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.
Read the rest of this entry »

Truth be told, I found the task of preparing for the recent NJ match to be extremely difficult from a phycological point of view. True, I’m used to playing top juniors on board 4, this is my reward or punishment depending on your perspective. Week in and week out I’m trying to “put the young brats in their place” — occasionally succeeding and occasionally being put into mine . But here I was paired against the lowest rated person I’ve yet faced in USCL and also one who doesn’t seem like a brat at all but is rather well -mannered and well-coached.

In terms of preparation , I saw that she played 1.e4 exclusively but then against any type of Sicilian she would just sideline into the Grand Prix, the Moscow or the Closed. “How disgustingly boring”– I thought to myself as I started looking at various possibilities. In any case, since Anna didn’t have many games to look at, I had to look at what her coach Joel Benjamin does and in the process learn a thing or two about a thing or two . This search got me even more depressed, Joel is some kind of Anti-Sicilian bot. Of course he understands these positions and chess in general very well, but the positions reached are nothing to write home about in terms of excitement.

Anyhow, the world was saved when Anna opened with 1.d4. If I may digress a bit, earlier in the season ,in week 4, when we faced our familiar foes, the NE Northeastas, the opposite occurred. I was playing NM Alex Cherniack, someone whom I played numerous times and just roomed with at the recent Continental Open. He has always played c4 or d4 vs me, here he surprised me with e4, somehow (naturally with my help) survived and when I asked him later whats the deal with e4, he said he has switched two years now…. ok where the hell have I been.

Before we get into my game, I want to briefly recap the other 3 boards as I saw them.
Read the rest of this entry »

       White               		Black
---------------------------------------------------------------
1. Christiansen (BOS)                  Benjamin (NJ)
2. Gulko (NJ)                          Shmelov (BOS)
3. Martirosov (BOS)                    Kapengut (NJ)
4. Matlin (NJ)                         Krasik (BOS)

This week the Blitz face the New Jersey Knockouts in a rematch that may say a lot about their chances to claw their way into first place in the East. In week 5, the Blitz eeked out a narrow victory (2.5 – 1.5) on the shoulders of GM Perelshteyn’s tough win on Board 2 over IM Molner. This time the Blitz are a GM down as Denys will have the tough task of playing Black against GM Gulko. Will NJ get their revenge??

Board 1 — GM Larry Christiansen vs. GM Joel Benjamin
This ongoing battle is currently led by GM Benjamin (1 win and 2 draws in USCL play). However, this will be the first time Larry has White. Of course, these two have played many times in other venues and their record is just about level. I predict 1.e4 e5. But from here I doubt that Black will allow the Ruy… maybe something offbeat… Mmmmm… a Philidor perhaps? Look for Larry to even the score here…
Boston (1 – 0)

Board 2 — GM Boris Gulko vs. SM Denys Shmelov
I don’t think these two have played… at least not in the league. Gulko can probably be counted on to play 1.d4… backed by massive theoretical knowledge… which Denys will, hopefully, avoid. Certainly, not a Nimzo?… maybe a Queen’s Indian? Let’s go with that. As Denys has been in a slump, and he is facing his toughest opponent… logically, I must defer to the Grandmaster.
Boston (1 – 1)

Board 3 — NM Vadim Martirosov vs. IM Albert Kapengut
A rematch within a rematch. Vadim did well in week 5 and pulled out a vital draw as Black against his former tutor. (retracted as incorrect, Oops!) This time he has White and will, as always play theoretically strong… as he was taught. I would like to think he would play 1.e4… but, guessing IM Kapengut’s response is not easy. However, I will go with my wish and hope for 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5… only because this is what I would love to see… with an easy draw…
Boston (1.5 – 1.5)

Board 4 — Anna Matlin vs. NM Ilya Krasik
Another, I believe, first time encounter. Anna will probably play 1.e4… and Ilya will proceed to rip her to shreds with the Hyper-Accelerated Dragon? Oh, it’s true… Ilya has shown a preference for various Dragons lately. Although I would hope for an e6 Sicilian… I believe we will see 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 and an exciting, nail-biting endgame that will give the Blitz a win…
Boston (2.5 – 1.5)

No less close a match than last time… As you can see, I think we need wins on 1 and 4. And who knows, Denys is due and certainly capable. In any case, Boston wins the rematch of the century… or, rather, the last 3 weeks… and as you know, I am never wrong… just misinterpreted.