As I finish this blog this Sunday night of 9/11, I feel that it would not due to say nothing given what this day means to us as Americans. Please forgive this bit of personal lament, but I want to say I do remember and share, as much as I can, the grief of all who witnessed this tragedy; and although I poke fun at New York and their teams in this league, I am at heart one of your greatest admirers as people and as the heart of our country. Today and this week, I am a New York fan… all the best to all of you who struggled through that day… You are number one in my book.
And now to much less important things…

I know, I know… I know what you’re thinking… some Swami he is. Well, it’s not easy being precogniscient (if that’s a word) and wasn’t that proved Wednesday evening as the Blitz suffered a small setback… a draw with the Applesauce!

I picked a fine night to attend. I like the new site it is a very comfortable facility. It does need a few fan facilities… a projector for the games… and some way for the fans to sit an watch… mostly, we were confined to a side room where everyone had a lot of fun analyzing. All and all, a nice way to spend an evening.

Of course, Jorge’s game drew the most attention. We all kinda’ new he had it in the bag. Why would any rational being play the poison pawn Najdorf against Jorge? Give IM Milman credit for guts and confidence. I enjoyed this game immensely, but, the only doubt in its outcome came from Ilya as he screamed… “for God sake, Jorge, you !@#$%, make a move!” True, Jorge loves to torture fans by taking 20 minutes to do the obvious.

Marc Esserman, however, was his usually angry self when his opponent unveiled 1.e4?… and he became even angrier when he saw 1.e4 c5 2.c3!?… taking the life out of his hopes for a real fight. It was drawish all the way and at no time did I see any way for Marc to complicate. A nice strategy by IM Bartholomew. But, a rather boring draw… especially aggravating to someone with Marc’s temperament.

The match hinged on the results of the two newcomers to the Blitz playing boards 3 and 4. IM Jan van de Mortel played very enterprisingly taking a weak but advanced pawn on e6 and forcing play. Just when I thought he might be winning, he went a bit crazy and may have been lost somewhere before they agreed draw. Afterward, he kindly explained why he was not winning… but we’ll save that for later.

Then there was Daniil Mosiyenko, who played well, but just when we all thought he might be better, he misplayed the position in time trouble and overstepped. Well, let’s chalk this one up to a rookie mistake. I’m sure the Blitz can expect fine play from this young man… make no mistake.

So, I thought the Blitz would make mincemeat out of the Applesauce. Instead, they had to settle for cottage cheese and applesauce… not bad, my grandmother used to make this for me as a child… I eat it to this day… but, I digress…

Let’s take a look at the weekly GOTW contender, Jorge Sammour-Hasbun, and his very nice win… cottage cheese not withstanding… this one was a treat.
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Is it week two already? My, how time flies when the Blitz are winning.
Boston again has the home field, i.e., White on first board, against the Manhattan Applesauce. Now, there will be no Applesauce jokes in this preview… It’s just too easy. To prevent any temptation I will refer only to Manhattan.

Manhattan comes into this match fresh off a week one draw against Philly, while the Blitz, after an energizing win against New England, must avoid a let down as so often happens after big matches.

The good news for the Blitz is they welcome back IM Marc Esserman, who, I am sure, will provide the necessary fireworks to keep the team anxious and focussed on the prize. Marc is returning to league play after his unconditional retirement last year. Hey, chess is just like the NFL! It will be great to see Marc playing his usual uncompromising chess for the Blitz once again.

And now for the most accurate preview of the season…

      White                      Black
------------------------------------------------

1. SM Sammour-Hasbun (BOS)    IM Milman (MAN)
2. IM Bartholomew (MAN)       IM Esserman(BOS)
3. IN Van de Mortel (BOS)     NM Mandizha (MAN)
4. NM Black (MAN              NM Masiyenko (BOS)

SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) vs IM Lev Milman (MAN)

I believe this is their first encounter in league play… maybe ever.
Jorge’s new found positional/rational style vs IM Milman’s rock solid defense makes this one tough to pick. Swami (my new nickname) sees a calm and quiet English opening. Boston 1-0.

IM John Bartholomew (MAN) vs IM Marc Esserman (BOS)

From my extensive research (about 10 minutes on the InterWeb) IM Bartholomew will probably play 1.d4… Now, this will be a great test for Marc, as he seems to have had a revelation… Good players should play solid openings like the Gruenfeld… not the Dutch. Will he be tempted to revert?
No! Swami says he plays the Gruenfeld and shows the world the new Marc. Of course, he will still sac a pawn somewhere. Boston 2-0.

IM Jan Van de Mortel (BOS) vs FM Farai Mandizha (MAN)

Another newcomer to the revamped Blitz… All together now… Welcome Jan! Since I don’t know much about either player in this match, I had to use all my psychic Swami abilities to forsee… 1.d4 d5 and a Semi-Slav where Black avoids the hazardous Botvinnik. Although I never met Jan, I know he will produce the game of the day… saccing a piece by move 20… Boston 3-0

NM James Black (MAN) vs Daniil Masiyenko (BOS)

Yet another newbee… Welcome aboard Daniil! May all your sacrificed pawns be poison… Wow! It just hit me… a poison pawn Najdorf… If ever a Swami there was, I am one because… Hey, if it comes true, I am a legend. Come on Daniil, Bobby played it… so can you… Unless, of course, your opponent reads this article and takes the way of the cowardly lion.
Boston 3.5-0.5

Well, that’s it for your swinging Swami. The Blitz win again and Manhattan sings the Applesauce Blues all the way back to New… New… N…N….Newww… well, you know where.

Blitz win, Blitz win, Daaaaa Blitz win! In an amazing display of positional prowess by Jorge, “Fearless Leader” Sammour-Hasbun and his chief lackey, Vadim, “Boris Badenov” Martirisov the Blitz proved “It’s good, to be bad” by trouncing “Moose and Squirrel”, the New England Nor’easters, (2.5 – 1.5) and moving directly into first place in the Eastern Division of the US Chess League.

Now, I wasn’t at the match in person; so, I’m gonna have’ta make a lot of this stuff up… not that I don’t usually make stuff up… My excuse for not being there is lame… It’s a much longer trek, especially after work during rush hour… that said, let me apologize to the team for not supporting them… and for all the lies I will tell without providing said support as redeeming compensation.

This win was special… In the words of Fearless Leader, “How many times in the past have they stood between me and my dreams of glory?”

Oh, we know the answer to that… Once!

Yet, no match win is easy… and this one started with a downer… as the Nor’easters’ manager, Dave Vigorito, announced that he is ready for action with a very nice win over Blitz new comer, FM David Griego.
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The Boston Blitz vs. The New England Nor’easters, an opening day match made in Heaven… or, maybe that other place. Anyway, this is a be there or be square, don’t miss it grudge match that was born on the day New England entered the league (that would be last year) and truly exacerbated by the fact that they won the @#$%^& thing (i.e. NE won the 2010 USCL Championship) in their first go ’round by sneaking by the Blitz… never beating Boston… Nooo!… drawing the season match and the playoff match, and, due to some @#$%^& rules… but, I digress.

Let’s bury the past and begin anew. In this match, Boston is taking a page from the Nor’easter book and fielding a well balanced, GM’less team in an effort to upset the defending champs.

Oh, and did I mention the new playing site. That’s right, the Blitz are no longer playing in the Boston area.
Fans can find them tomorrow night (Wednesday, Aug 31) at…

CMC Academy
201 Wayland Ave.
Providence, RI

Does that mean we can’t call them Boston? I say we call ‘em “Da Blitz”.

Here’s the lineup as orchestrated by Blitz manager Jorge Sammour-Hasbun and his charismatic assistant Ilya Krasik… if ever a dynamic duo there was…

      White                      Black
------------------------------------------------

1. SM Sammour-Hasbun (BOS)    IM Hungaski (NE)
2. IM Vigorito (NE)           FM Griego (BOS)
3. NM Martirosov (BOS)        NM Cherniack (NE)
4. NM Fikiet (NE)             NM Gu (BOS)    

Expect a… Oh, who cares what I say. You know I pick the Blitz… excuse me, I mean… Da Blitz.

Does anybody out there remember a TV show called Hee-Haw? If you do, you’re too old to be up this late… take some Geratol and get some rest. Anyway, they would give a great big Hee-Haw “Saallooot!” to some small town every week. Yeah, I think you know where I am heading… We the Boston Blitz do hereby offer our humble, heartfelt “Saallooot!” to the New England Nor’easters, who proved to be the best team in the East as they marched threw the first two games of the match and cinched a USCL Finals appearance in their first season by drawing the match (2 – 2) and moving on due to draw odds. A great accomplishment! Congrats to all the team members and, especially, to Manager IM Dave Vigorito and assistant manager Charles Riordan for pulling off such a great, great season. Win or Lose in the Finals, you guys have something to be proud of…

…that said, you were lucky!… lucky I tell you. We had ‘em… and we let ‘em get away. You know what they call Hee-Haw in Somerville?… a documentary. And now, the movie folks…
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