0.5
FM Karl Dehmelt (2308) - IM Ray Kaufman (2433) 0.5-0.5
IM Richard Costigan (2288) - NM Ricky Selzler (2252) 0.5-0.5

An all-draw match! Amazingly, that's even rarer (this is the 3rd occurrence) than a 4-0 victory (10 occurrences) in the USCL. Let's check out how this uncommon result came about.

Board 1 was the first game to finish. The clash of GMs, Panchanathan and Erenburg, featured a King's Indian Attack-like (d4 instead of d3) setup stemming from the Reti Opening. GM Panchanathan played the novelty with 10. Qb3 - previously, 10. exd5 (+1 =2) had been played exclusively. All the minor pieces were quickly traded in the center. Then, white had the initiative in attacking black's pawns, so GM Erenburg had to find some resourceful ways of keeping the position even. For instance, take the position after 24. Kg2:

GM Erenburg played 24... Rb2 with the threat of 25. Rxc6 Rxf2+ 26. Kxf2 Qb2+ followed by Qxa1. Instead, the game continued 25. Ra2 Rxa2 26. Qxa2 Rd5 27. Qc4 Qb7 28. a5 Qb1 29. Rxd5 cxd5 30. Qc8+ Kh7 31. Qc7 and a draw was agreed as a perpetual check by the black queen on the b1-h7 diagonal would surely ensue.

Board 3 was the next to finish. This matchup of FM Dehmelt and IM Ray Kaufman followed a relatively long (for USCL games) theoretical line of the Caro-Kann: Panov-Botvinnik Attack. Finally, on move 18, the novelty was played - 18. 0-0; other moves tried before include 18. Ke2 (+2 =1 -1), 18. Kd2 (+1), and 18. Bd4 (-1). 18... Rhc8 19. Rxc8 Rxc8 20. Bxa7 Ra8 21. Bd4 Rxa2 22. Re1+ Kf5

Here, 23. Bxg7 f6 would appear to give black the better chances as the b-pawn will soon fall. The game actually continued 23. Re8 g6 (23... f6 is also possible) 24. Rd8 Ke6 25. Re8+ Kf5 26. Rd8 Ke6 27. Re8+ Kf5 and a three-fold repetition was claimed.

Board 4 concluded soon afterward. In the Battle of Richards, NM Selzer - IM Costigan, the game as a Queen's Gambit Declined: Slav variation with 8... b5 as the novelty. Previous games had tried 8... Nbd7 (=1) and 8... c5 (+1 for white). White seemed to have a slight edge from the opening, but Black's strong move 23... e5 had the position looking very equal. Then, after some liquidation of pieces on e5, there was the position after 27... Bxe5:

28. Nxa5 would have given white some chances to win. For instance, 28... Bxh2+ 29. Kxh2 Qe5+ 30. g3 Rxd1 (30... Qxa5 31. Rxd7 Rxd7 32. Rc8+ Kg7 33. Rc4 +/=) 31. Rxd1 Qxa5 (31... Rxd1 32. Qxd1 Qxa5 33. Kg2 +/=) 32. Qb5 is better for white due to white's passed a-pawn and black's weak b-pawn. However, the game continued: 28. Rxd7 Rxd7 29. Rd1 Bc7 30. g3 Qd8 31. Rxd7 Qxd7 32. Qd2 Qxd2 33. Nxd2 and a draw was eventually agreed.

The result of the match came down to Board 2. The rematch of GM Larry Kaufman and FM Tom Bartell was quite a tension-filled game! They opened with a King's Indian Defense with 13... Nh7 as the novelty. Moves tried before include: 13... Qe7 (+1 -1), 13... Nh5 (+1 -1), and 13... Kh7 (-1 for white). Larry got an edge in the opening and eventually won the d-pawn on move 25. However, FM Bartell kept his pieces active and managed to make it difficult to convert the edge. In fact, toward the end, it seemed as if FM Bartell was even playing to win by setting up mating ideas against the white king! Take the position after 53. Be8:

Here, black chose 58... Nf4!? instead of the seemingly safer Ne7. 54. Rh7 Rc3 55. Rd7+ Ke6 56. Ra7 Rc2 57. c7 Kd6 58. Kf1 h4 59. Rxa5 Rxc7 60. Ra6+ Ke5 61. Bxg6 Rg7 62. Ra5+ Kd4 63. Be8 Nxg2 64. Rh5 Ke3 65. Bc6 Nf4 - Both players have been under 2 minutes each for awhile here:

White declined playing 66. Rxh4 worrying about 66... Rc7 threatening Rc1#, but 67. Rh6 holds an advantage for white as the bishop cannot be forced out without letting the white king out of the mating net. White played 66. Re5+ instead and the game finished with a three-fold repetition with Kd3 67. Rf5 Ke3 68. Re5+ Kd3 69. Rf5 Ke3 70. Re5+.

And with that, the match ended in all-draws! Baltimore was surely disappointed with not being able to pull out the win considering the moderate rating advantage going into the match and the advantage on Board 2 during the match, but they can be happy they have maintained 3rd place in the Eastern Division thanks to New England's drawn match with Boston on Wednesday night. Tune in next week for the matchup against the 2nd place New York Knights!

Week 4 Lineup/Preview

Monday, 7:15 PM EDT
Time Control 90 min. with 30 sec. increment

Philadelphia Inventors vs. Baltimore Kingfishers
GM Magesh Panchanathan (2535) - GM Sergey Erenburg (2646)
FM Tom Bartell (2429) - GM Larry Kaufman (2452)
FM Karl Dehmelt (2308) - IM Ray Kaufman (2433)
IM Richard Costigan (2288) - NM Ricky Selzler (2252)

Note: Players in italic have the white pieces.

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The Baltimore Kingfishers have won two matches in a row, and they enter Week 4 with a strong lineup looking to continue that streak. Both Kaufmans come back for an encore this week after fine victories against Carolina. Also, returning after a week's hiatus is GM Erenburg, who took 2nd place in Game of the Week in his last time playing. Finally, we see the USCL debut of NM Ricky Selzler, who is the UMBC Chess Club President. Now, let's look at each of the matchups:

Board 1: GM Magesh Panchanathan vs. GM Sergey Erenburg. GM Erenburg is (+1 =3) against Philadelphia, and GM Panchanathan is (+1 =1) against Baltimore from his seasons with the Dallas Destiny. Erenburg is the 111-point rating favorite though he has the black pieces in this matchup. However, that also could be a slight advantage seeing as the league is scoring 56% this year with black, and Baltimore is one of three teams making the most of playing the black side. Don't count Panchanathan out though - I still remember Blehm's astonished reaction when Panchanathan uncorked that Rxf3! move in Season 2. Anticipate quite a struggle between these two GMs!

Board 2: GM Larry Kaufman vs. FM Tom Bartell. GM L. Kaufman is (+2 =2 -2) against Philadelphia, and FM Bartell is (+1 =2) against Baltimore with that one win coming against Larry in 2008. Looking at the game, you will see that Larry was actually winning until a late blunder (38. Rc3?) into a trap. Considering also the length to which Larry tested IM Schroer's defenses last week, don't expect either player to concede a conclusion without trying everything in his power.

Board 3: FM Karl Dehmelt vs. IM Ray Kaufman. IM R. Kaufman is (=1 -3) against Philadelphia while his opponent, FM Dehmelt, is new to the USCL this year. FM Dehmelt is (+1 -1) in the league thus far. Ray has a sizable 125-point rating advantage and will be looking to score Baltimore's first victory on Board 3 this year (=2 -1, so far). Envision a fantastic middlegame skirmish!

Board 4: NM Ricky Selzler vs. IM Richard Costigan. As previously noted, NM Selzler is making his USCL debut. He faces a veteran of the USCL in IM Costigan, who has a (+1 =2 -4) record against Baltimore. IM Costigan has the only rating advantage for Philadelphia, so they will be counting on him to prevail in this matchup. Will Selzler be able to hold him off or even turn the tables?

Will Baltimore enjoy its first 3-match win streak since 2005? Find out during Monday Night Chess!

Week 3 Results/Review

Baltimore Kingfishers vs. Carolina Cobras 3.5-0.5
GM Larry Kaufman (2452) - IM Jonathan Schroer (2437) 1-0
IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat (2425) - FM Ron Simpson (2330) 1-0
WGM Sabina Foisor (2367) - NM Carlito Agner (2251) 0.5-0.5
IM Ray Kaufman (2433) - NM Craig Jones (2286) 1-0

The Baltimore Kingfishers scored a lopsided 3.5-0.5 match victory against the Carolina Cobras. However, the games were much closer than the final score. Let's take a look at each game.

The Board 1 battle between GM Larry Kaufman and IM Jonathan Schroer began as a Queen's Gambit Declined: Exchange Variation. The novelty occured with 15. Rfc1 (Only one game, played by two German Masters, continued with Black's 14... Bd6 line and 15. Bf5 was played with an eventual white win). Larry thought for over 20 minutes after 18... Re6, finally deciding on Bf5. Apparently, what he was worried about was the position after 20. Qg4:

Here, Schroer could have gone for the shot 20... Qxf2+! 21. Kxf2 Bxf5 when white probably has to return the queen with 22. Qh4 Bxb1+ 23. Qxf6 gxf6 24. Rxb1 and black has an extra (though doubled) pawn. After Schroer missed this opportunity, Larry took over the initiative, but it was far from won. On move 33, Larry could have made the win clearer with Ra1 or Ra2, as the a6 and c6 pawns will fall in short order and the b-pawn will be much more difficult for black to try to hold than the a-pawn as in the game. The final mistake by black was 67... Bb4 where Be7 instead keeps hopes of holding a draw alive. With the long victory, GM Larry Kaufman is off to a nice 2-0 start to the season, and he leads the Kingfishers with 8.0 USCL MVP Points.

On Board 2, the game between IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat and FM Ron Simpson moved away from well-trodden lines pretty quickly. Enkhbat's usual Caro-Kann defense was met by the novelty 7. Qb3 (An unusual attempt at mixing things up; it's difficult to say what move would have been better as white only scores 27.2% in 138 games in the position after move 6). There was a strange relay error of 8. Qc2 instead of gxf3, but clearly a master would not drop a piece when there is a simple recapture, so a takeback occurred (We were also assured that the player had made the correct move 8. gxf3 on a physical board). Enkhbat only though for more than 10 minutes on the move 11... e5, deciding to open up the center for an eventual rook invasion. Simpson tried to keep play sharp, choosing to allow a 2 Rook for Queen and Pawn trade by playing 21. cxd5:

21... Rbxb2+ 22. Qxb2 Rxb2+ 23. Kxb2 and a draw was offered by Simpson around here. However, Enkhbat smoothly demonstrated that he knew how to win the position by working to advance his kingside pawns. IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat has put his earlier defeats behind him and will look to repeat his triumphant performance for the rest of the season.

Board 3 between WGM Sabina Foisor and NM Carlito Agner opened with a King's Indian Defense; and the novelty was 11. Kh1 (White only has a 27.8% score in 18 games after 10... Qe7; other white tries that have scored are 11. Be3, 11. Bg5, and 11. b3). Both players seemed fine out of the opening, but Foisor's 16. f4 allowed Agner to keep white from maneuvering in the center with 16... e4 (16. f3 kept the possibility of more open play). White's pieces were slightly cramped through the middle game, and black was able to take advantage by lifting the queen's rook to the h-file! Foisor slowly built toward a break on the g-file and found some play. For instance, Agner had to watch out for the blunder 29... Bf7??

30. Qg8+! Bxg8 31. Rxg8#. Instead, Agner played 29... Qg7 and allowed Foisor the opportunity to trade Rook and Bishop for Queen with Rg8+ from moves 31 to 34. However, Foisor declined - probably due to the relatively closed position, which would make it difficult for the queen to assert dominance. Agner might have even been better if he had allowed the trade possibility for one more move with 34... Bxb2 35. Rg8+ Qxg8 36. Bxg8 Kxg8 and white's remaining pieces will have difficulty finding useful points of attack. Finally, the game ended with a repetition as black's king was kept stuck in the corner. WGM Sabina Foisor scored a well-timed draw that clinched this week's match victory. Look for her to try to improve the result as she continues to gear up to play for the US in the Women's Olympiad.

The game between IM Ray Kaufman and NM Craig Jones on Board 4 transposed, from an unusual move order, into a Queen's Indian Defense where the novelty was 11. 0-0-0 (Each of 4 previous games had white [+3 -1] kingside castling and capturing on c3 with the b-pawn). White pushed for a quick kingside assault while black positioned to play in the center. In the following position, Jones decides to go for the attack with 21. gxh6?!:

21... Qxh4 22. Rxg7+ Kh8 23. Qxe5 Nf6 24. Qf5?? (24. Rg5 suggested by IM Ray Kaufman - although white is still worse, it keeps chances to complicate). See if you can find the win:

24... Rxd2! 25. Rxd2 Qe1+ 26. Rd1 Qe3+ and Jones resigned in view of 27. Kb1 Rxd1+ 28. Bxd1 Bxe4+ winning the white queen (it is also mate in 7). IM Ray Kaufman makes his season debut with a spectacular finish. Hope his future games are just as entertaining!