GM Robert Hess is the East Coast correspondent for the Arizona Scorpions, and like Elliott Liu from the other coast is a fan of the Arizona Scorpions. Robert is a senior in high school who has a cut throat approach to chess, but also has an endless supply of facial hair, and reminds many of a cartoon bear. Robert recently dazzled everyone, finishing 2nd overall at the 2009 US Championship. This week Robert will be covering the Week 2 match-up between the Scorpions and the Tempo.
Hey Scorpions fans! Get ready for an exciting week two as the Arizona Scorpions take on the Tennessee Tempo. Last week, your beloved Scorpions crushed the Chicago Blaze 3.5-0.5 in a completely one-sided match. The Tempo has been known to be the dregs of the league, but this year they have already notched their first win (in only one match!!). Expect the Scorpions to remain the unbeaten team after this match is through.
Board 1: GM Jaan Ehlvest “has left the building” (2697) vs. Alejandro “Handi” Ramirez (2601)
This is a nice GM-GM match on the top board and probably the most crucial game of the match. Ehlvest, one of the premier players in the United States, takes on Ramirez, the Costa Rican grandmaster, and famous cook. Ehlvest is a tough player to prepare for, as he has played just about everything over the years, but expect either c4 or d4 on the opening move. If the Ramirez from 2005 shows up, he can be in serious trouble. However, if the Handi from last week shows up, expect a great struggle on board 1. I give the nod to Ehlvest on this board – his experience and the white pieces should be tough to overcome. That is, unless Handi can use some of his skills as a chef and cook up something.
Board 2: IM Levon “the Stable” Altounian (2538) vs. IM Ron “I am tied with Todd Andrews for the biggest minus in MVP points” Burnett (2380)
Firstly, I want to let it be known that I am not trying to hurt anybody’s feelings, but simply stating a fact. Ron has a tough time in this league, as evidenced by his -30 MVP Points. HOWEVER, do not take this man lightly. He is a chess veteran, and he wiped me off the board last time we played in Chris Bird’s fabulous New England Masters in 2007. The man plays board two where he is severely outranked each match.
Altounian is solid. Way too solid. This is why I have given him his nickname. The man plays simple positional chess where he either runs out of significant pieces and makes a draw or completely outclasses his opponent. The rating difference on this board is huge – over 150 points. I know, I know, I am the first one to disregard ratings. But this large a difference!? It will definitely be a factor here, as Levon’s ever-so-dangerous (ha ha) g3, c4, and nf3 positional crunches will lead him to victory. However, Levon, if you read this: you better be careful — Burnett has the tactical ability to ruin any position. Even your lovely fianchettoed bishop on g2 will be endangered by Burnett’s attacking prowess. Regardless, Levon gets the definite vote from me on board 2.
Board 3: FM Todd “2007 or 2006/2008?” Andrews (2360) vs. FM Larry Robert “Babyface” Adamson (2354)
I always told Robby Adamson he had a young face. Elliott nailed it last week when he mentioned his baby face (with cheeks any grandmother would surely pinch). The reason I am blogging for the Scorpions is because my good friend Robby decided it would be a good idea to trust me with predictions and recaps. I still am not sure what he was thinking. Currently he is asking me to finish this up, granted the 3 hour time difference makes it well past 3 a.m. for me. He doesn’t care, he wants it done. Who am I to mess with a lawyer? I don’t even have the right to vote yet!
I am sure you fans can guess why I have given Andrews his nickname. In 2006 he was 0.5/8; in 2008 he was 2/9. However, he did well in the odd year, 2007, with a stellar record of 5/9 netting him the Most Improved Player award. If he does well again this year, with the odd number 2009, we may have to start calling him “Odd Todd”.
Back to chess- I really, really, really hope the opening is not repeated from last year’s game. The Stonewall is sooooooooooooooo boring. For the love of the game, please do not play the Yaacov Norowitz patented line. That position surely pissed Robby off, but eventually he was able to break loose. Andrews is a difficult player to predict, as he “plays with both hands” so they say. Maybe this time around he will try 1.e4 and we will see some nice, enjoyable, fighting chess. Todd – you may want to play the closed Sicilian, it thoroughly pisses Robby off. He yelled at me for years about that one.
As for my vote? I am going with a draw. This shocks even me for several reasons. Todd has not made a draw since week 3 in 2007! Secondly, I have no idea how I can conclude a draw based on Andrews’ utterly miserable record in the league and Adamson’s stellar one. However, Robby is crazy, as am I. There will be no blood on this board: Draw on board 3.
Board 4: David Adelberg (2160) vs. David Justice (2087)
Honestly, I know nothing about either of these players. This is the match that will split the tie I have predicted and I honestly have nothing to back my prediction on. I just looked both of these players up on the uschess.org MSA list. Justice seems to be in his early twenties and has finally crossed 2100 after several years of being stagnant at the 2050 level. Adelberg is just 12 (according to FM Larry – yes, all you Scorpion fans he does LOVE being called by his real name) and is on the verge of making master.
Beyond ratings and a picture or two (though Justice mysteriously does not have a picture on the USCL website) I can only do my best to play eeny, meeny, miny ,mo. Adelberg came to play last week, performing excellently in his USCL debut. Now it is Justice’s turn to rise for his team. After seeing a rather impressive game last week by the young gun, I don’t expect him to welcome the Tempo newcomer. I expect white to win this board and the Scorpions to win the match.
Final Assessment:
Alright, this whole predicting thing is hard. This kept me up far past my bedtime because he does not respect the time difference. Anyways, Scorpions fans should be delighted to know that I am siding with them. And no, it is not because I am writing on their blog. Expect a 2.5-1.5 finish for Arizona and a 2-0 start to the 2009 USCL season. Boards 2 and 4 push Arizona over the top in this one.
You might have noted that Ron Burnett played almost all of his games on board 1. You think he’s severely outrated in most of his matches on board 2, but that’s nothing compared to previous years. His performance rating in USCL is actually fairly close to his actual rating.
Todd Andrews has similarly played most of his matches on board 2. Both players were no doubt thrilled to have Ehlvest join the team last year. They will be competitive this year.
And before you ask, I don’t live in Tennessee, and my rooting interests lie with the Sluggers.
I will be in Denver, CO as it happens but will root for the Scorpions in absentia. The movie “District 9″ by the way had a pretty cool scorpion pay-per-view fight.
As they say, stick to chess!! Reporters are supposed to know their facts, particularly before insults. The Tempo beat the champs last year, when yours truly was bd 4! Last week was not the 1st win. Maybe your next column can be on losing to the Dregs of the League.
If I read your sentence to mean “1st win of this year”, instead of “1st win ever”, then your insult total goes down. Since you gave Ronald props, I will give you the benefit of the doubt on your “inaccuracy”. The Tempo also did some winning when I was not around, Baltimore and I think Miami.
Safe to predict more Tempo wins than all other yrs combined.
The Tempo have won three matches in a row… we will talk about all this once we have been stopped…
He meant first time Tennessee has won a 1st week match I think Brian
I didn’t know the Scorpions posted mock media… this
is more an op-ed than a serious article. The fact that it wasn’t their first win makes the whole premise/opening invalid. Shabalov deserve mention?? It’s a sad state of affairs indeed–when just anyone gets links to the USCL page.
I think people are reading into GM Hess’s article more than is there.
has – implies past tense. Maybe at one time people looked at the 1.5 and 2.0 win seasons as being the dregs of the league. But I think that is no longer the case. Change “has been” to “are” and you have a completely different sentence, but that sentence wasn’t what he wrote.
but this year – (I think) clearly shows the time period he is now referring to. Instead of 2006 when their first win came in Week 9 and in 2007 when they didn’t score a Win at all, the 2009 Tempo has “notched their first win (in only one match!!)”. 2008 was clearly their best year and it looks as if 2009 aims to be even better for them.
Yes. This is an op-ed piece. I would argue that ALL articles that attempt to predict the winners and score are op-ed pieces. I think Shabalov wasn’t mentioned because he wasn’t playing. There weren’t any players from either team mentioned if they weren’t playing.
The posting of the article was not meant to insult anyone. It was meant to give our viewers “an outside” opinion of the match. Again, I think people are reading more into his comments than he meant.
Yah I completely agree with EJ here…I don’t see what is wrong with this article being an op-ed article!? That is the whole point of having a blog for one’s team. And like EJ said Shabalov wasn’t mentioned because Ehlvest is playing this week. That is why Robert commented about him