The atmosphere in the clubhouse was tense… very business like. Not much joking around, not much “go Red Sox” talk. Chris Bird had the World Series game one on his PC during the match… but the lopsided (13–1) victory didn’t change the tone of the night… each Red Sox big inning seemed to bring another Blitz draw. The players (chess, that is) were in a zone. Maybe tightness was the problem as no player seemed to risk much (except for Ilya of course) and “refuse to lose” became “unable to win” as the Blitz drew all four boards and the match.

The night started with a GM Larry Christiansen venturing a Caro-Kann as Black against GM Alex Stripunsky’s Panov-Botvinnik attack. At one time, this opening seemed very sharp, but GMs today have it down pat. My favorite position, only because it somehow looks funny to me, is one with a check being blocked by a check and pieces and pawns attacked…

Position after 18.Qd4+

No danger here; after the exchanges things wind down to a Rook ending where Black has won a pawn… but cannot make use of it.

Position after 29.Re2

Here Black played 29…e6 and the draw was inevitable. Of course, taking the d pawn wouldn’t do much good either. Boston (0.5 – 0.5)

GM Eugene Perelshteyn played quite riskily in grabbing a pawn in this strange d-pawn opening against IM Eli Vovsha… obviously, his hope was to make use of the time it takes to win it back. But, Black’s space advantage made it a tough endgame… take a look…

Position after 13…e5

No way to hold it comfortably. After 14.c3 bxc3 15.bxc3 Ba6!, things seemed quite cramped for White. I couldn’t help but feel that Black was missing something as he exchanged down to the following interesting position…

Position after 25…Ra3

Now, I would probably have lost easily here as White and played 25.Qb2 thinking I was winning a Rook. But, Black is a tricky IM and has the very pretty 25…Rxc3 turning the tables and winning a pawn as 26.Qxc3 Qxc3 27.Rxc3 Bxd4+ just loses. But, GMs see these things (thank Caissa) and Eugene maintained a tense but ultimately un-winnable endgame…

Position after 31.Rb2

Draw agreed on move 42. Boston (1 – 1)

I have one word for both players in the game Ilya Krasik versus Michael Thaler… “Brave”… a wild Queens Gambit Botvinnik Attack with both players leaving caution behind. Actually, this game was the only one that Boston should have won. Credit Thaler for pulling out the draw.

Position after 21…axb5

In this position, Ilya thought a while before rejecting Ra6 and/or Ra7 both of which Fritz says win. But, no wonder… take a look at this variation… 22.Ra6 Ra8 23.Nxf6+ Qxf6 24.Rxa8 Bxa8 25.b3!… winning a pawn. Oops, Ilya missed this and played instead a move which wins the exchange, 22.Qc3!? Nxe4 23.Qxe5+ Qxe5
24.Bxe5 Bc5…

Position after 24…Bc5

And now, (do you see it?) 25.Nf6+! Nxf6 26.Bxb8… and White is up an exchange for a pawn. But, this is a little more complicated a win than the previously mentioned win of a pawn. Yet, Ilya reached the following winning position…

Position after 32…Kf8

There is a win after 33.Rd8+ Kg7 34.Rc8 Re6 35.Rh8 f5 36.Rcg8+ Kf6 37.Rxh6+ etc… But, Ilya missed this and the game wound it’s way down to the following cute ending….

Position after 52…Kxc3

This is a draw. I originally thought that 53.Rc4+ would win after 53…Kxc4 54.Kc2… but Black has 54…b1=Q+ 55.Kxb1 Kd3 56.Kb2 Ke2 57.f4 Kf2 and both pawns will Queen with a draw. Ilya played 53.Rb4 Kxb4 54.Kc2 Ka3 55.Kb1 Kb3 56.f4 Kc4 and Black’s King catches the f-pawn. Boston (1.5 – 1.5)

And now, the weight of the world (a Blitz win) fell on the shoulders of Superstar third board NM Denys Shmelov, playing Black in a Tarrasch French, against FM James Critelli.

By move 11 the position was devoid of life. I could see (and sometimes hear) Denys’s frustration. Try and win this one…

Position after 11…b6

Here White played the even more drawish 12.Ng5 Bb7 13.Ne4… when Black has nothing better than 13…Qe5 14.Nxf6+ Bxf6 15.Qxe5 Bxe5 and the players could agree to a draw. But, the match situation demanded that both play on. Of course, White does have the better of it with a queenside majority, which he very correctly began pushing.

With Denys straining to find winning chances, he probably pushed too hard and ended up on the tough side of a draw. Yet, my analysis with Fritz showed that he was never really lost.

In this position, the players shuffled rooks a few times from a7 to a8 and correspondingly from b7 to b8 before White retreated to continue. But, nothing eventful happened.

Position after 35…Rb7

Draw on move 67. Boston (2 – 2) match drawn.

Well, at least the Red Sox won. Can another Boston team struggle to a division win… and then hit their stride in the playoffs? Tune in next week… it should be a good one… Boston vs Philly for the title and, of course, Big Mo (momentum, that it).

Go Sox!