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.

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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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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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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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.

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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.

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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.

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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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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.

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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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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.

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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