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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September 11th, 2011
Mark La Rocca
Posted in
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.









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 





