Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends,
We're so glad you could attend, come inside come inside,
There behind the glass stands a real blade of grass,
Be careful as you pass, move along move along
Week 8 and the pairings are up, good to be here to share a few moments with the readers in their busy lives. I have to tell you, the USCL is really a lot of fun and there is a simple reason for that. Think about it, there are a whole bunch of us who wake up on Saturday's and Sundays in the fall or winter so that we will be certain to watch football on TV, later in the year it will be hoops. After watching our favorite teams we go on the blogging sites and critique the coaches and officials, the failures of the players and the insanity of the beer commercials. Here in the USCL we can do pretty much the same, well except for the beer commercials. There is a difference. I never played organized sports past high school and have no idea what it is like to compete at those levels, nor have I ever been on the field or court with any of the players I see on TV. I have played in tournaments against a whole bunch of the USCL players and expect to look across at some of them again! Oh no, I am not a titled player or anything like, don't get me wrong I have been in a ton of team leagues and know what it takes to play and win. That's the deal, just because the players in the USCL are stronger or have higher ratings doesn't deny the fact that we have all been in the pits of playing chess right there along side them, as opposed to pro/college sports where very few of us have any idea what is involved. Yeah, this league is a lot closer to home and that makes it so much fun. So, as I start to embarass myself again with these inane predictions, let the USCL know what you think. I am certain that the Commish is more than welcome to ideas and comments. Ok? Bring on the next act!
Monday sees the match that so many have had circled, the Boston-New Jersey showdown. But first there we should comment on the other 2 Monday night menageries. Dallas faces Miami. This is it for the Destiny, they can still make the playoffs and have a certain amount of their fate in their own hands, but it has to start here. It looks like they are seeing it the same way I am by having Ludwig and Kiewra in the middle. If they can pick up a score on the outside boards Dallas has a cood chance to win the match. Miami is still a formidable team, but have misplaced some of the magic they had last year. I have a feeling that the Destiny aren't quite done yet and will pull this off by width of a caterpillars nose (Note to Ron Young: I am trying out this scoring system using words... hope it works). Chicago has Arizona on Monday as wll. Both teams are coming off surprise victories last weel. Chicago's Jan van de Mortel has proven to be a barrel of fun on first board, but the Blaze don't have Angelo Young. Combine that with Arizona's push to the playoffs and I see the Scrops winning by the distance between major cities on an AZ state road map. Now, the Blitz and Knockouts setup. It is surprising that neither Christiansen or Benjamin is playing, but the quality of top board matchups doesn't fall with Gulko vs. Perelshtyn and Sammour=Hasbun up against Ippolito. Boston has an advantage on third board, while the Knockouts have high expectations for youngster Ng on 4. I want to think that Boston has an advantage based on the difference on third board, but NJ has been showing a lot of resilience so far. If there is going to be a surprise in the match I suspect it will be on board 2, though that is entirely a hunch. I am going to say the match ends in a tie.
Wednesday starts off with the Knights against the Cobras. Carolina picked up there best result of the season last week, but the New Yorkers have some battle tested players back. This one goes to the Knights by the width of one of them streets in the Big Apple. Philly has Baltimore. The Inventors could move into the bottom playoff position with a win and are trying to find a hot hand on board 1. The Kingfishers have been in a funk all season and I don't see them getting out of it. I like the Inventors by a crack in a bell. San Francisco faces the Queens squad this week. The Mechanics are going with the same lineup as last week, there must be some scheduling issues for them as the risk of going further down the playoff list is nothing to sneeze at. Queens is looking to make a late pull into the playoff race in the East. The Mechanics are a tough bunch and I really don't like picking an eastern team in 6th place over a western team in 3rd place, but it looks to me like Queens has a better group on the first 3 boards and will win by a donut hole. Now we get to the Sluggers and the Tempo match. This is one of those times where you kind of look at the matchups and wonder just exactly who Kreskin is working for. Seattle put their 2 GM's out there, obviously anticipating the Tempo would do the same, and Tennessee has sold some carrots on the top two to get potatoes on the bottom 2. Ok, sounds like I am saying "Seattle on first 2 and Tennessee on the bottom", but not quite that easy. I have faced Burnett online a bunch of times and have the utmost respect for him as well as Todd Andrews, but when you go into the cage with the lions you gotta think that very few good things are going to happen. It would seem that if there are going to be results that don't fit the schedule it would be on one of the two bottom boards. I am thinking board 3 will be the place the match goes one way or the other. Bereolos and Readey are similar types of players and I think I know what opening it will be ( I don't want to give away anyone's secretes here, but the opening line I am thinking is on page 234 of the.... cough, cough, uh never mind). I think the match will be a tie with Seattle have about a 1/3 of a point chance for victory.
Ok, Alfred Hitchcock is on and I gotta go. Remember to let your USCL team or the Commish know how much you enjoy this league. Big thanks to Emerson, Lake and Palmer, to Eddie, to that whiny guy in the Sluggers mascot costume, to Joe the pizza delivery man and of course Dean Wormer. ttyl and have a nice day
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Friday, October 16, 2009
Heart Full of Soul
HIYA, HIYA, HIYA, HIYA…!!! It is a great day to be writing. Sky is gray, rain is falling from right to left (October in Seattle is very windy) and the only thing less interesting than the local news is, well news from any where else! It is a great day! Before we get to all the razzmatazz from this past week, I want to share a thought with the other bloggers in the USCL. I have to pay tribute to my “spiritual superior”. Like Darth Vader kneeling before the Emperor, I bow my head in tribute to the force that has guided my hand in blogging. Of course, I recommend all of this person’s worCheck this guy out, I am pretty certain you can all pick up plenty of tips on interesting communication from him! Ok, on to the party…!!!!
Sluggers match with the Sharks. I had convinced myself to pick the Sluggers to win based on some pretty reasonable thinking. Therein was the problem, anyone who knows me will tell you that I am neither reasonable or a thinker. Behind the scenes I was kicking myself for not looking at the facts. Seattle had found their way to the top of the western division, had Nakamura coming back and were facing a Miami team that appeared to be in the middle of the blues, you know the depression of staying up to 4 a.m. to see your favorite terrible sci-fi movie only to find out they cut out the one scene you loved and now you had to be up at 6:30 to go to work? Yeah, that feeling. All of these things were really negatives for the Sluggers; never a team to accept success well, this was the equivalent of winning a brand new Porsche as the price of gas hits $5 a gallon. Still, I had to watch… it is my duty. Sinanan on board 4 had a pretty standard game, got to a Benoni type position with b5-b4 in, then did a slight shuffle of pieces to the left (does anyone remember “The Time Warp”?) and finished with a bit of nice technique. Well done. Milat made his season debut on board 3 and surprised me by playing the Zot /Trompovski (quick note to Marcel… “Dude, tough to get to the Belgrade after that sequence”). This one deteriorated quickly into a contest of who could mis-interpret Reinfeld more effectively. To be fair, Marcel found everything in the house to try to win and it wasn’t quite enough. On board 2 Slava took a choice in the opening to give up the exchange for a pawn and cut Martinez’ attacking chances down. It appears that White then went looking for a rabbit, while Slava just “slowly rolled along”. In a game where either side certainly had places to press for more, a draw was found via a rook opposition. Matchups of GM’s in the USCL has become pretty common and we know that those GM’s just don’t like being outdone at anything. So, as if the efforts on boards 2 and 3 weren’t enough Becerra and Nakamura got together to give us plenty more excitement. I had predicted that Nakamura would open with 1.g3, this had been his usual previously in USCL matches, and was quite intrigued when he opted for the Veresov. It turned out to be an inspired choice as White was presented with a huge space advantage and plenty of time in the opening. I would bet that Nakamura changed his mind at a couple of points, seeking the “perfect” route instead of just a pawn or some such ( I hope he writes the game up in his blog). Slowly Becerra worked his way out of the dungeon and emerged with equality. So, tied match right? WRONG!! I don’t know if he just misjudged, misanalyzed or simply overplayed but Becerra went directly into a losing ending by offering a queen exchange. Nakamura found a very direct line to victory from there. So, another use of reflections to collect a 2 ½ - 1 ½ victory. Let’s be clear, except for board 4 all the games swung around at least once and had the potential for any result, plus every player seemed to have some sort of issue with the clock. This was a close match between division rivals. Next up for the Sluggers is a rematch with the Tennessee boys who will likely by sporting their 2 GM’s again.
On a more self serving angle; note to IM Mark Ginsburg ( please, please, please Eddie, can I call him Dr. Demento?) when you are considering the opening to focus on this week keep in mind that this week there were 2 Zots, 1 Veresov, 1 aborted Stonewall and of course the Young – Bick encounter. Work with the league here to get across to the readers how Sunye Neto – Quinteros Lone Pine 77 had morphed into Young – Bick USCL 2009. Changing topics here, I appreciate the Arizona folks for all their efforts in blogging and want the rest of the league to show their approval as well. However, I think there should be a rule limiting players to less than 3 “nicknames”. Please, Dr. Dem… er, I mean IM Ginsburg sir, I am your age and enjoy quite a bit about your writing, but giving each player on the squad 3 or more nicknames is a bit much. If J. Edgar Hoover were alive the Tucson area would be drowning in FBI agents trying to figure out what secrets you are passing to the KGB via these nicknames! Thank you.
Donuts! That should be the battle cry for at least a couple of the USCL teams. Anyone who knows/remembers “The Tick” can relate this to “spoon”. I am however suspicious, thinking back on GM Benjamin’s comments about “energy drinks” and donuts, then seeing this. Coincidence?
Special big thanks go out this week to John Bick and Angelo Young, spirits of chess from a different dimension, to all the players out there pushing digital wood, to all the “four – to – niners” where ever they may be, absolutely to my friend Mulfish, The Arizona team for being good sports and of course to the Commish. Ttyl and have a nice day!
Sluggers match with the Sharks. I had convinced myself to pick the Sluggers to win based on some pretty reasonable thinking. Therein was the problem, anyone who knows me will tell you that I am neither reasonable or a thinker. Behind the scenes I was kicking myself for not looking at the facts. Seattle had found their way to the top of the western division, had Nakamura coming back and were facing a Miami team that appeared to be in the middle of the blues, you know the depression of staying up to 4 a.m. to see your favorite terrible sci-fi movie only to find out they cut out the one scene you loved and now you had to be up at 6:30 to go to work? Yeah, that feeling. All of these things were really negatives for the Sluggers; never a team to accept success well, this was the equivalent of winning a brand new Porsche as the price of gas hits $5 a gallon. Still, I had to watch… it is my duty. Sinanan on board 4 had a pretty standard game, got to a Benoni type position with b5-b4 in, then did a slight shuffle of pieces to the left (does anyone remember “The Time Warp”?) and finished with a bit of nice technique. Well done. Milat made his season debut on board 3 and surprised me by playing the Zot /Trompovski (quick note to Marcel… “Dude, tough to get to the Belgrade after that sequence”). This one deteriorated quickly into a contest of who could mis-interpret Reinfeld more effectively. To be fair, Marcel found everything in the house to try to win and it wasn’t quite enough. On board 2 Slava took a choice in the opening to give up the exchange for a pawn and cut Martinez’ attacking chances down. It appears that White then went looking for a rabbit, while Slava just “slowly rolled along”. In a game where either side certainly had places to press for more, a draw was found via a rook opposition. Matchups of GM’s in the USCL has become pretty common and we know that those GM’s just don’t like being outdone at anything. So, as if the efforts on boards 2 and 3 weren’t enough Becerra and Nakamura got together to give us plenty more excitement. I had predicted that Nakamura would open with 1.g3, this had been his usual previously in USCL matches, and was quite intrigued when he opted for the Veresov. It turned out to be an inspired choice as White was presented with a huge space advantage and plenty of time in the opening. I would bet that Nakamura changed his mind at a couple of points, seeking the “perfect” route instead of just a pawn or some such ( I hope he writes the game up in his blog). Slowly Becerra worked his way out of the dungeon and emerged with equality. So, tied match right? WRONG!! I don’t know if he just misjudged, misanalyzed or simply overplayed but Becerra went directly into a losing ending by offering a queen exchange. Nakamura found a very direct line to victory from there. So, another use of reflections to collect a 2 ½ - 1 ½ victory. Let’s be clear, except for board 4 all the games swung around at least once and had the potential for any result, plus every player seemed to have some sort of issue with the clock. This was a close match between division rivals. Next up for the Sluggers is a rematch with the Tennessee boys who will likely by sporting their 2 GM’s again.
On a more self serving angle; note to IM Mark Ginsburg ( please, please, please Eddie, can I call him Dr. Demento?) when you are considering the opening to focus on this week keep in mind that this week there were 2 Zots, 1 Veresov, 1 aborted Stonewall and of course the Young – Bick encounter. Work with the league here to get across to the readers how Sunye Neto – Quinteros Lone Pine 77 had morphed into Young – Bick USCL 2009. Changing topics here, I appreciate the Arizona folks for all their efforts in blogging and want the rest of the league to show their approval as well. However, I think there should be a rule limiting players to less than 3 “nicknames”. Please, Dr. Dem… er, I mean IM Ginsburg sir, I am your age and enjoy quite a bit about your writing, but giving each player on the squad 3 or more nicknames is a bit much. If J. Edgar Hoover were alive the Tucson area would be drowning in FBI agents trying to figure out what secrets you are passing to the KGB via these nicknames! Thank you.
Donuts! That should be the battle cry for at least a couple of the USCL teams. Anyone who knows/remembers “The Tick” can relate this to “spoon”. I am however suspicious, thinking back on GM Benjamin’s comments about “energy drinks” and donuts, then seeing this. Coincidence?
Special big thanks go out this week to John Bick and Angelo Young, spirits of chess from a different dimension, to all the players out there pushing digital wood, to all the “four – to – niners” where ever they may be, absolutely to my friend Mulfish, The Arizona team for being good sports and of course to the Commish. Ttyl and have a nice day!
Monday, October 12, 2009
CHANGES
Many tasks at hand. Of course, it was a day off and some how there were always lots of tasks for a day off. He glanced out the window as the view was filled with a sudden burst of sunshine. "Check the USCL first!", his mind concluded the best first step. Checking for updates and rereading posts for new comments there was one thing that was fairly obvious, either the USCF or the Commish was going to have to make some sort of ruling about the consumption of donuts . "Quite a change in a week, the Knockouts have gone from looking for a record 6-0 start to worrying about fried pastries." His direction of thought jumped to the changes of the past week. "Not an unusual result in the league, nobody got 3/4 of a point for almost winning or anything like that" , his face changed expression as his eyes squinted "Four-to Niners?" The mind would be boggled. Such things didn't happen in a universe directed by string theory, only in the universes of upside down gravity. "NO! There is the clue!" Yes, 429 was a special number in his memory. As a youngster his mother had taught him about the odds in Vegas, where they happened to live, and one of the things she ingrained in him was that you would never see a smaller number listed first, " 2 to 1 you will see, 3 to 1 sometimes, even 7 to 2, but never a smaller number first like 4 to 9". He could here her words in his mind, those exact words, 4 to 9!. It was mom letting him know that she was well. Having been on the run for that whole "Yes, we produce wonderful dry wines in Washington state" fiasco. Everyone knows that 'Dry" and "Washington" can't be used together. "Thanks Mom" he thought. Now, there are matchups to consider.
New York versus Philadelphia looks pretty easy. "Of course I will root for the Inventors first board, I remember him as a fine lad in Alaska, scratched arm and all", yet that won't change the outcome. The Knights are picking up momentum and will win this one easily
Carolina and Dallas, " Poor scheduling committee, didn't have a clue" Carolina has run completely out of magic dust and the Destiny are trying to get out of the rear view mirror in the West playoff race. Dallas will win, by the minimum, but will win
Wednesday night has only in division matches for each side on Wednesday
Boston and Queens. His head turned for an instant as a could blocked the sunlight for a moment. Boston would be the obvious pick, obvious to those who didn't observe. The Blitz know they have a big match next week and could be looking ahead, not really very likely as the Boston players seemed to focus on their immediate surrounding quite well. No, there are 2 factors to consider. Queens took a hard loss last week where a tie seemed almost certain, this is the point where they need to make some advances in the standings. Combine that with the most recent trend, Red Sox swept in playoffs and Patriots defeated by some oversized ponies, and you have the makings of a surprise result. I can't pick Queens to win because that would have too dramatic an effect on next weeks predictions (how many of us think Boston would lose 2 in a row?). Tie
The Knockouts face the Kingfishers. Baltimore isn't fielding there best team, so their chances go way down. The Knockouts get back on track.
Chicago is kind of like the little train that can't. Their lineup jumps around too much. The Tempo have their GM's on hand and will win easily. Board 3 will be the focus for much of this match as Bick and Young are possibly the 2 best board 3's . "That is another change" he thought, "Arun is back?"
Sf and Arizona face off. The Mechanics have a problem, a simple big problem. They have too many GM's! Anytime that the Mechanics have Donaldson on 2nd board it means that a bunch of their GM's are busy. Arizona has a problem, they don't have Ramirez playing this week. The obvious thought would be that the Mechanics still have more talent, but the Scorpions are coming off their win over the Knockouts. Teams that have problems are usually lucky to tie, so I think both teams will be lucky this week.
"Finally, the Seattle match" he peers at the names while his mind races to the donut dish. He nodded as he noticed Nakamura would have white and possibly a little bit to play for, considering what happened between these teams in last years playoffs. Sinanan on 4 has been pretty close to a rock. "That has been a real surprise" he sipped some coffee. "Milat is making his appearance for the season, very clever!" Weighing things up a strange feeling came to him. " Miami often has young underrated players on the lower boards, but Marcel is very solid and Josh is playing well. Seattle has the advantage there" another chocolate donut, " Nakamura is not likely to base anything on payback, but is the better player and trying to get past Slava is like trying to climb over a brown bear" his fingers felt a bit numb. Quickly he jumped to the season schedule. "All the matches are tough, pretty even league. Still, if the Sluggers get past this match the rest of the division will be racing with one leg tied behind their backs". How could he do it? This was sure to be a hard match, but logic was in charge. "Logic, the thinking man's way of explaining the obvious!" he whispered. Yes, it was time. "Seattle will win this match, probably 3-1, but a simple win will be enough". There, he had said it. No way to go back now. It was certainly quite a change from the week before, predicting a Seattle victory, but it was only a change in perseption. Gods be damned, it was the right prediction and he knew it. Still, the chocolate didn't taste right...
All the best to whoever reads this, to GM Joel Benjamin who has proven that the best players do read the blogs (sort of), to all the guys in the Omega Theta Pi house, Dean Wormer and of course to "mom" in 429.
New York versus Philadelphia looks pretty easy. "Of course I will root for the Inventors first board, I remember him as a fine lad in Alaska, scratched arm and all", yet that won't change the outcome. The Knights are picking up momentum and will win this one easily
Carolina and Dallas, " Poor scheduling committee, didn't have a clue" Carolina has run completely out of magic dust and the Destiny are trying to get out of the rear view mirror in the West playoff race. Dallas will win, by the minimum, but will win
Wednesday night has only in division matches for each side on Wednesday
Boston and Queens. His head turned for an instant as a could blocked the sunlight for a moment. Boston would be the obvious pick, obvious to those who didn't observe. The Blitz know they have a big match next week and could be looking ahead, not really very likely as the Boston players seemed to focus on their immediate surrounding quite well. No, there are 2 factors to consider. Queens took a hard loss last week where a tie seemed almost certain, this is the point where they need to make some advances in the standings. Combine that with the most recent trend, Red Sox swept in playoffs and Patriots defeated by some oversized ponies, and you have the makings of a surprise result. I can't pick Queens to win because that would have too dramatic an effect on next weeks predictions (how many of us think Boston would lose 2 in a row?). Tie
The Knockouts face the Kingfishers. Baltimore isn't fielding there best team, so their chances go way down. The Knockouts get back on track.
Chicago is kind of like the little train that can't. Their lineup jumps around too much. The Tempo have their GM's on hand and will win easily. Board 3 will be the focus for much of this match as Bick and Young are possibly the 2 best board 3's . "That is another change" he thought, "Arun is back?"
Sf and Arizona face off. The Mechanics have a problem, a simple big problem. They have too many GM's! Anytime that the Mechanics have Donaldson on 2nd board it means that a bunch of their GM's are busy. Arizona has a problem, they don't have Ramirez playing this week. The obvious thought would be that the Mechanics still have more talent, but the Scorpions are coming off their win over the Knockouts. Teams that have problems are usually lucky to tie, so I think both teams will be lucky this week.
"Finally, the Seattle match" he peers at the names while his mind races to the donut dish. He nodded as he noticed Nakamura would have white and possibly a little bit to play for, considering what happened between these teams in last years playoffs. Sinanan on 4 has been pretty close to a rock. "That has been a real surprise" he sipped some coffee. "Milat is making his appearance for the season, very clever!" Weighing things up a strange feeling came to him. " Miami often has young underrated players on the lower boards, but Marcel is very solid and Josh is playing well. Seattle has the advantage there" another chocolate donut, " Nakamura is not likely to base anything on payback, but is the better player and trying to get past Slava is like trying to climb over a brown bear" his fingers felt a bit numb. Quickly he jumped to the season schedule. "All the matches are tough, pretty even league. Still, if the Sluggers get past this match the rest of the division will be racing with one leg tied behind their backs". How could he do it? This was sure to be a hard match, but logic was in charge. "Logic, the thinking man's way of explaining the obvious!" he whispered. Yes, it was time. "Seattle will win this match, probably 3-1, but a simple win will be enough". There, he had said it. No way to go back now. It was certainly quite a change from the week before, predicting a Seattle victory, but it was only a change in perseption. Gods be damned, it was the right prediction and he knew it. Still, the chocolate didn't taste right...
All the best to whoever reads this, to GM Joel Benjamin who has proven that the best players do read the blogs (sort of), to all the guys in the Omega Theta Pi house, Dean Wormer and of course to "mom" in 429.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Too Old to Rock n' Roll, Too Young to Die!
He fumbled slightly as another piece of wood went onto the fire. Early morning was like that for him. He didn't have trouble waking up, his eyes seemed to open at the same time no matter what season it was, but getting up had become a chore. It was age. Bad pawns, bad bishops, bad pairings and age, the tormenters of chess players. "They follow us to the end" he thought. On to the task at hand, a summary of the previous evenings escapades.
" I arrived after only a couple of moves, Serper had played the French again, Lee was well into a Panno Kings Indian, a surprising choice of Semi Tarrasch QGD on board 4 and Slava had started with Nf3 and g3." He was working to find the correct words. "Checking back a few moments later, I found that Josh had played the e4 line of the Semi-Tarrasch, good! That line has been good for White since the Botvinnik - Petrosian match". He stopped for a moment, gazing out the window at the darkness. All the games seemed so hopeful, his prediction might have been born of fright. "After my salad I checked again. Serper's game looked ok, but playing g6 seeemed very provocative. Sinanan was surely aware that pushing d5 and then e5 as a temporary pawn sac was an accepted lever in that line and Slava had finally pushed up the c-pawn to the 4th rank. This all seemed well, only the board 3 game was a question. Lee had given up the white square bishop to establish a Nd4 and Zaremba was building the Q-side advance. I hope that Michael has the feel for proper timing, I seem to remember that Black should try to time the f5 break so that Nf6 arrived to support a d5 push. I just hope..." He poured some coffee and wondered how much more chess there was in him. It had been a long time. His prediction wasn't based on a simple whimsy of "pick against the team to win", it had been based on those years of playing, the catastrophe's he had been witness to or victim of. He had some notes, now where had he left them. "Dinner finished and I was back again. Serper's game had changed drastically, all the minors were off and only a queen plus rook each. Serper had a passer on the d-file which combined very well with White's k-side weakness looked very promising. This was more than countered on the bottom boards. Josh looked to have waited too long and Black had what appeared to be good play on the Q-side. Worse yet, Lee had mis judged the position by ignoring the f5 break and playing a5 instead. All the white squares were now a problem for Michael. Slava had been presented with a small opportunity based on the black knight on d7 guarding a Nf6 and a Bc5, This looked quite promising, but possibly not enough." Remembering his thoughts at the time, he considered. "That seemed the lowest point and it felt like I had seen this match from the Sluggers before." Anyone who thought he didn't pick the Sluggers to win hadn't read any of his work from previous years. "My next check in made me think of a whirlpool. The board 1 game seemed well in control and Serper only needed to avoid a perpetual, but Lee had lost. Too bad, games like that are hard for King's Indian fans. Sinanan's game had turned around totally as he had the c-file, a more active king and a passer on d6! On board 2 something crazy had happened as Slava was one pawn down and looked to lose another on c5. It happens so often, some milk turns to cream and some turns sour." Another cup of coffee was needed, also a donut. "I watched Serper wrap up his game very neatly and began to watch board 4. As Josh got closer to victory I knew that my prediction had been accurate. Actually, it was quite good that way. Dallas had won, Miami and SF had tied as I thought. Boston was victorious, but eveyone picked that one. As soon as Katz resigned I started to put together some things about the match and realized I had left detail unattended. Slava's game wasn't finished, so I quickly went to it. What was this! Bishops of opposite color and all pawns on the same side of the board! Incredible! It almost seemed impossible, yet there it was. Seattle had won the match!" Writing the words he knew that some would question him yet again for failing to pick Seattle for victory. "The fools, did they not see how close the Pioneers were to victory? Simple play on board 1, a little more iniitiative on board 4, perhaps a bit better technique on 2? How would that have played in the blogs? No, I feel fine about my prediction. If my credibility is the price to pay, then so be it!" He peered out the window again. The darkness had given way to fog. A slight smile came to him. "Happy for victory? Of course, but results come and go. There will be other results to be concerned about. Satisfaction in picking 3 matches correctly, hardly. I cannot mimic the Oracle of Delphi and feel lucky to get any right. I smile because my friend Mulfish had forseen events accurately. Plus, I seem to have a couple of readers... what more can I hope for?"
With all things in place he begins to lay down the words, wondering again how much chess there was left...
" I arrived after only a couple of moves, Serper had played the French again, Lee was well into a Panno Kings Indian, a surprising choice of Semi Tarrasch QGD on board 4 and Slava had started with Nf3 and g3." He was working to find the correct words. "Checking back a few moments later, I found that Josh had played the e4 line of the Semi-Tarrasch, good! That line has been good for White since the Botvinnik - Petrosian match". He stopped for a moment, gazing out the window at the darkness. All the games seemed so hopeful, his prediction might have been born of fright. "After my salad I checked again. Serper's game looked ok, but playing g6 seeemed very provocative. Sinanan was surely aware that pushing d5 and then e5 as a temporary pawn sac was an accepted lever in that line and Slava had finally pushed up the c-pawn to the 4th rank. This all seemed well, only the board 3 game was a question. Lee had given up the white square bishop to establish a Nd4 and Zaremba was building the Q-side advance. I hope that Michael has the feel for proper timing, I seem to remember that Black should try to time the f5 break so that Nf6 arrived to support a d5 push. I just hope..." He poured some coffee and wondered how much more chess there was in him. It had been a long time. His prediction wasn't based on a simple whimsy of "pick against the team to win", it had been based on those years of playing, the catastrophe's he had been witness to or victim of. He had some notes, now where had he left them. "Dinner finished and I was back again. Serper's game had changed drastically, all the minors were off and only a queen plus rook each. Serper had a passer on the d-file which combined very well with White's k-side weakness looked very promising. This was more than countered on the bottom boards. Josh looked to have waited too long and Black had what appeared to be good play on the Q-side. Worse yet, Lee had mis judged the position by ignoring the f5 break and playing a5 instead. All the white squares were now a problem for Michael. Slava had been presented with a small opportunity based on the black knight on d7 guarding a Nf6 and a Bc5, This looked quite promising, but possibly not enough." Remembering his thoughts at the time, he considered. "That seemed the lowest point and it felt like I had seen this match from the Sluggers before." Anyone who thought he didn't pick the Sluggers to win hadn't read any of his work from previous years. "My next check in made me think of a whirlpool. The board 1 game seemed well in control and Serper only needed to avoid a perpetual, but Lee had lost. Too bad, games like that are hard for King's Indian fans. Sinanan's game had turned around totally as he had the c-file, a more active king and a passer on d6! On board 2 something crazy had happened as Slava was one pawn down and looked to lose another on c5. It happens so often, some milk turns to cream and some turns sour." Another cup of coffee was needed, also a donut. "I watched Serper wrap up his game very neatly and began to watch board 4. As Josh got closer to victory I knew that my prediction had been accurate. Actually, it was quite good that way. Dallas had won, Miami and SF had tied as I thought. Boston was victorious, but eveyone picked that one. As soon as Katz resigned I started to put together some things about the match and realized I had left detail unattended. Slava's game wasn't finished, so I quickly went to it. What was this! Bishops of opposite color and all pawns on the same side of the board! Incredible! It almost seemed impossible, yet there it was. Seattle had won the match!" Writing the words he knew that some would question him yet again for failing to pick Seattle for victory. "The fools, did they not see how close the Pioneers were to victory? Simple play on board 1, a little more iniitiative on board 4, perhaps a bit better technique on 2? How would that have played in the blogs? No, I feel fine about my prediction. If my credibility is the price to pay, then so be it!" He peered out the window again. The darkness had given way to fog. A slight smile came to him. "Happy for victory? Of course, but results come and go. There will be other results to be concerned about. Satisfaction in picking 3 matches correctly, hardly. I cannot mimic the Oracle of Delphi and feel lucky to get any right. I smile because my friend Mulfish had forseen events accurately. Plus, I seem to have a couple of readers... what more can I hope for?"
With all things in place he begins to lay down the words, wondering again how much chess there was left...
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
SIGNS
As he presses the start button he hears the door behind him close. He thinks “what kind of nonsense today?” Checking the blog, no comments and so he types in the USCL home page. With no one else awake he will be left undisturbed to read the other blogs and discern their mistakes. His thoughts as his only companion he begins. “Ah, the Commish has pointed out my ranting again” this causes him to feel a bit of pride and his back straightens in the chair. He reads further. “Oh my, the Wavemaster has written this weeks predictions. He surely has Boston and the Mechanics, I wonder who else” As his eyes pass over the words a spark tingles deep in him, near his feet. A sensation that something is near, yet unapparent. “What?” he whispers. “The Wavemaster has mentioned me in his predictions?” His thoughts raced as if chasing cheeseballs with legs. “A mere comment from the Wavemaster is as sweet as praise from Jupiter himself” he thought. Just as quickly his mood returned to the standard flatline of daily life. “… never picks his own team, Seattle, to win!” This was certainly not praise of any form and he knew it. “The fool” his words spattered from his lips “the proof is right in front of him and he dismisses it like so much lint.” Yes, it was true. GM Benjamin had commented that picking your own team was bad luck and how could the Wavemaster question such thinking. “Not to accept a superstition is one thing, to openly question it is certainly bad luck” Now he knew, there was no way back. “He passes it off on me, trying so cleverly to get me to blindly pick the Sluggers, the fool” Considering the situation he turned his mind to the superstition. How could Wavemaster appreciate it? He didn’t live in the northwest where the rain is so prevelant that the only homes without a “waterview” are those that are also windowless. How could Wavemaster understand. “Well” he thought “unlucky for him, he picked New Jersey and his Scorpions won the match. That will come back to haunt him. Hah!” There was a satisfaction in knowing that Wavemaster would be gratified with a single match victory, while the gods would certainly be appeased later with larger gain. “Time to move on, there are matches on Wednesday to consider. Who wins?” He clicked over to the lineup sheet to review the matchups for Wednesday. Carolina against Boston appears to him a sure mismatch, though the Cobras would like nothing more from their season than to bite the Blitz, without a heroic effort from 2 of Carolina’s players it surely won’t happen this week. How about Tennessee and Dallas? Easiest would be to pick the Tempo with 2 GM’s, but Dallas has the advantage on the bottom 2 boards. The complexities melted away from him as his mind approached the problem more distinctly. Yes, on the bottom two boards Dallas is better and it is likely that one of the IM’s on the top 2 will play a game like no other. Everyone else will either pick the Tempo or just conclude a tie based on each side having 2 good boards, I will do what Warren Buffet would do , go contrarian and pick Dallas! The next match for review was San Francisco and Miami. His eyes focused on the lineup “Ah, the Mechanics have let the Wolff out of the bag!” This was certainly a ploy to garner positive predictions. Miami was commonly under estimated by some, but they did rely on their first board. This could be too much for the Sharks to overcome, yet it might not be enough to guarantee the Mechanics a victory. That was it, he knew it in his feet. A tie was the sure result! Finally, he had come to the Queens versus Seattle lineups. The names danced in front of his eyes as he tried to weigh the pros and cons. Checking rating differences, the boards where Seattle had black were much closer than the white boards. Each team had a certain rating advantage on one of the even numbered boards. “If the boards with black are about equal and the boards with white tilt one for each team the result looks even?” he wondered. Still, Slava on second board was quite possibly the most under appreciated player in the league and sould easily tilt the match toward Seattle. No, that thought was countered easily by wondering if Sinanan would lose that bit of magic he had recently been privy to? This is Seattle after all, a place where the qualitative properties of apples and oranges give way to the differences between toxic mushrooms and poisonous toadstools. Seattle, where weather forecasts have “showers, giving way to rain”. Seattle, the only city in America that could lose its basketball team to… Oklahoma City! “No!” his fist slammed the counter. “No, something will go wrong. This match is no more than a tie at best!” He sipped his coffee slowly, 3 day old Folgers was certainly not as good as Starbucks, but also much less expensive. With his predictions in order he once again reviews the lineups to make sure there hadn’t been a late lineup change sent in just to cause his failure. “The fool” he thought, “no way back!” He set down his cup and placed his fingers on the keyboard and began to type…
Submitted with admiration to the memory of the late Victor Mollo and respect to Dean Wormer, Wavemaster, all 9 of my readers and anyone else who happens to stumble onto this by accident.
Ttyl and have a nice day
Submitted with admiration to the memory of the late Victor Mollo and respect to Dean Wormer, Wavemaster, all 9 of my readers and anyone else who happens to stumble onto this by accident.
Ttyl and have a nice day
Sunday, October 4, 2009
VOODOO CHILD
Hey Sluggers fans... and anyone else with the intellectual acumen to read this blog. I have several topics to discuss, so right to it.
First off, the Monday night matches. New York versus Baltimore looks like a match for bragging rights... to third place in the East. Some might call it an "East Coast Pillow Fight", but not me! (Eddie made me write that). The Knights are getitng their bag in order, while Baltimore can't seem to find a track. I like the Knights. Philadelphia is an obvious favorite over Chicago and I don't see any reason to go against that. Arizona gets a crack at the top team in the league, the Knockouts. This is a match that I think both teams will be a little surprised by the other's actual strength. New Jersey has been having a great season by finding ways to win close matches, I give them the nod.
The back half of the season promises to have some really fun matches. We all know that Oct. 19 is when New Jersey squares off with Boston, but don't miss this Wednesday's rematch of Miami and San Francisco. Miami has a good match the following week with Seattle and in the final week we have Boston against New York. There are sure to be plenty of thrills and spills as almost every match will have some playoff bearing and could be critical to the final standings.
A big shout out to GM Benjamin for his midseason report which is quite entertaining. I would hope that he is planning another piece with a few more teams, but mostly I think that I can read between the lines in his writing and have an answer for him. NO, the league will not allow a panel of 3 French judges to score the game of the week contest!
Lastly, a big "Hi" to Ilya. He seems to be a great guy and about once a year he sheds a bit of light into his thought process. First off, Ilya says he doesn't know "who is HA81" and then proclaims that I am not a player. I will confirm that I am not a participant in the play, but still that logic is poor. Next, he "doesn't know what ha81 stands for". Ok, sit on the Black side of a chess board, look at the file furthest to your left - the 'H' file, next to the file furthest to the right - 'A' file- and now look at the closest and furthest ranks - 8 and 1. I think that explains it all! Now, he comments that he wasn't talking to me. Uh, whose blog are you responding to Ilya? Then, as if to wouhd my pride he states that no more than 5 or 10 people read my "idiotic and honestly quite boring blog"! Oh Death, where is thy sting? Ilya, stick on topic. You didn't like the power rankings, but didn't offer any alternatives! Here it is Ilya, when you talk you are representing the fine folk of Boston and giving "imbeciles" like me both the ammunition and opportunity to crack jokes on you. As for my readership, I woud be happy with 5 to 10, as long as they were reading to find a bit of entertainment. If my stuff is so boring Ilya, please do not read it. I will be ok with 4 to 9 readers as long as you are not one of them. You are a fine 4th board in the league, but don't quit your day job!
Word to "Wavemaster"... I was only defending myself, no negative thoughts intended. We are all friends here, just that some are "more friends" than others.
ttyl and have a nice day
First off, the Monday night matches. New York versus Baltimore looks like a match for bragging rights... to third place in the East. Some might call it an "East Coast Pillow Fight", but not me! (Eddie made me write that). The Knights are getitng their bag in order, while Baltimore can't seem to find a track. I like the Knights. Philadelphia is an obvious favorite over Chicago and I don't see any reason to go against that. Arizona gets a crack at the top team in the league, the Knockouts. This is a match that I think both teams will be a little surprised by the other's actual strength. New Jersey has been having a great season by finding ways to win close matches, I give them the nod.
The back half of the season promises to have some really fun matches. We all know that Oct. 19 is when New Jersey squares off with Boston, but don't miss this Wednesday's rematch of Miami and San Francisco. Miami has a good match the following week with Seattle and in the final week we have Boston against New York. There are sure to be plenty of thrills and spills as almost every match will have some playoff bearing and could be critical to the final standings.
A big shout out to GM Benjamin for his midseason report which is quite entertaining. I would hope that he is planning another piece with a few more teams, but mostly I think that I can read between the lines in his writing and have an answer for him. NO, the league will not allow a panel of 3 French judges to score the game of the week contest!
Lastly, a big "Hi" to Ilya. He seems to be a great guy and about once a year he sheds a bit of light into his thought process. First off, Ilya says he doesn't know "who is HA81" and then proclaims that I am not a player. I will confirm that I am not a participant in the play, but still that logic is poor. Next, he "doesn't know what ha81 stands for". Ok, sit on the Black side of a chess board, look at the file furthest to your left - the 'H' file, next to the file furthest to the right - 'A' file- and now look at the closest and furthest ranks - 8 and 1. I think that explains it all! Now, he comments that he wasn't talking to me. Uh, whose blog are you responding to Ilya? Then, as if to wouhd my pride he states that no more than 5 or 10 people read my "idiotic and honestly quite boring blog"! Oh Death, where is thy sting? Ilya, stick on topic. You didn't like the power rankings, but didn't offer any alternatives! Here it is Ilya, when you talk you are representing the fine folk of Boston and giving "imbeciles" like me both the ammunition and opportunity to crack jokes on you. As for my readership, I woud be happy with 5 to 10, as long as they were reading to find a bit of entertainment. If my stuff is so boring Ilya, please do not read it. I will be ok with 4 to 9 readers as long as you are not one of them. You are a fine 4th board in the league, but don't quit your day job!
Word to "Wavemaster"... I was only defending myself, no negative thoughts intended. We are all friends here, just that some are "more friends" than others.
ttyl and have a nice day
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Black is Black
Hi Sluggers fans, I have the week 5 wrapup of the Sluggers match with Tennessee. Before we get started I need to ask Dean Wormer... er I mean the Commish to notify the local transit folks about the USCL schedule so that our bus drivers know that it is ok to excede the posted speed limit on Wednesday nights during the season. I was a couple of hours late for the start of the match because of this and want to apologize to anyone trying to find the start on Twitter. To the match...
My previous post explained why this was going to be a difficult match for the Sluggers, so no need to rehash. Just watch the details, like my dad told me "the devil is in the details".
Bd. 1 Seattle's lone GM Serper played the White side of the Nimzo Indian defense versus GM Ehlvest. A pretty book type line with 12... g6 being new. A small exchange of barbs occured with white's d4 going in exchange for Black's g6 and the GM's went to a perpetual. After the exchange on e6 at move 15 Black is looking to get Qh4 in, so White just played safe. I arrived only for the final half dozen or so moves of this game.
Bd. 4 This was finished when I arrived. An old g3 line against the Taimanov Sicilian. It looked like Justice was much better prepared than Sinanan as White gained quite an easy advantage. The reason I won't comment on preparation is that the White moves are not too difficult and could have just been OTB inspiration. Anyway, from a distance I think White could have made life quite a lot easier at move 18 by playing 18. Bxd7 Bxd7 19. Ne4 Qc6 20. Nf6+ Kh8 21. Nxd7 and it looks like Black is still going down the ex, but White will have a lot fewer issues later on. In the game Sinanan was able to drum up quite a good initiative for the ex and turned it into a point.
Now we come to the games that I saw a fair amount of
Bd. 3 A slightly offbeat opening choice saw Black's dark square bishop end up on c3 and it would draw a lot of attention. The only place I might question the opening is at move 10 where White might have better than Re1. As the game went, the sector in the square d4/a4/a1/d1 became kind of a sinkhole. Some adventurous play by both sides ended with White a full rook down, but trapping Black's queen. The price would be the other rook, so Rohonyan played to make the best effect of it. Unfortunately she become a bit too embroiled in improving things that she allowed Bick to save the queen. Some off hand attempts followed, but Black eventually picked up the point.
Bd. 2 With a GM facing an FM this appeared to be the most favorable board for the Tempo. A Rauzer Sicilian was played and followed several games up to the 18th move. Shabalov is known to work quite a bit on his openings, so there is no way of knowing where his prep ended. Playing to get the Black king in the center Shabalov sac'd the exchange on f5. As the game progressed it appeared that any initiative gained from the sac was short lived as Slava took control. With both sides short of time Black just wedged forward and was able to pick up the full point! A most unexpected result.
There you go, the details. In my prediction I did pick a draw on first board and suggested that a point for Tennessee on second wasn't a given, I didn't see how close Seattle would be to losing on 4th board nor the insanity that would appear on 3rd. Details, I tell you details. What I really didn't see was White scoring 1/2 point out of the match! Normally a 3 1/2 out of 4 performace would be something unusual, but Seattle had a 3 1/2 match for Black versus Arizona and this rounds Philly - Queens match went them one better with a 4-0 shutout for Black!
So, until me next slow moment ... have a nice day and ttyl
My previous post explained why this was going to be a difficult match for the Sluggers, so no need to rehash. Just watch the details, like my dad told me "the devil is in the details".
Bd. 1 Seattle's lone GM Serper played the White side of the Nimzo Indian defense versus GM Ehlvest. A pretty book type line with 12... g6 being new. A small exchange of barbs occured with white's d4 going in exchange for Black's g6 and the GM's went to a perpetual. After the exchange on e6 at move 15 Black is looking to get Qh4 in, so White just played safe. I arrived only for the final half dozen or so moves of this game.
Bd. 4 This was finished when I arrived. An old g3 line against the Taimanov Sicilian. It looked like Justice was much better prepared than Sinanan as White gained quite an easy advantage. The reason I won't comment on preparation is that the White moves are not too difficult and could have just been OTB inspiration. Anyway, from a distance I think White could have made life quite a lot easier at move 18 by playing 18. Bxd7 Bxd7 19. Ne4 Qc6 20. Nf6+ Kh8 21. Nxd7 and it looks like Black is still going down the ex, but White will have a lot fewer issues later on. In the game Sinanan was able to drum up quite a good initiative for the ex and turned it into a point.
Now we come to the games that I saw a fair amount of
Bd. 3 A slightly offbeat opening choice saw Black's dark square bishop end up on c3 and it would draw a lot of attention. The only place I might question the opening is at move 10 where White might have better than Re1. As the game went, the sector in the square d4/a4/a1/d1 became kind of a sinkhole. Some adventurous play by both sides ended with White a full rook down, but trapping Black's queen. The price would be the other rook, so Rohonyan played to make the best effect of it. Unfortunately she become a bit too embroiled in improving things that she allowed Bick to save the queen. Some off hand attempts followed, but Black eventually picked up the point.
Bd. 2 With a GM facing an FM this appeared to be the most favorable board for the Tempo. A Rauzer Sicilian was played and followed several games up to the 18th move. Shabalov is known to work quite a bit on his openings, so there is no way of knowing where his prep ended. Playing to get the Black king in the center Shabalov sac'd the exchange on f5. As the game progressed it appeared that any initiative gained from the sac was short lived as Slava took control. With both sides short of time Black just wedged forward and was able to pick up the full point! A most unexpected result.
There you go, the details. In my prediction I did pick a draw on first board and suggested that a point for Tennessee on second wasn't a given, I didn't see how close Seattle would be to losing on 4th board nor the insanity that would appear on 3rd. Details, I tell you details. What I really didn't see was White scoring 1/2 point out of the match! Normally a 3 1/2 out of 4 performace would be something unusual, but Seattle had a 3 1/2 match for Black versus Arizona and this rounds Philly - Queens match went them one better with a 4-0 shutout for Black!
So, until me next slow moment ... have a nice day and ttyl
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