Victor Shen Annotates Win Over Getz

by Victor Shen
edited by Robert N. Bernard

Editor's note: We are honored to have Victor annotate this beautiful victory over Alec Getz of the New York Knights.

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Be2 e5 7. Nf3 h6 8. O-O Be7 9. Re1 O-O 10. h3 Be6 11. Bf1 Rc8 12. Nd5 Bxd5 13. exd5 Nb4 14. c4 a5

I was pretty happy about my position at this point, as I have two bishops and slightly more space. However, I found it more difficult than I thought to make progress.

15. a3 Na6 16. Bd2

I thought this was better than Rb1, as the rook may potentially be wanted on c1. Also, I had strange dreams of attacking the a5 pawn.

16...Nd7 17. b4 f5

18. Qb3

I spent way too much time playing this natural move, perhaps because I was frustrated that black had counterplay. The computer suggests the move 18. Qc2 as the road to advantage, which to me looked odd but actually is quite interesting as it stops a piece from coming to f6.

18...Bf6 19. Bc3 Qb6 20. Nd2

Apparently the retreat 20. Qd1! is the only way to make progress, as black's queen is slightly misplaced on b6. If e4, Nd4. This would have a been a cool solution to the problems of the pin on my queen and e4

20... axb4

My idea was 20... e4 21. Bxf6 Nxf6 22. c5

21. axb4 e4 22. Bxf6 Rxf6 23. Rab1 Ne5

24. Qc3

I was happy with this move. This is a position with not much going on, and so strategical maneuvering begins. My idea is c5, and I simply wait to see what black will do.

24...Qc7 25. Qe3

Now I gain the diagonal, but more importantly the d4 square for my queen.

25...Qf7 26. Kh1

I'm not sure how to assess this move, but I wanted to see what he would do. If he commited with Qh5, I would be free to break on the queenside, and I believed that with only 3 pieces he could not stir up much of an attack

26...Qh5 27. Rb3

Multipurpose: I protect h3 and the kingside, while at the same time may double on the c-file in the future.

27...Qh4 28. Kg1

...Ng4 ideas were scaring me.

28...Rg6 29. Rc1 Nc7 30. Qd4

Around here we were both down to about 5 minutes, but I thought that my position was easier to play. His c7 knight is clumsy, and my plan of c5 is simple. The computer says equal, but under the circumstances white should be preferred.

30...Ne8

It seems natural to try and get the knight into play, but now white's q-side initiative gives him a large advantage.

31. c5 Nf6 32. Rbc3

32...Ra8?

The losing mistake in time pressure. 32... Nh5 was necessary to quickly create threats with Nf4.

33. c6 Kh7

34. c7

Call me a coward, but with a couple minutes left I didn't want my queen to go too far
away. For example, 34. cxb7 Rb8 35. Qa7 Nfd7 36. Ra3!! followed by Rc8. The a-rook is
needed to guard against e3} (36. Rc8? e3!! 37. Qxe3 Rxb7) Note that 34. b5 is also
better than c7.

34... Rc8 35. b5

With the idea of b6 Ba6.

35...b6!

A good practical try in time pressure. Taking the b-pawn wins, but decided on a "safer" option.

36. Ra1?! Nfd7

Oops. he wants to bring a knight to c5.

37. Ra7 Nc5?

Instead, 37... Qe7 should hold.

38. Rxc5!

Forced, but good.

38...bxc5 39. Qe3 Nd7 40. Nc4 Qe7 41. Qb3 f4 42. b6 e3

With both our clocks running low, this move, though objectively bad, is scary.

43. Bd3?

Instead, 43. fxe3! fxe3 44. Qxe3 Qxe3+ 45. Nxe3 Nxb6 46. Bd3

43... e2 44. Bxg6+ Kh8

45. Ra1

Of course I saw 45. b7!, and of course I considered it. But with a minute on the clock I was seized with the fear of...I don't know... two queens for my opponent? Forgive me, but I didn't want to allow him two queens, lose, and have my teammates kick me. (45...e1=Q+ 46. Kh2 Rf8 47. Qf3!!)

45... e1=Q+ 46. Rxe1 Qxe1+ 47. Kh2 Nxb6

48. Nxd6?!

Winning immediately was 48. Nxb6! Rxc7 49. Qa4!

48... Qxf2 49. Nxc8 Nxc8 50. Bf5 c4 51. Qc3

Um... 51. Qa3! Eeek!

51... f3!

One last trick in time trouble.

52. Qxf3 Qc5 53. Qf4 Nb6

Or, 53... Nd6 54. Bg6 Kg8 55. c8=Q+

54. d6 Nd5 55. Qe5

1-0

Knockouts' Season Ends with loss to Knights

by Joseph Criscuolo

In a breakthrough season, the New Jersey Knockouts were two points away from making the US Chess League Finals, but unfortunately they fell short. Despite having the best record in the league during the regular season, the Knockouts fell to the New York Knights by a score of 2.5-1.5, a worthy team that the week before, defeated the second place Boston Blitz by the same score. The Knights will play the Miami Sharks in the US Chess League finals. The Knockouts' match was close the entire time, ending with three draws and one decisive game. The Knights' Yaacov Norowitz was the difference maker, as he defeated Sean Finn on board four. Certainly this match was another chapter in a short but exciting rivalry between the two teams, and one that should be exciting to follow for years to come.

On board one, it appeared that Joel Benjamin would earn his first win this year against Giorgi Kacheishvili but that would not be the case. Joel Benjamin was up by a pawn on move 55, but Kacheishvili would find a combination that would allow him to win an exchange and a pawn. The two players would then play on into a drawn endgame, something that would be costly at the end for the Knockouts.

On board two Dean Ippolito would end up drawing Pascal Charbonneau in a game that was unbalanced from early on. At move 19, Ippolito had a queen, two rooks, bishop, and five pawns against Charbonneau’s two rooks, two bishops, knight, and seven pawns. By move 44, it appeared that Charbonneau was clearly winning but Ippolito found a draw, a draw that Charbonneau happily accepted in what would help determine the match for the Knights.

Mackenzie Molner had a lot of chances to make this a 2-2 match with a board three win against Matt Herman, but time trouble was potentially the difference in this game. Molner managed to earn a pawn on move 10, one that would evaporate 5 moves later on move 15. The clock was not friendly to Molner as seen on move 17, when Herman owned 1:27:20 of clock while Molner just had 18:35 on his clock. As the game progressed the game became more and more equal and the two played to a draw.

Sean Finn had a tough challenge to make on board four, playing against Yaacov Norowitz, possibly the most dangerous player on board four. Move 22 was the defining move, one that would allow Norowitz to gain an important pawn, after Finn took Norowitz’s bishop, Norowitz would take the pawn with his bishop attacking the queen allowing for him to take Finn’s knight and become the hero of the match as he would checkmate Finn after thirty eight moves.

The Knockouts had never made the playoffs in their history, and despite their league-best record, the loss was a heartbreaker. Still, building on the success of this season should place the Knockouts as an elite team in the US Chess League for years to come.

A Geld Medal Performance (by Joel Benjamin)

by Joel Benjamin

Payback is sweet.

To paraphrase my good friend HOF GM Johnny (who the NY Knights have not let out of the stable yet), I have nothing against the Knights; I just hate them. It has already been pointed out that Giorgi Kacheishvili is a gentleman of the highest order, and the same is certainly true about Pascal Charbonneau. [Perhaps not true about Fed, but I like him anyway.] But really, after they quashed our playoff plans two years in a row, it is intensely satisfying to sweep them this year. [Good thing we got them early this season. Apparently the Gothamites don’t wake up until about round six.]

With limited time for blogging due to all my teaching, writing and daddying responsibilities, I usually focus on my own game of the match. But I don’t really want to say too much about my game with Kacheishvili.

It seems Giorgi didn’t pay much attention to the thrashing his countryman Mchedlishvili (I’m glad I just have to write that and not pronounce it) suffered at the hands of Nigel Short and didn’t prepare for 2.Ne2 in the Caro-Kann. I was handed a winning position on a silver platter, a pawn up for absolutely nothing. The only problem was choosing between a vast array of delicacies, which for some reason is difficult for me.

I think I did okay until move 18, when Bxf7+ would have led to an easily winning position, or even better, 18.Rxf7!. I was actually quite proud of 18.Bc2, thinking that Black had no chance to survive my kingside attack, but I overlooked some nuances (21…Bxc3 for starters) and soon I wasn’t winning anymore. I probably had some way to at least maintain an edge, but when you get in bad time pressure (for no particular reason) you can’t expect to find subtleties. Shortly before the end Giorgi tendered a pretty reasonable draw offer which I didn’t even notice until after I moved. We headed into that direction anyway, with an unusual perpetual check.

[I think Giorgi and I had only played once despite competing in several tournaments together for many years. Now we’ve played three times in one month!]

This is what I really want to talk about. Boris...Gulko. I want to put an adjective in the middle of his name, one with a few asterisks followed by a gerund. Anybody read the King’s Gambit by Paul Hoffman? Remember the nickname he mentioned for Rustam Kasimdzhanov? Well, that’s what I want to call Boris. After beating Pascal in an awesome game, Bo is now 5-0 for the Knockouts. It’s true that four of those games were whites, and he hasn’t had to play on board one, but his opposition hasn’t been too shabby and he’s won most of those games easily. This one certainly wasn’t easy. Pascal missed a kibitzer-pleasing miracle draw late in the game...

Instead of 55.Nf5, 55.Nd5!! forces Black to acquiesce to a stalemate.

But still, Boris was winning a move earlier with 54…Nf2 (instead of 54…Ke6). And the way Boris constructed a mating attack with so few pieces was impressive.

When Boris and I did a photo shoot for a local magazine last summer, I decided to ask him to join the Knockouts. I didn’t know what to expect; would he feel invested in the team, would he thrive in the Internet milieu? I figured we had nothing to lose with a player of his caliber, but I have to admit, I did not expect total domination.

Boris is so awesome, he’s really awe-a lot. I think he deserves a cool nickname. As the one who dubbed Alex Yermolinsky “the Yerminator,” I think I’m the right man for the job. Boris arrives for each game wearing the traditional head covering for Orthodox Jewish males. Therefore, he is “the Yarminator.” All bow before his awesome power.

Anna Matlin played a nice game against Norowitz, but like our first board, took way too much time on her moves. Matt Herman seems to be a player that thrives in wild, complicated positions, but he played a stronger version of himself. You just don’t get into a street fight with Molner, or you wind up the victim of a Big Mac Attack.

Next week we try for 5-0, staying up late for the Chicago Blaze. I’m not much for trash talking, but I believe we will get the job done, even if we have to face a lineup of four Ditkas.

K vs K, USCL Style: Knockouts Win Again!

Forget Valencia.... The real K versus K battle took place last night in the fourth week of the United States Chess League, where the New Jersey Knockouts defeated the New York Knights a the second time this season for their fourth consecutive win. The Knockouts remain the only undefeated, untied team this year, improving their record to an impressive 4-0. With the win, the Knockouts hold a one game lead in the Eastern division over the Boston Blitz, who are 3-1. The Knockouts got wins from Boris Gulko and Mackenzie Molner, while Joel Benjamin scored a draw. The win also kept the New York Knights on the playoff bubble, and if the playoffs were to begin today, we would see a third matchup between the first place Knockouts and fourth-place Knights.

The match between these Hudson River rivals wasn’t the only major chess event today. Earlier, old rivals Gary Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov faced off in Valencia, Spain. Not many chess players have beaten Kasparov, but one of the heroes of yesterday's USCL match, Boris Gulko, has beaten both of them, including a win over then World Champion Kasparov at Linares, 1990 (click here for the game).

The match was highlighted by a number of missed opportunities by both teams.

On board 1, Joel Benjamin has the white pieces, and managed to draw Giorgi Kacheishvili, giving him an impressive season record of 3-1. Benjamin was winning for much of the game, and 18.Rxf7! would have sealed the deal. However, he was unable to hold the win when he ran into time trouble. The game eventually was drawn by repetition on move 41. The draw was good enough for the Knockouts, as they would get their two wins they needed on the middle two boards.

On board 2, Boris Gulko played as black, and defeated Pascal Charbonneau to improve his career USCL record to 5-0. Gulko managed to gain a winning advantage on move 47 when he had a beautiful mating attack working for him that allowed him to win a bishop. In a wild turn of events on move Gulko's 54...Ke6? would have given a clear draw to Charbonneau, had he played the beautiful stalemate trick played 55. Nd5, but instead the knight went to f5, giving the game back to Gulko. They would play on until move 60 where Charbonneau finally resigned. This is Charbonneau's second loss this year against the Knockouts.

On board 3, Mackenzie Molner made his 2009 USCL debut as white and defeated Matt Herman in a wild tactical melee. It looked as Molner would easily win the match when Molner won the exchange on move 12, however things evened up on move 21 when he castled kingside on and gave away a bishop. After some more exchanges Molner missed a mate in three, but skewered Herman’s rook, which still gave Molner a clear advantage. Herman would resign on move 33.

On board 4, Anna Matlin played as black and lost to Yaacov Norowitz, who was over 300 points higher than her. Norowitz played the Stonewall formation, something that he recently lectured at the Kenilworth Chess Club. The Stonewall is something many can see when he blitzes on ICC. The game was pretty much even, as Matlin put up a strong fight against her higher rated opponent, until move 34 when she played e3, losing a pawn and that was enough for Norowitz to win the game. Still, a strong showing by Matlin who won upset of the week a few games ago.

The next game is Wednesday September 30, when the Knockouts face the Chicago Blaze at 8:00 pm in their first interleague game this season. As always the games can be watched on the Internet Chess Club. The Chicago Blaze is currently 1-3 in the Western Division. Other games of interest include Monday’s matchup which features the second place Boston Blitz who are battling the Knockouts for first place in the East, and the Baltimore Kingfishers who need the win to keep ahead of the New York Knights and Queens Pioneers, who play Wednesday. The New York Knights likely are better than what their record indicates.

Live Tweeting and Webcam Tonight

I am going to be Live Tweeting the match tonight. Join the NJ Knockouts on Twitter at...

Tweets: http://www.twitter.com/njknockouts

Also, there will be a live webcam tonight as well. Watch it at...

Webcam: http://www.blogtv.com/People/bioniclime

We hope to see you there!

Knockouts to Beat Dead Horse

by Joseph Criscuolo and Robert N. Bernard

In Week 1 of the USCL, the New York Knights put together the lineup of Kacheishvili, Charbonneau, Herman, and Norowitz, against the New Jersey Knockouts, and were defeated. They have elected to resurrect that dead horse and use that same losing lineup against the Knockouts in this week's rematch of that first week encounter. As New Jersey resident Yogi Berra might say, "It's deja vu all over again."

The first place New Jersey Knockouts will try to maintain their perfect record against a team they have already beaten the New York Knights. This matchup will have a major impact on how the second half of the season will flow, as a Knockouts' win will place them in a nice spot to clinch a playoff berth and keep the Knights in the bottom half of the standings. A Knights' win will put them half a game behind first place, setting up for a close battle in the second half of the season for the top of the division, and a possible rematch in the playoffs.

The Knights finally won their first match week when they defeated the Queens Pioneers 3.5-0.5. While the Horsies are using the same lineup, only Joel Benjamin returns for the Knockouts, playing first board. Boris Gulko, Mackenzie Molner, and Anna Matlin round out the remainder of the lineup for the Knockouts. Boris Gulko had an exciting debut in his first game of the season last week, winning a well deserved game of the week.

Playing as white on board 1 is GM Joel Benjamin (2641) against GM Giorgi Kacheishvili (2666). In week 1, they drew their game when Kacheishvili played as white. Joel Benjamin has put up an amazing performance for the Knockouts posting 2.5 points in 3 games. Joel Benjamin won his second game of the season last week against Johnathan Schroer of the Carolina Cobras, and those on ICC can see him review his game on ICC with his ICC Game of the Week radio show.

Playing as black on board 2 is GM Boris Gulko (2609) who will be facing GM Pascal Charbonneau (2560). Boris Gulko looks to remain undefeated in his US Chess League Career, with his all time record now standing at 4-0. Boris Gulko won the USCL Game of the Week prize last week with unbelievable play against Oleg Zaikov of the Carolina Cobras.

Playing his first game of the season as white on board 3 is Mackenzie Molner (2446) against Herman (2275). Molner had 5 points in 8 games last season and has previously played for the New York Knights in 2006, a year before the Knockouts inaugural season.

Playing as black on board 4 is Anna Matlin (2003) who is facing famous ICC blitzer Yaacov Norowitz (2354). Anna Maitlin was heroic in her first game for the Knockouts, defeating Rahul Swaminathan of Philadelphia on board 4 to deliver the win for the Knockouts as well as taking home Endgame Clothing's upset of the week award. A win or draw for Matlin will most likely win her upset of the week again, as Norowitz is 351 rating points over her. Placing Norowitz on board 4 was an interesting roster choice for the Knights, as he is 79 points higher than board 3, Matt Herman.

This exciting rematch be seen this Wednesday September 23 at 7:00 PM on ICC. With both teams fielding 2 GMs expect 2 close games on the top boards as well as the future of New Jersey chess in Molner and Matlin! And if you can’t get enough chess, there are four other USCL matchups that night for you to enjoy!

The Knockouts are sponsored by the New Jersey State Chess Federation.

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Become a fan of the Knockouts on Facebook!

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.

Real-time blogging: Week 5 -- battle of NJ and NY

11:43pm

Finally! They've agreed to a draw! And the Knew Jersey Knockouts win!! 2.5 - 1.5 over the Knew York Knights.

Next week, Wednesday October 3 at 7:00pm against the Carolina Cobras!

11:37pm

We're all tired, but the game continues. Is it a win for white or a draw?

11:19pm

The commentary is buzzing. It looks like it might end up with three pawns (NY) versus a rook (NJ). But things are still unclear.

11:09pm

Hess offered a draw to Mike Zlotnikov, but we don't think Zlotnikov acutally saw the offer, else he would have immediately accepted, since that would have won us the match. Oh boy...

11:04pm

Zlotnikov is still playing. Hess lost a pawn, but that seems to make his position freer, and he needs to win. They are shuffling pieces around the board, but Zlotinkov has got his rook in Hess's face, but it isn't clear how much it can do there.

10:46pm

Evan just blundered, and fell victim to ...Rxg6+ Kxg6 Qg5+ and then he resigned, as his rook was about to become victim to a Queen fork.

So the match stands at 2.0 - 1.0, with New Jersey still in the lead.

10:35pm

Hess knows he needs to win, and is justifiably reluctant to draw his game (and thus, lose the match for his team).

10:27pm

We've at least drawn the match. Evan is struggling to hold on on board 4, but it doesn't look good. He's exchanged his queen, and now has three minor pieces for White's queen and two pawns. She's pretty low on time, though. She needs to win, as it looks like Zlotnikov Hess has turned into the closed position shuffle.

10:18pm

Boom! Boom! Two wins back to back! Benjamin and Molner both won within seconds of one another, and the Knockouts lead 2.0 - 0.0!

10:14pm

Zlotnikov has offered a draw to Hess. Zlotnikov is way up on the clock, but the consensus seems to be that the position is roughly equal.

10:11pm

Evan Ju is still thinking. His time has now gone below his opponent. I am still blogging.

10:02pm

Mac played 30. Re7 ... he sacced another piece! Will it work? Does it win?? Is this the game of the week????

10:00pm

Mac is staring intently on the screen. Does 30. Re7 win for him?

Oh, and Bionic Woman is over.

9:57pm

The room is very tense. Mac is making waiting moves, trying to gain some time on the clock, but he is still very low on time. Zlotnikov and Hess are locked up in a very closed position. Evan Ju is still trying to figure out how to convert his advantage. The consensus is, though, that Joel has a significant advantage against Charbonneau.

9:47pm

Evan Ju has been thinking hard about his his opponent's 28. Rc3. He may be trying to calculate how the endgame will look for him if all the pieces have been swapped off. While he has a knight and a bishop for a rook and a pawn, the pawn on g3 will be lost soon, one way or another. He is up on the clock, though, and has the luxury of planning how to grasp a victory from the Tree of Winners.

9:40pm

There is a tactical possibility that has arisen on the Molner board, which Mac missed. 26. Re7 Bxe7 27. dxe7 Qc7 28. Qxh5!! +/-

9:31pm

Unlike most of the other weeks, the Knockouts are actually up on the clock on three of the four boards. The only board on where we are down is the Molner board, and that was due to the 49 minute think on the piece sac.

9:30pm

Molner (white) is trying to press his advantage. Looks rather dangerous for black, but if he comes out of it okay, then black is a piece up.

9:18pm

Eighteen minutes into the Bionic Woman premiere, and all four games are still going. Here are some random observations.

On Board 1, Charbonneau has forgotten that pawns can move two squares on their first move.
On Board 2, Hess gives new meaning to the phrase bad bishop.
On Board 3, the Big Mac Attack is still on track.
On Board 4, there is unbalance on the board and on the clock.

9:09pm

I didn't fully give credit to Mac Molner's piece sacrifice on Board 3. The jury is out on whether it is sound or not, but the crowd seems to think it is at least dangerous for black.

9:04pm

The coffee is especially good tonight. But the cups are a little too flexible. There are two choices of donuts, cinnamon and powdered sugar, but the powdered sugar has orange food coloring in it. Halloween is coming early, it seems.

8:49pm

Ugh. The series premiere of Bionic Woman starts in 11 minutes. I have to get a donut to console myself.

8:41pm

Life master Dr.Brian McCarthy (DropZone on ICC) made these comments about GM Joel's play in his game:
Joel has saved a tempo on Nigel Short's system of Be2-f3-g2 and g4, vs g3 g4 and bg2, and Nigel has been wiping the floor with people lately in one of the only lines he still scores with. Joel can try to save the Be3 tempo for something else (a trick Nigel also uses) but Joel can think he is 2 tempi up on a main line, maybe even 3, since he has left out Kh1, a universal Nigel move.Thanks for letting us use the comments, DropZone!

8:37pm

The general consensus is that Joel Benjamin seems to have a very good position against Charbonneau, and he's up on the clock to boot. One observer made what appears to be astute comments about the game, and claimed that Joel has made improvements on Nigel Short's system of beating the Sicilian.

8:34pm

Observers at each of the games...
Board 1: 86
Board 2: 43
Board 3: 34
Board 4: 37

8:33pm

Mac still hasn't moved. He's gone from looking at the physical board to the screen.

8:22pm

Wow! On Board 3, Mac Molner has gone into a very long think. It is almost 40 minutes so far. The wide open position allows a lot of possibilities for attack and Molner is ready for a Big Mac Attack! (image taken from: www.andygonsalves.com)



8:20pm

On Board 1, Joel Benjamin's 12. g4 has confused Charbonneau, who is thinking long and hard as to why he only occupies 3/8 of the board.

8:09pm

I'm hopeful the Knockouts can win the matches quickly tonight, so I can go home and catch the premiere of "Bionic Woman".

8:08pm

As many of you know, at the playing site, the players have the option of playing on the physical board or on the computer screen. The rules state that once you make a move on the board, you must make that move on the screen. Most of the players seem to use the physical board for the first half of the game, and then they move to the screen.


7:57pm

On Board 1, captain GM Joel Benjamin is on the White side of some strange "Marmotta Nordamericana" opening, which is actually Italian for 'woodchuck', since I was trying to find hedgehog in Italian, cause to me it started as a Sicilian and turned into a hedgehog.

Ok, I'm losing it.

7:47pm

On Board 2, IM Mike Zlotnikov wields the ebony warriors against the ivory soldiers controlled by IM Robert Hess. Mike has played a Modern-like opening, jettisoned his bad bishop and has eyes on the big hole on g3.

Here's Mike setting up his pieces at the beginning of the game, while GM Joel Benjamin looks on.


7:38pm

On Board 3, the Knockouts' Mac Molner is playing white against FM Marc Arnold. Already on the 16th move, Mac has castled long and has flung his kingside pawns in what appears to be a kitchen sink attack against Arnold's wing. Arnold's king is stuck in the center, and it appears that this will be a wild ride.

Here's a picture of Mac in his pre-match warmup -- trademark headphones, playing a 5-minute game.


7:31pm

We'll go around the horn now, and check out each of the games. Let's start with Board 4...

On Board 4, the Knockouts' Evan Ju, the current US Cadet Champion, has the black pieces against WFM Irina Zenyuk. 26 people are tuned in watch Evan skillfully rearranging his pieces on the back row, while keeping an eye on the closed phalanxed center.

7:26pm

Finally all the games have started. Because of their delay in starting the games 2 and 3, the Knights were given a 12 minute penalty on those two boards. USCL commissioner Greg Shahade threw the yellow flag, blew his whistle, crossed his arms, and said "Delay of game!"

7:21pm

A picture of GM Joel Benjamin's board, awaiting Charbonneau's response to 2. Nf3.



7:18pm

The Knights are having trouble getting their act together. Maybe they are helping each other set up the boards properly? :-)

7:11pm

And two of the games have started! Evan Ju is black in a King's Indian Defense, and !st board Joel Benjamin seems to have completely stumped New York's Pascal Charbonneau, with 1. e4 c5 2. Nf6 ... Charbonneau is having a long think about this incredibly unusual move from Benjamin.

7:05pm

Evan Ju is here, he's here from the Garden State Parkway.

7:01pm

The matches are scheduled to start in five minutes. Most of the New Jersey team is here, the remainder is on the Garden State Parkway, again...

3:43pm

Its getting time for the battle of the Hudson River, the battle of the silent Ks. The Knew Jersey Knockouts and the Knew York Knights have Knever met, and the clash begins at seven tonight.