The Season is Over for the Knockouts

A glorious first season came to a tragic end tonight, as the New Jersey Knockouts lost to the New York Knights, by a score of 2.5 - 1.5. GM Joel Benjamin won on first board against GM Pascal Charbonneau, but the Knockout's Mike Zlotnikov and Mackenzie Molner, lost on boards 2 and 3 respectively. Evan Ju, on Board 4, fought a long difficult struggle, but had to settle for a draw, after 117 moves and the 50 move rule. The Knockouts end their inaugural season with a respectable record of 4.5 - 5.5.

All Knockouts' matches in the year were extremely close, all ending by a score of 2 - 2 or 2.5 - 1.5. The Knockouts were competitive all year long, and, although counted out by some at the beginning of the season, put up a resilient and brave fight.

Congratulations to the winner of the match tonight, the New York Knights, who take third place in the Eastern division of the USCL, and play Philadelphia in the playoffs.

Thanks go to Greg Shahade, commissioner of the United States Chess League, for all his hard work. Check back periodically throughout the year for updates on the Knockouts' players, and other events in Garden State.

Knockouts flooring the Knights

Tonight, the New Jersey Knockouts are flooring the New York Knights. I was unable to real-time blog, tonight, but Debbie Benjamin was kind enough to send me a picture of the Halloween donuts at the site, for all you donut lovers.

Until next week, when the Knockouts are in the playoffs!

Justice Prevails: Molner wins game of the week!

For the first time in the Knockouts' brief history, a player has won game of the week in the USCL. Mackensie Molner's (a.k.a. Big Mac and the Sac Attack) thrilling and innovative crush of Baltimore's IM Larry Kaufman on Board 3 has prevailed.

While Molner came in second in the GotW contest several weeks ago, this week the judges rightly came to their senses and awarded Big Mac and this Sac Attack this weeks prize. His innovative knight sacrifice and resourceful, and well-timed, defense maneuvering clinched it for him. Plus, as the tiebreak judge remarked, it was quite an interesting game.

Congrats to Big Mac and have fun replaying the wild game here.

Real Time Blog for Week 9: KO and Fish

Next week is the last week in the USCL. Unfortunately, this will be last real-time blog of the regular season. If (when) New Jersey makes the playoffs, I should be back in November for another blog.

But next week, when New York and New Jersey will play, it might be for the final playoff spot! Watch the United States Chess League action next week on the Internet Chess Club, sponsored by PokerStars.com.

11:13pm

Blehm resigned! And the Knockouts have tied the match 2.0 - 2.0!

11:09pm

And Joel has won a piece, but Blehm is trying to mate him and get a perpetual.

11:05pm

And Molner put the final crush on Kaufman, and Kaufman resigned! The Knockouts now are behind only 1.0 - 2.0.

11:01pm

Molner's got Kaufman in a nasty zugzwang. He just needs to push his pawns to victory, it seems.

10:54pm

But Khodarkovsky's game really wasn't as interesting as I made it out to be. A few short moves later, White's central passed pawn stopped the dancing monarch, and Michael had to resign. Therefore, the Knockouts are down 0.0 - 2.0.

A bad taste of donuts infects the bile within me.

10:51pm

Khodarkovsky's game is rather interesting. In this R+B vs. R+B, his king is kind of tied up dancing around White's pieces, but at the same time, when not dancing, he's pushing is outside passed baby queens toward their birthing center.

10:48pm

After a furious exchange of pieces, Mac's game has turned into a very unbalanced position. Mac has a Queen and two pawns for Kaufman's Bishop, Knight, and Rook. Point-wise it is straight up, but Molner's queen is well-positioned, and if he can take advantage of it before Kaufman manages to coordinate his pieces, then he's in good shape.

10:45pm

Blehm make what looked like a threatening move, but Joel has calmly and quickly moved his queen to g3, attacking Blehm's queen and threatening further to simplify the position. Joel would be living off the increment, but in a materially equal endgame.

10:43pm

The Knockouts are low on time on all the other boards too. Molder has three-and-a-half minutes left, but Khodarkovsky and Benjamin have less than two minutes each.

10:42pm

And Aviv has resigned. The mating attack was just too strong. The Knockouts are down 0.0 - 1.0 to the Kingfishers.

10:34pm

Uh-oh. It looks like Board 2 is in bad shape for the Knockouts. Enkhbat has what appears to be a crushing attack against Friedman. He's just sacced a Rook for what appears to be a smash up mating attack.

Molner is still trying to figure out a way to wipe out Kaufman, and hope his knight sac was not in vain.

10:24pm

Another Mac sac! He let go of his light-squared bishop for another rook lift. If he can pull this out, he's definitely in contention for game of the week again... although Irina Krush's rook sac in her game is also pretty.

Here is Mac's game...

10:12pm

Battsetseg - Khodarkovsky is looking pretty drawish. Michael's pawns are on square colors that complement his bishop, but there's a lot of harmonic tension in the position. My guess is that they are going for a repetition soon.

10:11pm

Mac's pieces are all posed for the attack. He's standing up now, striking an imposing figure over the physical board. The smack is back!

10:04pm

I've been too busy watching the games to actually blog. For which I apologize. Profusely.

What I did notice that Mac's attack ain't wack, and we're gonna see a sac, that will hack Black.

10:02pm

Ratings for the games at the 10:00pm hour.
Board 1: 72 observers (+9%)
Board 2: 30 observers (=0%)
Board 3: 27 observers (+4%)
Board 4: 21 observers (=0%)

9:42pm

While we await the photos of the donuts at the Boston Blitz site, let's check out Aviv's game on Board 2. It looks like there are three little two pawn islands for White, while Aviv (as Black) has a three-pawn island on both coasts of the board. Aviv is lining up his heavy pieces to fire at the central island. Clocks are approximately equal.

9:37pm

On Board 1, Joel is currently playing from the screen, not the physical board.

On Board 2, Aviv is angled between the screen and the board, but mostly looking at the board itself.

On Board 3, Molner is close to the screen, with his hand poised on the mouse.

On Board 4, Khodarkovsky is ignoring the screen, and his hunched over the board, hand ovre mouth, thumb on cheek.

9:32pm

On Board 4, we have a pretty equal looking endgame, although Khodarkovsky is down a bit on time. Nevertheless, it is R+B vs. R+B and bishops are same color and pawns are equal. Looks drawish.

9:25pm

Indeed, Blehm is having a long think about what to do with a pawn stuck in his throat.

9:11pm

On Board 1, GM Joel and GM Blehm are getting ready to set up the pieces for a game of Fischer Random. Pieces are slowly moving back to the first couple of ranks.

Actually, you know what it really reminds me of. A cat. Both sides, actually. A cat that this ready to spring forth and pounce on a rodent. The pieces on both sides are lying in wait for the opportunity to strike.

9:04pm

Molner is viscious. He's castled on the queenside (opposite), moved his king a tad safer to b1, and has now started another attack against poor Kaufman's king. He grabbed the mouse, pressed and held the mouse-button for a perceptible instant, while slowly -- with the deliberation of a Senator pondering a response to a question from an Ethics committee -- shifting his mouse cursor north, guiding his determined and grim h-pawn toward its ultimate sacrificial goal, of smashing the living crap out of the pawn shield that feebly guards Kaufman's emasculated monarch.

9:02pm

Ratings for the games at the 9:00pm hour.
Board 1: 61 observers (+43%)
Board 2: 30 observers (+20%)
Board 3: 26 observers (+4%)
Board 4: 21 observers (+5%)

8:55pm

Let's move onto Board 4. The Knockouts' assistant manager, Michael Khodarkovsky, played his Alekhine against his opponent, WIM Tsagaan Battseteg. As you may know, Michael is the president of the Kasparov Chess Foundation, and was a coach/manager of the 2004 US Women's Olympiad team. Michael may be mumbling "oil can" to shake off the rust, but he's already in a dynamic position, lining up the big guns on White's isolated d-pawn. I sense there may be a big exchange of pieces soon.

8:39pm

Let's see what Big Mac is up to on Board 3. As everyone knows, Mac was inexplicably ripped off in a complete travesty of justice as he missed out on the Game of the Week prize (he lost to this pedestrian effort) with his brilliant win from late September (which you can replay here), and the USCL tried to justify their shameful voting in this post.

Anyway, he's attempting to win the prize again this week, as he is gobbling up space on Kaufman's side of the board, and showing once again, that the French reputation (shrink and surrender) is not wholly undeserved.

8:36pm

On Board 2, Enkhbhat declined the draw by playing 15. Qc4. He will regret that Aviv gave him an opportunity to live and play another day. Now, the crushing begins.

8:33pm

Only 75 minutes in, and Friedman has offered a draw to his opponent on board 2!

8:27pm

Back to Board 2... FM Aviv Freidman has traded off three minor pieces a side, to reach what appears to me to be a relatively equal position. Both sides have a Knight and their heavy pieces, Aviv has a 3-2 majority on the queenside, but his e-pawn is pretty far advanced and looks lonely. It might need some more protection at some point soon.

8:19pm

The destruction has begun. GM Joel has blasted open the a-file for his rook, who smartly stayed at home, while the Fish's rook, went, um... fishing on the b-file, looking for a tasty snack. All he found was a worm, and GM Joel is poised to gut him and fry him. Perhaps with a bit of tarragon and a side of leeks.

8:15pm

Let's look back in a little more depth at the situation on the boards.

On Board 1, the DMZ seems to be the line separating the fourth and fifth rank. No one seems willing to cross it. The real question is, though... where will the pawn break occur? Will the a-file open up for both sides? What about the center? Who will make the first pawn capture? Both sides just castled. When will the destruction begin??

8:07pm

The coffee is excellent tonight. And the donuts, well... The munchkins are covered with Halloween-theme-colored sprinkles. And the sprinkles are crunchy, not chewy.

8:04pm

As I said, Mac Molner, New Jersey's third board tonight, just completed the World Junior Championship. You can see the final standings at their website, here.

8:01pm

Ratings for the games at the 8:00pm hour.
Board 1: 43 observers
Board 2: 25 observers
Board 3: 25 observers
Board 4: 20 observers

7:54pm

Finally, on Board 1, GM Joel Benjamin has forcefully slammed his finger down on the mouse, when he smashed out 3 Bb5+ to his unsuspecting, and fashionably late, opponent, GM Pawel Blehm. Blehm tried the supposedly more unusual reply 3...Nbd7, and they are only at move 6, already 40 minutes into the game.

7:49pm

On Board 2, the Knockouts' late roster replacement, FM Aviv "Sveshi" Friedman has surprised his opponent FM Tegshsuren Enkhbat with a Chigorin Defense. Morozevich would be proud. Aviv has clearly shaken off the rust of his long layoff, and will soon be tempting the Kingfisher with his wily ways.

7:40pm

On Board 3, the Knockouts' Mackensie "Big Mac Attack" Molner, is White against IM Larry Kaufman. Molner just returned last week from a solid showing at the World Junior Championships in Armenia. Despite starting ranked 60th, he finished in a tie for 48th-56th, with 6.0/13.0, and a performance rating 122 points over his FIDE rating. The experience he gained there is bound to help him in the White side of Kaufman's French Defense.

7:34pm

A quick look around the four boards before a deeper look. Let's start with Board 4. The Knockouts Assistant Manager and Team Alternate Michael Khodarkovsky, has played the Alekhine defense against US Women's Championship participant WIM Tsagaan Battseteg. They have already hit move 8, and Khodarkovsky's fianchettoed bishop aims at White's pawn center, consisting of a c- and d-pawn.

7:33pm

Three of the four games have started. GM Joel Benjamin has been unable to start his game as his opponent is late. We're the only team that seems to get to the matches on time!

7:25pm

Everyone has arrived, and the matches are about to start. We are waiting on the Fish to swim up to our hooks.

6:51pm

GM Joel Benjamin and his wife Debbie are here. Mac Molner just walked in. Ready to hook the fish.

Pictures from Tonight's Contest versus the Boston Blitz

Even though I'm not in New Jersey tonight, Debbie Benjamin was kind enough to email me a few pictures from tonight's match.


ABOVE: Joel Benjamin showing off his loyalties, although the placement of the Indians hat is probably not a coincidence, considering Cleveland is playing Boston in the American League Championship Series (in baseball).


ABOVE: Evan Ju (far) and Victor Shen (close) start their games. Dean Ippolito is on the left in the back.


ABOVE: Dean Ippolito prepping before the game. With him, is his ubiquitous Red Bull.

Player Profile: Victor Shen

Victor Shen is a 14 year old national master, living in Edison, New Jersey. After being taught to play at age seven by his father, Victor admires from afar the attacking games of Kasparov and Tal, and his former coach Scott Massey, and current coach (and Knouckouts' manager) Joel Benjamin. Interestingly, he also mentions that current American #3 Alexander Onischuk is a favorite because of his superb opening preparation and his classical style.

Besides the hundreds of Kasparov games that Victor claims he doesn't actually study, a particular game that he admires is Tal's victory against Smyslov in the 1964 USSR team championship. Victor is awed by 24...Qe2!! and extraordinarily impressed by Tal's endgame technique at the end. You can replay the Tal-Smyslov game here.

Victor has played two games so far for the Knockouts with a loss and a draw. The draw, especially, was an amazing save, and if you don't know the story, you should check it out here. Despite his 0.5 - 1.5 record, he thinks the USCL is a brilliant idea. The camaraderie of being on a team with others from your area, the possibility of being in "must win" situtations, and the practice with the FIDE time control, all make playing for the Knockouts a great experience for which Victor is thankfuoopyl.

Highly emotional experiences make for lasting memories, and while most people's memorable experiences over a chess board are joyous, Victor's was on the other end of the happiness spectrum. It happened earlier this year in the last round of the 2007 Liberty Bell Open, where he was playing Alex Shabalov. Coming out of the opening in good shape, he blundered the exchange for a pawn, but it was a blunder of serendipity, as he came out of the opening with a big positional advantage that became winning. But then, disaster struck. He missed some wins in time trouble, then exchanged queens. The last board in the last round of the top section is always a harrowing experience, since the spectators crowd around you. In Victor's case, the pressure of the spectators was far greater than the pressure on the board, since the queen exchange produced a dead drawn endgame. Shabalov declined Victor's draw offer, and Victor traded rooks to produce what he thought was an even deader position. But it didn't work, and tactical shots by Shabalov caused Victor to resign. We've all likely experienced situations like Victor's -- I know I have -- but Shabalov's "I'm sorry" during the postmortem permanently etched this episode in Victor's mind.

He confesses to not being an avid reader or purveyor of television and movies, spending most of his time on chess and schoolwork. While he may relax for a few minutes, playing basketball with his friends, he takes the time he used to spend playing sports and studies his opening theory.

Finally, in my interactions with Victor, I've noticed that he has a wickedly self-deprecating sense of humor. He claims that he sucks at chess and has never have played a game of chess of which he was proud. Indeed, everytime he ruminates on his game versus Shabalov, he wonders why he still actually plays this maddening game. And, he claims that if he ever does play a game of which he is proud, he will send it in. I expect, though, that the remainder of his games this year with the Knockouts will provide moments of pride and glory.

Real-time Blog Week 7: Knocking out the Inventors

Next week, the Knockouts play the first place Boston Blitz. Tune in on Wednesday October 17th at 7:00pm for all the action. And this week, watch all the Wednesday night action of the USCL on the ICC sponsored by PokerStars.com.

10:55pm

And Jayson Lian resigned... And the Knockouts have lost the match 2.5 - 1.5. This takes the Knockouts back to a 3.5 - 3.5 record.

10:52pm

Another draw on Board 3 by repetition. It is 1.5 - 1.5... Only Jayson Lian's game on board 4 remaining!

10:39pm

And 10 seconds later, IM Dean has drawn by repetition on Board 2. The match is tied now 1.0 - 1.0! These two games were not expected to go for the Knockouts, so that fact that the KOs have drawn is another amazing accomplishment by the good guys!

10:38pm

And GM Joel has drown by repetition on Board 1. The match is currently tied 0.5 - 0.5!

10:36pm

Everyone is away from the physical board now, and all are working directly from the computer screen.

10:32pm

Boy, it is close, but not clear exactly what is happening. All boards could draw, all could lose. It is really interesting....

10:21pm

On Board 1, no one is quite clear how Benjamin came out of this, but material is equal, even if Joel has a disadvantage.

On Board 2, Ippolito and Smith are in what looks to be a complete draw.

On Board 3, Friedman is a pawn up, but Costigan's pieces seem a little better placed.

On Board 4, Yeager is way down on the clock, and will be living on the increment soon, while Lian's bishop is still trip for the taking.

It is looking up a little for the KOs!


10:04pm

Another grandmaster agrees with the first, but it is unclear to many others. Here's the critical position, where Kudrin just played 20. Bxe4, and Joel responded with 20...Bg4!

10:03pm

While the majority of titled players believe that Joel is lost on Board 1, one grandmaster is holding out, saying the Joel is, in fact, better. It seems odd to me, but what do I know?

9:57pm

It doesn't look too good for the Knockouts' chances inthe match. GM Joel is having a very tough time on Board 1. IM Dean may exchange into an endgame, but perhaps with a slight disadvantage. On Board 4, Jayson Lian's bishop sac was not accepted, but he still remains in a difficult position. Board 3 is relatively equal.

9:47pm

Jayson Lian has sacced his Bishop on f5. The consensus in the commentary is that is won't work, but in the USCL, you never know. New Jersey has been known to escape with miracles in the past.

9:39pm

Comments on the games are favoring Philadelphia on all boards. GM Hikaru Nakamura is predicting a 4-0 sweep for Philadelphia! Certainly the results cannot be that dramatic for the KOs!?!

9:33pm

Clock check time. Board 1 - Joel is down 22 minutes, and has only 12 minutes remaining. Board 2 - Dean is up 3 minutes, with 27 minutes remaining. Board 3 - Aviv is down 12 minutes with 19 minutes remaining. Board 4 - Jayson is down 8 minutes, with 23 minutes remaining.

9:28pm

An ICC observer with the handle 'mote' made an interesting comment: "Joel Benjamin is the Derek Jeter of American chess". While I'm sure Joel appreciates being compared to Jeter (as Jeter's work ethic and character are impeccable), Joel probably would recoil in horror when he remembered that Jeter is a Yankee. Of course, 'mote' also compared Joel to Joey Ramone. I'll let Joel decide how to respond to that one.

9:27pm

Dean took 33 minutes, and had to retreat his Queen back to f2. The times on the clocks are now approximately equal, and his 35 minutes time advantage has disappeared.

9:14pm

Well, I'm back commenting on the players' physical positions. All of them are actually looking at their physical boards, rather than the screen. That's unusual for so late in the evening. In previous matches, at a few minutes past the two hour point, about half the players are usually at the screen.

9:10pm

Everyone keeps asking about the donuts. Well, there are only six left, and I'm certain they were eaten so quickly tonight because we all need the extra calories to fight the 58 degree temperature of the room.

9:00pm

It appears that Dean Ippolito did not anticipate Smith's 16...Qe7, because he has spent a great deal of time pondering his move. The position does look critical -- here it is...

He is hunched over the board, his head actually extending beyond the fourth rank, and he's looking straight down at the position.


8:55pm

Joel has taken a walk around the room, looked at a few of the Knockouts' games. Them curiously, he turned to face the wall, put his hand on his chin, and pondered the green chalkboard for about 15 seconds. Then, he briskly walked back to his chair.

8:43pm

Finally, on to Board 1. The Knockouts' first board, and team manager GM Joel Benjamin (read office NJKO profile here) has the Black pieces against veteran GM Sergey Kudrin. Kudrin's Giuoco Piano has turned into a deceptively simple position. If I had to guess, it looks very much like a position someone would diagram in a book, with the caption "The End of the Opening Phase", and then discuss the middlegame. Chances for both sides, nothing crazy looking, only one pawn exchanged.

And, after 14 moves, Joel is down only 8 minutes on the clock, which is pretty good for him.

8:27pm

What's up on Board 2? The game started a half-hour late, as the Inventors' IM Bryan Smith (who in his picture looks a little like Seth Green, from Austin Powers and Buffy the Vampire Slayer) got caught in traffic - perhaps he needed to invent a flying car. Anyway, Smith has the Black pieces against noted teacher IM Dean Ippolito - you can read his NJKO profile here. Dean has some space in the center, and a Queen and Rook battery aiming down the f-file at Black's castled king position. While White has more space in the center, his Bishop is bad. However, Black is still lagging a bit in development.

Ippolito is up 20 minutes on the clock, but remember he started with an extra 35 minutes. A pawn and a couple of minor pieces have been exchanged for both sides.

8:12pm

Let's move to Board 3. The Inventors' IM Rick Costigan has White against the Knockouts' FM Aviv "sveshi" Friedman. With the Black pieces, Friedman responded with 1...e6 to White's d-pawn sortie, perhaps hoping for White to play 2. e4 and transpose into a French. But White made the unusual move 2. Bf4, which to me looks like from the "Getoutofbookquickly Opening". Most people do not know, but Vladimir Borisovich Getoutofbookquickly was a Ukrainian master of the 19th century, who played what looked like reasonable moves according to Opening Principles 101, but no one ever played before or afterward. FM Friedman responded with 2...Nf6, which according to the statistics at chessgames.com, has a 49% success rate with Black, and only a 33% success rate with white. Only 18% of games that start 1. d4 e6 2. Bf6 Nf6 are drawn, (granted, small sample size).

Looks like Board 2 may turn out to be an exciting battle. After a dozen moves, Costigan is only up 5 minutes on the clock, and while two minor pieces have been exchanged, all the foot soldiers remain.

8:01pm

Let's start on Board 4. We see the Inventors' Daniel Yeager as Black against the Knockouts' sole winner last week, Jayson "I wasn't really born in 1995" Lian, as White.

Jayson started the game with the Queen Pawn, and it quickly went into a Nimzo Indian. Black ended up with what appeared to be an oddly placed dark-squared bishop on a5, outside his pawn chain. On move 11, Black pushed his d-pawn to d5, and we had one of the most fun pawn structures around, the c- and d-pawns of each side in a staredown on c4, c5, d4, and d5. A flurry of exchanges has left white with a half-open c-file and a kingside fill of pawns. Black has a full complement of pawns on the queenside, and some space. Minor pieces are equal. White may need to shelter his king, but his Bishop on d3 peers down both diagonals on the board.

Jayson is up on the clock too, by about 18 minutes. 15 moves have been completed.


7:58pm

It is almost 8:00pm. Time to go around the horn for each game!

7:55pm

I usually wear a sport coat to work, but today I wore a turtleneck and no jacket. I am a fool because it is about 58 degrees in this room. Even the hot coffee is growing icicles.

7:49pm

Tonight, the room is exceedingly cold. The air conditioning is blowing strong and hard, and I'm freezing!

7:44pm

And the Ippolito-Smith game has started! It is a Modern system I've seen a lot. The Bangiev Squares Strategy recommendation for Black is this system with 1...g6, 2...Bg7, 3...c5 against almost anything that White plays (except a queenside fianchetto). Ippolito has decided to gain some space in the center with 4. d5, and now has a strong looking light-squared pawn phalanx in the middle of the board.

7:40pm

The more things change... Bryan Smith will play board 2 after all. There will be a 35 minute time penalty, and the Knockouts' IM Ippolito will have 90 minutes and the Inventors' Smith will have 55 minutes.

7:35pm

From the USCL Commissioner:

**UPDATE** There will be a last second replacement on Board 2. FM Mike Shahade will be replacing IM Bryan Smith. Rules dictate that he will start with a 90-45 time disadvantage... however New Jersey has waived this penalty and it will just be 90-70, as it's 20 minutes past starting time.

Some have commented that this was good sportsmanship on New Jersey's part. Which it is, but it is entirely due to the donuts, which I think Dean is out in the hall devouring right now.

7:30pm

The Inventors' Board 2 has bagged. An emergency replacement for Board 2 has been announced. It is FM Michael Shahade, father of the USCL's commissioner, Greg Shahade. The game has yet to start, and IM Dean Ippolito awaits.

7:25pm

Quietly, on Board 4, young Jayson Lian has the white pieces in a Nimzo Indian. In the line that's there, according to the statistics at chessgames.com, 6. a3 leads only to a 32% winning percentage for white (34% draw, 34% black win).

7:23pm

Conference on the mound. Board 2 of Philadelphia still has not shown.

7:17pm

No pictures tonight, unfortunately. You will just have to imagine the donuts. There are about equal numbers of glazed, powdered, and cinnamon. There are only a few chocolate ones. That will tick off GM Joel, and it is likely he will take out his rage on Kudrin on board one, turning his Giuoco Piano into a Giouco Fortissimo!

7:15pm

According to the statistics at chessgames.com, the line GM Joel Benjamin chose for himself in this line (6...Ba7) is pretty drawish, with 48% of games ending in draws. White does win 33% of the time and Black wins 19% of the time.


7:11pm

On Board 1, Kudrin-Benjamin have played a Giuoco Piano, that apparently follows Sadvakasov - Becerra (Miami 2007) according to IM Mark Ginsburg.

7:09pm

All these crazy openings! On Board 3, we have 1. d4 e6 2. Bf4 ... what?!?

7:07pm

Three of the four games starts. Philly's second board, Bryan Smith, is stuck in his garage inventing something.

7:04pm

The games are about to start. Everyone is here.

4:19pm

Prepare for the epic showdown tonight, as the Knockouts try to extend their winning streak to three matches by lobotomizing the Inventors, who are desperate for a win, which would get them back into playoff contention.