The Bird Defense (C61) of 40 Years Ago

I have been reading 40 Years of Friendship, 100 Games of Chess by Wayne Conover, Steve Pozarek, and Eugene Salomon (Smashwords eBook 2014), which I picked up mostly out of nostalgia for New Jersey chess: I knew all three players when I was a young member of the Westfield Chess Club from 1979-1984.  I also correctly predicted the book would contain some of former New Jersey champion Pozarek's games with the Bird Defense from the 1970s, which I have used to analyze the classic Bird line 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nd4 4.Nxd4 exd4 5.O-O c6 6.Bc4 Nf6 -- last popular about 40 years ago, but perhaps due for a revival.  It was Pozarek who introduced me to the Bird Defense in a series of articles on this specific variation.  That series began in the Westfield Chess Club Newsletter of March 1980 (edited by UNIX inventor Ken Thompson), in the same number that featured Wayne Conover's annotated victory over an IM and the crosstable of a 5-minute tournament where Gene Salomon finished second behind future IM Mike Valvo -- and a 14-year-old unrated kid named Mike Goeller finished in the middle of the strong field.  

In retrospect, I think it was also Pozarek who introduced me to the idea that amateurs can make useful contributions to chess theory.  I am a collector of amateur chess memoirs and game collections like this one, and I find that I have often discussed in this blog the important contributions they offer to theory: Sidney Bernstein's Combat: My 50 years at the Chessboard shows ways of playing a New York approach to 1...Nc6 and ...h5 in the Dragon (among numerous other interesting ideas); Dr. Philip Corbin's Calypso Chess features games with the Smith-Morra Gambit and the Elephant Gambit; Asa Hoffmann's Chess Gladiator offers a game with Janowski's Brother Indian (among many other original opening ideas); Ariel Mengarini's Predicament in Two Dimensions: The Thinking of a Chessplayer illustrates the Albin Counter Gambit with Nge7; and Billy Colias's posthumous Midwest Master offers insight into the Grand Prix Attack for Black and White.  The spirit of chess amateurism is alive and well, and the present volume does not hesitate to offer up some opening novelties and insights of its own.

In the middle section of the book, Conover, Pozarek, and Salomon offer contributions to theory in the Leningrad Dutch, the Caro Kann Defense, the Averbakh Variation of the King's Indian, and the Alekhine Defense.  Though there should be fewer games and a little more theory in this part, it is still more than most readers would expect to find.  This part of the book is made up mostly of games from Conover and Salomon, who studied together and played many of the same openings, but Pozarek tries his best with the Alekhine (using mostly his co-authors' games).  Too bad he didn't think to write about the Bird.  I would have liked to see more off-beat openings like that one.  After all, amateurs tend to experiment more than the pros.

Steve Goldberg's "Stories from Grandpa" at ChessCafe offers two useful critiques of the book.  I especially agree with his complaint about the number of diagrams, considering that, as an e-book, it would not have cost anything to add more.  I also agree with the implicit criticism in Goldberg's title, because the memoir part of the book seems less written for a general reader than, as Pozarek explicitly tell us, "first and foremost" for "families and friends."  However, there are definitely some very good games in these pages against a lot of quality opposition, including a whos-who of Northeast chess history: Pal Benko, Joel Benjamin, John Fedorowicz, Arnold Denker, William Lombardy, Steve Stoyko, Leroy Dubeck, Scott Massey, Mike Valvo, Orest Popovych, and Edgar McCormick. It even has some simultaneous games against such one-name luminaries as Korchnoi, Petrosian and Alekhine(!)  And practically none of these games will be found in the databases.  In fact, if it were not for this book, all of these games would vanish and remain unknown, like so many great master games.  

As with all amateur volumes, written as a "labor of love," it has something to offer those willing to take the time to look.  The following diagrams highlight some of the better moments enjoyed by these three players:

(1) Conover - Rozier
White to play and win.

(2) Zweibel - Pozarek (see game)
Black to play and win.

(3) Salomon - Watson
White to play and win.

Solutions: (1) 46.Nf5! (forcing mate in 9 moves or fewer); (2) 14....Bxf2+!; and (3) 61.Rc4!! (the only way to win)

NJKOs Fall and NY Knights Advance to Final

There is no joy in Jersey as the NJ Knockouts fell Wednesday night to their perennial rivals, the New York Knights, who have now been responsible for ending all three Knockouts seasons in the US Chess League. But with Kenilworth Chess Club champion Yaacov Norowitz playing for New York, our club will definitely be cheering on the Knights into their final match against the Miami Sharks (date to be announced).

I have annotated the games and posted them in a java replay page. You can also download my PGN file to do your own analysis.

Norowitz's win over Sean Finn on Board Four looked like a foregone conclusion early on, even before it ended in mate (see first diagram below for an easy puzzle). But the other games were sharply contested and, at least on Boards One and Two, could have gone either way. On Board One, GM Joel Benjamin struggled with time pressure in his game after GM Georgi Kacheishvili turned the tables on his "opening surprise" Fantasy Variation against the Caro-Kann (1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.f3!?) with the equally surprising 3...Qb6!? But Benjamin definitely had the advantage for most of the game and probably missed a winning blow at move thirty (see second diagram below for a challenge). On Board Two, IM Dean Ippolito also had the advantage out of the opening against GM Pascal Charbonneau in a wild line of the Rubinstein Variation against the Four Knights (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.Bb5 Nd4! 5.Bc4 Bc5!? 6.Nxe5 Qe7!) Ippolito sacrificed a piece for a dangerous attack, prompting Charbonneau to sacrifice his Queen for counterplay. Ippolito definitely missed at least one stronger continuation that would have gained a clear advantage for Black, but eventually Charbonneau used his initiative to gain a clear edge and even a material advantage. Though Ippolito missed a beautiful line that would have forced a draw by perpetual check (see last diagram below), he eventually got a draw anyway. Board Three saw Mackenzie Molner playing a wild line of the Najdorf that Matt Herman clearly knew better. Eventually, only Herman had any attacking chances, but with the win secure on Board Four he appears to have decided not to take any chances and to play for an easy draw, which Molner, short of time, eventually offered himself.

Norowitz - Finn
White to play and mate in two.

Benjamin - Kacheishvili
White to play and win.

Charbonneau - Ippolito
Black to play and force a draw.

So the Jersey boys only have themselves to blame for the loss, especially considering that they had draw odds. Better luck next year. And "Go Norowitz and the Knights!" Let's hope they don't have to play on the Sabbath!

Related Links

• Knights Move Past New Jersey to League Championship by Irina Krush
• Charbonneau - Ippolito wins Game of the Week
  
• NJ Knockouts Blog
• US Chess League News
• US Chess League

NJKOs Advance to Final Four

The New Jersey Knockouts advanced to the final four of the US Chess League with their victory Monday night over Baltimore. Wins by the New York Knights (Monday over Boston), Miami Sharks (Wednesday over Seattle) and San Francisco Mechanics (Wednesday over Arizona) have made for an unpredictable final, since the Knockouts were the only team with the better record to advance. Miami's victory over Seattle was especially a surprise, with GM Julio Becerra not only beating GM Hikaru Nakamura but doing so in a record 12 moves!

I have analyzed the Knockouts victory over Baltimore and posted it online in a java replay article along with the PGN file to download.

The New Jersey - Baltimore match was very hard fought, but Baltimore had little chance against the best team in the League playing with draw odds (which meant that Baltimore had to win the match to advance). Nevertheless, Baltimore gave it their all and the games were very hard fought and complex (which is part of why I have not posted my analysis sooner!)

The game that interested me most was the Board One encounter between GM Joel Benjamin and GM Sergey Erenburg, which had lots of drama in all of its stages. Benjamin played the super-solid Spanish Four Knights (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bb5), which I have written about in these pages (see my Spanish Four Knights Bibliography and various articles). It's a great opening to choose when you are playing with draw odds as White. Erenburg played the increasingly popular 4...Bd6!? which has been discussed by a number of sources, including an article in SOS #1 by Jeroen Bosch titled "Sokolov's Surprise" (currently available online as a PDF download at the New in Chess website.) This line has turned into a "cold war" of sorts, with Black waiting for White to castle kingside before he castles himself to avoid a potentially dangerous g4-g5 attack. The waiting game continues with White playing h3 (to support a possible g4 advance) and a3 (to provide an escape square for the Bishop) and Black playing h6 (to prevent a pin by Bg5) and a6 (trying to gain the Bishop pair by either Bxc6 dxc6 or Ba4 b5 Bb3 Na5 etc.) Black has more useful waiting moves than White does, however, and so White generally castles before Black and the second player can equalize without much trouble (as discussed by Larry Kaufman in The Chess Advantage in Black and White). But if Black wants to avoid a drawish Four Knights game then he might need to think of another plan.

Some recent games have shown that Black can get away with castling right away, inviting White into the complications that follow g4 and often gaining good counterplay against White's king in the center. It's a double-edged continuation, but just the thing if you need to play for a win, so Erenburg naturally gave it a try. But he made a clear mistake after 5.d3 a6 6.Ba4 h6 7.a3 0-0!? 8.g4! Bc5 9.Rg1 d6 10.h3 Nh7 when White pushed forward with 11.g5 and he answered with 11...g6? (temporarily sacrificing a pawn) when probably 11...hxg5 or even 11...h5!? are better and lead to a balanced but complex struggle. After Erenburg's error, Benjamin had firm control of the initiative and great prospects of a kingside attack. However, just when the game began to look like it would be decided in the middlegame, Benjamin traded queens and headed for a slightly advantageous ending so that he could play for a win or draw without risk of losing. Erenburg fought hard and the ending became a very double-edged slugfest. Benjamin probably was never really at risk of losing, but both players were challenged to keep from getting in time trouble due to the complexity of the situation. Eventually Benjamin found a line that assured either a clear advantage or a draw by repetition (which by that point would have won the match.) Refusing to submit to the team loss, Erenburg chose a dangerous way to continue the game, after which Benjamin was able to force a win on the strength of a central passed pawn. This was quite an epic encounter and worth careful study.

Dean Ippolito's game on Board Two against Tegshsuren Enkhbat was a much more straightforward affair. The opening posed some problems for Black, but none for which Ippolito seemed unprepared. Displaying his command of elite opening theory, Ippolito demonstrated an important improvement on some previous high level games in a line of the Slav where White typically has some chances of making trouble for Black in the ending. But Ippolito played with excellent care and secured a draw by repetition in an equal Rook ending. It is possible that most of the game was covered in his preparation.

On Board Three, Mackenzie Molner took up the White side of a well-traveled and extremely double-edged line of the Sveshnikov Sicilian where Black gambits a pawn. His opponent, Shinsaku Uesugi, eventually got very strong counterplay that won back the pawn with advantage. However, rather than patiently building up his position, Uesugi went for premature breakthroughs (especially with 28...f4 and 37...e3) that ended up allowing lots of exchanges. When he exchanged Rooks in time pressure with 42...Ra7, the game petered out into a drawn bishops of opposite color ending, which essentially guaranteed a New Jersey match win.

Battsetseg - Finn
Black to play.

Bour Four had the brilliant expert Sean Finn playing WIM Tsagaan Battsetseg in a line of the Saemisch King's Indian that resembled a Benko Gambit. A clear ratings favorite, Battsetseg seemed to be playing to keep things under control and have a quiet game. But Finn would have none of that, offering up his b-pawn for queenside counterplay. Battsetseg declined the gambit but Finn got good play anyway. And when Battsetseg seemed to have him stymied, Finn channeled Boris Gulko to play a brilliant "GM Exchange sac" that changed the course of the game. Likely White could have maintained equality, but Battsetseg missed a neat tactic (see diagram above) that netted Finn a winning material advantage, which he promptly converted with the help of connected passed pawns. This was a brilliant game from start to finish and I expect Finn to have a master rating by next season.

Next week, New Jersey faces their arch-rival New York Knights, who have been responsible for ending New Jersey's previous two seasons. Let's hope there are plenty of donuts on hand -- and that the third time is the charm.

Related Links

• Semi-Finals by IM John Donaldson
  Offers some insightful speculation about the line-ups for next week.
• Quarterfinals Game of the Week
  GM Giorgi Kacheishvili -- NY's top board -- wins for his victory over Larry Christiansen.
  
• "Knockouts Win and Draw in Quarterfinal" by Robert Bernard
• Quarterfinals Photos by Masako Uesugi
  
• NJ Knockouts Blog
• NJ Knockouts on Twitter
• NJ Knockouts on Facebook
• US Chess League
• US Chess League News

NJKOs Close Winning Season with Loss to Queens

Gaspard - Shen, USCL 2009
White to play and win.

The New Jersey Knockouts finished their most successful season to date with a loss to Queens, 3-1. It may have been that Jersey just didn't need the win, while Queens wanted to at least finish above the bottom. After all, it turned out that the Knockouts did not even need to score a single point in their match to go into the post-season with the best record in the League (and the advantages in the playoffs that brings), because Chicago tied Seattle. Only if Seattle had won their match 4-0 and New Jersey lost 0-4 could Seattle have claimed the top spot. Though it was a bitter-sweet way to end a winning season, it got the job done.

I have posted my analysis of the games in a java replay page, or you can download the PGN.

The only win of the night came from young Arthur Shen on Board Four, who was fortunate that his opponent missed a forced mate (see diagram above) in time pressure and allowed Shen to make his extra material count in a very well-played ending. On Board Three, Andrew Ng had a promising attacking position against Elizabeth Vicary but let it all slip away with a painful calculation error in time pressure. On Board Two, Mackenzie Molner repeated a line of the Pirc he had used successfully in a past USCL game, but his opponent Lev Milman was well prepared and dominated the game from start to finish. And on Board One, GM Joel Benjamin had an interesting reversed Bird's Defense position out of the English but played a bit too recklessly and gave his opponent, GM Alex Stripunsky, just too much play on the e-file and it was all downhill from there.

It could have been that the change of venue (from Chapel Hill Academy to Dean of Chess Academy) had some effect. And I definitely don't see any donuts in the picture below.

The NJKOs at Dean of Chess Academy

Though New Jersey seemed to be in trouble for much of their match, they could have relaxed as soon as Chicago's FM Florin Felecan won his game with a remarkable flourish at the finish (see diagram below). After that, it would not even have mattered if Arthur Shen had gotten mated, and the players were able to joke about that kibitzing on ICC during the final moments of Arthur's game. Let's hope that they have such good luck in the playoffs.

Felecan - Mikhailuk, USCL 2009
White to play and win.

Related Links

• The Best Thing Is to Win the Last Round by Elizabeth Vicary
  Vicary analyzes her victory over Ng and provides photos of the Queens players.
• NJ Knockouts Blog
• NJ Knockouts on Twitter
• NJ Knockouts on Facebook
• US Chess League
• US Chess League News
• Queens Pioneers Blog
  

USCL Regular Season Ends Wednesday

The US Chess League wraps up its regular season Wednesday night with all teams playing, which means a full docket of seven matches on ICC (see the schedule for details). At the USCF website, Arun Sharma offers his "Week 9 US Chess League Recap," which also summarizes the playoff picture. The NJKOs can gain the best record in the League with a win or draw against the Queens Pioneers. Joseph Criscuolo of the New Jersey Knockouts Blog offers an overview in "Knockouts to Force Queens' Abdication":

The Knockouts will have a change of scenery for this match as they will be playing at the Dean of Chess Academy in Branchburg, New Jersey which is owned by the Knockouts' own Dean Ippolito. The Knockouts' regular site, Chapel Hill Academy, is closed this week. Because of the location change, the match begins at 8:00 PM Eastern on Wednesday, November [4th]. The time control has changed as well, [to] 75 minutes with 30 second increments. For the season finale Joel Benjamin, Mackenzie Molner, Andrew Ng, and Arthur Shen face off against Alex Stipunsky, Lev Milman, Elizabeth Vicary, and Fritz Gaspard.

As always, I will be analyzing the match and will continue following the team into the post-season.

NJKOs Top USCL with Win over Philly

Costigan - Shen
White to play

The New Jersey Knockouts gained sole possession of first place in the US Chess League Wednesday night by beating the Philadelphia Inventors 3.5-.5. With a tie for Boston and loss for Seattle, the Knockouts win the Eastern division and almost clinch the top ranking going into the playoffs (see Standings). With a win or draw next week, the Knockouts will have the best record in the USCL which means they get draw odds in the quarter- and semi-final matches and choice of color in the championship match.

I have annotated the games below, and you can download the PGN file.

GM Joel Benjamin returned to match play against GM Sergey Kudrin on Board One after his absence against Boston in Week 8. Benjamin has a perfect record against Kudrin, but playing Black on Board One he was amenable to a draw, so when Kudrin proposed it in an equal position (that was similar to positions they had contested to a draw twice before in tournament play over the years) Benjamin naturally accepted.

GM Boris Gulko continued his complete dominance of opponents by taking down FM Tommy Bartell on Board Two in just over 20 moves. Bartell never really seemed in the game, playing into an inferior line of the Queen's Gambit Exchange Variation as Black and then making a number of inferior moves to allow a speedy Gulko victory. I have seen Bartell misplay this line before as White without getting punished. But against Gulko, the slightest misstep -- especially as Black -- can be fatal.

The most difficult game of the night was definitely the match-up of young Victor Shen and Richard Costigan on Board Three. Costigan played a slow and rather closed variation of the Torre Attack that is not known for excitement. But Shen made the mistake of opening the a-file for White, when he came under some pressure. White definitely had the initiative and attacking chances. Costigan struggled, however, with time pressure, which probably caused him to miss a winning line: in the diagram at the top of this post, it appears that White might be in trouble because his Knight is attacked and cannot move without hanging the Rook. But Costigan could have played 41.Qd3! (41.Qg3 is also strong) forcing 41...f5 (41...fxe5? 42.Qxg6+ and Rc7 mates) when simply 42.Rxe6 leaves him with a won game. Instead, Costigan sacrificed the Knight, which gave him chances also but he was not able to capitalize in time pressure. Meanwhile, Shen defended carefully and eventually found a way to break through for a winning attack of his own. A lucky break for New Jersey, though we fortunately did not need it with the success on the other boards.

On Board Four, Sean Finn continued his excellent play against USCF Online editor and WGM Jennifer Shahade, who clearly was not well prepared for their game, managing her clock poorly and getting in time trouble. Meanwhile, Finn played an excellent attacking game. Though he used a line against Black's O'Kelley Sicilian frowned upon by theory (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 a6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 when Black can play e5 without having to face Nb5), he managed to get a clear advantage and eventually to develop a strong attack that he carried to victory with a number of impressively strong moves. I think we will be hearing a lot from this young man in the future. He had a chance at the upset prize but was beaten out by Amanda Mateer (who overcame a 300-point deficit on bottom board in Arizona's stunning win against Seattle).

The Knockouts play the Queens Pioneers to finish out the season next Wednesday. If they win or draw, they will go into the playoffs with the best record in the League.

Related Links

• Philadel-Phiasco! New Jersey Wins and Secures First Place by Joseph Criscuolo
  
• NJ Knockouts Blog
• Baltimore Kingfishers Blog
  
• NJ Knockouts on Twitter
• NJ Knockouts on Facebook
• US Chess League
• US Chess League News
  

USCL Week 8 Recap

US Chess League VP Arun Sharma recaps Week 8 action in the US Chess League at the USCF website and assesses the playoff scenarios. Meanwhile, the vote is in for Game of the Week, with New Jersey having two games (Gulko - Perelshteyn and Shen - Esserman) in the top three, but first place going to Bartholomew - Becerra (with its sustained kingside attack) from the Dallas vs. Miami match. New Jersey tops the charts in Bioniclime's Week 8 Power Rankings (see above), while the incredible Boris Gulko is second only to Seattle's Superman (from Smallville) Hikaru Nakamura in the Week 8 Player Ratings. See NJKO's Boston Sweep Analyzed for more links and commentary. This looks more and more like New Jersey's year.

NJKOs' Boston Sweep Analyzed

Shen-Esserman
White to play

Due to a busy work load this week, I am only now getting around to posting my analysis of the NJ Knockouts' stunning sweep of the Boston Blitz 4-0 on Monday night in week 8 of US Chess League action. The victory gave the Knockouts first place in the Eastern division, for which they were tied with Boston going into the match. Though it was only Boston's second loss of the season, it was also their second 4-0 loss (the first to the Dallas Destiny in Week 3). New Jersey is now tied with Seattle (in the Western division) for the best record in the League at 7-1.

I have annotated the games below, or you can download my PGN file.

Fans were surprised that team captain and first-board anchor GM Joel Benjamin was not playing in the biggest match of the year. But the NJKO blog reports that GM Benjamin had a prior commitment that was known about since August. Fans could ask for no better substitute than GM Boris Gulko, who seems almost unfair to unleash on Board Two. He proved yet again that he is one of the strongest players in the League, beating GM Eugene Perelshteyn in a fascinating isolani position that was practically a text book illustration of how to deploy a Knight on the outpost squares c5 and e5 to provoke weaknesses or exploit tactical opportunities. The game also features a nice "GM Exchange sac," which is often found in Gulko's games. White had pressure throughout, and the "Gulko Garrote" eventually forced Perelshteyn to cough up a pawn, giving White excellent winning chances. In a failed attempt to generate counter-play, Perelshteyn sacrificed a second pawn, and eventually Gulko managed to get connected h- and g-pawns in a Rook ending that he marched down the board to force Perelshteyn to surrender. This was a brilliant game and a deserving candidate for Game of the Week honors.

Dean Ippolito's victory over Jorge Sammour-Hasbun on Board Two was, like the win on Board Four, a surprising bonus. Though Ippolito solidly defended an elite-theory line of the Catalan as Black, he had a passive position throughout the game, with Sammour-Hasbun controlling the c-file and pressuring Black's backward c7-pawn. Ippolito seemed forced into contortions to create a solid defense, and though he succeeded in doing so it seemed the most likely result would be a draw. But with trouble on the other boards, Sammour-Hasbun was not willing to split the point and so searched desperately for a winning idea, burning up time on his clock while doing so, which led to an eventual time-pressure blunder that lost a piece (his Bishop) to an interesting trap. Typically in this line, White's Bishop goes to a5 to pressure the c7 pawn, but that Bishop can get a bit out of play there. Ippolito blocked the Bishop's escape route by advancing a well-defended pawn to b4, which should have forced Sammour-Hasbun eventually to exchange his Bishop for a Knight at b6, allowing Black's pawn at c7 to escape the pressure along the c-file by capturing cxb6. However, in trying for the win, Sammour-Hasbun allowed a situation to arise where the Knight had moved to d5 and his Bishop had no way to escape when attacked by Rb5. After he lost the piece, there was simply not enough compensation, and Ippolito played carefully to gain the full point.

On Board Three, NM Victor Shen gave a brilliant demonstration of why the Italian Game is still going strong, using a line that has had a 100% success rate in USCL games (see my notes) to build a powerful and sustained attack that carried him to victory. The critical move of the game is a real stunner. You can challenge yourself to find it in the diagram at the top of this post.

The confident and strong play of Gulko and Shen eventually made it seem that victory was assured for the Knockouts, and the wins by Ippolito and Andrew Ng on Board Four were just the "icing on the donut."

Shen and Ippolito on Bioniclime's live BlogTV

No one expected Cadet Champ Andrew Ng to pull out a win against Andrew Wang on Board Four. In fact, until late in the game, I would have been surprised if he had been able to draw. But Ng has demonstrated in several games that he has a strong fighting spirit that more than makes up for occasional mistakes in the opening stages. Ng played a well known line against the Moscow Variation of the Sicilian (with 3.Bb5+ Nd7!?) that had been used even by Kasparov with success. But he could not find the best way to get his Nd7 into play and wasted critical tempi by playing Nb6 and then Nc8(?), which allowed White to force the win of a pawn. However, Ng never quit and forced his opponent to find strong moves at every turn, until late in the game, with mutual time pressure (both players were down to the increment at one point), when Wang could not sustain his otherwise excellent effort and faltered, allowing Ng a pair of Bishop forks that won the day.

Sweeping perennial league rival Boston in the most critical game of the season surely will boost New Jersey's already lofty spirits. I hope they can carry on this effort through the remaining two matches. Next up are the Philadelphia Inventors (who they beat in Week Two) on Wednesday, October 28th at 7:00 p.m. and then the Queens Pioneers on November 4.

Related Links

• Knockouts Massacre Blitz: Boston Cremed, Score a Donut by Robert N. Bernard
  Bernard continues the running joke that NJ needs donuts to fuel its victories. For the match against Boston, they had Boston Creams with red letter Bs on them and even posted a YouTube video showing one being beaten with a hammer (see my previous post).
• Live Blog: Versus Boston
  Posted live during the match.
• Boston Blitz 0-4 New Jersey Knockouts
• NJ Knockouts on Twitter
• NJ Knockouts on Facebook
• US Chess League
• US Chess League News
  

US Chess League Recap

In "US Chess League Nears Playoffs," USCL VP Arun Sharma gives a team-by-team recap of the year so far, with some games from Round 7. League Standings show Boston and New Jersey at 6-1 in the East and Seattle at 6-1 in the West. On Monday, October 19 at 7:00 p.m. on ICC, Boston plays NJ to determine who leads the East (expect previews from the Blitz Blog, NJKO Blog, and BCC Weblog). Meanwhile, at the NJ Knockouts Blog, IM Albert Kapengut annotates his game with Uesugi and Joseph Criscuolo discusses the victory over Baltimore ("Kingfishers Get Royally Plucked by Knockouts: NJ in Playoffs!").

NJKOs Beat Baltimore 3.5-.5

Gulko - Kaufman
White to play and win.

The New Jersey Knockouts beat the Baltimore Kingfishers last night 3.5-.5 in a match that was a lot closer than the score would indicate. Except for the bottom board, every game was quite tense and two games seemed to be decided by divine intervention (or just time pressure blunders). However, with donuts on deck the NJKO lucked out and won on Boards 2, 3 and 4. I have analyzed the games below and you can download my PGN.

GM Joel Benjamin has been a rock for New Jersey on Board One. Other than his loss last week against Ramirez (where he seemed to be holding the draw until an unfortunate blunder), he has won or drawn in every match this season. Against IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat, he certainly was at a disadvantage in a somewhat passive position, but he played a solid game to draw without many worries.

On Board Two, GM Boris Gulko's game with GM Larry Kaufman looked at first like a typical "Gulko Garrote," with constraint and slow torture. But Kaufman showed remarkable resilience and actually emerged from a difficult middlegame into a slightly advantageous endgame, at which point Gulko (who has a perfect record so far in the USCL) actually offered a draw. Since the match had already been decided, a draw seemed a foregone conclusion, but to the surprise of all spectators Kaufman refused the draw offer and proceeded to demonstrate that he indeed had a strong enough advantage that he could force the win of a pawn. However, with little time left on the clock, Kaufman soon allowed Gulko to equalize and then blundered in time pressure, missing a tactic for White that wins a Rook (see diagram above). So Gulko actually won the game, keeping his perfect record intact. Lesson? You don't decline a draw offer from Boris Gulko.

IM Albert Kapengut's game was the most difficult to call. Though it appeared that FM Shinsaku Uesugi's exchange of two pieces for a Rook gave Black the advantage, the position was far from clear. Eventually, Uesugi got two connected passed pawns on the queenside and in the final position it was really impossible to judge who was better. Most viewers assumed that Uesugi was even winning because Kapengut offered a draw despite his opponent's severe time pressure. In any event, Kapengut's draw offer was left on the table as Uesugi lost on time.

Anna Matlin's win against Jared Defibaugh on Board Four was probably the most assured and technically flawless game of the night. Playing a line of the Scotch right out of the Kasparov playbook (which is now serving Magnus Carlsen so well), Matlin eschewed snatching a dangerous gambit pawn and instead offered a queen exchange with 12.Qg5 headed for a more positional struggle. Black did fine in a previous game against that move by exchanging queens immediately, but Defibaugh hesitated (perhaps thinking he was gaining time) and suddenly was under pressure that probably required him to gambit a pawn. However, he tried to hold onto the material, and Matlin capitalized, building up a powerful position that eventually forced him to surrender a pawn anyway. She then played a superb ending to bring home the point.

With the win over Baltimore, New Jersey secures a berth in the playoffs. Next week, on Monday, October 19 at 7:00 p.m., they play their biggest match of the year against the Boston Blitz, with whom they are tied for first in the Eastern division. Let's hope they can be as lucky then as they were last night.

Related Links

• NJ Knockouts Blog
• Baltimore Kingfishers Blog
  
• NJ Knockouts on Twitter
• NJ Knockouts on Facebook
• US Chess League