Quarterfinals Lineup

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

Philadelphia Inventors vs. Baltimore Kingfishers
GM Sergey Erenburg (2700) - IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat (2509)
FM Tom Bartell (2489) - GM Larry Kaufman (2445)
FM Dov Gorman (2327) - NM Kevin Wang (2366)
IM Richard Costigan (2288) - FM Ralph Zimmer (2304)

Note: Players in italic have the white pieces.

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After missing the playoffs last year, the Baltimore Kingfishers have returned to the playoffs in 4th place in the Eastern Division. That means they will now do battle with the Philadelphia Inventors, who finished 1st place in the Eastern Division with a 7.5-2.5 record and return to the playoffs for the 2nd straight year. Since Phildelphia is the higher seed, they will advance in the case of a drawn 2-2 match. They also received the choice of colors and picked to play white on Boards 1 and 3. Philadelphia leads the all-time series with a 8 match points against 5 match points for Baltimore. These two teams played in Week 1 this season, which ended in a draw. Five players (GM Erenburg, FM Gorman, IM Costigan, IM Enkhbat, and FM Zimmer) from that match return to play this one. All except two of the players (both board 3 players) in this match have playoff experience. Baltimore is 2-2 in playoff matches but they have not won since 2005. Meanwhile, Philadelphia is 0-2 in the playoffs.

Board 1: GM Sergey Erenburg vs. IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat. GM Sergey Erenburg, a former Baltimore Kingfisher, is (+4 =5 -1) in his 6th USCL season, (+1 =1) against Baltimore, and (+1 -1) in the USCL Playoffs. He won last week with black on Board 1 against GM Alexander Ivanov (NE). He placed 4th in the USCL MVP race, but surprisingly only 2nd on his team. In Week 1, he drew with white against his upcoming opponent, IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat. IM Enkhbat is (=3 -1) in his 8th season, (+3 =3 -1) against Philadelphia, and (=2 -2) in the Playoffs. He lost in Week 9 with white against IM Eli Vovsha (MAN) on Board 2.

Board 2: GM Larry Kaufman vs. FM Tom Bartell. GM Larry Kaufman is (+1 =2 -2) in his 8th season, (+2 =3 -3) against Philadelphia, and (+2) in the Playoffs. He lost last week as black against FM Kazim Gulamali (BOS) on Board 2. He has played twice with white (a draw in Week 4, 2009 and a loss in Week 2, 2008) against his opponent, FM Tom Bartell. FM Bartell is (+1 =1 -2) in his 6th season, (+1 =4 -1) against Baltimore, and (-1) in the Playoffs. He won last week with white against IM David Vigorito (NE) on Board 2.

Board 3: FM Dov Gorman vs. NM Kevin Wang. FM Dov Gorman is (+6 =2) in his first USCL season and (+1) against Baltimore. He won last week as black against Carey Theil (NE) on Board 3. With his impressive record, he placed 2nd in the USCL MVP race and first on his team. Also in his first USCL season, NM Kevin Wang is (+1 -1) and has not yet played against Philadelphia. He won in Week 8 with black against GM Boris Gulko (NJ) on Board 2.

Board 4: FM Ralph Zimmer vs. IM Richard Costigan. FM Ralph Zimmer is (+4 =1 -1) in his 7th season, (+4 =2) against Philadelphia, and (=1) in the Playoffs. He won last week against NM Ilya Krasik (BOS) with black on Board 4. That win gave FM Zimmer the slight half-point edge in the team MVP race. He has won twice (with white in Week 1, 2012 and with black in Week 8, 2009) against his opponent, IM Richard Costigan. IM Costigan is (=3 -1) in his 7th season, (+2 =3 -5) against Baltimore, and (-1) in the Playoffs. He drew with black against Nicolas Checa (NY) on Board 4 in Week 9.

Catch the games live on ICC!

Week 10 Review

Baltimore Kingfishers vs. Boston Blitz 2.5-1.5
GM Giorgi Margvelashvili (2593) - SM Denys Shmelov (2502) 0.5-0.5 View Game
GM Larry Kaufman (2445) - FM Kazim Gulamali (2419) 0-1 View Game
NM Jared Defibaugh (2357) - NM Vadim Martirosov (2345) 1-0 View Game
FM Ralph Zimmer (2304) - NM Ilya Krasik (2261) 1-0 View Game

Note: Players in italic have the white pieces.

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The Baltimore Kingfishers clinched the 4th spot in the Eastern Division and a playoff spot with a win over the Boston Blitz. Baltimore finished the season with a 5.5-4.5 record, tied with New York though they took 3rd place on the first tiebreaker.

Board 1: The game began with a Queen's Gambit: Slav with white playing 4. Qb3 with a later fianchetto on the kingside. White's pair of bishops allowed him to win a pawn in the middle game. As boards 2 and 3 concluded, the match was tied 1-1 with board 4 looking unclear, so GM Margvelashvili had to press for the win. Then suddenly, FM Zimmer won his game and it became clear that Baltimore just needed a draw to win the match and secure a playoff spot, so GM Margvelashvili offered the clinching draw. He certainly could have played on to try to win in the final position:

Board 2: FM Gulamali won the Game of the Week and it is analyzed by GM Alex Yermolinsky on ICC. This very exciting game started as a French Defense: Steinitz, Bradford Attack. White castled queenside and aimed his pieces at black's kingside. FM Gulamali even sacrificed a knight to prevent a queen trade and open up the kingside. It looked like GM Kaufman should be able to hold the position, but he blundered with 26... Bg7:

FM Gulamali found a spectacular mate with 27. g6 Qf6 28. Rh8+! Bxh8 29. Qh7+ Kf8 30. Bb4+ Nd6 31. Bxd6+ Ke8 32. Qg8+ and blacked resigned before 32... Qf8 33. Qf8#.

Board 3: A Scotch Gambit transposed into a tame Two Knights Defense/Philidor Defense. NM Martirosov decided to allow his pawns to be doubled on the e-file and soon white won control of the open d-file. White managed to get his queen and rook lined up on the 7th rank and black had to look for a perpetual against the white king to try to survive. The perpetual just wasn't there as seen in the game when NM Defibaugh won, but there was a very interesting attempt not played after 36. Kh4:

If black tried 36... Rf4+, NM Defibaugh noted that 37. g4! wins with 37... Qf2+ 38. Kh5 Qxh2+ 39. Kg6 Rf6+ 40. Qxf6 gxf6 41. Ra8#. White had to avoid the mistake 37. gxf4? Qf2+ 38. Kg4 (38. Kh3? and Kh5? are actually forced mates for black! i.e. 38. Kh5 Qxf3+ 39. Kg6 Qxe4+ [not 39... Qg4+ 40. Qg5! with Ra8# coming] 40. Kh5 Qf3+ 41. Kg6 [41. Kh4 Qxf4+ 42. Kh5 Qf3+ 43. Kh4 g5+ and black will win the queen and rook] Qd3+ 42. Kh5 Qh3+ 43. Qh4 [43. Kg6 Qf5#] Qf5+ 44. Qg5 hxg5 and now black has h7 for the king) Qg2+ with a perpetual check.

Board 4: In what started as a Benoni, the game transposed into Queen's Gambit Declined and Queen's Indian lines. The game became very interesting when FM Zimmer sacrificed his two queenside pawns and a rook for a bishop and white's g-pawn to open up NM Krasik's king. Black's attack took a little while to develop and white missed some chances to defend better. For example, white could have played 27. Be4 with the idea of returning the exchange on d5 and 34. h3 instead of giving up the exchange with 34. Re4. Thus, black's adventurous play was rewarded and FM Zimmer ended the game with a picturesque queen sacrifice for mate with 43... Qd1+:

Week 10 Lineup

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

Baltimore Kingfishers vs. Boston Blitz
GM Giorgi Margvelashvili (2593) - SM Denys Shmelov (2502)
GM Larry Kaufman (2445) - FM Kazim Gulamali (2419)
NM Jared Defibaugh (2357) - NM Vadim Martirosov (2345)
FM Ralph Zimmer (2304) - NM Ilya Krasik (2261)

Note: Players in italic have the white pieces.

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The Baltimore Kingfishers (4.5-3.5, 6th place) battle the Boston Blitz (4.0-5.0, 7th place) in the final week of the USCL regular season. Both teams are fighting for a playoff spot, but even with a match victory here, they will need help from the other matches going a favorable way. Baltimore could finish as high as 3rd place while Boston could move into the 4th spot in the Eastern Division. Now, Boston leads the all-time series with 6.5 match points to Baltimore's 4.5 match points. They last played in Week 9, 2011 when Boston won 3-1. Four players (GM Kaufman, FM Zimmer, NM Martirosov, and NM Krasik) in that match return to play this time.

Board 1: GM Giorgi Margvelashvili vs. SM Denys Shmelov. GM Giorgi Margvelashvili, is (+2 =2) in his 2nd USCL season. He has not played against Boston previously. He won with white on Board 1 against GM Giorgi Kacheishvili (NY) in Week 7. He will be facing SM Denys Shmelov, who is (=2) in his 5th USCL season and (+1 =1 -1) against Baltimore. He drew last week as black against IM Jonathan Yedida (NE) on Board 2.

Board 2: FM Kazim Gulamali vs. GM Larry Kaufman. FM Kazim Gulamali is (+4 -3) in his 1st USCL season. He won last week as white against FM Braden Bournival (NE) on Board 2. His challenger, GM Larry Kaufman is (+1 =2 -1) in his 8th USCL season and (=2 -5) against Boston. He won in Week 7 as black against FM Michael Bodek (NY) on Board 2.

Board 3: NM Jared Defibaugh vs. NM Vadim Martirosov. NM Jared Defibaugh is (+3 -3) in his 3rd USCL season and (+1) against Boston. He lost in Week 8 as white against IM Albert Kapengut (NJ) on Board 3. His opponent, NM Vadim Martirosov is (+2 =1) in his 6th USCL season and (=5) against Baltimore. He drew with black against NM Christopher Wu (NJ) on Board 3 in Week 7.

Board 4: NM Ilya Krasik vs. FM Ralph Zimmer. NM Ilya Krasik is (+3 -1) in his 8th USCL season and (+4 =1 -3) against Baltimore. He won with white against NM Andrew Ryba (MAN) on Board 4 in Week 8. He will have a somewhat familiar opponent in FM Ralph Zimmer, whom NM Krasik won against in Week 8, 2008. FM Ralph Zimmer is (+3 =1 -1) in his 7th USCL season and (=3 -1) against Boston. He won in Week 8 with black against Praveen Balakrishnan (NJ) on Board 4.

Will either team make the playoffs? Everything will be decided this week so follow the action live on chess.com or as relayed on ICC!

Week 9 Lineup

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

Manhattan Applesauce vs. Baltimore Kingfishers
GM Vladimir Romanenko (2513) - GM Giorgi Margvelashvili (2593)
IM Eli Vovsha (2514) - IM Nazi Paikidze (2444)
NM Andrew Shvartsman (2343) - NM Adithya Balasubramanian (2345)
NM Andrew Ryba (2202) - FM Ralph Zimmer (2304)

Note: Players in italic have the white pieces.

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The Manhattan Applesauce will battle against the Baltimore Kingfishers this week. Manhattan has dominated the series, scoring 5.5 match points to Baltimore's 1.5 match points. They last faced each other in Week 8, 2011 when Manhattan won with a 3-1 score. Only IM Eli Vovsha and GM Giorgi Margvelashvili have returned to play in this match as well.

This match is scheduled to be played on a Tuesday to avoid having to play on a holiday as Wednesday is Halloween. However, Hurricane Sandy has threatened to change these plans. Please bear with us as we attempt to get this match played as safely and smoothly as possible.

Board 1: GM Vladimir Romanenko vs. GM Giorgi Margvelashvili. GM Vladimir Romanenko is (+1 =3 -2) in his first USCL season. He lost his last game in Week 7 with black against GM Sergey Erenburg (PHI) on Board 1. His challenger, GM Giorgi Margvelashvili, is (+2 =2) in his 2nd USCL season and (=1) against Manhattan. He won his last game with white in Week 7 on Board 1 against GM Giorgi Kacheishvili (NY).

Board 2: IM Nazi Paikidze vs. IM Eli Vovsha. IM Nazi Paikidze is (=1 -1) in her first USCL season. She last played in Week 4 when she lost with black to FM Slava Mikhailuk (SEA) on Board 2. Her opponent, IM Eli Vovsha, is (+1 =2 -2) in his 6th USCL season and (+2 =3 -1) against Baltimore. He drew last week with white against GM Eugene Perelshteyn (BOS) on Board 1.

Board 3: NM Andrew Shvartsman vs. NM Adithya Balasubramanian. NM Andrew Shvartsman is (+1 =2 -1) in his first USCL season. He won last week with white against NM Michael Vilenchuk (BOS) on Board 3. He will be facing NM Adithya Balasubramanian, who has only played one game so far in his 3rd USCL season. He drew with white in Week 4 against FM Curt Collyer (SEA) on Board 3. He also drew his only game so far against Manhattan.

Board 4: FM Ralph Zimmer vs. NM Andrew Ryba. FM Ralph Zimmer, a 7-year USCL veteran, is (+3 =1 -1) on the season and (-2) against Manhattan. He won last week with black against Praveen Balakrishnan (NJ) on Board 4. He will square-off against NM Andrew Ryba, who is (+1 -1) in his first USCL season. He lost with black last week against NM Ilya Krasik (BOS) on Board 4.

Let us know what results you predict in the polls to the right. Catch the games live on chess.com or relayed on ICC!

Week 8 Review

Baltimore Kingfishers vs. New Jersey Knockouts 2-2
GM Niclas Huschenbeth (2582) - GM Alex Stripunsky (2673) 0-1 View Game
NM Kevin Wang (2366) - GM Boris Gulko (2590) 1-0 View Game
NM Jared Defibaugh (2357) - IM Albert Kapengut (2367) 0-1 View Game
FM Ralph Zimmer (2304) - Praveen Balakrishnan (2097) 1-0 View Game

Note: Players in italic have the white pieces.

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The Baltimore Kingfishers and the New Jersey Knockouts drew the match with wins by black on all boards! Both teams dropped 1 rank in the standings to 4th and 5th place, respectively, as both Philadelphia and New York won to stay in 1st and 2nd place, respectively, in the East, and Manhattan also won to move into 3rd place on tiebreaker over Baltimore and New Jersey.

Board 1: GM Huschenbeth played an unusual Caro-Kann with 1. e4 c6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Qe2 d4 4. Nd1. The game continued with black having a slight edge but nothing concrete until after 27... Rf8:

White erred with 28. Rc2? instead of Rc5. The game continued 28. .. f5 29. exf5 Nxf5 30. Rac1 e4 31. dxe4 Ne3 (Now we see that 28. Rc2 loses a tempo) 32. Rc5 Ne5! 33. Ke2 (33. Rxe5 Ng4+ 34. Ke1 Nxe5) Nxf3. Play went on with white down a knight for two pawns, but GM Stripunsky clearly had a won position.

Board 2: The game began as a Semi-slav Defense and then more resembled a French Winawer, Advanced variation. GM Gulko, as white, chose to go for an interesting sacrifice in the following position:

GM Gulko struck with 20. Nxg7!? Kxg7 21. Bh6+ (The immediate 21. Rd3 might be an improvement) Kg8 22. Rd3 Qc4 23. Rh3. However, NM Kevin Wang managed to defend his king and emerged with 2 knights for a rook and pawn. As the queens had been exchanged, NM Wang took advantage of the knights to create a dangerous passed c-pawn. GM Gulko sacrificed a rook for a knight and the c-pawn, but this just let to an ending where he was down a full knight, so he resigned.

Board 3: An English Opening: Bremen, Smyslov system saw white slowly push his queenside pawns looking for an advantageous break in the position.

It seems NM Defibaugh tried to be too aggressive with the move 20. c4? and found himself worse when IM Kapengut opened the position to his advantage instead with 20... axb4 21. Rad1 dxc4 22. Qxc4 e3!. The game actually continued with equal material for awhile but it was clear black was better as he had a pair of connected passed pawns. Eventually IM Kapengut won while up a knight for a double-pawn.

Board 4: This game started as a Modern Defense where Balakrishnan chose to fianchetto his own King's bishop as well. As a result, black enjoyed a space advantage in the early middlegame but white then built-up a kingside attack. After 28... fxg4, white missed a chance to grab the advantage:

Sacrificing the queen with 29. Bxg7! Qxh5 30. Bxf8 leaves white with a rook and 2 knights vs. a queen and pawn. White also has control of the open d-file and a solid position that black will find difficult to exploit. The game actually continued with 29. Nd5 Rf5 30. Qe8 Rxe5 31. Ne7 Bc4 32. Ne3 Qc5 33. Rd7 Rf6 34. Ra4 Bf7 35. Qd8 Qb5 36. Rb4 Qe2 37. N7f5 and FM Zimmer has managed to diffuse white's attack and begins his own attack eventually taking the full point with an extra promoted queen. White actually has a forced mate in 13 from this position:

Week 8 Lineup

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

Baltimore Kingfishers vs. New Jersey Knockouts
GM Niclas Huschenbeth (2582) - GM Alex Stripunsky (2673)
NM Kevin Wang (2366) - GM Boris Gulko (2590)
NM Jared Defibaugh (2357) - IM Albert Kapengut (2367)
FM Ralph Zimmer (2304) - Praveen Balakrishnan (2097)

Note: Players in italic have the white pieces.

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The 3rd-place Baltimore Kingfishers will battle the 4th-place New Jersey Knockouts. Both teams have the same 4.0-3.0 record, but Baltimore has 0.5 more game points for the lead in the first tiebreaker. In previous matches, New Jersey has scored 4.5 match points to Baltimore's 3.5 match points. Their last match occured in Week 2, 2011, which Baltimore won with a 2.5-1.5 score. Only two players (GM Gulko and NM Defibaugh) in that match are also playing in this match.

Board 1: GM Niclas Huschenbeth vs. GM Alex Stripunsky. GM Niclas Huschenbeth, in his first year in the USCL, has only played one game so far. It was against GM Ben Finegold (STL) on Board 1 in Week 2 and he lost with the black pieces. This time, he will have the white pieces against another well-known American player, GM Alex Stripunsky. GM Stripunsky, a 7-year USCL veteran, is (+2 =2 -1) this season and (=4 -2) against Baltimore. He played last week, a loss with white on Board 1 against SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS).

Board 2: GM Boris Gulko vs. NM Kevin Wang. GM Boris Gulko, in his 5th USCL season, is (+1 =1) on the season and also (+1 =1) against Baltimore. He last played in Week 4, a win with black against FM Kassa Korley (CAR) on Board 2. He will be matched by NM Kevin Wang, who has played just one game in his first USCL season. It was a loss with black against IM Levan Bregadze (STL) on Board 3 in Week 2.

Board 3: NM Jared Defibaugh vs. IM Albert Kapengut. In his 3rd USCL season, NM Jared Defibaugh has a (+3 -2) record this season and is (+1 -1) in his career against New Jersey. He won with white last week against NM Justus Williams (NY) on Board 3. His opponent is IM Albert Kapengut, a 4-year USCL veteran with a (+1 =1 -1) score this season and a (+2) record against Baltimore. He last played in Week 6, a loss with black on Board 3 against IM Levan Bregadze (STL).

Board 4: Praveen Balakrishnan vs. FM Ralph Zimmer. In his 1st USCL season, Praveen Balakrishnan is (+1 -2) with his last game happening in Week 6, a loss with white against Matthew Larson (STL). He will be challenged by 7-year USCL veteran FM Ralph Zimmer, who is (+2 =1 -1) on the season and (-2) against New Jersey. FM Zimmer played last week in a loss with black against NM Alexander Katz (NY) on Board 4.

Catch the games live on ICC!

Week 7 Review

Baltimore Kingfishers vs. New York Knights 3-1
GM Giorgi Margvelashvili (2593) - GM Giorgi Kacheishvili (2697) 1-0 View Game
GM Larry Kaufman (2445) - FM Michael Bodek (2409) 1-0 View Game
NM Jared Defibaugh (2357) - NM Justus Williams (2331) 1-0 View Game
FM Ralph Zimmer (2304) - NM Alexander Katz (2250) 0-1 View Game

Note: Players in italic have the white pieces.

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The Baltimore Kingfishers have won their 3rd match in a row. They defeated the New York Knights to tie New York and New Jersey with a second-best 4.0-3.0 record in the Eastern Division. Baltimore is currently in 3rd place on tiebreaks and only half a match point behind the Eastern Division leading Philadelphia Inventors.

Board 1:The top board began with a Reti: King's Indian Attack, built-up slowly with both sides maneuvering to control the open c-file, and finished with a wild tactical flourish. Just as it seemed that black had won the battle for the c-file, it actually had allowed white's e-pawn to open up lines against the black king, and GM Margvelashvili took full advantage of it.

In the final position, the dual threats of 36. f8=Q# and 36. Qxc3 led GM Kacheishvili to resign.

Board 2:This game, the final to finish, started as an Exchange French Defense where the players also exchanged the queens early. FM Bodek played 16. Ne2 allowing the reply 16... f6.

Despite the appearance that white will lose the exchange, he actually has 4 options (17. Ng6, Ng4, Nf3, and Ng3) that maintain the balance. Surprisingly, taking the rook with 17... Bxf4 in several lines turns out to make black's position worse due to his semi-open king and undeveloped queenside pieces. This is why GM Kaufman declined to play the variation 17. Nf3 Bxf4 18. Nxf4 Bf7 19. Rxe8 Bxe8 20. Ne6+ Kf7 21. Nc7 which loses the trapped rook next. The game instead developed more slowly with black having the initiative. It stayed near even until white erred in the following position:

36. Ne3 was missed in time trouble, so black was able to mop-up white's pawns for the game and match victory.

Board 3:The most exciting game of the match had to be NM Defibaugh - NM Williams. It won the Game of the Week honors and is analyzed by GM Alex Yermolinsky on the ICC. Now, the game began in the Queen's Indian Defense: Fianchetto, Nimzowitsch variation. NM Defibaugh has already sacrificed a pawn in the center and prepared to make another shocking sacrifice in the following position after 19... Nxd5:

The game continued: 20. Bxg7 Kxg7 21. Nd5 Qd8? 22. Qc4 b5 23. Qg4+ Kh8 24. Qf5 Qc8 25. Qh5 Nf6 26. Qxh6+ Kg8 27. Ng6.

NM Williams resigned in view of 27... Nh7 28. Nxe7+ Kh8 Nxc8 or 27... fxg6 28. Rxe7 Rf7 29. Qxg6 Kh8 30. Rxf7 and the black king will be mated soon.

Board 4:This was a Scandinavian Defense which saw white castle queenside and black deciding to leave his king in the center. The middle game saw white pushing forth his kingside pawns while black attempted to open up the queenside. While NM Katz seemed to have the upperhand with more active pieces and a less vulnerable king after 25. Qxf5, black could still fight for a draw with 25... Qf7.

Instead, the game continued 25... g6? 26. Qe6+ Be7 27. Kb1 Qd7 28. Qxd7+ Kxd7 29. e6+ and FM Zimmer resigned seeing as his rook is lost on the next move.

Week 7 Lineup

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

Baltimore Kingfishers vs. New York Knights
GM Giorgi Margvelashvili (2593) - GM Giorgi Kacheishvili (2697)
GM Larry Kaufman (2445) - FM Michael Bodek (2409)
NM Jared Defibaugh (2357) - NM Justus Williams (2331)
FM Ralph Zimmer (2304) - NM Alexander Katz (2250)

Note: Players in italic have the white pieces.

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The sixth-place Baltimore Kingfishers will take on the first-place New York Knights. Despite the large difference in standings, these two teams are only one match point apart. In previous matches, Baltimore and New York are tied with 5.5 match points each. In their last match in Week 1, 2011, New York won with a 2.5-1.5 score. Four players (GM Margvelashvili, GM Kacheishvili, NM Defibaugh, and NM Justus Williams) from that match return for this match. Also, only one player from that last match is not currently on either roster - GM John Federowicz (NY).

Board 1: GM Giorgi Margvelashvili vs. GM Giorgi Kacheishvili. This board sees a rematch with the same colors of Week 1, 2011 when GM Kacheishvili prevailed for the full point. Now in his 2nd USCL season, GM Giorgi Margvelashvili is (+1 =2) and drew with black last week against IM Mackenzie Molner (ARZ) on Board 1. The loss against GM Kacheishvili is his only previous game against New York. Meanwhile GM Giorgi Kacheishvili, a 4-year USCL veteran, is (+1 =2) this season and (+2 =1) against Baltimore. He last played in Week 5, a draw with white against GM Robert Hess (CON) on Board 1.

Board 2: FM Michael Bodek vs. GM Larry Kaufman. FM Michael Bodek, with 2 years in the USCL, is (+1 =1) on the season and last played on Board 3 in Week 4 - a draw with black against FM Yian Liou (SF). He has not previously played against Baltimore. His 8-year-veteran opponent, GM Larry Kaufman is (=2 -1) this season and (+4 -2) against New York. His last game occurred in Week 5 as black against IM David Vigorito (NE) on Board 2, which ended in a draw.

Board 3: NM Jared Defibaugh vs. NM Justus Williams. NM Jared Defibaugh, a 3-year USCL player, has scored (+2 -2) this season and (+1 =1) against New York. He won last week as black against IM Mark Ginsburg (ARZ) on Board 3. He will face the formidable NM Justus Williams, who is (+3) in his 3rd year in the USCL and (+1) against Baltimore. He last played in a Week 5 victory with white against NM Ian Harris (CON) on Board 3. Astonishingly, with his 10-game-history in the USCL, he has only used the black pieces once before, which happened to be the only drawn game he has played.

(TRIVIA: Which USCL player had black in all of his/her first 10 games - all of which were decisive? Answer in the comments!)

Board 4: NM Alexander Katz vs. FM Ralph Zimmer. NM Alexander Katz, in his 2nd USCL season, is (+2 =1) and played a draw last week with white against FM Alec Getz (DAL) on Board 3. He has not played Baltimore previously. Challenging him is FM Ralph Zimmer, a 7-year USCL veteran. FM Zimmer is (+2 =1) this season and (+1 -1) against New York. He last played as black to a draw against Bennet Pellows (NE) in Week 5 on Board 4.

Let us know what results you predict in the polls to the right. Catch the games live on chess.com or relayed on ICC!

Week 6 Review

Arizona Scorpions vs. Baltimore Kingfishers 1-3
IM Mackenzie Molner (2511) - GM Giorgi Margvelashvili (2593) 0.5-0.5 View Game
IM Levon Altounian (2493) - IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat (2509) 0.5-0.5 View Game
IM Mark Ginsburg (2400) - NM Jared Defibaugh (2357) 0-1 View Game
WFM Amanda Mateer (2144) - NM Richard Selzler (2242) 0-1 View Game

Note: Players in italic have the white pieces.

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The Baltimore Kingfishers extended their winning streak in matches against the Arizona Scorpions with a 3-1 victory. Baltimore moved up a spot to sixth-place in the Eastern Division standings, only 1 match point behind first-place New York.

Board 1: These two played a Philidor Defense: Improved Hanham in which IM Molner struck with the speculative sacrifice, 13. Nf5?!

GM Margvelashvili accepted the sacrificed knight and gave up a rook for white's other knight. Then, it was GM Margvelashvili's turn to sacrifice one of his knights for a couple of pawns and a strong pin on the g-file. The game ended when black chose to take a draw by repetition to assure a team victory as he saw Board 3 had already been won and Board 4 looked close to winning. However, he could have played for a win in the position after 23. Qh5:

The winning line goes 23... Rg6 24. Be3 Ne6 25. f4 exf4 26. Bxb6 (26. Bf2 Be4 27. Bxb6 f3 28. Rf1 Nf4 or 26. Rf2 Rg5 27. Qf3 fxe3) Ng7 27. Qf3 Qxb6+.

Board 2: In a Queen's Gambit Accepted, IM Enkhbat sacrificed his e-pawn for rapid development and preventing black from easily castling his king. This game turned out to be the last one to finish, so Baltimore had already clinched the match victory. White had kept up compensation for the pawn for much of the game, but IM Altounian could have kept his extra pawn after 34. Rc6:

34... Nc7 35. Rd6+ Kc8 when 36. Nxe6 is impossible due to Re8 where white's back rank is vulnerable. Re8 or e5 on the next move will hold the extra pawn. Even with the extra pawn, it would still be a long path to press for a win. In the actual game, white won back the extra black pawn and the two sides liquidated to a even ending with opposite-colored bishops.

Board 3: This was the first game of the match to finish. It began as an English: Anglo-Grunfeld that appeared to be close to equal or perhaps slightly better for black with the centrally-placed rooks. Take a look at the position after 17... Nb4:

After trading off both of white's bishops with 18. Bxb4 axb4 19. Bxb7 Qxb7, IM Ginsburg's position suffered a surprisingly sudden collapse. Perhaps 18. Bxg7 Qxg7 19. Ne4 f5 20. Nc3 could have kept the balance. NM Defibaugh broke open the center and invaded with his rooks when white resigned after the move 25... Rd3, facing unstoppable threats against his king. In fact, the final position shown below is a forced mate in 7.

Board 4: This game started as a Sicilian: Kan, Polugaevsky variation. White won the e-pawn in the early middle game and started to consolidate the advantage. WFM Mateer attempted to complicate the position, but NM Selzler played accurately and kept her on the defensive. NM Selzler won the game with mate in 2 on the board position seen below.

Week 6 Lineup

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

Arizona Scorpions vs. Baltimore Kingfishers
IM Mackenzie Molner (2511) - GM Giorgi Margvelashvili (2593)
IM Levon Altounian (2493) - IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat (2509)
IM Mark Ginsburg (2400) - NM Jared Defibaugh (2357)
WFM Amanda Mateer (2144) - NM Richard Selzler (2242)

Note: Players in italic have the white pieces.

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The third and final Interdivisional Match of the 2012 season sees the Baltimore Kingfishers square off against the Arizona Scorpions. These two teams have met twice before with Baltimore scoring victories in both matches by a score of 2.5-1.5. They last met just over 2 years ago, also in Week 6. Only 3 players (IM Barcenilla, GM L. Kaufman, FM Zimmer) from that match remain on these two teams' current rosters, but none of them are scheduled to play in this match. Surprisingly, more players (5: IM Enkhbat, GM L. Kaufman, IM Altounian, IM Ginsburg, FM Adamson) remain from the Week 4, 2009 match with 3 of the players returning to play in this match. Interestingly, Arizona has used this same lineup in Weeks 1 and 5, scoring victories by 3-1 and 3.5-0.5. On the other side, Baltimore's lineup is a new one for this season.

Board 1: IM Mackenzie Molner vs. GM Giorgi Margvelashvili. IM Molner, a 7-year USCL veteran of 3 teams, is (+1 =3 -1) this season and (+3 =1 -2) against Baltimore. He drew last week as white against GM Jesse Kraai (SF) on Board 1. His opponent, GM Margvelashvili, is (+1 =1) on the season and last played in Week 4, a win on Board 1 as white against FM Cozianu (SEA). This season is only his 2nd year in the USCL, so he has not played against Arizona previously.

Board 2: IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat vs. IM Levon Altounian. This game is a rematch with the same colors of a draw on Board 1 in Week 4, 2009. For each of the players, that was the only game he played against the other team. IM Enkhbat, an 8-year USCL veteran, is (=2) on the season and played last week as white against GM Ivanov (NE) on Board 1. This game will be his first time on Board 2 this season. His rival in this sequel, IM Altounian, is (+1 =2) so far in his 5th USCL season. He won last week as black against IM Dmitry Zilberstein (SF) on Board 2.

Board 3: IM Mark Ginsburg vs. NM Jared Defibaugh. IM Ginsburg, playing in his 4th USCL season, is (+3 =1) this season and won last week as white against FM Yian Liou (SF) on Board 3. He has played against Baltimore once previously, a draw as white against GM L. Kaufman on Board 2 in Week 4, 2009. This time, he will face NM Defibaugh, who is in his 3rd USCL season and has scored (+1 -2) this season. NM Defibaugh won last week as white against NM Andrew Wang (NE) on Board 3. He has not played against Arizona previously.

Board 4: NM Richard Selzler vs. WFM Amanda Mateer. NM Selzler is (-2) on the season, having last played as black against NM Joshua Sinanan (SEA) in Week 4. He has played in 2 seasons in the USCL and has not played against Arizona previously. He will be challenged by WFM Mateer, who is (+1 =1) this season and won last week as black against NM Kesav Viswanadha (SF) on Board 4. She has played in the USCL for 4 years though has not played against Baltimore previously.

Week 5 Review

Baltimore Kingfishers vs. New England Nor'easters 2.5-1.5
IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat (2509) - GM Alexander Ivanov (2656) 0.5-0.5 View Game
GM Larry Kaufman (2445) - IM David Vigorito (2548) 0.5-0.5 View Game
NM Jared Defibaugh (2357) - NM Andrew Wang (2302) 1-0 View Game
FM Ralph Zimmer (2304) - Bennet Pellows (2152) 0.5-0.5 View Game

Note: Players in italic have the white pieces.

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The Baltimore Kingfishers score their first match victory this season.

Board 1:This game began as a Catalan in which black played 3... Bb4+ 4. Bd2 Be7 and then the game transposed into a Bogo-Indian Defense. GM Ivanov gained space on the kingside with g5 and f5 and soon won a pawn after white allowed the opening of the g-file. Black was perhaps a little too quick to aim at the white king with 29... Rg3:

White could have won an exchange with 30. Bxf4 Qxf4 31. hxg3 Qxg3 32. Bg2! and it will be white who will have the upperhand as his rooks will quickly occupy the open files on the kingside. However, IM Enkhbat chose a more defensive strategy with 30. Rg1 and managed to hold the draw, which clinched the match victory as the last game to finish.

Board 2:These two played an Exchange Slav, Trifunovic variation in which black seemed at least equal out of the opening, especially as white's king stayed in the center. Later, GM Kaufman won the e4 pawn and began marching his d-pawn all the way to d2. In time trouble, he could not find a clear win and accepted a draw as FM Zimmer had just drawn and IM Enkhbat looked to be holding his game. In fact, the final position is a win for black but the best line includes a rather suprising second move. Can you find it?

38. Bd3+ Kg1 39. Kh7! Rxc8 40. Rxc8 Qf2 (40... Qxc8 41. Qe3+ Kh1 42. Qe1+ Rxe1 43. dxe1=R#) 41. Rc1 Bb3 42. Bc4 and white will soon lose with his pieces tied down in order to block the d-pawn.

Board 3:This game featured a King's Indian: Gligoric-Taimanov variation. The e and f files opened up quickly but the game continued fairly even for both sides without any particularly dangerous tactics. NM Defibaugh did have the unusual tripled g-pawns but had a space advantage to make up for it.

Black should be fine after 27... Bf8, but NM Andrew Wang blundered with 27... Kf7? 28. Qe7+ Qxe7 29. Rxe7+ Kf8 30. Rxb7 and black resigns seeing as he has to play Rg6 to keep the bishop but his queenside pawns will fall.

Board 4:The players started off with a Leningrad Dutch that got very exciting when they decided to go for the odd material imbalance of Rook, Knight, and Pawn for a Queen. At first, it seemed white should be better with black's pieces relatively undeveloped and a not-quite-open position for black's queen to take advantage. However, as the bishops and a pair of rooks were traded, black's queen came alive. White tried to use his rook and two knights to trap the black king and possibly mate but this gave black the opportunity to win the game.

It turns out 36... Qxa4 as played in the game lets the win slip away, but the immediate 36... Qe4 wins by nullifying white's attack while intending to promote the c-pawn. For instance, if 37. Nce6 Qh7+ ( 37... c4 38. Rg6 c3 39. Ng5 Qxg6 40. Nxg6+ Kg7 41. Nf4 c2 42. Nge6+ Kf7 43. Ne2 is probably better for white ) 38. Nh5 c4 39. g4 c3 40. Nf8 c2 41. Nxh7 Nxh7! (only move) and the c-pawn will queen with no tricky mate threats against the black king. Allowing white the extra move turned out to be just enough to draw so the players repeated moves.

Week 5 Lineup

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

Baltimore Kingfishers vs. New England Nor'easters
IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat (2509) - GM Alexander Ivanov (2656)
GM Larry Kaufman (2445) - IM David Vigorito (2548)
NM Jared Defibaugh (2357) - NM Andrew Wang (2302)
FM Ralph Zimmer (2304) - Bennet Pellows (2152)

Note: Players in italic have the white pieces.

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The Baltimore Kingfishers and New England Nor'easters both look to climb up to two places in the Eastern Division standings this week. In previous meetings, New England has bested Baltimore by a match score of 2.5-0.5 with the New England winning the last meeting by a 2.5-1.5 score.

Board 1: IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat vs. GM Alexander Ivanov. IM Enkhbat, an 8-year USCL veteran, is (=1) on the season, having played in Week 1 on Board 1 with black against GM Sergey Erenburg. He has a (+1 -2) record against New England. His opponent, GM Ivanov is new to the USCL this year and is off to a great start with a (+2 =1) record. He last played in a Week 4 win with white over FM Eric Rodriguez on Board 2.

Board 2: IM David Vigorito vs. GM Larry Kaufman. IM Vigorito, a 4-year USCL veteran, is (-1) on the season as he played in Week 2 with black against IM Puchen Wang on Board 2. He is (+1 -1) against Baltimore. Meanwhile GM Kaufman, another 8-year USCL veteran for Baltimore, is (=1 -1) this season and (-1) against New England. He last played in Week 3 with white, a game that ended as a draw against GM Mikheil Kekelidze on Board 2.

Board 3: NM Jared Defibaugh vs. NM Andrew Wang. NM Defibaugh, a 3-year USCL veteran, is (-2) on the season and (=1) against New England. He last played in Week 3 against NM Ian Harris, which was a loss with black on Board 3. He will be facing NM Andrew Wang, who is playing in his 2nd USCL season and has a (+1 -1) record this season. He has never played against Baltimore before this match. His last game was a win with black in Week 4 against NM Ernesto Alvarez on Board 3.

Board 4: Bennet Pellows vs. FM Ralph Zimmer. Bennet Pellows is another player new to the USCL this year for New England. He is (+1 =1) this season, having last played to a draw in Week 4 on Board 4 with white against Miguel Recio. He will be battling FM Zimmer, who is a 7-year USCL veteran, (+2) on the season, and (=1) against New England. His last game was a win with white against NM Joshua Colas in Week 3 on Board 4.

Week 4 Review

Baltimore Kingfishers vs. Seattle Sluggers 1.5-2.5
GM Giorgi Margvelashvili (2593) - FM Costin Cozianu (2508) 1-0 View Game
IM Nazi Paikidze (2444) - FM Slava Mikhailuk (2415) 0-1 View Game
NM Adithya Balasubramanian (2345) - FM Curt Collyer (2294) 0.5-0.5 View Game
NM Ricky Selzler (2242) - NM Joshua Sinanan (2263) 0-1 View Game

Note: Players in italic have the white pieces.

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White wins all...almost, as the Seattle Sluggers edge the Baltimore Kingfishers with a 2.5-1.5 score.

Board 1: The game began with a King's Indian: Smyslov Variation, which turned into a semi-closed game that focused early on the queenside. Black gave away his a-pawn to prevent a b4-break by white. Once the b-file was blockaded, FM Cozianu turned his attention to breaking open the kingside. However, GM Margvelashvili was able to parry the attack, and finally, it was black's king who seemed more vulnerable as white preferred to open up the center with 40. e5 to immediately taking the offered exchange with 40. Ne7 (Both moves are winning). Position before 40. e5 and Black resigns:

Board 2: The Reti Opening transformed into a King's Indian Attack. They traded queens early, and then, FM Mikhailuk built up pressure on the queenside. He eventually won the a-pawn and began marching all his pawns slowly forward as black's pieces struggled to find sure-footing. Black resigned in the following position:

Board 3: This game started with the unusual Owen Defense. White maintained an edge well into the middle game. NM Balasubramanian won a pawn on move 34, but missed a chance to win more material (although it is far from obvious) after 36... Bc8:

37. Rbc1! Ree8 (37... Rc6 38. R1xc6 Qxc6 39. Qxf7+! Rxf7 40. Rxc6 and white is up a clear two pawns) 38. Qf3 Rd8 39. Bb4 winning the exchange as black must guard f7 from the queen invasion. However, white still had a slight advantage until 66. Qe5? in the following diagram:

White missed the deflection 66... a5! FM Collyer now had chances to play for a win, but seeing as it was the last game going and a draw clinched a match victory for Seattle, the game ended in a repetition of checks.

Board 4: Oddly enough in an East Coast vs. West Coast matchup, these two players are familiar with one another as NM Selzler originally hails from Washington state. In fact, NM Selzler mentioned having been on the Sluggers team (as an alternate in 2007) while NM Sinanan was on the roster, but NM Selzler had never actually played in a match for them. The USCL world turns out to be closer than realized.

Anyway, the game was a Queen's Gambit: Semi-slav Defense. The result centered around the complications that arose just after opening theory. The position after 13. Bg5:

Black played sharply with 13... b4 but ended up losing the pawn after 14. dxe5 Nxe5 15. Nd4 Bc5 16. Na4 Bxd4 17. Rxd4 h6 18. Bxf6 Qxf6 19. Rxb4. After that, NM Sinanan kept the pressure up, especially with the rooks controlling the d-file. White's Queen, Bishop, and Knight finally overwhelmed Black's King position and black resigned with mate coming.

Week 4 Lineup

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

Baltimore Kingfishers vs. Seattle Sluggers
GM Giorgi Margvelashvili (2593) - FM Costin Cozianu (2508)
IM Nazi Paikidze (2444) - FM Slava Mikhailuk (2415)
NM Adithya Balasubramanian (2345) - FM Curt Collyer (2294)
NM Ricky Selzler (2242) - NM Joshua Sinanan (2263)

Note: Players in italic have the white pieces.

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East Coast vs. West Coast, the Baltimore Kingfishers take on the Seattle Sluggers. Coincidentally, both teams have suffered 4-0 defeats this season. However, Baltimore has only 2 drawn matches in the other matches while Seattle has scored 2 match victories.

Board 1: GM Giorgi Margvelashvili vs. FM Costin Cozianu. GM Margvelashvili, in his 2nd year in the USCL, is (=1) on the season. Just this past week, he held GM Hess to a draw with black on Board 1. FM Cozianu, in his 3rd USCL season, is (=1 -1) so far this year. He last played in Week 2, when he drew with white against GM Benjamin on Board 1.

Board 2: FM Slava Mikhailuk vs. IM Nazi Paikidze. FM Mikhailuk, a 7-year USCL veteran, is (=1 -1) on the season. His last game occurred in Week 2 with black against GM Gulko on Board 2, which ended in a draw. IM Paikidze, currently in her first USCL season, is (=1) this season. She was white against SM Fisher in Week 1 on Board 2. She is also a new student at UMBC this year.

Board 3: NM Adithya Balasubramanian vs. FM Curt Collyer. In his 3rd USCL season, NM Balasubramanian is making his season debut. His 2 career USCL victories came with the white pieces. Also, he is the current President of the UMBC Chess Club. FM Collyer, who is new to the USCL this year, is (+1 -1) on the season. He also last played in Week 2, but he only played on the 4th Board that time - a win with black against Vince Klemm.

Board 4: NM Joshua Sinanan vs. NM Ricky Selzler. NM Sinanan, a 6-year veteran of the USCL, is (+1) this year. He scored a victory with white against FM Adamson on Board 3 this past week. NM Selzler, in his 2nd non-consecutive USCL season, is (-1) this year. He lost with white against Matthew Larson in Week 2.

Vote in the 5 polls on the right sidebar to tell us who you think will win (or draw)!

Week 3 Review

Connecticut Dreadnoughts vs. Baltimore Kingfishers 2-2
GM Robert Hess (2719) - GM Giorgi Margvelashvili (2593) 0.5-0.5 View Game
GM Mikheil Kekelidze (2628) - GM Larry Kaufman (2445) 0.5-0.5 View Game
NM Ian Harris (2342) - NM Jared Defibaugh (2357) 1-0 View Game
NM Joshua Colas (2376) - FM Ralph Zimmer (2304) 0-1 View Game

Note: Players in italic have the white pieces.

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Board 1:GM Giorgi Margvelashvili held GM Robert Hess to a draw in a Classical Caro-Kann that saw GM Hess pressing with the white pieces for most of the game. A key moment came in the position after 18... e5:

The audience on chess.com wondered which daring move white would try: 19. Nxc6 or 19. Rxf6. Further analysis shows that after 19. Nxc6 bxc6 20. Qxc6+ Qc7, white probably does not have anything better than the perpetual checks with 21. Qa8+ Qb8 23. Qc6+ etc. Therefore, GM Hess chose 19. Rxf6 and ended up with a rook, a central-placed bishop, and 2 pawns (1 doubled) vs. black's 2 rooks. The game ended when GM Margvelashvili managed to convert the game into a drawn rook and pawn vs. rook ending.

Board 2: In what was the most exciting ending of the match, GM Kaufman and GM Kekelidze agreed to a draw. They played a Nimzo-Indian in which white seemed to dictate play based on his two bishops aiming through the center of the board and toward the black king. After 39... Qxe8, victory was in reach for white with 40. Rxe8+, but a mouse-slip let the rook drop on e3.

A request for a takeback was made, but seeing as both players had less than 5 minutes on their clocks, the request was denied as per Rule C.1.b. GM Kaufman went back to play out the game as at least the rook had not dropped on a square that left it immediately hanging. After 43. Rf3 Qe6, GM Kekelidze offered a draw, which GM Kaufman accepted with 17 seconds left on his clock.

Unfortunately, this left on the table the opportunity to play 44. Qb8! Be8 (44... g6 45. Qh8+ Kg6 46. Qg8+ Kh6 47. Rxf7 or 44... Rg7 45. Bxg7 Kxg7 46. Qf8+ Kh7 47. Rf7+) 45. Re3! and white wins.

Board 3: This game started with the very exciting Ruy Lopez: Schliemann Defense (also known as the Jaenisch Gambit). The key moment came while still in opening theory after 8... Nf6:

NM Harris snatched a second pawn with 9. Nxa7 and never let the slight material advantage slip away as NM Defibaugh was eventually unable to hold back white's advancing pawns.

Board 4: FM Zimmer played an outstanding game that took 2nd place in the Game of the Week contest. In a semi-closed position out of the English: Neo-Catalan Declined, he forced the opening of the center with the nice pawn sacrifice 13. b4!

And he further opened up black's king to attack with 23. Rxf6! in the following position:

GM Alex Yermolinsky has posted a more in-depth analysis of the game in his Game of the Week video on ICC. FM Zimmer's game is covered starting around the 22:30 mark.

Week 3 Lineup

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

Connecticut Dreadnoughts vs. Baltimore Kingfishers
GM Robert Hess (2719) - GM Giorgi Margvelashvili (2593)
GM Mikheil Kekelidze (2628) - GM Larry Kaufman (2445)
NM Ian Harris (2342) - NM Jared Defibaugh (2357)
NM Joshua Colas (2376) - FM Ralph Zimmer (2304)

Note: Players in italic have the white pieces.

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First vs. Last in the Eastern Division: The Baltimore Kingfishers look to climb up the standings against the highly-rated Connecticut Dreadnoughts.

Board 1: GM Robert Hess vs. GM Giorgi Margvelashvili. GM Hess is (+1 =1) this year in the USCL. He is the highest rated player in the USCL this season (according to August 2012 ratings), leading the newly formed Connecticut Dreadnoughts team to a clear first place standing in the Eastern Division after two weeks. His opponent, GM Margvelashvili, is playing his first USCL game of the season. He is a student at UMBC and has played with the Baltimore Kingfishers since last season. He is still looking for his first USCL win as he went (=3 -1) last season.

Board 2: GM Larry Kaufman vs. GM Mikheil Kekelidze. GM Kaufman was on the wrong side (-1) of a marathon game last week, and now, he is back to face one of the strongest Board 2's in the league, GM Kekelidze. Connecticut's Board 2 is (+1 -1) on the season.

Board 3: NM Ian Harris vs. NM Jared Defibaugh. NM Harris is (+1) this USCL season. He is also the manager of the Connecticut Dreadnoughts and a former Baltimore Kingfisher circa 2008-09. His opponent, NM Defibaugh, was also on that 2009 Baltimore Kingfisher team, so this game is a battle between former teammates. He is (-1) this season.

Board 4: FM Ralph Zimmer vs. NM Joshua Colas. FM Zimmer scored a victory (+1) in the first week, which is currently Baltimore's only win. He plays against the young NM Colas, who is (-1) on the season.

Catch all the games on chess.com, Wednesday night! Also, let us know what you expect for the outcomes by voting in the polls to the right.

Week 2 Review

St. Louis Arch Bishops vs. Baltimore Kingfishers 4-0
GM Ben Finegold (2568) - GM Niclas Huschenbeth (2582) 1-0 View Game
IM Priyadharshan Kannappan (2457) - GM Larry Kaufman (2445) 1-0 View Game
IM Levan Bregadze (2416) - NM Kevin Wang (2366) 1-0 View Game
Matthew Larson (1918) - NM Ricky Selzler (2242) 1-0 View Game

The Baltimore Kingfishers suffered a stunning sweep by the St. Louis Arch Bishops.

Board 1: GM Finegold defeated GM Huschenbeth in a Nimzo-Indian that won Game of the Week honors and has been analyzed by GM Alex Yermolinsky on ICC here. In consolation, if the prizes have remained the same as previous years, GM Huschenbeth would receive $50 for playing in the Game of the Week. GM Finegold would win $150 as the winner of the game.

The game centered on the exploitation of the pinned black knight on f6 that finished in the following position after 25. Rxf6, intending 25... Rxf6 (or Qxf6) 26. Qg5+ anymove 27. Bxf6.

Board 2: These players fought in the longest game of the match. They also played a Nimzo-Indian, but this one remained a closed position for a long time. GM Kaufman was given the opportunity to open some lines and he jumped at 60. g5 fxg5 61. f6 Nxd8 62. Bg4+ Ke8:

However, he was not able to find the best move and played 63. Be6 instead of 63. e5! dxe5 64. Ke4 Nf7 65. Bh5 and black cannot stop the white king from eventually taking black's e-pawn and supporting a d-pawn push. As the game actually continued, white still had ways to draw but IM Kannappan came out victorious in the ensuing time pressure.

Board 3: The game stayed roughly even as both players manuevered their pieces to take action in the center of the board. White seemed to have a slight advantage by having the bishop vs. a black knight in an open game. However, black made a mistake with 47... Qc7:

48. Qa8! threatens Qg8# and Qxa4. The knight could not be saved, so IM Bregadze won the game.

Board 4: This game was a Sicilian in which NM Selzler was able to push black out of the queenside in the early middle game and won an exchange, but was unable to capitalize on the advantage when Larson broke open the center, eliminated white's kingside, and secured the path for the h-pawn to promote. White's best opportunity to win the game came after 24... Qb4:

White could play 25. Kb2, threatening to trap the queen by playing c3 or the Ra1-Ra4 maneuver. For instance, 25. Kb2 a4 26. Ra1 (not 26. c3? Qxb3+) e4 27. Rxa4 Bf6+ 28. Ka2 Qc3 29. Nxd6+ Kf8 30. Qxc3 Bxc3 31. Nxe4 and white is up 3 passed pawns.

Week 2 Lineup/Preview

Wednesday, 8:00 PM EDT
Time Control 75 min. with 30 sec. increment

St. Louis Arch Bishops vs. Baltimore Kingfishers
GM Ben Finegold (2568) - GM Niclas Huschenbeth (2582)
IM Priyadharshan Kannappan (2457) - GM Larry Kaufman (2445)
IM Levan Bregadze (2416) - NM Kevin Wang (2366)
Matthew Larson (1918) - NM Ricky Selzler (2242)

Note: Players in italic have the white pieces.

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Board 1: GM Ben Finegold vs. GM Niclas Huschenbeth. GM Finegold is a 2-year veteran of the USCL, who has played all but 2 matches for the St. Louis Arch Bishops. He is coming off a tough loss in Week 1 against Miami's GM Becerra, but his record from previous years shows he has performed above his rating. Meanwhile, GM Huschenbeth is a 20-year-old from Germany, who has recently started attending the University of Maryland: Baltimore County. This will be his first time playing in the USCL.

Board 2: GM Larry Kaufman vs. IM Priyadharshan Kannappan. GM Kaufman is an 8-year veteran of the USCL, playing for Baltimore since USCL's inception. IM Kannappan scored the lone point in Arch Bishops' Week 1 match, his USCL debut. He appears to have moved from India, possibly for University.

Board 3: IM Levan Bregadze vs. NM Kevin Wang. IM Bregadze also appears to have traveled to attend University as he hails from the country of Georgia. His opponent, NM Wang is a 15-year-old resident of Maryland, who just this month surpassed the 2400 USCF mark. This will be the first USCL game for both players on this board.

Board 4: NM Ricky Selzler vs. Matthew Larson. NM Selzler is a recent graduate of UMBC and former president of its well-known chess club. He played a couple of games last year in the USCL. His opponent, Matthew Larson, is a young player also making his USCL debut this week for St. Louis.

Be sure to vote in our polls to the right to let us know your predictions!