Knockouts draw Kingfishers

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The battle of the Knockouts and the Kingfishers was drawn last night. The Knockouts are now 4-2, and firmly in second place in the Eastern Division. Division leader Queens lost last night, and are now 5-1. The Carolina Cobras pushed up to third place in the East with their win over Queens.

The first game to finish was Board 3, where Mac Molner unloaded two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, and a sesame seed bun against FM Ray Kaufman's kingside. A nice combination finished the same, which can be found here.

On Board 1, GM Joel Benjamin lost to GM Sergey "I Win Every 2008 Event That I Play In" Erenburg. Benjamin played the Panov-Botvinnik attack against Erenburg's Caro-Kann, and lost in 58 moves, as Erenburg's b-pawn was about to give birth. The game is here.

About the same time, on Board 4, the Knockouts Victor Shen had to give up his black bishop to stop Aaron's Kahn's white pawn from queening in a 68-move Trompowsky. The material advantage was just too much. The game is here.

So, at that point, the Kingfishers were up 2-1. The only hope was for IM Dean Ippolito on Board 2 to pull out a win. But, like a knight on the rim, his prospects for a victory, or even a draw, were dim (or grim, depending on your preferred cliche).

However, the tables turned, and after a series of exchanges, Ippolito was up a passed h-pawn, with his king nearby. Far be it for me to try and judge whether it was objectively won or drawn for Dean, but Dean didn't falter, and pulled out the victory. The game is here.

Dean's great success has propelled him to fourth in the USCL MVP standings.

Next match is huge for the Knockouts. It is against division leading Queens and it is this Monday night, October 6 at 7:15pm at the Internet Chess Club. A win for the Knockouts will put them tied for the division lead.