Chess is a funny game… funny strange, that is. When you think you have a draw… it’s a loss… when you think you have a win… it’s a draw… or, mama mia, a loss. Such was my roller coaster ride last Monday as the Blitz went down to the Baltimore Kingfishers, (1 – 3) with the Blitz playing the part of the fish.

This was a tough one to take as the Blitz were in clear first and a win would mean a nice step toward the playoffs. I figured no worse that a draw here… But, I forgot to take into consideration the opponent. They showed up… Big Time.

Board one looked like a sure win early. FM Griego pushed it to a two pawn advantage against grizzled veteran GM Larry Kaufman… no trouble here right… wrong! A truly mysterious draw.

Board two saw Vadim play beautifully. Black, IM Tegshuren Enkbaht, had an extra doubled pawn but no hope of development… again, I thought… Vadim the conqueror… but Ohhhh those Rook endgames… draw.

Board three, Ilya was my pick to win one and he held the advantage through to the endgame against NM Jared Defibaugh… certainly he had draw in hand , then boom! Those tricky Knights and a loss.

Board four really broke my heart… It’s not easy to play a gambit against the Queen’s Indian… but, gambit Chris did in a wonderful attacking game… if only he would have seen 22.Rd7… NM Ian Schoch would have been toast… instead, it was a champagne toast for the Kingfishers… The agony of defeat for Chris… lets take a look…
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The Baltimore Kingfishers will host the Boston Blitz this Monday night at the CMC Academy. Let’s give the address for fans who may want to spend a lovely evening watching the hottest team in the East…

CMC Academy
201 Wayland Ave.
Providence, RI

Come on down and wander among the boards… listen to some post-game analysis… and cheer on your favorite team. Believe me, the drive is worth it.

This week the Blitz are without Jorge and Marc. Does this remind you of your favorite baseball team… Hey guys, it’s too early to rest for the playoffs. Nonetheless, they field a formidible lineup. Let’s take a look…

       White			   Black
-------------------------------------------------
1.  GM Kaufman (BAL)		FM Griego (BOS)
2.  NM Martirosov (BOS)		IM Enkhbat (BAL)
3.  FM Defibaugh (BAL)		NM Krasik (BOS)
4.  NM Gu (BOS)			NM Schoch (BAL)

GM Larry Kaufman (BAL) vs FM David Griego (BOS) – Board 1

GM Kaufman is always well prepared and his experience gives the edge here. FM Griego will, I’m sure, be determined to rebound from his opening day jitters. I think maybe 1.d4… and a Semi-Slav… David, hope you read Larry’s book. Draw
Boston (0.5-0.5)

NM Vadim Martirosov (BOS) vs. IM Tegshuren Enkhbat (BAL) – Board 2

Vadim’s stellar play (2 wins) merits a bump up in board. Maybe his toughest matchup in his years with the Blitz. Another Semi-Slav?… You betcha… It’ll be theory all night at the CMC Academy. My gut says a draw. Boston (1-1)

FM Jared Defibaugh (BAL) vs NM Ilya Krasik (BOS) – Board 3

Ilya was making faces and slamming pieces last week. But, he is playing well. This is my pick to win the match in a wide open/crazy closed Siciliam. Boston (2-1)

NM Christopher Gu (BOS) vs NM Ian Schoch (BAL) – Board 4

Chris needs another week 1-like hold… nothing fancy… keep it under control… maybe 1.d4 d5 ? Well, who knows. I still say draw… Boston (2.5-1.5) in a squeeker.

And the Blitz sneak by on a week without their top guns… they’re that good.
Too much you say. Well, call me a homer, but don’t call me late for supper.
Go Blitz!

Hello and welcome to my post-season recap. The nature of sports or any competitive activity is brutal, one winner and everyone else goes home unhappy. It was another strong season from the Boston Blitz and one in which unfortunately we came up short, again.
The regular season as successful as it may have seemed, could have been even stronger in my opinion. The availability was a big issue for some players. Sure, it is unlikely we would have won 1st place given how well our cross-town rivals fared but we would have had a shot. Nonetheless, we were feeling very optimistic heading into the post-season especially when after our last match tie with NY secured a first round playoff match with the less dangerous Baltimore, no offense to them but NY has given us more headaches lately. We won the Quarter-Finals in spectacular fashion, dispatching the Kingfishers in almost record time. In the Semi-finals, things were going pretty well, despite losing relatively quickly on board 4. We had good positions on boards 1 and and close to winning already on board 3 and on board 2, things quickly went from = to winning for us. Take a look at this position from Hungaski(IM) -Sammour(GM elect:) )

The Boston Blitz finished the season with (5 wins – 4 draws – 1 Loss) posting the second best record in the league at (7 – 3). Congratulations to Manager Jorge Sammour-Hasbun and, of course, to assistant Manager Matt Phelps. Strong management is the hallmark of the Blitz and has kept them a perennial playoff team. Of course, they can only “put them in a position to win”. It’s the players that must “execute”… and they did so in fine style this year. I can say that it has been a pleasure and privilege to analyze and write about this great team over the years… and no, I am not retiring, Matt. But, certainly the team will miss it’s stalwart, hardest working team member, Mr. Matt Phelps.
Well, each of the Blitz players is owed a big thank you. They produced some exciting games and I feel I owe this short revue to a bunch of great players and great guys.
And Please forgive me if I got any of the records wrong… math is my strong suit… but, paying attention to detail is not.
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In another shocking bit of personnel news, Assistant Manager Matt Phelps has announced to the team via email that he won’t be returning for the 2011 season. “The time commitment (mostly ‘away from the board’) has just become too much,” said Phelps. He has been with the team since its very inception, helping to form the team and providing technical assistance in 2005, then three years as Manager, and the last two as Assistant Manager for Jorge Sammour-Hasbun. During his management tenure the team has made the playoffs all five seasons, twice making it to the finals (in 2007 and 2008). He continued, “I want to thank all of you for a truly remarkable six(!) seasons. I’ve learned an amazing amount about the game (I hope to return to the team someday, as a player ), and enjoyed (almost) every minute of being with you guys.”

Phelps plans on increasing his playing and directing activities, both locally and nationally.

Team, and League officials could not be reached for comment.

IM Mark Esserman has announced on a guest post at the USCL blog his “unconditional retirement from the US Chess League.” See http://usclnews.blogspot.com/2010/11/im-marc-esserman-guest-annotates-again.html for his annotations of some recent games, the announcement, and some lively discussion in the comments section.

The Blitz wish “Catdog” the best of luck with his future career.

Hello again, since my last post was a total failure, I know I must really put the work in this time. Well, my “temporary insanity” post lost to an article that took a whole 10-min to write BUT which featured lots of multiple choice questions and we all know the judges are suckers for those. SO without further ado, lets start with a multiple choice question of our own:

When preparing for a playoff USCL opponent, what is the best preparation method?

A. use your own head and common sense.
B. Watch Inspirational videos like Rocky and Scarface.
C. Make a dummy that looks like your opponent’s head and riddle it with machine gun fire.
D. Use, higher rated players on YOUR team
E. Use, higher rated players on HIS  team.
F. Pray to God                                                      

Hint: The answer is somewhere below.

         White                 Black
1. GM Erenburg (BAL)        GM Christiansen (BOS)
2. IM Esserman (BOS)        IM Enkhbat (BAL)
3. FM Zimmer (BAL)          NM Martirosov (BOS)
4. NM Krasik (BOS)          NM Balasubramanian (BAL)

Wicked Witch of the East-erman

Well, it’s the Playoffs! And, as expected, Boston has put forth its magical lineup for this Monday’s round one match against the Baltimore Kingfishers with the Wizard on first board, the Wicked Witch of the East on second, and, of course, Dorothy and Toto on third and fourth respectively.

In a fine display of reverse logic, the Man behind the curtain (whomever that may be) has junked the Scarecrow (Jorge), the Cowardly Lion (Denys), and the Tin Man (Grant) who so valiantly gave them a week 9 win against the Kingfishers… in hopes that Dorothy and the Wicked Witch will shake up their opponents enough to allow Toto to bite his in the @#$%.

True, the Wicked Witch is Boston’s secret weapon here. He (not all witches are she) often intimidates, via ethereal comments before the game, and walks to the board with a Psycho advantage of the first order… hard to combat black magic. Look for the Wizard to play the same shaky stuff he has played all season, and perhaps pull off a nice trick at the end.

As for the girl and her dog, who knows… Vadim, are you wearing your Ruby Slippers?

       White                 Black
---------------------------------------------------
1. Schroer (CAR)             Christiansen (BOS)
2. Sammour-Hasbun (BOS)      Agner (CAR)
3. Bapat (CAR)               Martirosov (BOS)
4. Rabin (BOS)               Herbst (CAR)

Not to be overly dramatic, but this week is special as Blitz manager (and spiritual leader) Jorge Sammour-Hasbun returns to the lineup for a pivotal battle against the Carolina Cobras. If you remember, Jorge was severely battered last year in his battle with the Balrog… but, we all know he will bring back the magic as Jorge the White gathers the forces of Good to face the Dark Lord’s pit vipers.

Over the top?… nonsense!… We have our Mojo back.

This match is a must win for the Blitz if they hope to compete for the Eastern crown. So, strap on the Mithril guys… and take no prisoners.

Board 1 – IM Jonathan Schroer (CAR) vs. GM Larry Christiansen (BOS)
Expect a quiet 1.d4 d5 Semi-Slav here… Who am I kidding! But, Larry, for the sake of the fans… it wouldn’t hurt to see 20 moves of GM theory. Dream on… we will be out of the book by move 6… the over/under in Vegas… 1.d4 d6 and who knows.

Board 2 — SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) vs. NM Carlito Agner (CAR)
NM Agner will need the Dark Lord’s invisibility ring if he hopes to pull off a 1.e4 d6 hide behind my pawns defense against Jorge the White’s “What a @#$%?”, rip your heart out, attacking style. We know this one will be interesting… to say the least.

Board 3 — NM Udayan Bapat (CAR) vs NM Vadim Martirosov (BOS)
Strangely, I would say that Vadim has been the glue of the team this year. His steady play has brought the team some stability that is sorely needed. (Leave the craziness to Marc and Larry) Let’s say 1.e4 e5… and this time Vadim will press a little… a Center Counter… just kidding… steady as she goes.

Board 4 — NM Evan Rabin (BOS) vs. Richard Herbst (CAR)
Evan was a little nervous in his week 5 season debut and this showed in his advantage slipping away to a tough draw. You can bet that he is itching to prove himself and I fully expect a cleaner performance this time around. But, without much track record on his opponent… Let’s go with 1.e4 c5 and a quiet Sicilian… Not!!

No pressure guys… but the fate of Middle Earth is in your hands. Don’t drop the ball… or the Ring in this case… unless, of course, you drop it into the fire of Mount Doom.

“…seventy-two moves to a draw, a prize specimen of the irresistible force meeting the immovable object, a battle without armour, a war without blood, and as elaborate a waste of human intelligence as you could find anywhere outside an advertising agency.”
– Raymond Chandler, The Long Goodbye

If a draw is like kissing your sister, then what are the chances of eight people kissing their sisters on the same night? Not very good you say?… Well, you obviously had to be there to see such a disgusting puckering of the lips as the Boston Blitz and the New Jersey Knockouts played to a (2 – 2) match draw.

Really, you have to wonder, how often is a match draw made up of all four boards making a draw?… at least this is what I wondered. So, I went back and looked at this years previous encounters and this is what I found… of the 56 matches this season, 13 have been draws and only 2 were draws where all four boards ended peacefully. The other 4 draw match being Philly and Baltimore in week 4. This means nothing really… except that I got to see a very rare event.

USCL team chess is definitely not your typical GM tournament kiss your sister and say goodnight chess… 43 decisive matches and only 13 draws… and of those draws only two were draw draws, if you know what I mean.

And even this match was a knock-down, drag-out slugfest… as, I suspect, was Philly-Baltimore. There can be no more entertaining chess than a USCL match… That’s why I show up every week… just take a look, and I am sure you’ll agree as Boston’s top board plays inane and insane fantasy chess… and befuddles his GM opponent for our first draw of the night.
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