Webcam
http://www.blogtv.com/People/bioniclime
Video of Boston Creme Donut Smashed by a Hammer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnPsDrl6JWs
11:24pm
Wow! A sweep! 4-0 NJ!!!
10:49pm
Dean wins! NJ up 1-0
10:35pm
All the games going. clocks low. Incredible tension.
10:20pm
Dean has won a piece! S-H has some checks, but it looks like Dean can get out of it.
10:07pm
Sammour-Hasbun has a crucial move here. Nakamura suggested two equally plausible paths. One a draw, one a win for Dean. Which path will he take?
9:58pm
Victor in good shape, but he and Andrew are low on time.
9:48pm
Esserman offered a draw on Board 3, but Victor is going for the knockout with the killer move 25. d6.
9:47pm
Things heating up. Except the room.
9:28pm
Andrew Ng on Board 4 is still in a tough position, but slowly might be squirming his way out of it. His opponent may not be taking advantage enough of his initiative.
9:23pm
Victor Shen played the smashing move 19. Bxh6, completely crashing apart Esserman's kingside pawns. Esserman is on the ropes. Can he recover?
9:17pm
Ippolito 45min / Sammour-Hasbun 26min... A wild position, where Dean seems to be contemplating trading queens.
9:07pm
Gulko 49min / Perelshteyn 36min... Gulko's thinking about his 23rd move. He's got the two bishops and a little extra space.
8:56pm
It is almost 9pm -- the match is almost two hours old. The room has cooled a bit, but it is still in the low 80s in the room. In a few minutes, we'll go around the horn again, and see how all the boards stand.
8:51pm
Dean has no Red Bull this week. Just coffee... He did tell me that he went 12-0 at his simul this past weekend, so yay for Dean!
8:49pm
We're handling the clock well two weeks in a row. Only down significantly on board 4, where the position is tough anway.
8:39pm
Andrew Ng's position on Board 4 looks rough already. He's got a white knight buried in his position, doubled and weak e-pawns, his knight is rather passive. Material is even, but it looks like he's going to have to extricate himself from a messy and difficult situation.
8:33pm
On Board 3, Victor Shen has his Bishop dominating the center of the board at d5, and a nice white pawn center. The only issue is that he's a bout 10 minutes down on the clock.
8:21pm
On Board 2, Dean Ippolito is up 10 minutes on the clock, and has made the long-diagonal smashing move 16...Qa8, lining up his queen right behind his rook on a7.
8:15pm
Over on Board 1, Gulko and Perelshteyn have a battle of the pawn structures. Gulko's isolani versus Perelshteyn's doubled g-pawns. Gulko has some weak light-squares around his king, but without a light-squared bishop, and Perelsheyn capitalize? Clocks are pretty even.
8:12pm
The donut smashing video is causing discussion.
7:59pm
It is almost 8:00pm and there are 71, 54, 52, and 47 people observing the four boards of the Knockouts' match.
7:56pm
On Board 4, Andrew Ng, winner of the aformentioned 2009 US Cadet Championship, is playing Andrew Wang. Ng threw up a Sicilian and was given 3. Bb5+. He's now down on the clock, pondering his 13th move.
7:48pm
On Board 3, we have high school junior, PanAm Under-16 Gold Medalist, and runner up in the 2009 US Cadet Championship, Victor Shen. He's playing newly minted IM Marc Esserman, who has been a USCL phenom. He seems to win all the time. Victor is on the White side of Two Knight's Defense and is taking a long look at deciding how to recpature on his 12th move. Bishop or Pawn?
7:38pm
On Board 2, Dean Ippolito as Black is facing a Catalan, an opening he apparently plays a lot as White. Dean is carefully pondering his 11th move, and the commentators are wondering if he has forgotten his theory. Unlikely...
7:34pm
Let's go around the horn and see what's up on each board.
On Board 1, Gulko (as white) is in a topical line of the Slav Defense. His Blitz opponent just threw out 12...Qa5, and Gulko is going into a think for the first time this evening.
7:29pm
The room is about 85 degrees, but the heat is going off at 8pm, and it will get cold soon afterward.
7:25pm
Ippolito's game finally started. JS-H wasted 12 minutes on his first move. Probably transfixed by the donut smashing video.
7:20pm
Dean Ippolito's opponent, J. Sammour-Hasbun, has decided not to play, apparently. It has been 9 minutes and he still has not moved.
7:07pm
We're live from Chapel Hill Academy in Lincoln Park NJ. We smashed a Boston Creme Blitz donut prior to the match with a hammer. You can see the video evidence on youtube.
Showing posts with label real-time blog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label real-time blog. Show all posts
Monday, October 19, 2009
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Live blog Week 7 versus Baltimore
Blog: http://njknockouts.blogspot.com/2009/10/live-blog-week-6-versus-baltimore.html
Tweets: http://www.twitter.com/njknockouts
11:11pm
Anna has won! New Jersey is in the playoffs for the first time in USCL history!
Here's a picture of the team before the match.
10:57pm
Joel's game ended in a draw by repetition. New Jersey leads 1.5-0.5. With a match win tonight, New Jersey is in the playoffs.
10:28pm
Kapengut has left the building. Anna and her opponent are locked in a tight endgame sruggle. Gulko the Grinder is still grinding. Joel's position is markedly better, and might head for a draw.
10:19pm
Kapengut wins! His opponent flagged in a complex and interesting position!
10:14pm
Anna has traded to a pawn up endgame. She has the two bishops against her opponent's bishop and knight.
10:13pm
Kapengut's opponent declined the offer, and is now pushing is queenside pawns.
10:08pm
Kapengut has offered a draw on board 3. A strategic offer, since he's down on material, but way up on the clock.
10:05pm
Wow -- this looks close. Perhaps Joel can draw on board 1, but he's low on the clock. Gulko just needs to continue to grind on board 2. Kapengut is in an interesting position, and his oppoent is very low on the clock. Anna is trying to find a better move than the one good one that's there.
9:44pm
Anna looks like she's in good shape. Benjamin is trying to grind out a draw. Gulko is still slowing building up.
Here's Anna before the match.
9:32pm
Everyone tonight wearing a different color. Anna in purple, Albert in blue, Boris in red, Joel in green.
9:25pm
All games are having a multitude of captures. Matlin's and Kapengut's opponents have 16 and 13 minutes on the clock left respectively, and are on move 16 and 24.
9:18pm
All games have gotten quite interesting. Joel Benjamin looks like he's given up the c-file to Enkhbat's powerful rook battery. Kapengut smashing open Uesagi's position. Gulko GMing Kaufman to death. Matlin tense in a sharp Scotch.
9:04pm
Some excellent imbalances in the Kapengut game. But Uesugi spent a LOT of time, and is way down on the clock.
8:50pm
Pre-match preparations... Kapengut (left) and Gulko (right) are discussing important issues relevant to many people. Ok, it was in Russian, and I don't know what was being said, but it sure looked serious.
8:48pm
Kapengut's game also getting interesting... looks like there might be some imbalances soon.
8:46pm
Looks like Matlin's game going to get tactical pretty soon. According to Kenilworthian blogger extrordinaire, Michael Goeller, Matlin has been following Kasparov-Yusupov, 1994 through 11. Qa5.
8:37pm
It is completely amazing to me that all of the New Jersey boards are up on time. Looks like we out-prepared the Kingfishers this week, making up for Arizona's uber-preparation that killed us last week.
8:35pm
Gulko's bishops look very very nasty, sitting on a2 and a3, cutting a swath down the middle of the board.
8:18pm
The crowds are restless... Can we see the donuts! Free the donuts! I'm wondering if I sold the pictures of the donuts to Us magazine, would they fetch a higher price than a picture of Brad and Angelina's new baby? Naw, forget it. Here they are!
8:13pm
Guess what? We have donuts tonight. That means invincibility. Next week, we're playing Boston, and having... you guessed it... Boston Cremes.
8:02pm
On Board 4, Anna Matlin puts up her 1-1 USCL record against Jared Defibaugh. As white, she played the Scotch, which she had prepared for. Joel Benjamin and Anna did some pre-match conferring on the opening -- see picture on right.
8:01pm
Nope... Breaking up ice... I think it was Sharon Stone.
7:54pm
What the heck was that noise?? It sounded like someone decided to pop some popcorn outside the playing room. I'd better investigate.
7:51pm
On Board 3, IM Albert Kapengut is taking on Uesugi. Kapengut has gone into his first serious think of the game. We has a typical pose for thinking, hands on both cheeks, low board, slightly hunched over the board.
7:48pm
On Board 2, GM Boris Gulko, and his undefeated USCL record, is playing the World Champion... No, not Anand, but instead World Senior Champion, GM Lary Kaufman. Gulko tossed out an English, but Kaufman really wasn't comfortable playing against that, and Gulko transposed into a Queen Pawn opening, which Kaufman turned into a Nimzo-Indian.
It's move 12, and Gulko has added two minutes to his clock, while Kaufman is down 20 minutes already. Gulko is relaxed, leaning back, casually staring at the board.
7:42pm
Let's go around the horn and see what we've got.
On Board 1, GM Joel Benjamin is playing IM Enkhbat, a USCL veteran. Benjamin has black and is playing against Enkhbat's Catalan. They are already on move 11, and Joel has a five minute advantage on the clock.
7:36pm
In my three years of the Knockouts' play, I cannot remember us ever being ahead on time on all four boards 20 minutes into the match. But we are. Board 2, 3, and 4 have all gained time.
7:35pm
Early in the match, and all players looked relaxed. Before the match started, Benjamin gave Matlin some last minute preparation; Gulko and Kapengut chatted seriously in Russian.
7:31pm
We're off! And the blogging has started.
Tweets: http://www.twitter.com/njknockouts
11:11pm
Anna has won! New Jersey is in the playoffs for the first time in USCL history!
Here's a picture of the team before the match.
10:57pmJoel's game ended in a draw by repetition. New Jersey leads 1.5-0.5. With a match win tonight, New Jersey is in the playoffs.
10:28pm
Kapengut has left the building. Anna and her opponent are locked in a tight endgame sruggle. Gulko the Grinder is still grinding. Joel's position is markedly better, and might head for a draw.
10:19pm
Kapengut wins! His opponent flagged in a complex and interesting position!
10:14pm
Anna has traded to a pawn up endgame. She has the two bishops against her opponent's bishop and knight.
10:13pm
Kapengut's opponent declined the offer, and is now pushing is queenside pawns.
10:08pm
Kapengut has offered a draw on board 3. A strategic offer, since he's down on material, but way up on the clock.
10:05pm
Wow -- this looks close. Perhaps Joel can draw on board 1, but he's low on the clock. Gulko just needs to continue to grind on board 2. Kapengut is in an interesting position, and his oppoent is very low on the clock. Anna is trying to find a better move than the one good one that's there.
9:44pm
Anna looks like she's in good shape. Benjamin is trying to grind out a draw. Gulko is still slowing building up.
Here's Anna before the match.
9:32pm
Everyone tonight wearing a different color. Anna in purple, Albert in blue, Boris in red, Joel in green.
9:25pm
All games are having a multitude of captures. Matlin's and Kapengut's opponents have 16 and 13 minutes on the clock left respectively, and are on move 16 and 24.
9:18pm
All games have gotten quite interesting. Joel Benjamin looks like he's given up the c-file to Enkhbat's powerful rook battery. Kapengut smashing open Uesagi's position. Gulko GMing Kaufman to death. Matlin tense in a sharp Scotch.
9:04pm
Some excellent imbalances in the Kapengut game. But Uesugi spent a LOT of time, and is way down on the clock.
8:50pm
Pre-match preparations... Kapengut (left) and Gulko (right) are discussing important issues relevant to many people. Ok, it was in Russian, and I don't know what was being said, but it sure looked serious.
8:48pm
Kapengut's game also getting interesting... looks like there might be some imbalances soon.
8:46pm
Looks like Matlin's game going to get tactical pretty soon. According to Kenilworthian blogger extrordinaire, Michael Goeller, Matlin has been following Kasparov-Yusupov, 1994 through 11. Qa5.
8:37pm
It is completely amazing to me that all of the New Jersey boards are up on time. Looks like we out-prepared the Kingfishers this week, making up for Arizona's uber-preparation that killed us last week.
8:35pm
Gulko's bishops look very very nasty, sitting on a2 and a3, cutting a swath down the middle of the board.
8:18pm
The crowds are restless... Can we see the donuts! Free the donuts! I'm wondering if I sold the pictures of the donuts to Us magazine, would they fetch a higher price than a picture of Brad and Angelina's new baby? Naw, forget it. Here they are!
8:13pmGuess what? We have donuts tonight. That means invincibility. Next week, we're playing Boston, and having... you guessed it... Boston Cremes.
8:02pm
On Board 4, Anna Matlin puts up her 1-1 USCL record against Jared Defibaugh. As white, she played the Scotch, which she had prepared for. Joel Benjamin and Anna did some pre-match conferring on the opening -- see picture on right.
8:01pm
Nope... Breaking up ice... I think it was Sharon Stone.
7:54pm
What the heck was that noise?? It sounded like someone decided to pop some popcorn outside the playing room. I'd better investigate.
7:51pm
On Board 3, IM Albert Kapengut is taking on Uesugi. Kapengut has gone into his first serious think of the game. We has a typical pose for thinking, hands on both cheeks, low board, slightly hunched over the board.
7:48pm
On Board 2, GM Boris Gulko, and his undefeated USCL record, is playing the World Champion... No, not Anand, but instead World Senior Champion, GM Lary Kaufman. Gulko tossed out an English, but Kaufman really wasn't comfortable playing against that, and Gulko transposed into a Queen Pawn opening, which Kaufman turned into a Nimzo-Indian.
It's move 12, and Gulko has added two minutes to his clock, while Kaufman is down 20 minutes already. Gulko is relaxed, leaning back, casually staring at the board.
7:42pm
Let's go around the horn and see what we've got.
On Board 1, GM Joel Benjamin is playing IM Enkhbat, a USCL veteran. Benjamin has black and is playing against Enkhbat's Catalan. They are already on move 11, and Joel has a five minute advantage on the clock.
7:36pm
In my three years of the Knockouts' play, I cannot remember us ever being ahead on time on all four boards 20 minutes into the match. But we are. Board 2, 3, and 4 have all gained time.
7:35pm
Early in the match, and all players looked relaxed. Before the match started, Benjamin gave Matlin some last minute preparation; Gulko and Kapengut chatted seriously in Russian.
7:31pm
We're off! And the blogging has started.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Cobras, Real time blog week 8 and webcam
FACEBOOK: Join the NJ Knockouts group on Facebook!
ARTICLE: Read a profile of Benjamin and Gulko at 201 Magazine.
WEBCAM: Watch the live NJKO webcam at http://www.blogtv.com/People/bioniclime
10:58pm
Next week, New Jersey takes on Miami and tries to lock up a playoff berth.
10:54pm
In the span of a few minutes, several things happened -- and the match ended.
Ju resigned his game, after his attack fizzled.
Molner lost the thread, lost a piece, and lost the game.
Milman resigned and Joel won.
Shen and Jones agreed to a draw.
Carolina wins a squeaker, 2.5 - 1.5.
10:38pm
On Board 2, Mac Molner is up a piece for some pawns, in a very entertaining position. Will he be able to pull it off? He seems to excel in unbalanced positions.
10:31pm
On Board 4, Victor Shen is down to 50 seconds or so. It is going to be tight there too!
10:29pm
On Board 3, Evan Ju is down to 38 seconds in a crazy position. His opponent must play carefully to counter Evan's speculative attack.
10:19pm
I always wondered. A sacrifice is called a "sac". But which is correct, "saccing" or "sacking"?
10:17pm
Joel is walking from game to game, checking out all the other players' action. His serpentine movements are ironic.
10:05pm
The room is quiet as the tension in palpable.
On Board 1, Joel Benjamin has a menacing position, with his knight squarely in the center of Milman's esophagus.
On Board 2, Mac Molner has some space, and a decent time advantage, but it is not clear whether it is enough for the pawn.
On Board 3, Evan Ju forayed a rook onto f5, sacking a pawn in the process. A risky move by the young man, but his play is inspired.
On Board 4, Victor Shen, down on the clock but with an even position, looks like it will be down to the wire.
9:45pm
Joel Benjamin's pieces are slowing making their way toward Milman's king. With a few more exchanges, Joel could see a solid plus.
9:40pm
On Board 1, a third mate-in-one threat from Joel Benjamin. Trying to see if his opponent will fall for it. (wink, wink)
9:38pm
On Board 3, Simpson is trying to open the position against Evan Ju. Ju's next move will be to bludgeon Simpson's thorax with his mighty pieces of doom.
9:35pm
On Board 2, Mac Molner is trying to figure out how to hold his initiative for his sacked pawn. White looks pretty solid, though, so it might be time for Mac to rip the intestines out of his opponent's position.
9:25pm
Back on Board 1, Joel has thrust his bishop into the love handles of Milman's position with the pointy Bh6!
9:19pm
Evan Ju is having a long think about his fifteenth move. It seems like this is the critical position on how he is going to break the game open.
9:15pm
After a couple of munchkins, its back to blogging. Victor Shen has loosened up his position, with an exchange of rooks along the a-file.
8:54pm
Victor Shen is down on time by a big margin on board four. White also has the bishop pair and more space. Looks like Victor will have to do something drastic to get back in the game.
8:50pm
On Board 2, Mac has his big wood ready to smash White's queenside pawns, which theink they're going somewhere.
8:44pm
GM Alex Yermolinsky is commenting on Joel's game on board 1. He said that Milman's parrying of Joel's mate-in-one threats was "no fun". We agree!
8:43pm
The games all seem to be tight. For a change, it appears like New Jersey has time advantage on three of the four boards, which is unusual
8:39pm
Joel Benjamin is throwing around another mate-in-one threat.
8:38pm
The ubiquitous back up alarm is going off again! Ah, it stopped.
8:36pm
On Board 2, Carolina's Zaikov is trying to emulate a Fischer Random setup, but putting all his pieces on the first rank.
8:34pm
Joel's Ng5 throws out the mate in one threat. Maybe Milman will do a Kramnik and not see it?
8:20pm
Joel Benjamin will be commentating on the Internet Chess Club on the World Chess Championship, which starts tomorrow. The game tonight serves as a good warmup for it!
8:14pm
On Board 2, Mac Molner has some wide open a- and b-files. I expect that's where his attack will begin on the defenseless Cobra.
8:07pm
Joel is pacing the room like an expectant father, or so he said earlier. Indeed, both Evan Ju and Victor Shen are Joel's students.
8:03pm
On Board 1, Joel is trying his best to get in time trouble again. A fifteen minute think on move 13 for the little pawn push a2-a3. Certainly, there is deep meaning in the pawn push -- don't get me wrong -- but the pawn taking 15 minutes to go 2.25" means it was moving at 0.000142 miles per hour.
8:02pm
The room, once again, is cold, but not as bad as it has been before. The air conditioner is actually on today, because of the near 80 degree temperatures today in New Jersey.
7:59pm
We've not been known to have a plethora of fans show up to the site, but today we have a local Expert who's walking around the room taking in the games. All NJ fans are welcome to join the action here at the Chapel Hill Academy.
7:50pm
The webcam is a big hit among the fans, but it seems that Boston is dispensing with their webcam because it makes the players too uncomfortable. I find that really interesting, as players are used to being watched all the time at tournaments, and the webcam subscriptions (number of watchers) is usually so low.
7:47pm
On Board 4, Craig Jones of Carolina has pulled out a pure English against fourth board and second year Knockout Victor Shen. Both have spent about 10 minutes and are on the 9th move.
7:42pm
On Board 3, 2007 US Cadet Champion Evan Ju has pulled out a Ruy Lopez against FM Ron Simpson. On move 8, Evan is down on the clock nine minutes or so, and has just played Be3.
7:37pm
On Board 2, Mac Molner, true to his reputation, has essayed a Benko Gambit against FM Zaikov. Playing quickly and confidently, Mac has gained a minutes and a half on the clock already on move 12.
7:34pm
Joel Benjamin, first board and captain of of the NJ Knockouts, has an interesting Closed Sicilian against IM Lev Milman. Milman has played all seven games for the Cobras and has done well.
7:32pm
Hard to get the webcam aligned just right. Evan Ju is being cut out a bit from it.
7:24pm
Welcome to week 8 of the Knockouts' (presumably) championship season! We're live at the Chapel Hill Academy in Lincoln Park, NJ, to watch the Knockouts take on the second place Carolina Cobras!
ARTICLE: Read a profile of Benjamin and Gulko at 201 Magazine.
WEBCAM: Watch the live NJKO webcam at http://www.blogtv.com/People/bioniclime
10:58pm
Next week, New Jersey takes on Miami and tries to lock up a playoff berth.
10:54pm
In the span of a few minutes, several things happened -- and the match ended.
Ju resigned his game, after his attack fizzled.
Molner lost the thread, lost a piece, and lost the game.
Milman resigned and Joel won.
Shen and Jones agreed to a draw.
Carolina wins a squeaker, 2.5 - 1.5.
10:38pm
On Board 2, Mac Molner is up a piece for some pawns, in a very entertaining position. Will he be able to pull it off? He seems to excel in unbalanced positions.
10:31pm
On Board 4, Victor Shen is down to 50 seconds or so. It is going to be tight there too!
10:29pm
On Board 3, Evan Ju is down to 38 seconds in a crazy position. His opponent must play carefully to counter Evan's speculative attack.
10:19pm
I always wondered. A sacrifice is called a "sac". But which is correct, "saccing" or "sacking"?
10:17pm
Joel is walking from game to game, checking out all the other players' action. His serpentine movements are ironic.
10:05pm
The room is quiet as the tension in palpable.
On Board 1, Joel Benjamin has a menacing position, with his knight squarely in the center of Milman's esophagus.
On Board 2, Mac Molner has some space, and a decent time advantage, but it is not clear whether it is enough for the pawn.
On Board 3, Evan Ju forayed a rook onto f5, sacking a pawn in the process. A risky move by the young man, but his play is inspired.
On Board 4, Victor Shen, down on the clock but with an even position, looks like it will be down to the wire.
9:45pm
Joel Benjamin's pieces are slowing making their way toward Milman's king. With a few more exchanges, Joel could see a solid plus.
9:40pm
On Board 1, a third mate-in-one threat from Joel Benjamin. Trying to see if his opponent will fall for it. (wink, wink)
9:38pm
On Board 3, Simpson is trying to open the position against Evan Ju. Ju's next move will be to bludgeon Simpson's thorax with his mighty pieces of doom.
9:35pm
On Board 2, Mac Molner is trying to figure out how to hold his initiative for his sacked pawn. White looks pretty solid, though, so it might be time for Mac to rip the intestines out of his opponent's position.
9:25pm
Back on Board 1, Joel has thrust his bishop into the love handles of Milman's position with the pointy Bh6!
9:19pm
Evan Ju is having a long think about his fifteenth move. It seems like this is the critical position on how he is going to break the game open.
9:15pm
After a couple of munchkins, its back to blogging. Victor Shen has loosened up his position, with an exchange of rooks along the a-file.
8:54pm
Victor Shen is down on time by a big margin on board four. White also has the bishop pair and more space. Looks like Victor will have to do something drastic to get back in the game.
8:50pm
On Board 2, Mac has his big wood ready to smash White's queenside pawns, which theink they're going somewhere.
8:44pm
GM Alex Yermolinsky is commenting on Joel's game on board 1. He said that Milman's parrying of Joel's mate-in-one threats was "no fun". We agree!
8:43pm
The games all seem to be tight. For a change, it appears like New Jersey has time advantage on three of the four boards, which is unusual
8:39pm
Joel Benjamin is throwing around another mate-in-one threat.
8:38pm
The ubiquitous back up alarm is going off again! Ah, it stopped.
8:36pm
On Board 2, Carolina's Zaikov is trying to emulate a Fischer Random setup, but putting all his pieces on the first rank.
8:34pm
Joel's Ng5 throws out the mate in one threat. Maybe Milman will do a Kramnik and not see it?
8:20pm
Joel Benjamin will be commentating on the Internet Chess Club on the World Chess Championship, which starts tomorrow. The game tonight serves as a good warmup for it!
8:14pm
On Board 2, Mac Molner has some wide open a- and b-files. I expect that's where his attack will begin on the defenseless Cobra.
8:07pm
Joel is pacing the room like an expectant father, or so he said earlier. Indeed, both Evan Ju and Victor Shen are Joel's students.
8:03pm
On Board 1, Joel is trying his best to get in time trouble again. A fifteen minute think on move 13 for the little pawn push a2-a3. Certainly, there is deep meaning in the pawn push -- don't get me wrong -- but the pawn taking 15 minutes to go 2.25" means it was moving at 0.000142 miles per hour.
8:02pm
The room, once again, is cold, but not as bad as it has been before. The air conditioner is actually on today, because of the near 80 degree temperatures today in New Jersey.
7:59pm
We've not been known to have a plethora of fans show up to the site, but today we have a local Expert who's walking around the room taking in the games. All NJ fans are welcome to join the action here at the Chapel Hill Academy.
7:50pm
The webcam is a big hit among the fans, but it seems that Boston is dispensing with their webcam because it makes the players too uncomfortable. I find that really interesting, as players are used to being watched all the time at tournaments, and the webcam subscriptions (number of watchers) is usually so low.
7:47pm
On Board 4, Craig Jones of Carolina has pulled out a pure English against fourth board and second year Knockout Victor Shen. Both have spent about 10 minutes and are on the 9th move.
7:42pm
On Board 3, 2007 US Cadet Champion Evan Ju has pulled out a Ruy Lopez against FM Ron Simpson. On move 8, Evan is down on the clock nine minutes or so, and has just played Be3.
7:37pm
On Board 2, Mac Molner, true to his reputation, has essayed a Benko Gambit against FM Zaikov. Playing quickly and confidently, Mac has gained a minutes and a half on the clock already on move 12.
7:34pm
Joel Benjamin, first board and captain of of the NJ Knockouts, has an interesting Closed Sicilian against IM Lev Milman. Milman has played all seven games for the Cobras and has done well.
7:32pm
Hard to get the webcam aligned just right. Evan Ju is being cut out a bit from it.
7:24pm
Welcome to week 8 of the Knockouts' (presumably) championship season! We're live at the Chapel Hill Academy in Lincoln Park, NJ, to watch the Knockouts take on the second place Carolina Cobras!
Monday, October 6, 2008
NJ vs Queens! Live blogging and webcam!
Knockouts versus Pioneers, LIVE!
Tonight, we had a live webcam!
The Knockouts and the Pioneers tied 2-2. Next week is the Carolina Cobras, in the battle for 2nd place in the Eastern division!
Tonight, we had a live webcam!
The Knockouts and the Pioneers tied 2-2. Next week is the Carolina Cobras, in the battle for 2nd place in the Eastern division!
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Real-time Match Updates, Week 5 Philadelphia
10:54pm
An interesting endgame in the Ippolito Costigan game. Who will queen first?
10:38pm
Dean is slowing pushing his advantage. If he wins, it will be a huge win for Knockouts. As it is, though, a win is a win!
10:27pm
Andrew Ng has gone home, probably to do his homework. Joel Benjamin is talking with Michael Khodarkovsky, manager and assistant manager planning strategy for the next match, as they await the conclusion of Dean Ippolito's game.
10:18pm
And Andrew has won! The Knockouts win the match 2.5 - 1.5! Only Dean Ippolito's game to finish up!
10:17pm
Andrew is now way ahead.
10:09pm
Andrew looks like he's trying to finish off the game, but he's standing up, pacing around in his t-shirt, since it is so cold in this room.
Now he's coughing. Poor kid is going to get pneumonia!
10:03pm
Ah! Kudrin and Benjamin saw the draw offer, finally, and Board 1 is drawn. The Knockouts lead 1.5 - 0.5
10:02pm
Kudrin and Benjamin just offered a draw to each other. And Joel missed seeing it.
10:00pm
Andrew Ng has emerged from downtown Tactics City up an exchange, but way low on time. He will just need to solidly tiptoe through any potential conterplay and finish off his opponent.
9:53pm
Nice illustration of basic endgame principles on Board 1. In a Bishop endgame, put all your pawns on squares of the opposite color on which the bishop travels. Each side has a dark squared bishop, each side has all their pawns on light squares.
9:51pm
Joel Benjamin just got up, walked over and checked out Dean Ippolito's game. It looks pretty equal, but what do I know? Since the game is wide open, it will probably be decided by a flurry of tactics in time trouble.
Just a guess, though.
9:49pm
Ker-SMASH! Andrew Ng blew apart Black's pawns with the anvil-splitting 24.Nxe6!
9:44pm
On Board 4, Andrew Ng had a nice long think, before uncorking the powerful move 23.Bh5. The threats to f7 are mounting, and his opponent, Elvin Wilson, must do some serious de-stickying to get out of this jam.
9:42pm
On Board 1, Joel Benjamin's game is looking pretty drawish. Same colored square bishops, pawns equal on each side of the board. White's king is still centralized, but it would be difficult to work it.
9:34pm
The team is deep in thought. Joel is staring intently at the computer monitor, but both Andrew and Dean are overlooking their physical boards.
Boris Gulko is in the hallway, chatting!
9:25pm
Andrew Ng is walking quickly around the room. He may be confident about his attack along the h-file, but my bet is that he's also freezing. It is about 58 degrees in here again, and he's only wearing a t-shirt!
9:23pm
Bryan Smith made a blunder, and Gulko played c7, which ended the game immediately. Gulko wins! The Knockouts are ahead 1-0.
9:18pm
Gulko is striding confidently around the room, observing the other games.
9:15pm
On Board 3, ultra solid Dean Ippolito is having no problems with IM Richard Costigan. Costigan has had some good results in the league, but probably hasn't had the luxury of playing too many 2500s on board 3.
9:12pm
To my eye, Board 1, between Joel Benjamin and Sergey Kudrin, looks relatively even. Kudrin's kng is centralized, and he only has two pawn groups (as compared with Benjamin's three), but material is even, and it looks like Joel should not have a problem holding the position.
9:09pm
Gulko just played the exchange sac 23.Rc6, which the chatter seems to believe is a winning or a nearly-winning move. The spectators in the room are getting excited by this. Gulko's victi... opponent, IM Bryan Smith, will have to do some serious tap dancing to defend.
9:05pm
I just got to the site a few minutes ago, so I thought I would give a few match updates. It is a big week in Knockout history. The Knockouts have the strongest average line up in the history of the USCL. Board 1 and 2 are GMs Joel Benjamin and Boris Gulko. Board 3 is IM Dean Ippolito. Board 4 is Knockout alternate, and underrated junior Andrew Ng.
An interesting endgame in the Ippolito Costigan game. Who will queen first?
10:38pm
Dean is slowing pushing his advantage. If he wins, it will be a huge win for Knockouts. As it is, though, a win is a win!
10:27pm
Andrew Ng has gone home, probably to do his homework. Joel Benjamin is talking with Michael Khodarkovsky, manager and assistant manager planning strategy for the next match, as they await the conclusion of Dean Ippolito's game.
10:18pm
And Andrew has won! The Knockouts win the match 2.5 - 1.5! Only Dean Ippolito's game to finish up!
10:17pm
Andrew is now way ahead.
10:09pm
Andrew looks like he's trying to finish off the game, but he's standing up, pacing around in his t-shirt, since it is so cold in this room.
Now he's coughing. Poor kid is going to get pneumonia!
10:03pm
Ah! Kudrin and Benjamin saw the draw offer, finally, and Board 1 is drawn. The Knockouts lead 1.5 - 0.5
10:02pm
Kudrin and Benjamin just offered a draw to each other. And Joel missed seeing it.
10:00pm
Andrew Ng has emerged from downtown Tactics City up an exchange, but way low on time. He will just need to solidly tiptoe through any potential conterplay and finish off his opponent.
9:53pm
Nice illustration of basic endgame principles on Board 1. In a Bishop endgame, put all your pawns on squares of the opposite color on which the bishop travels. Each side has a dark squared bishop, each side has all their pawns on light squares.
9:51pm
Joel Benjamin just got up, walked over and checked out Dean Ippolito's game. It looks pretty equal, but what do I know? Since the game is wide open, it will probably be decided by a flurry of tactics in time trouble.
Just a guess, though.
9:49pm
Ker-SMASH! Andrew Ng blew apart Black's pawns with the anvil-splitting 24.Nxe6!
9:44pm
On Board 4, Andrew Ng had a nice long think, before uncorking the powerful move 23.Bh5. The threats to f7 are mounting, and his opponent, Elvin Wilson, must do some serious de-stickying to get out of this jam.
9:42pm
On Board 1, Joel Benjamin's game is looking pretty drawish. Same colored square bishops, pawns equal on each side of the board. White's king is still centralized, but it would be difficult to work it.
9:34pm
The team is deep in thought. Joel is staring intently at the computer monitor, but both Andrew and Dean are overlooking their physical boards.
Boris Gulko is in the hallway, chatting!
9:25pm
Andrew Ng is walking quickly around the room. He may be confident about his attack along the h-file, but my bet is that he's also freezing. It is about 58 degrees in here again, and he's only wearing a t-shirt!
9:23pm
Bryan Smith made a blunder, and Gulko played c7, which ended the game immediately. Gulko wins! The Knockouts are ahead 1-0.
9:18pm
Gulko is striding confidently around the room, observing the other games.
9:15pm
On Board 3, ultra solid Dean Ippolito is having no problems with IM Richard Costigan. Costigan has had some good results in the league, but probably hasn't had the luxury of playing too many 2500s on board 3.
9:12pm
To my eye, Board 1, between Joel Benjamin and Sergey Kudrin, looks relatively even. Kudrin's kng is centralized, and he only has two pawn groups (as compared with Benjamin's three), but material is even, and it looks like Joel should not have a problem holding the position.
9:09pm
Gulko just played the exchange sac 23.Rc6, which the chatter seems to believe is a winning or a nearly-winning move. The spectators in the room are getting excited by this. Gulko's victi... opponent, IM Bryan Smith, will have to do some serious tap dancing to defend.
9:05pm
I just got to the site a few minutes ago, so I thought I would give a few match updates. It is a big week in Knockout history. The Knockouts have the strongest average line up in the history of the USCL. Board 1 and 2 are GMs Joel Benjamin and Boris Gulko. Board 3 is IM Dean Ippolito. Board 4 is Knockout alternate, and underrated junior Andrew Ng.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Week 4: Real Time Blogging Returns
11:11pm
And Mac has won! And the Knockouts crush the Blitz 3-1!! Until next week.
10:48pm
An exciting finish on Board 3 -- both players under a minute. Boston has to win in order to draw the match.
10:46pm
Joel just came over to me and gave me the double thumbs up. He's pretty psyched that the KOs have at least drawn.
10:45pm
And Dean Ippolito pulls it out! A big win for NJ on Board 2. The Knockouts have at least drawn the match!
10:40pm
A nice maneuver by Dean Ippolito on Board 2 (34...Nc6), has brought Board 2 back into New Jersey's favor. With a wild melee on Board 3, it is still anybody's ballgame.
10:28pm
When "El Capitan" says "Take a picture of the donuts, blogger!", you do not question. You obey. Thus, here are the Boston Cremes!
10:21pm
Captain Joel Benjamin is carefully studying the demonstration boards, seeing where the next New Jersey point will come from. On Board 2, the situation is still tight, with Dean having five minutes remaining, and Shmelov eight.
10:12pm
And Larry Christensen, lost from move 8, has resigned. Boston and New Jersey now tied 1-1!
10:08pm
Yes, Jayson resigned. Boston up 1-0.
10:05pm
Doesn't look good for the Knockouts on Board 4. Jayson made an error in an endgame in which he was already down, and a few tactics later, he should be down some serious material.
9:47pm
Once again, the room is cold tonight. Jayson Lian has his arms completely tucked inside his t-shirt. Joel Benjamin and Dean Ippolito are folding their arms and covering up. Mac Moldner has half his face inside the front of his shirt.
Clearly no one is going to fall asleep for fear of hypothermia!
9:40pm
Number of people watching the games:
Benjamin: 194
Ippolito: 67
Molner: 54
Lian: 56
9:35pm
Denys Shmelov has bravely declined to take Dean Ippolito's rook on board 2, so the draw is not actually forced. Dean will now have to slug it out with the Blitz player.
9:30pm
Jayson Lian is in tough shape, but he's concentrating very hard at his terminal. Wearing a green t-shirt and jeans, he's been exceedingly still for the half-hour I've been on site.
9:24pm
Dean has just taken 16...Rxe4, probably now forcing the draw on Board 2.
9:22pm
IM Dean Ippolito has been on move for about 15 minutes. He keeps getting up to survey the other boards, deciding whether to force the draw or not.
9:07pm
Now that we've passed the two hour mark, let's recap all the boards.
On Board 1, after a huge blunder in the opening, GM Larry Christensen finds himself down a queen for two bishops against New Jersey Knockout captain GM Joel Benjamin. GM Joel, as usual, is way down on time, with about 20 minutes left to LarryC's 52 minutes. They are on move 18.
On Board 2, IM Dean Ippolito's Nimzo-Indian has brought him to a position where he can practically force a draw if he wants. With 16...Rxe4 17.fxe4 Qh3+, a perpetual could ensue. This might be just the result the Knockouts want on Board 2, with Joel winning on Board 1.
On Board 3, material is virtually equal in Mac Molner's game against Riordan. Mac's slightly better pawn structure may balance out Riordan's development, but it looks like this will be a tough fight.
On Board 4, the Knockout's Jayson Lian is down a pawn against clearly underrated Marc Esserman -- both have a queen, rook, and dark-squared bishop, The game is wide open, with potentially a lot of tactics.
9:03pm
Realtime blogging is back, now from Lincoln Park, NJ, the Chapel Hill Academy. The players have been moving up and about for the past few minutes. Mac Molner took a stroll, Dean ippolito walked around the room and inspected all the boards. Joel Benjamin rushed out of the room with a grimace on his face.
7:54pm
Well, it is time to sign off for about an hour. We'll be back with more live coverage from the New Jersey site at 9:00pm!
7:51pm
The word is that after Joel made the 8.Be3 move, he got up, got a Boston Creme donut, and devoured it. Take that, Blitzpatzers!
7:49pm
Word from the front... Boston Creme Donuts at the site!!!
7:47pm
He played it! The crowd is amped up now for an epic struggle of Man versus Blitz.
7:45pm
On Board 1, GM Joel could play a very cute and exciting move, 8.Be3. The fans are cheering for that move! Play it Joel! Make the fans go WILD!!
7:38pm
Dean Ippolito really impresses me as a solid tournament player. He tries to win as white and will play solidly and draw with black. He doesn't take too many unnecessary risks. He plays in tournaments frequently, and runs his own chess school located in Branchburg, NJ, (see deanofchess.com).
Check out the results from last week's Miami Open... While he didn't have a spectacular tournament, he never lost, and drew several GMs. Very very solid.
He's also a super-friendly, nice, normal guy.
7:30pm
Ok, this really is a "break the opening principle" night.
7:25pm
Kerpow! Something really got into Esserman -- Smith Morra on board 4!
7:21pm
Both sides clearly needs to brush up on their opening principles. Riordan's got his knight on a5, and Ippolito's got his on a5.
Tsk tsk tsk...
7:19pm
Esserman decided to show up. My challenge clearly emboldened him.
7:15pm
Esserman has decided not to show up for his game against fourth board Jayson Lian. Clearly afraid...
7:13pm
On Board 3, Mac Molner has tossed out the Guioco Piano against Riordan, and Riordan has played a Two Knights Defense. As most of the Knockouts' fans, groupies, and entourages know, Big Mac's rarely has a "Quiet Game" and this is likely to be a Guioco Forte instead.
7:11pm
On Board 1, Larry has thrown out a Sicilian with the hyper-accelerated 2...g6. Joel is pondering the brashness of Larry's foolish play.
7:09pm
IM Dean Ippolito on Board 2 has thrown out a Nimzo-Indian against Denys Shmelov. The commentary points out that he didn't lose a game last weekend in Miami. He drew several GMs and ended with a solid result.
7:07pm
And they're off! The games have started.
On Board 1, GM Joel Benjamin has essayed his king pawn a double square foray toward GM Larry Christensen's evil Blitz territory.
7:03pm
The natives are restless... The games have not started yet.... We wanna game! We wanna game!
6:58pm
I am watching the games from here, and will transfer to the New Jersey playing site around 9pm. From there, I can make insidious and flippant comments, like I usually do. But for right now, it looks like I'll have to concentrate on the games.
6:44pm
Live from Wizards of the Mind chess club, here in Springfield, New Jersey.... its real-time blogging of the New Jersey - Boston match in the USCL! How can I blog from here, you ask? Stay tuned!
3:13pm
Real time blogging of the New Jersey Knockouts' match against the Boston Blitz returns tonight! Watch theKnockouts make the pizza-crazed Boston players wish they were stuck on the Garden State Parkway on a beach-travel morning, rather than being demolished by the talents of Benjamin, Ippolito, Molner, and Lian.
The match starts at 7pm, and the blogging will start late, around 9pm or so, as the match is in full swing! So stay tuned to this post, as it will be updated through the evening!
And Mac has won! And the Knockouts crush the Blitz 3-1!! Until next week.
10:48pm
An exciting finish on Board 3 -- both players under a minute. Boston has to win in order to draw the match.
10:46pm
Joel just came over to me and gave me the double thumbs up. He's pretty psyched that the KOs have at least drawn.
10:45pm
And Dean Ippolito pulls it out! A big win for NJ on Board 2. The Knockouts have at least drawn the match!
10:40pm
A nice maneuver by Dean Ippolito on Board 2 (34...Nc6), has brought Board 2 back into New Jersey's favor. With a wild melee on Board 3, it is still anybody's ballgame.
10:28pm
When "El Capitan" says "Take a picture of the donuts, blogger!", you do not question. You obey. Thus, here are the Boston Cremes!
10:21pm
Captain Joel Benjamin is carefully studying the demonstration boards, seeing where the next New Jersey point will come from. On Board 2, the situation is still tight, with Dean having five minutes remaining, and Shmelov eight.
10:12pm
And Larry Christensen, lost from move 8, has resigned. Boston and New Jersey now tied 1-1!
10:08pm
Yes, Jayson resigned. Boston up 1-0.
10:05pm
Doesn't look good for the Knockouts on Board 4. Jayson made an error in an endgame in which he was already down, and a few tactics later, he should be down some serious material.
9:47pm
Once again, the room is cold tonight. Jayson Lian has his arms completely tucked inside his t-shirt. Joel Benjamin and Dean Ippolito are folding their arms and covering up. Mac Moldner has half his face inside the front of his shirt.
Clearly no one is going to fall asleep for fear of hypothermia!
9:40pm
Number of people watching the games:
Benjamin: 194
Ippolito: 67
Molner: 54
Lian: 56
9:35pm
Denys Shmelov has bravely declined to take Dean Ippolito's rook on board 2, so the draw is not actually forced. Dean will now have to slug it out with the Blitz player.
9:30pm
Jayson Lian is in tough shape, but he's concentrating very hard at his terminal. Wearing a green t-shirt and jeans, he's been exceedingly still for the half-hour I've been on site.
9:24pm
Dean has just taken 16...Rxe4, probably now forcing the draw on Board 2.
9:22pm
IM Dean Ippolito has been on move for about 15 minutes. He keeps getting up to survey the other boards, deciding whether to force the draw or not.
9:07pm
Now that we've passed the two hour mark, let's recap all the boards.
On Board 1, after a huge blunder in the opening, GM Larry Christensen finds himself down a queen for two bishops against New Jersey Knockout captain GM Joel Benjamin. GM Joel, as usual, is way down on time, with about 20 minutes left to LarryC's 52 minutes. They are on move 18.
On Board 2, IM Dean Ippolito's Nimzo-Indian has brought him to a position where he can practically force a draw if he wants. With 16...Rxe4 17.fxe4 Qh3+, a perpetual could ensue. This might be just the result the Knockouts want on Board 2, with Joel winning on Board 1.
On Board 3, material is virtually equal in Mac Molner's game against Riordan. Mac's slightly better pawn structure may balance out Riordan's development, but it looks like this will be a tough fight.
On Board 4, the Knockout's Jayson Lian is down a pawn against clearly underrated Marc Esserman -- both have a queen, rook, and dark-squared bishop, The game is wide open, with potentially a lot of tactics.
9:03pm
Realtime blogging is back, now from Lincoln Park, NJ, the Chapel Hill Academy. The players have been moving up and about for the past few minutes. Mac Molner took a stroll, Dean ippolito walked around the room and inspected all the boards. Joel Benjamin rushed out of the room with a grimace on his face.
7:54pm
Well, it is time to sign off for about an hour. We'll be back with more live coverage from the New Jersey site at 9:00pm!
7:51pm
The word is that after Joel made the 8.Be3 move, he got up, got a Boston Creme donut, and devoured it. Take that, Blitzpatzers!
7:49pm
Word from the front... Boston Creme Donuts at the site!!!
7:47pm
He played it! The crowd is amped up now for an epic struggle of Man versus Blitz.
7:45pm
On Board 1, GM Joel could play a very cute and exciting move, 8.Be3. The fans are cheering for that move! Play it Joel! Make the fans go WILD!!
7:38pm
Dean Ippolito really impresses me as a solid tournament player. He tries to win as white and will play solidly and draw with black. He doesn't take too many unnecessary risks. He plays in tournaments frequently, and runs his own chess school located in Branchburg, NJ, (see deanofchess.com).
Check out the results from last week's Miami Open... While he didn't have a spectacular tournament, he never lost, and drew several GMs. Very very solid.
He's also a super-friendly, nice, normal guy.
7:30pm
Ok, this really is a "break the opening principle" night.
- Benjamin has a knight developed to a3
- Christensen pulled his queen out on move 4
- Shmelov pushed four pawns, and developed a knight to h3
- Ippolito moved five pawns, the same knight twice, and it ended up on h5
- Molner pushed his rook pawn
7:25pm
Kerpow! Something really got into Esserman -- Smith Morra on board 4!
7:21pm
Both sides clearly needs to brush up on their opening principles. Riordan's got his knight on a5, and Ippolito's got his on a5.
Tsk tsk tsk...
7:19pm
Esserman decided to show up. My challenge clearly emboldened him.
7:15pm
Esserman has decided not to show up for his game against fourth board Jayson Lian. Clearly afraid...
7:13pm
On Board 3, Mac Molner has tossed out the Guioco Piano against Riordan, and Riordan has played a Two Knights Defense. As most of the Knockouts' fans, groupies, and entourages know, Big Mac's rarely has a "Quiet Game" and this is likely to be a Guioco Forte instead.
7:11pm
On Board 1, Larry has thrown out a Sicilian with the hyper-accelerated 2...g6. Joel is pondering the brashness of Larry's foolish play.
7:09pm
IM Dean Ippolito on Board 2 has thrown out a Nimzo-Indian against Denys Shmelov. The commentary points out that he didn't lose a game last weekend in Miami. He drew several GMs and ended with a solid result.
7:07pm
And they're off! The games have started.
On Board 1, GM Joel Benjamin has essayed his king pawn a double square foray toward GM Larry Christensen's evil Blitz territory.
7:03pm
The natives are restless... The games have not started yet.... We wanna game! We wanna game!
6:58pm
I am watching the games from here, and will transfer to the New Jersey playing site around 9pm. From there, I can make insidious and flippant comments, like I usually do. But for right now, it looks like I'll have to concentrate on the games.
6:44pm
Live from Wizards of the Mind chess club, here in Springfield, New Jersey.... its real-time blogging of the New Jersey - Boston match in the USCL! How can I blog from here, you ask? Stay tuned!
3:13pm
Real time blogging of the New Jersey Knockouts' match against the Boston Blitz returns tonight! Watch theKnockouts make the pizza-crazed Boston players wish they were stuck on the Garden State Parkway on a beach-travel morning, rather than being demolished by the talents of Benjamin, Ippolito, Molner, and Lian.
The match starts at 7pm, and the blogging will start late, around 9pm or so, as the match is in full swing! So stay tuned to this post, as it will be updated through the evening!
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Week 1 - Knockouts vs. Kingfishers, Realtime!!
10:54pm
And Dean wins too! The Knockouts have won 3-1.
10:44pm
Victor forked, won the exchange, and then played the Krazy Killer Korner Kween move, Qh8! His opponent resigned, and Knockouts are up 2-1!!!
10:38pm
Victor is out of his seat, pacing back and forth, awaiting his seemingly vanquished opponent's next move.
10:34pm
On board 4, Victor Shen has just played 33.Ne4, with a nasty little three-tined fork threatened on d6.
10:31pm
And Joel couldn't quite pull it out. The match score is tied 1-1. Erenburg has been on a roll lately, winning tournament after tournament -- his luck continued here.
10:09pm
There are two other games going on in this room! On Board 2, Dean Ippolito seems to be slowing pressing ahead. His bishop on h6 and his pawn on f5 make a potent combination, a bind on Black's position. Dean is also ahead on the clock with 31 minutes left, to Kaufman's 9 minutes.
10:07pm
There are 120 people watching the Benjamin-Erenburg game. The general consensus is that Erenburg merely has to consolidate, and the game will be in his favor. The arguments are over how he should consolidate.
10:02pm
A rook down, with four minutes to go. Is GM Joel's attack sound?
9:46pm
With a 1-0 lead, 200 cheerleaders, and Joel Benjamin with a speculative attack on Board 1, it is an exciting night here in Lincoln Park! On Board 2, Dean Ippolito is slowly grinding down Larry Kaufman -- Dean's bishops are criss crossing Kaufman's kingside like Michael Palin getting from Moscow to Bangkok and Tokyo to Cairo in three days by public transportation only.
Ok, that analogy was just wierd. Sorry.
9:39pm
Quite tense moments in the Benjamin game. Joel's way down on the clock but he's pressing his attack. Playing directly from the screen, not looking at his physical board, he's a paragon of supreme concentration.
9:34pm
It is getting rather chilly in this room. I wonder if the alarm that went off a half-hour ago was a heat alarm?
9:28pm
Arizona Scorpion and IM Mark Ginsbug says the Erenburg-Benjamin game contains "craziness". It's beyond me, but have a look.
9:23pm
Joel Benjamin is down on the clock -- only 16 minutes left to Sergey Erenburg's one hour. The game is getting exciting though. Joel is starting to unleash the majestic archers with their golder arrows. Or, he's sacking an exchange. I'm not sure.
9:16pm
Mac Molner has won! His opponent abruptly resigned, in a totally uncomfortable position! The Knockouts are up 1-0!
9:14pm
The alarm wasn't a big deal. Some sort of thing on the computer stack in the playing site. Here's a picture of the playing site. From left to right, Victor Shen, Mac Molner, TD Mike Somers (back to camera), Joel Benjamin (standing), and Dean Ippolito.
9:07pm
The Shen-Zimmer game to me is interesting... augh! Alarm going off!
9:03pm
On Board 2, Dean Ippolito's opponent, Larry Kaufman, has been thinking about his 19th move for over a half-hour. Perhaps he had to go outside to feed the meter?
8:56pm
The Big Mac attack is at again. Mac Molner is smashing the ramparts on Board 3.
8:48pm
The inaugural donuts of 2008. Go ahead and lick your screen. I understand Boston Blitz supporters tend to do that a lot.
8:43pm
Finally, on Board 1, Benjamin's heavy pieces are majestically arrayed, like a line of British archers ready to pierce the hearts of the enemy with their golden arrows. Well, sort of. Actually there's just a queen and both rooks kind of hanging out. (94 people watching this game)
8:41pm
On Board 2, IM Dean Ippolito has the bishop pair and a slightly better pawn structure, as he's centralizing his pieces to slowly crush IM Larry Kaufman. (31 people watching the game)
8:36pm
On board 3, Mac Molner's Benko has a inverted phalanx of pawns on dark squares, and has opened up the g-file in front of Ray Kaufman's king. Mac's about 10 minutes up on the clock. (28 people watching that game)
8:31pm
Let's go around the horn and check out our games, starting with board 4, Victor Shen, White against FM Zimmer.
Victor's got a nice Knight planted in Black's territory on the queenside. The pieces are filling up the queenside of the board for both sides. Victor's down on the clock thought, with only 42 minutes left to his opponent's 1 hour and 16 minutes. (26 people watching that game)
8:17pm
Joel Benjamin's got his rooks poised on the f-file to crush Erenburg's emasculated monarch.
8:11pm
So, here's a subset of the 200 cheerleaders outside the New Jersey site.
8:04pm
If you're reading this blog, you're either a fan of the Knockouts, or have a lot of time on your hands. In any case, the New Jersey Knockouts are on Facebook! Come and join our group!
8:01pm
Joel Benjamin is walking around the room surveying the three other games.
7:59pm
I always find it interesting, the way these top level players play the USCL matches. Benjamin and his student Shen (Boards 1 and 4) are studying the computer monitor intently, although they both have physical boards set up next to them. Molner and Ippolito are bother leaning over their physical boards.
7:54pm
On Board 1, the Knockouts' captain and esteemed leader, Joel Benjamin, is already down 20 minutes on the clock, Erenburg still has extra time (over 90 minutes)! Last year, the Knockouts had some problems with time trouble. Let's hope the trend doesn't continue to this year.
7:45pm
Here's a picture of the playing site, Chapel Hill Academy in Lincoln Park, NJ. When I got here, the outside lawn was filled with about 200 cheerleaders (and, no, I'm not kidding). The New Jersey State Chess Federation must have a great PR machine, I thought. Alas, they were just on the site for a cheerleading clinic. I could not convince any of them to come inside to root for the Knockouts, unfortunately.
7:38pm
And "Big" Mac "Attack" Molner -- winner and victim of a few "Games of the Week" last season, has started with FM Ray Kaufman on Board 3. Molner, never afraid to shy away from complications and excitement, has the black side of a Benko Gambit. What can expect from the Mac Attack this week?
7:35pm
Board 2 has finally started, with IM Dean "Of Chess" Ippolito opening with his characteristic 1.d4. His opponentIM Larry Kaufman, has played the Nimzo Indian, and it is a 4.Qc2 variation.
7:30pm
GM Joel Benjamin's game has started again GM Sergey Erenburg. Both have had recent spreads in Chess Life Online about them, both taking place at NJ Board Two's IM Dean Ippolito's facility in Branchburg. Erenburg won the Futurity that was there back in July, and GM Joel just taught the US Chess School there a few weeks ago. That US Chess School was attended by board 4, Victor Shen.
7:23pm
And Victor Shen has started his game. He has nary a donut in front of him. Instead, he has an White in an Accelerated Dragon.
7:16pm
Ready to start the Knockouts' second glorious season!
And Dean wins too! The Knockouts have won 3-1.
10:44pm
Victor forked, won the exchange, and then played the Krazy Killer Korner Kween move, Qh8! His opponent resigned, and Knockouts are up 2-1!!!
10:38pm
Victor is out of his seat, pacing back and forth, awaiting his seemingly vanquished opponent's next move.
10:34pm
On board 4, Victor Shen has just played 33.Ne4, with a nasty little three-tined fork threatened on d6.
10:31pm
And Joel couldn't quite pull it out. The match score is tied 1-1. Erenburg has been on a roll lately, winning tournament after tournament -- his luck continued here.
10:09pm
There are two other games going on in this room! On Board 2, Dean Ippolito seems to be slowing pressing ahead. His bishop on h6 and his pawn on f5 make a potent combination, a bind on Black's position. Dean is also ahead on the clock with 31 minutes left, to Kaufman's 9 minutes.
10:07pm
There are 120 people watching the Benjamin-Erenburg game. The general consensus is that Erenburg merely has to consolidate, and the game will be in his favor. The arguments are over how he should consolidate.
10:02pm
A rook down, with four minutes to go. Is GM Joel's attack sound?
9:46pm
With a 1-0 lead, 200 cheerleaders, and Joel Benjamin with a speculative attack on Board 1, it is an exciting night here in Lincoln Park! On Board 2, Dean Ippolito is slowly grinding down Larry Kaufman -- Dean's bishops are criss crossing Kaufman's kingside like Michael Palin getting from Moscow to Bangkok and Tokyo to Cairo in three days by public transportation only.
Ok, that analogy was just wierd. Sorry.
9:39pm
Quite tense moments in the Benjamin game. Joel's way down on the clock but he's pressing his attack. Playing directly from the screen, not looking at his physical board, he's a paragon of supreme concentration.
9:34pm
It is getting rather chilly in this room. I wonder if the alarm that went off a half-hour ago was a heat alarm?
9:28pm
Arizona Scorpion and IM Mark Ginsbug says the Erenburg-Benjamin game contains "craziness". It's beyond me, but have a look.
9:23pm
Joel Benjamin is down on the clock -- only 16 minutes left to Sergey Erenburg's one hour. The game is getting exciting though. Joel is starting to unleash the majestic archers with their golder arrows. Or, he's sacking an exchange. I'm not sure.
9:16pm
Mac Molner has won! His opponent abruptly resigned, in a totally uncomfortable position! The Knockouts are up 1-0!
9:14pm
The alarm wasn't a big deal. Some sort of thing on the computer stack in the playing site. Here's a picture of the playing site. From left to right, Victor Shen, Mac Molner, TD Mike Somers (back to camera), Joel Benjamin (standing), and Dean Ippolito.
9:07pm
The Shen-Zimmer game to me is interesting... augh! Alarm going off!
9:03pm
On Board 2, Dean Ippolito's opponent, Larry Kaufman, has been thinking about his 19th move for over a half-hour. Perhaps he had to go outside to feed the meter?
8:56pm
The Big Mac attack is at again. Mac Molner is smashing the ramparts on Board 3.
8:48pm
The inaugural donuts of 2008. Go ahead and lick your screen. I understand Boston Blitz supporters tend to do that a lot.
8:43pm
Finally, on Board 1, Benjamin's heavy pieces are majestically arrayed, like a line of British archers ready to pierce the hearts of the enemy with their golden arrows. Well, sort of. Actually there's just a queen and both rooks kind of hanging out. (94 people watching this game)
8:41pm
On Board 2, IM Dean Ippolito has the bishop pair and a slightly better pawn structure, as he's centralizing his pieces to slowly crush IM Larry Kaufman. (31 people watching the game)
8:36pm
On board 3, Mac Molner's Benko has a inverted phalanx of pawns on dark squares, and has opened up the g-file in front of Ray Kaufman's king. Mac's about 10 minutes up on the clock. (28 people watching that game)
8:31pm
Let's go around the horn and check out our games, starting with board 4, Victor Shen, White against FM Zimmer.
Victor's got a nice Knight planted in Black's territory on the queenside. The pieces are filling up the queenside of the board for both sides. Victor's down on the clock thought, with only 42 minutes left to his opponent's 1 hour and 16 minutes. (26 people watching that game)
8:17pm
Joel Benjamin's got his rooks poised on the f-file to crush Erenburg's emasculated monarch.
8:11pm
So, here's a subset of the 200 cheerleaders outside the New Jersey site.
8:04pm
If you're reading this blog, you're either a fan of the Knockouts, or have a lot of time on your hands. In any case, the New Jersey Knockouts are on Facebook! Come and join our group!
8:01pm
Joel Benjamin is walking around the room surveying the three other games.
7:59pm
I always find it interesting, the way these top level players play the USCL matches. Benjamin and his student Shen (Boards 1 and 4) are studying the computer monitor intently, although they both have physical boards set up next to them. Molner and Ippolito are bother leaning over their physical boards.
7:54pm
On Board 1, the Knockouts' captain and esteemed leader, Joel Benjamin, is already down 20 minutes on the clock, Erenburg still has extra time (over 90 minutes)! Last year, the Knockouts had some problems with time trouble. Let's hope the trend doesn't continue to this year.
7:45pm
Here's a picture of the playing site, Chapel Hill Academy in Lincoln Park, NJ. When I got here, the outside lawn was filled with about 200 cheerleaders (and, no, I'm not kidding). The New Jersey State Chess Federation must have a great PR machine, I thought. Alas, they were just on the site for a cheerleading clinic. I could not convince any of them to come inside to root for the Knockouts, unfortunately.
7:38pm
And "Big" Mac "Attack" Molner -- winner and victim of a few "Games of the Week" last season, has started with FM Ray Kaufman on Board 3. Molner, never afraid to shy away from complications and excitement, has the black side of a Benko Gambit. What can expect from the Mac Attack this week?
7:35pm
Board 2 has finally started, with IM Dean "Of Chess" Ippolito opening with his characteristic 1.d4. His opponentIM Larry Kaufman, has played the Nimzo Indian, and it is a 4.Qc2 variation.
7:30pm
GM Joel Benjamin's game has started again GM Sergey Erenburg. Both have had recent spreads in Chess Life Online about them, both taking place at NJ Board Two's IM Dean Ippolito's facility in Branchburg. Erenburg won the Futurity that was there back in July, and GM Joel just taught the US Chess School there a few weeks ago. That US Chess School was attended by board 4, Victor Shen.
7:23pm
And Victor Shen has started his game. He has nary a donut in front of him. Instead, he has an White in an Accelerated Dragon.
7:16pm
Ready to start the Knockouts' second glorious season!
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
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.
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...
10:12pmBattsetseg - 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.
9:11pmOn 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.
Monday, October 8, 2007
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.
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!
10:03pmWhile 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.
9:39pmComments 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.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
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.
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?
11:19pmThe 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.
10:02pmMac 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.
9:04pmThe 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.
7:38pmOn 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.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Real Time Blog (Week 3) - NJKOs vs. Baltimore Kingfishers
This is the real time blog for the New Jersey Knockouts in Week Three of the USCL. The match tonight is the Knockouts versus the Baltimore Fish... I mean Kingfishers.
11:25pm
And it is over. Another miracle drawn match from the Knockouts! 2.0 - 2.0!! Still undefeated!
11:17pm
Ok, I count one chicken. Dean won, and the score now is 1.5 - 1.5. Joel may as well play on and try to win, because he's a pawn up in a generally drawn endgame.
11:10pm
Dean just needs to wrap things up. But, in this league, anything is possible, so listen... ZERE VILL BE NO CHICKEN COUNTEENK!
11:05pm
Unreal!!! Dean has sacced his rook, and looks like he may win it by queening his pawn. He's smirking... :)
11:02pm
Down to two games. Joel is up a pawn in the endgame, but it is a very drawable endgame (a rook apiece, 2P vs 3P all connected on the kingside). USCL commissioner Greg Shahade says that Joel drew that same endgame (on the pawn down side) versus Kasparov in the past!
10:55pm
Boy it is tense in here. Dean Ippolito is glaring at the screen. Joel Benjamin looks calm, but he's likely in the zone. Don't know how much more I can get in here before the games end, but we'll see...
10:43pm
It comes down to two very similar looking R+N versus R+N endgames. Ipplolito had one of these last week. Can the Knockouts pull out two wins here and win the match? A win and a draw to tie the match? Anything less than that, and the Knockouts lose their first one of the year. Stay tuned.
10:34pm
Victor fell. After defending well and running his king from the kingside to the queenside, he finally succumbed to a tactical trick, and either had to give up his queen or be mated. It is not looking good for New Jersey now, as the Knockouts trail 0.5 - 1.5 to the Kingfishers.
10:29pm
Baltimore tried to hold on to the win, but Lunna pulled off the draw on Board 4. Therefore the match is tied at 0.5 - 0.5, after one complete game!
10:27pm
Victor is holding on. He has a nice little trap (... Qxc2, where Rxc2?? is mate after Rb1+) but that's a real long shot. But, remember last week! Victor has a habit (sample size of one) of making a long shot.
10:22pm
Shen is valiantly trying to defend, but is getting viciously attacked. He's in time trouble, less than 10 seconds left now.
10:20pm
Lunna played Kf7, protecting the queening square. It seemed like an obvious move, but Lunna took his time, checking all the variations.
10:19pm
On Board 4, Rouleau sacced his Bishop so he could queen his c-pawn with check. Lunna's thinking about this response.
10:15pm
Shen just got a bigger rock in his sneakers after 27. Bxg7, and he has less than a minute left.
10:11pm
Ippolito-Enkhbhat is still really a complex struggle. Enkhbat just injected his queen into Ippolito's second rank 22. ... Qd2 after a 12 minute think . Dean is concentrating hard at the physical board, not looking at the screen, head in hands, still. That black queen seems to me like it feels like a small rock in your sneakers after a nice day at the beach.
10:09pm
On board 4, looks like we are getting some queens back!
10:05pm
On Board 3, Victor has only 3 minutes left, but his 24. ... Qc5 has dropped his opponent into a long think. She still has 40+ minutes on his, though.
10:01pm
Some real long calculation required on Board 4. Can White sac his Bishop and take the pawn and still draw?
9:56pm
Here's the position on Board 1, the GM versus GM battle. White's (Blehm) connected pawns versus Black's (Benjamin) isolated pawns on the queenside, and White's doubled pawns on the kingside.
9:54pm
Victor is really low on time now, only 4+ minutes left.
9:52pm
A pair of rooks have come off in the Ippolito game, but other than that, the position look eerily similar to an hour ago.
9:49pm
Lunna has picked up the h-pawn. But at what cost? Looks like his a-pawn will fall.
9:39pm
Tense maneuvering in the Lunna-Rouleau game. Both kings are making feints and false starts, trying to decide how to penetrate into the opponents position. Lunna's bishop on a5 is making a nice dark-squared block, and coordinating well with his queenside pawns, which are on light squares. Rouleau's king can't just come waltzing into the a-file, because many of the squareson the b-file are covered.
9:31pm
Back to Board 1. GM Joel Benjamin's French Defense id facing a phalanx of pawns, with the tip on c5, and the flankers on b4 and d4. The commentary has virtually stopped on the game, even though there are exactly 100 people watching. Everyone is wondering how Joel will break out of the slightly cramped position that he has.
Here's a picture of GM Joel at the start of the match.
9:29pm
Victor is way down on the clock. He has 17 minutes left, to his opponent's 63 minutes.
9:20pm
I've ignored Victor Shen's game on board 3. Let's have a look... Hmm... Well, both have pretty bad light-squared bishops. Rohonyan has a nice knight planted right in the center of the board. It coulf be kicked out with ... f6, but the hole it leaves on g6 doesn't look too nice for Victor. If only Victor would move his bishops back to his first rank, then he would be setting up to practice a Fischer Random game. Rohonyan has just played f4, and here's the current position.
9:12pm
As I thought, it was a long planning session on Board 2, as Dean took about 20 minutes before he played 19. a4 ...
9:02pm
Todd Lunna (White) on Board 4 has ended up in a very interesting position. Material is equal is a same-colored-square Bishop ending. Todd has a doubled f-pawn, and his opponent connected pawns on the g and h files. Clearly Black has the better pawn structure, but is it enough to win?
8:57pm
I may have been right about the planning. Dean Ippolito is taking his time to play his move in what I thought to be the critical position. Here's the position with White to move...
8:49pm
Board 2 (NJ's Dean Ippolito is White) is complicated. I usually rely on some titled player's commentary to repeat here and make it look like I know what I'm talking about, but no titled player is really saying anything. So, I can sum up what I see. Material is equal. Ippolito has a pawn on e5, but it is doubled with its friend on e3. Minor pieces are equivalent (one dark-squared bishop and one knight apiece) and queens are still on the board. Rooks are fighting over the open c-file.
It is one of those positions that appears to require some definite long-term planning, and the player that can execute a decent plan while countering his opponent's plan will prevail. As far as I can see, there are no bang-bang tactics on the board. And, yes, I'm ready to take that back when they prove me wrong.
Here's IM Dean Ippolito at the start of the match.
8:46pm
Nope, Joel has retreated his bishop to g6, after 16 1/2 minutes of thought.
8:43pm
On board 1, Joel Benjamin has his chin resting on his right palm, and he's staring intently at the board. GM Blehm has thrust his c-pawn forward to c4, challenging Benjamin's isolated pawn on d5. I'm guessing that Joel is deciding whether to swap it off, which would leave Blehm with two central pawns, or not.
8:33pm
Boy, I must be missing something. On board 4, Rouleau castled right into an open file. Lunna slammed his rook down on g1. Well, ok, it wasn't slamming, but it was a loud mouse click.
8:20pm
Now, for a recap of board 4. Todd Lunna (picture below), one of the Knockout's alternates, has played an exchange Ruy Lopez against Baltimore's John Rouleau. The queens are off the board, and Lunna has been cursed with tripled isolated f-pawns. And, yes, I mean the f-file, not as an abbreviation for some word that begins with "f". Although, I don't know -- it might be the same to Todd.
8:11pm
Once again, I am fascinated by the different things players do when playing these games on ICC. Lunna (board 4) started by playing on his physical board next to him, but keeps going back to the screen. Shen (14yoNMVS, board 3) is watching the physical board. IM Ippolito (board 2) tends to look at the physical board, hunched over it actually, but is also prone to a lot of pacing during the games. Benjamine (board 1) is back at the screen.
All players do, however, seem to make their move on the physical board first, and then on the screen.
8:04pm
Speaking of Board 3, the Knockout's Shen (I was going to say again "14 year old national master Victor Shen", but it seems like a waste of typing and aggravating any carpal tunnel syndrome I might develop) has played the Sicilian against WGM Katerina Rohonyan. By my untrained eye, both have bad light-squared bishops, but Rohonyan's dark-squared bishop is taking aim for Shen's kingside castled position, with a nice hold on the center. WARNING: All analysis provided herein is for amusement and entertainment purposes only.
7:56pm
I took this picture as the games were starting. It is third board, 14 year old national master Victor Shen, awaiting his opponent's first move. If you're reading this for the first time, read about Victor's last second stalemate escape from last week's match under the headline "Knockouts are Undefeated".
7:53pm
On ICC, an amusing comment from someone named "kruupy", suggesting that on Board 2, Black has "checker syndrome". :-)
7:47pm
On board 2, IM Dean Ippolito started the game with his customary 1. d4, to which his opponent, FM Enkhbat, responded with a Slav Defense. Now, remember gentle readers, I am not anywhere near a master-level player, but to my eye, it seems odd that Black has put so many of his pawns on light squares, even though his bad bishop is outside of the chain. But, perhaps, someone else can explain it to me.
7:40pm
On board 1 with the black pieces, GM Joel has played the French. White has developed a few minor pieces, but Black's c-pawn has already crossed the Mason-Dixon line. Of course, Maryland was a boarder state, and had its share of people loyal to the Union as well as the Confederacy. But I digress. Actually, I'm digressing a lot. Maybe too much. Board 2 update in a few minutes.
7:38pm
Apparently Baltimore is having connection problems on boards 1 and 3. GM Benjamin and 14 year old master Victor Shen are taking it in stride. We'll get to the chess in a minute.
7:33pm
The match started a little late, and we've already had a couple of disconnections. But, all is well now. Here's a picture of fourth board Todd Lunna (with the hat) and second board IM Dean Ippolito getting ready for their match.
7:09pm
Everyone is here. We've all encountered bad traffic on the Garden State Parkway. But, we're all here now. The players are getting their game faces on. Grrrr.... Hook the FISH.
7:06pm
Here's a picture of GM Joel Benjamin indicating this real-time blog. Whoa. Very self-referential. Think Godel, Escher, Bach.
6:56pm
More at 6:56. I lied. GM Joel is here, and our arbiter is setting up the boards and the programs. I should be able to take multiple pictures tonight, so keep a lookout!
2:53pm
The playing room is being vacated by the students of Chapel Hill Academy. They probably have no idea of the carnage that will be on view tonight, when the Knockouts throw their hooks into the Fish.... I mean Kingfish... Kingfishers...
More at 7:15 pm when the match actually starts!
11:25pm
And it is over. Another miracle drawn match from the Knockouts! 2.0 - 2.0!! Still undefeated!
11:17pm
Ok, I count one chicken. Dean won, and the score now is 1.5 - 1.5. Joel may as well play on and try to win, because he's a pawn up in a generally drawn endgame.
11:10pm
Dean just needs to wrap things up. But, in this league, anything is possible, so listen... ZERE VILL BE NO CHICKEN COUNTEENK!
11:05pm
Unreal!!! Dean has sacced his rook, and looks like he may win it by queening his pawn. He's smirking... :)
11:02pm
Down to two games. Joel is up a pawn in the endgame, but it is a very drawable endgame (a rook apiece, 2P vs 3P all connected on the kingside). USCL commissioner Greg Shahade says that Joel drew that same endgame (on the pawn down side) versus Kasparov in the past!
10:55pm
Boy it is tense in here. Dean Ippolito is glaring at the screen. Joel Benjamin looks calm, but he's likely in the zone. Don't know how much more I can get in here before the games end, but we'll see...
10:43pm
It comes down to two very similar looking R+N versus R+N endgames. Ipplolito had one of these last week. Can the Knockouts pull out two wins here and win the match? A win and a draw to tie the match? Anything less than that, and the Knockouts lose their first one of the year. Stay tuned.
10:34pm
Victor fell. After defending well and running his king from the kingside to the queenside, he finally succumbed to a tactical trick, and either had to give up his queen or be mated. It is not looking good for New Jersey now, as the Knockouts trail 0.5 - 1.5 to the Kingfishers.
10:29pm
Baltimore tried to hold on to the win, but Lunna pulled off the draw on Board 4. Therefore the match is tied at 0.5 - 0.5, after one complete game!
10:27pm
Victor is holding on. He has a nice little trap (... Qxc2, where Rxc2?? is mate after Rb1+) but that's a real long shot. But, remember last week! Victor has a habit (sample size of one) of making a long shot.
10:22pm
Shen is valiantly trying to defend, but is getting viciously attacked. He's in time trouble, less than 10 seconds left now.
10:20pm
Lunna played Kf7, protecting the queening square. It seemed like an obvious move, but Lunna took his time, checking all the variations.
10:19pm
On Board 4, Rouleau sacced his Bishop so he could queen his c-pawn with check. Lunna's thinking about this response.
10:15pm
Shen just got a bigger rock in his sneakers after 27. Bxg7, and he has less than a minute left.
10:11pm
Ippolito-Enkhbhat is still really a complex struggle. Enkhbat just injected his queen into Ippolito's second rank 22. ... Qd2 after a 12 minute think . Dean is concentrating hard at the physical board, not looking at the screen, head in hands, still. That black queen seems to me like it feels like a small rock in your sneakers after a nice day at the beach.
10:09pm
On board 4, looks like we are getting some queens back!
10:05pm
On Board 3, Victor has only 3 minutes left, but his 24. ... Qc5 has dropped his opponent into a long think. She still has 40+ minutes on his, though.
10:01pm
Some real long calculation required on Board 4. Can White sac his Bishop and take the pawn and still draw?
9:56pm
Here's the position on Board 1, the GM versus GM battle. White's (Blehm) connected pawns versus Black's (Benjamin) isolated pawns on the queenside, and White's doubled pawns on the kingside.
9:54pm
Victor is really low on time now, only 4+ minutes left.
9:52pm
A pair of rooks have come off in the Ippolito game, but other than that, the position look eerily similar to an hour ago.
9:49pm
Lunna has picked up the h-pawn. But at what cost? Looks like his a-pawn will fall.
9:39pm
Tense maneuvering in the Lunna-Rouleau game. Both kings are making feints and false starts, trying to decide how to penetrate into the opponents position. Lunna's bishop on a5 is making a nice dark-squared block, and coordinating well with his queenside pawns, which are on light squares. Rouleau's king can't just come waltzing into the a-file, because many of the squareson the b-file are covered.
9:31pm
Back to Board 1. GM Joel Benjamin's French Defense id facing a phalanx of pawns, with the tip on c5, and the flankers on b4 and d4. The commentary has virtually stopped on the game, even though there are exactly 100 people watching. Everyone is wondering how Joel will break out of the slightly cramped position that he has.
Here's a picture of GM Joel at the start of the match.
9:29pm
Victor is way down on the clock. He has 17 minutes left, to his opponent's 63 minutes.
9:20pm
I've ignored Victor Shen's game on board 3. Let's have a look... Hmm... Well, both have pretty bad light-squared bishops. Rohonyan has a nice knight planted right in the center of the board. It coulf be kicked out with ... f6, but the hole it leaves on g6 doesn't look too nice for Victor. If only Victor would move his bishops back to his first rank, then he would be setting up to practice a Fischer Random game. Rohonyan has just played f4, and here's the current position.
9:12pm
As I thought, it was a long planning session on Board 2, as Dean took about 20 minutes before he played 19. a4 ...
9:02pm
Todd Lunna (White) on Board 4 has ended up in a very interesting position. Material is equal is a same-colored-square Bishop ending. Todd has a doubled f-pawn, and his opponent connected pawns on the g and h files. Clearly Black has the better pawn structure, but is it enough to win?
8:57pm
I may have been right about the planning. Dean Ippolito is taking his time to play his move in what I thought to be the critical position. Here's the position with White to move...
8:49pm
Board 2 (NJ's Dean Ippolito is White) is complicated. I usually rely on some titled player's commentary to repeat here and make it look like I know what I'm talking about, but no titled player is really saying anything. So, I can sum up what I see. Material is equal. Ippolito has a pawn on e5, but it is doubled with its friend on e3. Minor pieces are equivalent (one dark-squared bishop and one knight apiece) and queens are still on the board. Rooks are fighting over the open c-file.
It is one of those positions that appears to require some definite long-term planning, and the player that can execute a decent plan while countering his opponent's plan will prevail. As far as I can see, there are no bang-bang tactics on the board. And, yes, I'm ready to take that back when they prove me wrong.
Here's IM Dean Ippolito at the start of the match.
8:46pm
Nope, Joel has retreated his bishop to g6, after 16 1/2 minutes of thought.
8:43pm
On board 1, Joel Benjamin has his chin resting on his right palm, and he's staring intently at the board. GM Blehm has thrust his c-pawn forward to c4, challenging Benjamin's isolated pawn on d5. I'm guessing that Joel is deciding whether to swap it off, which would leave Blehm with two central pawns, or not.
8:33pm
Boy, I must be missing something. On board 4, Rouleau castled right into an open file. Lunna slammed his rook down on g1. Well, ok, it wasn't slamming, but it was a loud mouse click.
8:20pm
Now, for a recap of board 4. Todd Lunna (picture below), one of the Knockout's alternates, has played an exchange Ruy Lopez against Baltimore's John Rouleau. The queens are off the board, and Lunna has been cursed with tripled isolated f-pawns. And, yes, I mean the f-file, not as an abbreviation for some word that begins with "f". Although, I don't know -- it might be the same to Todd.
8:11pm
Once again, I am fascinated by the different things players do when playing these games on ICC. Lunna (board 4) started by playing on his physical board next to him, but keeps going back to the screen. Shen (14yoNMVS, board 3) is watching the physical board. IM Ippolito (board 2) tends to look at the physical board, hunched over it actually, but is also prone to a lot of pacing during the games. Benjamine (board 1) is back at the screen.
All players do, however, seem to make their move on the physical board first, and then on the screen.
8:04pm
Speaking of Board 3, the Knockout's Shen (I was going to say again "14 year old national master Victor Shen", but it seems like a waste of typing and aggravating any carpal tunnel syndrome I might develop) has played the Sicilian against WGM Katerina Rohonyan. By my untrained eye, both have bad light-squared bishops, but Rohonyan's dark-squared bishop is taking aim for Shen's kingside castled position, with a nice hold on the center. WARNING: All analysis provided herein is for amusement and entertainment purposes only.
7:56pm
I took this picture as the games were starting. It is third board, 14 year old national master Victor Shen, awaiting his opponent's first move. If you're reading this for the first time, read about Victor's last second stalemate escape from last week's match under the headline "Knockouts are Undefeated".
7:53pm
On ICC, an amusing comment from someone named "kruupy", suggesting that on Board 2, Black has "checker syndrome". :-)
7:47pm
On board 2, IM Dean Ippolito started the game with his customary 1. d4, to which his opponent, FM Enkhbat, responded with a Slav Defense. Now, remember gentle readers, I am not anywhere near a master-level player, but to my eye, it seems odd that Black has put so many of his pawns on light squares, even though his bad bishop is outside of the chain. But, perhaps, someone else can explain it to me.
7:40pm
On board 1 with the black pieces, GM Joel has played the French. White has developed a few minor pieces, but Black's c-pawn has already crossed the Mason-Dixon line. Of course, Maryland was a boarder state, and had its share of people loyal to the Union as well as the Confederacy. But I digress. Actually, I'm digressing a lot. Maybe too much. Board 2 update in a few minutes.
7:38pm
Apparently Baltimore is having connection problems on boards 1 and 3. GM Benjamin and 14 year old master Victor Shen are taking it in stride. We'll get to the chess in a minute.
7:33pm
The match started a little late, and we've already had a couple of disconnections. But, all is well now. Here's a picture of fourth board Todd Lunna (with the hat) and second board IM Dean Ippolito getting ready for their match.
7:09pm
Everyone is here. We've all encountered bad traffic on the Garden State Parkway. But, we're all here now. The players are getting their game faces on. Grrrr.... Hook the FISH.
7:06pm
Here's a picture of GM Joel Benjamin indicating this real-time blog. Whoa. Very self-referential. Think Godel, Escher, Bach.
6:56pm
More at 6:56. I lied. GM Joel is here, and our arbiter is setting up the boards and the programs. I should be able to take multiple pictures tonight, so keep a lookout!
2:53pm
The playing room is being vacated by the students of Chapel Hill Academy. They probably have no idea of the carnage that will be on view tonight, when the Knockouts throw their hooks into the Fish.... I mean Kingfish... Kingfishers...
More at 7:15 pm when the match actually starts!
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