You Got That Right

"I like to drink and dance all night,

comes to a fix not afraid to fight,

you got that right,

Said you got that right

Sure got that right"



For the first time in their short history the Seattle Sluggers have won the Western Division regular season crown. Last night they scrapped out a 2-2 tie with Chicago in a very convoluted match. The title had actually fallen into the Sluggers hands earlier as San Francisco's 2-2 result with Dallas as well as Arizona's surprise 3-1 loss to Miami had finished before the end of the Sluggers' games. Let's try to pin down what happened in the Sluggers games last night.

Serper - van de Mortel started out 1.c4 Nf6 and worked itself into a Botvinnik English with c5. Black played to control d4 and Serper tried something a bit new with a quick Bg5. After some tussling over the d4 square and Black putting up e6 and f5, White could claim the advantage because of better rook coordination and a b6 pawn that was under observation. After a couple of minor tactical skirmishes from which Serper won a pawn he settled for a rook on the seventh and f/g/h pawns versus an h6 pawn and a passer on the b file that had the black rook in front of it. A small bit of technique brought the point to Serper.
Felecan vs. Mikhailuk saw Slava facing the Rossolimo line with an early Bxc6. Once again Slava built a solid formation, but spent a lot of clock in doing it. White advancing h4 must seems to have upset Slava as 26... Rg7 turned out to be almost an immediate loser. Possibly Slava should have sought to sit tight, make a few quick moves to get some time back and work from there, but alas he didn't.
Milat - Pasalic saw a line of the Paulsen that was popular in the 60's, so I am not sure if Marcel had something prepared or was just going with a hunch. By move 20 the game had turned into an ending with White having 4 pawn islands to 2 for Black, but White's c-pawn was a passer. Pasalic appears to have relied on the "simplicity" of the position too much and allowed Marcel to activate a rook on the seventh and then allow White's otherwise piteous Bd3 to jump to c4 and become a monster. Black then lost the a pawn and in an effort to mix things up missed a pin that won a piece. Nice work by Marcel
The Rosen - Sinanan matchup on board 4 is one that I am sure most of us can relate to. Rosen played for an K-side rollup right out of the opening, but was too mechanical about it. Josh played nice simple moves to get equality, then a superiority in the center. After 18...f5 White's forces appear to be stumbling around trying to find each other. The game then turned into a spitting contest, White on the a1-h8 line and Black down a8-h1. This was simply winning for Black because the only defense White could offer on the white diagonal was with pieces covering squares whereas Black had a heavily defended pawn on g7 to limit operations on the black line. Josh further increased his advantage with the second very good move he played 29... Rd4. After that White's Bb2 is completely blotted out and whatever White's 2 rooks might be worth is more than offset by the activity on the long white line. At this point Josh had 18 minutes and Rosen less than 3. Move 31 Josh missed an easy crusher with 31...Rxf4 which plays on the overwork of White's Rf2, this is the cleanest line as White can't even try Kf1 to escape. Later Josh missed another easy try when he played 36...c4, where I think that 36...b5 threatening c4 seems much better. I say this for a couple of reasons: after b5/c4 Black will have Bc5 coming and White's attempt to block with d4 is taken e.p., second is that 36...c4 37.bxc4 Qxc4 removed the Black Q from the long diagonal and allowed White to get his pieces moving, and lastly White is very short of time and looking for any easy moves which immediately include simple captures like 37.bxc4. The final blow followed in an almost logical manner, Rosen took the f5 pawn and pressured g7 to which Josh responded by taking the f4 pawn, instead playing Bc5 will dramatically limit White's play and a line such as 38. Nxf5 Bc5 39. d4 Qd5 40. Ng3 Bd6 will see material equality restored, but with White back in the box on that long diagonal. At move 39 Josh correctly avoided 39. Qe6 Qxe6 40.Rxe6 Bd7 41.Bxg7+ Rxg7+ 42. Nxg7 but the damage was done and all Rosen had to do was avoid losing on time. So, a tie match.

Congratulations are due to the Sluggers players and manager. They found a way to win 6 matches, tie 3 and lose only 1. At the start of the season Seattle was one of the teams in the West with chances to win in the regular season primarily because the Sluggers could field 2 GM's. The uncertaintity with the Sluggers was consistency on the other boards, but each of the players has responded by winning or drawing crucial games. This is not a team of 2 GM's, but 4 players all looking to get whatever is necessary to win matches. So, now to the playoffs!

Here is my quick take on the playoffs. In the east New Jersey faces Baltimore and Boston gets New York. New Jersey has been the class of the league from the start and with a chance to field 3 2500 rated players present a formidable challenge. Baltimore is back in the playoffs after a couple of down years and with 2 GM's of their own could pose a real challenge to the Knockouts. Boston is the defending Eastern conference champ and remains a true monster of a team. Twice this season they got shut out, yet won 7 other matches which is only surpassed by Jersey's 8. New York has been a real roller coaster team this season. Still, the Knights have 3 GM's on the roster and it wouldn't surprise many if they got on a roll to the finals. New Jersey and Boston are the favorites considering the draw odds, yet I would suggest that if New Jersey doesn't win on second board or Boston on third either result could be a shock.
In the West, Seattle faces Miami while San Francisco will battle Arizona. The Scorpions have the toughest road as playoff newbies. A disturbing sign is that after defeating Seattle in week 9 the Scorpions were firmly in second and talking about chances at first if Chicago could pull off an upset, yet at the end they find themselves in third. My feeling is that Arizona will regret losing the draw odds to the Mechanics, but having beaten both of the division regular season winners Arizona is full of surprises. Seattle and Miami is a rematch of last years first round match, but with roles reversed. The Sluggers would do well to consider the model of Dallas: take no undue chances, look to get a win on one board and then work to force the other team to beat you. This might be the exact perfect model for the Sluggers, especially with Nakamura playing.
Ok, that's all for now. There should be a special post later this week. Thanks to all the readers and anyone who follows on Twitter. ttyl and have a nice day

Low Spark of High Heeled Boys

Week 10 is upon us as it always does, but this time there is much less noise in the background. Out of 8 playoff spots we know 7 of the teams for certain and the 8th only needs to avoid tripping up. So, you say to yourself, why should we watch the matches for round 10 if things are already determined? Well, 2 reasons. The positioning of teams in the western division is uncertain. The second reason is that the teams that are out of the playoffs will most certainly have something to say about the playoff setup and be sure that those teams would love nothing more than to be involved by beating a contender. The cross conference matchup is Tennessee and Baltimore. The Kingfishers are on the verge of the 4th playoff spot in the East, while the Tempo have seen the ground slide beneath them. Baltimore looks like they are coming with a playoff ready lineup and should be the favorites. Tennessee can cause trouble if they get points from the middle 2 boards. New Jersey faces Queens. It seems that the Pioneers should be a power in the East, but have been under a cloud since a round 1 fingerfehler cost them a match with Boston. New Jersey is looking to keep form for the playoffs, while Queens needs some outside help to get in. The Knockouts are likely to be everyones favorite in the match, yet looking at the players it would seem that the only thing NJ has over Queens is confidence. Philadelphia is the team that is hoping for a Tennessee upset as it would increase their chances of getting in. Still, the Inventors have to be aware that they are facing a Carolina team that has found itself in the past few weeks and has nothing to play for other than the upset. Possibly the most interesting match this week is Boston - New York, because they will face each other in the first round of the playoffs. I wonder if the Knights are doing a little bit of lineup swapping to create a bit of doubt. You have to admit, if the Knights win this week what each team will be looking to change for round 1 of the playoffs. Dallas plays San Francisco in what is basically a rivalry match The Destiny are out of the playoffs, but as 2 time defending champ they aren't going to wimper their way out of the season. For the Mechanics there is some chance of better placement for the playoffs and they have opened the wildlife exhibit by have a Wolff and Bhat on the top boards. Miami gets the Scorpions this week as both teams look to sharpen up for the playoffs. Miami will be seeing the Sluggers next and probably looking to find a couple extra teeth for that match. Arizona is in second in the West and wants to win to keep that placement. Last match is the Sluggers and Chicago Blaze.


Seattle is fielding a moderate lineup with Serper, Mikhailuk, Milat and Sinanan. Chicago counters with the 3 IM's van de Mortel, Felecan and Pasalic with Rosen on 4th. Board 1 will be quite interesting as van de Mortel has played above his rating this season and Serper has been very steady. Sinanan looks like a solid favorite on 4th boad, though a similar situation happened last week. To me it looks like the place the match will be decided is in the middle. Slava and Marcel have both shown strength that has surprised some folks. Slava just needs to get comfortable quickly and not fall behind on time, while Marcel is just rounding into playing shape. I don't know what the rules are as far as Marcel's playing in the playoffs, but the other 3 are certain to see action. The Sluggers could fall out of first place with a loss and Arizona win or third if the Mechanics get a blow out. Chicago has played with great spun the whole season and none of the Sluggers or their fans should look beyond that. I like the Sluggers to win the match.


You may have noticed that I didn't pick winners in any of the other matches, reverting to my old form. Just nostalgia I guess. So, I will be posting after the matches.


Thanks this week to Patrick Wolff and Vinay Bhat for being good sports, to all the 3rd board players in the league... they get no respect, to the Commish, Mulfish and all the readers. ttyl and have a nice day

Catch the Wind

Welcome readers to another day in paradise. Just in from raking leaves, it started to drizzle with the cold wind blowing rain from left to right, ah simply a great time to consider how best to express things. Learning my lessons in these conditions were instrumental in winning championships in two states. Yeah, I kind of know how the pieces move, though certainly not at the level of a titled player. Ah, but those are matters for the dim light of the past, we are in the here and now. Yeah, now, now I would like to thank Marcel Milat for posting on the Sluggers blog, though I fear my vision may have suffered a bit. It seems that all the other active sites for USCL have multiple bloggers, while I am the lone voice from the Northwest. One thing Marcel, no blood test needed. The pharmaceutical industry is big enough without players having blood tests every time they realize there was a better move or a continuation was misevaluated. Again, Thanks. Also, no one has commented on my picture. I had it done special for the Commish, he said it was lame to use the Sluggers logo all the time for my stuff, so I found a picture and sent it to him. Don't you think it shows off all my best features?

Observing the leaves push together likes pieces in a puzzle I was able to deduce the pattern around me. For those who are fresh to my writing or had a vacation, please check out my last post and all the comments. I stress, all the comments. Once you have finished the comments, you will possible understand my predicament. It works out the same all the time, I am nobody and where do I have the nerve to talk about famous people. I didn't want to believe that 2 letters had so much power, but there in the comments it is evident. Ilya makes it clear that having a title means your word is gold and "Anonymous" questions why a titled player would even stoop to respond to me! It's all back again, I am from Seattle, I have the audacity to question the authority of titled players, I am nobody and I rant. Ok, so what's your point?

NOW! Before you tell us what your point it, allow me to clarify mine. At one point in the game Mateer - Sinanan IM Ginsburg made a comment "she should make him pay for turning down the draw" in the game channel on ICC. I made reference to this, that I didn't think it was appropriate and was surprised that this had occured. Some anonymous character and Ilya both replied that it is silly to take such comments seriously on ICC. As much as I would like to agree, it just ain't so. If I make a comment that Ilya is an unschooled lug who doesn't bathe and he replies that he will break my neck, ha ha everyone gets a laugh and we all go quietly with our business. If I say that Ilya should accept a draw from Anonymous because of x y and z, people ignore me because my handle might as well be invisible. But what if someone with an IM next to there handle makes a comment about a player turning down a draw? Do the folks who read that take special note of it? Will aspiring players watching to pick up what they can from the games make a mental note about it? Well, you know Ilya was certainly willing to agree that Mr. Ginsburg having IM next to his name was worth more than my name. Anonymous went further to infer that I didn't have the right to question anyone with IM next to their names. Quite suspicious to me, these are people who supposedly know that on some level we are all equal on ICC. Maybe not playing strength, but at some point we are all players and kibitzers, aren't we? No, we are not. I am despised because I don't have a title. Well, ok then... I guess we know where things stand in that regard.

One more thing about this is how it happened. Josh is playing a game, he isn't even supposed to see kibitzes while he is playing. Comments that are made about moves are like the ether, just there. But when a kibitzer states that a player should suffer a result based on a decision made because of a team situation something has gone amiss. Josh can't defend himself, come out and say " I did this because the team needs a win", because he isn't even supposed to know that the comment was made. This wrankles heavily of 4th grade and talking about the uncoordinated kid behind their back. Mr. Ginsburg makes a point that a half game point is worth more than nothing, but he fails to note that a half a match point would have been worth a great deal more. In much the same way that it was not devulged on ICC at the time that Josh wasn't playing on because he faced a lower rated player or a female, that he played on to help his team. I have no hostility towards Mr. Ginsburg, he just did things as he saw them. Yet, it seems to me that IM Ginsburg would do well to contact Josh Sinanan and explain to Josh what happened and what his motives were. For all I know, Josh is completely unaware of this incident, but do we still talk about the unpopular kids behind their backs?


Ok, I will try to post again before the week 10 matches... I just have so many leaves to rake! Thanks for reading and have a nice day

Slugger wants to submit blood drug test after blown position

Arizona played a good match this week against the sluggers. Naka never really got one of his types of positions (messy), Slava was under pressure in an anti grunfeld that shows how a few of us old timers are getting rusty and Josh while missing his changes to win after white played Kg2 (allowing e3 winning) was probably only deserving of a draw.

Here are some annotations to my game with Robby which has some theoretical value to the overall evaluation of a topical line in the Benko.

Milat,Marcel - Adamson,Robby [A58]

US Chess League, 26.10.2009

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 No Trop this week. Time for something a little sharper 2...c5 3.d5 b5 Robby has an impressive repetoire in the benko. A quick search of games for Robby shows he might be one of the leading theorticians in the Benko. In preparing for the game, you quickly find he plays the benko against d4 and only a few other sidelines. Problem is he plays the benko well. He has had many good positions againt GMs and draws with Elvest and Dlugy etc. 4.cxb5 a6 5.bxa6 g6 6.Nc3 Bxa6 7.g3 d6 8.Bg2 Bg7 9.Nf3 Nbd7 10.Rb1 10 Rb1 has been considered one of the critical lines of the benko since 2001/2002 and has support from the super GM level including Kramnik. [10.0–0 Nb6 Here is a game with Robby in his element against a higher rated opponent. 11.Ne1 Nfd7 12.Nc2 Ne5 13.Ne3 Nbc4 14.Nxc4 Nxc4 15.Qa4+ Qd7 16.Qc2 Qb7 17.a3 0–0 18.b3 Rfb8!! Diagram

XABCDEFGHY
8rtr-+-+k+(
7+q+-zppvlp'
6l+-zp-+p+&
5+-zpP+-+-%
4-+n+-+-+$
3zPPsN-+-zP-#
2-+Q+PzPLzP"
1tR-vL-+RmK-!
xabcdefghy

19.Rb1 (19.bxc4 Qb3 20.Qxb3 Rxb3³) 19...Na5 20.b4 cxb4 21.axb4 Qc7 22.bxa5 Rxb1 23.Qxb1 Qxc3 24.Qe4 Bf6 25.g4 Qc4 26.g5 Qxe4 27.Bxe4 Bc3 28.Bf3 Bc4 29.Bf4 Rxa5 30.Rc1 Ra1 31.Rxa1 ½–½ Kiriakov,P (2565)-Adamson,R (2344)/Minneapolis 2005/CBM 107] 10...Nb6 Diagram

XABCDEFGHY
8r+-wqk+-tr(
7+-+-zppvlp'
6lsn-zp-snp+&
5+-zpP+-+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
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1+RvLQmK-+R!
xabcdefghy

10...Nb6 seems to be currently thought of as the most reliable defence for black. Black had first experimented with Qa5 ideas or 0–0 and Qa5 ideas before returning to Nb6. The idea is to quickly pressure d5 and if white play e4 to support d5 to try to return the bishop to the a6-f1 diagonal where the king might be trapped in the center and where the d3 square will be weakened. 11.b3 Mutipurpose move. In some lines black can play Bc4 and xd5 and b3 helps to let white play Bb2 or suport a4. 11...Bc8! [11...Bb7 12.Nh4 0–0 13.0–0] 12.Nh4! [Bc8 sets up the trap that the natural 0–0 allows Bf5 hitting Rb1 and white can not play e4 and next will be Ne4 for black with a slight edge. 12.0–0? Bf5 13.Rb2 Ne4³; 12.e4 White has tremendous compensation 12...Ba6 ] 12...h6 Both sides are battling for f5 13.Qc2 [13.0–0? g5 14.Nf3 Bf5³] 13...Qd7!? 14.Bb2!? The main branch in modern theory appears here. Some folks propose Bd2 here. This lends support to the c3 night and protects the b4 square which in some lines can have a Nb4 occur for black if he were to win the d pawn. In some cases the bishop also support a b4 pawn break. Of course the negative is that it really does not blunt the Bg7 and is rather passive. [14.Bd2 g5 15.Nf3 Nfxd5 16.Nxd5 Nxd5 17.Nxg5 Bb7 (17...hxg5 18.Bxd5 Bb7 19.Bxb7 Qxb7 20.f3 g4 21.Bc3 Bxc3+ 22.Qxc3 Rh7 23.Rb2 (23.0–0) 23...gxf3 24.exf3 Qb4 25.Qxb4 cxb4 26.h4 f5 27.Kf2) 18.Nf3 Ra3 19.0–0 0–0© 20.e4 Nb4 21.Bxb4 cxb4 22.Qd2 Bxe4] 14...g5 15.Nf3 Bb7!? [this might be a alternative for black. It pretty well forces e4 for white and leads to messy positions. White still might have a pull but they are quite weird positions. 15...Qf5!? 16.e4™ (16.Qd1?! Bb7 17.0–0 Nbxd5 18.Nxd5 Qxd5³) 16...Qg6 17.0–0 0–0 (17...Nfd7 18.Rfe1 Ne5 19.Nxe5 Bxe5 20.Na4 Nd7 21.b4 (21.f4 gxf4 22.gxf4 Bxb2 23.Qxb2 Rg8) 21...Bxb2 22.Rxb2 c4 23.Qxc4 0–0) 18.Rfd1 (18.Qd2 Qh5 (18...Ng4 19.Rfe1 Nd7²) 19.e5 Ng4 20.exd6 exd6 21.Rfe1 Nd7 22.Na4 Bxb2 23.Qxb2± f6 (23...c4 24.h3 Nge5 25.Nxe5 Nxe5 26.Nb6 Rb8 27.g4 Qh4 28.Rxe5 dxe5 29.bxc4 f5 30.c5 fxg4 31.hxg4 Qxg4 32.Re1 Ba6) 24.Qc2) 18...Bg4 19.h3 Bxf3 20.Bxf3± h5 21.a4 g4 22.hxg4 hxg4 23.Bg2 Nfd7 24.Ne2 Bxb2 25.Qxb2 Ne5 26.Nf4 Qg7] 16.Rd1 [16.e4 Ba6 17.h4 g4 18.Nd2 0–0] 16...0–0 [16...c4 17.0–0 0–0 18.e4 cxb3 19.axb3± Ng4 20.Nd4 Ba6 21.Rfe1 (21.Bh3 Bxf1) 21...Ne5 22.Nf5 Rfc8 23.f4 Qa7 24.fxe5 Nxd5+ 25.Kh1 Nxc3 26.Bxc3 Bxe5] 17.0–0 Ra7N [17...Nfxd5 Nd5 might be blacks best but white generally has a slight pull still even in some of the ending that could arise 18.Nxd5 Nxd5 a) 18...Bxd5 19.Bxg7 Kxg7 20.Nxg5 hxg5 21.Bxd5 Nxd5 22.Rxd5 f6 (22...f5 23.Qd2 Kg6 24.e4 Qe6 (24...f4 25.e5 Qh3 26.exd6 e6 27.Rxc5 Rxa2 28.Qd3+ Kh6) 25.exf5+ Rxf5 26.Rxf5 Qxf5 27.Re1 Ra7 28.a4 g4 29.a5 Kf7 30.Qe2 e5 31.a6 Qc8 32.Ra1 Ke7 33.Qb5) 23.f4 Qe6 (23...gxf4 24.Rxf4 Rh8 25.a4 Qh3 26.Rf2 Rab8 27.Qe4 Qd7 28.Qe3 Rb4 29.Rf4 Rhb8 30.Rxb4 Rxb4 31.Rh5 Qb7 32.a5 Rxb3 33.Qh6+ Kf7 34.Qh7+ Ke8 35.Qf5 Kd8 36.Rh8+ Kc7 37.Qe6 Rb1+ 38.Kf2 Rb4 39.Qxe7+ Kc6 40.Qe8+ Qd7 41.Qxd7+ Kxd7 42.a6 Ra4 43.a7) 24.e4 gxf4 25.Rxf4 Rh8; b) 18...Bxd5; 19.Bxg7 (19.Nxg5 hxg5 20.Bxg7 Nb4 (20...Kxg7 21.Bxd5 Bxd5) 21.Qc3 Rfb8 a) 21...Bxg2 22.Bxf8 Rxf8 23.Kxg2; b) 21...Nxa2 22.Qb2 Rfb8 23.Bh6 (23.Bxb7 Rxb7 24.Bh8 f6 25.Bxf6 exf6) 23...f6 24.Qc2 Qe8 25.Bxb7 Rxb7 26.f4 Qh5 b1) 26...g4 27.Qf5 (27.Qe4 Rb4 28.Qf5 Kh8 (28...Nc3 29.Qxg4+ Kf7 30.Rd3 Qg8 31.Qf3 Kg6 32.Rxc3 Kxh6) 29.Rxd6 Qf7 30.Rd7 Qh7 31.Qd5 Rbb8 32.Qh5 Rd8 (32...Nc3 33.Bg7+ Kg8 34.Qxh7+ Kxh7 35.Bxf6 Nxe2+ 36.Kg2 Rxb3 37.Rxe7+ Kg6) 33.Bg7+ Kg8) 27...Kh8 (27...Qf7 28.Rd5) 28.Qxg4 Qg8 29.Qh5 Qh7 (29...Qe8 30.Qf3 Rab8 31.Rd5 (31.Ra1 Kh7) 31...Rxb3 32.Qg4 Qg8) 30.Ra1 Rxb3 31.f5 Rb4 32.Rxa2 Rxa2 33.Qe8+ Qg8 34.Qxe7 Rg4 35.Qxf6+ Kh7 36.Bf4; b2) 26...gxf4 27.Rxf4 Rb4 28.e4 Qg6 29.Rh4 Kf7 30.Be3 Ra3 31.Qd2 Rxe4 32.Qd5+ Re6 33.Bd2 f5 34.Re1; 27.fxg5 Nb4 28.Qe4; 22.Bxb7 Rxb7 (22...Qxb7 23.Bh6 a) 23.a3; b) 23.Bh8 f6 (23...Kf8 24.Qg7+ Ke8 25.Qxg5 f6 26.Qh5+ Kd7 27.Bxf6 exf6 28.Qxc5 d5) 24.Bxf6 exf6 25.Rxd6 (25.Qxf6 d5 26.Qxg5+ (26.e4 Qg7 27.Qe6+) 26...Qg7 27.Qc1) ; 23...f6 24.h4 gxh4 a) 24...Kh7 25.hxg5 Qe4 26.Qc1 (26.a4 Nc6 27.Qd2 Nd4 28.gxf6 Qxe2 29.Qf4 e5 30.Qc1) 26...Nxa2 27.Qd2 fxg5 (27...Rxb3 28.gxf6 Nc3 29.fxe7 Nxe2+ 30.Kh2 Nd4 31.Qf4 Qxe7 32.Rfe1 Qb7 33.Rxd4 Rf3 34.Re7+ Qxe7 35.Qxf3 cxd4 36.Qxa8 Kxh6 37.Qh8+ Kg6 38.Qxd4; 27...Kg6 28.gxf6 exf6 29.Bf4 Rxb3 30.Rfe1; 27...d5) 28.Qxg5 Rg8 29.Qh5 Qg4 (29...Qg6 30.Qh4 Qxh6 31.Qxe7+ Qg7 32.Qxd6 Rge8 33.Qxc5 Nc3 34.Qf5+ Kg8 35.Rd7 Re7 36.Rxe7 Qxe7 37.Qg6+ Kf8 38.Kg2 Qe4+) 30.Qf7+ Kxh6 31.Qxe7 Rg7 32.Rxd6+ Kh7 33.Qe3 Qf5 (33...Rf8 34.Ra1 Nb4 35.Rh6+ Kg8 36.Qxc5 Qf5) ; b) 24...Qe4 25.hxg5 Kh7 26.f3; 25.Qc4+ Kh7 a) 25...e6 26.Qxe6+; b) 25...d5 26.Qxh4 Rxa2 (26...Qd7 27.e4 d4 28.Qh5 Qe8 29.Qg4+ Kf7 30.e5 Qh8 31.e6+ Ke8 32.Qh5+ Kd8 33.Qxc5 Qxh6 34.Rxd4+ Ke8 35.Rh4 Qg7 36.Qf5) 27.Qh5 e5 28.Qg6+ Kh8; 26.Qxh4 Rh8 27.e4 Kg6 (27...Rxa2 28.Kg2 Nc2 29.Rh1 Kg8 30.Qg4+ Kf7 31.Qg7+) ) 23.Bh6 f6 24.f4 g4 a) 24...Rxa2 25.fxg5 Kh7 (25...Qg4 26.gxf6 e5 27.Rxd6 Qxe2 28.f7+ Rxf7 29.Rd8+ Kh7 30.Rxf7+ Kg6 31.Rg7+ Kxh6 32.Qc1+ Kxg7 33.Qg5+) 26.gxf6; b) 24...Nxa2 25.Qc4+ e6 26.fxg5 f5 27.e4 Rb4 28.Qxc5 dxc5 29.Rxd7 Rxe4 30.Ra1 Rd4 31.Rg7+ Kh8 32.Rf7 Kg8 33.g6 e5 34.Rf1 f4 35.Rg7+ Kh8 36.Re7 Kg8 37.gxf4 Nc3 38.Rg7+ Kh8 39.fxe5 Rg4+ 40.Kh1 Ne4 41.Rh7+ Kg8 42.Ra7 Rd8 43.Rg7+ Kh8 44.Rd7 Ra8 45.Rf8+ Rxf8 46.g7+ Kh7 (46...Rxg7 47.Bxg7+ Kg8 48.Bxf8 Kxf8) 47.gxf8Q+; 25.f5 a) 25.a3 Rxa3 26.f5 Qb5 27.Qe3 Qe8 28.Qe4; b) 25.a3 Kh7 26.axb4 Rxb4 (26...Kxh6 27.bxc5 Qc6 28.b4 Rc8 29.Qe3 (29.Rc1 Qe4 30.f5 Rxb4 (30...Qxb4 31.Qe3+ Kh7 32.Rb1 Qxb1 33.Rxb1 Rxb1+ 34.Kf2 Rb7 35.cxd6 exd6 36.Qd4 Rf8 37.Qxg4 Rd7 38.h4 d5 39.e3 Re7 40.Qd1 Re5 41.Qh5+ Kg8 42.Qg6+ Kh8 43.g4 Re4 44.Kf3 Re5 45.g5 fxg5 46.f6 Re7 47.hxg5 Rc7 48.Qf5 Kg8 49.g6 d4 50.Qd5+ Kh8 51.Qe5 Kg8 52.Kg4 (52.f7+) 52...Ra7 53.Qd5+ Kh8 54.Qxd4) ) 29...dxc5 30.f5+ Kh7 31.Rf4 cxb4 32.Qb3 Qc5+ (32...e5 33.fxe6 Re7 34.Rxf6 Qc5+ 35.Kf1 Kg7 36.Rf4 Rf8 37.Rd7 Rxf4+ 38.gxf4 Kf6 39.Rxe7 Kxe7 40.e3) 33.Rdd4) 27.Bg5 fxg5 28.Qc2+ Kg7 (28...Kh8 29.Qg6 Rd4 30.Rxd4 cxd4 31.fxg5) ; 25...Qb5 26.Qe3 Kh7 27.a4 Qe8 28.Rf4 Qg8 29.Re4) 19...Kxg7 20.Nxg5 Nf6 (20...hxg5 21.Bxd5 Rh8 (21...Bxd5 22.Rxd5 f6) 22.e4 f6 23.f3 Ra7 24.Rf2 Rha8 25.a4 Rb8 26.f4 Bxd5 27.exd5 Qg4 28.Re1 Rb4 29.fxg5 Qxg5 30.Rfe2 Kf8 31.Qh7 Rbb7 32.Qd3 Rb4 33.a5 Rd4 34.Qh7 Rg4 35.a6 Qg6 36.Qh8+ Qg8 37.Qh3 Ke8 38.Re6 Kd8 39.Qf1 Rg5 40.Qb5 Kc8 41.Rxd6 Rxg3+ 42.Kh1 Rc7 43.a7 Rxa7 44.Rc6+ 1–0 Gustafsson,J (2513)-Kasparov,S (2458)/Deizisau 2002/CBM 087 ext) 21.Bxb7 (21.Nf3 Be4 22.Qb2 Qa7 23.Rd2 Qa3 24.Qa1 Qb4 25.Rfd1 Ra6 26.Nh4 Rfa8 27.Bxe4 Qxe4 28.f3 Qe3+ 29.Kh1 e6 30.Ng2 Qe5) 21...Qxb7 22.Nf3 Qe4 23.Qb2 Ra7 (23...d5 24.Rc1 Rfc8 25.Rfd1 d4 26.b4 Rab8 27.Rc4 Rxb4 28.Rxb4 cxb4 29.Rxd4 Rc2 30.Rxe4 Rxb2 31.Rxe7 Nd5) 24.Rd3 Rfa8 25.a4 Rb7 26.Re3 Qg4 27.Rd1 Rxa4 (27...Qh3 28.Qc2 a) 28.Nh4 Rxa4 29.Rf3; b) 28.Qa1 Kg8 29.Qc1 Ng4 (29...Rab8 30.Qc2 Ng4 31.Rc3 Rb4 32.a5 R4b7 33.a6 Ra7 34.Ra1 Rb6 35.Qd3 Kg7 36.Rc4 Nf6 37.Nh4 Rbxa6 38.Rxa6 Rxa6 39.Ra4 Rxa4 40.bxa4) 30.Re4 Rab8 (30...Rxb3 31.Qf4 Rb4 32.Rxb4 cxb4 33.Qxb4) ; 28...Kg8) 28.Rxe7] 18.e4™ Rc8 19.Rfe1! This has the threat of e5 with the idea that Nd5 will open up the game favorably for white. 19...Ng4 [19...c4 20.Nd4± (20.e5 Nfxd5 21.e6 fxe6 22.Qg6 Qe8= 23.Qxe6+; 20.h4!?) 20...cxb3 21.axb3 Ra2 22.Nxa2 Rxc2 23.Nxc2 Qc7 24.Ne3 Nbd7 25.Nb4 Qb6 26.Nc6 e5 27.Nc4 Qc7 28.Ne7+ Kh8 29.Nf5 Bf8 30.Rc1 Qb8 31.Ba3 Ne8 32.Bh3 Ba6 33.Nxh6 Bxh6 34.Bxd7 Bxc4 35.bxc4 Qa7 36.Bxe8 Qxa3 37.Bxf7 g4 38.Ra1 Qb4 39.Bh5 Qxc4 40.Bxg4 Bd2 41.Reb1 Qc7 42.Ra6 Ba5 43.Rb5 Be1 44.h4 Qc2 45.Rb8+ Kg7 46.Rb7+ Kg6] 20.h4 This is one of the negatives of blacks position. Normally if white plays h4 black would play g4. Now g5 and the black kingside becomes soft 20...Ne5 [‹20...gxh4 21.Nxh4 Bd4 22.Bh3 Diagram

XABCDEFGHY
8-+r+-+k+(
7trl+qzpp+-'
6-sn-zp-+-zp&
5+-zpP+-+-%
4-+-vlP+nsN$
3+PsN-+-zPL#
2PvLQ+-zP-+"
1+-+RtR-mK-!
xabcdefghy

I was hoping this position would arrise. Black can with the exchange but at the cost of allowing nf5 and no protection around the king. 22...Bxf2+ 23.Kg2 Bxe1 24.Rxe1+- And like most computers... they slowly start to like white position 24...Rca8 25.Nf5] 21.Nxe5 Bxe5 22.hxg5 hxg5 23.Qe2! g4 black can not allow qh5 24.Qe3! again tickeling black with the idea of Qh6. The nice thing about this square is that c4 play will not work with Nb6 and Bc3 is not going to work either. Actually during the game, I was not sure of what plan black could attempt given it would be his turn. 24...Kh7™ 25.f4?? I sometimes wonder if drug testing in chess has any merits at all. I know its politics for attempting to get chess into the Olympic circle. Here I would have liked to have seen the IOC check my blood content level for perscription drugs (Arizona voodoo??). Of course f4 was based on a few major hallucinations starting with the thought that Seattle had not won a single US Chess League game of the week in 2009 and I might be able to do that with gf3 Kf2!! (with the idea of Rh1 later). [25.Bf1! leads to an overwhelming position. Ironically this was my first candidate move. Sigh.. I think I need to play more chess.... Ra5 26.Kg2 Kg6 27.Be2 f6 28.Rh1 Rg8 29.Qh6+ Kf7 30.Qh5+ Rg6 31.Rh4 Bc8 32.Bc1 Bxc3] 25...gxf3 26.Qxf3 [26.Kf2?? This is the move I almost played. 26...fxg2 (26...Bxg3+ 27.Kxf3+-) 27.Qg5 When white has a good game except for Qh3!! winning for black.] 26...Rg8 27.Qh5+ [¹27.Qxf7+ Rg7 28.Qh5+ Kg8] 27...Kg7 28.Bh3 Qe8 Here Robby offered a draw and i only saw the perp. ½–½ 29.Na4 [¹29.Nb5 Qxb5 30.Bxe5+ dxe5 31.Qxe5+ Kf8 32.Qb8+ Bc8 33.Bxc8 The computer prefer white here, but to be truthful I did not even see Qb8 when thinking about Nb5.] 29...Bxb2 30.Nxb2 Rxa2 31.Qg5+ Kf8 32.Qh6+=

Many Rivers to Cross

I have to say that I could not think of a better song title or song for tonight's match with Arizona. The final was 3-1 for the Scorpions and they fully deserved to win the match, without any question. To make this as simple as possible for any readers who don't like to read, the Sluggers played a match in which they displayed all their short comings and very few of their strengths. Here is a quick recap:

Bd. 1 Ramirez met 1. e4 with Alekhine's defense, Nakamura chose the exchange variation. Black was willing to keep a compact and fairly solid position, Naka seemed to be making small gestures but in the end Ramirez had a liquidation that won black a pawn but left bishops of opposite color.

Bd. 2 Slava played a Grunfeld setup against the english in which Whtie had Qa4+ to h4. This is a kind of tricky bit for Black which Slava didn't handle well. He was dreadfully behind on time and lost a pawn. Altounian didn't let up and scored the full point.

Bd. 3 a Benko broke out between Milat and Adamson, a topical line with 10 Rb1 followed. For some reason Black put h6 and g5 in which afforded White a ready made idea. Marcel did his best to create an accident on the g or h files, but was unable and with both sides low on time a draw was agreed.

Bd. 4 Sinanan played the Nimzo, Mateer replied with 4. Qc2 00 5. e4. This has become a popular line, which I don't know the theory of. Josh created a really good chance based on play down the h1-a8 diagonal, but missed what I think was an excellent chance at move 20 where I thought 20...e3 was quite strong. Slowly White crawled out of trouble, offered a draw which was refused in order to play on and then Josh's boat just went over.

In a way this was a perfect storm. With Black the Sluggers were not prepared at all and got caught out for it, both blacks were way behind on time in the early opening phases. Combined with Naka's worst performance of the season, with all due credit to Ramirez, and Seattle just didn't have any umph. This is very much like matches that they played last season where they were underdogs and just seemed to accept that status. Let's hope that isn't really the case.

Next up is Chicago, a team with surprising aspirations to get into the playoffs. We know they will be coming to play, so lets hope the Sluggers do as well.

ttyl and have a nice day

Sunshine Superman

There's no denying it, the best score he had ever gotten at trivia. He had finished first before, but not by that margin. Still, there had been greater scores. How things had changed. In younger days a victory would have meant cause for ice cream and dreams of greater glory, now it was merely a time to reflect on the circumstances of a particular time. "Oh well, no time to waste. Matches are up, let's see who is playing this week". His fingers deftly typed the letters and pressed return. As the page opened his mind had wondered, to the different fortunes and how to portray them. "Ah, here we are" he mused as the page appeared. Yes, things had changed a lot. A slight dismay whisped by him as he read the names "Queens and Carolina". One team had higher aspirations and the other was coming off unexpected success, now they were both playing out the season. The difference was that the Cobras still played a little beyond themselves. Queens by a length, it will be an upset. Another team that gives it a lot of effort is Chicago, this week they face Dallas. "The abyss" he thought, "Dallas is on the lip of elimination. Will they panic? Will they through some kind of changeup?" Checking the lineups he noticed that Dallas had an A player in the lineup. Well, they seem to be going with their 3 best horses on top. "Ok, Dallas will keep the suspense for another week, the Destiny by margin on prelined note paper". Down scrolled the screen as he watched the names in the San Francisco versus Tennessee match appear. " Holy Moly, is Tennessee banking on their 4th board having a slingshot or some such?" Shrugging he typed "SF 3-1" keeping the hope that he wasn't short changing somebody. Taking a sip of tea he became aware that the types of matches had changed. Monday was a showcase mostly for teams that weren't in a race, teams showing what they had without any thought to final standings. The first match listed for Wednesday had a team hungry for a win to advance their playoff chances against a team thumping around the league. The Inventors are an eyelash from playoff possibilities, while the Knockouts are full of unexpected status as the premier team in the league. " Don't be fooled" grinding his teeth at the possibilities, " The Inventors are looking to play even on 1, 2 and 4 then take their chances with a veteran. Good trick, if it works. No, I don't see it, but there is credit enough for all. Tie" He wrote the words and bit his lip, " the Knockouts are in the playoffs and don't face the Knights again in the regular season, yet their history in finishing the season is poor. Tie!". New York and Baltimore, these teams were closely matched. " The difference will be on the middle boards. Even if the Knights win on 4th board, the Kingfishers will surprise them. Baltimore will win by a tail". He chuckled to himself, a fish tail that is he thought. A bit of amusement was well timed as he noted the next match. Boston faces Miami in a match where only the Sharks can affect their playoff position. "What really matters is that both teams have something to prove. The Blitz may not give a fig what the rest of the league thinks, but they have to answer to themselves at some point. Miami is composed and will be prepared. So, what do I base my decision on?" He sipped more tea and glanced at the clock. "Of course! It is right in front of me. The Blitz have been beating St. Mary's Sisters of the weak pawn and teams like that. They haven't found their way past a winning team yet. I can't go against a trend like that. Miami will win by the difference of the respective teams fourth board IQ". He knew trouble was ahead, but it always had been. Nothing new there. So, we are down to the Arizona and Seattle match up. Fully aware that even a loss wouldn't drop Seattle from first or from the playoffs, he wondered what was the teams motivation? "Play them, one at a time". he knew it was a cliche. Still, no one really understood it as well as he did. "They have a match to play, so they play. Hikaru, Slava and Josh... been pretty steady so far. Almost sounds like a law firm." As much as he liked the names, the thing that was obvious was that Seattle players had been able to avoid bad streaks. That would suggest Marcel would have a fine game. Still, it wasn't easy. Suspicion, Arizona listed an A player on fourth board. "A trick?" he wondered. Well, if it was a trick it would turn out to be a real doozy. Checking Arizona's point of view he noted that getting a 2600 player on first board is pretty good, except when that player is outrated by 150 points. This seemed out of whack. "It must be some kind of kharma thing" he tried to persuade himself. "No, they have to play the matches too. That is the Scorpions motivation". Seattle was vey likely to win on the outside boards and only needed some kind of score in the middle. As if to make a note of a special ingridient in an old family recipe he pointed at the screen. " A modest victory for Seattle. The Sluggers shall prevail by the distance between 2 raindrops". There it was done. All of the matches had been verified. As always he checked again, just to be sure no one snuck in when he wasn't looking

Let the Good Times Roll

Hi to all the readers, we are back again. If you ask me what I will remember about week 8 I will likely tell you " some teams really defined themselves". Yup, that is what I would say. I don't really try to be cryptic, but I find it comes in handy quite often. Let me explain, but first a quick recap of the Sluggers match up with Tennessee.


At lineup time it was pretty obvious that Seattle expected a couple more GM's to play than actually did, while Tennessee aimed to try a little bit of "small ball" by getting some extra strength on the lower boards. In Arun Sharma's recent "Mid Season All Star" post he picked John Bick as the allstar 3rd board, so it seemed like a stroke of genius when the Tempo were able to push him down to 4th board. No moss growing on them Tempo players (note to league officials: is it ok to refer to multiple Tennessee players as "Tempi"?) . So, the match started. Nakamura on board 1 seems to be using 1...b6 to good effect and had another opportunity as Ron Burnett shot out 1.Nf3. Serper started with 1.c4 and 2.g3 which was his standard fare coming up, to which Andrews used a move order which has become standard since the late 80's. Bereolos and Readey on board 3 started with 1.d4 d6 2.c4 e5 and followed with the shadow boxing that seems to come from this line. Finally, an advance Caro popped up on board 4 as Chen and Bick looked like they were ready for this matchup. It somehow worked out that board 4 went very quickly as Bick played c5 a little early to which Chen found a really good response with c4, the center blew open and black's king was stuck on e8. After a couple of tactics Bick was compelled to give up the queen for a rook and bishop with Chen grabbing a couple of pawns on the way with check. This was over surprisingly quickly. Nakamura didn't appear to play for equality, but got there anyway. Burnett's decision to exchange black square bishop for knight on c5 just propelled Black into activity and a miscalculation followed that cost white a piece. Meanwhile, Bereolos and Readey were brushing up on the modern rules where players can move the pieces more than 3 squares at a time. Andrews on board 2 made what I consider a questionable choice by going for a Kings Indian formation and giving Serper the opportunity to play the Botvinnik formation ( note to readers: please don't read that last sentence aloud to any spouse, significant other or close friend who is not a chess player as that last sentence spells out "Geek" in the outside world). Serper put his pieces on the squares he wanted, played a minor combination, kept Andrews staggering, picked up the exchange and finally trapped Todd's queen. At this point I noted that Bereolos had offered a draw to Readey, which was declined! This surprised me a lot, but to each his own. This game went on for quite a while and ended as a draw, though Readey missed a couple of places to improve greatly. So, a 3.5 - .5 victory to keep the Sluggers in first place. Any time a team fields 2 GM's it seems as if they should be heavy favorites, but in this case there is more to it. Chen played a very creditable game on 4th board, while Readey did a fine job on 3rd. This indicates that Seattle it getting points from places other than the top. Tennessee was unfortunate to run into the Sluggers right now, because as well as having the 2 GM's they have a lot of momentum. Sometimes a team gets a little run going and it just seems to build on itself, that is where the Sluggers seem to be right now. The Tempo deserve full credit for finding a formula to give themselves a chance and for playing tough.



A team on a roll. Remember last season? The team on the roll was the Carolina Cobras, who won matches that seemed well beyong their resources. This season they are struggling to get any kind of a run going. So, when they faced the New York Knights there was plenty of reason to pick the Knights. Well folks, this is why they play them. The Cobras were able to get a tie in a match that belonged to the Knights. We should send out kudos to the Cobras for continuing to play hard and seek out points that aren't apparent to the rest of us. Philly and Baltimore played to a tie, which combined with the Knights tie to do absolutely nothing to clarify the playoff standings except take one more week away. The Mechanics pumelled the Pioneers,. I want to say that Queens has the appearance of a team that has plenty of talent, but no real direction... they haven't devised ways to win matches. Dallas had a great chance to leap back into the playoffs with a match versus the Miami Sharks, but were only able to tie. Arizona confirmed their status as a playoff team with a win over Chicago. The Blaze have played every match to the hilt and with a little bit of a swing could have been in the playoff chase. And finally, the New Jersey Knockouts made it clear that they are serious about not just making the playoffs, but making some noise there with a 4-0 thrashing of Boston. This doesn't affect playoff standings in terms of making the post season, but now Boston will have to get some help to get the draw odds that are now in the possesion of New Jersey. What we found from all of this is that there are some teams who have found the path to Olympus, some teams who are looking and some teams who are more than happy to make the trail as dusty as possible.



Ok, in week 9 the big matchup is Seattle and Arizona as the top 2 teams in the West square off. The Scorpions have been a refreshing presence in the league this year, but there is one thing I gotta say. You know, they have at least 3 folks who regularly blog and closer to 5 or 6 who throw stuff out there while I am only me. If it takes 5 or 6 of them to match me, the Scorps have a ways to go, though I must admit to having a couple of their albums in the 80's. This brings me to my final deal. Bloggers, we got rapped in the mouth by a certain member of a certain team that is in the northeast and just lost their second shutout match. This season seems to have a lot of posts by Arizona, New Jersey, Chicago and... me. Boston got in there a bit, but seem to be real quiet, except for a certain member of their team who's mouth is only slightly smaller than his ego. There have to be other folks out there who want to let us know what they think? Or rant? Or vent? Or just have a voice? Come on guys, lets hear some more from you. SF, are you guys really so busy? Miami, I know you don't have cold weather so do some talking. Dallas! Hey, Bartholomew you said you were going to spice things up? New York, you gotta be kidding me that you don't have something to say? You guys can't really be thinking that we don't want to hear from you? We do. So, let's hear it!!!

Ok, thanks as always to the Commish, Mulfish, the kids in the lunch line, Todd Andrews for explaining what was going to happen if a certain member of a certain team accidentally found himself below the Mason Dixon Line, to all my readers the "4 to 9ers" and of course to Mom who taught me the best gambling odds should be less than the confidence I have in myself. ttyl and have a nice day