versus

ARIZONA WINS!!!

[Links to the PGN files are located above in the red results of each game.]

The first game to finish was Nick Thompson’s (2183) game against Michael Wang (2103) on board 4. Going into this match, I was confident with this game because I knew Nick’s playing strength and his history/experience in top level, tense match-ups. I did have concern because it was also Nick’s first game in the USCL, Michael had the advantage of the white pieces, and he is quickly improving, so his rating means nothing to his actual playing strength (an unknown).  Interestingly… when coming up with the Week 2 line-ups, we were expecting Seattle would call up Alex Guo again, after his strong performance in Week 1 against Chicago, so we had Nick preparing to face Alex playing an English opening. Perhaps it was a fluke that Michael decided to play the English on Monday.

I don’t know if Nick played his usual line for the English or if it was something prepared for Alex Guo, but after 11. … a5 it appeared to me that he had comfortable position with a lot of time still on his clock. The game followed that of Suat Atalik (2592) – Sergey Vokarev (2502), from the 2008 European Championships, up to Wang’s move 17. Bxd4 (Aralik played 17. Bd5). Aralik-Vokarev was a draw, this game would be decisive. At this point in the Game/75 match, Michael had 23 minutes on his clock to Nick’s 1 hour and 2 minutes.

Nick’s time advantage was made to good use when he found 24. … Qxe2, followed by 25. Qxc7 Rd1 26. Qc8+ Kf7 28. Rxd1 Qxd1+ 29. Kg2 Qd5+ 30. Kg1. The black queen stands strong in the center, controlling the very important white-squared diagonals. White is unable to protect his a-pawn and prevent black from securing an outside passer. Nick was able to force a queen trade, followed shortly by a bishop trade, that wrapped up the pawn promotion and the game. (Editor: USCL fun fact – The Scorpion’s 4th boards are 5.0/7.0 when playing their first ever USCL game.)

Next to finish was IM Levon Altounian (2496) on board 1 against FM Costin Cozianu (2557). I’m sure our astute fans noticed and may have wondered why Levon was on board 1 and IM Rogelio Barcenilla (2583) was on board 2.  Because our USCL official ratings are based on the September 2009 supplement, and Levon was within 50 points of Rogelio on that list, we are allowed to arrange our line-up with Levon on board 1 and Rogelio on board 2. The only caveat is that Levon has to remain ahead of Rogelio for the rest of the season including the play-offs (Editor: Are you talking play-offs?!?!). Expecting GM Serper to play Seattle’s board 1, we felt that Levon with the white pieces was good enough to overcome an rating difference, even when it turned out to be Cozianu instead. Levon decided he wanted to play 1. c4 as well, but he chose to go with a Catalan instead of the English.

The game was fairly even in the beginning but against common practice, Costin chose to go with 12. … Ra7. Out of 206 game in Big Database 2008, 197 of them played 12. … Rc8 in the same position. Compare that to just the 4 (the second most common) that played. 12. … Ra7. The move isn’t losing, Rybka a fish still felt the position was even. We were just moving in unfamiliar waters. Levon replied with 13. Rfd1 which signaled we’d moved to uncharted waters. (Editor: See Konopka – Namyslo (2000) and get a better database!)

Levon was able to get a slight advantage and initiative after he responded to Costin’s 19. … Bd5 with 20. Ne5 attacking the pawn and f7 and threatening to place the knight deeper into black’s defenses. However it certainly wasn’t a decisive advantage. Levon had tricks, but Costin wasn’t fooled by any of them. Accurate play (and quickly descending clocks) for both players had them agreeing to a draw after move 45.

Arizona now leads 1.5. – .5, however the match was far from over.

In the Scorpion camp, Levon is often referred to as “Mr. Solid” in reference to his style of play over the board. He is just a tough nut to crack. Rogelio Barcenilla is an entirely different kind of “solid” altogether. (Editor: Rogelio Barcenilla is an entirely different kind of “solid”.) He doesn’t get flustered by pressure or in positions when other players would make mistakes. As a manager, that’s the kind of things you like to hear when your Board 2 has the black pieces. (A 150 point rating advantage is nice too.) However, FM Slava Mikhailuk (2431) is never an easy opponent. Both players were coming off a Week 1 defeat and were eying their chance to even their record. As it turned out, their game on board 2 decided the match.

It appeared to be the theme of the night as Slava started the game 1. c4. Instead of the Catalan or the line from board 4. Rogelio replied with a Symmetrical English. The game diverged early from the norm with 9. cxb5, essentially trading white’s c-pawn for black’s a-pawn. As above, this wasn’t a mistake that offered an advantage to either player. The position was still very equal and both players would have to push to try to create an advantage.

The game took its rough, final pawn structure after the move 20. axb4. The a-file was open, but both players had bishops that prevented the opponent from placing a rook on it. Through some maneuvering of his minor pieces, Rogelio was able to finally get a rook on the file with 25. … Ra8. Slava replied with 26. Nd4. Unfortunately for him, this dropped a pawn as the game continued, 26. … Bxd4+ 27.Bxd4 Nxb4 28.Bb2 Nc6 29.Qc3 Nd4 30.Qxd4 Qxd4+ 31.Bxd4 Bxg2 32.Be5 Bf3.

It was approximately at move 50 when the first 2 games had finished. Arizona was leading, but Seattle still had a chance to draw or even win the match. Board 3 mirrored the match. Black was up a pawn, but advancing it would be difficult. Both sides had rooks that were eying the undefended pawn bases on the king-side. It was still either sides’ game and match.

Perhaps feeling he had to push for the win, Slava played 58. Rc8+ instead of playing 58. Ke3 to defend his g-pawn. Rogelio recognized his opportunity and took advantage of the weakness. The game continued, 58. … Kd7 59.Rc3 Kxe7 60.Rxb3 Rg2 61.Rxb5 Rxg3. The result was both bishops coming off the board and each side losing a pawn. For black, it was his outside passed pawn. For white, it was the base to his king-side pawn structure. White was unable to recover and resigned just a few moves further. Rogelio had clinched the match for Arizona.

Board 3 featured familiar foes. IM-elect Robby Adamson (2367) and WGM Katerina Rohonyan (2327) have faced each other twice before on board 3. Robby leads with a score 1.5/2.0, but Katerina has always played him tough to the end. This game would be no different.

Similar to their USCL game in 2008, Robby started off with 1. e4 (Editor: Did he not get the memo?! 1. c4 for everybody!) and Katerina for her part responded with a Sicilian, 1. … c5. It was shortly after Katerina played 11. … Qc8 that I entered the playing room with snacks for the players. Robby was visibly upset with himself. I was worried. When I made it to the spectator room to look at the games in progress and to see what people were saying I could not understand why. The game was still even and no one was making comment about Robby’s imminent doom. Perhaps it was just Robby being in “game-face mode” as he settled in for a long game. (Editor: Perhaps it was the snacks you brought.) Robby later told me that he spent most of his time at this point in the game to consider the line 12. Bxe6 Bxe6 13. Nxe6 Qxe6 14. Nd5 Qxe4+ 15. Kd1; however he decided against it because of 14. … Kd8.

The queens had come off the board and Katerina had two bishops vs. Robby’s two knights. After black played 27. … Bc6, Rybka a fish likes 28. g4. Unfortunately, Robby liked 28. Nc2. The game continued with 28. … d5 29.e5 fxe5 30.Nxe5 Be8 31.Nd3 Bd6 32. Re1 Kf8. There was an opening on the king-side for Robby, but Katerina’s center was keeping him at bay. Of the four games, this one appeared to be Seattle’s strongest shot at a full point early on in the match.

After the match, Robby commented that he could sense the tension in the room. He knew everyone was in tough games and that the match was very close. He said that he didn’t want to push too hard in a position, only to have it fall apart and force his teammates to push in their games as well. That is the nature of the beast when in the USCL and team events. You’re not just playing for yourself. Losing a game early can affect how your teammates feel and play in their games which has a domino affect on the match as a whole.

Perhaps that is why after Katerina played 38. … Ba7, Robby played 39. Nf3 instead of pushing to win an exchange (39. Nf5 Ree8 40. Nd6+ Ke7 41. Nxc8+ Rxc8). (Editor: The position repeated itself again after moves 42 and 44. I guess no one noticed the triple occurrence of position.) With the match still in contention, Katerina pushed to get her rook into white’s defenses with 46. … Re4. As a set of rooks came off the board, the power of black’s bishops were slowly expanding.

Unfortunately for Seattle and Katerina, board 3 no longer mattered. Robby was able to defuse the advantage of the bishops when Katerina played 56. … Bxd4 with 57. N6f5. Shortly after that he was able to trade the final minor pieces. The game evolved into a rooks and pawns endgame where Katerina again was able to secure an advantage (according to the fish). But as the night grew long, and the match was already decided, they agreed to a draw after move 82.

All in all, it was an exciting match. The Scorpions are 2-0 for the first time in their short USCL history. I would like to thank the Holiday Inn – Palo Verde for hosting us, our Scorpion fans who rooted us on both at the hotel and on ICC, and to Leo for giving me the opportunity to manage this great team. Lastly, I would like to thank the team, the Arizona Scorpions, for being a great group of players to work with!

Don’t forget our next match is Tuesday, September 6 against the Los Angeles Vibe! See you then!

As for Week 1, for the first time in a while, I actually got better than 50% record in picking the matches. In Week 1, I went 5-3 which isnt too bad. Unfortunately, because I am playing this week and it being a Monday match, I will give my picks quickly and without much comment (which to some might be a good thing!).

Monday Matches –

New Jersey Knockouts vs New York Knights

NY Knights Win 2.5-1.5

Carolina Cobras vs New England Nor’easters

NE Noreasters move to 2-0 with a win 3-1 over the snakes.

Miami Sharks vs San Francisco Mechanics

SF wins 2.5-1.5

Arizona Scorpions vs Seattle Sluggers

AZ wins 2.5-1.5

Wednesday Matches -

Boston Blitz vs Philadelphia Inventors

Boston changes strategy and goes with the kid on board 4, but Philly counts with their own youth. A tie is in order.
Baltimore Kingfishers vs Manhattan Applesauce

MA wins 2.5-1.5, though Baltimore has reasonable chances to pull the upset. Its tough competing with a team with a 2500 on board 3, good grief.

Chicago Blaze vs St. Louis Arch Bishops

St Louis rebounds with a 3-1 win.

Los Angeles Vibe vs Dallas Destiny

Vibe moves to 2-0 with a win, despite the Alejandro factor.

Arizona Scorpions (1.0 – 0.0) vs Seattle Sluggers (0.0 – 1.0)

All Time Series Record:  (Tied 2 – 2)

Starts at 9:00 PM ET       Time Control – Game in 75 with 30 second increment

Seattle has always been a tough team for us and is the team that stole our playoff spot two years ago in a tough last match result. This year however they have a lot of new players in Akobian, Cozianu, Guo, and Wang.  All these players are new to the team and also new to the league as well.

Many interesting match-ups with more than a couple of new players to the league in this match. For the Scorpions Nick Thompson is a new player that will play his first game tonight against another newcomer in Michael Wang. Nick has improved a lot recently in strength and in rating. The Scorpions are using the September 2009 rating list for the whole season showing Nick at 2098. At the present moment he is at 2227 and showing no signs of stopping. This game should be interesting because playing the league is much different than playing in real life. It should be interesting to watch how both of these players adapt to the new circumstances (no player sitting by you, being part of a team, etc). I’ll give Nick the nod here and give us a point up in my prediction.   Arizona  1 – 0  Seattle.

Board 1 is between Scorpion veteran Levon Altounian and new player FM Costin Cozianu. I don’t know much about Cozianu but after looking at some of his games he seems like a fairly aggressive player. This game seems like it might be a contrast of styles as Lev is very solid and likes to play positions with small advantages.  Also to note is that Levon has White which he is much better with and could decide the decision in his favor. Let’s call it a draw just in case. Arizona 1.5 – 0.5 Seattle.

Board 2 is between IM Rogelio Barcenilla and FM Slava Mikhailuk. We were able to put Rogelio on board 2 for this match as the rule states that as long as the players are within 50 rating points of each other in the supplement that you chose you can make this switch.  Rogelio is an amazing player and it is something special to have a 2583 rated player on board 2 for a team. Although he lost his game to GM Becerra in the first round no one could really deny his fight in the game. He went from clearly worse to losing to unclear to winning and then again back to losing. Crazy game…with Rogelio having 1-2 minutes for much of the latter part of the game. This round is a little different in that Rogelio will face a weaker, not taking anything away from him of course,  opponent than Becerra in Slava Mikhailuk. Slava has White but Rogelio has a large rating advantage so sometimes those two even out but I’ll take Rogelio for the win.   Arizona 2.5 – 0.5 Seattle.

Board 3 between IM-Elect Robby Adamson and WGM Katerina Rohonyan is a rematch of the 2008 season where these two same opponents played each other twice. Robby got the better of the match within a match by going 1.5/2 in those games even though both games were fairly close. I feel like Robby has a slight edge having White while also having good games in the past but I will go for a draw here. Arizona 3 – Seattle 1.

Overall I am predicting a 3-1 win for my Scorpions! Stay tuned tonight at 6:00pm Tucson time and 9:00pm Eastern for a truly exciting match for both teams. Either Arizona goes 2-0 to start off the season or Seattle rebounds from their first week loss to get back to 0.500. Big match!

versus

As always, fans are encouraged to come on down and root on our team. IM Mackenzie Molner (and New Jersey Knockout member) will be on-hand to offer master-level commentary to the games in progress. The match starts at 6:00 PM Tucson time.

My role this season will be The Openings Guide.

I will round up interesting openings from each week.  Since the games are played at such a fast time control, it’s often the case that dubious openings (bluffs or semi-bluffs) work out.  Those are particularly interesting to me. I am checking things with Rybka 4 and Fritz 12 reference database 2010.

The first game of interest was an East Coast match-up, IM Bryan Smith  (PHI) – GM  Joel Benjamin (NJ).

IM Bryan Smith (PHI) – GM Joel Benjamin (NJ)

Caro-Kann, Advance Variation

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5

A shocker on the third move!  This is supposed to be a bad move; black opens up the game after losing a full tempo!  Cagey veteran Benjamin shows things are not that simple.   3…Bf5 is much more common.  The text is a great choice at this faster USCL time control.

4.dxc5 Nc6 5.Nf3

The most popular statistically is 5. Bb5 but the text move scores better (58% to 54%).    Khalifman and Karpov have both defended successfully after 5. Bb5.

5…Bg4 6.Bb5 Qa5+ 7.Nc3 e6

8.Be3

We’re back in 5. Bb5 paths anyway.  For students of the game seeking improvements on white’s play due to the dismal outcome, I recommend the extremely venomous and rarely played move 8. Bd2! here!  The best surprise weapons are always the one that have tactical points and are little researched.

8….Nge7 9.a3

To show you how strong the idea in my previous note here was, the computer likes 9. Bd2! here (although white played 8. Be3) the best!

9…0-0-0

To illustrate the dynamics of black’s game (although clearly he has sacrificed a pawn) the computer awards equal chances to black in all lines now.

10.Bxc6 Nxc6 11.b4 Bxf3

11…Qa6 is good too.

12.gxf3

12. Qxf3?? Nxb4!  Now white’s position is a structural mess.  Benjamin has scored many points in his career exploiting such things.

12…Qa6 13.Bd4

13. b5? Qa5 14. Bd4 Nxe5! 15. Bxe5 d4! is a big edge to black.

13…Qc4 14.Ne2 g5!

Instructive!  Black keeps white’s pawns split.

15.Rg1 Rg8 16.Qd2 Bg7

Quiz time.  White has done the best he could and even at this stage can keep equal chances.  But his best move is hidden.  Do you see it?  His next move is a gross blunder, losing.  The fact that white can keep equal chances in this visually poor position reinforces GM Miguel Najdorf’s adage, “Chess not easy game.”

17.Rxg5??

I would suspect time pressure and a general depression about his structure caused this lemon.  See prior note; white had a surprisingly strong move to retain equal chances.

17…Nxd4!!

I also suspect this move did not take long to execute.  A very nice shot that wraps up the point.

18.Nxd4

18. Qxd4 loses to the same motif of 18…Qxd4 19. Nxd4 Bxe5! and wins.

18…Bxe5 19.Rxg8 Rxg8 20.0-0-0 Qa2 21.c3 Qxa3+ 22.Kb1 a5 23.Rc1 Kd7

23….Bxd4 right away was also crushing.  Everything wins.

24.Qd3 Bxd4 25.Qxd4 Qb3+ 26.Ka1 axb4 27.c6+ bxc6 28.Qa7+ Kd6 29.cxb4 Qxb4 30.Qa6 Qd4+ 31.Ka2 Qxf2+ White resigns 0-1

Our next interesting struggle was our very own Scorpion Danny Rensch taking on Eric Rodriguez.  Danny scored a key victory for Arizona and let’s see how.

Eric Rodriguez (MIA) – IM Danny Rensch (ARZ)

Catalan Gambit Line

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 dxc4 5.Bg2 b5?!

An unusual and extremely risky line, good for USCL surprise, but objectively white should like seeing this move.  Avrukh calls it ‘quite dangerous for Black’.

We will see where white went wrong (and it’s soon).  This is the key virtue of USCL surprise: a fast time limit can result in bad decisions, early.

6.a4!

Given an exclam in Boris Avrukh’s comprehensive 1. d4 Volume One book.

6…c6 7.0-0!?

Avrukh mainly analyses 7. axb5!? cxb5 (7…Bb4+? 8. Bd2 Bxd2 9. Nfxd2! with a big edge to white) 8. Ne5 Nd5 9. Nc3 but points out the interesting 9….f6!? here with chances for black to hold.

Position after 9...f6!? (Analysis)

The text move, curiously, is not covered by Avrukh but has been a big favorite with GM Khalifman. I don’t know why 7. O-O is not covered because it is clearly one of the critical moves.  In Avrukh’s lines without white castling, white has to constantly worry on every turn about black’s Bb4+ resource.

7…Bb7 8.Ne5

Following a few stylish Khalifman wins.

In “Khalifman’s Life and Games” by Gennady Nesis, this position is extolled as fantastic compensation for white.  Indeed, Khalifman scored a great win over GM Evgeny Sveshnikov (Elista 1996)  featured in that book  As the reader might tell, I really like that book!

The key source of the compensation according to former FIDE World Champ Khalifman is that he has craftily delayed his queen’s knight (where it’s exposed on the usual square c3) so white can later pry black open with a timely b3.

8….Nd5

One way to defend.  Khalifman roundly defeated Sveshnikov in the cited game after Svehsnikov tried 8…Qb6(!) and white went ahead with the planned 9. b3! with full compensation.

We now reach a critical moment.

Decision Time

9.b3?

In this altered picture, the b2-b3 lever is mistimed!  Black’s last move demands the white reaction 9. e4!.   Readers can work out the ramifications of further harassed black knight jumps on their own; in particular, the knight jump to b4 generates beautiful variations.   It’s fairly safe to say Sveshnikov was afraid of precisely this (9. e4!) when he chose to avoid 8…Nd5 and went with 8…Qb6 instead.  In Sveshnikov’s defense, the situation after 8…Qb6(!) 9. b3 was not altogether clear and he only went wrong later.

9…cxb3 10.Qxb3 b4 11.a5 Be7 12.Bd2 Ba6 13.Re1 0-0

Due to white’s failure to play e2-e4 at the right moment, black is fine here.   Of course, white manages to play it on the next turn – better late than never.

14.e4 Nf6 15.Bxb4 Qxd4 16.Bxe7 Qxa1 17.Bxf8 Qxe5 18.Qa3 Nbd7 19.Bd6 Qd4 20.Nc3??

A gigantic lemon overlooking black’s retort.  20. h3 kept good fighting chances with automatic compensation from the bishop pair and the outcome would be up in the air.

20…Ng4!

21.Nd1 Nde5

Black has full control now.  In fast time controls, the initiative is all-important.

22.h3 Nc4 23.Qc3 Qxd6 24.hxg4 e5 25.Bf1 Qd4 26.Bxc4 Bxc4 27.Qb4 Bb5 28.Qb1 Rd8 29.Ne3 Bd3 30.Qc1 g6 31.Qxc6 Bxe4 32.Qc7 Rd7 33.Qc8+ Kg7 34.g5 Bb7 35.Qc2 Qb4 36.Ra1 Rd2 37.Qb1 Rb2 38.Qf1 Qe4 39.Qh3 Rxf2 40.Rd1 h5 41.gxh6+ Kh7 42.Rf1 Rxf1+ 43.Nxf1 Qd4+ White resigns 0-1

If readers see another game from Week 1 they are curious about (from the openings standpoint), send in a comment.

–IM Mark Ginsburg

The Arizona Scorpions won their third consecutive opening match, in their third year in the league, with a very exciting win over the always tough Miami Sharks. This match went back and forth and really no result would have surprised me. I watched in my usual agony, with fellow teammate Amanda Mateer, and tag-along Mackenize “Snack Attack and please don’t give me mono” Molner, as we I yelled at the computer screen while watching the games live on ICC. On paper, Miami had the stronger team with an average rating advantage of 2428 vs. 2398. Also, Miami had a lifetime 2-0 record against the Scorpions, and I am sorry to say killed us both times. But as they say, that’s why they play the games.

Congratulations are in order for Team Phoenix. Almost GM Rogelio Barcenilla nearly pulled a rabbit out of his hat only to fall in time pressure vs. USCL stud-GM Julio Becerra. IM Dionisio Aldama used his Cuban magic and created a mess that IM Blas Lugo was unable to figure out in time pressure. Meanwhile, IM Danny Rensch thoroughly outplayed Miami’s All Star NM Eric Rodriguez on the black side of a Catalan. Finally, Expert John Gurczak made his USCL debut a memorable one by clinching the match for the Scorpions with a draw on board 4 against the very strong FM Charles Galofre, to win the match 2.5-1.5. I will cover the games in the order that they finished.

Board 2 – IM Dionisio Aldama – IM Blas Lugo

Just as Rogelio’s game was about to end, Dionisio overcame a slight disadvantage, and perhaps sensing the team was in jeopardy declined a draw offer and obvious trade down of material and went for the win – and it paid off!! We found out after the match that the sound on the computers was turned off, so perhaps Dionisio (or John on board 4), never heard the draw offers being made!

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 b5 6.Bb3 Bb7 7.Re1 Bc5 8.c3 d6 9.d4 Bb6 10.a4 h6 11.Na3 0–0 12.Be3 exd4 13.cxd4 Na5 14.d5 Nxb3 15.Qxb3 Bxe3 16.Rxe3 c6= black has played well here and neutralized white’s opening advantage 17.axb5 axb5 18.Rd1 cxd5 19.exd5 b4 20.Qxb4 Bxd5 21.Nd4 Qd7 22.h3 Rfb8 23.Qd2 Ra4 24.Qe2 Rab4 25.Re7 Qa4 black has an edge here, but somehow the knights gave white just enough to make it difficult for black to defend. 26.Nac2 Rxb2 27.Qd3 Rc8 28.Ne3 Bb3 29.Re1 g6 Now, white surprised the ICC kibitzers.

30.Ndf5!? a good practical decison even though the analysis bears out that black has enough to hold the balance [30.Nxb3 Rxb3 31.Qxd6 Qc6 32.Qf4] 30…Bc2? [30...Qf4 this looked much more natural and probably holds] 31.Nxh6+ now white wins 31…Kg7 32.Qxd6 Rc6 33.Rxf7+ Kxh6 34.Qf8+ Kg5 35.g3 Rb4 36.Nxc2 Re4 37.Rxe4 Qxe4 38.h4+ Kg4 39.Kh2 Rxc2 40.Rxf6 Qh1+ 41.Kxh1 Kh3 42.Qa3 g5 43.g4+ Black resigns 1–0

Board 1 – GM Julio Becerra – IM Rogelio Barcenilla

This was one of the more interesting games of the match for what happened near the end when unfortunately Rogelio had no time to figure out a very complicated endgame. The game started innocently enough with a Ruy Lopez, where Becerra got some initiative with 18.f4, and a king-side attack with 24.Qh6. Just as the ICC kibitzers were ready to bury black, Rogelio got dirty finding 26…g4 and when Becerra played Rxg4+, his rook was out of play. So what appeared to be a very bad position for Rogelio, surprisingly turned into his favor, after 32…Ng7, which threatened the disgusting Nh5 trapping white’s rook. Becerra went into a long think, and went for broke with 33.h5 followed by Rf1, and rook lift. There is no way of knowing if Becerra saw all of what followed but check out these complications after move 37!! Just disgusting.

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 b5 6.Bb3 Be7 7.a4 Bb7 8.d3 d6 9.Nc3 b4 10.Ne2 0–0 11.a5 Na7 12.Ng3 c5 13.Nf5 Bc8 14.N3h4 white has his usual slight edge, but black should have sufficient resources to defend 14…Ne8 15.Nxe7+ Qxe7 16.Qh5 Be6 17.Nf5 Qc7 18.f4! Bxb3 19.cxb3 Nc6 20.Rf3 g6 21.Rg3 f6 [21...Nd4 white still has the edge here but I do not see anything concrete here] 22.Qh4

white has a nice pull here and black must defend for a while 22…Nd4 23.Nxd4 cxd4 24.f5 g5 25.Qh6 black looks to be in trouble here but after a mistake by Becerra, black seizes the initiative! 25…Rf7 26.h4 g4 27.Rxg4+ [27.Qh5 is much better because white can take on g4 with the queen; otherwise white's rook does not become awkwardly placed on g4 and be effectively 3 moves away from coming back to f1 or f2.] 27…Kh8 28.Qd2 Rc8 29.Kh2 Qc2 [29...d5 30.exd5 Qc5=] 30.Qxc2 Rxc2 31.Bh6 Rfc7 32.Rf1

Ng7! a very cool move – threatening Nh5, and white’s g4 rook is trapped!! 33.h5 here we go – white does not have much of a choice 33…Rxb2?? [33...Nxh5 34.Rf3=] 34.Rf3?? back to back mistakes – sometimes in chess you focus on 1 side of the board and you forget about the other side. Here, black’s rook on c7 is doing double duty, guarding the c-file and the g7-knight. 34.Rc1 wins on the spot! 34…Nxh5 35.Rh3 forced 35…Rxb3 36.Rxh5 Rxd3 37.Bf8 [37.Rh3 Rxh3+ 38.gxh3 b3 39.Rg2 Rb7 who knows what's happening here - very hard to assess] 37…b3 38.Rh6 Rf7 39.Bxd6

39…b2?? Rogelio falters at the wrong time. Had he found 39…Rg7, it would have been a different game [39...Rg7 40.Rgh4!! I doubt Becerra finds this move given the time constraints, but there is no way he saw this when he played  34. Rf3 40...b2 41.Rxf6 Rxg2+ forced 42.Kxg2 b1Q 43.Rf8+ Kg7 44.Rg4+ Kh6 45.Rh4+ Kg7 (45...Kg5?? 46.Be7#) 46.Rg4+ with a draw by repitition] 40.Rxf6 Rxf6 41.Bxe5 h5 42.Bxf6+ Kh7 43.Rg7+ Kh6 44.Rb7 Rd2 45.Rb8 Black resigns 1–0

Board 3 – NM Eric Rodriguez – IM Danny Rensch

Danny played like a true pro this game. This was by far the cleanest victory he has had in the USCL. After a disastrous first year in the USCL, Danny vindicated himself last year, and this game put up an A+ performance. Danny played a line he has never played before but obviously had done his homework in learning this line. Danny waded through the complications nicely and was instrumental in giving the Scorpions a 2-1 lead! Congrats Danny!

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 dxc4 5.Bg2 b5 a very provocative line, and I would expect nothing less from Danny!. More typical is 5…a6 6.a4 c6 7.0–0 Bb7 8.Ne5 Nd5 9.b3 cxb3 10.Qxb3 b4 11.a5 white has compensation here – but black is not bad off here 11…Be7 12.Bd2 this seems wrong to me – seems like white should have his rook on d1 and bishop on e3 or f4, after playing e4 himself 12…Ba6 13.Re1 0–0 14.e4 Nf6 15.Bxb4 Qxd4 16.Bxe7 [16.Bc3 surprisingly, this is better than the game because of the extensive trades that result 16...Qd8 17.Nd2 white has compensation here but it is hard for black to complain] 16…Qxa1 17.Bxf8 Qxe5!

Objectively this best and allows black to complete his development 18.Qa3 Nbd7 19.Bd6 Qd4 black has a slight edge here 20.Nc3 Ng4! 21.Nd1 Nde5! 22.h3 Nc4 23.Qc3 Qxd6 [23...Qxc3 24.Nxc3 Nxf2 25.Kxf2 Nxd6 26.e5 Nc4 27.Bxc6 Rb8 black is winning here] 24.hxg4 e5 25.Bf1 Qd4 26.Bxc4 Bxc4 27.Qb4 Bb5 28.Qb1 Rd8 29.Ne3 Bd3 30.Qc1 g6 no need to hurry – black takes time out to stop Nf5 and give himself a flight square 31.Qxc6 Bxe4 32.Qc7 Rd7 33.Qc8+ Kg7 34.g5 Bb7 35.Qc2 Qb4 36.Ra1 Rd2 37.Qb1 Rb2 38.Qf1 Qe4 39.Qh3 Rxf2 40.Rd1 h5 41.gxh6+ Kh7 42.Rf1 Rxf1+ 43.Nxf1 Qd4+ White resigns 0–1

Board 4- John Gurczak – FM Charles Galofre

So with the match 2-1 in Arizona’s favor, John Gurczak had the task of being outranked by almost 200 points playing up against FM Charles Galofre and needing to manage his first game of the USCL in a calm manner. John admitted to me after the game that he felt very nervous going in – but he hung in there nicely.  He also admitted to me that he felt really great after the match was over and in fact “felt much better than two weeks ago when he had lost to [former AZ Scorpions member] Joel Johnson for the seventh consecutive time. In this game, John played his patented Exchange Slav but instead of the usual Nf3, Bf4, e3 setup, he played 5.Bg5. Galofre played the very interesting and natural pawn sacrifice of 8…e3. Even though white’s position began to look intolerable, even to the half-closed eye, Rybka never turns the tables and says black was better. But of course in the USCL, and in regular tournament games, what the computer says is best isn’t always the relevant factor. The human element is huge in chess, and in the USCL, it is critical. Just look at how certain games this week ended, both in ridiculous fashion. Wolff – Wang and Bapat – Black are perfect examples.

So after John achieved a very ugly looking position, it was time for black to find he best way to take advantage of some inaccuracies played by white. Surprisingly, this is not an easy task. Galofre opted for Rh6-g6 rook lift but John defended very actively with Qa4, Qb5, maneuver, and trading queens on c5. This helped white defend.

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.cxd5 cxd5 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.Bg5 Ne4 6.Nxe4 dxe4 7.a3 Qd5 8.Bh4 e3 9.fxe3 Nc6 10.Nf3 Bf5 11.Rc1 e6 12.Rg1 h5 13.Rc3 Bd6 14.Bg3 Bxg3+ 15.hxg3 Qd6 16.Kf2 Rh6 17.Qa4 Kf8 18.Qb5 Rg6 19.Qc5 Rd8 20.Nd2 e5 21.d5 Qxc5 22.Rxc5 Ne7 23.e4 Bg4 24.e3 Nc8 25.Bd3 Rf6+ 26.Ke1 Rb6 27.b4 Nd6 28.Nc4 Nxc4 29.Bxc4 Ke7 30.Be2 Rg6 31.Bxg4 Rxg4 32.Kf2 Rxe4 33.Rc7+ Rd7 34.Rgc1 Kd6 35.Rxd7+ Kxd7 36.Kf3 f5 37.Rh1 g6 38.Rc1 Rg4 39.Rc5 e4+ 40.Kf2 h4 41.gxh4 Rxh4 42.Rb5 b6 43.a4 Rh8 44.Kg3 g5 45.a5 Rb8 46.d6 Ke6 47.d7 Rf8 48.axb6 axb6 49.Rxb6+ Kxd7 50.Rg6 f4+ Game drawn by mutual agreement ½–½

Congrats to the Scorpions for a great effort. Root us on next week when we face off against Seattle!!

Back to the US Chess League but this time as a spectator! The only two seasons the Scorpions have played in the league I have been both manager and player but due to graduate school I have been forced to hand my title over. (EJ: I get your NM title too! Sweet!) Now I am confined to watching the games from my 200 square foot apartment in New Orleans!  Despite my move I can’t miss any games in the league so I will be predicting the results of the Arizona matches for hopefully the whole season.

The addition of the LA Vibe and the St. Louis Archbishops and the farewell of Tennessee really shakes things up in our division and makes things a lot more challenging. LA seems like a solid team for sure and St. Louis will be really top heavy so I don’t know if both teams will make it to the playoffs but I would guess at least one of them does. I’ve always thought the Western division was stronger than the Eastern but now I think it’s true even more than before. We’ll see. It should be a fun season!

Anyways, on to the match. Arizona has a really solid team this year and although we have lost GM Alejandro we should be able to fight it out in every match.  Miami has been a tough team for us to beat and is never really weak on any board. And nothing changes for this season.

All the Arizona players are on the right hand side and all the Miami players are on the left.

Board 1

These two players played against each other with opposite colors two years ago and this should be a tough match-up. Both players play pretty predictably and will probably play a Ruy Lopez. Both players are experienced in the league and obviously Becerra has a long record of good seasons. However, Rogelio is known for being very solid and can easily turn the tables if Becerra decides he needs to push hard. I’m going to predict a draw here.

Board 2

This should be a very interesting match-up! Both players are very wild and not only are not afraid of complications but really go after them. These two players also know each other pretty well. This is only the third game Dionisio has played, having a fairly good but short year last season with 1.5/2 games beating IM Felecan of Chicago and drawing IM Donaldson of San Francisco with Black. Dionisio will have White this game and I’m going to predict that he pulls this one out. If there is one game I would not miss it would be this game. Bring your popcorn and look for fireworks!

Board 3

Two more interesting and dynamic players on board 3. Danny rebounded from his horrible first season to have a solid year last season. However, from talking to him he is ready to show his true colors. Having a near 2500 IM on board 3 is always a nice feeling to have. I’m not sure but I think this is a rematch of a US Open game in Phoenix a while back. I think Danny won that one in 6 hours. That was a different time though for both players.

Eric has had a lot of experience in the league and overall has a great record. That, with the addition of being White, should make this an interesting match-up. I’m going to go with the rating advantage here and pick Danny.

Board 4

Man when you look at FM Charles Galofre on board 4 you got to be a little impressed. He is a very strong board 4 and actually played pretty well for Miami on Board 3 (!) two seasons ago. He is playing against one of our newcomers to the team in John Gurczak.  John has wanted to be on the team since we started the league two years ago and now he gets a chance. One thing going for him in this game is that he is White. Hopefully he can use some of this excitement and win this one out but I am going to predict a Galofre win here.

So overall a very tight match-up. I am predicting a 2.5-1.5 victory for my Scorpions! Stay tune on Wednesday at 9:00 PM ET, 6:00 PM Arizona time. It should be a good one!

Just like last year, I will try my best to predict the matches. I really hope I can pick better than I did last year because last year was worse than the fall of a certain political parties (insert your favorite punch-bag here).  Without further ado, here are the Week 1 predictions:

Monday Matches –

New York Knights vs. Boston Blitz

The first match of the 2010 campaign is again a great match-up between 2 rivalries. I really like New York’s team this year with the use of the 3 underrated juniors (underrated meaning current USCF ratings are much higher than 2009 rating supplement being used) Alec Getz, Alex Ostrovskiy and Justus Williams, as well as heavy-weight GM Giorgi Kacheishvili on board 1. Getz has played well this year, Ostrovskiy is almost 2300, and Justus Williams has improved a lot in the last year. Boston always will be strong when you have GM Larry “Can I please get an ice coffee” Christiansen leading the team, but I think Boston is lacking that underrated player element that always seems to help teams. So who wins this one? I think Larry needs to score the full point against GM Alex Lenderman for Boston to be successful because I think NY is stronger overall. NY wins 2.5-1.5

Philadelphia has a slight rating edge here – but Philly will need a strong outing from IM Bryan Smith who had a superb  Philadelphia International this summer. I think Bryan needs to come after GM Joel Benjamin because NJ has a huge edge on board 2. GM Boris Gulko receives his obligatory white vs. FM Tom Bartell and should bring that point home. For that reason, I think NJ wins this one 2.5-1.5.

I remember the nervous feeling I had two years ago when I played for the Arizona Scorpions and I am sure there will be a little bit of nervous feelings from both of these expansion teams. But don’t feel too bad for St Louis who has 3 GMs (Naka, Shulman, and Finegold) or LA which has the very experienced GM Melik Khachiyan and some other very talented players. I think its pretty clear that if St Louis survives on boards 3 and 4 this year, they will be very difficult to beat. Even though this match is going to be close, in large part due to the huge rating advantage LA has on board 4, St Louis wins this one 2.5-1.5.

Seattle Sluggers vs. Chicago Blaze

Chicago has a rating edge this match and really looks to be significantly improved. GM Amanov on board 2 (or potentially 3^rd!) for future matches is slightly obnoxious. I expect Gurevich to do well on board 1 this year which should help Chicago contend for the playoffs. Seattle on the other hand has replaced Naka with Akobian, but Varuzhan is not playing this week. Chicago wins 3-1.

Wednesday Matches –

Manhattan Applesauce vs. Carolina Cobras

Do Cobras eat apple sauce? If they did, that would give Carolina at least one edge to speak of. Manhattan wins this one, though it will be closer than people will expect. MA wins 2.5-1.5.

The other expansion team, New England, has a lot of familiar faces with IM’s Hungaski, Vigorito, and strong FM’s Braden Bournival and Chris Chase. NE also has a huge rating edge. Baltimore is not playing their strongest possible lineup and is an underdog on all boards. That spells disaster for Baltimore.
New England wins 3-1.

San Francisco busts out the usual obnoxious rating average (2462 – highest of the week) and features the usual cast of underrated juniors, with both Daniel Naroditsky and Steven Zierk each recently picking up IM Norms. Dallas has a strong team as well and really needs a strong performance from Sal “Can we have split (not separate) checks” Bercys.  Sal really will need to “Do it Live” for Dallas to hang in there – you know its gonna be an interesting Kings Indian Defense. Overall, I give SF the nod here as youth is served.  SF wins by a hair, 2.5-1.5.

Miami Sharks vs. Arizona Scorpions

Last year was a great year to be a fan of the Scorpions. We won the blog award , made the playoffs, and had a great time.  Unfortunately we lost in the playoffs – but still a successful year.

This year we see two new strong juniors (NM Nick Thompson and Expert John Gurczak) who will man board 4, as well our most successful board 4 from last year, David Adelberg.

Now onto the match. We will need Rogelio to hold down USCL stalwart, GM Julio Becerra while our other IM’s Dionisio Aldama and Danny Rensch will need to score against fellow IM Blas Lugo and NM Eric Rodriguez. Miami has a 200 point rating edge on board 4 with Charles Galofre against John Gurczak, though John is white. This will be a tough match as it always is when you play Miami.  I predict the olive branch here, 2-2 tie.

The Arizona Scorpions will face off against the Miami Sharks on Wednesday night. The team will play at Abstrax in Mesa. All games will be played on the Internet Chess Club (ICC) starting at 6:00 local time (9:00 Eastern Time).

Arizona will have the black pieces on boards 1 and 3. We will have the white pieces on boards 2 and 4. All games will be Game in 60 minutes with a 30 second increment per move.

Fans across the country have started weighing in on their predictions for the new season.

Ron Young
Ryan Polsky
Arun Sharma

Wear your red and come out to support your Arizona Scorpions!!

The 2010 United States Chess League is almost upon us. The teams (including 3 new ones) are gathering for another great season of Internet chess. Just as the league is making some changes, so are the Arizona Scorpions.

The 2010 Scorpions were announced today. Here is the official roster. The ratings in parenthesis are the official league ratings based on the September 2009 USCF supplement. Current USCF ratings are different.

IM Rogelio Barcenilla (2583)
IM Levon Altounian (2536)
IM Dionisio Aldama (2489)
IM Danny Rensch (2432)
FM Warren Harper (2357)
FM Robby Adamson (2346)
NM David Adelberg (2196)
NM Nick Thompson (2098)
Expert John Gurczak (2098)
Expert Amanda Mateer (1993)

One other change to announce. Leo Martinez has stepped down as manager of the Scorpions. Sources close to the organization, who wish to remain anonymous, say that “wanting to spend more time with his family, to work on his studies, and to focus on his health” were major factors in his decision. There were some rumors last season that Leo’s wild, partying nightlife and many female fans were a distraction to the team during their playoff run. When asked if “Leo’s Legion of Ladies” was the cause for the early playoff exit, Scorpion veteran Robby Adamson replied, “Everyone loves Leo. Women want to be with him, men want to be him. But that doesn’t matter now. The 2010 team is only focused on the 2010 season.” EJ will take over as manager of the team.

The first match of the year will be on Wednesday, August 25 at 6:00 PM (local time) against the Miami Sharks. A line-up and location will be announced prior to the match. Once again, the Scorpions will play matches in either Mesa (Abstrax) or Tucson (University of Arizona). All matches are viewable on the Internet Chess Club (ICC).

We look forward to another great season!