The match between the Boston Blitz and the Carolina Cobras seemed somehow unreal… more like a boxing match where the fighter gets bruised and cut and knocked down… but just keeps getting up until his arm weary opponent flails himself into oblivion and falls exhausted to his knees.  My father often spoke of such a fighter, Rocky Graziano… “You had to kill him to beat him,” he would say.  They made a movie about this guy.  It was called “Somebody up there likes me.”  Yeah, you need guts, and toughness in any competition… but you also need some luck… somebody up there looking out for you.  And this is exactly what the Blitz had in this second playoff round as they gutted out an unbelievable match win over what must be a demoralized Carolina team.  They had Boston on the ropes and couldn’t finish them.

IM Milman was up two pawns… yet unable to escape a cute perpetual check by Boston’s top board GM Perelshteyn.

Boston’s 2nd board, SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun was tactically lost in his brawl with FM Zaikov… and Zaikov couldn’t find the killer… allowing Jorge to come back.  Overlooking a shot of his own, Jorge ceded Zaikov a perpetual check draw.

SM Marc Esserman, Boston’s third board, was down a pawn in a Rook endgame to FM Ron Simpson who just couldn’t find the win as Black in what seemed an excruciatingly painful draw for the Cobras.

Finally, on fourth board, the Cobras’ NM Craig Jones was in control as White’s space advantage seemed overwhelming… when NM Ilya Krasik got up off the mat and landed a body blow bringing home the game and the match win.

As Boston walked away, the fallen Cobras must have been thinking… “I coulda been a contender.”

First to finish was a topsy-turvy top board struggle…

GM Eugene Perelshteyn (BOS)  vs  IM Lev Milman (CAR)  –  Board 1

1. d4…

Apparently, Eugene is tired of playing the Maroczy Bind… his last three USCL games have been Maroczy’s… one White and two Black.

1… d5 2. c4 c6 3. cxd5 cxd5 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. Bg5 Ne4 6. Nxe4 dxe4 7. a3 Qd5 8. Bh4 Nc6 9. e3 e5 10. Ne2 exd4 11. Nc3 Qa5!?

I could only find 11… Qd2 and …Qf4 in databases for this position.  I doubt that this is new, but maybe… nor can it be worse than the known moves.

12. exd4 g5 13. Bg3 Bg7 14. Bc4 O-O 15. O-O Bf5 16. Qb3 Qb6

Position after 16…Qb6

This odd move brings equality… however, since Carolina has draw odds, the transposition to an equal endgame highly favors Black.  As we shall see, White struggles to create winning chances after this.

If White wanted a more complex game, he should have avoided this line and gone in for something like….  16.d5 Ne5 17.Be2 Rfd8 18.Qd2 h6 19.Rad1 Nd3 20.d6… This is also equal, but the advanced pawn creates some complications.

17. Qxb6 axb6 18. Bd5…

Better was 18.d5 Ne5 19.Bb5 Rfd8 20.h4… =

18… Rfe8

Black could have played 18…Bxd4 19.Bxe4 Bxe4 20.Nxe4 h6 and the threat of 21… f5 attacking the Knight and …f4 winning the Bishop gives Black the edge.

19. Nb5 Red8 20. Nd6 Bg6 21. Rae1 Bxd4 22. Bxe4?!…

Now, White has a tough road to a draw…

Position after 22.Bxe4?!

White could have forced Black to sack the exchange with the following…

22.Rd1 Bxb2 23.Nxb7 Rxd5 (Worse is 23… Rc8 24.Nd6… and the Rook can no longer protect the Knight as after 24… Rc7 25.Nc4… wins) 24.Rxd5 Rxa3 25.Rd6 Ra7 26.Rxc6 Rxb7 27.Rc7 Rxc7 28.Bxc7… and Black should draw… But White has the advantage as he will win the b-pawn.

Analysis position after 28.Bxc7

White will win the b-pawn, but with nothing but kingside pawns left… this looks like a draw… Yet, White can play on for quite a while with no danger of losing.

After the game move, Black will win a pawn and have winning chances.

22… Bxe4 23. Nxe4 h6 24. Bc7 Rdc8 25. Bd6 Bxb2 26. f4 g4 27. f5 Kg7 28. Ng3 Rd8 29. Nh5+ Kh7 30. Be7 Rd2?!

30… Nxe7 31.Rxe7 Bd4+ 32.Kh1 Kg8 33.Re4 Kf8 34.Rxg4 Rxa6 keeps good winning chances for Black.
Now White proceeds to make things difficult for Black.

31. Re4 Rd4 32. Re2 Bxa3?

Black could have traded his Knight for the e7 Bishop on any of the last several moves and kept the advantage.

Position after 32…Bxa3

The draw is certain now after…  33.Nf6+ Kg7 34.Nh5+ Kg8 35.Bxa6 Rxa6 36.Re8+ Kh2 37.Nf6+… with a perpetual.  However… White errors with the wrong move order…

33. Bxa3? Rxa3 34. Re8 Rd8?

34… Rd6 would have punished White for this error and kept an advantage for Black… although it is no easy win.

Now, it is a draw by perpetual check…

35. Nf6+ Kg7 36. Nh5+ Kh7 37. Nf6+ Kg7 38. Nh5+ Kh7

Great drawing scheme by White… beginning with 27.f5…

Tough luck for IM Milman as he outplayed White… before letting things slip.  Boston (0.5 – 0.5)

And now to the slugfest on board 2… where some strange moves left audience members scratching their heads.

FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR)  vs.  SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS)  –  Board 2

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 a6 5. Bd3 dxc4 6. Bxc4 e6 7. O-O c5

On the webcast, NM Charles Riordan and FM Paul MacIntyre were explaining to viewers how this had transposed from a Slav to a Queen’s Gambit accepted… a tough one to win for Black and Boston needed a win here… or so the prevailing thought was at the time.

8. Bb3 Nc6 9. Nc3 Qc7 10. Qe2 Be7 11. dxc5 Bxc5 12. e4 Ng4 13. g3 O-O 14. Bf4 e5 15. Nd5 Qd6 16. Be3…

The first move out of the book… and it doesn’t seem to be a good one, as Black now gains the two Bishops and an advantage.

Position after 16.Be3

The following odd line is book… 16.Bd2 Nf6 17.Be3…  White sacks the e4 pawn for compensation… I played this out a few moves and it seems about equal… though I would tend to favor Black after 17… Nxe4 winning a pawn.

16… Nxe3 17. fxe3?!…

This is the “in for a penny, in for a pound” theory of chess… at least White gets an open file.

17… Bg4 18. Qe1 Kh8 19. Rc1 f5 20. Ng5 f4?

And this is the “Who… me worry?” theory of chess.  Black goes from a nice advantage to lost with this one move.

Position after 20…f4?

21. gxf4 exf4

Why not?  21… h6 or Bd7 was better but passively lost.

22. Qh4 h5 23. Rxc5…

This move is winning and strong… but, 23.h3… just seems easier…   23… fxe3 24.Rxf8 Rxf8 25.hxg e2+ 26.Kg2… and it’s over, or, is it?… 26…Ne5 27.Qxh5+ Qh6 28.Rh1 Nxg4 29.Nf3 Qxh5 30.Rxh5+ Nh6 31.Rh1 b5 32.Re1… and White gathers in the pawn… I guess nothing is easy in chess.

23… Qxc5 24. Ne6 Qd6 25. Nxf8 Rxf8 26. exf4?…

But, this move draws… 26.h3! Bd7 27.Qh5+ Qh6 28.Qxh6 gxh 29.exf… gives an easy win with two extra pawns.

26… Qg6! 27.f5 Qh6?

It’s not often you’ll see Jorge make a gaff like this… Simply 27… Bh3+! And the Queen is immune due to the mate.  By the way… this was pointed out by Jorge’s father over the phone after the match… none of us… nor, Jorge even saw it.

Position after 27.f5

After 28.Kf2! Bxf1 29.Kxf1 Qh6 30.Qf4 Kh7 31.Kf2… White should draw with one pawn for the exchange… But, Black does have chances.

After the game move, Black is again lost.

28.Ne7?… 28.e6!… was, again, the winner. now… White has no win.

28… Nxe7 29. Qxe7 Qe3+ 30. Rf2 Rc8 31. Bc4 Rxc4?

This gives up the draw… Black would have an advantage after 31…Bxf5? And the Bishop cannot be taken as White’s Queen hangs.  However, the game is still difficult to win.  Fritz gives the rather long-winded…
31…Bxf5 32.Qf7 Bh7 33.b3 Qg5+ 34.Rg2 Qe5 35.h4 Bxe4 36.Rg5 Qd4+ 37.Qf2 Qa1+ 38.Qf1 Qxf1+ 39.Kxf1 g6 and Black is a pawn up with a difficult win, if there is one.

Analysis position after 39…g6

Without a doubt, this position would take some time to play… and with both players in time trouble… I give the advantage to Jorge.

32. Qe8+…

Position after 32.Qe8+

White takes the perpetual.

32… Kh7 33. Qg6+ Kh8 34. Qe8+ Kh7 35. Qg6+… draw

Nice save Jorge… with a lot of luck from above… and a very disappointing result for FM Zaikov, I’m sure…  He definitely had Jorge staggering a bit… but no Knockout here… thank God.  Boston (1-1)

And now we look at Boston’s third board and third to finish… the gambit master meets the pawn keeper in Ghostbusters III.

SM Marc Esserman (BOS)  vs.  FM Ron Simpson (CAR) – Board 2

1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 dxc3

A Morra gambit… what else…

4. Nxc3 Nc6 5. Nf3 e6 6. Bc4 a6 7. O-O Nge7 8. Bg5 f6 9. Be3 b5 10. Bb3 Ng6 11. h4…

This unusual move seems, at first glance, a bit illogical… as it seeks to drive the Knight to where it obviously wants to go… e5.  Yet it gains space on the Kingside and dares Black to castle there.  Gambits are always a game of chicken… Let’s see who blinks first.

11…Bb7 12. h5 Nge5 13. Nxe5 Nxe5 14. f4 Nc4 15. Bxc4 bxc4 16. Qg4…

This move is in keeping with the advance of the h-pawn.  The kingside intimidation continues.  I must say that I didn’t like this move when I first saw it since I thought that this might be a wasted tempo as it slows the advance of the g-pawn.  I favored Qe2… with a wait and see attitude.

16… Qc7 17. Rad1 Bc5 18. Bxc5 Qxc5+ 19. Rf2 Qe7 20. Rfd2 Bc6 21. Rd6…

Well, the initial skirmish is over and we can survey the damage.

Position after 21.Rd6

21.Rd4… may have been better… simply threatening to take the c-pawn.  After the game move, Black can play 21…Rb8 since it seems that White will need to retreat the advanced Rook.  For example, if 22.R1d2 O-O Black immediately threatens …Rxb2 as the advanced Rook is hanging.

21. Qe2… Was 16.Qg4… inaccurate?

21… f5 This is only equal. 21…Rb8 gave Black an advantage.

22. e5 Rc8?! This move was a mystery to the analysts in the webcast… and to Marc as well… why not …Rb8?

24. R1d4 Qh4 25. Rxc4 Rf7?!

Black pins his c6 Bishop with another mystery move and now is worse.

26. Rd3 Rb8 27. b3 Be4?!

Swapping the f-pawn for the cramping h-pawn.

Position after 27…Be4?!

Maybe 27… Bb5 is a bit better.  But, Black is running out of ideas and so he opts to mix it up.

28. Nxe4 fxe4 29. Qxe4 Qxh5 30. Rc7 Rd8 31. g3?!…

White has a free hand on the queenside and should get his pawns rolling with 31.b4…  The game move is too passive and, more importantly, removes the possibility of Rh3…

31…g5! Black points out why White’s previous move was not the best.

32. Qf3 Qg6 33. Qg4 h6 34. f5…

Marc sacrifices a pawn to get to a drawish endgame.  34. Rd2… was probably best, but, he shows that the game move will do.

34… Qxf5 35. Qxf5 Rxf5 36. Rdxd7 Rxd7 37. Rxd7 Rxe5 38. Ra7 a5 39. Kf2 g4 40. a4 Rf5+ 41. Kg2 Rc5 42. Rb7 Rc2+ 43. Kg1 Rb2 44. Kf1 Kf8 45. Rh7 Rxb3 46. Rxh6 Ke7 47. Rh5 Rxg3 48. Rxa5 Kf6

Position after 45…Rxb3

Can this endgame be won?  Marc demonstrates that it cannot.  The procedure is simple… advance the a-pawn to the 7th rank with the Rook on a8 and then Black cannot expose his King without losing to a check.

49. Kf2 Ra3 50. Ra8 Ke5 51. a5 Kf4 52. Rf8+ Ke4 53. Ra8 Kf4 54. Rf8+ Ke4 55. Ra8…

A draw was agreed at this point as Black sees that he cannot make progress.  Boston (1.5 – 1.5)

A tough draw to accept for FM Simpson… and a good result for Marc and the team… as Ilya was looking good.

NM Craig Jones (CAR)  VS.  NM Ilya Krasik (BOS)  –  Board 4

1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 Bg4 4. O-O c6 5. d4 Nbd7 6. Nbd2 e6 7. Re1 Be7 8. e4 dxe4 9. Nxe4 Nxe4 10. Rxe4 Bf5 11. Re1 O-O 12. c3 Qb6 13. Nd2 Qa6

Of late, Ilya’s opponents have been choosing passive openings when he is playing Black… Why?… who knows… I guess the draw odds in the match may have contributed to NM Jones’ choice.

Position after 13…Qa6

There is an old saying… “A Queen on the rim… is dim.”  Funny, Ilya seems to use this Queen as bate… moving it here and there… daring his opponent to become aggressive.  Possibly, a better play for Black was to grab some space with 12…a5 before going on such an adventure.

14. b4 Nb6 15. Nb3 Qc4 16. Bd2 Qd3?

Position after 16… Qd3?

This was Ilya’s only bad move of the game… White can now win a pawn with…  17.Bf1 Qc2 18.Qxc2 Bxc2 19.Na5…  since 19…Rb8 is countered by 20.Bf4… driving the Rook away and winning the b-pawn.

Analysis position after 19.Na5

White is probably winning since he has no real weaknesses and an extra pawn.  But wait… White misses this and the whole webcast team let out a sigh of relief.

17. Rc1 Qa6 18. Na5 Bd3 19. Be3 Bc4 20. Qd2 Rfd8 21. f4 Bf6 22. Qf2 Bd3 23. Red1 Rd7 24. g4 Nd5 25. Qd2 Be2 26. Bf1 Bxf1 27. Rxf1 g6 28. Bf2 Rad8 29. c4 Ne7 30. Nb3 b6 31. Be3 Qa4 32. Rf3 Bg7 33. Rcf1 Qa6

Nothing much has been happening… and the Queen returning to a6 brought a laugh from everyone in the webcast room… it just seemed funny…

Position after 33…Qa6

Rueben Fine once said of Bobby Fischer that he liked to attack with pieces from the edge of the board… Being a psychologist, he surmised that this was due to his deep hatred of women.  Hmmm… I see a pattern here…

White has gained some space and Ilya is still trying to bate him.

34. Qe2 Qa4 35. Qd2 Qa6

Fritz liked 35…c5 36.bxc Qxc4  Opening up an attack on d4 and clearing d5 for the Knight.

36. Qe2 Qb7 37. h4 Qc8 38. Rh3 Qa8 39. h5 Qb7 40. hxg6 hxg6 41. Qf2…

Here Fritz, space grabbing monster that he is, loved 41.a4… giving it White +1.00 advantage.  Can’t say I blame him… that’s a lot of territory White has grabbed.  After the game move, we are still equal.

41. Qf2 Qa6 42. Qh4 f5 43. d5 Qxc4

Finally, White fell for the old Q on a6 trick.

Position after 43…Qxc4

Black is winning… The Qa6 has done it’s job and won a pawn.  His Rooks will be doubled on an open file… White’s attack is bogus.  An amazing turn of events.

44. dxe6 Qxe6 45. Bf2 fxg4 46. Rg3 Rd1 47. Qxg4 Rxf1+ 48. Kxf1 Qc4+ 49. Kg2 Qe4+ 50. Qf3 Qxb4 51. f5 Rf8 52. Rg4 Qb5 53. Nd4 Bxd4 54. Bxd4 Qxf5

Position after 54…Qxf5

With some nifty maneuvering, Ilya has produced a three pawn advantage and a very safe position.  White has no hope.

55. Qe2 Nd5 This move just about forces the exchange of Queens.

56. Qe4 Qxe4+ 57. Rxe4 Kf7

Now that the Queens are off the board, White should have resigned.  But, since this loss meant a match loss… White played on… resigning on move 90.  Boston (2.5 – 1.5)

What an unbelievable game… Definitely my Game of the Match… and credit Ilya with the determination to get it done.  Both players in this game gave it everything… consolation goes to NM Jones and congratulations Ilya… I think if MVP were held now… He would definitely be in the running.

What a match… what a great group of team players… each game was a struggle and in each the Boston player never gave in… Somebody up there definitely likes Boston… somebody down here too…

And my favorite quote from the movie…

“I never should have left the lingerie business.  I was the happiest man in women’s underwear.”

I think that sums it up pretty well… don’t you?