The Week 4 Monday line-ups have been announced. The Arizona Scorpions (3 – 0) will face off against the Dallas Destiny (1 – 2) in this week’s match-up. This week’s match will be played in Tucson on Monday at 6:00 pm. Come down to cheer on your team or you can watch the action on ICC.

Date: September 13, 2010
Location: Tucson, 6:00 PM Arizona time

versus

	IM Salvijus Bercys	Board 1		IM Levon Altounian
	IM Julio Sadorra	Board 2		FM Warren Harper
	FM Keaton Kiewra	Board 3		FM Robby Adamson
	WFM Bayaraa Zorigt	Board 4		NM David Adelberg

GAME NIGHT: Before I start the review, I just want to apologize to Scorpion Nation for skipping my Recap of Week 4 (as if anybody even cares, be honest). Anyway, onto what my experience of the match was… Delicious chicken salad!!! Seriously, Abstrax, Inc. continues to out due itself by making an incredibly comfortable environment for the players and TD (no wonder we can’t win a freaking’ match). In fact, I think people are even coming through the doors off the street just to take advantage of the refreshments. I mean really, have you ever had anything better then the combination of that croissant bread and chicken salad we had during the match? Oh yeah, back to chess. Can anything get better then Elliot’s review? I don’t think so, but I will do my best.

I will also review the games in reverse order, starting with board 4, and then I will “Back that Thang Up” like Juvenile, and get to Jandi’s incredibly awesome finish. David played like a G! Simple as that. Whoever was playing white in that game (I really didn’t even notice) decided it would be a good idea to play an English Attack structure with the Bishop on g5. I don’t think David made a single mistake, sacked like Kaspy, and unless Zorigt finds 18.Kb1 instead of 18.Rdg1, the game is over. She didn’t: lights out.

For lack of a better way to say it: Robby really “#&*^%#@ the Pooch” on that one! Unlike Elliot, I actually liked Robby’s choice of line (yes Elliot, he is getting old but don’t remind him) the only problem was a series of inaccurate moves after that. First off, I also play this line for white, and in my experience white does much better when he leads with the g-pawn instead of the h-pawn: 16.g4 is good, and follows the game 1-0 Renteria,J-Bermudez Adams,W/Istanbul 2000 (maybe others like it, but that is what I have). Playing 18.Bh3 as Elliot recommended was also a clear improvement over helping black on the King-side with 18.gxh5. Anyway, not to “Beat the Dead Robby” but this game could have been better. He will forget about it and move on though (perhaps a therapy session of 4-8 hours of bullet chess will be required, but nonetheless, move on he will).

Uuummm. This game stunk. GM-Elect Rogelio Barcenilla is suffering from a simple case of the “Post Norms”. This is a very common affliction, with a very simple cure. Diagnosis: “A player earns his final Norm, and proceeds to play like poopy for a couple of tournaments” (I think that is the literal scientific term, no joke). He has miscalculated in his last two losses (Nakamura and Bercys) like I have never seen him do before. Cure: “Remember who you are”! Much like Mufasa demands of his son Simba in the Lion King, Rogelio needs to stop trying new stuff (Nakamura Game 1.Nf3 = New Stuff = loss, Bercys Game, Benoni instead of KID = New Stuff = loss) and play like the player who became a GM! Go get em’ Simba (or else the monkey, I think my name is Rafiki, will smack you in the head with a wooden stick). Man I watch too many Disney movies…Or maybe the Disney movies are the key!!! Maybe I can avoid my own “Post Norm Poopiness” by realizing the truth: There is no Spoon!

I have a good theory as to why Alejandro was able to trick Bart into resigning in a drawn position: Zagavory! If you don’t know what that means, look up the Russian word for conspiracy. Okay, I just told you what it means! First we took Jandi, and now UTD is upset. So why would Bart sabotage his own team for Jandi “the trader”? Because he is upset that Jandi LEFT HIM BEHIND! Mark my words (really, I am just trying to create as much controversy as possible) Bart will play for the Scorpions at some point in the future… Anyway great game by Jandi, resourceful game by Bart, should have been a draw, but Jandi, Bart, and just about every player on ICC not using a computer analysis engine, thought the game was over. So we win!

And that brings up a good point: All you people out there who argue with the “Is and Gs” during the games, when all you’re doing is quoting Rybka, you are polluting the internet with your nonsense!!! Stop it!! Do you know that all those “evaluations” you’re getting from your analysis engine are making your calculation worse when you play your own games? Yes, that’s right! Solve the position yourself, and your games will get better.

Sorry about that. I wasn’t trying to be mean. I need some coffee.

Until next time…

Yo yo ELiu’s back in action, recapping Week 5’s ridiculous draw between Arizona and Dallas.

*The USCL should institute instant replay, just saying…you’ll see why in a bit.*

Normally the phrase “exciting draw” is an oxymoron (well, it probably is).  “Exciting draw” is like a book reviewer’s commentary summarizing the Narcolepsy-inducing Vladimir “Did I Just Take Nyquil?” Kramnik: My Greatest Games.  For example, [Kramnik writes on game 59]: “And here, on move 84, with 2 kings left on the board, I offered a draw!  This game was a brilliancy!”  Or, [Kramnik writes]: “In this game I employed the Petroff for the 5000^th time and offered my opponent a draw after 2…Nf6.  He accepted after calculating 40 moves deep and saw no foreseeable progress.”  The same goes for Edmar Mednis…or Levon Altounian sans the “exciting” prefix.  Speaking of Levon—Arizona, you needed a draw this week on board 2.  WHAT WERE YOU THINKING??  Even Bercys wouldn’t be able to…ok never mind.

Anyway, this battle was actually exciting this week, mainly because all four games were interesting and decisive—obviously because Levon wasn’t playing and because Bart clicked the resign button a move too early.  As a result, plenty of blood was shed and the tense match ended in a 2-2 tie (another contradiction?), with the result hanging in the balance up to the last second.  To change things up a little bit, I will recap each game in the order that they finished (interestingly, the games finished linearly from fourth board first to first board last hehe).

WFM Bayaraa Zorigt vs. David “I don’t have a nickname for you yet because you’re too young” Adelberg

http://www.uschessleague.com/games/zorigtadelberg09.htm

David should be very proud of this game, enough said.  Very well played.  Systematically exploited Zorigt’s inaccuracies in a sharp (and weird) Najdorf with thematic play and sacrifices.  (And yes, for some reason I have decided to write in fragments because I am too lazy).  In these types of positions, moves that aren’t precise (like Zorigt’s in this game) are suicidal.  The opposing attack comes too fast.  This game was kind of like the Colts-Cardinals Sunday night game where some Quarterback picked apart the hapless Arizona defense.  Oh wait, here we go, David “Manning” Adelberg.  Even though I despise Peyton Manning (Eli’s even worse) as a diehard Charger’s fan, I still like the nickname (it actually could be a legitimate middle name) in this case.  From the typical rook exchange sacrifice on move 15 onwards, David’s play was impressive and straightforward, and he wrapped up the game nicely.  Zorigt certainly could have put up more resistance as moves 18, 21, and 23 were all critical mistakes, but even with finding the absolute best moves, David’s pressure would most likely have given him the full point in the end anyway.

FM Robby “Aaauuuhhh, BRRRENDAA!  It’s Not Printing Right!” Adamson vs. Keaton Kiewra

http://www.uschessleague.com/games/adamsonkiewra09.htm

Things that could happen as I am writing this recap: 1.) Robby calls Elliott and commences a 15-minute, profanity-laced venting.  2.) The building where the Scorpions play either has a broken door, window, or both now.  3.) “!@#$” is screamed and yelled in the parking lot approximately 40 times.  4.) Robby gets a ticket for going 85 in a 30 mph zone.  Still cursing to Elliott, the cop busts him for talking on the phone while driving, too.  5.) Robby shows the cop his bleeding hand and says the reason why he was going so fast was because he was trying to get to the ER ASAP.  6.) Asked why his hand is so mangled, the honest attorney replies that he lost a game of chess—priceless.  7.) Robby quits chess…only to log on to ICC 4 hours later and play 1-minute for 7 hours straight.  8.) The sun continues to rise in the East and the Earth’s axis and overall orbit are realigned.

Trust me, when I saw Robby was going to lose, I was mentally preparing myself for the Apocalypse: kind of like how Vaden Health Center at Stanford is preparing itself for the inevitable massive outbreak of swine flu (I cannot wait for that freakin vaccine!); how Danny Rensch is preparing himself for Steve Nash to retire, only to pull a Brett Favre, unretire, and play for the Lakers; and/or how we Californians are preparing ourselves for the next big earthquake (any day now, just get it over with Mr. San Andreas when I’m on a plane please).

There’s really not much to say about this game.  The opening was the mainline Dragon…until Robby decided to employ the “I think I’m Levon Altounian” variation with 12.Nd5 (it’s actually a good line, which I’ve played once or twice before too).  The only problem with this choice is Robby Adamson does not = Levon Altounian.  It’s THE DRAGON Robby!  Go for his jugular!  Are you getting old or something?  I think Keaton’s 14…Nd7 is actually an inaccuracy in that position.  14…a6 and 14…Qd7 are much more common there.  I didn’t particularly care for Robby’s 18.gxh5 either.  The capture may be too premature.  Why not leave the tension with something like 18.Bh3!?  The game was more or less equal until Robby forgot what a “pin” was on move 23.  He understandably will hate me for pointing out the obvious, but that’s my job.  23.Rxe7 was much better than 23.Qc7.  It wins a pawn, and although White is certainly not “won” by any means, he has a comfortable advantage and has all the winning chances in the endgame after 23…Qxc3 24.bxc3, but I know it’s not easy or anything.  After 23.Qc7 however, the edge began to shift to Black and after Keaton’s 24…Rae8, Robby had to either play 25.Qxf6+ or 25.Qxe8 getting 2 rooks for the queen, but certainly not 25.Qc7 allowing what happened in the game or even 25…Nxd5.  After 27.Rxh8, 27…Qxc3 has to be considered as a potential alternative to 27…Rxe1+.  After the rooks came off, although Black has all the play and the position is indeed tough for White, he might be able to hold as long as the queens stay on the board!  That did not happen, and it was only a matter of time before Black’s superior king position, good knight vs. bad bishop, and outside pawn majority of 2 vs. 1 (instead of Black’s 3 pawns holding White’s 4 at bay) became decisive.  Not to mention the “Blitzmaster” was very low on time too.

IM Salvijus “Okay Fine, I’ll Admit I’m Russian” Bercys vs. IM Soon to be GM Rogelio “Oh Levon Where Art Thou?” Barcenilla

http://www.uschessleague.com/games/bercysbarcenilla09.htm

This game should have ended well before it did.  Sal was probably inspired by not having to face Levon as Bercys played a very nice game.  The game began with a relatively normal King’s Indian-Benoni hybrid up until move 11.  After 11.0-0, Barcenilla played 11…Bg7? directly following his 10…Bh6.  Ok…strange…free move please?  11…Bxe3 12.fxe3 and then either 12…Nbd7 or 12…Qe7 is of course the natural way of continuing, which has occurred many times in the database.  As a frequent King’s Indian Defense player myself, I can understand why Barcenilla was reluctant to trade dark-squared bishops (because a King’s Indian g7 bishop is worth like a queen), but at the cost of a full tempo?  Seems a bit questionable to me, and this loss of time hurt Black dearly as he could never really recover.  On move 14, instead of Ng5, one interesting idea I had was something like 14.Rae1 first followed by Qg5 and somehow checkmate (it’ll happen, I have faith).  This game was weird to watch as it seemed like one bad move (11…Bg7) cost Barcenilla the entire point.  Before move 20, Black was already in dire straits.

On move 24, Sal could have ended the game a lot faster with the more accurate 24.Qg5! first before fxg6 (Berycs played 24.fxg6 first).  The point being that after a move like the game’s 24…Nhg7, White can now play 25.Qe7!  If 25…Bxf5, White wins with simply 26.Bxf5 gxf5 27.Bxg7, and if 27…Nxg7 then 28.Ng5 leads to a forced mate, and if 27…Kxg7 then 28.Qxe8 d3 29.Qe1 and White wins.  Or, if 25…Qc7 then 26.Bxg7! wins.  If 26…Nxg7 then 27.Ng5 once again or if 26…Kxg7 then 27.f6+! is possible.  Now if 27…Nxf6 then 28.Ng5 wins, and if 27…Kg8 then 28.b3!!! leads to an amazingly sexy zugzwang.  THAT’S HOT!  Now with no Ba4 defense, Black’s pieces literally cannot move anywhere, and 29.Ng5 is threatened.  If 28…h6 then 29.Bxg6 wins.  If this variation played out, the game would have definitely been considered for game of the week honors in my fair opinion.  At any rate, Sal’s 24.fxg6 was good enough too.  The d4 pawn fell, and after some maneuvering by White with Barcenilla’s flag hanging, Black finally blundered in a losing position allowing Bercys to win instantly.  Oh Levon, where art thou??

GM Alejandro “Amanda, Will You Please Leave The Room (For Good)!” Ramirez vs. IM John “Trigger Happy” Bartholomew

http://www.uschessleague.com/games/ramirezbartholomew09.htm

SIGH…well, you all probably know what happened by now, but in case you missed it…

[red flag tossed on field]: “Upon further video review, the ruling on the field…”  If only J-Boy had instant replay.

The entire match result came down to this game.  Dallas was leading 2-1 at the time.  The game opened with a Slav that eventually transformed in to a Catalan-like position.  Alejandro played the rare 10.e4.  10. Ne5 (Alekseev) and 10. b3 have been played much more commonly.  John then played a novelty (whether he knew it or not) with 10…a5 (10…Rc8 was played by GM Stuart Conquest), and then nothing really happened for awhile as the position was pretty dry.  Black was happy with the result of the opening, and White had achieved a slight, nagging edge, if even that.  Bart found a nice move with 23…Nd5, which was pretty annoying, but then followed it up incorrectly with 24…Bb4?! allowing Handi to seize the initiative for the remainder of the game.  Instead, 24…Nb4 would have maintained relative equality.

For the most part, both players remained more or less even on the clock, but as the position became critical, John began to falter a little with some missteps.  The major one that gave Black serious problems was 28…Nf6? allowing the pesky Costa Rican to hop in to holes on the queenside, achieving a nasty bind on the overall position.

To his credit, Bart came up with a very interesting and creative defensive resource when he played 30…Ncd5!?.   At first glance, as many ICC kibitzers obnoxiously yapped, this move looks like suicide, but losing the knight and bishop for the rook really wasn’t that bad at all.  For one, Black succeeded in relieving the immense pressure on his position by getting rid of some pieces (otherwise, he might have imploded).  This led to a weird ending, where time pressure (in my opinion) ultimately prevented John from finding the most precise defensive setup—one which would have been hard for Handi to crack and convincingly breakthrough (due to his own time constraints).  Before I continue, I would like to point out a sexy variation that could have taken place had Amanda not distracted Alejandro.

Instead of pre-move 32.Rb1 (which is automatic), 32.dxc6!! was possible.  The idea is that after a move like 32…Bg6, White then has 33.Nxe6!! threatening 34.c7!  So, 33.Nxe6 bxc6 34.Nxd8 Qxb6 35.Nxc6 Rxa4 leaves White a clear pawn up (and I guess one could say a technically winning position!?).  Is this a “clear” win?  Is this better for Ramirez than what transpired during the game?  Who knows, it’s up for debate, but it’s a sexy variation at least worth mentioning.

Nothing really happened for 20 moves or so.  Both players got low on time—Handi was trying to put the game away and Bart was trying to hold on for dear life as he was below 1 minute or so for many moves.  John’s main mistake that [should have] lost him the game was allowing Alejandro’s rook to sit pretty on the 7^th rank.  With Black’s rook on a7 White still had plenty of work to do.

AND NOW, for the legendary stuff.  After 58…Kf8, here’s what both players were thinking:

Handi: “Man, hurry up and resign already, I want to go outside to be with Amanda.  59.Rf7+ Ke8 60.Bb5 curtains.”

John: “Man, hurry up and make me resign already, I’m so bummed we’re gonna draw the match now.”

*Amanda enters the room*

59.Rf7+?  [I should mention here that 59.d5! knocks Black out because the same variation as below can take place except that now White’s king has room.  Game over]

59…Ke8

60.Bb5 1-0 right??  Right??

Handi: *rolls his eyes with boredom*

John: “Thank you, good game Handi.  I mean if Ginsburg AND Lenderman AND every stupid ICC kibitzer are all telling me to resign, I probably should.  *Click*”

DOH!

NOOO!!!  Now now, don’t conform to peer pressure.

[*Elliott throws the red challenge flag on to the field*]

60…Ra3+ actually DRAWS BY PERPETUAL!!!  The king can’t get out, and if the bishop ever retreats to block, then the c-Rook comes down to party.

SIGH…E-Liu over and out.

ARIZONA SCORPIONS VS Dallas Destiny

OPENING REVIEW:

Very interesting match where each game was very hard fought and emotionally complicated.

I guessed the approximate direction of boards 1 and 4 but not the boards 2 and 3. At the end, we ended up drawing the match trailing 1:2 and needing a win on board 1. At the end we got it when Black resigned…. In a drawn position! There is some justice after all for Scorpions.

Since I had no clue what the games were going to look like, Here are the thoughts I had.

Board 1. Alejandro gets some space edge, Bart holds it as usually he does and the game goes into a deep endgame. After it- no clue what happens but as Leo had put it “GM with white- definite favorite”

Board 2. I was curious what Barcenilla will play as Black on 1 d4.He rarely shifted from his beloved Kings Indian and I expected some Kings Indian- Main line or Side line.

Board 3. Didn’t have a chance to see what Robby’s opponent plays but I knew both will play main line of … something!

Board 4. Sharp game of a main line Sicilian or a side line by white if she decided not to get into Sicilians after Adelberg won very nicely in round 1 for the Scorpions. It showed he understands those types well.

Board 1: GM Ramirez-IM Bartholomew

General Styles: Ramirez- active in the opening as White, looks for stable edge or good plan.Likes having extra space. Bartolomew- likes solid games, doesn’t mind a bit passive versions if nothing “hangs”

Theoretical Importance:  8

Novelty: 6

Precision: 9

Opening: Slav

I honestly thought it may be 4 e3 Slav by Alejandro. Opening choice of lines and sublines was fun for me to watch. I was smiling the whole time! I didn’t expect him to play the 4 Qc2 line I often play myself and faced as Black in the last match against Baltimore! Bart plays the line…. Alejandro played against me himself when I was White. He responds to Black.. the same way I played it as White and not the way Baltimore Enkhbat played against me. Thank you guys!!Alejandro got a tiny edge, it seemed to evaporate somewhere in the early middlegame, reappear when White squeezed Black on the Queen side and almost disappear when Black correctly traded 2 Minor pieces for a Rook. I have a feeling Black could play for a central break with e5 instead of the b5.However, even then it looks like Black rooks were very strong. This is exactly when I think the small strength difference showed up. About 10 moves later White was undeniably better but it was hard to win. Good accomplishment from “unclear”. The end was very strange… It seems like in time pressure Black just committed suicide, and when White “ proved” it by Bb5- Black immediately resigned. I didn’t think of it much until watching the other games when someone shouted Black resigned in a draw position. I went back thinking maybe Black could sac the rooks and get stalemate? Nope, no Stalemate. I was about to type in the kibitz whoever is shouting that is on some unlawful medicine when I realized it is one of the most unlikely perpetual checks I have ever seen! One rook can check White’s king to the eternity without any other seemingly required help from other pieces. Would have been REALLY sad to end this game in a draw, the match in a loss and see chances of the team almost completely evaporate. Very good game by Alejandro overall.

Board 2: IM Bercys- IM Barcenilla

General Styles: Bercys- more positional opening but more tactical chess after it.Barcenilla- very deep knowledge of openings and the mixed style.

Theoretical Importance:  3

Novelty: 2

Precision: 6

Opening: Kings Indian/ Benoni

Very strange opening by Rogelio and a very weird choice of Bishop retreat (Bh6- Bg7? ). It almost was like “I’ll give you a weak pawn or may even win it, so defend it! No? Ok, you called my bluff- lets go back to normal”. White chose the “Russian” system against the Benoni, which turned out to be one of the main reasons why that move order is less played on the top level. It is true that winning the pawn ( B:e3 f3 R:e3 ) is extremely dangerous, but playing a solid style. If my memory serves me right, Kamsky himself held those as Black successfully before. For interested people I would suggest looking at games of GM Art. Minasian- he loves those as Black and plays some very interesting concepts.The rest of the game went under “ I give you 2 moves and then play chess- can I beat you then?” Unfortunately, the answer this time was “no!” Bercie pressured Barcie and won nicely. Rogelio never got to show his great blitz skills. Unfortunate opening disaster.

Board 3: FM Adamson-FM Kiewra

General Styles: Adamson- main line theoretician with active opening choices. Kiewra- more solid choices ( at least from what I saw )

Theoretical Importance:  9

Novelty: 7

Precision: 8

Opening: Sicilian Dragon+

This was a game that I both understood and not really understood. Opening choice was a regular Main line Dragon. Robby opted for the safer system and Black played the safest system on that system! Few rounds before GM Kritz won very nicely against GM Kudrin in a similar type game where Black wanted to make things complicated. In this game it seemed both knew the safest theory possible: White gets a nice looking small edge and Black gets a very nice looking…..possible defense. I would especially draw reader’s attention to how White secured the King’s safety ( Nd5!, Kb1, Rc1!? ) idea together with attacking Black’s King ( h4-g4-Bh3!-Bg4!). I am not sure I understood Robby’s choice of not trading Queens and winning the e7 important pawn however. Once he refused trading queens with me with the accompanying phrase I still remember “It is still a morning, I have not yet had breakfast, I am not trading Queens”. I am yet to discover the underlying meaning of that phrase! Maybe something like that was going on too. It seemed to me he declined it on several occasions, each time with winning a pawn. I might be wrong and I am not using a computer to help me judge those things. After things got traded, the worst was over for Black and White was the one barely keeping equality. As long as White kept queens, he would be OK, as the activity of pieces would compensate for a Bad bishop. However, queens came off and the game quickly went downhill. I had mentioned in my interview that this game was the most important game of the match, and it turned out to be exactly that. Rough game and tough choices.

Board 4: WFM Zorigt-Adelberg

General Styles: Zorigt- tough and aggressive, Adelberg- young, active and booked up.

Theoretical Importance:  7

Novelty: 6

Precision: 9

Opening: Sicilian Najdorf

Great game by Adelberg! What was interesting is that I discovered a trait in most boards 3 and 4 for this round. Each time one side would try to “improve” on theory or maybe confuse the opponent by playing not best moves. Most of the times it miserably failed, and this was a perfect example of it. While Adelberg is playing the normal theory of Sicilian, white decided to mix ideas. Playing English attack mixed with Rauzer and Polugaevsky system. Sounds complicated? It is! And usually trying to play things better than the best brains of last 100 years have collaborated and agreed on, backfires. It is not to say she tried a horrible idea- the concept of Bg5 then coming back to e3, while making Black make certain moves such as nc6 or 0-0 is known and interesting. But it didn’t work out in this game as she planned. David’s very smart and timely exchange sac on c3 gave him the initiative. It might be bad for white already or maybe she missed some chances but the end position proves why Sicilian as Black is so dangerous, fun to play and complicated. The final position deserves a diagram.

Overall, very fun and very tough and educational match I am sure everyone enjoyed and learned from. I am just glad it ended in a draw.

Okay so before I start this preview there is one thing that I should say that I am not going to do.  I am not going to predict a 4-0 sweep by the Scorpions.  To predict something like that against the two time defending champs would be pretty foolish.

In our match against Dallas last season the two teams were evenly contested on all four boards similar to this season.

Both Dallas and Arizona teams have had very similar roster lineups the past two years since Arizona became a part of the US Chess League. Both teams prefer a more balanced lineup of players in their lineups rather than stacked lineups with many strong players on the top boards and weaker players on the bottom boards as some teams prefer to do.  Which lineup is better (stacked lineups or balanced lineups) is still up for debate and I don’t think there is necessarily a right answer.  Both seem to work depending on the teams. Dallas has obviously perfected the balanced lineup being two time defending champions. While teams like New Jersey seems to do well with a stacked lineup.    Queens is another good example that used the stacked lineup well last season.

However, due to some scheduling issues Dallas has not been dominating (other than their Boston match) this season. However, this does not suggest that the Scorpions underestimate them in the least and we are taking this match as one against the two time defending champs and as one that is crucial for both team as we look ahead towards the rest of the season. Both teams have strong lineups up for this match.

Let’s analyze the matchups:

Board 1

GM Alejandro Ramirez    2600 vs.          IM John Bartholomew   2499

These players both know each other well as they have both been playing in the Dallas area for a while.  John has been taking the board 1 duties for Dallas this season playing the likes of GM’s Hikaru Nakamura and Julio Becerra.  This should be a very tough game for both players as John has a very, very solid style that can at times frustrate strong players. However, Alejandro is undeniably a favorite here as a 2600 GM with White.

Board 2

IM Salvijus Bercys            2503        vs.            GM-Elect Rogelio Barcenilla 2583

This match pits Rogelio Barcenilla on the board 2 spot for the first time in his short career. All of last season Rogelio played board one and had a very respectable even score against five grandmasters. Since then he has achieved his final GM norm at the Copper State tournament in Phoenix, Arizona. He will be awarded the GM title fairly soon. This also is the first time that the Scorpions will have a double GM lineup with two players almost both in the 2600s. Sal Bercys has played one game this season losing a long game to Sam Shankland. However, in this game he was in a position where he had to win for team reasons and in this game Bercys pushed fairly hard, finally losing. However this matchup between 2500s should be very close and is definitely one of the games to watch.

Board 3

FM Robby Adamson 2354 vs.           FM Keaton Kiewra  2365

FM Robby Adamson has been one of the MVPs of the Scorpion team so far this season going 2.5/3 so far this season.  From his wide experience playing ICC (literally playing tens of thousands of ICC games) he has transferred some of this “experience” to his USCL games. Keaton Kiewra seems to be the the Destiny’s regular third board playing three out of their 4 matches. In past years Dallas has chosen a lineup and stayed with that lineup throughout most of the season. This season they have varied more but Keaton has been a constant third board for them.  With a 2/3 record he has done well himself and this matchup should be very close and could easily go either way.

Board 4

WFM Bayaraa Zorigt 2270                 vs.          Expert David Adelberg 2160

The fourth board brings back the twelve year old phenom David Adelberg to the Arizona lineup! David is only twelve years old and after not playing two matches he was eager to get back in the mix. Here he faces the 2008 4^th board MVP from last season in Bayaraa Zorigt. Although Bayaraa lost her last game in the USCL her +5 record from last season stands out and she is a very tough, technical player. However, David has proven himself again and again against strong players and he will have to do so again in this situation. Both of these players are very solid and positional players who are not afraid to mix it up but would rather think about pawn structures than piece sacs. With David’s rating only 5 points from reaching master (at only 12 years old!) we are likely to see many more achievements from this kid…starting with this week!

One further comment that I would like to make concerning the Scorpions is the newly crowned International Master Danny Rensch! Danny recently got his final IM norm by drawing IM Ray Robson at the SPICE Cup in Texas. Watch a video of Danny after his great tournament:

Thanks everyone and go root for the Scorpions Wednesday at 6:00 PM AZ time!

At the almost half-way point of the 2009 USCL season, it’s time for my predictions to improve some. My record straight up picking winners is 10 Wins, 18 losses. Remember, you have a 33% chance of picking the winner of a match correctly, so I probably am doing a little below average.  Let’s look quickly at the Week 5 match-ups.

Baltimore Kingfishers vs. Boston Blitz

Baltimore used the balanced lineup last week to beat my Scorpions, and this week they decide to use the unbalanced, double GM lineup with Kritz and Erenberg vs. LarryC and Shmelov. If Boston can split these 2 games, Baltimore is in trouble. If not, then Baltimore has a great chance to win. Somehow, I think Boston comes through her though don’t count out the Kingsfishers.  Boston wins 2.5-1.5.

Miami Sharks vs. Carolina Cobras

Carolina dropped a tough one last week – really they should have won – and I am confident they will break out of their funk, just like the Detroit Lions did this week vs. the hapless Redskins. Wanna bet Head Coach Jim Zorn gets fired this week? He probably should be, and QB Jason Campbell should join him on the bench (really Zorn will end up being some defensive coordinator somewhere, maybe for the Lions!)  But I digress. I think the drought lasts one more week – Miami wins 2.5-1.5.

Philadelphia Inventors vs Queens Pioneers

Philly needs this one badly in the very competitive and tight Eastern division. Both Philly and Queens have very balanced lineups. Philly needs this worse than Queens.  Philly squeaks by, 2.5-1.5.

New Jersey Knockouts vs Chicago Blaze

Benjamin has white on board 1 and a rating edge, while Chicago’s IM Angelo Young looks to continue his impressive undefeated record in the USCL vs. NJ’s Metallica/Iron Maiden and almost IM, Mackenzie Molner. Two juniors and recently crowned masters, Eric Rosen and Andrew Ng face off, again maybe a match decider. I can see another NJ win though I don’t think board 4 decides the match – NJ continues their impersonation of the New England Patriots and go 5-0 (though the Pats did lose somehow to the Giants). NJ wins 2.5.1.5.

New York Knights vs SF Mechanics

Even though NY has struggled somewhat, I think this will be a really close match. GM Giorgi Kacheisvili is going to have to inflict pain on Josh Friedel for NY to be successful, NY also needs NM Yaacov Norowitz, the super NY board 4, against USCL undefeated youngster Yian Liou. NY has a small edge in this match, but I think peace prevails – heck I had to pick 1 tie. Tie 2-2.

Arizona Scorpions vs. Dallas Destiny

First, I want to take this opportunity to offer my congratulations to Arizona’s newest IM, Danny Rensch. Now to the watch, The Scorps have had a rough go of it the last 2 weeks, while Dallas has been a little unlucky in their matches. Scorps needs this badly – and I am not picking against my team. AZ wins 2.5-1.5.

Seattle Sluggers vs. Tennessee Tempo

Apparently an attempt to re-schedule this match to Monday failed. TN features the double GM lineup, and this gives them an edge. GM Greg Serper needs to hold at a minimum for Seattle to survive, and WGM Rohonyan needs to make decisive use of her white to survive. I think TN has the edge, but somehow I gotta pick one more tie match. Tie 2-2.

Last Week – 2-5

Season – 10-18

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!

Monday Matches	Leo	Craig
Carolina vs New Jersey
Schroer vs Benjamin	0-1
Zaikov vs Gulko	0-1
Simpson vs Ippolito	0-1
Jones vs. Shen	1-0
Leo has New Jersey winning 3-1
Queens vs New York
Stripunsky vs Kacheishvili	1/2	0-1
Schneider vs Charbonneau	0-1	0-1
Zaremba vs Herman	1-0	1-0
Vicary vs Norowitz	0-1	0-1
Leo has New York winning 2.5-1.5 Craig has New York winning 3-1
Baltimore vs Philadelphia
Kritz vs Kudrin	1-0
Kaufman vs Lenderman	0-1
Uesugi vs Bartell	0-1
Battsetseg vs Sivakumar	1-0
Leo predicts a draw 2-2
Dallas vs Boston
Stopa vs Christiansen	0-1	0-1
Ludwig vs Sammour-Hasbun	0-1	1-0
Kiewra vs Martirosov	1-0	1-0
Yang vs Krasik	0-1	1-0
Leo has Boston winning 3-1 Craig has Dallas winning 3-1

and

Wednesday Matches	Leo	Craig
Tenessee vs Chicago
Ehlvest vs Felecan	1-0	1-0
Andrews vs Young	0-1	0-1
Bereolos vs Pasalic	0-1	1/2
Bick vs Burgess	1-0	1-0
Leo has a draw at 2-2 Craig has Tenessee winning 2.5-1.5
Miami vs San Francisco
Becerra vs Friedel	1/2	1-0
Lopez vs Kraai	1/2	0-1
Lugo vs Shankland	0-1	1/2
Alvarez vs Liou	1/2	1/2
Leo predicts San Francisco winning 2.5-1.5 Craig has a 2-2 tie
Arizona vs Seattle
Barcenilla vs Nakamura		0-1
Ginsburg vs Mikhailuk		0-1
Rensch vs Lee		1-0
Martinez vs Sinanan		1-0
Craig has a tie 2-2

This week I sat down and chatted with GM Alejandro Ramirez (AR). We discussed him playing for the Scorpions, the weekly match-ups and a dreaded can of sardines.

EJ: Hello!

AR: Hello!

EJ: How does it feel to be the Scorpions’ first GM?

AR: I feel great! I am very happy to represent the Scorpions this year, it’s a very tough season and I’m glad we started very well.

EJ: You’ve visited Arizona many times before, but I’m sure I was not the only one surprised to see your name on our roster. So, how did it come to be that you’re a Scorpion and not a member of the Destiny (for example)?

AR: Yeah, I was a bit surprised too! However I’m happy I am able to play for the Scorpions. It’s a bit of a long story. Ultimately I had an offer from both teams, but I love Arizona and love visiting the people here, especially some of my really close friends, and I figured Arizona needed me a bit more than the two time champions.

EJ: Well we love having you here.

AR: Thanks! I love being here.

EJ: But aren’t you still in school?

AR: Yes, but luckily I’m in grad school, so I only have classes Monday and Tuesdays, which gives me a lot of traveling time.

EJ: opps… back to your game. Had you played GM Mitkov before? Either on ICC or OTB.

AR: Nope, never. I have played many tournaments with him, even in my home country Costa Rica last year, but never against him. It was an interesting experience, I think I outplayed him this time, but I also know he is a strong player and would have to watch out if I play him again.

EJ: Well the Scorpions do face the Blaze again later this season. Was week 1 how you thought it would be or were there surprises?

AR: Honestly, it was more or less how I expected. The organization of the team was very nice, and the game went as well as I hoped. I prepared a bit for my debut and the game went more or less how I thought it would.

EJ: Were you concerned of Elliot Liu’s prediction spoiling your opening?

AR: Haha, not at all. Actually this is one of the first Catalan’s that I played, normally I play the Nimzo-Indian. I was surprised that Liu chose the Catalan as one of his predictions, but it turns out he was right!

EJ: Perhaps we’ll have to pay more attention to his predictions… There was a takeback on move 14. Can you explain what happened? And your thoughts at the time.

AR: Yeah. I mean I don’t think it was his fault, but there needs to be some consistency on the rules. From what I understand, someone was relaying the moves for him, and whoever did it mouseslipped badly.

EJ: Mouseslipped a rook move instead of a bishop move? Real thoughts on that mouseslip… should the move have stayed?

AR: No. Since it wasn’t Mitkov’s fault, I can see how it doesn’t matter which piece was moved on the ICC board since that was never what he intended. I think that players can use relayers, but that the relayers should be held accountable for what they do after all. I mean it wasn’t his fault. It’s just that rules against relayers should be more strict.

EJ: How was it communicated to you what happened? Was there an immediate take back request?

AR: It wasn’t. Leo told me after and Greg just kind of made me take the move back.

EJ: I noticed it took a moment before you captured the rook… did you think it was a trap?

AR: No, I just was making sure I wasn’t missing something. Also I wanted to see if taking with the rook or the knight was better.

EJ: Fortunately it didn’t matter, unlike the other game last week. Do you think relayers is a problem in the USCL?

AR: No, I think it’s fine, but they shouldn’t be used as shields.

EJ: Do the Scorpions use relayers?

AR: Some people do, I think Adelberg used a relayer. I personally don’t like people messing with my game.

EJ: How about the rest of the team’s matches? Did you think to yourself that we’d go 3.5 – .5 to start the season?

AR: Honestly, I expected a win but I didn’t know by which margin. Robby playing a Sicilian is fantastic, he is just in his home turf, while Levon was just ultra solid. David had me scared for a bit, but once he found the nice Qa5! I was sure we had that point too.

EJ: Anyone in the league you particularly look forward to playing against? A rival, a friend, someone you admire…?

AR: Well, obviously as a fighter I would love to play GM Nakamura again, specially since I’m 0-2 against him, however I will do whatever the team needs me to do since my visits to Arizona are limited, unfortunately.

EJ: Sounds good. But don’t mention that “anything for the team” too loudly near Robby. I hear he makes house guests clean his car.

AR: If by car you mean sardine can on wheels.

EJ: It looks like we have you for Week 1 and 2. Any thoughts on your week 2 match against the Tempo?

AR: It’s going to be very interesting. I saw their line up and there will be some epic battles. We are very strong on board two and really need a win there, the fourth board is a toss up and Robby will hopefully out-prepare Andrews. As for me I am hoping for another exciting game with GM Ehlvest, we’ve played three times and they have all ended in draws. Being a team game and me having black, I will not mind if we draw a fourth time, but anything can happen with such a strong player.

EJ: How many of those previous meetings were with Black?

AR: Uh, none now that I think about it. Oops!

EJ: Sounds like it’ll be an exciting match-up.

AR: Definitely. Ehlvest is a legend, and it’s always fun to play Legends!

EJ: Any predictions for the game and match? (or are your keeping that close to your vest?)

AR: I’m excited, but I’ll try not to divulge too much. Preparing will be a nightmare, everyone knows that Ehlvest is completely unpredictable. I’ve tried three times and I’ve failed to predict his choice all three! I still predict we take this, but it will definitely be close. A lot rests on Levon, as I said.

EJ: What have you been up to between the matches? Hopefully not cleaning out a sardine can….

AR: Nooo! That thing is beyond saving! I took the opportunity of Labor Day to go to the South California Open in San Diego, where I tied for first place.

EJ: Congrats! Levon also spend the weekend winning the Arizona State Championship. Go Scorpions!

AR: Yeah, we did good.

EJ: Enjoying the sites of Tucson during the day or just staying out of the heat?

AR: Mainly staying out of the heat, I have a lot of school work being a master’s student, and especially after winning the tournament! To be honest I just got home about half an hour ago, so I’m just in my relax after tournament time.

EJ: Well, I’m sure you deserve it. This isn’t your first time in the league… what was your previous experience like?

AR: Pretty horrible, a combination of freshman year in college and a sharp decline in my chess playing skills that year led me to finish in a “-1″ season with two losses, one win and too many draws. This is much more pleasant. However I have had a lot of fun being the TD of the Destiny last year!

EJ: Any thoughts on the week 5 match-up against the Destiny? You’ll either be on Board 1 or in Dallas…

AR: Well, I’m obviously torn, but I represent the Scorpions now. If they need me I will play any of my arch-rivals from Dallas for the 20th time! That is actually no exaggeration, as I have played Destiny’s first board, Stopa, over 18 times, out of which only 4 games have been draws.

EJ: Despite the number of high level players, draws are rather uncommon in the USCL… any guesses as to why?

AR: Well, Internet chess always adds an extra edge to the games, since people don’t feel the same way as in a normal game. Also, and more importantly, the games are rather quick, which tends to produce a lot of decisive results. Whatever makes more fighting chess is a plus in my views.

EJ: Do you think Internet chess will someday overtake OTB chess?

AR: I doubt it, I think they are integral to each other, but OTB will always be fancier and favored by serious players, whereas Internet is more relaxed and more fun for the spectators.

EJ: Looking back at the beginning of the USCL, what are your thoughts on how it’s progressed to today?

AR: I think that it has expanded greatly, and I am very happy to see its progress. People are more involved in blogs, following the games and true team spirit is obviously forming in the different cities. I look forward to the expansion of new teams and more and more interest by the media and ICC followers.

EJ: What is the appeal of the USCL for yourself and (in your opinion) GMs in general?

AR: What it comes down to is that we love chess. USCL gives us an opportunity to play top chess against other players in the country without the hassle of traveling or committing to a result, as you would in a tournament. The bonding of team mates is absolutely fantastic as well. And finally, of course, the prestige.

EJ: Thoughts on the future of the league. Where is it going? Where SHOULD it be going?

AR: I think it should be looking for coverage outside the ICC, hopefully some kind of media will want to follow it. Chess needs as much attention as it can get.

EJ: After this match you’re off to UTD until who knows when. Do you know when you might be back? (or is that a secret too?)

AR: I think we are keeping that close to our vest. (another way of saying, no we don’t know yet)

EJ: What’s it going to take to get you here (in AZ) full time?

AR: well, we will see what happens. I have to finish my masters degree first.

EJ: Well, I’m sure that Leo and Robby will try to kidnap bribe you somehow in the off season.

AR: I can’t say I would be against that. I love Arizona and I love the people.

EJ: I think that about wraps it up.

EJ: Any thing else you’d like to say?

AR: Big shout out to all the Scorpion fans, specially Steve Farmer for those awesome videos. Another shout out to our lovely 9th board for giving me a ride to San Diego this weekend.

EJ: Congrats again!

AR: Thanks!

EJ: The Scorpion fans are glad you’re playing for us! Good luck on Wednesday!

AR: I’m glad too. Thanks again.

The Scorpions next match is tomorrow at 6:00 PM (local time) against the Tennessee Tempo. You can check them out either in person at the Chavez building at the University of Arizona or on ICC.

Welcome to the 2009 United States Chess League!  I will be providing predictions on all of the matches each week (though I may duck predicting for the Arizona Scorpions some weeks, since I might be biased).  Please note in my predictions that I do not mean to be too critical of any team or player on a particular match – just one person’s thoughts. Without further ado, here are the predictions for Week 1.

Queens Pioneers v. Boston Blitz

Boston has a nice average rating advantage in this match (2461 to 2401). A nice GM match-up on board 1 with Alexander Stripunsky vs. Larry Christiansen. As happens so often in a game between 2 strong GM’s, the game can be a push. I think Queens needs a victory from Stripunsky in order to win the match. GM Perelshteyn with white against IM Eli Vovsha gives Boston the upper hand. On Board 3, IM Marc Esserman has a rating edge against FM Andrei Zaremba, but Andrei has white, so this is probably a push. Board 4 features expert Shaun Smith and youngster, Andrew Wang – this game might well decide the match. Boston wins 2.5-1.5

Miami Sharks v. Dallas Destiny

Miami has a big advantage both in strength (GM vs. IM), and color (Julio has white). I am looking forward to seeing what GM Julio Becerra plays against IM John Bartholomew’s world-famous Scandinavian Defense (1.e4 d5 2.ed Qd5). Board 2 features new UTD student and USCL rookie, Daniel Ludwig against  FM Bruci Lopez. White has a strength advantage and has white, so I give Ludwig the edge. Comparing just boards 1 and 2, I think Miami has a small edge. With board 3, Eric Rodriguez has white against FM Keaton Kiewra, who has not played in a while. Keaton is known for good preparation, so it will be interesting to see how this game goes. Finally, Nelson Lopez has color and slight rating advantage over Miguel Recio, someone I know nothing about. Overall, I think Miami has a very small edge here, though a tie would not surprise me. I predict a tie.

San Francisco Mechanics v. Seattle Sluggers

In the final Monday match of the night, San Francisco catches a break against the Nakamura-less Seattle Sluggers. With that being said, Seattle actually out-rates San Francisco  – something that I don’t think matters for this match. Pruess is at a ridiculously low rating of 2410, and having Donaldson on board 3 is as good as its going to get, even though he is facing FM Michael Lee. Board 4 features the debut of SF’s newest master, twelve year old, Yian Liou. Overall, I predict a 2-2 tie.

New York Knights v. New Jersey Knockouts

Upon a quick look at this first match of Wednesday, I was amazed at how stacked and high rated NY is. Kacheisvili v Benjamin is a great board 1 match-up, and Pascal Charbonneau on board 2 is quite strong, especially when Pascal has played board 1 many times. What is interesting is that Yaacov Norowitz on board 4 is now higher rated than their board 3, though of course not per the rating list used by NY. With a rating edge on boards 1 and 2, the Shen brothers are going to have to come up big for NJ. I predict NY wins 3-1.

Carolina Cobras v. Baltimore Kingfishers

Carolina by default has to resort to a balanced lineup (Boards 1-4 all within 150 pts of each other) while Baltimore sports GM Kritz, not an easy match for IM Schroer, as well IM Enkhbat, GM Larry Kaufman (Board 3!), and an expert on board 4. For out-ranked Carolina to have a chance, there will be a lot of pressure on the bottom boards (All-Star Ron Simpson and Craig Jones), and Oleg Zaikov will have to continue his incredible USCL success. I predict Carolina falls a little short in this one, and loses 2.5-1.5.

Philadelphia Inventors v. Tennessee Tempo

Philly has upgraded a lot since their disappointing season last year, with abnormally high rated players on boards 2 and 3 (GM Lenderman and IM Bryan Smith). The always dangerous GM Alexander Shabalov will have to carry the day for Tennessee since they are out-ranked on boards 2 and 3. Philly wins 2.5-1.5.

Arizona Scorpions v. Chicago Blaze

Arizona welcomes GM Alejandro Ramirez to board 1, while IM Levon Altounian moves down to board 2. Arizona welcomes the first junior and almost master, twelve year old David Adelberg to the team. Chicago features a balanced lineup lead by GM Mitkov, and 2 IM’s. Arizona wins a squeaker, 2.5-1.5.

SUMMARY OF WEEK 1 PREDICTIONS

Queens Pioneers v. Boston Blitz            Boston wins 2.5-1.5.

Miami Sharks v. Dallas Destiny               Tie 2-2.

San Francisco v. Seattle Sluggers           Tie 2-2.

NY Knights v. New Jersey Knockouts   NY Knights wins 3-1

Carolina Cobras v. Baltimore Kingfishers    Baltimore wins 2.5-1.5

Philadelphia Inventory v. TN Tempo     Philly wins 2.5-1.5

AZ Scorpions v. Chicago Blaze                  Arizona wins 2.5-1.5

My Second USCL Match

In this week’s match against the Chicago Blaze, I find out that my opponent is scholastic chess star Ilan Meerovich. And, as in my last match, I start digging for information about my opponent.

The first bit of information comes from an old blog at:

http://chesslodge.blogspot.com/2005/12/ilan-meerovich.html

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

Ilan Meerovich

Ilan is 14 years old and highest rated player in Illinois for his age group, which also makes him one of the hot prospects for the future of US chess (USCF rating – 1972). He was the winner of numerous junior events and has also participated in The Internet Scholastic Chess Championship.

At this point, I know he is a very highly rated high school senior. Then, I check out his past games played in the U.S. Chess League. I notice that he won the two games that he played against higher rated opponents, which means that he is likely stronger than his posted rating. In both of his games, he played fairly wide open and aggressive. Below are the two games.

Meerovich,Ilan (2131) – Harper, Warren (2301) [E25]

US Chess League

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.a3 Bxc3+ 5.bxc3 c5 6.f3 d5 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.Qd3 f5 9.e4 fxe4 10.fxe4 Ne7 11.Nf3 0–0 12.Be2 Nec6 13.0–0 Nd7 14.Be3 Qe7 15.e5 h6 16.Qg6 Qf7 17.Qg3 Qh5 18.Nh4 Qxe2 19.Bxh6 Rf7 20.Rxf7 Kxf7 21.Qxg7+ Ke8 22.Qg8+ Nf8 23.Qxf8+ Kd7 24.Qd6+ Ke8 25.Rf1 1–0

Meerovich,Ilan (2131) – Wheeler (FM), Jerry (2204) [E94]

US Chess League, 10/20/2008

1.d4 g6 2.c4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.e4 0–0 6.Be2 e5 7.0–0 Nbd7 8.d5 Nc5 9.Qc2 a5 10.Ne1 Ne8 11.f3 f5 12.Be3 b6 13.Nd3 Nf6 14.Nxc5 bxc5 15.a3 f4 16.Bf2 g5 17.b4 Nd7 18.bxc5 Nxc5 19.Na4 Nxa4 20.Qxa4 h5 21.c5 Bd7 22.c6 Bc8 23.Qd1 Rf6 24.Rb1 Rg6 25.h3 Bf6 26.Rb5 Qf8 27.Be1 Qg7 28.Rxa5 Rxa5 29.Bxa5 g4 30.fxg4 hxg4 31.Bxg4 Bxg4 32.hxg4 Rxg4 33.Qe2 Rh4 34.Qf3 Rg4 35.Rb1 Kf7 36.Rb7 1–0

Next step is to scan the internet for more games, and just like that I find this “youtube” video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgs9Q-08Yv0

This game tells me that he has a rough time dealing with cramped positions. He loses to a weaker player because he is unable to deal with his opponent’s positional maneuvers. A very nice video put together by Matt Pullin.

Meerovich, Ilan (2066) – Pullin, Matt (1895) [D09]

2007 Illinois Open Internet Chess Club (5), 2007

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 d4 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.g3 Bf5 6.Nh4 Be6 7.Qa4 g5 8.Nf3 h6 9.Bg2 Qd7 10.Qb5 0–0–0 11.Nfd2 Bh3 12.Bxc6 Qxc6 13.Qxc6 bxc6 14.f4 Be7 15.Nf3 g4 16.Nfd2 d3 17.exd3 Bc5 18.Ke2 Ne7 19.Nb3 Bg2 20.Re1 Bf3+ 21.Kd2 Bf2 22.Rf1 Bd4 23.Na3 Nf5 24.Nc2 c5 25.Re1 h5 26.Ncxd4 cxd4 27.Kc2 h4 28.Nd2 hxg3 29.hxg3 Nxg3 30.Rg1 Ne2 31.Rf1 Rh1 32.Rxh1 Bxh1 33.Nf1 g3 34.Nxg3 Nxg3 35.Bd2 Rh8 36.Rg1 Rh3 37.Be1 Nf5 38.Rg8+ Kd7 39.Rf8 Rh7 40.b4 Bf3 41.a4 Ke7 42.Rc8 Kd7 43.Rf8 Ne3+ 44.Kd2 Rh2+ 45.Kc1 Rc2+ 46.Kb1 Re2 47.Bh4 Nd1 48.Rxf7+ Kc8 49.Rf8+ Kb7 50.Rd8 Nc3+ 51.Kc1 Rh2 52.Bg5 Rh1+ 53.Kd2 Rd1+ 54.Kc2 a5 55.bxa5 c5 56.f5 Rg1 57.Bd2 Bd1+ 58.Kb2 Rg2 59.Kc1 Bxa4 60.a6+ Ka7 0–1

The next game provides me with information about how he handles the Grand Prix attack, my normal line against the Sicilian. My feeling is that I should avoid this line, mainly because this is what he will likely expect based on all of my games that are “out there”.

Velazquez, Kevin – Meerovich, Ilan (2100) [B23]

ICA High School Invitational

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Bb5 Nd4 6.Bd3 d6 7.Nxd4 cxd4 8.Ne2 e5 9.0–0 Ne7 10.c3 Nc6 11.cxd4 Qb6 12.Kh1 Nxd4 13.Nxd4 Qxd4 14.Bb5+ Ke7 15.Qf3 f6 16.fxe5 dxe5 17.b3 Be6 18.Ba3+ Kf7 19.Rac1 Rac8 20.d3 a6 21.Bc4 Qd7 22.Qh3 b5 23.Bxe6+ Qxe6 24.Qe3 Rhd8 25.Bb2 Kg8 26.d4 exd4 27.Bxd4 Rxc1 28.Rxc1 Bh6 29.Qxh6 Rxd4 30.Qf4 Rxe4 31.Qb8+ Qe8 32.Qg3 Qe5 33.Rc8+ Kg7 34.Rc7+ Kh6 35.Qh3+ Kg5 36.Qg3+ Qxg3 37.hxg3 Re2 38.a4 bxa4 39.bxa4 Re4 40.Rxh7 Rxa4 41.Ra7 Kg4 42.Kh2 Ra5 43.Rg7 Rh5+ 44.Kg1 Rg5 45.Rf7 Rf5 46.Rg7 g5 47.Ra7 a5 48.Kh2 Rb5 49.Ra6 f5 50.Ra8 Kh5 51.Ra6 g4 52.Kg1 Rb1+ 53.Kf2 Ra1 54.Ke3 Kg5 55.Ke2 a4 56.Kf2 Ra3 57.Kf1 Rxg3 58.Rxa4 Rb3 59.Ra8 Rb4 60.Rf8 Rb1+ 61.Ke2 0–1

And this game reaffirms that he plays the Sicilian Defense regularly with Black against e4.

Menon, Gopal – Meerovich, Ilan (2100) [B78]

ICA High School Invitational

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 g6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bc4 0–0 8.Bb3 d6 9.f3 Bd7 10.Qd2 Ne5 11.0–0–0 Rb8 12.f4 Neg4 13.h3 Nxe3 14.Qxe3 Nh5 15.Rhf1 Nxf4 16.Rxf4 e5 17.Rxf7 Rxf7 18.Bxf7+ Kxf7 19.Ndb5 Bxb5 20.Nxb5 Bf8 21.Kb1 a6 22.Nc3 Kg7 23.Nd5 Be7 24.g3 Qd7 25.h4 h5 26.g4 hxg4 27.h5 gxh5 28.Qb3 Rf8 29.Ne3 Rf3 30.Nf5+ Qxf5 31.exf5 Rxb3 32.cxb3 Kf6 33.Kc2 Kxf5 34.Kd2 g3 35.Ke3 Kg4 36.Ke2 h4 37.Kf1 h3 0–1

Ok, so basically, I am dealing with an underrated young scholastic superstar looking to make a name for himself. He will likely play the Sicilian Defense and fully expects me to play the Grand Prix. And, like many young players, seems to have difficulty playing positionally. Based on this information, I decide that it is best to play a Closed Sicilian against him. The next step is to determine which line. I have played several types of lines in the past, as in the following games:

Johnson, Joel (2220) – Donaldson (IM), John (2468) [B20]

Joshua Tree Open Joshua Tree, CA (3), 02.06.2007

1.e4 c5 2.d3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.f4 d6 6.Nf3 Nf6 7.0–0 0–0 8.h3 b5 9.a4 b4 10.Nbd2 Bb7 11.Qe2 Nd7 12.Rb1 Rc8 13.b3 Nd4 14.Nxd4 cxd4 15.Nc4 Nb6 16.Bd2 Nxc4 17.dxc4 a5 18.f5 e6 19.fxe6 fxe6 20.Qg4 Qd7 21.h4 Rxf1+ 22.Rxf1 Rc5 23.Bh3 Re5 24.Bg2 Rc5 25.Bg5 Qe8 26.Bf6 h5 27.Qe2 Bxf6 28.Rxf6 Kg7 29.Rf2 Qe7 30.Qd2 e5 31.Qg5 Rc7 32.Kf1 Qxg5 33.hxg5 Rf7 34.Rxf7+ Kxf7 35.Ke2 Bc6 36.Kd3 Bb7 37.Bh3 Ke7 38.Bg2 Ba6 39.Bh3 ½–½

Johnson, Joel (2220) – Martinez, Leo (2200) [B25]

Master Trek (ASU) Tempe, AZ (2), 16.06.2007

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.f4 d6 6.d3 e6 7.Nf3 Nge7 8.0–0 0–0 9.Kh1 Rb8 10.a4 a6 11.Qe1 Nd4 12.Qf2 Nec6 13.g4 (An aggressive move aimed at opening up Black’s kingside.) 13…f5 14.gxf5 gxf5 15.Rg1 (The Rook belongs on the open g-file.) 15…Kh8 16.Be3 b5 17.axb5 axb5 18.Nd1 (The move is designed to relocate the Knight closer to the kingside, while chasing the Black Knight on d4 from its’ outpost.) 18…Bd7 19.c3 Nxf3 20.Bxf3 Qf6 21.Qg2 (Increasing the pressure along the g-file and the h1–a8 diagonal.) 21…Ne7 22.Ra7 Rbd8 23.e5! (Black has major issues. The c-Pawn is a problem, as well as, the d4-h8 diagonal.) 23…dxe5 24.fxe5 Qxe5? (Black needed to try 24. … Qf7 25. Bh5 Bc6 26. Bxf7 Bxg2+ 27. Rxg2 Rxf7 28. Bxc5 Bf8 29. d4 f4 30. Nf2, even though White is in full control of the game.) 25.Bxc5! (The Black Queen is tied down defending the checkmate on g7.) 25…Qf6 26.Qxg7+! Qxg7 27.Rxg7 1–0

Next, I look at other Closed Sicilian lines and I am drawn to the two following games.

In this game, Robert Hess outplays a young Rob Robson in a line that was popular in the 80s. In particular, former World Champion Anatoly Karpov loved playing this line.

Robert Hess (2412) – Ray Robson (2293) [B25]

US Championships Stillwater USA (Round 3), 05/17/2007

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.d3 d6 6.f4 e6 7.Nf3 Nge7 8.0–0 0–0 9.Bd2 Rb8 10.Rb1 b5 11.a3 a5 12.a4 b4 13.Nb5 Nd4 14.c4 Nec6 15.Be3 Nxf3+ 16.Bxf3 Ba6 17.Re1 Qd7 18.Bg2 Rfe8 19.Kh1 Rbd8 20.Qf3 Bb7 21.Qf2 Qc8 22.Rbd1 Ba6 23.e5 dxe5 24.Bxc5 exf4 25.gxf4 Bxb5 26.axb5 Bd4 27.Bxd4 Nxd4 28.b6 Qc5 29.b7 f6 30.Re4 Nb3 31.Qe1 Kf7 32.d4 Qb6 33.c5 Qc7 34.Qe3 a4 35.f5 gxf5 36.Qh6 Kg8 37.Rg1 Kh8 38.Qxf6+ Qg7 39.Rxe6 Qxf6 40.Rxf6 Nxd4 41.c6 Re7 42.Rd6 1–0

In the next game, I really like this type of position that Fedorov gets against the former World Champ and decide that if I can refine White’s play, I believe that I can make this line work out well. And, with the help of student, Jerry Snitselaar, we tear apart this game and determine ways to improve upon White’s play. We conclude this preparation a half an hour before game time and after a couple of quick reviews and a “head butt”, I am ready to conquer!

Alexei Fedorov (2575) – Garry Kasparov (2849) [B20]

Corus Wijk aan Zee NED (2), 14.01.2001

1.e4 c5 2.d3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.f4 d6 6.Nf3 Nf6 7.0–0 0–0 8.h3 b5 9.g4 a5 10.f5 b4 11.Qe1 Ba6 12.Qh4 c4 13.Bh6 cxd3 14.cxd3 Bxd3 15.Re1 Bxh6 16.Qxh6 Qb6+ 17.Kh1 Ne5 18.Nbd2 Rac8 19.Ng5 Rc2 20.Rf1 Bxf1 21.Rxf1 Rfc8 22.fxg6 hxg6 23.Nb3 Rxg2 24.Kxg2 Rc2+ 25.Kg3 Qe3+ 0–1

As for the match itself, we were on the verge of elimination, with our backs against the wall. We needed to trounce these guys to remain in contention and we did just that!! Here are the three favorable decisive games from the match:

GM Nikola Mitkov – CHC (2601) – IM Rogelio Barcenilla – ARZ (2560) [C28] ICC 60 30 u

Internet Chess Club, 10/22/2008, Board 1

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d3 Nc6 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Nge2 d5 6.exd5 Nxd5 7.0–0 Nxc3 8.Nxc3 0–0 9.f4 Na5 10.Bb3 Nxb3 11.axb3 exf4 12.Bxf4 Qd4+ 13.Kh1 Bxc3 14.bxc3 Qxc3 15.Ra4 b5 16.Re4 Qc6 17.Re7 Bh3 18.Qd2 Rac8 19.Be5 f6 20.Bd4 Rce8 21.Rfe1 Rxe7 22.Rxe7 Rd8 23.Bxa7 Ra8 24.Bg1 Ra2 25.Re2 Bg4 26.Rf2 h5 27.b4 Kf7 28.d4 Rb2 29.d5 Qd6 30.h3 Bd7 31.Qd1 Qxb4 32.Qxh5+ Kg8 33.Qe2 Rb1 34.Qe3 Rd1 35.c3 Qb1 36.Rd2 Re1 37.Re2 Rf1 38.Kh2 Qf5 39.Qd4 Rf4 40.Qa7 Rf3 41.Re3 Rxe3 42.Bxe3 Qe5+ 43.Kg1 Qxc3 44.Bf4 b4 45.d6 b3 46.Qa8+ Kh7 47.Qe4+ f5 48.Qe7 Qd4+ 49.Be3 Qa4 50.Bc1 Qd4+ 51.Kh2 Qxd6+ 52.Qxd6 cxd6 53.Kg3 g5 54.Kf2 Kg6 55.g3 f4 56.gxf4 gxf4 57.Kf3 Kf5 58.Bb2 Bc6+ 59.Kf2 Ke4 60.h4 Kd3 61.h5 Kc2 62.h6 Be4 White resigns 0–1

IM Mark Ginsburg – ARZ (2410) – IM Jan van de Mortel – CHC (2460) [B76] ICC 60 30 u Internet Chess Club, 10/22/2008, Board 2

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 0–0 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.0–0–0 Nxd4 10.Bxd4 Be6 11.Kb1 Qc7 12.Nd5 Bxd5 13.exd5 Rfc8 14.Rc1 Qd7 15.g4 b5 16.c4 Qb7 17.h4 bxc4 18.Bxc4 Rc7 19.b3 Rac8 20.Qb2 h5 21.gxh5 Nxh5 22.Bxg7 Nxg7 23.h5 Rxc4 24.Rxc4 Rxc4 25.bxc4 Qxb2+ 26.Kxb2 gxh5 27.Kb3 Kh7 28.Kb4 Kg6 29.Kb5 Nf5 30.Ka6 Ne3 31.Kxa7 Nxc4 32.a4 e6 33.Ka6 Kg5 34.Kb5 exd5 35.a5 Nxa5 36.Kxa5 h4 37.Kb4 Kf4 38.Rxh4+ Kxf3 39.Kc3 f5 40.Kd2 f4 41.Rh6 Kg2 42.Rg6+ Kf3 43.Rxd6 Ke4 44.Ke2 f3+ 45.Kf2 d4 46.Rd8 d3 47.Rd7 Black resigns 1–0

NM Joel Johnson – ARZ (2211) – Ilan Meerovich – CHC (2131) [B20]

ICC 60 30 u Internet Chess Club, 10/22/2008, Board 3

1.e4 d6 (No need to panic. I am sure that he wants to play a Sicilian and this move does not change my opinion of that fact.) 2.d3 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 Nf6 5.f4 0–0 6.Nf3 c5 (Ah, yes, all is well now.) 7.0–0 Nc6 8.h3 d5 (Even though this is the best move in the position for Black, I felt comfortable playing against this line. The move that I spent the most time on here was 8. … b5.) 9.e5 Nd7 10.c3 e6 (Even though this is a solid move, I was happy to see it. Practically speaking, it seemed better for him to counter with 10. … Nb6 and 11. … Bf5. Part of the problem with e6 is that Black has to play very precise to avoid having his Bishop on c8 becoming locked out of the game.) 11.Na3 a6 12.Nc2 b5 13.d4 c4 (Black continues to play moves that make it more and more difficult to fre his locked in light-squared Bishop on c8. And, even though it would appear that the situation is a wash because of my locked in dark-squared Bishop on c1, I plan on making kingside Pawn advances that will provide my Bishop with some real future value.) 14.Qe1 (My goal now is to secure the queenside, then turn my full attention to building up a kingside attack.) 14…a5 15.a3 Rb8 16.Kh1 Qe7 17.Bd2 Rb6 18.g4 Ndb8 19.Qg3 b4 20.axb4 axb4 21.Ne3 bxc3 22.bxc3 f5 23.exf6 Bxf6 24.Rae1 Qc7 25.Ne5 Nxe5 26.fxe5 Bg7 27.Rxf8+ Bxf8 28.Rf1 Rb2? (I had expected him to play 28. … Bg7, after which I had planned on playing g5, followed by Ng4 and Nf6 with a growing advantage.) 29.Qf4 (My intention is to play Nd5! on the next move, but it is also very good here. One of the lines I was looking at here was 29. … Bg7 30. Nd5! ed5 31. Bd5 Kh8 32. Qf8!! Bf8 33. Kg7 Rg8#.) 29…Qe7 30.Nxd5 exd5 31.Bxd5+ Black resigns (All moves lead to checkmate, for example: 31. … Be6 32. Be6 Kh8 33. Qf8 Qf8 34. Rf8 Kg7 35. Rg8#; 31. … Kh8 32. Qf8 Qf8 33. Rf8 Kg7 34. Rg8#; 31. … Kg7 32. Qh6 Kh8 33. Rf8 Qf8 34. Qf8#) 1–0

And, one last time, my first US Chess League game:

Joel Johnson – ARZ (2211) – FM John Bick – TEN (2249) [C30]

ICC 75 30 u United States Chess League, 09/17/2008, Board 4

1.f4 e5 2.e4 Bc5 (At this point, I just sat and twiddled my thumbs for five or six minutes. Much like playing poker online, you need to create the illusion that you were somewhat taken aback by his bet (move), 2. … Bc5 and needed time to come up with a response.) 3.Qh5! (The surprise move! From this point forward, Black’s clock starts seriously ticking and ticking. It is obvious that I have blindsided him and now, everything related to this game is in my favor.) 3…Nc6 4.fxe5 g6 5.Qe2 (As in my key game, P Buecker – M Maier, I like placing the Queen here instead of Qf3, which happens in many of the other sample games.) 5…Nd4 (Here, John plays the move that I had just finished looking at, prior to the start of play. Not that it mattered because my preparation has resulted in a huge time advantage already and a great idea of how to proceed.) 6.Qd3 Qe7 7.c3 Nc6 8.Qg3 (I have reached the position that I wanted, when I decided to play this line.) 8…d6 (In several of the sample games, Black frequently employed the move, Bxg1 to avoid losing the tempo after White plays 9. d4 attacking the Black Bishop. The extra tempo is important to Black’s defensive chances.) 9.d4 Bb6 10.Bb5 (At this point in the game, I really want to play Bg5, but I can see that Black will respond with f6, and the eventual capture of my e-Pawn on e4. So, by playing 10. Bb5 first, I am threatening to win his Knight on c6 with the move d5 and on the eventual Qxe4+, I will be able to get all my pieces developed without blocking in this Bishop, say after the move Ne2.) 10…Bd7 11.Bg5 f6 12.exf6 Qxe4+ 13.Ne2 Ne5? (This is a desperate attempt by Black to complicate the position. However, I routinely play complicated games and have no problems sifting through everything.) 14.Nd2 (This is the key move to refuting Black’s 13. … Ne5?. The point is Black has no place good to relocate his Queen. On 14. … Qf5, White wins after 15. Rf1, 16. f7+, and 17. fxg8(Q)+. On 14. … Qc2, White wins by playing 15. Rc1 Qxb2 16. Rb1 Qxa2 17. dxe5. And, on 14. … Qd5:) 14…Qd5 15.c4! (Black wanted to capture my Bishop on b5 in response to me grabbing his Knight on e5 and should I decide to snatch the Bishop on d7, he would simply recapture with his Knight on e5. The move c4 foils Black’s plan by protecting the White Bishop on b5 and leaving Black’s Knight on e5 hanging.) 15…Nd3+ (Black is still trying to hold onto his piece.) 16.Qxd3 Qxg5 17.f7+! (This move wins the piece for good.) 17…Kxf7 18.Bxd7 Nf6 19.0–0 Rad8 20.Ne4 Black resigns 1–0

And, with one week to go, as I understand it, we can make the playoffs if we beat Seattle next week by at least a 3-1 score and Chicago loses to Dallas (a distinct possibility, as Dallas is one of the better teams).

Lastly, I am an alternate on the team, and according to the rules, I am ineligible to play any more games for the team (see below). So, it looks like I will have a perfect 2-0 record for the team this year! Hopefully, I will be able to play a larger role on the team next year. Go Scorpions!!

US Chess League

E. Alternate Rules

1. Two players of any rating can be declared as alternates by each team before the season.

2. Each of these players may play at most two games, and a combined total of at most three games.

3. Alternates are not eligible to compete in the postseason (semi-exception in E6 though).

4. The main intent of the alternate spots is to give each team an extra degree of flexibility. As such, the alternates should really be local players who will generally fill in during extreme circumstances (though teams can use them whenever they see fit). For example, naming a GM from the other side of the country who is scheduled to be in your city for a tournament would not be considered in the spirit of the alternate system. In general, any GM or IM alternate will need to reside in reasonable locale to the team in question to be allowed as an alternate. The League has the right to declare ANY alternate who is felt not to be in the spirit of the system as ineligible.

5. Once the alternates are named, and your season begins, they can only be replaced by a player who lives approximately within 100 miles of your playing site. Once an alternate has played a game, they cannot be replaced on the alternate list under any circumstances. Any team replacing an alternate who hasn’t played a game yet during in the season must comply with the same rules that are used to replace someone on the main roster, in that they must be either rated U2400 or within 50 points of the player they are replacing.

6. For teams wishing to switch players on the main roster with those who are alternates after the season begins, or simply wanting to switch an alternate to the main roster, this is how it works. Regardless of which of the three below scenarios this switch or replacement follows, this change must also fall under the rule of general replacing outlined in A7.

(a) Assuming neither player has played a game, teams may switch a main player and alternate with no penalty (i.e. this does not require the use of one of their two allowed replacements).

(b) If the alternate has already played a game, then when moving them to the main roster, the player they replace is removed from the roster entirely (i.e. cannot switch to an alternate spot). The team effectively loses that alternate spot, and this, unlike (a), does require the use of one of the teams’ two replacements.

(c) If the main player has already played a game and the alternate has not, then once again the main player is removed from the roster entirely, but in this situation, the team is permitted to replace that alternate (following the rule mentioned in E5, but again they cannot be replaced with the main player who’s place they are taking). This also does use up one of the teams’ two allowed replacements.

Note that if a team switches an alternate to the main roster, any games that player has already played still count towards the three total allowed for alternates. Also, when an alternate moves to the main roster they must play at least two regular season games AFTER being added to the main roster (i.e. at least two games as a non-alternate) to be allowed to compete in the playoffs; this is done since we don’t want teams putting an alternate on the main roster during the final week, realizing that player might be more useful than some other in the postseason.

Anybody see a loophole? Robby, you are the lawyer!