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!