August 31st, 2008 
Mark La Rocca And they’re off!!! The Blitz that is… as New York’s lead horse stumbled out of the gate… killing the jockey… suffering a major broken ego… and leading the Knights to one disastrous night… as Boston gallops through the finish line… 3-1 Blitz wins… Theaaaaa Blitz Wins!
Before the match the trash talk piled up on both sides; so deep was the Horse @#$%& that even Boston’s always cool and somewhat dignified manager, Matt Phelps, felt compelled to lower himself into the muck as he responded to GM Shabalov’s offer to simul the Boston team with the very eloquent… “Oh yeah, well you’ll still be bald!” Now that’s gotta hurt.
But all this lovely banter is not the story I want to tell… rather, this story is about how the Knights rode in on fire breathing steeds with lances raised only to find Boston players brought snub-nosed 38’s… ouch! One by one, the gallant Knights fell… bang, you’re dead… starting with board four where Boston’s not so gallant NM Ilya Krasik, playing white against NM Evan Rosenberg, fired the first shot into New York’s heart.
NM Ilya Krasik vs. NM Evan Rosenberg – Board 4
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bg4!? Much more common is Bf5. 6. Ne5 Bh5 7. f3 Nd5 Now this move disturbed me as I suspected Ilya’s opponent had something strange prepared. 8. e4 Nxc3 9. bxc3 e6? I must admit that I don’t get this move. I thought that 9… b5 made sense out of Black’s previous …Nd5. Now I expected 10.Bxc4… when I think White is much better. Fritz agrees +.76… But, no way, true to form, Ilya makes us all bite our nails with 10.g4… inviting a check on h4 which surely levels things for Black, doesn’t it? 10… Bg6 I guess not. Now, after… 11. h4 f6 12. Nxg6 hxg6 13. Bxc4 Qc7 We reach our first truly interesting position.
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Position after 13…Qc7!?
Black tosses the e-pawn for some interesting play. Now Ilya can keep things quietly under control with Qe2 or Be3 or even f4. But, of course, he plays the quite good but just a bit too exciting 14. Bxe6 Qg3+ 15. Ke2 Qg2+ 16. Ke3 Bd6 17. Bc8 Nd7 18. Bxb7 Ne5??
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Position after 18…Ne5??
Well, it’s true Black was in trouble, but this is more than desperate. He chucks a whole rook, which Ilya takes and cruises (after a bit more excitement) to victory. Well done Ilya.
Before the match we had tagged this game as crucial, feeling that if Ilya wins, we really should at least draw the match. Ilya came through. His was the first game finished and took the pressure off… at least off some of us in the audience. The first Knight is toppled… long live Sir Ilya… or am I over the top here… Boston (1 – 0)
Now the next board to finish is a true grudge match… a duel to the death between two bitter rivals… the Ali vs. Frazier of USCL… the gallant Sir Jay vs. “just” Denys.
IM Jay Bonin vs. SM Denys Shmelov – Board 3
Before the match Denys was psyched for a theoretical duel. Both these players are well versed in a variety of openings and I think Denys really enjoys the challenge of playing against Jay. Things didn’t quite work out as Denys had hoped since White played cautiously and kept a draw in hand throughout.
1. g3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Bg2 c5 4. Nf3 Be7 5. O-O O-O 6. Nc3 Nc6 7. b3 a6 8. Bb2 Qc7 9. d4 cxd4 10. Nxd4 d6 11. Rc1 Nxd4 12. Qxd4 Bd7 13. Rfd1 Rfd8 14. h3 Rac8 15. Qe3 Qb8 16. Qb6 d5 17. cxd5 Bc5 18. Qa5…
After a rather passive opening, the players start to mix it up, if only just a little. White’s last invites Denys’ response and things get interesting…
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Position after 18.Qa5…
When I saw this position during the game, I thought that Black could try to trap White’s queen with 18…Qa7 19.dxe b6 but, what I missed is 20.Rxd7! Nxd7 21.Nb5… driving Black’s Queen and freeing White’s giving white a winning advantage. Wow… a good trap, which Black avoided with the best move (according to Fritz) 18… b6! 19. Qxa6 Qxg3 20. e3 Qg5 21. b4 Bxb4 22. dxe6 Bxe6 23. Rxd8+ Rxd8 24. Qxb6… and now we reach a second interesting point…
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Position after 24.Qxb6…
Now I thought Black might go for 24…Nd5 25.Nxd5 Bxd5 26.Qxd8! Qxd8 27.Rd1… and after White takes the Bishop, Black is a scooch better (scooch being a technical Fritz term meaning -.40 but, realistically there is no way for Black to break through on the kingside. So, Denys went for the completely equal 24….Be7 and coasted to a draw. Well, this time the bullet missed the Knight but felled the horse, as Boston crept closer to a match win… Boston (1.5 – 0.5)
On Board 2, IM Dave Vigorito was cruising to a win against SM Gregory Braylovsky, one of last years toughest players. But, luck went against us here as the usual lost connection happened at a bad time and when the connection was restored, Dave had lost 2 minutes leaving him with little time left. Since he is new to this format, he was unsure of whether he would be given time back. This caused him to blitz a few moves during which he blundered to a draw. There must be a better way to recover from disconnects. A player’s clock should never be running until his time is restored… but, in this case, Boston suffered no harm. Let’s take a look…
IM Dave Vigorito vs. SM Gregory Braylovsky - Board 2
1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 b6 3. Nc3 Bb7 4. e4 d6 5. d4 cxd4 6. Nxd4 Nf6 7. f3 e6 8. Be2 Be7 9. Be3 O-O 10. O-O a6 11. Qd2 Nbd7 12. a4 Rc8 13. a5…
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Position after 13.a5…
My extensive research (just kidding) says that the move for Black is now 13…Ne4 possibly leading to the rather forcing sequence (GM Adams – FM Van Wely 1997… 14. axb Nxc4 15. Bxc4 Rxc4 16. Nb3 Rb4 17. Na5 Ba8 18. Na4 Rb5 19. Nc3… with a draw by repetition. Instead, SM Braylovsky got himself into difficulties with… 13. a5 bxa5 14. Nb3 a4 15. Nxa4 d5! giving away the isolated d-pawn for activity. 16. exd5 exd5 17. c5 d4 18. Qxd4 Nd5 19. Bf2 Bf6 20. Qc4 Ne5 21. Qc2 Nb4 22. Qb1 Re8 23. Nb6 Rc7 24. Ra4 Nec6 25. Rd1 Qe7 26. Bf1 g6 27. Re1 Qf8 28. Rxe8 Qxe8 29. Nd2 Qd8 30. Ne4 Bd4 31. Qe1 Bxf2+ 32. Qxf2 a5 33. Ra1 Ne5 34. Nd6 Bc6 35. Rxa5 Qf6 36. Ra3 Re7 37. Qd2 Nbd3 38. Rxd3 Nxd3 39. Qxd3 Qxb2 Now, after some excellent maneuvering, White has consolidated his advantage in the form of two Knights and advanced passed pawn for a Rook.
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Position After 39…Qxb2
White is winning of course. But, right around here is where the connection was lost and when White’s clock started minus a few minutes Dave made some quick moves… 40. Nd5 Re1 41. Qc3??… giving away the win in such a wonderfully played game has to be frustrating. Almost any other move wins, as long as White protects his bishop. The game ended… 41…Qe2! 42. Nf6+ Kf8 43. Nxh7+ Kg8 44. Nf6+ Kf8 45. Nh7+ Kg8 draw agreed. Black cannot escape the checks with 45….Ke7 46.Qf6+ Kd7 47.Qxf7+ Kd8 48.Qg8+ Be8 49.Qxe8+ and White wins. Oddly, I felt that this game was the most dominant performance of the night from a Boston perspective. White was just clearly better all the way. Great first performance Dave. I suspect there will be many more this season. Again, we missed the target and only shot the horse… but, this game clinched at least a draw and probably a win since Jorge was in his stride on board one. Boston (2 – 1)
And now, on to the most exciting game of the match. Sometimes I think I should close my eyes and only look at Jorge’s game when the match is over. It would save a lot of wear on the heart for sure… Ilya couldn’t even watch the analysis after the game… “It makes my head hurt” he kept repeating and walked away. The game began quietly enough between the two combinative titans.
GM Alex Shabalov vs. SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun - Board 1
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. c4 c6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5… When I saw this move I knew we would be in for some fireworks. 5….h6 6. Bh4 dxc4 7. e4 g5 8. Bg3 b5 9. Be2 Bb7 10. O-O Nbd7 11. Ne5 Bg7 Right about now I had a sinking feeling. GM Shabalov is not a person to turn down a challenge. I was talking with Jorge’s good friend David Harris. I nervously asked, “Did Jorge prepare against this?” David calmly replied, “No. But, Jorge knows everything.” Well, that was comforting, I thought. But, Shabalov’s next move shook my confidence. 12. Nxf7!?… Oh, no! Now we’re in Shabalov’s analysis… he’s probably writing a book on this opening… Jorge’s whole variation has been refuted… my thoughts ran quickly and randomly. Please forgive me Jorge… I should have more faith.
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Postion after 12.Nxf7…
Again, my extensive research (searching Chessbase online) showed only 4 games with this sacrifice… The famous Topolav-Kramnik, January 2008, which Topolav won, and Timman-Lubojevic, January 2008, which Lubojevic won… and two others later that year. The game continued… 12… Kxe7 13. e5 Nd5 14.Ne4 Ke7 15.Nd6 Qb6 Now, Topalov and Timman both played 16.Bg4!?… But, this is where Shablov varied. 16.Qc2!?… Now What? I was losing confidence again.
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Position after 16.Qc2…
Jorge’s answer… 16…Qxd4 shook the building foundation, or so it seemed, as everyone jumped to their feet. This was quickly followed by an almost forced series of moves. 17. Rad1 Qb6 18. Qg6 Bxe5 19. Bg4 Nf8
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Position after 19…Nf8
All through this sequence Fritz gives Black a winning 1.5 pawn advantage; but, I can tell you nobody felt that way during the game. Shabalov plays the only move to continue the attack. 20. Qf7+ Kxd6 21.Bxe5+ Kxe5 22. Qg7+ Kd6 23. Qxh8… White gets no more that a Rook for two minor pieces and pawn… not enough. Showing some very nice technique, Jorge consolidated with… 23. Qxh8 Qc7 24. Qxh6 Qe7 25. Rfe1 Rd8 leaving little doubt as to the outcome. GM Shabalov resigned on move 52 giving Boston the match. Boston (3 – 1)
Well, that’s what I saw in person and many of you missed… just more incentive for all you kibitzers to come down and sweat along with us. What a story… Two gallant Knights fell along with two innocent horses. My only regret is that we had to shoot the horses. I feel bad about that… I really do… Naaahhh!
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Since you’re making such a big deal of the disconnection in my game – just want to correct you: it occurred after white’s 42nd move in a drawn position, so had no effect on the end result. It’s true that Dave was winning before, simplest of all with 38. Bd3. Also, I had many possible improvements, for example 29… Bd4 or 34… Ned3.
I am not sure Greg is correct about the move at which the disconnection happened. I do remember, Dave panicking a bit because he had just lost two minutes on his clock when the play resumed and was under 1 min, instead of having almost 3. I wanted to tell him in my best Bob Marley impersonation, “it will be ol rite mun”, but I realized it’s not gonna really help so I went to look for Matt instead
In general, I’ve been involved in many games where such disconnections occurred, often multiple times during a single game, and even though you know they will fix things and make it right it still kind of plays tricks with your confidence and concentration. I agree with Mark that Dave played very well and should have won the game.
I apologize for the innaccuracy. In the excitement of Jorge’s game and Dave’s disconnect, I just assumed that the reason for Dave’s blunder was after the disconnect. But, I still think we need a better way to recover from these every match occurrences.
Gregory is correct about the timing of the disconnection, it happened after Qc3.
the disconnection did occur after the blunder indeed. for me the real “cause” of the blunder was me switching from the real board to the computer screen. this was my first game in the USCL and it was very disorienting to switch from a board and pieces to an unfamiliar computer screen with just a couple of minutes. I basically froze, and later I was told I actually thought myself down to 8 seconds before producing the blunder. At least it wasn’t losing!
Yep, switching is tricky – I had the same problem in my game with Milman in 2005. Btw, I was very confident/hopeful that Dave would play 41. Ne4, which looks really good in time pressure… consolidating and attacking weak f6 square at the same time… but loses immediately to 41… Bb5. Also, talking about faulty chronology… everybody who commented on our match has the games finishing in the board order (4,3,2,1), when in fact it was(4,3,1,2). Not that it makes much difference.