Philadel-Phiasco! New Jersey Wins and Secures First Place

by Joseph Criscuolo

The New Jersey Knockouts have clinched the Eastern Division Title after overwhelming the Philadelphia Inventors a score of 3.5-0.5. The Knockouts' Eastern Division Title was earned once the Boston Blitz failed to defeat the Miami Sharks, with a 2-2 draw. The Knockouts dominated the match with wins from Boris Gulko, Victor Shen, and Sean Finn and a draw from the Knockouts' top player, Joel Benjamin. The Knockouts currently have the best record in the US Chess League with an 8-1 record, a point ahead of the Western Division leading Seattle Sluggers (7-2).

New Jersey can break the all-time single season record, held by the San Francisco Mechanics at 8.5/10, with a win in their match next week against the Queens Pioneers. Queens will try to beat the Knockouts and hope for a rematch the next week in the US Chess League Playoffs. The Knockouts will own the best record in the US Chess League with either a win or draw.

On November 9th, the Knockouts will be slated to play the fourth seed in the Eastern Division, which has not yet been decided. Three teams are battling for this position, the Baltimore Kingfishers with 3.5 points, the Philadelphia Inventors with 3.0 points, and the Queens Pioneers with 2.5 points. While Baltimore is in the lead, they face the eliminated Tennessee Tempo who definitely could play spoiler and ruin their playoff chances. The Philadelphia Inventors will face the Carolina Cobras and can get in if they can get help from the Tennessee Tempo. The Queens Pioneers are the most unlikely playoff opponent as they trail Baltimore by a point and will need help from Tennessee and Carolina as well as defeat New Jersey.

While owning bragging rights for best team in the East the Knockouts also earned something more important, they will own draw odds for the quarterfinals and semifinals, meaning that if they draw the opponent they will win the round. This is why winning the Eastern Division title is more important. The Knockouts will have color choice in the first round, and if Boston fails to beat New York in the quarterfinals, the Knockouts will own color choice in the Semifinals as well. The Knockouts are guaranteed color choice in the champion match if they can win or draw against Queens or if Seattle draws or loses against Chicago.

Joel Benjamin continues on what has been a great season for him with a draw against Sergey Kudrin. In the eight games he has played this year he has only lost one match. The match between the two Grandmasters was relatively short as neither could find an advantage in the 16 moves that they played up until the two agreed with a draw.

Boris Gulko continues his domination of the US Chess League as he defeated Tom Bartell for his fifth consecutive win of the season as well as his eighth consecutive win in his perfect US Chess League. Gulko took advantage of Bartell early as he gained Bartell’s pawn on d5 on move fifteen with his bishop on c3. Bartell attempted a full attack to try to come back to defeat Gulko but in the end it wasn’t enough as Bartell resigned after move twenty three.

Victor Shen defeated Richard Costigan in a tight battle that was determined late in the game under time pressure for both sides. On move forty one Costigan had the opportunity to open up the game with a move such as Qg3 to set up what could be a winning advantage, instead he took a pawn with his Rook and lost his Knight and this eventually became an unbalanced endgame. However Victor Shen set up an attack that overwhelmed Costigan, and after a series of precise moves with his Queen, Rook, and Bishop (in severe time pressure no less), weaved a mating net from which Costigan could not escape.

Sean Finn magaged to earn his first ever US Chess League win over the 2002 and 2004 U.S. Women's Champion, and much higher rated, Jennifer Shahade. Finn went up a pawn on move twenty one with the move exf5 after Shahade played f5, the move also weakened the safety of her king as well. Finn would have a huge attack on Shahade which proved to be decisive as he was up by a Bishop and a pawn after thirty three moves. Shahade resigned after thirty five moves after Finn set up a beautiful attack which was more than the WGM and chess author could handle.

The Knockouts move to 8-1 and will play again next Wednesday in the last game of the season against the Queens Pioneers. Most games in the league has playoff implications, so tune into the Internet Chess Club for all fourteen teams in action!

New Jersey Turns Pike on Philadelphia

by Joseph Criscuolo

The New Jersey Knockouts look to cap off an excellent season by earning the Eastern Division title in the United States Chess League. If they are to do that, a good idea is to defeat the Philadelphia Inventors this week, who need a win to stay alive in the playoff race. The last time these two teams met earlier this season, the Knockouts defeated the Inventors by a score of 2.5-1.5 under a strong lineup headed by Joel Benjamin who certainly has to be one of the most important players in the US Chess League.

The Knockouts control their destiny in the East and can clinch first place this week with one of two situations, a Knockouts win combined with a Blitz draw or loss, or a Knockouts draw combined with a Blitz loss. Should one of these happen, the Knockouts will finish first place in the East with the advantage draw odd sand color choice in the first round against the fourth place team in the playoffs. This week's matchup features the Knockouts lineup of Joel Benjamin, Boris Gulko, Victor Shen, and Sean Finn against a tough Inventors lineup of Sergey Kudrin, Tom Bartell, Richard Costigan, and Jennifer Shahade. Time control for this match is game in 90 with 30 second time increments.

Board one features a matchup that was seen in week two, this time GM Joel Benjamin will be playing as black against GM Sergey Kudrin. In their first matchup, Joel Benjamin was victorious against Kudrin, in a 2.5-1.5 win for the Knockouts. Joel Benjamin has an undefeated record of 2-1 against Kudrin in the US Chess League. In the five games he has played, Kudrin has lost all five, it’s hard to imagine him losing a sixth consecutive game, but it’s also hard to see anything stopping Joel Benjamin whose lone loss came against the Arizona Scorpions.

GM Boris Gulko looks to go for his fifth win of the season with the white pieces against former New Jersey Knockout, FM Tommy Bartell. Last week, Gulko came in second the Game of the Week voting. The game will make Boris Gulko eligible to for the USCL All-Star Team, and with a record like his, he is likely to make it. The Knockouts definitely can look forward to having him in the playoffs. With a Benjamin-Gulko one-two punch in the playoffs, the Knockouts certainly give themselves a lineup that is hard to beat.

Off of his big win against the Boston Blitz, Victor Shen plays black on board three and looks to win his third game of the season against IM Richard Costigan. In the two games this season, Victor Shen has two wins including his Game of the Week third place in last week’s sweep of the Boston Blitz against Marc Esserman.

Sean Finn will be playing his second US Chess League match at board with the white pieces against WGM Jennifer Shahade. In his first match, Sean Finn managed to draw David Adelberg of the Arizona Scorpions in the only match which the Knockouts have lost this season so far. This is also Jennifer Shahade’s second game of the year, she defeated Jared Defibaugh of the Baltimore Kingfishers last week. Sean Finn will not be hula hooping during the match. No word on Shahade.

This match can be seen online at the Internet Chess Club on Wednesday, October 28 at 7:00 pm Eastern time. It is one of four matches that can be observed that night, which should be an exciting night in the US Chess League.

Knockouts Patently Infringe Inventors, 2.5 - 1.5

by Robert N. Bernard and Joseph Criscuolo

In the computer room of the Chapel Hill Academy in Lincoln Park, New Jersey (photo, right), the New Jersey Knockouts took down the Philadelphia Inventors Tuesday night by a score of 2.5-1.5 with wins coming from captain Joel Benjamin and upcoming star Anna Matlin. Dean Ippolito drew his game at board two. The win puts the Knockouts on top of the East with a 2-0 record, while putting the inventors at the bottom, looking up, with a 0-2 record. The Knockouts look to go 3-0 next Monday when they face the defending Eastern division champion Carolina Cobras in week three of US Chess League action.

The match started strangely, with Phildelphia's manager Alex Lenderman foregoing his advantage of the first move, by playing 1. a3 (photo, left, taken a few moves later). New Jersey's board two, IM Dean Ippolito had just won the New Jersey state championship the night before, calmly won a pawn, but then got into somewhat uncomfortable position, despite the material advantage. With Ippolito's time running down, Lenderman quixotically offered a draw, which Ippolito declined, but then made an offer, which, after a few minutes thought, Lenderman accepted. The draw gives Ippolito a season record of 1.5-0.5 in two games.

New Jersey's alternate Aviv Friedman, scraped off the rust, and began his season for the Knockouts with a loss on board three against Tom Bartell, who had tied with Ippolito in the New Jersey state championship the previous day. Friedman would battle on to the very end, resigning after move 60 after being unable to promote a pawn before Bartell did (see photo below, clockwise from top, Friedman, Ippolito, Matlin).

The score was then 1.5 - 0.5 in favor of the Inventors. But, the tides would soon turn.

Fourth board, and USCL and New Jersey rookie Anna Matlin would prove to be the difference maker in this match. Playing the first USCL game in her promising chess career, she would defeat Rahul Swaminathan. Matlin played a Sicilian Kan and was in a tough position after the opening, having to concede that her dark-squared bishop was badly placed, as Swaminathan enjoyed a confortable space advantage. Matlin ground hard in the middle game, eventually winning the pawn she needed in the endgame on move 34. She exchanged into a won king-and-pawn endgame, with Swaminathan resigning after move 50. This game would prove why a team needs to be good on all boards!

The match was then tied 1.5 to 1.5. It was all up to the veteran captain Benjamin.

Benjamin and Kudrin played a tight game (photo, right). The spectators on the Internet Chess Club were commented that one slight misstep on either side would cost the game. The game was equal in material until Benjamin gained the pawn he needed on move 35. Benjamin would win another pawn in the endgame. On move 60, with his pawns on the a-file and h-file, and a knight against Kudrin's lonely bishop, Kudrin realized that his time was up and resigned. Thus, the match was clinched for New Jersey.

After the match, Benjamin proclaimed that the Knockouts resilient and tenacious play carried the day, as only Matlin had decent winning chances for the majority of the match. The Knockouts were all smiles after the match (see photo below, left to right, Aviv Friedman, Anna Matlin, Joel Benjamin, Dean Ippolito).

The Knockouts take on the Carolina Cobras Monday September 14 at 7:00 pm on ICC. Going 3-0 would be big for them, as a strong start can help the Knockouts cause of solidifying their first playoff bid. Last year the Cobras defeated the Knockouts in week 8, a loss that would cost them the season. The Knockouts look to avenge that defeat in what should be an exciting matchup!