Thursday, October 31, 2013

Week 10 Review

Baltimore Kingfishers vs. Boston Blitz 1-3
GM Niclas Huschenbeth (2610) - IM Steven Zierk (2543) 0-1 View Game
IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat (2492) - SM Denys Shmelov (2465) 0-1 View Game
NM Jared Defibaugh (2297) - NM Vadim Martirosov (2349) 0-1 View Game
Jeffrey Chang (2116) - NM Daniil Mosiyenko (2181) 1-0 View Game

Note: Players in italic have the white pieces.

The Baltimore Kingfishers lost 1-3 to the Boston Blitz in the final week of the regular season. Baltimore finishes 4th in the Northeast Division with a (3.5-6.5) match record while Boston places 3rd with a (4.5-5.5) record. In other divisional news, the New England Nor'easters and Connecticut Dreadnoughts drew their match, so New England (7.0-3.0, 1st) will get draw odds while Connecticut (6.5-3.5, 2nd) gets color choice in their Quarterfinals showdown.

Board 1: GM Niclas Huschenbeth vs. IM Steven Zierk. The top board showcased a Sveshnikov Sicilian Defense: Chelyabinsk variation. White offered the h-pawn which black accepted and a trade of rooks from diagonally-opposite corners ensued. GM Niclas Huschenbeth played the surprising resource 18. Ne3 as the novelty. Then, queens were traded and white was left with an extra knight for two pawns. Although the queens were off, it was a very interesting game with black creating a 5-pawn-wall from the kingside to the center after move 31 and clearly aiming to march the h-pawn to promotion. Meanwhile, white tried to nurse a long-term advantage with his queenside pawns. It seems white should have been better until the dual-mistakes 33. a3? and 34. axb4? which cost white his bishop to stop the black h-pawn. IM Steven Zierk pounced on the opportunity and easily converted the ending up only an exchange. White resigned after move 50.

Board 2: SM Denys Shmelov vs. IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat. The second board featured a Slav Defense: Chebanenko variation. IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat played the novelty 10... Nhf6 whereas 10... Bg6 had been played twice before resulting in draws (Note: Two of the stem games coincidentally feature former Dallas players, GM Valentin Iotov and IM Puchen Wang). Black tried to open up the queenside to play with 12... b6 but this plan seemed to backfire as SM Denys Shmelov chased away the black queen and exploited the c-file with his rooks. From that point onward, white was clearly better though black tried to drum up an attack on the kingside. However, NM Shmelov's control of the board was too great and black resigned on move 41.

Board 3: NM Jared Defibaugh vs. NM Vadim Martirosov. The third board saw NM Jared Defibaugh's King's Gambit answered with the Falkbeer Counter-Gambit by NM Vadim Martirosov. The move 4. Bc4 is very rarely played for such an early move, so NM Defibaugh was probably trying to avoid theory in this game. He later played the novelty 7. Bb5+. White returned the counter-gambit pawn on d4 and the queens were traded. The two players castled on opposite sides but play was focused in the center with black trying to bolster his passed e-pawn. White missed a surprising chance on move 23 to get compensation by allowing the e-pawn to promote while taking a rook with check (!) though black would have to give up a knight as well. Two pawns for the exchange and the result would have still been unclear. Soon after, it was black who missed a clear win on move 25, but all was not lost as white was still in a bind due to black's pawn on e2. NM Martirosov did not miss another chance and converted to a won ending with an extra bishop. White resigned after 42 moves.

Board 4: NM Daniil Mosiyenko vs. Jeffrey Chang. The fourth board began with another sharp Sicilian Defense, but this time, it was the Classical Main Line of the Najdorf variation. These two young players zipped through theory nearly until Jeffrey Chang played the novelty 18... Nf6. Note that one of the stem games was played by GM Niclas Huschenbeth, who was playing on Board 1 in this match. I have to seriously wonder if Jeffrey knew this game while playing as he first sank into deep thought when NM Daniil Mosiyenko varied from that game on move 18 and both endings had similar ideas. I am only aware that Jeffrey is being coached by GM Larry Kaufman, not GM Huschenbeth! Despite being down a pawn out of this opening line, black seemed to have a solid position with plenty of control. When it came down to a pawn race, black's kingside pawns were much faster than white's queenside pawns. It also helped that black ended up with a bishop vs. knight in the ending. There was a bailout to a drawn rook and bishop vs. rook and pawn ending that white missed, but practically, that ending would still be difficult to hold. Thus, Jeffrey Chang won his USCL debut in 61 moves.

Finally, in Baltimore's Team MVP standings, Jeffrey Chang tied FM Ralph Zimmer for the lead with 3.5 MVP points though FM Zimmer wins the title (on most games played tie-break) for the second year in a row. Thanks to everyone for playing, watching the games, reading articles, and voting in polls. We look forward to a great season next year!

Reposted at: Chess.com blogs

Saturday, October 26, 2013

Week 10 Lineup

Baltimore Kingfishers vs. Boston Blitz
GM Niclas Huschenbeth (2610) - IM Steven Zierk (2543)
IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat (2492) - SM Denys Shmelov (2465)
NM Jared Defibaugh (2297) - NM Vadim Martirosov (2349)
Jeffrey Chang (2116) - NM Daniil Mosiyenko (2181)

Tuesday, 7:30 PM EDT
Time Control: 75 min. with 30 sec. increment

Note: Players in italic have the white pieces.

The Baltimore Kingfishers (3.5-5.5, 4th place) and the Boston Blitz (3.5-5.5, 3rd) square-off to determine 3rd place in the Northeast Division. Boston leads Baltimore 16-15 in total game points this season for the first tie-break. Neither team can make the playoffs, so it will be the last game of the year for both teams. Boston leads the all-times series against Baltimore with a 7-6 match score. These two teams last played in Week 5, 2013 when all boards were drawn. Three players (IM Tegshsuren Enkbat, SM Denys Shmelov, and NM Vadim Martirosov) from that last match return to play in this match as well.

Board 1: GM Niclas Huschenbeth vs. IM Steven Zierk. GM Niclas Huschenbeth is (+1 =1 -1) in his 2nd USCL season and has not played against Boston previously. He drew last week with the white pieces against GM Mikheil Kekelidze of the Connecticut Dreadnoughts on Board 1. He is matched up with IM Steven Zierk, who is (+1 -1) in his 3rd USCL season but has not played against Baltimore in his career. He won last week with the white pieces against GM Alexander Ivanov of the New England Nor'easters on Board 1.

Board 2: SM Denys Shmelov vs. IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat. SM Denys Shmelov is (+2 =5 -1) in his 6th season and has a (+1 =3 -1) record against Baltimore. The only match he has not played this year was Week 7 when Boston played the San Francisco Mechanics. He won last week with the black pieces against FM Charles Riordan of the New England Nor'easters on Board 2. He is rematched with IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat, who has a (+1 =3 -2) record in his 9th season and has scored (+2 =3 -3) against Boston in his career. IM Enkhbat last played in Week 8 when he drew with the white pieces against FM Steven Winer of the New England Nor'easters on Board 2. SM Shmelov and IM Enkhbat played against one another in a drawn game from Week 5, 2013.

Board 3: NM Jared Defibaugh vs. NM Vadim Martirosov. NM Jared Defibaugh is (+2 =3 -3) in his 4th season and has a (+2) score against Boston. The only match he did not play this year was Week 5 when Baltimore played against the Boston Blitz. He lost last week with the white pieces against FM Leif Pressman of the Connecticut Dreadnoughts on Board 3. He will battle NM Vadim Martirosov, who is (+2 =2 -1) in his 7th USCL season and has a (=6 -1) record against Baltimore. He won in Week 8 with the black pieces against IM Jay Bonin of the Connecticut Dreadnoughts on Board 3. NM Defibaugh and NM Martirosov also played against one another with the same colors in Week 10, 2012 when NM Defibaugh won.

Board 4: NM Daniil Mosiyenko vs. Jeffrey Chang. NM Daniil Mosiyenko is making his season debut for the Boston Blitz. He played 3 games in 2011 with a (+1 =1 -1) record for Boston. Opposite him will be Jeffrey Chang, who is making his USCL debut for the Baltimore Kingfishers. As of the October USCF Rating list, he is the 22nd ranked 15-year-old in the country.

Catch the games live on chess.com and let us know your predictions in the 5 polls to the right!

Reposted at: Chess.com blogs

Friday, October 25, 2013

Week 9 Review

Baltimore Kingfishers vs. Connecticut Dreadnoughts 0.5-3.5
GM Niclas Huschenbeth (2610) - GM Mikheil Kekelidze (2576) 0.5-0.5 View Games
GM Larry Kaufman (2401) - IM Justin Sarkar (2512) 0-1 View Games
NM Jared Defibaugh (2297) - FM Leif Pressman (2374) 0-1 View Games
FM Ralph Zimmer (2244) - Jason Shi (2173) 0-1 View Games

Note: Players in italic have the white pieces.

The Baltimore Kingfishers lost to the Connecticut Dreadnoughts by a dreadful 3.5-0.5 score. That leaves Baltimore out of the playoffs this year with the New England Nor'easters (6.5-2.5, 1st) and Connecticut Dreadnoughts (6.0-3.0, 2nd) clinching the top 2 spots in the Northeast Division. Those two teams will battle next week to determine playoff seeding and the oft-important draw odds when they meet again in the Quarterfinals. Meanwhile, the Baltimore Kingfishers (3.5-5.5, 4th) will face the Boston Blitz (3.5-5.5, 3rd) to determine third place in the division.

Also, there was an unusual circumstance on board 3. Baltimore's player NM Jared Defibaugh was granted permission by the league to play from his home as his neighborhood was undergoing a police search for a man who shot an officer. Thankfully, the suspect has been caught, but that did not happen until the day after the match. Read more about the news story at: CBS Baltimore News.

Board 1: GM Niclas Huschenbeth vs. GM Mikheil Kekelidze. The top board showcased a Ruy Lopez: Open Berlin Defense, Rosenthal Variation. NM Niclas Huschenbeth played the novelty 12. g4 that proved quite risky as GM Mikheil Kekelidze was able to open the h-file to threaten the white king. It looked like white was in dire straits but somehow the white king found himself relatively safe back towards the center back rank and found himself up a knight for some pawns with queens and rooks still on the board. White seemed to have gained the upper hand and forced trades of the rooks and queens. It was a white knight and 2 pawns vs. 5 pawns for black, yet it was black who seemed to be pushing for a win again. However, white's king and knight were up to the task of blockading though no more as the game was drawn by 3-fold repetition after 64 moves.

Board 2: IM Justin Sarkar vs. GM Larry Kaufman. The second board featured a Nimzo-Indian Defense: Botvinnik System. IM Justin Sarkar played the novelty 13. Bb2 and GM Larry Kaufman responded with the very ambitious 13... e5!? intending a knight sacrifice. However, in what turned out to be the critical moment of the game, he slipped with 19... Ba6? 20. c4 Bxc4 allowing a nifty tactic that loses his queen. GM Kaufman saw the tactic immediately after playing Bxc4, and unfortunately, so did his opponent. Black resigned in 28 moves. There were some interesting possible lines in the critical position. Check them out in the board analysis!

Board 3: NM Jared Defibaugh vs. FM Leif Pressman. The third board began as a Sicilian Defense with the relatively rare variation 2. Nf3 e6 3. b3. NM Jared Defibaugh played the novelty 10. Nc3. The moves 10. Na3 (7 White wins, 13 Draws, 2 Black wins) and 10. d4 (1 White win, 2 Draws) have been played previously. White tried to create an attack on the kingside, but FM Leif Pressman thwarted that plan by forcing a queen trade. Black quickly gained a space advantage as the white rooks had no clear targets. Black won a pawn and then a rook as white tried to keep chances on the board. White resigned after 47 moves.

Board 4: Jason Shi vs. FM Ralph Zimmer. The fourth board saw a Benko Gambit played. Jason Shi played the novelty 8. e5. Surprisingly, white had always played 8. Bxc4 (1 White win, 1 Draw, 6 Black wins) each time this position was reached. FM Zimmer appeared to be allowing white to gain space in the center perhaps anticipating that white would overextend himself. White did march his pawn to e6, but black missed some chances to create an unbalanced position. White gradually gained an advantage using his more mobile pieces. Black resigned on move 42.

Reposted at: Chess.com blogs

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Week 9 Lineup

Baltimore Kingfishers vs. Connecticut Dreadnoughts
GM Niclas Huschenbeth (2610) - GM Mikheil Kekelidze (2576)
GM Larry Kaufman (2401) - IM Justin Sarkar (2512)
NM Jared Defibaugh (2297) - FM Leif Pressman (2374)
FM Ralph Zimmer (2244) - Jason Shi (2173)

Wednesday, 7:20 PM EDT
Time Control: 75 min. with 30 sec. increment

Note: Players in italic have the white pieces.

The Baltimore Kingfishers (3.5-4.5, 3rd place) battle the Connecticut Dreadnoughts (5.0-3.0, 2nd place) in a race to secure the 2nd playoff spot in the Northeast Division. Connecticut is 1.0 match point behind the 1st place New England Nor'easters, and the 1st place team in each division gets to choose either draw odds or color choice in the Quarterfinals of the playoffs. Baltimore needs to win this match to have any chance of overtaking Connecticut in the final week of the regular season. Baltimore is also behind with 14.5 game points (the first tie-break) to Connecticut's 18.0 game points thanks to Connecticut's 4-0 sweep of Baltimore the last time they faced-off in Week 1 of this season. Surprisingly, that means Baltimore has outscored Connecticut by 0.5 game points but Connecticut has outscored Baltimore by 0.5 match points after Week 1. Connecticut leads the all-time series 1.5-0.5 in match points. Three players (GM Mikheil Kekelidze, NM Jared Defibaugh, and Jason Shi) return from that last match to play in this match, too.

Board 1: GM Niclas Huschenbeth vs. GM Mikheil Kekelidze. GM Niclas Huschenbeth is (+1 -1) in his 2nd USCL season and has not played against Connecticut previously. He won in Week 7 with the white pieces against GM Emil Anka of the Seattle Sluggers on Board 1. He is matched up with GM Mikheil Kekelidze, who is (+2 =2 -1) in his 2nd USCL season and has scored (+1 =1) against Baltimore. He last played in Week 5, when he won with the black pieces against GM Sam Shankland of the New England Nor'easters on Board 1.

Board 2: IM Justin Sarkar vs. GM Larry Kaufman. IM Justin Sarkar lost his only game of the season in Week 7 with the white pieces against IM Levon Altounian of the Arizona Scorpions on Board 2. He has yet to play against Baltimore in his 3 USCL seasons. His opponent, GM Larry Kaufman, has a (=1 -2) record in his 9th season and drew his only career game against Connecticut. He lost in Week 7 with the black pieces against FM Costin Cozianu of the Seattle Sluggers on Board 2.

Board 3: NM Jared Defibaugh vs. FM Leif Pressman. NM Jared Defibaugh is (+2 =3 -2) in his 4th season and has a (-2) record against Connecticut. He drew last week with the black pieces against NM Mika Brattain of the New England Nor'easters on Board 3. He is set to play against FM Leif Pressman, who is (+1 =1) in his 2nd season but has not played against Baltimore. He drew in Week 7 with the black pieces against IM Mark Ginsburg of the Arizona Scorpions on Board 3.

Board 4: Jason Shi vs. FM Ralph Zimmer. Jason Shi is (+1 =1) in his first USCL season and won his only game against Baltimore. He last played in Week 4, when he drew with the black pieces against Jacob Wilkins of the St. Louis Arch Bishops on Board 4. He will square-off against FM Ralph Zimmer, who is (+2 =1) in his 8th year in the USCL and won his only career game against Connecticut. He won last week with the white pieces against NM Andrew Liu of the New England Nor'easters on Board 4.

Catch the games live on chess.com and let us know your predictions in the 5 polls to the right!

Reposted at: Chess.com blogs

Saturday, October 19, 2013

Week 8 Review

New England Nor'easters vs. Baltimore Kingfishers 1.5-2.5
GM Sam Shankland (2673) - IM Levan Bregadze (2469) 0.5-0.5 View Game
FM Steven Winer (2409) - IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat (2492) 0.5-0.5 View Game
NM Mika Brattain (2364) - NM Jared Defibaugh (2297) 0.5-0.5 View Game
NM Andrew Liu (2296) - FM Ralph Zimmer (2244) 0-1 View Game

Note: Players in italic have the white pieces.

The Baltimore Kingfishers defeated the New England Nor'easters by a 2.5-1.5 score to keep their playoff hopes alive. Baltimore is now (3.5-4.5) and in 3rd place in the Northeast Division. Despite the match loss, New England (6.0-2.0) has clinched a playoff birth due to the Connecticut Dreadnoughts (5.0-3.0) beating the Boston Blitz (3.0-5.0) in the other Northeast Division match of the night. Next Wednesday, Baltimore will face the 2nd place Connecticut Dreadnoughts when Baltimore must win the match to have a chance at overtaking Connecticut for the final playoff spot in the Northeast Division. Check out the New Jersey Knockout's Blog for the Northeast Division playoff scenarios.

Here is a puzzle to start off this week's review. Its significance shows up in the Shankland-Bregadze game analysis. Black to play and win:


Board 1: GM Sam Shankland vs. IM Levan Bregadze. The top board began with a Neo-King's Indian Defense: Torre Attack. IM Levan Bregadze played the novelty with 14... a6. Black looked to be clearly worse after 22. Nxg5 hxg5 23. Bxg5 as he had hanging pawns on b5, d6, and e4, little development, and a queen that's shut-in mostly by her own pieces. Somehow, black was only down a pawn after some trades, and then, GM Sam Shankland sacrificed the exchange to win another pawn and reach a favorable position with a bishop and 2 pawns for a rook. While IM Bregadze was clearly trying to trade the queens off the board, he made a mistake with 41... Qd6, but white missed 42. Qf5 (with Bd5 coming) winning at least the f7-pawn. Later, the queens were finally traded, but white was still pressing for a win especially with more than half an hour left on his clock. However, white slipped up when he dropped a bishop probably thinking he had tricked black into a losing position. Instead, white ended up down in a rook+pawn vs. bishop+pawn ending that the endgame tablebases show as a mate in 28 for black. However, it was not so easy to find the win for black especially in time pressure, so the game ended up drawn by 3-fold repetition in 107 moves.


Board 2: IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat vs. FM Steven Winer. The second board started with a Slav Defense with 4.Qb3 that transposed into a Closed Catalan Opening. IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat played the novelty 17. Ra6. Play was focused on the queenside until the queens and queenside pawns were traded off. White had the space advantage and tried to create some imbalances on the kingside, but FM Steven Winer kept the game under control. Unlike the first board, this game did not stray far from even throughout, and on move 90, it also ended as a draw by 3-fold repetition.


Board 3: NM Mika Brattain vs. NM Jared Defibaugh. The third board saw a Leningrad Dutch Defense. In the line these two played, black seems to be willing to sacrifice 2 pawns (maybe even 3 pawns in some cases) to open up the position and activate all his pieces. NM Mika Brattain returned one of two sacrificed pawns with novelty with 14. Nf6+. He also avoided playing Qxb7 several times to prevent black from getting a very active position. Then, he sacrificed an exchange to keep a very annoying e-pawn. NM Jared Defibaugh returned the exchange to trade off queens and get rid of the e-pawn. He ended up down a pawn in the ending, but with a pair of bishops vs. knight+bishop. White managed to trade his knight for a bishop, but the resulting opposite-colored bishop endgame was drawn despite black being down a pawn. A draw was agreed after 52 moves by each player.


Board 4: FM Ralph Zimmer vs. NM Andrew Liu. The fourth board featured a Trompowsky Attack with 2... c5. NM Andrew Liu was using up most of his time in the opening, but he ended up playing a novelty with 7... Bg7. Then, came a strange technical error on move 9. FM Ralph Zimmer played 9. Bc4 on his board and waited in his seat for his opponent to move. About 30 minutes later, NM Defibaugh passed by my computer (as TD, I have all games up on one screen) and noticed it was FM Zimmer's turn to move after black played 9... e6 but the move was not showing up on FM Zimmer's screen. I went to FM Zimmer's computer to refresh Live Chess and the move 9... e6 showed up, but 20+ minutes of FM Zimmer's time had elapsed. I informed the overall league TD of the situation. Then, FM Zimmer noticed that his bishop was showing up on e2 instead of c4 as he had played, which was confirmed to me by both NM Defibaugh and IM Bregadze as they often get up to observe teammates' games. I also informed the league of this error, but advised FM Zimmer to keep playing while the league investigated. Apparently, a similar technical error (only the opponent's move not showing up part) occurred to NM Bryan Hu on Board 4 in Week 2 noted by IM Greg Shahade on the Wednesday night's Chess.com/tv broadcast and in the Week 2 blog for the Arizona Scorpions. Anyway, after the league and chess.com staff confirmed the error, the game and times were reset to before white's move 9. White was on the offensive on the kingside, especially with the open g-file, but had to retreat his queen as black prevented backup from arriving. Then, black grabbed space in the center and tried to attack using the a-file. White stopped the attack and then used the abandoned g-file for his own renewed attack. Black finally fell to a knight-fork tactic that wins a queen for a rook, so he resigned on move 48.


Reposted at: Chess.com blogs

Saturday, October 12, 2013

Week 8 Lineup

New England Nor'easters vs. Baltimore Kingfishers
GM Sam Shankland (2673) - IM Levan Bregadze (2469)
FM Steven Winer (2409) - IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat (2492)
NM Mika Brattain (2364) - NM Jared Defibaugh (2297)
NM Andrew Liu (2296) - FM Ralph Zimmer (2244)

Tuesday, 7:30 PM EDT
Time Control 75 min. with 30 sec. increment

Note: Players in italic have the white pieces.

The Baltimore Kingfishers (2.5-4.5, 4th) contend with the New England Nor'easters (6.0-1.0, 1st) in a Northeast Division showdown in Week 8 of the US Chess League. New England just needs half a match point in the final 3 weeks to clinch a playoff spot while Baltimore needs a win to keep themselves from being eliminated from playoff contention. New England leads Baltimore in the all-time series with a 3.5-1.5 match score. These two teams last played each other in Week 2, 2013 when New England won with a 2.5-1.5 score. Five players (IM Levan Bregadze, IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat, FM Steven Winer, NM Jared Defibaugh, NM Andrew Liu) from that match return to play in this match as well.

Board 1: GM Sam Shankland vs. IM Levan Bregadze. GM Sam Shankland has scored (=1 -1) in his 8th USCL season and is (+1 =1) against Baltimore. He last played in Week 5 when he lost with the white pieces against GM Mikheil Kekelidze of the Connecticut Dreadnoughts on Board 1. He will be playing IM Levan Bregadze, who is (+1 =3 -1) in his 2nd USCL season and won his only game against New England. IM Bregadze last played in Week 6 when he drew with the white pieces against FM Tom Bartell of the Philadelphia Inventors on Board 1.

Board 2: IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat vs. FM Steven Winer. IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat is (+1 =2 -2) in his 9th season and has a (+1 =1 -3) record against New England. He drew in Week 6 with the black pieces against FM Dov Gorman of the Philadelphia Inventors on Board 2. He will be rematched (with colors reversed) with FM Steven Winer, who is (+2 =3) in his 3rd USCL season and has scored (+1 -2) against Baltimore. He won last week with the white pieces against IM Andranik Matikozyan of the Los Angeles Vibe on Board 2. These two players have played twice before in the USCL with FM Winer winning with the white pieces in Week 2, 2013 and IM Enkhbat winning with the black pieces in Week 10, 2005.

Board 3: NM Mika Brattain vs. NM Jared Defibaugh. NM Mika Brattain has a (+1 =2 -1) record in his 2nd USCL season and has scored (=1 -1) against Baltimore in his career. He won last week with the black pieces against IM Larry Remlinger of the Los Angeles Vibe on Board 3. He is set to play NM Jared Defibaugh, who is (+2 =2 -2) in his 4th season and has a (+1 =2) record against New England. He lost last week with the white pieces against FM Tian Sang of the Seattle Sluggers on Board 3.

Board 4: FM Ralph Zimmer vs. NM Andrew Liu. FM Ralph Zimmer is (+1 =1) in his 8th season and has scored (=2) against New England in his career. He won last week with the black pieces against FM Curt Collyer of the Seattle Sluggers on Board 4. He will face NM Andrew Liu, who has scored (+2 =2) in his 2nd season and won his only game so far against Baltimore. He won in Week 6 with the white pieces against NM Christopher Wu of the New Jersey Knockouts on Board 3.

Catch the games live on chess.com and let us know your predictions in the 5 polls to the right!

Reposted at: Chess.com blogs

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Week 7 Review

Baltimore Kingfishers vs. Seattle Sluggers 2-2
GM Niclas Huschenbeth (2610) - GM Emil Anka (2497) 1-0 View Game
GM Larry Kaufman (2401) - FM Costin Cozianu (2478) 0-1 View Game
NM Jared Defibaugh (2297) - FM Tian Sang (2324) 0-1 View Game
FM Ralph Zimmer (2244) - FM Curt Collyer (2266) 1-0 View Game

Note: Players in italic have the white pieces.

The Baltimore Kingfishers drew the match against the Seattle Sluggers. Baltimore in still in 4th place in the Northeast Division with a (2.5-4.5) record. The Kingfishers gained ground on the Boston Blitz, who lost to the San Francisco Mechanics, but more pertinently, they lost ground to the Connecticut Dreadnoughts, who increased their hold on 2nd place in the division after defeating the Arizona Scorpions. Meanwhile, the New England Nor'easters trounced the Los Angeles Vibe, so New England only needs half a match point to guarantee themselves a playoff spot. Only the top 2 teams in each division make the playoffs. Baltimore can still make the playoffs by doing well in the final 3 weeks as they are all divisional games. Next up is New England on Tuesday.

Board 1: GM Niclas Huschenbeth vs. GM Emil Anka. The top board showcased a Maroczy Bind against the Sicilian Defense: Accelerated Dragon. GM Niclas Huschenbeth played the novelty 18. a3 to lockdown black's pawn on a4. White aimed to round up that a4 pawn, which happened a few moves later. Black got the f-pawn in exchange, but white got that back a few moves later again. In the double-rook endgame, white increased his one pawn advantage to a three pawn advantage before GM Emil Anka resigned.

Board 2: FM Costin Cozianu vs. GM Larry Kaufman. The second board began with white playing the Sicilian Defense: Rossolimo Varation but soon transposed into another Maroczy Bind structure. GM Larry Kaufman played the novelty 12... Rb8. Then, FM Costin Cozianu complicated and opened up the position with 14. e5. After a series of exchanges, white had 2 bishops, a rook, and 6 pawns against 2 rooks, a knight, and 5 pawns. GM Kaufman then marched his a-pawn and sacrificed it to break up white's queenside structure. Black looked to be making progress until 38... Nxf3 when 39. Bc1 surprised GM Kaufman, who was playing with only the increment left on his clock. In that time pressure, he missed the only move 39... Rd1+ intending to sacrifice back the exchange on c1. He resigned on move 50.

Board 3: NM Jared Defibaugh vs. FM Tian Sang. The third board featured a Nimzo-Indian Defense: Reshevsky Variation. NM Jared Defibaugh played the novelty 11. Qf3. Three other moves had been tried in that position: 11. b4 (1 White win, 2 Draws, 2 Black wins), 11. f3 (1 White win, 1 Black win), and 11. Re1 (1 Black win). The game seemed about even until NM Defibaugh played the break 17. e4 dxe4 18. Nxe4? (18. Bxe4 would have lost a pawn, but white would still have a good chance to draw) which simply lost to the line FM Tian Sang played as black in the game. NM Defibaugh resigned on move 23 as the Qg1 mate threat would cost too much material to stop.

Board 4: FM Curt Collyer vs. FM Ralph Zimmer. The fourth board displayed a Richter-Veresov Attack: Veresov Variation. FM Ralph Zimmer played the novelty 10... g6. Then, he expanded on the queenside with his pawns before turning to take control of the open e-file. After a pair of rooks and the queens were exchanged, FM Zimmer broke open the queenside with 30... a3 and soon created an unstoppable passed pawn with 34... b4 taking advantage of the awkward placement of white's rook on f3. FM Curt Collyer resigned after move 38 when it was clear to all that black's b-pawn would promote.

Reposted at: Chess.com blogs

Saturday, October 5, 2013

Week 7 Lineup

Baltimore Kingfishers vs. Seattle Sluggers
GM Niclas Huschenbeth (2610) - GM Emil Anka (2497)
GM Larry Kaufman (2401) - FM Costin Cozianu (2478)
NM Jared Defibaugh (2297) - FM Tian Sang (2324)
FM Ralph Zimmer (2244) - FM Curt Collyer (2266)

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

Note: Players in italic have the white pieces.

The Baltimore Kingfishers (2.0-4.0, 4th place) of the Northeast Division take on the Seattle Sluggers (2.5-3.5, 2nd place) of the Pacific Division in Week 7 of the US Chess League. This is the 2nd and last week of East vs. West interconference play in the regular season. Both teams lost in Week 4, the first week of interconference play. Seattle lost to Philadelphia 1-3 while Baltimore went down to Dallas with a 1.5-2.5 score that week. However, both teams won last week with Baltimore beating Philadelphia 3-1 and Seattle defeating Dallas 2.5-1.5, stopping Dallas' 5-match win streak. Interesting transposition between the four teams, right? Now, Baltimore and Seattle have only battled each other once before in Week 4, 2012, and Seattle won that match with a 2.5-1.5 score. Two players (FM Costin Cozianu and FM Curt Collyer) from that match return to play in this match, too.

Board 1: GM Niclas Huschenbeth vs. GM Emil Anka. GM Niclas Huschenbeth is (-1) in his 2nd USCL season and has not played against Seattle. He lost in Week 4 with the black pieces against GM Conrad Holt of the Dallas Destiny on Board 1. He is matched up with GM Emil Anka, who is (+1 -3) in his 1st USCL season. GM Anka lost last week with the black pieces against FM Jeffery Xiong of the Dallas Destiny on Board 2.

Board 2: FM Costin Cozianu vs. GM Larry Kaufman. FM Costin Cozianu has a (=1 -1) record in his 4th season and is (-1) against Baltimore. He last played in Week 2, when he lost with the white pieces against IM Zhanibek Amanov of the Los Angeles Vibe on Board 2. His opponent, GM Larry Kaufman, has a (=1 -1) record this year and has played in all 9 years of the USCL yet has not had a game against Seattle until this match. He drew in Week 5 with the black pieces against NM Vadim Martirosov of the Boston Blitz on Board 3.

Board 3: NM Jared Defibaugh vs. FM Tian Sang. NM Jared Defibaugh is (+2 =2 -1) in his 4th season and has not played against Seattle. He won last week with the white pieces against NM Peter Minear of the Philadelphia Inventors on Board 3. He will square-off against FM Tian Sang, who is (+1 =1 -1) in his 1st season. His last game occurred in Week 5, when he won with the white pieces against FM Cameron Wheeler of the San Francisco Mechanics on Board 3.

Board 4: FM Curt Collyer vs. FM Ralph Zimmer. FM Curt Collyer is (+1 =1) in his 2nd season and has a (=1) record against Baltimore. He last played in Week 4, when he drew with the black pieces against FM Dov Gorman of the Philadelphia Inventors on Board 2. He will face FM Ralph Zimmer, who drew his only game so far this season in Week 4 with the white pieces against NM Sarah Chiang of the Dallas Destiny on Board 4. He has also yet to play against Seattle.

Catch the games live on chess.com and let us know your predictions in the 5 polls to the right!

Reposted at: Chess.com blogs

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Week 6 Review

Baltimore Kingfishers vs. Philadelphia Inventors 3-1
IM Levan Bregadze (2469) - FM Tom Bartell (2496) 0.5-0.5 View Game
IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat (2492) - FM Dov Gorman (2362) 0.5-0.5 View Game
NM Jared Defibaugh (2297) - NM Peter Minear (2385) 1-0 View Game
NM Ian Schoch (2296) - FM Karl Dehmelt (2260) 1-0 View Game

Note: Players in italic have the white pieces.

The Baltimore Kingfishers improve to a (2.0-4.0) record by defeating the Philadelphia Inventors with wins on boards 3+4 and draws on the top 2 boards. That leaves Baltimore still in 4th place in the Northeast Division, but they are now only 1 match point behind the 2nd and 3rd place teams, the Connecticut Dreadnoughts and the Boston Blitz, respectively. New England is in clear 1st place with a (5.0-1.0) record, having a 2.0 match point lead over Connecticut and Boston. Next week, the USCL features another set of East vs. West matches, so the Baltimore Kingfishers and the Seattle Sluggers will tee-off on Tuesday night.

Board 1: IM Levan Bregadze vs. FM Tom Bartell. The top board transposed from a Reti Opening into an English Opening: Symmetrical Defense, Hedgehog System. The game apparently followed the same line as a master-level game played in England in 2007 up to 16. exd6. FM Bartell differed with the novelty 16... Bxd6. IM Levan Bregadze tried to create some interesting play in the center and pointing towards black's king, but FM Bartell was able to defend rather easily. They agreed to a draw on move 27, which made it the first USCL game on the night with a result.

Board 2: FM Dov Gorman vs. IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat. The second board showcased a Caro-Kann Defense: Panov-Botvinnik Attack. Two other games had reached the position after move 10, and they both saw a different capture on d5 and both games ended in a draw. Our USCL game showed the 3rd possible capture on d5 with FM Gorman playing the novelty 11. Nxd5, and the game also eventually ended in a draw. After the exchanges on d5, white came out with an extra pawn, but it was doubled and isolated on the d-file. Later, FM Gorman tried opening up black's kingside, but IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat countered by occupying the h-file with his own rooks and queen. Just as the position was looking double-edged, all the rooks and queens were traded. That left a position with opposite-colored bishops and 3 pawns each, so a draw was agreed.

Board 3: NM Jared Defibaugh vs. NM Peter Minear. The third board displayed a King's Indian Defense: Samisch Variation. NM Peter Minear played the novelty 12... Bb7. White looked to be much better as the kingside attack was advancing quickly. The move 19. g5 seems to win black's knight, but NM Jared Defibaugh played 19. Bg5 instead. Perhaps looking for a quick knockout after g5 and not finding one, he chose an alternative. Even after this mistake, white soon came out up a knight for 2 pawns. Then, he held back black's attacking chances and slowly found a way to make use of his extra knight. Particularly nice was a tactic that began with 44. Rxh4+! that forced some trades and neutralized black's attack. The game went on for awhile until finally black resigned on move 87. This was the final game of the night to finish.

Board 4: FM Karl Dehmelt vs. NM Ian Schoch. The fourth board featured an Alekhine's Defense: Exchange variation that was blitzed out by NM Ian Schoch. He had to play fast as he arrived very late, so he was under 30 minutes from the start. NM Schoch played the novelty with 17... N8e7. Amazingly, he was about even on time (with both players having about 25 minutes left) when the critical moment of the game arose with the surprising sacrifice 20. Bxd5?! by FM Karl Dehmelt. The tactics left white with a rook to black's knight and bishop. NM Schoch converted that advantage quite adeptly as the game ended before move 39 with a forced mate on the board.

Reposted at: Chess.com blogs

Monday, September 30, 2013

Week 6 Lineup

Baltimore Kingfishers vs. Philadelphia Inventors
IM Levan Bregadze (2469) - FM Tom Bartell (2496)
IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat (2492) - FM Dov Gorman (2362)
NM Jared Defibaugh (2297) - NM Peter Minear (2385)
NM Ian Schoch (2296) - FM Karl Dehmelt (2260)

Tuesday, 7:20 PM EDT
Time Control: 75 min. with 30 sec. increment

Note: Players in italic have the white pieces.

The Baltimore Kingfishers (1.0-4.0, 4th place) of the Northeast Division are set to play against the Philadelphia Inventors (2.0-3.0, 3rd place) of the Atlantic Division. Both teams are currently outside of the top 2 spots, which qualify teams for the playoffs, in their respective divisions. Half of the season has come and gone, so each match gains that much more importance. Now, Philadelphia leads Baltimore in their all-time series with a 9.0-5.0 match score. These two teams last faced each other in the Quarterfinals of the 2012 season, which Philadelphia won with a 3.5-0.5 game score. Three players (FM Tom Bartell, IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat, and FM Dov Gorman) from that previous match return to play in this match as well.

Board 1: IM Levan Bregadze vs. FM Tom Bartell. IM Levan Bregadze is (+1 =2 -1) in his 2nd USCL season but has yet to play against Philadelphia. He drew last week with the black pieces against IM Marc Esserman of the Boston Blitz on Board 1. He will square off against FM Tom Bartell, who is (+1 =1 -2) in his 7th season. FM Bartell has scored (+2 =4 -1) against Baltimore in his career. He lost last week with the black pieces against GM Pascal Charbonneau of the New York Knights on Board 1.

Board 2: FM Dov Gorman vs. IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat. FM Dov Gorman is (+1 =3 -1) in his 2nd season and has a (+1 =1) record against Baltimore. He won last week with the white pieces against SM Matt Herman of the New York Knights on Board 2. Opposite him will be IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat, a 9-year USCL veteran. IM Enkhbat has a (+1 =1 -2) record this year and is (+3 =3 -2) against Philadelphia in his career. He drew last week with the white pieces against SM Denys Shmelov of the Boston Blitz on Board 2.

Board 3: NM Jared Defibaugh vs. NM Peter Minear. NM Jared Defibaugh is (+1 =2 -1) in his 4th season and has a (-3) record against Philadelphia. He won in Week 4 with the black pieces against NM Ruifeng Li of the Dallas Destiny on Board 3. His opponent, NM Peter Minear, is (+1 =3 -1) in his 2nd USCL season but has not faced Baltimore previously. He lost last week with the black pieces against FM Akshat Chandra of the New York Knights on Board 3.

Board 4: FM Karl Dehmelt vs. NM Ian Schoch. FM Karl Dehmelt is (+1 -2) in his 4th year and has scored (=1 -1) against Baltimore. He lost last week with the white pieces against NM Nicolas Checa of the New York Knights on Board 4. He will play against NM Ian Schoch, who is (-2) in his 3rd season. NM Schoch has not played against Philadelphia before this match. He last played in Week 3 when he has the white pieces against NM Ryan Goldenberg of the Manhattan Applesauce on Board 4.

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Reposted at: Chess.com blogs

Friday, September 27, 2013

Week 5 Review

Boston Blitz vs. Baltimore Kingfishers 2-2
IM Marc Esserman (2569) - IM Levan Bregadze (2469) 0.5-0.5 View Game
SM Denys Shmelov (2465) - IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat (2492) 0.5-0.5 View Game
NM Vadim Martirosov (2349) - GM Larry Kaufman (2401) 0.5-0.5 View Game
NM Ilya Krasik (2286) - NM Andrew Zheng (2159) 0.5-0.5 View Game

Note: Players in italic have the white pieces.

The Baltimore Kingfishers ended the match against the Boston Blitz in a deadlocked tied match. All four games ended in draws, but that doesn't mean there weren't ups and downs along the way! The other Northeast Division match between New England and Connecticut was also drawn, so the relative standings have not changed in the Northeast Division. Baltimore remains 2 match points behind the Connecticut Dreadnoughts for the 2nd divisional playoff spot. Baltimore will play the Philadelphia Inventors next Tuesday.

Board 1: IM Marc Esserman vs. IM Levan Bregadze. The top board featured a Classical Pirc Defense. IM Esserman started the game with 22 minutes less than IM Bregadze due to lateness. They actually followed a game played in the Austrian Staatsliga (State League) in 1995 that ended as a draw in the position after black's 16th move. However, our two USCL players played out the following rook, bishop, and pawns ending where only white had winning chances with an extra pawn. After 42 moves, the players agreed to a draw as black had neutralized white's pawn advantage. IM Bregadze seemed comfortable throughout the game as he ended with over 60 minutes on the clock to IM Esserman's 5 minutes and change.

Board 2: IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat vs. SM Denys Shmelov. The second board began with a Slav Defense. IM Enkhbat played the novelty 12. h3. This was the last game of the match (also the night) to finish as IM Enkhbat kept pressing to try to come up with a victory. However, SM Shmelov was able to defend well and the two agreed to a draw in a rook and 2 pawns ending.

Board 3: NM Vadim Martirosov vs. GM Larry Kaufman. The third board started as a Catalan but quickly transposed into a Bogo-Indian Defense. NM Martirosov played the novelty with 11. cxd5. NM Martirosov missed a chance to win with 30. b4 which simply wins black's knight. Instead, the move he played allowed the position to stay equal and the game soon ended in an agreed draw when it was clear the game would liquidate into an opposite-color bishop ending with an equal amount of pawns.

Board 4: NM Andrew Zheng vs. NM Ilya Krasik. The fourth board showcased an Hyper-Accelerated Dragon Sicilian. NM Zheng actually played 2 novelties: 10. 0-0 and 11. Qe1. The move 10. exd5 has been played at least 9 times before, but with less than stellar results for white (+1 =2 -6) but the move 11. exd5 has had good results for white (+2 =2) previously. Later on, white went down an exchange and it looked like just a matter of time before NM Krasik won. However, NM Zheng kept playing and eventually won back the exchange on move 40. The players found themselves in a same-colored bishop ending with black having an extra pawn. In fact, NM Zheng even gave up another pawn with 45. h4 to disconnect black's kingside pawns. White eventually was allowed to take both h-pawns and the game was agreed drawn with equal material on the board.

Reposted at: Chess.com blogs

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Week 5 Lineup

Boston Blitz vs. Baltimore Kingfishers
IM Marc Esserman (2569) - IM Levan Bregadze (2469)
SM Denys Shmelov (2465) - IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat (2492)
NM Vadim Martirosov (2349) - GM Larry Kaufman (2401)
NM Ilya Krasik (2286) - NM Andrew Zheng (2159)

Wednesday, 7:30 PM EDT
Time Control 75 min. with 30 sec. increment

Note: Players in italic have the white pieces.

The Baltimore Kingfishers (0.5-3.5, 4th) battle the Boston Blitz (2.0-2.0, 3rd) this Wednesday in the USCL's Week 5. Both teams are looking to catch up to the New England Nor'easters (3.5-0.5, 1st) and the Connecticut Dreadnoughts (2.5-1.5, 2nd) for the two playoff spots in the Northeast Division. Boston leads the all-time series against Baltimore with a 6.5-5.5 match score. However, the last time these two teams played each other, Baltimore put themselves into the playoffs by knocking out Boston in Week 10, 2012 by a 2.5-1.5 score. Four players (SM Denys Shmelov, GM Larry Kaufman, NM Vadim Martirosov, NM Ilya Krasik) from that previous match return to play in this upcoming match as well.

Board 1: IM Marc Esserman vs. IM Levan Bregadze. IM Marc Esserman, playing in his 6th USCL season, is (+1 -1) on the season and has scored (+2 =1) in his career against Baltimore. He lost last week with the black pieces against GM Yuniesky Quesada of the Miami Sharks on Board 1. His opponent, IM Levan Bregadze, is (+1 =1 -1) in his 2nd USCL season. IM Bregadze last played in Week 3, which was a draw with the black pieces against GM Zviad Izoria of the Manhattan Applesauce on Board 1.

Board 2: IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat vs. SM Denys Shmelov. IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat is (+1 -2) in his 9th USCL season and has scored (+2 =2 -3) against Boston. He won in Week 3 with white against IM Dmitry Schneider of the Manhattan Applesauce on Board 2. He will face SM Denys Shmelov, who is (=3 -1) in his 6th USCL season and has scored (+1 =2 -1) against Baltimore. He lost last week with the black pieces against FM Eric Rodriguez of the Miami Sharks on Board 3.

Board 3: NM Vadim Martirosov vs. GM Larry Kaufman. NM Vadim Martirosov has a (+1 -1) record in his 7th USCL season and is (=5 -1) against Baltimore in his career. He last played in Week 2, a loss with the white pieces against FM Leif Pressman of the Connecticut Dreadnoughts. He will play GM Larry Kaufman, who lost his only game of the season last week with the white pieces against FM Jeffery Xiong of the Dallas Destiny on Board 2. GM Kaufman is playing in his 9th USCL season and has a (=2 -6) record against Boston.

Board 4: NM Andrew Zheng vs. NM Ilya Krasik. NM Andrew Zheng is making his USCL debut in this match. According the the USCF's Sept. 2013 rating lists, NM Zheng is the #7 ranked 11-year-old in the country. Welcoming him to the league will be a 9-year-veteran of the USCL, NM Ilya Krasik. NM Krasik drew his only game this year in Week 1 with the white pieces against NM Andrew Liu of the New England Nor'easters on Board 4. He is (+4 =1 -4) in his career against Baltimore.

Catch the games live on chess.com and let us know your predictions in the polls to the right!

Reposted at: Chess.com blogs

Friday, September 20, 2013

Week 4 Review

Dallas Destiny vs. Baltimore Kingfishers 2.5-1.5
GM Conrad Holt (2639) - GM Niclas Huschenbeth (2610) 1-0 View Game
FM Jeffery Xiong (2485) - GM Larry Kaufman (2401) 1-0 View Game
NM Ruifeng Li (2348) - NM Jared Defibaugh (2297) 0-1 View Game
NM Sarah Chiang (2213) - FM Ralph Zimmer (2244) 0.5-0.5 View Game

Note: Players in italic have the white pieces.

The Dallas Destiny stay perfect on the season as they defeated the Baltimore Kingfishers by a 2.5-1.5 game score. Baltimore missed a chance to gain some ground on the 2nd playoff spot in the Northeast Division as both the Connecticut Dreadnoughts and Boston Blitz lost this week. Baltimore (0.5-3.5) will battle the Boston Blitz (2.0-2.0) next Wednesday.

Board 1: GM Conrad Holt vs. GM Niclas Huschenbeth. The top board showcased a Main line Semi-Slav Defense: Noteboom varation. The game started approximately 18 minutes late (due to connectivity issues for Dallas) but got quickly underway as both players blitzed out the opening theory. GM Huschenbeth varied first with the novelty 14... Ne4. Then, black sacrificed a bishop for white's two central pawns. A queen trade was soon allowed and black was still pressing, but simply could not get the connected passed pawns on the a-file and b-file going. GM Holt was able to slowly consolidate his position and eventually force more piece trades. Black resigned down a bishop in the endgame.

Board 2: GM Larry Kaufman vs. FM Jeffery Xiong. The second board featured a Queen's Gambit Declined. FM Xiong played the novelty 9... b6. GM Kaufman began to aim his pieces at black's kingside. However, the attack never came to fruition as black started to get play on the queenside with a knight on c4 threatening to fork the queen and rooks after 19... g5 20. Bg3 Nxe3. Several trades ensued until each side was left with a queen, rook and 6 pawns though with black holding onto a dangerous passed d-pawn. Black was allowed to queen that d-pawn and FM Xiong immediately sacrificed it for a mating combination.

Board 3: NM Ruifeng Li vs. NM Jared Defibaugh. On the third board, NM Defibaugh chose to defend against e4 with Alekhine's Defense: Modern, Schmid Variation (4... Nb6). NM Defibaugh started with few minutes time advantage presumably due to the previously mentioned connectivity issues. The game transformed into something that looked more like it came from a King's Indian. NM Li played the novelty 14. Nd5. NM Defibaugh then was able to push pawns to f4 and e3, constricting white's position. Then, NM Li sacrificed an exchange in order to try to defend. For awhile, it looked possible he might just do that with 3 menacing queenside pawns against a single b-pawn for black. He missed an incredible try with 45. a5 Rf8 (45... Kg5 46. a6 bxa6 47. c6 Rf8 48. c7 Rc8 49. Bd3 and white is the one playing for a win) 46. a6 bxa6 47. c6 a5 48. b5 a4 49. c7 a3 50. Bb1 Ba5 51. b6 and it's unclear if black can win this position. Instead white soon sacrificed his knight for the e-pawn and b-pawn and quickly fell to black's remaining forces.

Board 4: FM Ralph Zimmer vs. NM Sarah Chiang. The final board began with an English Opening: Neo-Catalan Declined. Due to a late lineup change and the connectivity issues, FM Zimmer started with 84 minutes to NM Sarah Chiang's 60 minutes. FM Zimmer played the novelty 14. Bg5. Although white seemed slightly better from the opening, his Qf5-h3-f1 maneuver took quite a few tempi and allowed black to gain control and space in the center. However, after a pair of bishops and the queens were traded, much of the pressure was gone and white again seemed better after 31. Nd3. That advantage again slipped away after 40. Nxg7 when FM Zimmer was expecting NM Sarah Chiang to recapture the g7-knight instead of the c5-knight. PLay went on until both players were down to king, knight, and pawn and a draw by 3-fold repetition was called.

Reposted at: Chess.com blogs

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Week 4 Lineup

Dallas Destiny vs. Baltimore Kingfishers
GM Conrad Holt (2639) - GM Niclas Huschenbeth (2610)
FM Jeffery Xiong (2485) - GM Larry Kaufman (2401)
NM Ruifeng Li (2348) - NM Jared Defibaugh (2297)
NM Jonathan Chiang (2330) NM Sarah Chiang (2213) - FM Ralph Zimmer (2244)

Wednesday, 7:45 PM EDT
Time Control 75 min. with 30 sec. increment
Due to a lineup change, on Board Four Baltimore will begin with 84 minutes while Dallas will begin with 66.
Note: Players in italic have the white pieces.

The Baltimore Kingfishers play their first Western Conference foe of the season, the Dallas Destiny. Baltimore sits in 4th place in the Northeast Division with a (0.5 - 2.5) match record while Dallas is tied for first place (2nd place on tiebreak) with the Miami Sharks in the South Division, both teams having perfect (3.0 - 0.0) match records. Baltimore and Dallas are tied at (1.0 - 1.0) in their previous matches. The last time these two teams tackled each other, Dallas swept Baltimore 4-0 in Week 8, 2006. Two players (GM Larry Kaufman and FM Ralph Zimmer) from that last match are also playing in this upcoming match.

Board 1: GM Conrad Holt vs. GM Niclas Huschenbeth. GM Conrad Holt is (+2) in his 3rd USCL season and currently in 4th place place in the USCL MVP race. He won last week with white against IM Mackenzie Molner of the Arizona Scorpions on Board 1. He will play against GM Niclas Huschenbeth, who is playing his 1st game in his 2nd season. He was (=1 -2) last season. These two players also represent rival College Chess teams, the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC); both of which have made the President's Cup (Final Four of College Chess) each year since the tournament's inception in 2001. As such, this game might be a prelude to this year's Pan-American Intercollegiate Championship.

Board 2: GM Larry Kaufman vs. FM Jeffery Xiong. GM Larry Kaufman is also playing his 1st game this year though this is his 9th season playing in the USCL. He scored (+1 =2 -3) last year and is (=1 -1) against Dallas. His opponent, FM Jeffery Xiong, is a perfect (+3) this season (his 3rd) and currently 2nd in the USCL MVP race. He won last week on Board 3 with white against WGM Angelina Belakovskaia of the Arizona Scorpions.

Board 3: NM Ruifeng Li vs. NM Jared Defibaugh. NM Ruifeng Li is making his USCL debut in this match. He will face NM Jared Defibaugh, who is also (=2 -1) this season. NM Defibaugh is playing in his 4th USCL season, but has not faced Dallas before this match. He drew last week with black against FM Rico Salimbagat of the Manhattan Applesauce on Board 3.

Board 4: FM Ralph Zimmer vs. NM Jonathan Chiang NM Sarah Chiang. FM Ralph Zimmer is third Kingfisher to make his season debut in this match. This will be his 8th year playing in the USCL, as he has only missed the 2005 season. He is (-1) against Dallas, and he scored (+4 =1 -2) last year while earning top honors in the Baltimore Kingfishers' team MVP points race. He is matched against NM Jonathan Chiang, who is also making his season debut in this match. NM Chiang is playing in his 2nd USCL season and scored (+1 -1) last season. Less than 24 hours after the official lineups were posted, Dallas has replaced NM Jonathan Chiang with his older sister, NM Sarah Chiang. A recent scheduling conflict must have come up. Anyway, NM Sarah Chiang will be playing her first game of the season in this match. She has only played 1 USCL game so far, a draw with white against Nicholas Rosenthal of the Miami Sharks in Week 3 of last year. Also, due to the late lineup change, FM Zimmer will begin with 84 minutes while NM Sarah Chiang will begin with 66 minutes.

TRIVIA NOTE: Upon seeing this week's lineup, NM Jared Defibaugh e-mailed me proclaiming about the Dallas Destiny lineup, "that's gotta be the youngest uscl team in history." Dallas, with all four players under the age of 21, and an average age under 15, certainly appears to have a claim to that USCL record. Although they may have already been the record holder as I do not recall Dallas ever having a single player over 30 years old (Sounds eerily like Logan's Run). Can anyone prove either statement wrong?

Updated at 11:35 AM EDT on 9/17/2013

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Reposted at: Chess.com blogs

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Week 3 Review

Manhattan Applesauce vs. Baltimore Kingfishers 2-2
GM Zviad Izoria (2624) - IM Levan Bregadze (2469) 0.5-0.5 View Game
IM Dmitry Schneider (2516) - IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat (2492) 0-1 View Game
FM Rico Salimbagat (2259) - NM Jared Defibaugh (2297) 0.5-0.5 View Game
NM Ryan Goldenberg (2348) - NM Ian Schoch (2294) 1-0 View Game

Note: Players in italic have the white pieces.

The Week 3 match between the Manhattan Applesauce and Baltimore Kingfishers ended in a 2-2 tie. With all the other Northeast Division teams winning their matches this week, the Baltimore Kingfishers are now half a match point farther behind in the playoff race. The top 2 team in each division make the playoffs, so Baltimore is 2.0 match points back. There are still 7 weeks left in the season, so plenty of time to catch up, but it won't be easy especially as Baltimore faces the undefeated Dallas Destiny next week.

Board 1: GM Zviad Izoria vs. IM Levan Bregadze. The top board saw a Pirc Defense: 150 Attack. GM Izoria's 10. f4 appears to be a novelty. Black's knights were soon traded away and his pawn structure was quite unusual with doubled c-pawns and 3 other isolated pawns. White then chose to trade dark-squared bishops and jettison his f-pawn and e-pawn to attack the black king. However, the king was safe enough and the players settled for a draw by threefold repetition.

Board 2: IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat vs. IM Dmitry Schneider. The 2nd board started as a Queen's Gambit: Declined that transposed into an Open Catalan. IM Enkhbat played the novelty 12. Bf4. He then moved a rook to assert control of the d-file, which turned out to be a very important aspect of the game. The white knight danced in the center of the board provoking black to create weaknesses, especially on the dark squares. White managed to get a passed pawn on d6, which ended up deciding the game when it was finally allowed to be pushed toward promotion on the final move of the game before black resigned.

Board 3: FM Rico Salimbagat vs. NM Jared Defibaugh. NM Defibaugh played a rare variation of the Ruy Lopez called the Cozio Defense Deferred (3... a6 4. Ba4 Nge7). They were still following some master-level games until NM Salimbagat varied with 12. Bg5. Black seemed to be in trouble after allowing 22. Qf6+ and NM Defibaugh was more than half-an-hour down on time soon after that. However, after a series of exchanges, black had survived down just a pawn. Black's pieces were starting to get active when NM Salimbagat decided to go for complications with 37. e6!? allowing a knight to be en prise. However, he missed another incredible shot with 39. Nd7! Bxd7 40. Rc7! (not 40. Rc8+? Kg7 41. Rd8 Rd2 42. Rxd7 Rxg2+ 42. Kh1 Re2 -/+) Be8 41. Rc8 f5 42. Rxe8+ Kf7 43. Rd8 with white going up an exchange +/-. Instead, the players traded down into a Rook and pawns ending and agreed to a draw.

Board 4: NM Ian Schoch vs. NM Ryan Goldenberg. The bottom board began with the French Defense: Exchange variation. 9... Ne4 was the novelty played by NM Goldenberg. NM Schoch offered a draw around move 12. This did not incur USCL Rule F.6 against short draws as the match had been going on for more than 90 minutes by that time. Mate threats on g2 and g7 were exchanged as were pieces and the game changed into an opposite-colored bishops ending. Black was up a (doubled-)pawn and he nursed that material advantage into a win when white allowed his bishop to be trapped on a5. Black forced white release his own trapped bishop but allow black a 2nd passed pawn for which white would eventually have to sacrifice the bishop and concede the game.

TRIVIA ANSWER: GM Timur Gareev (Seattle Sluggers), GM Giorgi Margvelashvili (Dallas Destiny), GM Eugene Perelshteyn (Boston Blitz), GM Pascal Charbonneau (New York Knights), NM Ryan Goldenberg (Manhattan Applesauce), and NM Ian Harris (Manager of Connecticut Dreadnoughts) have all attended UMBC and are currently on other USCL Team Rosters. GM Niclas Huschenbeth, IM Levan Bregadze, and NM Ben Krause are the 3 players on the Baltimore Kingfishers who are currently attending UMBC, and also our manager, WIM Tsagaan Battsetseg, is an alumnus of UMBC.

Reposted at: Chess.com blogs

Monday, September 9, 2013

Week 3 Lineup

Manhattan Applesauce vs. Baltimore Kingfishers
GM Zviad Izoria (2624) - IM Levan Bregadze (2469)
IM Dmitry Schneider (2516) - IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat (2492)
FM Rico Salimbagat (2259) - NM Jared Defibaugh (2297)
NM Ryan Goldenberg (2348) - NM Ian Schoch (2294)

Wednesday, 7:20 PM EDT
Time Control 75 min. with 30 sec. increment

Note: Players in italic have the white pieces.

The Baltimore Kingfishers will do battle with the Manhattan Applesauce in Week 3 of the US Chess League (USCL). Baltimore is currently mired in 4th place in the Northeast Division with a 0.0-2.0 match record. Meanwhile, Manhattan is tied for 2nd (but 3rd on tiebreaks) place in the Atlantic Division. As these teams are not in the same division, they are only scheduled to play once this season. Manhattan has actually dominated the series with a 6.5-1.5 match record. They last played in Week 9, 2012 which Manhattan won with a 3.5-0.5 game score. IM Enkhbat is the only player from that match scheduled to play this week as well.

Board 1: GM Zviad Izoria vs. IM Levan Bregadze. GM Zviad Izoria is (+1) in his first USCL season. He defeated FM Tom Bartell of the Philadelphia Inventors on Board 1 in Week 1 with the white pieces. His opponent, IM Levan, Bregadze, is (+1 -1) in his 2nd USCL season. He won last week with the white pieces against IM David Vigorito of the New England Nor'easters on Board 1.

Board 2: IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat vs. IM Dmitry Schneider. IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat, in his 9th season, has lost twice and has a (=2 -4) record against Manhattan. He lost last week with the black pieces on Board 2 against FM Steven Winer of the New England Nor'easters. Playing opposite him will be IM Dmitry Schneider, who is in his 8th USCL season, having missed playing only in 2006. He drew his only game this season in Week 1 with the black pieces against FM Dov Gorman of the Philadelphia Inventors on Board 2. He is (+2 =1) against Baltimore in his career.

Board 3: FM Rico Salimbagat vs. NM Jared Defibaugh. FM Rico Salimbagat is (=1 -1) in his first season in the USCL. He lost last week on Board 3 with the black pieces against FM Michael Bodek of the New York Knights. He will be facing NM Jared Defibaugh, who is also (=1 -1) this season. NM Defibaugh is playing in his 4th USCL season and has not played against Manhattan previously. He drew last week with the white pieces against FM Charles Riordan of the New England Nor'easters on Board 3.

Board 4: NM Ian Schoch vs. NM Ryan Goldenberg. NM Ian Schoch lost his 1st game this season in Week 1 with the white pieces against Jason Shi of the Connecticut Dreadnoughts on Board 4. He is (+1) in his career against against Manhattan. He will play NM Ryan Goldenberg, who is (+1 -1) in his first USCL season. He lost with the white pieces against FM Aravind Kumar of the New York Knights last week on Board 4.

TRIVIA: During the games last week, I mentioned on chess.com that this year's Baltimore Kingfishers roster has only 3 players who are currently attending UMBC. FM Mike Klein posed this as a trivia question to USCL President, IM Greg Shahade, during the live commentary on chess.com/tv. Coupled with seeing a certain player's name in this week's match, I realized this is the first season in which there are more former UMBC attendees on other USCL rosters than current and former ones on the Baltimore Kingfishers' roster. So can you figure out which 5 players (and 1 manager) on other USCL rosters are former UMBC alumni? Here's a hint: 3 of the 6 have played for the Baltimore Kingfishers in past years.

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Reposted at: Chess.com blogs

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Week 2 Review

Baltimore Kingfishers vs. New England Nor'easters 1.5-2.5
IM Levan Bregadze (2469) - IM David Vigorito (2532) 1-0 View Game
IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat (2492) - SM Steven Winer (2409) 0-1 View Game
NM Jared Defibaugh (2297) - FM Charles Riordan (2386) 0.5-0.5 View Game
NM Ben Krause (2323) - NM Andrew Liu (2296) 0-1 View Game

Note: Players in italic have the white pieces.

The New England Nor'easters edge the Baltimore Kingfishers with a 2.5-1.5 game score. The match saw 3 wins for white and a draw on Board 3. Baltimore is now 0.0-2.0 in matches on the season. However, there are still 8 weeks in the Regular Season to go in the USCL and as we have seen in previous years, anything can happen right up until the last minute/match.

Board 1: IM Levan Bregadze vs. IM David Vigorito. The opening of this game transposed into an English Opening: Symmetrical Defense that saw an unusual line with 8. Ne3 leaving the c3-pawn hanging with check. However, the pawn must have been poisoned as it was not captured until 26 moves later. White made some play on the queenside with a Rook on the b-file, but black seemed solid in the middle game. After a series of trades that left both sides with a Queen, a Bishop, and a handful of pawns, it was white who emerged as the aggressor with the outside passed a-pawn. In a slightly worse position, black (mouse?)slips up with 37... Qd2 and allows a clear win, which white pounced on here:

Board 2: SM Steven Winer vs. IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat. They began with a Semi-Slav Defense where white seemed to take control from in the middle game due to his control of the half-open c-file and black's passive light-squared bishop. SM Winer held off taking black's c-pawn in order to slowly improve his position while denying any chances at counterplay. This led to winning the h-pawn and a-pawn and eventually the game.

Board 3: NM Jared Defibaugh vs. FM Charles Riordan. NM Defibaugh played an unusual Sicilian with 3. b3. The players traded queens early on move 9 and the rest of the game was characterized by slow positional maneuvering. The game never strayed far from an equal evaluation and the players agreed to a draw with a rook and 2 unconnected pawns for each side.

Board 4: NM Andrew Liu vs. NM Ben Krause. These two started with a Grunfeld Defense with 5. Bg5 dxc4. It became a unique position by move 10, and soon, black allowed white to capture a pawn on b7 and knight on c7 for play against white's center and uncastled king. Black missed some opportunities to seize the advantage, especially with 20... d3! 21. Bxd3 Rfd8 22. Nc1 Rac8 -/+. In the ensuing complex middlegame, white was able to consolidate his position while keeping his piece advantage. Black resigned down a bishop in the endgame.

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Sunday, September 1, 2013

Week 2 Lineup

Baltimore Kingfishers vs. New England Nor'easters
IM Levan Bregadze (2469) - IM David Vigorito (2532)
IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat (2492) - SM Steven Winer (2409)
NM Jared Defibaugh (2297) - FM Charles Riordan (2386)
NM Ben Krause (2323) - NM Andrew Liu (2296)

Note: Players in italic have the white pieces.

After a terrible Week 1, the Baltimore Kingfishers (0.0-1.0, 4th in the Northeast Division) look to bounce back against the New England Nor'easters (0.5-0.5, 3rd in the Northeast Division). New England drew with the Boston Blitz last week, but are in 3rd place on the 2nd tiebreak of opponents' rating average. New England leads the all-time series match score by 2.5-1.5, but when they last played each other in Week 5, 2012, Baltimore won with a 2.5-1.5 games score. Three players (IM Enkhbat, IM Vigorito, and NM Defibaugh) from that last match return to play in this one.

Board 1: IM Levan Bregadze vs. IM David Vigorito. IM Levan Bregadze is (-1) in his 2nd USCL season and has never played against New England before this match. His opponent, the player/manager IM David Vigorito, is making his first appearance in his 5th year as a player. IM Vigorito went (=1 -2) last year and has scored (+1 =1 -1) against Baltimore in his USCL career.

Board 2: SM Steven Winer vs. IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat. SM Steven Winer is making a return to the USCL with New England after having played for the Boston Blitz in the first 2 USCL seasons. He is (=1) on the season and is (-2) against Baltimore. He drew as black against SM Denys Shmelov of the Boston Blitz last week on Board 2. He will be facing IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat, who is (-1) this season and (+1 =1 -2) against New England. These two actually played against each other back in Week 10, 2005 when IM Enkhbat won with the black pieces.

Board 3: NM Jared Defibaugh vs. FM Charles Riordan. NM Jared Defibaugh is also (-1) this season and (+1 =1) against New England. He is matched up against FM Charles Riordan, who will be playing in his 7th USCL season. FM Riordan scored (+2 =2 -1) for New England last year and is (+1 =2) against Baltimore in his career.

Board 4: NM Andrew Liu vs. NM Ben Krause. NM Andrew Liu is (=1) this season having drawn with black against NM Ilya Krasik of the Boston Blitz last week on Board 4. This is NM Liu's 2nd USCL season and he is still searching for his first win after 3 games played. He is tasked against NM Ben Krause, who is making his USCL debut for Baltimore in this match.

Trivia Note: All four of the New England Nor'easter's players this week began their USCL careers on the Boston Blitz, and they are the only four players on the New England roster to have played for Boston.

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Reposted at: Chess.com blogs

Friday, August 30, 2013

Week 1 Review

Connecticut Dreadnoughts vs. Baltimore Kingfishers 4-0
GM Mikheil Kekelidze (2576) - IM Levan Bregadze (2469) 1-0 View Game
GM Michael Rohde (2548) - IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat (2492) 1-0 View Game
IM Jay Bonin (2436) - NM Jared Defibaugh (2297) 1-0 View Game
Jason Shi (2173) - NM Ian Schoch (2294) 1-0 View Game

Note: Players in italic have the white pieces.

Board 1: GM Mikheil Kekelidze vs. IM Levan Bregadze. The game began as a King's Indian where black gave up a pawn for opening up the center. In the following position, it is white to play. Black is threatening to take the f3 pawn with check, but GM Kekelidze saw deeper to found a killer sequence of moves that left him up a minor piece and eventually with a victory in hand. Can you find it as well?

Board 2: IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat vs. GM Michael Rohde. These two players trotted out the Vitolins variation of the Bogo-Indian Defense where white played an interesting knight maneuver that traversed b1-d2-f1-e3 before castling kingside. IM Enkhbat seemed to be pressing with the white pieces but slipped up in mutual time pressure, dropping a knight and the game to GM Rohde's well-spotted queen-checks-and-capture sequence. Soon after the game had finished, IM Enkhbat pointed out to me that he had missed a forced draw just before allowing those queen checks. Find it in the following position!

Board 3: IM Jay Bonin vs. NM Jared Defibaugh. This game featured an exchange Grunfeld Defense where NM Defibaugh played the novelty 11... Qa5. The game seemed rather even until IM Bonin started pushing his kingside pawns and black found his king under severe pressure. NM Defibaugh pinned his hopes on being able to promote his c-pawn, but that allowed white to surround black's king completely and that pressure eventually proved too much to handle. See how IM Bonin finished off the game after the blunder 30... c4?

Board 4: NM Ian Schoch vs. Jason Shi. NM Schoch played and Jason Shi accepted the Smith-Morra Gambit of the Sicilian Defense. White never really got the kind of pressure you would hope for when playing the Smith-Morra Gambit, but black eventually allowed a liquidation to a drawn ending in the position below. However, in the game, NM Schoch tried a different path to keep winning chances alive, but apparently miscalculated a line that is also pointed out in the game viewer below. Jason Shi was able to take advantage of the miscalculation to score another victory for Connecticut and complete the 4-0 sweep of Baltimore.

Week 1 showcased an unfortunate series of mistakes from the Baltimore Kingfishers and some great play from the Connecticut Dreadnoughts. This match was the 3rd time in USCL history that Baltimore was swept 4-0. The other occurrences were in Week 8, 2006 against the Dallas Destiny and in Week 2, 2012 against the St. Louis Arch Bishops. Baltimore finished out of the playoffs in 2006, but managed to make the playoffs in 2012 despite the early sweep. A rematch with Connecticut is scheduled for Week 9. Also, stay tuned to see Baltimore play the New England Nor'easters next Tuesday night!

Reposted at: Chess.com blogs

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Week 1 Lineup

Wednesday, 7:20 PM EDT
Time Control 75 min. with 30 sec. increment

Connecticut Dreadnoughts vs. Baltimore Kingfishers
GM Mikheil Kekelidze (2576) - IM Levan Bregadze (2469)
GM Michael Rohde (2548) - IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat (2492)
IM Jay Bonin (2436) - NM Jared Defibaugh (2297)
Jason Shi (2173) - NM Ian Schoch (2294)

Note: Players in italic have the white pieces.

And so begins the 9th season of the U.S. Chess League (USCL). In the first week's match-up, we find our Baltimore Kingfishers paired against the Connecticut Dreadnoughts. This will be Baltimore's 9th season and Connecticut's 2nd season in the league. In light of the newly-enacted four teams per division arrangement in the USCL, this match has some extra importance as these two teams compete in the same division and there will be only 6 divisional games this year. The last (and only) time these two teams squared-off, they settled for a drawn match in Week 3, 2012. Two players (GM Kekelidze and NM Defibaugh) from that match return to play in this match.

Board 1: GM Mikheil Kekelidze vs. IM Levan Bregadze. GM Mikheil Kekelidze was (+1 =6 -3) last year for the Dreadnoughts and is (=1) against Baltimore. His opponent, IM Levan Bregadze, scored (+7 =1 -2) for his former team, the St. Louis Archbishops, and is (-1) against Connecticut. Both players will look to avoid starting their sophomore season in a slump!

Board 2: IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat vs. GM Michael Rohde. IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat, who will be appearing in his 9th USCL season, was (=3 -2) for the Kingfishers last season. He has yet to play against Connecticut. IM Enkhbat is a stalwart of the Baltimore team, having a career score of 28.0/60 from the team's 85 matches (including playoffs). Sitting opposite him (on the virtual chess board) will be GM Michael Rohde, who will be playing his 1st game in the USCL. This pairing is a rare clash between a USCL Veteran, who has been in the league from the start, vs. a complete USCL Rookie.

Board 3: IM Jay Bonin vs. NM Jared Defibaugh. After not playing at all in the USCL last season (despite being on the Philadelphia Inventors' roster), IM Jay Bonin is now playing again with the 3rd team of his 9-year USCL career. He has accumulated 28.0 points in 47 USCL games. He will be facing NM Jared Defibaugh, playing in his 4th USCL season. NM Defibaugh scored (+4 -3) last season, but lost his game in Baltimore's previous match with Connecticut. He has scored 10.0/19 in the USCL thus far. Both players have plenty of experience in the USCL, so they know that every (half-)point counts.

Board 4: NM Ian Schoch vs. Jason Shi. NM Ian Schoch returns to the Baltimore Kingfishers' lineup after a year off. He previously played in 2 USCL seasons, and he won 5 out of 8 games (all were decisive). He is set to play another USCL newcomer for Connecticut, Jason Shi. Will NM Schoch be able to continue his decisive game streak?

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Reposted at: Chess.com blogs