Hyper-Accelerated Swiss Gambit

With an 0-3 start, it would be easy for the Cobras to throw in the towel. But since no one on the team can speak Spanish, there has not yet been a cry for "No mas." Player/Manager Craig Jones held a closed door meeting after Monday's loss, and sources say he instructed his team that his "Hyper-Accelerated Swiss Gambit" strategy has worked to perfection, and that a "torrent of tactics and novelties" are about to be unleased on the league. So before the league writes off the defending Eastern League Champions, a closer look at sporting history and other international conflicts reveals that all is not lost.

In 1982, not one but two NFL teams made the playoffs with a 4-5 record. Sure, the season was shortened due to strike, but there remains some chance that USCL Commissioner Greg Shahade may not be able to renew the USCL Players Association Collective Bargaining Agreement before the season ends. Or perhaps he will even adopt the ridiculous logic of Major League Baseball in 1981, which allowed the 50-53 Kansas City Royals into the playoffs due to their slightly-above mediocre second half record? With all this in mind, perhaps a couple of wins would be good enough to sneak Carolina into the post season. (And don't forget, in 2006, Carolina pulled out all the stops in posting a 4-6 regular season mark to get in, aided by FM Matt Hoekstra's fiber-optic freeze gun, which paralyzed his opponent's right hand in time pressure.)

This season, the week two loss to longtime nemesis Boston hurt the team, dropping Carolina to 0-5-1 lifetime against the Blitz. But the Cobras can draw inspiration from France, who went 0-5-4 against the Huguenots, and that was before GM Maxime Vachier-Legrave had even learned to move the pieces.

Ten years after the NFL's strike-shortened season, the San Diego Chargers made the playoffs after beginning 0-4. A year after that, in 1993 the San Jose Sharks began 0-8-1 before rebounding to play in the spring. And the history of chess in North Carolina is surely as storied as the history of hockey in California.

The Cobras wrap up the northeast corridor beginning of their season with a week four matchup versus Queens, who is also scuffling after an 0-2-1 start. Lead Pioneer blogger and board four WFM Elizabeth "Lizzie" Vicary will no doubt be licking her lip gloss at the chance to get off the schnide both personally and as a team, but a team of Cobra supporters plan to unleash a flurry of in-game New Yorker and Economist articles to Vicary's inbox, in a manoeuvre Carolina supporters are calling the "The Seymour Hersh - Hendrik Hertzberg offensive." Vicary's conclusions and metaphors will likely be over the heads of most chess fans, but Tarheel agents hope her multitasking skills are as unrefined as the Carolina Panthers' passing game.

Long memories create long seasons. The Cobras, 2009 Part Deux, begins next week. And anyway, was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?

- Mike Klein

Week 2 - Computer Analysis

Rybka 3 on Intel i7 overclocked to 4GHz - 3 minutes per move

Jones,Craig (2275) - Krasik,Ilya (2252) [D45]
Boston vs Carolina Internet Chess Club (2), 09.09.2009

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c6 4.e3 Nf6 5.Nf3 dxc4

6.Bxc4 b5 7.Bd3 Nbd7 8.0-0 Bb7 9.e4 b4

10.Na4 c5 11.e5 Nd5 12.dxc5 Nxc5 13.Bb5+ Nd7

14.Bg5 Qa5 15.Nd4 a6 16.Bxd7+ Kxd7 17.a3 score +0.58)

(17. Rc1 score = +0.74 = 74% of a pawn)

(17. f4 h6 18. Bh4 g6 19. a3 Rc8 20. axb4 Bxb4

21. Rf3 Ke8 22. Nc3 Qb6 23. Ne4 Kf8 24. Bf2

score +0.37 = 37% of a pawn 26 ply search).

17. ... Rc8

18.Qf3 score = + 0.32

(18. Qb3 or ab +0.58)

18. ... Ke8 19.axb4 Qxb4 20.Rfd1 score = +0.08 8% of a pawn

20. ... h6 21.Qh3?? score -1.39 = white down 139% of a pawn

(21. Be3 g5 22. Qg3 Bg7 23. b3 Rg8 24. Rac1 Rxc1 25. Bxc1 Qa5

26. Bd2 Qc7 27. Nf3 Ne7 score +0.09 = 9% of a pawn for white)

21. ... hxg5

22.Qxh8 Nf4 23.f3 score = -4.25 white down approx 4.25 pawns

(23. Nc3 score = -1.39)

23. ...Rc4 24.Nb3 Rc2 25.Nac5 Rxg2+

26.Kh1 Ng6 27.Qh3 g4

28.Nxa6?? score= -9.32 white down more than a queen

(28. Rd8+ Kxd8 29. 29. Nxb7 (29. Qxg2?? Bxf3 30. Qxb3

fxg4 score= -2.48)

28. ... gxh3 29.Nxb4 Bxb4

30.Rac1 Rxb2 31.Nd4 Nxe5 32.Rb1 Bc3 33.Nb5 Bxf3+

34.Kg1 Rg2+

Week 1

Hi Everyone!

Week one was tough but some bright spots here and there.

First our new location in the Perkins Library was well liked by everyone!

It's a Great location!

On the playing front we had high expectations for the match and I think we felt we would win it so losing comes all the more difficult.

Cobras go down 3-1 to the Baltimore Kingfishers.

Jonathan Schroer did a great job preparing for and then playing his 2650ish level player who is a “nasty strong”, as I heard someone describe him, German GM Leonid Kritz. Jonathan played the opening better and reached several winning positions and the game eventually ended in a perpetual for Kitz who was lucky to escape. I was just informed by the league that Jonathan Schroer has won the upset of the week prize!! Great Job Jonathan.

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 a6 5.cxd5 cxd5 6.Bf4 Nc6 7.Rc1 Nh5 8.Be5 f6 9.Bg3 e5 10.e3 Nxg3 11.hxg3 Be6 12.Qb3 Qd7 13.a3 Rd8 14.Na4 Bg4 15.Be2 e4 16.Ng1 Bxe2 17.Nxe2 Na5 18.Qc2 Nc4 19.Nf4 b5 20.Nc3 Nb6 21.Ng6 Rg8 22.Nxf8 Kxf8 23.Rxh7 Kf7 24.Qe2 Rc8 25.Qh5+ Kf8 26.Ne2 Rxc1+ 27.Nxc1 Qc8 28.Qd1 Nc4 29.Qc2 Kf7 30.Ne2 Rh8 31.Rxh8 Qxh8 32.Nf4 Qh1+ 33.Ke2 g5 34.Nxd5 Qxg2 35.b3 Qf3+ 36.Ke1 Qh1+ 37.Ke2 Qh5+ 38.Ke1 Qh1+ 39.Ke2 Qf3+ 40.Ke1 Qh1+ Game drawn by repetition 1/2-1/2

Since I was the only board where we had an advantage rating wise it was expected that to have success I have to win. I used too much time in the opening (thinking and dealing with computer connectivity issues as well) so after 4 moves had lost 40 minutes ugh! The gamed went back and forth but not dramatically so and I finally reached a solid ending edge (-.48 rybka) only to immediately blunder a pawn and thinking back had I not thrown away so much time in the opening, very foolish, maybe the ending would have been different hard to know. I was able to work up counter play in an ending and then missed a fairly simple win on move 39. See if you can find it! After this the game is level and I try everything I can to win a dead drawn ending probably reaching a lost ending at one point but eventually it was drawn… not good the 4^th board is where points have to be collected..

1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Bc4 Nf6 6.e5 Ne4 7.Qxd4 f5 8.Bf4 Nc6 9.Qe3 d5 10.exd6 e5 11.Bg3 Qxd6 12.Na3 a6 13.Rd1 Qc5 14.Qxc5 Nxc5 15.h3 Na4 16.Rd2 Bf6 17.Nxe5 Nxe5 18.Bxe5 Bxe5 19.Re2 Nxb2 20.Rxe5+ Kd8 21.0-0 Re8 22.Rd5+ Kc7 23.Bb3 Re2 24.Nc4 Nxc4 25.Bxc4 Re4 26.Bb3 Be6 27.Rd2 Re8 28.Rfd1 Re7 29.Kh2 Bd7 30.Bd5 R4e5 31.Bxb7 Ba4 32.Rb1 Bb5 33.Bf3 Re1 34.Rbb2 Rc1 35.Rbc2 Ree1 36.Kg3 g5 37.Bd5 h5 38.c4 h4+ 39.Kf3 Bd7 40.Rxc1 Rxc1 41.Rd3 g4+ 42.Kf4 Rf1 43.Rd2 g3 44.Kf3 Bc6 45.Ke3 Bxd5 46.cxd5 f4+ 47.Kxf4 Rxf2+ 48.Ke3 Rxd2 49.Kxd2 Kd6 50.Kc3 Kxd5 51.Kd3 Kc5 52.Kc3 Kb5 53.Kb3 Ka5 54.Ka3 Kb6 55.Kb4 a5+ 56.Kc4 a4 57.Kb4 a3 58.Kxa3 Kc5 59.Kb3 Kd4 60.a4 Ke3 61.a5 Kf2 62.a6 Kxg2 63.a7 Kxh3 64.a8Q g2 65.Qf3+ Kh2 66.Qf4+ Kh3 67.Qf2 g1Q 68.Qxg1 Black stalemated 1/2-1/2

Oleg’s game was a very well played hard fought. Reviewing it with Rybka today the level of play was exceptionally high. Until move 45 both players are playing either top moves or near top moves the entire way with white maintaining a normal slight edge but black is fine. I think at this point time pressure kicks in and the play just becomes “edgy” for both sides. Blacks 46^th...Qc6 appears losing to Re8 but this is very difficult to find and is not played. After 46...f6 the game retains is character of white having a slight edge but hard pressed to demonstrate.

Whites 47^th Qe4 is inaccurate and now Oleg has Nb4 but in time pressure saying these things may not mean much it’s just too difficult finding the right solutions. After 47...Nb4 white has to find 48Qf4! Or black takes over the advantage. After Qf4 the position seems dead equal.

Time pressure just takes over and for the next several moves both players miss chances.

By move 51 its = but still tricky for both sides. 51...Qd3 set white tricky problems but Oleg’s Qe2 is fine. Blacks 52^nd is the moment of truth. If Oleg finds 52...Ne4! he may very well have won it’s a difficult position for white to face practically with the threat of Rf5 looming but if white plays correctly its just equal. After Whites 53^rd Qd2 black loses the c2 button and faces a probably hopeless task for the next 35+ moves finally going down on move 89.

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6 5.bxa6 g6 6.Nc3 Bxa6 7.g3 d6 8.Bg2 Bg7 9.Nf3 Nbd7 10.Rb1 0-0 11.0-0 Qa5 12.Bd2 Rfb8 13.Qc2 Nb6 14.b3 Qa3 15.Bc1 Qa5 16.Bd2 Qa3 17.Bc1 Qa5 18.Rd1 Ne8 19.Bd2 Qa3 20.Bc1 Qa5 21.Bb2 Nc7 22.a4 c4 23.b4 Qxb4 24.Nd4 Bb7 25.Nc6 Bxc6 26.dxc6 Qa5 27.Nb5 Nxb5 28.axb5 c3 29.c7 Rc8 30.Bxa8 Nxa8 31.Bc1 Qxc7 32.Be3 Nb6 33.Bd4 Bxd4 34.Rxd4 e5 35.Rd3 d5 36.e3 Qc4 37.Rc1 d4 38.exd4 exd4 39.Rcd1 Qxb5 40.Rxd4 Kg7 41.Rc1 Rc5 42.Qd1 Nd5 43.Re4 h5 44.Qd4+ Kh7 45.Re5 c2 46.h4 Qc6 47.Qe4 Kh6 48.Re8 Qb5 49.Qe5 Nf6 50.Qf4+ Kg7 51.Rb8 Qe2 52.Rd8 Re5 53.Qd2 Ng4 54.Rxc2 Qf3 55.Rc3 Qf5 56.Qd4 Qb1+ 57.Kg2 Qb7+ 58.Rf3 Qe4 59.Qxe4 Rxe4 60.Rd2 Re7 61.Ra2 Rd7 62.Rfa3 Rb7 63.Ra7 Rb5 64.Re2 Rf5 65.f3 Nf6 66.Ree7 Nd5 67.Reb7 Ne3+ 68.Kf2 Nd1+ 69.Ke2 Nc3+ 70.Ke3 Nd5+ 71.Kf2 Nc3 72.Rd7 Ne4+ 73.Kg2 Nc5 74.Re7 Nd3 75.Rad7 Nc5 76.Ra7 Nd3 77.Ra3 Kf8 78.Re3 Ne5 79.Ra8+ Kg7 80.Ra7 Kg8 81.Rc3 Rf6 82.Ra5 Nd7 83.Rc7 Nf8 84.Ra8 Kg7 85.Rcc8 Nh7 86.Rh8 Rb6 87.Rag8+ Kh6 88.g4 Rb2+ 89.Kf1 Black resigns 1-0

Ron’s games was a slightly unusual exchange Caro but seemed normal with white having a small edge through most of the early going. Though Ron’s 12 Qc2 is fine with white maintain a small edge the computer shows a very elegant idea. (can comps be elegant??) 12Nf1 Nf4 13Bf4 Qf4 14 Ne3! And white maintains a decent small edge with tricks on d5 looming.. A very interesting idea.14...Rd8 15Qb3! E6 16 Ng4 and white has an edge. Through move 16 it’s either equal or white has a tiny advantage. I am not sure what is whites correct 16^th move is but more important than a given move is finding a plan and that is even less clear to me. Eventually black will play e6 and rab8 and b5 a5 rec8 etc with a clear plan. The position is fine for white but finding what to do in this position is unclear so from a practical perspective it’s tough. 16 Ne5? Is just a easily overlooked tactical mistake I certainly didn’t see what was wrong with it specifically though I didn’t know if in general it was good. Black has a nice tactic and GM Kaufman finds it. 17..d4! a very nice shot. The point is seen with 18cd Qc2 19. Bc2 Bh6 picks off an exchange.

Ron put up a bitter resistance and at times I thought we would see some Simpson magic but Kaufman put out all the brush fires before they could get roaring...

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Bd3 Nc6 6.h3 g6 7.0-0 Bg7 8.Re1 0-0 9.c3 Qc7 10.Bg5 Re8 11.Nbd2 Nh5 12.Qc2 Nf4 13.Bxf4 Qxf4 14.Re3 Qc7 15.Rae1 Bd7 16.Ne5 Nxe5 17.dxe5 d4 18.R3e2 dxc3 19.bxc3 Rac8 20.c4 Red8 21.Nf3 Be6 22.Qb1 Rxd3 23.Qxd3 Bxc4 24.Qe3 Bxe2 25.Qxe2 e6 26.Qe3 b5 27.h4 h5 28.Rd1 a5 29.Qe4 b4 30.Rd4 Bh6 31.g4 Qc2 32.Qb7 hxg4 33.Rxg4 Qc6 34.Qxc6 Rxc6 35.h5 Rc2 36.hxg6 Rxa2 37.Rh4 Bg7 38.gxf7+ Kxf7 39.Rc4 b3 40.Kg2 b2 41.Rc7+ Kg6 42.Rb7 a4 43.Rb6 Kf5 44.Rb5 a3 45.Nd4+ Kg6 White resigns 0-1

We will reload for next week when we face what some say is the strongest team in the league Boston should be a lot of fun!

If you live in the Triangle area and want to come analyze the games while they are being played please do!!

Craig Jones

Craig Jones Predicts....

Battle of the Managers East vs. West

Craig Jones Carolina, Cobras manager
Vs.
Leo Martinez Arizona, Scorpions manager

Our prediction contest goes a step further predicting results of every individual game.
We agreed that making predictions about ones own team was not smart..
Stay Tuned for what the winner receives or loser must do!!

Boston wins 3.5-.5
Queens Pioneers Boston Blitz
GM Alex Stripunsky: 2628 GM Larry Christiansen: 2662 draw
IM Eli Vovsha: 2539 GM Eugene Perelshteyn: 2588 perelshteyn wins
FM Andrei Zaremba: 2398 SM Marc Esserman: 2461 Esserman Wins
Shaun Smith: 2038 Andrew Wang: 2136 wang Wins

Dallas 2.5-Miami 1.5
Miami Sharks Dallas Destiny
GM Julio Becerra: 2615 IM John Bartholomew: 2499 Beccerra Wins
FM Bruci Lopez: 2480 IM Daniel Ludwig: 2543 Ludwig wins
NM Eric Rodriguez: 2290 FM Keaton Kiewra: 2365 drawn
Miguel Recio: 2164 NM Nelson Lopez: 2218 Lopez Wins

Match drawn 2-2
San Francisco Mechanics Seattle Sluggers
GM Josh Friedel: 2612 GM Gregory Serper: 2592 Friedel wins
IM David Pruess: 2418 IM Eric Tangborn: 2455 Drawn
IM John Donaldson: 2408 FM Michael Lee: 2384 Drawn
NM Yian Liou: 2149 NM Joshua Sinanan: 2284 Sinanan wins

New York Knights New Jersey Knockouts
New York Knights win 3-1
GM Giorgi Kacheishvili: 2666 GM Joel Benjamin: 2641 kacheishvilli wins
GM Pascal Charbonneau: 2560 IM Dean Ippolito: 2535 Charbonneau wins
NM Matt Herman: 2275 NM Victor Shen: 2305 Shen wins
NM Yaacov Norowitz: 2354 Arthur Shen: 2107 Norowitz wins

Philly wins 2.5-1.5
Philadelphia Inventors Tennessee Tempo
GM Sergey Kudrin: 2602 GM Alex Shabalov: 2624 Drawn
IM Alex Lenderman: 2638 IM Ron Burnett: 2380 Lenderman wins
IM Bryan Smith: 2528 FM Peter Bereolos: 2329 Smith wins
Rahul Swaminathan: 2135 FM John Bick: 2260 Bick wins

Arizona wins 3-1
Arizona Scorpions Chicago Blaze
GM Alejandro Ramirez: 2601 GM Nikola Mitkov: 2554 Ramirez wins
IM Levon Altounian: 2538 FM Florin Felecan: 2430 Drawn
FM Robby Adamson: 2354 IM Mehmed Pasalic: 2346 Drawn
David Adelberg: 2160 Trevor Magness: 2138 Adelberg wins

Introducing the 2009 Carolina Cobras

Reports of the Cobras’ demise have been greatly exaggerated, according to team manager NM Craig Jones. The Chapel Hill based chess teacher, a big fan of Mark Twain quotes, also reminds the league that “a lie gets halfway around the world before truth can get its pants on.” In addition to obscure literary references, Jones has cobbled together a statewide rabble of chess talent to help defray the loss of Cobra veteran GM Lev Milman. The former top Cobra waited until after the season to get his GM title and Jones thanked him for his good play, his dedication, and his sandbagging while on the team.

IM Jonathan Schroer, the longtime number-one active player in North Carolina, will supplant Milman on board one. Jones called Schroer a “fantastic theorist” while others have been known to call him a “rook-and-pawn endgame masochist.” At a chess camp this summer, a peak into Schroer’s preparation revealed Adgestein-esque boots from the defensive back position and also an instense devotion to the fledgling sport of Chinet-plate Frisbee.

Jones once again signaled for the righty on board two – Duke University wunderkind FM Oleg Zaikov. Though many Blue Devils spend four years popping no-dose in the mornings and doing keg-stands at night, Zaikov has been invaluable to the team during his tenure. In Jones opinion, Zaikov was the second most valuable player in the league last year. Though on hiatus from most over-the-board tournaments, Zaikov was paired up 12 consecutive weeks last season but still scored +1.

Board three will be the usual home of FM Ron Simpson, who is coming off a long winning streak in the 2008 campaign. He has been experiencing a mid-life chess renaissance over the last few years, thanks to some unconventional methods. Simpson has an arsenal of game preparation techniques, including visualization, meditation, and voodoo. Trust me – you do not want to give this man your height, weight, and hair color.

Rounding out the “big four” of what the French call “Les Serpents,” is Jones. Like longtime Atlanta Braves captain Chipper Jones, the Cobras have benefited from his leadership over the years (but without the catcalls of “Larry, Larry” when the Cobras face the New York teams).

Two new faces to the team will be Charlotte-based chess teachers FM Mike Klein and NM Chris Mabe. When asked why he plucked these two players from down Interstate-85, Jones said that at his captains draft, Nakamura and Shabalov were already taken. Klein adds nothing more than levity to the team (and a strange desire to play Ng5), but Mabe brings a rising geothermic geyser of talent and a healthy pre-match preparation technique. Mabe is a past winner of the World Open under 2200 section and recently broke 2300. He is also a pool shark but Jones has informed him that league rules prohibit slapping a twenty down on the board before matches.

Raleigh area NMs Carlito Agner and Udayan Bapat (who recently achieved the title) ensure that the Cobras are one of the few teams who post a roster of eight masters. Some would say this is like having five of the same color in poker, but since when are chess players good at poker anyway? Cobra assistant manager John Timmel, who has been with the team since inception, will return as an alternate.

Jones admitted that the team is the lowest-rated in the league but he reminded others that the Cobras were within a whisker of winning the pennant last year. He had his team doing two-a-days during training camp to prepare for next week’s match against the Baltimore Kingfishers; no one has given him a good reason yet why they are named after an Indian airline.

The team, as always, will play matches in the Duke University Student Union, also known as “The House that Trust Funds Built.” Check back each week for updates on the team that promise to be full of puns on the words “venom,” “uncoil,” and “fang.” Don’t be rattled – it’s just another season of Cobra-Kai chess.

- Mike Klein

The Carbide Cobra blogs!

Woohoo!!!! The run continues!!

Last night the Carolina Cobras did it again upending the New Jersey knockouts 2.5-1.5 taking over second place which if we hold gives us first rd draw odds in the playoffs. 1^st place queens plays Chicago on Wednesday night go Chicago!!

The Bryan Center usually is a place of hustle and bustle but it was very quiet last night as the students were gone for fall break.

This match marked the first time we have ever had a player competing from a remote site. Lev was home visiting and taking part in a family wedding ( not his!!) but took time out to make it down to the Marshall Chess Club to play his match which was a tremendous help so we could field as strong a team as possible to take on New jersey.

Ron Simpson had a wonderful game on board 3 verses the very talented Evan Ju , who has had some fantastic results recently maybe an IM norm or 2, and simply outplayed his young opponent on the black side of a closed and quiet Ruy. Ron played with great patience when required then nails Evan when it was required!! Great job Ron. This game may be a candidate for game of the week IMO.

Oleg won again against Mackenzie Molnar! Same opponent, same game trend (Oleg was in deep deep trouble-“I was a move or so from resigning “Zaikov) and same miraculous comeback. Oleg entered the trendy 10b3 line of the Benko but his edge slipped away somewhere. Maybe Ne1 was misplaced maybe Ng5 intending Nh3 Nf4 is an idea. After this however the game went back and forth very much with both sides enjoying large leads followed by large deficits which is indicative of a very difficult position to play of course. In the end Molnar slipped at the finish line and Oleg ran past!!

I had a very comfortable game on bd4 against Victor Chen. I think I had a safe solid position right out of the opening then it grew just by playing natural simple moves I didn’t have to find anything difficult. I am sure I missed some stronger continuations but kept a nice edge the entire way until my opponent fell apart by capturing the queen with his b pawn instead of his knight. (in that case white still has nice edge but not quite winning maybe). At that point it was easy. Winning a solid pawn, more active King and he has no counterplay plus my opponent had about 1 minute to my 10. Right around here Oleg won his game so that made it 2-1 and I was very excited knowing we would now win the match. I decided on the spot to offer a draw just to “get out of there” and get the victory in the bag so to speak. At the time it seemed fine but in hindsight with the tie break situation it probably wasn’t a good decision. There are many scenarios where that lost half point can hurt us. Had I just finished the game if we win out we win the east the way it is now we can win out and still not win the division , due to queens vastly superior secondary tie breaks, I should have been more aware of the tie-break points ugh!!

Lev played a very hard game v 7 time US Champion Joel Benjamin. I thought Lev was holding on and then it all collapsed on him I am not sure if it was incremental or a singular event I haven’t “fritzed” it yet.

Root for Chicago on Wednesday and see the Cobras back in action next Monday night against Queens as well...

Craig

Cobras Win Again!!

Beats Baltimore 3.5-.5!!

What a great match! We moved passed New Jersey into 2^nd place which is extremely important as mentioned before for playoff tiebreak issues.

Lev played solid and drew easily (Lev actually had an edge most of the way) with black against the strong Grandmaster Sergey Erenburg from Israel who has been on fire the last couple years in the United States.

Jonathan Schroer played a near perfect game on bd 2 and just crushed IM Enghbhat ,who originally comes from Mongolia, and is known as a “tough out”. Jonathan just seemed to win effortlessly a very nice performance.

Oleg mixed up his opening move order against Zimmer and got a horrid position but somehow managed to make things messy enough and Zimmer crumbled and Oleg ends up winning a beautiful game.

Udayan played his opening with near perfection but then let it gradually slip away to probable equality and then Aaron Khan simply slipped at a critical moment and Udayan saw the tactic and won instantly!

Great fun,…

Next week we will play the New Jersey team we are tied with (we own second place on superior tie-breaks) and who has fielded the dynamic duo of GM’s on bds 1 and 2 Benjamin and Gulko. I cant wait!!

More soon

Craig

http://usclnews.blogspot.com/2008/10/week-6-game-of-week.html

Oleg and Ron get a lot of mentions here Oleg’s defense as grim as it was gets high marks…

Here is an excerpt from Greg Shahade about Ron's game

I ranked the Simpson game first because I just like that style of game where you lock up the position, just slowly improve, and then CRUSH! Of course Thaler capturing on g3 was horrible, but after that the game just made me happy. Of course, in retrospect this game was probably the best choice. If Queens had won or drawn the match I would have given 1st place to this game for sure because you know it's kind of strange giving Game of the Week to a member of the losing team, but okay sometimes it happens. (2nd place: 4 points)

Craig

Hi Everyone

http://www.chessvideos.tv/forum/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=3875

Ron’s nice win over Thaler was featured in Greg’s weekly wrap out of games check it out.

Ron’s game was under consideration for GOTW week prize!

Also Oleg’s loss was voted GOTW for Lenderman.

Craig

Hi Everyone

Another great night for the Carolina Cobras!!

Taking out the division and league leading Queens Pioneers was sweet indeed.

We jumped from fourth to third place. http://www.uschessleague.com/Standings.html We are very close to clinching a playoff spot but more optimistically we are even closer to moving into 2^nd place and getting those huge first round playoff advantages of tie-odds which is a significant advantage.

Next week we play Baltimore whom we lost to in week 3 but both teams have headed in very different direction since then I am very optimistic of our chances.

Division leader Queens plays second place New Jersey and I am torn about whom to root for. If Queens wins it increases our short term situation of getting into second place. If New Jersey wins and we win then we are still in 3^rd but only a half game out of first.

The match was a lot of fun to follow.

The opening of Lev’s game was Ruy Lopez—Breyer 9..Nb8 . For those of us old enough to remember this line will forever be remembered for the extraordinary games between Karpov and Kasparov in their matches in the 1980’s. Many of those games seem to feature Karpov gradually outplaying Kasyanov but using up too much time and falling apart as Kasparov kept hitting him with things to solve etc. Karpov did win at least one of those Breyer's however. Lev Milman choose to avoid the giant body of theory by playing the “quiet 10d3” but the position became extremely sharp very quickly nonetheless. Lev played perfectly until move 19 when he missed what is probably a winning shot with 19Nf7!!. After this Levs position became worse, untenable then lost but Lev put up the best resistance he could and his opponent started letting his edge slip until it was equalize and Lev drew.

Udayan’s opponent, Ben Katz, and Lev had the same teacher growing up in New York so Lev was fairly certain (coupled with Udayan's research) of which line Ben would play. Ben did play this and Udayan was prepared and got a very easy position to start with. Then Udayan set a simple trap and Ben fell into it and Udayan was winning right out of the gates and nursed his edge to the finish line!! Great great job by Udayan Bapat!!

Ron’s board 3 game featured a Sicilian turning into a Botvinnik English setup with Ron’s usual creative interpretation confusing the team manager! J Ron then got down to beeswax and slowly and maturely and patiently building up pressure on the kingside and eventually CRUSHING/CRASHING

his nationally renowned scholastic player Michael Thaler of NYC. Great effort Ron the end was a lot of fun to watch and I am sure even more fun to play.

Our super star 2^nd board, Oleg Zaikov, showed up looking very tired and maybe even sick. Oleg said he was exhausted from a torturous week of school having 3 exams and no sleep. Oleg faced off against the top scoring player in the entire league, IM Alexander Lenderman, whom my sources indicated would play d4 nf3. So much for my spies Alexander played a c3 Sicilian. Oleg seemed fine out of the opening and it was back and forth. Using a lot of time on his clock with the position getting more and more trickier Oleg finally made some tiny inaccuracies which Lenderman jumped on and seized a nice edge which he wouldn’t let go of. Oleg tried everything he could but eventually it fell apart. Still a great effort.

Cya next week!!

Craig

Cobras crush New York 4-0 !!

The week Jan Ehlvest entered the Tennessee house, the rest of the league's eyes fell on the Cobras as the team they'd most like to play. The Cobra's answer speaks for itself.

Simpson,Ron (2346) - Bonin,Jay (2370) [B32]
USCL Carolina vs New York Internet Chess Club (4), 17.09.2008

Comments by Ron Simpson

A little history:
I grew up in New York City and Jay Bonin was one of the many big guns in the metropolitan chess community. I met Jay in the mid 1970s. I was a teenager with a rating of about 1900 and Jay was a full IM. Speed Chess was the main chess activity and no one seemed to play for free, or at least the big guns didn't play me for free. Jay must have beaten me over a 1000 speed games and a few tournament games. It was almost impossible to go to the Marshall, Manhattan, or Long Island chess clubs without running into Jay Bonin. Beating Jay Bonin, on line, for all see, is just too good for words. Carolina beating NYC by the score of 4-0, was fantastic. But beating Jay Bonin, my childhood chess monitor, priceless!!

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e5 5.Nb5 d6 6.N1c3 a6 7.Na3 Be6 8.Nc4 Rc8 9.Be3 Nd4 10.Bxd4 Bxc4 11.Bxc4 Rxc4 My thoughts about moves 9 to 12 is that Jay was trying to play very straight forward and achieve a innocuous position. The position favors white because of Black's underdevelopment, weak squares, and coordination difficulties. I think the idea to trade the knight and Bishop resulted in a position which doesn't allow Black much flexibility. 12.Be3 h6 Diagram

[12...Be7; 12...Nf6] 13.Qd3 Rc6 14.0-0-0 Nf6 15.f3 Be7 16.g4 Moves 12 to 16 where logical moves with respect to achieving a solid position with little risk. I wanted to play 15.f4 but this would only allow counter play for unclear attacking chances. So, Jay's 17...Kd7 appeared to be the best place to put the king under the circumstances. But after 18.g5. Black's position is problematic. How is Black going to connect his rooks, put the knight on a good square, and not jeopardize the g/h pawn? 16...Qa5



7.h4 Kd7 18.g5 Rxc3 18...Rxc3 sealed the deal for Black. Black is now playing for a draw because the next few moves are just about forced. 19.Qxc3 Qxc3 20.bxc3 hxg5 21.hxg5 Rxh1 22.Rxh1 Ne8 23.Rh7


Rh7 was difficult for me because all of my plans required long range calculations. The main ideas were to march my King up the b-file and attack the "a and b" pawns while holding my g-pawn. But I didn't want to put my rook on a completely defensive square (e.g.: g1). The point of Rh7 was that the Bishop and Knight could not attack my g-pawn and defend his g and f pawn simultaneously. The results were as the text showed a trade of pieces and pawns. 23...Bf8 24.f4 exf4 25.Bxf4 Nc7 26.Be3 Ne6 27.Kb2 Be7 28.Kb3 Bxg5 29.Bxg5 Nxg5 30.Rxg7 Nxe4 31.Rxf7+ Kc6 32.Re7 Nc5+ 33.Kc4 Diagram

The position stemming from move 32 was like playing with the house's money. White would have to make a really big blunder to lose. But the win was difficult to find. 33...Na4 34.Rh7 Nc5 35.Kb4 Ne4 36.a4 Nc5 37.a5 Ne4 38.Re7 Nc5 39.Kc4 Na4 40.Re1 Nc5 41.Rb1 Diagram

I found the plan to exploit the b6 square. The game is basically over. I focused on preventing any counter play that the lonely knight could try. A King and Rook vs a Knight is really an unfair fight. 41...Nd7 42.Kd4 Kc7 43.Kd5 Nf6+ 44.Ke6 Ne4 45.Rb4 Nc5+ 46.Kd5 Kd7 47.Rh4 Kc7 48.Rh7+ Kb8 49.c4 Ka7 50.Re7 Na4 51.Kxd6 Nb2 52.Kc5 Black resigns 1-0