2014 Week 8 Review

Baltimore Kingfishers vs. Miami Sharks 1-3
GM Niclas Huschenbeth (2603) - GM Julio Becerra (2626) 0.5-0.5 View Game
GM Larry Kaufman (2391) - GM Renier Gonzalez (2510) 0.5-0.5 View Game
NM Jared Defibaugh (2325) - NM Federico Gonzalez (2315) 0-1 View Game
FM Ralph Zimmer (2268) - Vlad Yanovsky (2165) 0-1 View Game

Note: Players in italic have the white pieces.

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The Miami Sharks defeated the Baltimore Kingfishers with a 3-1 score. Miami managed victories on the bottom two boards and drew both top boards. In the Southern Division, Miami (4.5-3.5) in match points) moved up to 2nd place while Baltimore (3.0-5.0) dropped to 5th place. With two weeks left to go in the regular season, Baltimore is a half-match-point (and 1.5 game points) behind the Atlanta Kings for the 3rd and likely final playoff spot in the Southern Division. It is still possible though very unlikely that the Southern Division earns a 4th playoff spot. Which of the three USCL Divisions earns that extra playoff spot will be determined next week with the final interdivisional match-ups of the regular season.

TRIVIA: Name the team against which Baltimore has not played for the longest amount of time.
ANSWER: Baltimore has not played the San Francisco Mechanics since Week 6, 2005.

Board 1: GM Niclas Huschenbeth vs. GM Julio Becerra. The top board showcased a sharp Two Knights Defense: Modern variation (5. e5). GM Niclas Huschenbeth played the novelty 17. Qxa7 and GM Julio Becerra began a scenic journey with his own queen. White seemingly won an exchange but black had a sudden attack against the surprisingly vulnerable white king. White returned a knight and pawn to relieve the pressure, resulting in a material imbalance of two white rooks for black's rook, knight, and bishop. White had a passed a-pawn, but its march was easily stopped by the black rook and bishop combination. The game ended in a threefold repetition on move 44. The game took 2nd place in the Game of the Week competition. See the judges' comments here.

Board 2: GM Renier Gonzalez vs. GM Larry Kaufman. The second board featured a Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense (3... Nf6) with what resembled the Kaufmann variation (where white plays 5. Be3) but this game had 5. Bxc6 dxc6 inserted first. The opening variation seems to have been named after Arthur Kaufmann, an early 20th-century player, rather than our player with the black pieces. The novelty occurred relatively early with 8... Nd7 played by GM Larry Kaufman. GM Renier Gonzalez expanded slowly with the white pieces while black took a defensive position. However, the tempo of the game shifted as black played the daring break 29... g5. Then, another critical moment appeared with 35. Qf6 as it led to a bishop and rook for queen exchange in favor of black. However, black did not find the most accurate moves to press for the win, so the players drew by threefold repetition after 62 moves.

Board 3: NM Jared Defibaugh vs. NM Federico Gonzalez. Board 3 displayed a Modern Benoni Defense with 7. Nge2. NM Jared Defibaugh played the novelty 12. Qd2 and soon embarked on a kingside attack. He also castled queenside and a flank attack race ensued. However, white's attack stalled and after opening up the center, he gave up a couple pawns unnecessarily. NM Federico Gonzalez took this advantage and methodically converted the rook and pawns endgame to a victory in 69 moves.

Board 4: Vlad Yanovsky vs. FM Ralph Zimmer. The fourth board exhibited a Sicilian Defense: Four Knights Variation (4... Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6) but avoided transposing into the Sveshnikov as the game continued with 6. Ndb5 Bb4. The game followed already tested lines until Vlad Yanovsky played the novelty 18. Qd2. The game looked to be headed towards a long drawish battle until FM Ralph Zimmer missed that his rook would be trapped (for a bishop) after 33... Rb5 34. Bc5 b6 35. a4. With the extra exchange, Vlad Yanovsky was able to claim a victory in 55 moves.

Note that NM Federico Gonzalez won his first career USCL game.

Next week, the Baltimore Kingfishers play the Boston Blitz on Wednesday, October 22nd at 7:30 PM EDT.

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2014 Week 7 Review

Baltimore Kingfishers vs. Arizona Scorpions 1.5-2.5
IM Tanguy Ringoir (2583) - GM Mackenzie Molner (2581) 0.5-0.5 View Game
GM Larry Kaufman (2391) - IM Mark Ginsburg (2397) 0-1 View Game
NM Jared Defibaugh (2325) - IM Alexey Diulger (2421) 1-0 View Game
FM Ralph Zimmer (2268) - Matthew Noble (2084) 0-1 View Game

Note: Players in italic have the white pieces.

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The Arizona Scorpions defeated the Baltimore Kingfishers by a 2.5-1.5 score. Arizona managed victories on the even-numbered boards with a draw on Board 1 while Baltimore won on Board 3. Arizona (3.5-3.5 in match points) moved up to 4th place in the Western Division, and Baltimore (3.0-4.0) dropped to 4th place in the Southern Division. Currently, the Western Division leads the interdivision standings, which means there would be a 4th playoff team for the Western Division if the standings hold after Week 9.

Board 1: IM Tanguy Ringoir vs. GM Mackenzie Molner. The first board began as a Grunfeld Defense with 4. e3 Bg7 5. Qb3. GM Mackenzie Molner played 9... Ne4, deviating from a previous game from each of our two players. However, the game continued to follow a Nakamura-Caruana game until 12. a3, which was a novelty played by IM Tanguy Ringoir. Early play concentrated on how the queenside would open up. Then, a multitude of trades happened and an endgame was reached with two bishops vs. bishop and knight with 4 pawns each. White had the worse-looking side as two of his pawns were doubled and the d-pawn was unconnected. However, IM Ringoir showed those things were not actually a disadvantage as he sacrificed the d-pawn and created blockades of the black pawns. The game was agreed drawn on move 46.

Board 2: IM Mark Ginsburg vs. GM Larry Kaufman. Board 2 transposed from a Reti Opening to an English Opening: Neo-Catalan Accepted. The players followed a GM Nigel Short game played earlier this year until GM Larry Kaufman played the novelty 15... h6. Play revolved around control of the center, particularly the long diagonals, and then, both the c-file and d-file. GM Larry Kaufman made a mistake with 26... Rc8. IM Mark Ginsburg capitalized on the error and slowly, but surely converted advantage as black resigned in 54 moves.

Board 3: NM Jared Defibaugh vs. IM Alexey Diulger. Board 3 featured a Caro-Kann: Advance variation with 4. h4. IM Alexey Diulger played the novelty 11... Ne7 avoiding the complications of the stem game that went 11... Nxd4. NM Jared Defibaugh found the nice 21. Be5 but missed the follow-up 22. Bxf6! move. As IM Diulger was trying to squeeze out a win, he blundered into a mate in 2 by trapping his own king with 43... b4. NM Defibaugh seized the sudden victory.

Board 4: Matthew Noble vs. FM Ralph Zimmer. The fourth board showcased a Sveshnikov Sicilian. FM Ralph Zimmer played the novelty 18... a5. There were inaccuracies on both sides in the middlegame, but the final mistake was 44... Rc7. Matthew Noble quickly realized the move dropped a piece for black as the d-pawn was pinned. FM Zimmer resigned soon thereafter.

Next week, the Baltimore Kingfishers play the Miami Sharks on Tuesday, October 14th at 7:30 PM EDT.

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2014 Week 6 Review

Baltimore Kingfishers vs. St. Louis Arch Bishops 2.5-1.5
GM Niclas Huschenbeth (2603) - GM Wesley So (2751) 0.5-0.5 View Game
IM Levan Bregadze (2530) - GM Le Quang Liem (2785) 0-1 View Game
NM Jared Defibaugh (2325) - NM Mathew Larson (2251) 1-0 View Game
NM Andrew Zheng (2208) - Jacob Wilkins (1909) 1-0 View Game

Note: Players in italic have the white pieces.

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The Baltimore Kingfishers defeated the division-leading St. Louis Arch Bishops with a 2.5-1.5 score. Baltimore took victories on the bottom two boards and drew on the top board while St. Louis struck back with a win on board 2. Combined with the Miami Sharks' 2.5-1.5 victory over the Connecticut Dreadnoughts, Baltimore (3.0-3.0 match record) managed to leap into 2nd place in the Southern Division. Now, they are only a half-match-point behind the St. Louis Arch Bishops (3.5-2.5 match record) in the standings. There is also a crowd of 3 teams (Atlanta Kings, Connecticut Dreadnoughts, Miami Sharks) tied for 3rd place at (2.5-3.5 match record), which is just a half-match-point behind Baltimore. Finally, the Carolina Cobras (1.0-5.0 match record) sit at the bottom of the Southern Division, but they are not out of the playoff picture yet.

Board 1: GM Niclas Huschenbeth vs. GM Wesley So. The top board showcased a very interesting Najdorf Sicilian. GM Wesley So played the novelty 11... b5. In the middlegame, GM Huschenbeth maneuvered to attack the black kingside, but GM Wesley So managed to parry the threats. As pieces were traded in the center, it soon looked like white's king might be the more vulnerable one. Then, GM Huschenbeth regained an edge in the game with the strong 32. Rxc3! though it was not enough to convert to a victory. They played until bare kings on move 60.
Note: I did not do analysis of this game beyond the novelty search and finding interesting stem games as GM Niclas Huschenbeth has already posted his own spectacular in-depth analysis of the game on YouTube (Runtime: 34:56). Be sure to check it out below!


10:00 PM EDT Update: Board 1 won Game of the Week (GOTW). Read the USCL judges' commentary.

Board 2: GM Le Quang Liem vs. IM Levan Bregadze. The second board featured a King's Indian with opposite-side castling. GM Le Quang Liem played the novelty 11. h4 to begin his assault of the black kingside. IM Levan Bregadze soon countered with his a-pawn push against white's long-castled king. Complications arose as the center opened up. Black appeared worse by being down two pawns, but the power of the fianchettoed-bishop and a rook on the 2nd rank provided drawing chances and maybe more. Perhaps that chance for more was on IM Bregadze's mind when he played 26... Bd4, which was a mistake that GM Le Quang Liem pounced upon to seize a victory in 33 moves.

Board 3: NM Jared Defibaugh vs. NM Matthew Larson. Board three saw a Semi-Slav Defense: Anti-Meran variation (6. Qc2) with 6... Bd6 7. b3. This opening has seen plenty of play at the top level of chess. The novelty 13. Bxc4 was played by NM Jared Defibaugh. Both the c-file and d-file were opened up and queens were traded in the early middlegame. After that, both players maneuvered pieces with the aim of controlling the open files. Both files were blockaded by knights, so NM Matthew Larson decided to expanded on the kingside with his black pawns. Meanwhile NM Defibaugh continued to attempt to breakthrough the blockade on the c&d-files. After an inaccuracy by black on move 47, white got the chance to break for which he was striving, and NM Defibaugh triumphed after 70 moves.

Board 4: Jacob Wilkins vs. NM Andrew Zheng. The fourth board bounced around opening theory names pretty quickly as the game started with a Reti Opening (1.Nf3), transposed into an English Opening after 1... e6 2. c4 d5, and then started to resemble a Queen's Gambit Declined: Exchange variation (c4xd5) after 4. d4. The novelty was actually 9... Nbd7, played by NM Andrew Zheng. The two players exchanged evenly for quite some time. Eventually, black took control of the open c-file and then was allowed to invade the 2nd rank. White missed a surprising final chance at an equal game with 36. Nf2, and Jacob Wilkins resigned after 51 moves.

Next week, the Baltimore Kingfishers play the Arizona Scorpions on Wednesday, October 8th starting at 9:00 PM EDT.

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2014 Week 5 Review

Baltimore Kingfishers vs. Manhattan Applesauce 1.5-2.5
GM Akshayraj Kore (2543) - GM Robert Hungaski (2551) 0-1 View Game
IM Levan Bregadze (2530) - FM Andrew Shvartsman (2432) 1-0 View Game
IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat (2450) - FM Rico Salimbagat (2286) 0.5-0.5 View Game
NM Mark Ashland (2068) - NM Levy Rozman (2382) 0-1 View Game

Note: Players in italic have the white pieces.

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The Manhattan Applesauce defeated the Baltimore Kingfishers with a 2.5-1.5 score. Both teams actually retain their respective divisional standings as Manhattan (3.0-2.0 in match points) stays in 4th place in the Eastern Division while Baltimore (2.0-3.0) remains in 3rd place in the Southern Division.

Board 1: GM Akshayraj Kore vs. GM Robert Hungaski. The top board began with a Scandinavian Defense: Pytel variation (3... Qd6). GM Robert Hungaski played the novelty 8... Bxf3. However, 9... Nbd7 transposed into some previously played games, so another novelty, 11. Qe2, was played by GM Akshayraj Kore. GM Hungaski create an avenue for attacking with the f5-f4 pawn push, but then the game became a slow-piece-shuffling affair. Later, as both players had created an Alekhine's gun (2 rooks with a queen behind on the same file), the fireworks started with 38. Rxe6. White pinned the rook in front, but black showed that was not at all a problem as the white king was far too vulnerable. The game ended on move 44 with mate in 3 on the board.

Board 2: FM Andrew Shvartsman vs. IM Levan Bregadze. Board 2 featured a Modern Defense. IM Levan Bregadze played the novelty 8... Ngf6. As the middlegame went on, it was black that was forcing the play. However, even with winning a pawn after queens were traded, it was not clear that the advantage could be converted. IM Bregadze kept the pressure on FM Andrew Shvartsman as black's c-pawn slowly pushed forward. Finally, the blunder 69. Kg3 appeared and white resigned a couple moves later.

Board 3: IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat vs. FM Rico Salimbagat. Board 3 saw the usual Catalan from IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat's white play and FM Rico Salimbagat chose the Open variation (dxc4). FM Salimbagat steered towards uncharted territory with 8... c4 and the novelty 9... Bd7. Played soon focused on the queenside and the opening of the c-file. To finally break open the c-file, black accepted the material imbalance of two black rooks for white's knight, bishop and rook. However, not much play was seen from this imbalance as black's rooks were quickly placed on the 2nd rank and a draw was agreed as a repetition was clearly going to be played.

Board 4: NM Levy Rozman vs. NM Mark Ashland. The final board showcased a Trompowsky Attack with 2... Ne4 3. Bf4 c5. After taking an offered pawn on b2 in the opening, NM Mark Ashland played the novelty 8... g6 [8... g5 is the most popular choice with a (+2 =4 -3) record for black]. White was constantly threatening the black queen in the middle of the board, but there was a moment of respite when black could sacrifice the exchange with 13... e4 to get a more play than what actually occurred in the game. In the game, a queen exchange was forced and it was clear black's pieces had little mobility afterwards. Despite that, NM Ashland managed to hold onto the position for quite some time before NM Levy Rozman forced the final breakthrough. Black resigned on move 55.

Next week, Baltimore gets a rematch from Week 1 with the St. Louis Arch Bishops at 8:00 PM EDT on Tuesday, September 30th.

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2014 Week 4 Review

Atlanta Kings vs. Baltimore Kingfishers 0.5-3.5
IM Carlos Perdomo (2400) - IM Tanguy Ringoir (2583) 0-1 View Game
NM Damir Studen (2372) - IM Levan Bregadze (2530) 0-1 View Game
NM Richard Francisco (2382) - NM Jared Defibaugh (2325) 0-1 View Game
NM Michael Corallo (2284) - NM Andrew Zheng (2208) 0.5-0.5 View Game

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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In their first-ever meeting, the Baltimore Kingfishers defeated the Atlanta Kings with a 3.5-0.5 result. Baltimore scored wins on the top three boards and secured a draw on Board 4. The teams swapped places in the Southern Division standings as Baltimore (2.0-2.0 match record) is now in 3rd place (of 6) while Atlanta (1.5-2.5) is in 5th place.

Board 1: IM Carlos Perdomo vs. IM Tanguy Ringoir. The top board began with an unusual English Opening, 1. c4 f5 2. b3. IM Tanguy Ringoir played the novelty 7... g6. At first the game revolved around black's e4 pawn, but once that cleared up, black set his sights on the kingside. IM Carlos Perdomo did not find the best reaction on move 19 and his king's protection quickly disappeared. The game ended on move 25 with mate in 4 on the board.

Board 2: IM Levan Bregadze vs. NM Damir Studen. The second board saw a Slav Defense: Declined (4. e3). NM Damir Studen played the novelty 11... Qb4, and then, the game progressed into a rather closed position. NM Studen ambitiously chose to break open the position with 26... Nxg5. However, IM Levan Bregadze returned the extra bishop with 33. Bxa6 to create passed pawns on the queenside and take control of the game's course. Black resigned on move 46.

Board 3: NM Richard Francisco vs. NM Jared Defibaugh. Board three featured a Ruy Lopez: Cozio Defense Deferred (4... Nge7) that has been played before in the USCL by NM Jared Defibaugh. The positions in the late opening have been reached through various transpositions, so we saw the rather late novelty 19. Ng5 played by NM Richard Francisco. The middlegame had both sides playing with a queen, 2 knights, and the open f-file. In the ensuing knight and pawns endgame, white seems to have pressed too hard to find winning chances after declining a draw offer when Baltimore had already clinched the match victory. NM Defibaugh managed to convert a pawn advantage into another victory for Baltimore in 62 moves.

Board 4: NM Andrew Zheng vs. NM Michael Corallo. The fourth board exhibited another variation of the Ruy Lopez, the Closed Defense (4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0 Be7). The unusual 6... 0-0 allowed white to take a pawn. NM Andrew Zheng played the novelty 10. Nf3. In the middlegame, NM Michael Corallo sacrificed an exchange for capturing two pawns and opening diagonals for the dark-squared bishop. It seemed like black was nearing a decisive blow when shockingly, he sacrificed a rook and queen for a knight and two rooks, which left white with a queen for 2 bishops and a pawn. With victories on boards 1 and 2 already secured for Baltimore, NM Zheng went for a draw by threefold repetition to secure the match victory.

Note that IM Tenguy Ringoir gained his first victory in his USCL debut.

Next week, the Baltimore Kingfishers face the Manhattan Applesauce at 7:30 PM EDT on Tuesday, September 23rd.

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2014 Week 3 Review

Los Angeles Vibe vs. Baltimore Kingfishers 1.5-2.5
IM Andranik Matikozyan (2538) - GM Akshayraj Kore (2543) 0-1 View Game
FM Konstantin Kavutskiy (2397) - IM Levan Bregadze (2530) 0-1 View Game
FM Mark Duckworth (2316) - NM Jared Defibaugh (2325) 0.5-0.5 View Game
FM Michael Casella (2262) - NM Andrew Zheng (2208) 1-0 View Game

Note: Players in italic have the white pieces.

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The Baltimore Kingfishers defeated the Los Angeles Vibe in the first meeting between these two teams. Baltimore won on the top two boards and secured a draw on board 3 while Los Angeles won on Board 4. Baltimore (1.0-2.0 in match points) remains in 5th place (of 6) in the Southern Division. Los Angeles drops to a (0.0-3.0) record and 6th place (of 6) in the Western Division.

Board 1: IM Andranik Matikozyan vs. GM Akshayraj Kore. On the top board, what started as a Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense quickly transformed into a mix of the Wormald Attack (Ba4 and Qe2 for white) and the Moller Defense (a6, Nf6, and Bc5 for black). Surprisingly, the delayed exchange 8. Bxc6 was a novelty by IM Andranik Matikozyan. The middle game briefly featured two white knights vs. two black bishops where black seemed to have a slight advantage with play focusing on the center of the board. Then, GM Akshayraj Kore riskily took white's a2-pawn, and suddenly, it was white on the attack. White missed a few opportunities for a clear advantage and in time pressure, missed a mate in 2 that ended the game.

Board 2: IM Levan Bregadze vs. FM Konstantin Kavutskiy. Board 2 saw a Bogo-Indian Defense: Vitolins variation (4... c5). FM Konstantin Kavutskiy played the novelty 13... bxa3. The early middle was generally a solid but slow maneuvering battle until black perhaps overextended with the e-pawn push. Then, it liquidated into a rook and 2 pawns vs. rook and 1 pawn endgame where white had a clear win (with a bit of calculation). Instead, the game went into a queen ending with IM Levan Bregadze having an extra pawn, but it was actually a technically drawn ending. Black finally erred on move 75 and white was soon able to promote his final pawn. The game lasted a total of 90 moves before black resigned.

Board 3: FM Mark Duckworth vs. NM Jared Defibaugh. The third board featured a Trompowsky Attack answered with 2. d5. The novelty was 7... Qb6, played by NM Jared Defibaugh. [Note: This is one of the few times I have been able to cite a previous USCL game (FM Daniel Rensch - FM Michael Lee, 9/16/2009) in the analysis.] The middle game saw an interesting opening of the h-file with black having doubled-pawns on the f-file and g-file. Black missed a chance to gain an advantage (21... Rh2), and then, FM Mark Duckworth went for a line that saw white give a perpetual check.

Board 4: NM Andrew Zheng vs. FM Michael Casella. Board 4 started with a King's Indian Defense, but veered away from the Classical variation with 6... Nc6. FM Michael Casella played the novelty 8... e6. NM Andrew Zheng tried to open the game even more with 18... f4, but in retrospect, that seems too ambitious as black was the one who most benefited in the game. However, it was still fairly even until the blunder 25. Rd4 and the response 25... Nd3 forced the win of at least an exchange. In the end, black had pinned down white's pieces and NM Zheng resigned after 30 moves.


Note that GM Akshayraj Kore won his first game in his USCL debut.

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2014 Week 2 Review

Baltimore Kingfishers vs. Carolina Cobras 1-3
IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat (2450) - IM Kassa Korley (2486) 0-1 View Game
GM Larry Kaufman (2405) - NM Ilker Bozkurt (2383) 0-1 View Game
NM Jared Defibaugh (2325) - NM Kevin Mo (2334) 0-1 View Game
NM Andrew Zheng (2208) - FM Robin Cunningham (2268) 1-0 View Game

Note: Players in italic had the white pieces.

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The Carolina Cobras defeated the Baltimore Kingfishers by a 3-1 score. Carolina scored victories on the top three boards while Baltimore recouped a win on Board 4. Carolina moves into 4th place in the USCL's Southern Division while Baltimore drops into 5th place.

Board 1: IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat vs. IM Kassa Korley. The first board featured a Closed Catalan Opening with a novelty, 7... Na5, played by IM Kassa Korley. Rather suddenly, the a-file opened up and a multitude of exchanges were made until an opposite-colored bishop ending appeared on the board. Black was able to press due to his outside passed b-pawn being a promotion threat despite IM Korley never moving it farther than b5! In the end, he was able to advance his two kingside pawns and guarantee promotions before IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat resigned.

Board 2: NM Ilker Bozkurt vs. GM Larry Kaufman. The second board exhibited a French Defense: McCutcheon Variation with 8. Qg4 Kf8. Black playing Na5 was the novelty in this game as well though it occurred on move 17 here. Shortly after, there was a takeback incident when 21. exf6 gxf6 appeared on the board. Apparently, NM Ilker Bozkurt was playing with a physical board and writing moves on a scoresheet, and after 20... f6 was played, he instinctively typed "f6" to record the move rather than writing it on his scoresheet. The chess interface interpreted this as a move. After the onsite TD for Carolina verified that 21. exf6 was not played on the physical board and discussed it with the USCL TD, the takeback was granted with extra time given to GM Larry Kaufman per the USCL Rules, Section C. As the game resumed, black pressed on the queenside while white manuevered on the kingside. Black seemed to be making more progress until 34. g4 opened up possibilities on the kingside. Playing in time pressure, GM Larry Kaufman missed NM Bozkrurt's checkmate idea until the final position appeared, and then, his time ran out.

Board 3: NM Jared Defibaugh vs. NM Kevin Mo. Board 3 saw a sharp opening with a Semi-Slav Defense: Anti-Meran Variation, Shirov-Shabalov Gambit (7. g4). The novelty was 12. Bd2, played by NM Jared Defibaugh. A game between two former USCL players, IM Daniel Fernandez and IM Lev Milman, saw 12. g5 played (See analysis board below for full game). Perhaps wanting to avoid losing an exchange, NM Defibaugh played the line starting with 15. Ne5, which dropped a pawn. The line 15. Be2 Nxd2 16. Rxd2 Bf4 17. Kb1 Bxd2 18. Qxd2 offers white compensation for the exchange as white retains a presence in the middle of the board and black does not have a clearly good way to break into white's side of the board. NM Defibaugh tried to hold on while down a pawn for about 50 moves, but NM Kevin Mo sure-handedly converted the rook and pawns endgame.

Board 4: FM Robin Cunningham vs. NM Andrew Zheng. Board 4 showcased another French Defense though this game was a Steinitz Variation with 5. Nf3. NM Andrew Zheng played the novelty 9... Qb6. FM Robin Cunningham offered the b-pawn and NM Zheng took it thinking it was not as poisoned as in other openings. NM Cunningham tried to play energetically (i.e. 15. Bb5), but black calmly defended solidly. There must have been some miscalculation on white's part as the game ended with him down 2 rooks.

Note that NM Kevin Mo chalked up his first points and victory in the USCL while NM Ilker Bozkurt scored his first victory as well.

Next week, the Baltimore Kingfishers face the Los Angeles Vibe for the first time ever on Tuesday, September 9th starting at 9PM EDT.

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2014 Week 1 Review

St. Louis Arch Bishops vs. Baltimore Kingfishers 2.5-1.5
GM Le Quang Liem (2785) - GM Niclas Huschenbeth (2603) 1-0 View Game
GM Varuzhan Akobian (2758) - IM Levan Bregadze (2530) 1-0 View Game
WGM Anna Sharevich (2367) - NM Jared Defibaugh (2325) 0.5-0.5 View Game
Jacob Wilkins (1909) - NM Andrew Zheng (2208) 0-1 View Game

Note: Players in italic had the white pieces.

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The St. Louis Arch Bishops defeated the Baltimore Kingfishers with a 2.5-1.5 score. St. Louis scored wins on Boards 1 and 2 while Baltimore could only counter with a win on Board 4. St. Louis begins the season tied for first (2nd on tiebreak) in the Southern Division, and Baltimore is in the 4th spot (of 6) in the Southern Division. These two teams will have a rematch in Week 6 on September 30th.

Board 1: GM Le Quang Liem vs. GM Niclas Huschenbeth. The top board began with a Nimzo-Indian Defense: Nimzo-Queen's Indian Hybrid. The novelty was 14... Ne5, played by GM Niclas Huschenbeth. Black tried to slowly open up the queenside, seemingly underestimating how fast white's kingside attack would come. GM Le Quang Liem busted open black's king position, which allowed him to transition to cleaning up the queenside pawns. GM Huschenbeth held on to try some back-rank mate swindles, but resigned after those attempts were parried.

Board 2: IM Levan Bregadze vs. GM Varuzhan Akobian. The second board started with a Reti Opening: Advance Variation that transformed into what looked like a reverse-Blumenfeld's Gambit. GM Varuzhan Akobian played the novelty 8... b6. The critical moment of the game came after 20... Bxf3 when IM Levan Bregadze played the inferior move 21. b6 (as opposed to 21. c6; See analysis board below) and GM Akobian countered with 21... Nxb6. The game was slightly better for black after that sequence, but white may have had chances to hold a draw. However, black managed to keep an extra pawn and eventually cleared the way for his passed e-pawn to advance when white resigned.

Board 3: WGM Anna Sharevich vs. NM Jared Defibaugh. Board 3 exhibited with a Grunfeld Defense: Exchange Variation with 7. Ba3. NM Jared Defibaugh mentioned after the match that he saw WGM Anna Sharevich had several games with this move. They were following one of WGM Sharevich's games up until she varied from it with 12. Be2. After that, they were still following a couple games by GM Svidler (as black in both games) with one game against St. Louis' first board in this match, GM Le Quang Liem (Check out the analysis board below). The novelty was played by NM Defibaugh with 15... Re8. While the game lasted 73 moves and looked dangerous for black toward the end, the game never strayed far from equality. It ended as a draw by repetition.

Board 4: NM Andrew Zheng vs. Jacob Wilkins. The final board of the match saw another Nimzo-Indian Defense though this time, it was a Rubinstein variation (4.e3) with 4... b6. NM Andrew Zheng played the novely 10. Rb1. White slowly gained space with his pawns until he was able to break open the queenside and even win a pawn. Then, the game revolved around whether the passed d-pawn could march to promotion. The game nearly slipped away from white as black had some surprising drawing chances near the end. The game actually ended as Jacob Wilkins forfeited on time in a position where it was clear NM Zheng had sewn up the game. The final position is technically a mate in 6 (various lines) for white.


To conclude this week's review, note that two players (GM Le Quang Liem and WGM Anna Sharevich) secured their first points in the USCL, and two players (GM Le Quang Liem and NM Andrew Zheng) scored their first victory in the USCL.

Next week, Baltimore plays the Carolina Cobras on Wednesday, September 3rd starting at 7:20 EDT.

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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.

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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

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.

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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

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.

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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

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.

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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

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.

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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

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.

Reposted at: Chess.com blogs

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.

Reposted at: Chess.com blogs

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.

Reposted at: Chess.com blogs

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.

Reposted at: Chess.com blogs

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.

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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

Week 10 Review

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

Note: Players in italic have the white pieces.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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