GM Robert Hess, a fan of the Arizona Scorpions, once again chimes in with his thoughts about the Arizona Scorpions victory over the Chicago Blaze. The AZ Scorpions thank Robert for his contribution.

ARIZONA WINS!! What a weekend it has been for Arizona teams. The Wildcats of Arizona and the Sun Devils of Arizona State each provided wins on Saturday to begin the ‘Zona rampage. The Cardinals, defending NFC champions, humiliated the Seahawks 27-3 (Thank you Warner and Fitzgerald for being on my fantasy team – no thank you Cardinal stingy defense, I also have Hasselbeck!) on Sunday to move to a tie atop the division. Best for last, your Arizona Scorpions, barring a complete meltdown, may have assured themselves a playoff berth with their third straight match win. This week it was a 2.5-1.5 victory over the Chicago Blaze. To the games we go!

Board 1: Angelo Young (IM, 2325) vs. Rogelio Barcenilla (GM-Elect,2583)

Angelo Young has yet to lose a game in the USCL. His record is phenomenal, especially considering he is often considerably out-rated. Daniel Rensch, Arizona’s third board, has a significant rating advantage over Young. However, Young maintained steady dominance over his GM-elect opponent. Barcenilla seemed to be playing from a worse position for most of the game. Instead of playing an early cxd4, he allowed Angelo to obtain a large space advantage. After sacrificing an exchange, the game should have been easily over. However, black missed an opportunity with 37… Qc5+, which does give black some good fighting chances. Additionally, the only way for black to keep on breathing after 38. Qb7 was Qxb7 39. axb7 Rb8 with chances to make a draw. However, after Rogelio missed these two finds, Young made quick work of his opponent. 1-0

Board 2: Dionisio Aldama (IM, 2473) vs. Florin Felecan (2430, IM-Elect)

Aldama played for the second straight week and again proved productive. Felecan, the ever dangerous player (he did have a great victory over Yury Shulman earlier this year), seemed to obtain a strong Sicilian position. Aldama played smooth, forward chess, not succumbing to passivity. Even after Felecan stole a pawn, Dionisio still pressed on for the win. Unlike typical Felecan games, there were not all too many tactics involved. Rather, white achieved the initiative and kept on rolling.

18. f5 was also a possibility for white, as g5 is responded to by 19. Bf2 (targeting a nice cushion on b6).

Black could have played 35… Rd6 36. Qb3 (36. Bb4?? Rdxc6!) a2! 37. Qb7 Qxb7 38. cxb7 Rb8!! 39. Rc8+ Kh7 40. Rxb8 Rxd5 41. Rd8 Rxa5 42. B8=Q A1= Q 43. Qb3 Qa2 about = to my eyes.

However, this is tough to find over the board, and I found this based on 15 minutes pure calculation. Maybe a computer engine will prove me wrong, but to my human eye, seems like black’s best try. 1-0

Board 3: Mehmed Pasalic (IM, 2346) vs. Daniel Rensch (IM-Elect, 2434)

This was arguably the most crucial board of the match. On paper, at least, this was the best match-up, pitting two recently minted IMs against one another. Rensch is known to have a rough time in the league, with his performance rating just two above his birth year (1987 performance, 1985 birth). That being said, he is undoubtedly much better than that, proven with his last IM norm at the Spice Cup B section. Pasalic, on the other hand, has proven his strength in the league, performing 2492 last year with 4/6. Now moving to the game…

Rensch came out like a man with something to prove. He chose a very active opening, and certainly achieved a rather nice position. After 15 moves, black was already better. Rensch had the two bishop advantage and probably should have put his dark-squared bishop on the g1-a7 diagonal. However, after trading on c4, the position remained equal until f5 was played. White immediately had a better position, as it weakened the dark squares. After everything was traded on e5, Pasalic attempted to consolidate his pawn advantage. His best try was to go 47. Kg2 but regardless it looks rather drawish. Interesting game here. ½-½

Board 4: David Adelberg (2160) vs. Eric Rosen (2164)

This was a matchup between two players on the rise. Both have become much stronger as of late. But nobody should be surprised to see Adelberg win this match for his team. The kid has been on fire for the Scorpions, playing quite well in most of his games (disregarding the hiccup vs. Gregory Young). After 19. Bd2, perhaps just retreating Qc7 was best. After Qh5, though, it seems that black is just losing. Yes, perhaps the queen can escape with a move like g5!? After Nh4, but this just looks too weakening. Ng4 was immediately losing, and Adelberg played a very solid game and easily took home the point. 1-0

Match Recap

Overall, a rather strong showing by the Scorpions. All boards were hard fought, and with the exception of the upset on board 1, proved to play in Arizona’s favor. Angelo Young did a fantastic job taking down Barcenilla on board 1, ‘Zona took control with the white pieces, and Rensch held down Pasalic. 3 wins a row, steamrollin’ their way into the playoffs: yourrrrrrrr 2009 Arizonaaaaaaaa Scorpionssssss (dramatic effect like at an NBA game)

The Fabulous 00s: USCL Week 7 Opening of the Week (OOTW)

Let’s explore an interesting junior battle.

Gerald Larson (TEN) – Trevor Magness (CHI)  USCL Week 7

Ruy Lopez Exchange

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.0-0 Bg4 6.h3 (?!)

Let’s try NOT doing h3 yet (this committal move gives black a ready-made lever on the kingside).  I’m going to recommend here the eccentric-looking  6. d3!? Qf6 7. Nbd2 O-O-O 8. a4!? awaiting events.  For example, 8. a4 g5 9. h3 Bh5 10. Qe2! Kb8 11. g4! Bg6 12. Nc4! and white has an edge.  Delaying h2-h3 looks foxier. It also probably has the advantage of taking black out of the well-known channels.

6…h5! Of course! Known to be bad for white now is 7. hxg4 hxg4.

I enjoy junior games.  There will always be the sharpest twist on the most innocuous starting positions.  No theoretical verdict has been reached on this line.  Let’s see what happened…

7.d3 Qf6 8.Nbd2 Ne7 9.Re1 Ng6 White is fairly tied up now due to the pressure on f3.  His next move alters the structure but he could also eat on g4 at this moment.

Key Moment

10.d4

After the only optically risky 10. hxg4!? hxg4 11. Nh2? Bc5! black had a big edge and won in Fressinet-Kazhgaleyev, Paris 1996.  Correct is 11. g3! and white holds after some adventure: 11. g3! Bc5 12. Nb3! Bb6 (Looks terrible for white, doesn’t it?  But… white escapes!) 13. Bg5 Qxf3 14. Qxf3 gxf3 15. Nd2 f6 16. Be3 Ba5! 17. c3 O-O-O 18. Rad1!! Rxd3 19. Nc4! and draws!

10…Nf4 11.dxe5

I guess it’s too much to ask for the nice trap 11. hxg4 hxg4 12. Nh2 Nxg2!! winning, as has occurred in a bunch of games. The rather rude point, very familiar to Marshall specialists, is 13. Kxg2 Rxh2+! 14. Kxh2 Qxf2+ 15. Kh1 g3 and mates.

11…Qg6! 12.Nh4! The only way to hold the balance!  Still, black can and should have posed problems before white reaches safety.

12…Bxd1 13.Nxg6 Nxg6 14.Rxd1 0-0-0 15.e6 fxe6 The foxy 15…f6!? is perfectly possible but it’s still equal.  15…f6!? has the virtue of keeping things relatively speaking more complicated.

16.Re1 Bb4?! 16…Ne5! sets practical problems and black has the easier time of it.  The text forces white to make a useful move.  Anyway, we’re far afield of the opening now — black’s setup passed the theoretical test!

17.c3 Bc5 18.Nb3 Bb6 19.Be3 Rd3 20.Bxb6 cxb6 21.Rad1 Rhd8 22.Rxd3 Rxd3 23.g3 Kd7 24.Kf1 Ke7 25.Ke2 Rd8 26.Rd1 Rxd1 27.Kxd1 Ne5 28.Nc1 Nf7 29.h4 Kd6 30.Ke2 c5 31.Nd3 g5 32.hxg5 Nxg5 33.f3 Nh7 34.e5+ Kd5 35.Ke3 b5 36.Kf4 a5 37.Nf2 a4 38.Ne4 Kc4 39.Ke3 b4 40.Nd6+ Kd5 41.f4 b6 42.c4+ Kc6 43.Ke4 Kd7 44.Kd3 Nf8 45.Ne4 Ke7 46.Nf6 h4 47.gxh4 Ng6 48.h5 Nxf4+ 49.Ke4 Ne2 50.h6 Kf7 51.Nd7 Nc3+ 52.Kd3 Nxa2 53.Nxb6 a3 54.bxa3 bxa3 55.Nd7 Nb4+ 56.Kc3 a2 57.Kb2 Kg6 58.Nxc5 Kxh6 59.Nxe6 Nd3+ 60.Kxa2 Nxe5 61.c5 Kg6 62.Kb3 Kf6 63.Nd4 Ke7 64.Ka4 Kd7 65.Kb5 Kc7 66.Ne6+ Kb7 67.Nf4 Kc7 Game drawn by mutual agreement 1/2-1/2

Hello everyone!

The next match-up pits the Arizona Scorpions against the Chicago Blaze in Week 8. As the Arizona Manager I will try to give you a recap of how things have gone this year and telling you about this tough match-up as well.

The Scorpions are in a great spot in the playoff race in the West being in 2^nd place on tiebreaks over San Francisco and Miami. With a record of 4.0-3.0 the Scorpions are a point and half ahead of Chicago who need to win this game in order to have chances to get in the playoffs. The Scorpions need this win if they want to secure their first playoff berth and to put themselves in a good seeding if they do get to the playoffs.

We have played the Blaze once before this year in Week 1 beating them 3.5-0.5 with wins by Alejandro Ramirez, Robby Adamson, and David Adelberg. However this week is completely different as only one player playing this week was playing for the Scorpions in Week 1. Although much has been said on the Chicago blog about how the Scorpions have dominated the Blaze in the past this gives no indication of how close this match is. Although Arizona has a rating advantage Chicago has always been a very solid team that contests every board from 1-4. Much like us Chicago doesn’t usually stack their lineups up top or on the bottom boards. On top of this Chicago has just come off a big win against the Tennessee Tempo, fighting against not one but two GM’s (Ehlvest and Shabalov) with wins by Van de Mortel and Angelo Young.

On to the match!

Board 1

IM Jaan Van de Mortel 2456        vs      GM Rogelio Barcenilla 2583

Both of these players are coming off big wins in their last matches, both against Grandmasters. Also both of these wins allowed their teams to win their matches by 2.5-1.5. Jaan beat one of the top Grandmasters in the country and former top ten player in the world in Jaan Ehlvest in a very nice game. GM Rogelio Barcenilla just came off an extremely wild game beating GM Vinay Bhat. I remember thinking around move 15 how Rogelio could have gotten into such a horrible position so early with White. However, one of the most important characteristics of a chess player is resiliency and Rogelio definitely has some of that. He ended this game by barely winning Queen against Rook ending giving me and everyone else at the site a near heart attack! After coming off a rough start this season with losses to Nakamura and Bercys, Rogelio has more than made up for this with very strong wins against IM Ippolito and GM Bhat, in both cases leading to Scorpion wins.

In the past Jaan has had trouble against the Scorpions losing to IM Levon Altounian and IM Mark Ginsburg last season, both times with Black. He no doubt will be ready to rumble to change that with White on Monday night.

Board 2

IM Dionisio Aldama 2506            vs          IM Florin Felecan      2430

This will be the second game that Dionisio will play in his USCL career with a draw against IM John Donaldson last week. His uncompromising style should make for an interesting game as Felecan plays similarly. If there is one game to watch in this match I would focus on this game as two wild players equal a wild game I’m predicting! Dionisio is one of those players that I cannot guess any of his moves but somehow he ends up making it work in the end which is all that matters.

Board 3

IM Mehmed Pasalic     2346         vs            IM Danny Rensch   2434

IM(!) Danny Rensch comes back to play after his first win in the USCL last week against Daniel Naroditsky. Danny seems to be breaking barriers everywhere lately having just broken through to the IM title as well. Danny’s solid record this year in the league, although not absolutely groundbreaking, is definitely one of the reasons we have done so well this year. Danny has the ability to beat anyone on board 2 or 3 when playing well and I hope he can continue his winning streak this week against Pasalic.  Pasalic lost to FM Robby Adamson in Week 1 and is no doubt looking for some vengeance in this game against a fellow Scorpion.

Board 4

NM David Adelberg      2202        vs            NM Eric Rosen.    2237

After David’s loss last week all I saw was him very disappointed. However, after this he was hopeful and then happy again when our team pulled the win out anyways. He played very well against Greg Young playing into a winning position before losing in the endgame. Of course this kind of stuff happens to everyone and is typical in such important games. However, David has no doubt been one of the bright spots to our team this year. I knew David was good and had all the potential in the world when I put him on the team but I had no idea how much he had improved. I played David once when he was around 1900 a couple of years ago. I had heard his name floating around the Arizona chess community a couple times but I didn’t really know him and to be honest I didn’t take him super seriously. I just thought he was like all 1900s. After barely winning a 6 hour game that ended around 12:00 am I was pretty shocked. I kept thinking after the game while analyzing the game with him that “this kid is gonna be good.” Well I don’t think David is done improving but he has already proven me right. With wins against Magness and Zorigt and a solid +1 record he has done very well in his USCL season debut. He also has just last weekend broken to become over 2200 USCF and a “Master” at only 12 years old. He is no doubt a player to watch in the future….starting with tomorrow at 6:00pm! You can check out all the games at 6:00 PM AZ time on ICC or at Abstrax in Mesa, Arizona. Come check us out!

The third week of Predictions between the Managers is below! The scores after the first week were tied 19-19 but after the second week’s disastrous result from myself (Leo) the score is now Leo 36 – Craig 42.  Good luck trying to criticize these predictions!

and

So I was checking my email a couple days ago and Steve Farmer (an approximately 1900-2000 player from Tucson, AZ) had emailed me and told me that he had made some videos about the Scorpion Week 1 Games.  Since I had no idea that he was making these videos it was a pleasant surprise.  Anyways these videos are not directly related to the Scorpions site but they are separate videos…but they are relevant and instructive. Anyways in the future maybe I will post his videos directly on the site I thought I would at least link them to people that are interested.

The videos for each game are listed below:

For Ramirez – Mitkov click here

For Adamson – Pasalic click here

For Magness – Adelberg click here

Levon Altounian writes about the openings in the Arizona-Chicago Match. This will be a weekly column by Levon about only the openings for the Arizona Matches. He also runs the Arizona Chess for Schools based out of Tucson, AZ.

ARIZONA SCORPIONS VS CHICAGO BLAZE.

Opening Review:

Before I start about the openings I want to say a few words about the match in general.

What a match and what a sweet result! As many blogs, predictions and even personal bets indicated, most thought we had a better chance of coming ahead in the match. Some of the predictions (such as of Elliott Liu) and the recap by Alejandro Ramirez were very close to what I personally thought to before and after the match. This time we didn’t have a chance to prepare as a team, as we did last year and it might have been for the better. We never won a match with a score of 3.5-0.5 and I can assure you- it will be very hard to repeat.  Chicago probably doesn’t like us much anymore. We won last year round 1 against them also and then won the 2^nd match too. This year we started with a very good victory and as some indicated- we should campaign to stop the match right now and we win on tie-breaks!

Kudos to organizers and helpers who made an effort (and succeeded) in creating a perfect environment for the players and the spectators.

Now about the Openings:  In each case I’ll be using a scale of 1-10 (10 being the highest) to convey my thoughts on different subjects for each game. I also have to approximate things to the best of my knowledge.

My feelings about the Openings before the round by boards were:

Board 1: Alejandro gets a small edge. If nothing goes badly either a win, draw or time scramble.

Board 2: Depending on Felecan’s first move- on 1 d4 a very complex game and on 1 e4- more solid Ruy Lopez main lines.

Board 3: Robby with white is super solid. Some small edge position for white with likely draw result or a more complex opening with chances for both sides.

Board 4: Let the young fighter boys fight in some theoretical line that players on first 3 boards feel too behind in theory or too old for.

Board 1: GM Ramirez- GM Mitkov.

General Styles: Ramirez – More active. Mitkov- More positional.

Theoretical Importance:  5

Novelty: 2

Precision: 8

Opening: Catalan

I was not sure what opening we will have in this game and furthermore, I was not sure what Alejandro will open with but I had a feeling that because he was playing for the Scorpions for the first time, he would spare us some grey hair and not play anything weird. Getting a Catalan (with a slight adjustment of having a Bishop on d2 instead of on c1 because of  4…Bb4+ 5 Bd2) limits White’s choices but does not offer equality for Black yet. Mitkov had some similar games before where things ended up wild. This game however, went under White’s lead. I really don’t like Black’s 9… a5 much. It weakened some squares and made Black have a very passive game. Black’s 12…Ra7 was a bit dubious too. I would myself have preferred 12…Nfd7 (Nb8 keeps control of the c6 square). Somewhere between moves 13-21 White let the big part of the advantage slip but still kept a very nice edge. The rest was just a game with White having at least a practical advantage of enjoying easier task of just controlling files, dark squares and some pawn pushing. Black probably being tired of the defense didn’t notice a very good counterattack 30… Nd4! The rest was a matter of technique which Alejandro did flawlessly.

Board 2 FM Felecan- IM Altounian

General Styles: Felecan- aggressive style and opening choices: Me- solid opening choices

Theoretical Importance:  4

Novelty: 2

Precision: 8

Opening: Italian

Quite honestly his 3 Bc4 caught me by surprise. I had not seen a single game of his playing that move. So I played what I knew best 3…Nf6. His choice of 4 d3 cleared the matters- he just wants to play a positional slow and very non-theoretical chess. He didn’t know the latest theory on it (or the way Kramnik interpreted those positions as White) so I had a simple game with a few ways to equalize. Unfortunately there was not much more for Black. Not wanting to completely dry up the game by 8… Ne4!? 9 N:e4 d5 10 Bb5 d:e4 11 B:c6 e:f3 12 B:f3, I chose a more complex looking move that keeps pieces on the board. After his next move 9. Nd5 I regretted my desire to get more out of the position than it gives. The proceeding exchanges led to a slight edge for White where I almost blundered (when  I played 8…Qd7 I had foreseen the position after the trades and meant to play 12… N:d5?? 13 Q:d5 c6 thinking I am winning the piece back as after 14 Qa5 b6 the Queen cannot defend the Bishop. Luckily I double checked it and to my horror saw 15 Qd2 and I am down a piece. The next few moves led to Whites small advantage (especially strong and a move I totally missed was his 16 Bb5! That stops Re8 trades and threatens Bd7 ideas). I decided not to tempt faith and offered a draw, seeing that we are doing well on boards 1 and 3 and board 4 while looking messy start looking favorable for us.

Board 3: FM Adamson- IM Pasalic

General Styles: Adamson solid but theoretical and aggressive, especially with White: Pasalic-mainly solid opening lines but some theoretical Sicilians and Kings Indians too.

Theoretical Importance:  8

Novelty: 6

Precision: 8

Opening: Sicilian Rauzer

Ever since Robby switched from Alapin Sicilian (1 e4 c5 2 c3) to main line Sicilians, I would not suggest players tackle that opening (or at least main lines) with Robby. It works to his advantage of being an FM (just like for Danny Rensch who seems like took more Sicilian GM scalps than in any other opening) when all the IMs and GMs decide to play those Sicilians trying to beat FMs. I don’t know those lines very well but having grown up reading Russian chess magazines in 1990’s, the Rauzer (where Black puts both knights out right away) was one of the lines I would always encounter reading about. I would go even as far as declaring that if the Sicilian isn’t the very best choice against Robby, the Rauzer is probably the worst of them all against him. I would direct your attention to how skillfully White disallowed Black’s general concept of pushing the h7 pawn as far as it can go. In either case, using super GM Leko’s Sicilian ideas and precise moves ( 13. Bh5 followed by transferring the rook to h3 and then to h5 ) and his own creativity, white got a very pleasant game with about 4 pawn targets, 6 pieces to use for the attack and 3 pawn breaks. Because of the Rook on h5- the “as far as it can go” was not too far: only to h6. The rest of the game went under White’s definite edge and while the time pressure for both sides added to the anxiety, I never doubted the Blitzmaster’s Blitz mastery. Game ended very miserably for Black.

Board 4 Magness-Adelberg

General Styles: Both players being young (especially Adelberg ), means that they have their preferred systems and openings that usually lead to complex games with chances for both sides.

Theoretical Importance:  9

Novelty: 7

Precision: 5

Opening: Najdorf Sicilian (English Attack)

As one of the spectators correctly noticed this game was an “absolute Magness!”  I remember when in 1993 I told my coach I would like to play the English Attack as white and that I studied it for a while- he told me “you cannot play a side line like that and be ready in less than 2 years” The first part proved to be false as the line quickly replaced all others as the main line against Najdorf and is very popular now on every level. The other part of the prediction proved to be right- there are some unimaginably crazy and complicated lines in this variation that takes years to figure out. However, who else but young people with their ability to remember and memorize, combined with fearlessness that comes with age- is better suited to play this? Adelberg actually chose a relatively less popular line- very quick redeployment of the Nf6 to b6 square. I had seen that played in some other games (notably in GM Becerra- GM Novikov at the US Championship few years ago- right next to me) where both sides tried to out-remember the lines. In both games White courageously sacrifices a knight for 2 or 3 pawns. In this game however, White quickly found himself in an unfamiliar situation (it is hard to expect your young opponent to know all those lines!) and makes a very bad move (17. Rd2?) after exhausting his opening knowledge. According to RYBKA computer and some database games- after White’s best 17 Q:g7, we get a forced draw. At least that is what I see unless some RYBKA-killer shows up. Black ends up missing a very hard to find but a short and beautiful win (20…Ra6 21 Qd5 0-0!! 22 R:e2 Qa8! 23 Q:a8 Rf:a8 and White is losing  a rook). After more complications (21 Bg5?? Instead of 21 Bb6!) Black was up 2 pieces. It should have ended right there if it weren’t for David’s blunder that nearly spoiled it. It all ended well however, and AppleBees got 6 happy customers half an hour later to celebrate a 3.5/ 0.5 win.

The season could not have started better for the Scorpions!  I have not played in the USCL in several years now, but I have been the TD for the Dallas Destiny and I frequently attend their matches as a spectator.  I have to say it was almost heavenly to play a game of online chess without the myriad of technical difficulties that plagues the room in the University of Texas at Dallas that the Destiny plays in.  Kudos to our manager, Leo, for the excellent playing conditions!

The games started promptly at 6:00 pm Arizona time, and the first few minutes saw almost no surprises.  I opened with a Catalan, as was predicted by the unimaginably strong FM Elliot Liu in a  previous blog post, Robby saw a Rauzer Sicilian sitting next to me (though he was board 3) and across the room I could see Lev playing a Hungarian defense, which very much suits his style.  I have known both Lev and the legendary Wavemaster for quite some time, so I knew that they were very much in their comfort zone.  I am still quite unfamiliar with the style of our 4^th board, David Adelberg.  However, he made me feel really, really old around 15 minutes into the match; while Mitkov and I were intensely strategizing, trying to find the best spots for our pieces in a closed boring Catalan, David and his opponent Magness had blitzed off 18 moves, both were in mating nets and David had an extra piece for two pawns.

Let’s go into more detail on the games:

MAGNESS – ADELBERG

0-1

Crazy.   These kind of games should only be played by the young and the brave.  And the ones who study.  White deviated with 17. Rd2?! As opposed to the normal line 17. Qxg7, which is apparently about equal.  Not that I know anything about the line, its just what Rybka is telling me.  Both players got lost in the sea of variations, and made several mistakes, but Adelberg promptly took advantage of his opponents bad play and got a winning position, and after a slight setback was able to comfortably convert his extra piece in an endgame.

ADAMSON – PALASIC

1-0

After  Robby survived his typical pre-game meltdown, which includes nervousness, copious amounts of soda and a few hours debating what to play on move one, he managed to get a very comfortable position right out of the opening.  His strong bishop on h5 and the set of weaknesses on the kingside gave him strong attacking ideas, and the subsequent rook lift to the key square h5 hammered in his spatial domination.  After the awkward retreat Na7, and the board dominating maneuver Qb3!  it was all downhill for black; Robby won a nice positional Sicilian crush.  Unfortunately, Robby missed the dirty move 40. Rc7!!, which I bet he would’ve found with some more time on the clock and would’ve won him the brilliancy prize.

FELECAN – ALTOUNIAN

1/2-1/2

SUPER EXCITING GAME! MUST WATCH! GO TO ICC AND SEE IT NOW!

/end sarcasm

RAMIREZ – MITKOV

1-0

My own game against Mitkov was relatively interesting.  I’m happy how my preparation turned out, as I got a nice edge out of the opening and my opponent never had any real counterattack.  I held the initiative all the way to time trouble, and found the very nice resource 30. Qxb6!!  Of course, after Nikola’s response 30…exf4 white’s attack is crushing, but even after the more tenacious 30… Nd4 white replies 31. Nxg6+!! with the idea of hxg6, Qxd6, Rxd6 and Rc8+! Forcing the h pawn to queen.  I’m sad I couldn’t play this on the board, but to be honest I hadn’t yet seen this resource when I went for Qb6, I played it on the intuitive guess that “something had to be there”.  Black’s position looked so shaky!

Overall the games were very hard fought, and absolute concentration was required from all of our boards, some of them going down to nothing but a few seconds per player.  However, Arizona was superior throughout the match.  It’s a nice feeling when a team not only wins, but wins because they played well.  Awesome job Scorpions!

Alejandro Ramirez

The Scorpions Foray into “Film”

The first test film from the Commentary Room:

If you cannot view the Video portion and only hear the Audio, install the free H.264 codec ‘ffdshow’ on your PC.

This is a High Definition ‘film’ hahaha, that’s why the extra hoops.

And from the Playing Room

I also got a film from the playing room but since sssssh we had to be quiet there, you won’t get many audio jollies.  I only managed to hiss “Live…Chess”  at second 38 of this 39 second film!  It is of historical interest showing Amanda and Leo goofing around.  Once again, if you cannot see the video, download ‘ffdshow’ as above.  I think, but am not sure, that You Tube may change its format away from HD (AVCHD)  so viewers don’t need that codec.

Playing Room Redux

Here’s another longer “film” this time filmed by manager Leo Martinez and team amanuensis Amanda Mateer.  See the players’ expressions as they slog through the game.   Thrill to Levon Altounian almost equalizing and making a short draw.

For Film Nerds:

The good thing out of these ‘films’ is that I re-learned some basic operations of the Sony HD Cam.   It stores films in a weird *.mts format, but if you rename the file to *.mpg  *and* get the ffdshow H.264 codec to view it locally before You-Tubing, all is golden.