tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-232519392024-03-12T16:36:10.000-07:00JG's Master QuestThe tales of one chess players quest to become a chess master and beyond.JGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05640674632764696369noreply@blogger.comBlogger134125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23251939.post-2577155340407912192009-03-16T06:47:00.000-07:002009-03-16T06:48:13.652-07:00!!!http://www.uschess.org/msa/MbrDtlTnmtHst.php?12880989<br />!!!JGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05640674632764696369noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23251939.post-2859449850356327002009-01-26T17:19:00.000-08:002009-01-26T17:22:28.393-08:00Shhhh<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ICrpEKtNz28/SX5hbDRWHDI/AAAAAAAAAAM/4kKFJs95DLA/s1600-h/graph.jpeg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 177px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ICrpEKtNz28/SX5hbDRWHDI/AAAAAAAAAAM/4kKFJs95DLA/s320/graph.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5295777329196702770" border="0" /></a>Shhh, quiet please.<br /><img src="file:///Users/jgutman/Library/Caches/TemporaryItems/moz-screenshot-1.jpg" alt="" />JGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05640674632764696369noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23251939.post-31579140243377386802007-11-13T22:40:00.000-08:002007-11-13T22:43:40.461-08:00US Division ChampionshipsI'm very sad after watching the collapse last Wednesday by San Francisco. I really enjoyed watching them all season sad it had to end this way. I will say that they almost had possibly a worse collapse last year against New York in the playoffs. At some point it looked like they were destroying new york and then they had to win in the tiebreak after some missed opportunities to put it away there too.<br /><br />Who's going to win this week?<br />Who cares? Oh, I guess I still do, a lot of exciting chess left.<br />Boston over NY 2-2<br />Dallas over Miami 3-1<br /><br />Nuff said.JGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05640674632764696369noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23251939.post-29411061781939593872007-11-06T20:57:00.000-08:002007-11-06T21:25:48.768-08:00US Chess League: Playoffs wildcardPlayoffs!!!!!! Well, I didn't even realize there would be predictions into the playoffs and thanks to my opponents picking opposite sides of the bets I believe I'm now officially theoretically eliminated from winning (Not really that big of a deal, I'll be back next year better than ever).<br /><br />However this week we have some serious excitement in the form of first round madness.<br /><br />Philadelphia Inventors vs New York Knights<br />Nakamura has greatly underperformed in the league, but just came off of 2 amazing results in Europe, which Hikaru will we see this week in the league? Whichever one we do see will likely have a huge impact on this match. Edge to Nakamura.<br />Krush-Smith didn't turn out too pretty a few weeks ago, but I don't see that game repeating itself so I give Krush a slight edge with white.<br />Costigan-Bonin two players who have been performing well this year, I think I slightly prefer Bonin who has found some impressive ways to score so far this year.<br />Zenyuk - Wilson, Wilson got the wrong end of this one last time, but I think he still looks to have a slight edge here this week.<br />2-2 tie (Phi advances)<br /><br />Miami Sharks vs San Francisco Mechanics<br />The most important match of the week (of course) pitting the defending champs against the team that eliminated them from the playoffs 2 years ago.<br />Becerra - Wolff: Wolff I think is greatly underestimated in this game, he's rusty, but really hasn't show bad form, the game against Christiansen was a tough fight I give Becerra a slight edge in this match.<br />Bhat - Lugo should be good for Bhat, I don't even think he has a draw with white so far in the league and Lugo can get in some trouble sometimes with some superficial ideas which Bhat can be particularly good at punishing.<br />Martinez- Zilberstein<br />Supposedly Martinez has the better score, but I think Zilberstein's shown quite a bit of maturity in his games these past 2 seasons I pick Zilberstein.<br />Young-Barredo Young had one big collapse this year, I think if he learned from that game he'll be a much stronger player. I like Young with the white pieces.<br />SF ove Mia 3-1JGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05640674632764696369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23251939.post-14983259410148595432007-10-30T19:58:00.001-07:002007-10-30T20:02:57.447-07:00USCL Week 10 PredictionsI actually gained nominal ground next week, this week will likely not be as good. I'm busy tonight so only very quick predictions.<br /><br />Boston over Phi 3-1<br />Strong line-up for Bos and riding the sox winning the series should be good for them.<br /><br />Queens over Bal 2.5-1.5<br /><br />NJ over NY 3-1<br />Mackenzie should be key.<br /><br />Carolina ties Ten 2-2<br />What do you do when you're finally not the underdog?<br /><br />SF over Dal 3-1<br />Because I'm a pro-SF prediction hack.<br /><br />Sea over Mia 2.5-1.5<br />Bringing out Lee should turn out to be a clutch move.JGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05640674632764696369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23251939.post-2660030307909388502007-10-23T20:18:00.001-07:002007-10-23T21:02:58.443-07:00USCL Rest of Week 9Already 1/1 this week, feels good, hasn't happened to me too often. Now on for the rest, I have to try to gain some ground just to finish with a respectable score in the league.<br /><br />Philadelphia Investors vs New York Knights<br />I think this is Lapshun's debut in the league, I don't know too much about him other than a good story from my friend Eugene Yanayt who before playing in his first New York Masters had nightsweats fearing 1.b4 from Lapshun. I think NY has a slight edge net from the top 3 boards and Philly a slight edge on the Bottom. I think I like NY a little more overall.<br />NY over Phi 2.5-1.5<br /><br />New Jersey - Baltimore<br />A lot of really close games in this match, but I think I like NJ on board 1 just a little better and don't have anything great to say elsewhere, that said, NJ has underperformed quite a few times.<br />NJ ties Bal 2-2<br /><br />Queens Pioneers - Boston Blitz<br />Big guns lineup for the blitz, a strong squad. The key here is that Krasik will have to be much quieter when the rest of his team plays if he loses so he'll manage not to.<br />Bos over Queens 3-1<br /><br />Carolina Cobras - Miami sharks<br />With Miami bringing out a weakened lineup this weak I don't think they stand much of a chance against a Carolina team needing to make a strong push to a shot at a playoff spot If Carolina can with 4-0 they'd actually be ahead on tiebreaks form what I quickly read on the league site, this seems like an absurd prediction, but remember Miami was the team to originally end Tennessee's no-win streak last season when bringing a weak lineup in week 9.<br />Car over Mia 4-0<br /><br />Tennessee Tempo - Dallas Destiny<br />Dallas knows not to relax when the season is coming down the final stretch, bringing out a talented lineup to take on the tough tempi(is that right?). I think tennessee will hold tough, but number one rule for the Tempo, 3-1, 2.5-1.5, it's all a loss, they keep pushing.<br />Dal over Tenn 3-1JGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05640674632764696369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23251939.post-47610540826296196202007-10-21T22:29:00.000-07:002007-10-21T22:47:13.203-07:00USCL Monday Night Week 9San Francisco Mechanics vs Seattle Sluggers<br />This has become a good rivalry in the league, especially on board 1. White has won all 4 encounters between Serper and Friedel and it looks like there's a good chance for it to happen again especially with Friedel's results with white (despite his claim otherwise).<br />Board 2 also looks good with Bhat at the helm and his tremendous record, I don't want to oversell him, but I will say what's really helped him this season is tough fighting always looking for strong ways to defend and continue fighting for points in tough positions.<br />Board 3 features Donaldson the other SF MVP candidate (I'm speaking in terms of the league MVP, every player is valuable to the Mechanics) I think his chances with white are quite good.<br />Board 4 is the rematch of Naroditsky and Sinanan, even though Sinanan has a fantastic first name and got the better of it last time I think this match will be very even and Naroditsky has been playing well looking at recent results (and now even holds the higher rating).<br />I know it's sounded like my predicitions have been one-sided for SF, and well things actually look good for the Mechanics.<br />SF over Sea 3-1JGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05640674632764696369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23251939.post-150726098334126022007-10-17T09:36:00.000-07:002007-10-17T14:32:57.956-07:00USCL Week 8 PredictionsFirst, I would like to explain what makes a good prediction. Sometimes predictions have to be a little controversial and what's more controversial that just being wrong? I certainly can't think of anything so I'm glad you all agree. <br /><br />New Jersey vs Boston<br />Boston should be the favorite, but somebody didn't tell New Jersey that, both teams stacking the top of their lineups. If Boston wins on 1+2 I will likely look foolish, but I'm going to predict a tie here, looks like there are too many close games that have a good chance of being decisive.<br />NJ ties Bos<br /><br />Baltimore vs Philadelphia<br />Another match that looks evenish down the line, I particularly like Philly's bottom 2 boards in this match (yes, more than I like Boston's bottom 2 in their match) and since my Diamondbacks failed where the 2004 Redsox succeeded (coming back from a 3-0 defecit) I have not grief over this either.<br />Phi over Bal 3-1<br /><br />Miami - Tennessee<br />If Miami can beat San Francisco, they can beat anybody (even if they haven't), but by how much, but they've got a pretty nice situation board by board here.<br />Mia over Ten 3-1<br /><br />Carolina Cobras vs San Francisco Mechanics<br />Bhat takes board 1 to get revenge for Friedel. The key for SF is going to be boards 2 and 3 where Carolina puts up some traditionally strong performers. Looks good for them though.<br />SF over Car 3-1<br /><br />Dallas vs Seattle<br />Seattle seems to really like it when I pick them to lose, mostly by ripping on me whenever I do. Take this seattle.<br />Dal over Sea 2.5-1.5JGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05640674632764696369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23251939.post-19681407663043152832007-10-14T15:41:00.000-07:002007-10-14T15:50:10.533-07:00Week 8: Monday PredictionSurely by now this season some of you have come to notice my impressive prediction ability this season capped last week by my 0-6 record. I will not defend my actions, in fact I place the blame on myself. Last season I was a regular watcher of the league and while I accept the high likelyhood that I was merely lucky, I did it with authority. This year I can't claim any authority, I don't watch San Francisco play live every week (sadly) and in fact quite often I don't get home until after the days' games are over. I certainly don't have time to replay them and my chess and predictions have both suffered from this overworking (the latter of course being of much greater importance). Either way, I encourage you take these predictions with an extra grain of salt.<br /><br />New York Knights vs Queens Pioneers<br />Some fairly close matchups down the boards, I think it is again the anticipation of the league to see if Nakamura can notch his first USCL win, I think it's becoming quite a burden on him, it's difficult to imagine he would struggle this badly. I do remember a poor start to the 2006 US Championships after going into the event as the defending champion, but he did come back in a fierce rally to almost tie for first in his division (on which I believe he would have lost on tiebreaks). Maybe that's his plan here, he probably has to start soon or never. I think it'll be soon. On other boards it's hard for me to make strong statements, I can say that the Queens do have 2/3 whites on these boards where the edges are unclear. Overall I think the knights have a small edge.<br />NY over Queens 2.5-1.5JGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05640674632764696369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23251939.post-37718183622711240972007-10-09T21:10:00.000-07:002007-10-10T05:57:38.025-07:00Rest of Week 7 PredictionsBoston - New York<br />Boston taking some time off celebrating their large lead? No, I don't think that's it. I think this is going to come down to Naka taking some time on his clock to make some critical decisions, so far the internet forum hasn't proved to be the place for him so I think I still like Boston here. (That and last season I picked them almost every week and did well, I gotta mix something up).<br />Bos over NY 2.5-1.5<br /><br />Baltimore Kingfishers - Queens Pioneers<br />Baltimore brings out the big guns trying to close the gap on Boston, this won't be the week, but I like the effort.<br />Bal over Queens 3-1<br /><br />...... here is where my internet died last night, only have time for some quick predicitons, sorry:<br /><br />Carolina vs Tennessee<br />Tennessee brings out their strongest lineup ever, there should be chances for all 3 match results, but I think Carolina is still slightly favored.<br />Car over Tenn 2.5-1.5<br /><br />SF vs Miami I like SF on boards 1,2,3 closer on board 4, having played both board 4s I'll say that they're both tough, but probably Miami has a slight edge here.<br />SF over Mia 2.5-1.5<br /><br />Seattle vs Dallas<br />Seattle faces their kryptonite, it's really very close, but I think I have to give the edge to Dallas.<br />Dal over Sea 2.5-1.5JGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05640674632764696369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23251939.post-61258658533963962632007-10-07T21:57:00.000-07:002007-10-07T21:59:54.338-07:00USCL Monday Night Week 7Monday Night Prediction:<br />Philadelphia Masterminds vs New Jersey Knockouts<br />Philadelphia leads out not quite with their traditional lineup but one that should be strong I would look for very close fights on boards 1-3 with maybe a slight net edge for New Jersey and then and edge for Philadelphia on Board 4, I predict a tie.<br />Phi TIES NJ 2-2JGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05640674632764696369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23251939.post-57469744198347305012007-09-30T18:35:00.001-07:002007-10-01T07:45:00.935-07:00USCL Week 6 PredictionsI think finally I had a week that was worthwhile in predictions but still not up to the standards I've started to expect for myself. Anyways, SF plays Boston this week so obviously there's a lot to talk about.<br /><br />New Jersey Knockouts vs Carolina Cobras<br />New Jersey is coming out this week with their full-metal lineup it looks like, fresh off their first win they're looking to keep the trend going.<br />Benjamin - Milman: New Jersey should have an edge on this board, Benjamin has looked good this season Milman struggled a little bit against GM opposition.<br />Schroer - Ippolito<br />I would say the biggest risk for NJ here is that Ippolito tries a little too hard avoiding his more solid opening choices and ends up getting stuck somewhere unfamiliar. However, I think NJ should have a slight edge here.<br />Friedman-Zaikov<br />Zaikov has struggled a little more this season than last, but I think he's still looking to preform well, this should be an even match.<br />Jones- Lian<br />I like Jones in this matchup, I don't expect him to lose to another kid so soon and his rating advantage here is much more significant.<br />New Jersey over Carolina 2.5-1.5<br /><br />Miami Sharks vs Queens Pioneers<br />Becerra -Stripunksy is a very strong encounter, I expect Becerra to have the edge as he can be very tough with the white pieces.<br />Vovsha -Martinez I like Vovsha a little bit better with white, slight edge for Queens.<br />Moreno Roman -Zhao Definitely a clear edge for Miami here.<br />Bierkens - Socorregut<br />Slight edge to Queens here, but I think draw is more likely.<br />Miami's edges seem better than Queens<br />Mia over Queens 2.5-1.5<br /><br />Dallas Destiny vs Philadelphia Inventors<br />Boskovic - Kudrin<br />Looks pretty even, no edge to either.<br />Smith - Kuljasevic Slight edge for Smith, but all 3 results possible in a relatively even matchup.<br />Stopa - Costigan Costigan should be solid, but Stopa is strong enough he should have a substantial edge.<br />Wilson - Zorigt: Edge to Wilson with the white pieces.<br />Dal TIES Phi 2-2<br /><br />Baltimore Kingfishers vs Tennessee Tempo<br />Enkbhat - Burnett: A close matchup, I won't give either player an edge.<br />Andrews- Kaufman : Edge to Kaufman as Andrews feels the (justified) burden to overextend himself to try to score a point for a team where he is probably the best chance to score at the top.<br />Rohonyan - Wheeler Wheeler has struggled a bit lately giving his opponents extra chances to try to win, I like Rohonyan's chances.<br />Larsen - Battsetseg Slight edge for Batsettseg.<br />Bal over Tenn 3-1<br /><br />Boston Blitz vs San Francisco Mechanics<br />This is definitely a highlight of the season for me. The match between the East and West's best regular season records from last season.<br />Christainsen - Wolff<br />Wolff has looked fine in his 2 performances so far and I imagine will continue to rebuild his form, that being said Christiansen has white and is no fish, I think Christiansen has a slight edge.<br />Bhat - Kelleher<br />Until I see otherwise I'm not going to predict anything for Bhat other than a strong result, Bhat gets the edge.<br />Shmelov - Donaldson<br />Edge to Donaldson even with the black pieces.<br />Young- Williams<br />Williams is probably slightly stronger, but Young is a tough opponent and has the white pieces (I've suffered a few times myself on this end of this tough opponent), probably very slight edge for Young.<br />SF over Bos 2.5-1.5<br /><br />New York Knights vs Seattle Sluggers<br />Nakamura - Serper<br />My guess is Nakamura will go right into Serper's favorite sicilian. It fits his style well and Serper likes to get himself in time trouble, should be good for Nakamura if he can begin to concentrate a little better in some of the more critical moments of his games in the league.<br />Orlov - Krush<br />Orlov has white and is a particularly tough opponent he should have the edge with white.<br />Bonin - Readey<br />Bonin has been playing well so it's temping to give him my vote for this one, but... Nevermind I will.<br />Sinanan - Zenyuk<br />This should be close, I think it should slightly favor Sinanan, but should be relatively even.<br />NY over Sea 2.5-1.5JGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05640674632764696369noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23251939.post-41457173982142478232007-09-25T20:29:00.000-07:002007-09-25T21:47:56.387-07:00Rest of Week 5 predictionsWhat has happened to me? My luck coming to an end? Tired work weeks impairing my prediction judgement? Mechanics not the 4-0 I've predicted? Whatever it is, it must come to an end.<br /><br /><br />New Jersey Knockouts vs New York Knights<br />Benjamin-Charbonneau<br />Charbonneau definitely has some advantage in youth and activity, but I will not sell Benjamin short, he should have the edge with white.<br />Hess-Zlotnikov<br />Hess has a lot of talent, can at times be inconsistent, but youth and rating give him the edge.<br />Molner-Arnold<br />A battle of youth on board 3, I don't know too much about either of them, but I know I've seen some impressive games from Arnold that give me confidence to give him the nod with black.<br />Zenyuk- Ju, should be close probably a slight edge for Ju, but not much.<br />Close, better chances for NY who still seems to have some fire left.<br />NY over NJ 2.5-1.5<br /><br />Boston Blitz vs Baltimore Kingfishers<br />Christiansen - Blehm should favor LarryC, he lost last time, but not before developing a strong position with black.<br />Enkbhat - Sammour-Hasbun : Hasbun defended well in 2 games, Enkbhat probably won't try to take of off the board so drastically, but either way I like his chances.<br />Martiorsov - Rohonyan Should be pretty even, 3 results possible and decisive likely, but still even.<br />Battsetseg - Krasik : Krasik seems to have trouble in games like these, honestly don't like his chances much as he can get a little overconfident. That being said, he can play and his chances can't be so bad.<br />Boston over Baltimore 2.5-1.5<br /><br />Queens Pioneers vs Philadelphia Inventors<br />Stripunksy-Kudrin Stripunksy has been playing very well in the last year while Kudrin is probably past his prime form edge to Stripunsky.<br />Smith-Vovsha: Both players who show good classical knowledge and aggressive style should be a balanced game.<br />Critelli - Costigan: Costigan has a strong lineup in front of him this week and doesn't need the same kind of opportunities, he's performed well in the league and I give him a slight edge.<br />Wilson-Thaler: I'm a fan of wilson's play in the league, what can I say, I give him the edge.<br />Phi over Queens 2.5-1.5<br /><br />Tennessee Tempo vs San Francisco Mechanics<br />Burnett - Wolff: The question for this game is if Wolff can find good form. He didn't look bad in his first game so I give him the edge.<br />Donaldson - Andrews<br />John looked very good last week, solid, not afraid to take some chances and showed a good nose for blood, he can be quite poisonous with white especially against a relatively inexperienced opponent.<br />Wheeler-Shankland<br />Shankland can be really tough, is vulnerable, but he's been playing well and I give him the edge.<br />Naroditsky - Wu<br />Naroditsky lost in an unfortunate manner last week but I think his mistake was going away from his normal style, no need for him to try to play unfamiliar positions this week for him so I give him the edge.<br />Tennessee has made some things close this year, but I think SF is in a good position to try to regain some ground<br />SF over Tenn 3.5-0.5<br /><br />Carolina Cobras vs Seattle Sluggers<br />Milman - Serper<br />Serper is tougher with white than with black where his predictable repetoire can make him vulnerable, I like Milman here.<br />Mikhailuk - Schroer<br />Mikhailuk has been more active (I might be wrong) I believe and the rating difference is not so big so with with white I think he's preferred.<br />Zaikov - Schmidt<br />I think this game should be a close one, Zaikov was quite strong last year, he's had some tough games against some tough opponents this year.<br />Michael Lee- Craig Jones:<br />Lee was quite solid last year for Seattle, Jones can also be quite good, but especially with white I like to favor youth.<br />Slight edge for Seattle.<br />Sea over Car 2.5-1.5<br /><br />Maybe you're safer predicting the exact opposite though.....JGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05640674632764696369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23251939.post-377108180740143802007-09-24T16:21:00.000-07:002007-09-24T16:22:24.133-07:00USCL Monday PredictionJust realized I forgot to post a prediction for monday:<br />Dallas over Miami 2.5-1.5JGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05640674632764696369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23251939.post-83957629548553052582007-09-16T18:01:00.000-07:002007-09-16T21:47:19.831-07:00USCL Monday Night Week 4In case I don't get time to make another aweful prediciton, I predict boston over NY 3-1.<br /><br />Update:<br />So I'm sure some of you out there might be shocked by my bold prediction. Well the key is take whatever you expect Boston to do and add at least 1 point to it. Sure, board by board it doesn't look too impressive for Boston. Nakamura should have an edge on board 1, Perelshteyn counters with an edge on board 2. Bonin on board 3 should be a bit better and Williams on board 4 should have the edge. Looks like the perfect line for a 2-2 tie, but you have to remember that Boston has the team factor, I really think this is what drove both them and San Francisco to such strong results in the regular season last year. I have been overlooking this so far this season. So really this just gives Boston much better chances of holding/ winning on boards where they should be worse.<br /><br />Queens vs NJ<br />A rematch of the week 1 tie. A few changes for both teams and a color flip. This time I can more confidently predict something at least slightly offbeat by Stripunsky against Benjamin. Board 1 is pretty close Board 2 should favor the Queens, but boards 3 and 4 I like NJ so I give NJ the slight edge in the match.<br />NJ over Queens 2.5-1.5<br /><br />Phi vs Bal<br />Philadelphia is missing Kudrin this week and Baltimore debuts their top GM. Baltimore should have an edge on board 1, I trust Costigan to keep it close on board 2 but ultimately he should be on the worse side of thigns, but Philly looks good on boards 3/4 which should give them good chances to hold the match.<br />Phi TIES Bal 2-2<br /><br />Tennessee Tempo vs Miami Sharks<br />If you remember, Tennessee scored their only historical team win against Miami at the end of last season, this week however Miami is showcasing a tougher line-up. Miami has a substantial edge on boards 1 and 4 and less so on boards 2/3, but still very promising. I predict a 3.5-0.5 victory for Miami.<br />Mia over Ten 3.5- 0.5<br /><br />Dallas Destiny vs Carolina Cobras<br />This looks very close on Paper, Carolina has been playing with a large core of its original members from season to season. This experience in making good team judgments should help them.<br />Car over Dal 2.5-1.5<br /><br />Seattle Sluggers vs San Francisco Mechanics<br />Obviously the most important match of the week (since it involved the Mechanics). It features one of the most exciting matchups of last season in Serper-Friedel. These 2 played 3 matches last season. This produced 2 games of the week and 3 decisive results. Friedel got quite a bad position in his one game as black, however it was shown here:<br />http://chessquest.blogspot.com/2006/10/mechanics-clinch.html<br />that Serper did slip up at one point. I think over the last year watching Friedel's games he's become a much tougher defender and I expect this to be a pretty balanced game with my bias going towards Friedel.<br />On board 2 we have Orlov-Pruess. Last season Orlov got his taste of Bhat, this time around he's looking at Pruess who has had a somewhat disappointing couple of weeks, he seems to do better when he's playing stronger opponents though so this should be a good chance to turn that around with the white pieces.<br />Board 3 there is an interesting match Readey-Donaldson. Donaldson was a long-time resident of Seattle and I'm guessing has had quite a bit of experience with Readey. My guess is his stronger level of play and experience against this specific opponent should make things quite difficult for Readey.<br />Board 4 features Daniel "kid" Naroditsky against Seattle's young player Sinanan. Naroditsky has white against a lower rated player so this looks quite good for him.<br />This week looks quite promising for SF.<br />SF over Sea 3-1JGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05640674632764696369noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23251939.post-55580628540016008132007-09-11T20:56:00.000-07:002007-09-11T21:23:29.551-07:00Rest of USCL Week 3 PredictionsMiami Sharks vs. Carolina Cobras<br />Should be an interesting board 1 matchup, Becerra an established GM against Milman a strong talent of american chess. Slight edge to Becerra with white. <br />Board 2 features Schroer vs Lugo with Schroer still trying to score his first point in the league while lugo has been solid, I feel like I need to give Lugo the nod.<br />Board 3 is Martinez-Zaikov. One of the tougher opponents Zaikov has faced, then again, it doesn't seem to matter that much for him, I give Zaikov the nod.<br />On board 4 Jones-Maderos Jones gets the nod over the relatively unproven Maderos with the lower rating.<br />Looks pretty even, roughly equal chances for each side to break through.<br />Mia TIE Car 2-2<br /><br />Queens Pioneers vs Dallas Destiny<br />Board 1: Stripunsky - Broskovic<br />Stripunsky has rating, experience in the format and the white pieces, looks good for him.<br />Board 2: Vovsha - Kuljasevic<br />Should be pretty close, but Vovsha looked very sharp in his first match in the league season so I'm giving him the nod.<br />Board 3: Stopa- Zhao<br />Stopa has a substantial rating edge and the white pieces, I'm picking him to take the board with a steady edge.<br />Board 4: Zorigt-Thaler<br />Zorigt looked a little shaky in her league debut, but nothing that can't be overcome with a second shot, she's got the rating edge and the white pieces.<br />Again close, but I think the boards 3 and 4 edge for Dallas seems more substantial than Jersey's higher board edge, I give Dallas the nod.<br />Dal over NJ 2.5-1.5<br /><br />Seattle Sluggers vs Tennessee Tempo<br />The famous week 1 matchup from last year which had the leagues first ever 4-0 sweep. However, Tennessee has looked a lot stronger this year and I wouldn't expect such a route.<br />Board 1: Tangborn-Burnett<br />Tangborn might have what it takes to contain Burnett's active style and has looked solid when he holds the white pieces. I'm going to give him the nod.<br />Board 2: Andrews -Schmidt<br />Schmidt didn't impress me particularly in week 1, feel free to prove me wrong but Andrews hasn't looked too bad in spite of his 0.5-1.5 record.<br />Board 3/4: Seattle has loaded up the bottom of their lineup with a fairly balanced team, looks like they're giving themselves good chances on both of these, clearly favored on both boards.<br />Sea over Ten 3-1JGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05640674632764696369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23251939.post-38307337808621228822007-09-09T20:34:00.000-07:002007-09-09T22:11:47.086-07:00USCL Week 3 PredictionsI haven't done well so far with my predictions, but I blame a vast conspiracy against me by over/underperformers in the league being unpredictable.... so far.<br /><br />San Francisco Mechanics vs New York Knights<br />Even though this pits a 1.5-0.5 team against an 0-2 team this is probably the week's most exciting match-up.<br />Board 1: Bhat (SF) - Nakamura (NY)<br />An interesting matchup. Bhat has been hot lately in all of his chess and has had amazing results in the league. Nakamura has a solid 200 point rating advantage. However Bhat is a Mechanic which gives him that something extra (oh yea, my biased prediction). I'd say given the white pieces and recent performances the chances are about equal.<br /><br />Board 2: Krush (NY) vs McCambridge (SF)<br />Krush has had a slightly better performance in the league and has the white pieces, she should have a slight edge but McCambridge can be tricky and sometimes Krush can be overly predictable.<br /><br />Board 3: Pruess (SF) vs Bonin (NY)<br />If you think Pruess is dangerous on board 3, wait until you see him the week after a loss. Edge to SF on board 3.<br /><br />Board 4: Young (SF) - Herman (NY)<br />Their ratings are actually fairly comprable and Young has had some good results lately and I wouldn't underestimate the tough kid at all.<br />My prediction: SF wins 2.5-1.5<br /><br />Philadelphia Masterminds vs Boston Blitz<br />Battle of the undefeated teams. Philadelphia has built on their experience without a true board one to form a tough team this year with a regular board 1. Boston continues to rally on the strong regular season they had last year.<br />Board 1: Kudrin(Phi) - Perelshteyn(Bos)<br />Kudring with the white pieces vs Perelshteyn with black, should be a pretty even matchup, slight edge to Kudrin with white.<br />Board 2: Sammour-Hasbun (Bos) - Smith(Phi)<br />Boston should have an edge here, but this is the board where I think Phi could potentially steal the match.<br />Board 3: I dont' know too much about these players, but Boston's board 3 has looked solid in his 2 games so far. Edge to Boston here.<br />Board 4: Elvin Wilson continues to perform well in the league so I think I need to give Philly the edge on board 4.<br />My prediction: 2-2 Tie<br /><br />Baltimore Kingfishers vs New Jersey Knockouts<br />Board 1: Blehm is solid, but Benjamin should have a slight edge even with black.<br />Board 2: Ippolito didn't look so strong last week, but I don't expect a repeat performance, edge to NJ here as well.<br />Board 3: Rohonyan has played well so far this season but ran into a tough opponent in week 2, I expect this to continue. Edge to Baltimore.<br />Board 4: Edge goes to youth and rating on board 4 despite colors, edge to Baltimore.<br /><br />It looks very even, but overal I think Baltimore has a much better chance of breaking through<br />Baltimore over NJ 2.5-1.5<br /><br />Rest of Week 3 predictions coming soon.....JGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05640674632764696369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23251939.post-18446794702492148312007-09-03T08:17:00.000-07:002007-09-03T13:13:41.276-07:00USCL Week 2 PredictionsSo week one was a weak performance by me, also it seems the scoring system has been changed a little, but I'm not going to complain as I think in general it's a better system.<br /><br />Boston Blitz vs Queens Pioneers<br />Board 1: GM Christiansen vs GM Ibragimov<br />This is definitely the power-match of the week, an important board for boston too, if Christiansen can get a half point or a full poin it should be good enough to put the blitz in good position, he probably has a very slight edge too over Ibragimov. Ibragimov is obviously more active as a player, but Christiansen can be a beast with the white pieces.<br />Board 2: This should be a little closer than it looks on paper, Kleiman can definitely put together some high quality games and his preparation is generally good, but I think the edge goes to Sammour-Hasbun.<br />Board 3: I'm not really familiar with either of these players, but I think the edge goes to Queens.<br />Board 4: Krasik personally asked me to trash him a lot here (or maybe not), but either way I will say he's pretty inconsistent so basically are we seeing a Krasik that can play on Wednesday or normal Krasik? I'll give it a 50/50 and call this board a wash.<br />Boston over Queens 2.5-1.5<br /><br />Carolina Cobras vs Baltimore Kingfishers<br />Board 1: Clear edge to Milman, very talented player, also higher rated and has the white pieces.<br />Board 2: Schroeor's back for Carolina vs Kaufman of Baltimore. Kaufman seems to play a little more so an edge for him especially with white.<br />Board 3: "You can't stop Zaikov, you can only hope to contain him." Rohonyan impressed me with her smooth win last week, but Zaikov has been a beast in the USCL and I expect this to continue.<br />Board 4: This is a pretty close match, but I think I need to give the edge to Jones due to Zimmers poor performance so far in the league.<br />Carolina over Baltimore 3-1<br /><br />New York Knights vs Philadelphia Inventors<br />Board 1: Charbonneau seems to do better in situations where he's not such a huge favorite. That being said, what happens when two dragoneers face off? My guess is white doesn't play 1.e4, but then what does he play? Either way I give a very slight edge to Charbonneau.<br />Board 2: Krush had a frustrating loss last week and is sure to be looking for revenge. Smith so far has had rather poor results in the league, then again he's spent most of his time fighting off board 1 with Ehlvest gone in Europe most of last season. I give him the edge on board 2<br />Board 3: Hess has clear edge, next.<br />Board 4: Herman can be tough, but Wilson has had strong results in the league so i'll give him the edge here.<br />New York Knights tie Philadelphia 2-2<br /><br />Tennessee Tempo vs New Jersey Knockouts<br />Edge to Jersey on boards 1,3,4 (although slighter on board 1). I'll pick Jersey to win 3.5-0.5 <span style="font-style: italic;">(corrected)<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><br /></span><br />Dallas vs SF<br />The matchup everybody's been waiting for (or at least I have).<br />Board 1: I have no idea what kind of form Wolff's in, but knowing Donaldson he'll make sure Wolff's ready to play at least. Wolff was also former us champion so I think he gets the go ahead here.<br />Board 2: Bhat gets white on board 2 he also holds the league's highest performance rating to date. That said Bartholemew is no slump, but I think Bhat should have the edge here.<br />Board 3: Last year Pruess couldn't quite break through Stopa's sveshnikov, but sometimes the white pieces come with this burden. I think slight edge goes to Pruess.<br />Board 4: A battle of the young guns, unfortunately for Dallas Young is Younger... Okay enough horrible jokes, This should be a close fight, but Young doesn't have the burden of being a full time college student (I assume Zorigt is).<br />SF over dallas 3-1<br /><br />Miami Sharks vs Seattle Sluggers<br />Board 1: Edge to Becerra with the white pieces who has performed pretty well in the league.<br />Board 2: Slight edge to Tangborn on board 2 where the white pieces and a solid playing style should let him play without too much risk. (Key board!)<br />Board 3: Edge to Mikhailuk who has performed well in the league and significantly outrates his opponent.<br />Board 4: Edge to Miami here with the substantially higher rated player.<br />Miami TIES Seattle 2-2JGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05640674632764696369noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23251939.post-49729113779139552512007-08-26T21:54:00.000-07:002007-08-26T22:23:48.799-07:00Rest of Week 1 PredictionsI'm eagerly anticipating the start of the season, here are my thoughts on the week 1 matches:<br /><br />Baltimore vs NY Knights:<br />NY is bringing out a tough line-up with punch top to bottom, Clear edges for NY on boards 1 and 4, slight edge on board 2 for NY and a reasonably close match on board 3 I'll slate NY to take this one handily. An important part of NY's results this season will be their results on the bottom 2 boards. Part of the benefit/problem with having talented youth on board 4 is the inconsistency of youth. Arnold could beat a strong IM one weak and look like a weak master the next. I'm sure he'll gain a steady footing as his chess improves, but it's difficult to hold strong results from week to week sometimes. If he can stay strong, the Knights will win their fair share of matches this season.<br />NY over Bal 3-1<br /><br />Philadelphia vs Miami<br />Philly fans have something to really be excited about this year, they have a team that could be a legitimate contender. If Kudrin can hold fort on the tough board 1 for them the rest of their lineup is capable of some legitimate results. Miami had trouble keeping things together last season and fell apart towards then end. This match looks fairly even top to bottom I think Philadelphia has the white pieces on the boards where it'll matter a little more, I give them the slight edge as they've always been a legitimate team when they've had a real board 1 playign for them.<br />Phi over Miami 2.5-1.5<br /><br />Dallas vs Tennessee<br />Tennessee really isn't as bad a team as their results suggest on paper. Philadelphia will certainly want to destroy them if they get a chance to this season as an impossible loss was to blame for Philadelphia being left out of the playoffs last year. Dallas again has their united nations team going for them but it's a strong united nations team. Tennessee isn't more than 150 points lower on any board and they even have a slight edge on board 4 on paper. I think it'll be a clean victory for Dallas, but that they'll get dinged somewhere for a point.<br />Dallas over Ten 3-1<br /><br />San Francisco vs Carolina<br />The SF squad this year is quite ridiculous. At least 5 of the 8 players on the team have 2 GM norms or more if I'm not mistaken (and I don't know what exactly McCambridge's status is there), that gives them quite a bit of punch all the way down to board 3. Then on board 4 there'll be time shared between a duo of talented youngsters in the country. It wouldn't be impossible to have 4 GM titles on this team by the end of the season or more. Carolina is putting together a similar squad to last year led by the strong and also almost-GM Lev Milman. Josh Friedel vs Lev Milman puts two of the soon-to-be-GM club in a head to head battle to lead off the season. Edge goes to Friedel here with white, but I know this faceoff has some blood behind it. Boards 2 and 3 have a clear edge to the Mechanics and board 4 is fairly even so the Mechanics can be fairly confident going into this contest.<br />SF over Car 3.5-0.5<br /><br />Seattle vs Boston<br />Missing Orlov on board 2 from their lineup in week one will make things difficult for seattle who boasted an impressive regular season record last year before falling to the eventual USCL champions. Boston had a great regular season run last year as well but is also lacking some of the punch they usually bring week to week with Perelshteyn missing on board 2. Either way this should be a tough match. I think it's pretty close on all boards, maybe a slight edge to seattle on board 3 and a slight edge to boston on board 1, overall I think there will be a pair of decisive games each way and a pair of draws to even it out.<br />Sea TIEs Bos 2-2JGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05640674632764696369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23251939.post-2658837587689992572007-08-24T21:13:00.000-07:002007-08-24T21:49:02.013-07:00US Chess League: Deserving of a post!What? Me posting? It's almost as if I dont' even play chess anymore. Another season, a different city for me to watch from and about 1/4 the free time I used to have. This season looks to be exciting, more top players getting involved, more promising youth involved, and lineups juiced more than a certain bay-area slugger.<br /><br />I wish I was ready for some serious week 1 predictions, but it doesn't seem all the lineups are ready yet. But we have a week one match between two expansion teams that should bring some serious excitement to the league. You would think that the new addition of two new tri-city teams would thin out the talent pool in the league, but if anything it seems to have made it deeper and brought out GMs from their hiding places. The very first match of the season features two GMs on board one, not something that has been too common in past seasons. Anyways, here are the lineups:<br /><br />New Jersey Knockouts Queens Pioneers<br />GM Joel Benjamin: 2653 GM Alex Stripunsky: 2626<br />FM Thomas Bartell: 2386 IM Eli Vovsha: 2501<br />NM Mackenzie Molner: 2355 FM Teddy Coleman: 2285<br />NM Evan Ju: 2268 WFM Julia Shiber: 2108<br /><br /><br />Board 1: I'm familiar with both these players, not too familiar with their individual games. I do remember a few nice games by both of them from the 2005 US championship. I also know I've seen both players play 1.e4 and try a few things BESIDES the open sicilian. I think there's a good chance of seeing something like taht in this matchup. Slight edge to Benjamin who I think is probably the slightly stronger player and has white.<br /><br />Board 2: I'm not familiar with Vovsha at all, seen Bartell play a few nice games, this one is probably a little closer than it looks on paper, but I think the slight edge goes Vovsha who will have the white pieces this should be one of the most important boards for this match.<br /><br />Board 3: Molner - Coleman<br />Molner is a former New York Knight. Coleman and he are both young players, Molner seems to be the stronger player but has had problems in some matches last season. Still I think Molner gets the nod on board 3, especially if NJ wants a real edge.<br /><br />Board 4: Shiber-Ju<br />I think even with black slight edge to Ju, he seems to have more experience and his youth suggests he's underrated. Board 4 belongs to the kids this year as it has a few times this year.<br /><br />Overall should be a good start the season.<br />My prediction: NJ wins 3-1 over QueensJGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05640674632764696369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23251939.post-17461774938564555172007-03-06T11:48:00.000-08:002007-03-06T11:52:08.426-08:00Southern California here I come....I figured I'd update here. I have sad and happy news to report. I'm moving back down to Southern California for a new job. I would like to thank the chess community I've encountered up here, I've greatly enjoyed it. I will still be rooting for the SF Mechanics next year so they better win again... I hope I see all the great people I've met around at tournaments and other than that I wish you all the best.JGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05640674632764696369noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23251939.post-82478076735270255122007-02-21T12:33:00.000-08:002007-02-21T12:34:29.808-08:00Amateur Team West 07US Amateur Team West<br /><br />What happened to Caltech this year? Caltech had been a perennial contender (winning 3 of the last 4 and going into the last round in clear first in the other one), but this year we were missing out top board Patrick Hummel which convinced us to name ourselves "No Patrick, No Problem".<br />Last year we were good and lucky enough to win the event clear, this year we were much weaker (2020 vs 2197) and our last year's 2nd and 4th boards (Yanayt and I) were playing 1st and 2nd boards respectively this year. We had a rough start with Yanayt blundering from a completley won position in round 1 to tie a match we should've probably won despite this result. In round 3 we played the famous Hoo's the Next American Idol and despite being outrated on 3/4 boards only lost 1.5-2.5 and actually our board 3 was better the whole game and then played consecutive blunders throwing away the win on move 40 and losing the game outright on move 41, but such things happen in chess. We beat up some weaker team in round 4 and had a nice upset in round 5 fueled by our very consistant 4th board Mike Kaye's victory over a stronger player and myself on board 2 defeating a master as black (more on this below). In round 6 we were paired against a disappointed San Diego team whose top boards decided to call it an event and headed for the long drive home while their bottom two boards still wanted to play. We bravely allowed our lower boards to play the games to try to keep things as interesting as possible and they valiantly scored 1.5/2 to give us a very impressive result of 4.5/6 despite the early mis-steps. We tied for 4th overall and took 5th place on tiebreaks and 1st place U2100, I can say we can be happy with our early "Swiss Gambit". So sure, it wasn't first place, but this was the lowest rated Caltech team in the past 5 years and we still had a very solid result. Had it not been for some bad luck on our part we might have even been in contention.<br /><br />My own results were kind of strange. In round 1 I was on the black side of a Slav and my opponent played one lazy move and then needed to accept an inferior position, but instead blundered allowing a nice tactic to win a piece and resigned before making his 16th move. In round 2 I was paired against another weaker opponent, this time as white. It was my first game against the Gruenfeld so I was slightly uncomfortable playing this very technical line I had prepared in general. My opponent played a few inaccurate moves and I was clearly better, but then he blundered allowing me to win a pawn and the bishop pair to which he apparantly decided he would rather be mated in one instead so I played 20. Qh7# (yes, I know you don't see the position) and again was the first one done on the team in under an hour. In round 3 I played the highest rated board 2 in the event in Joel Banawa who was sitting at a rating of 2380+. I missed my chance to generate serious counterplay, but may have still had chances to survive, but I blundered allowing him to win the exchange which I might have had some minimal compensation for if it werent for my followup trying to win the exchange back which I was lazy about calculating and missed (from far) that he had a nice tactic at the end of this line winning a piece and not losing the exchange back so I decided to resign instead of playing on down a whole rook. In round 4 I was paired down again, not quite so far this time and I got to play my first real game against the King's Indian, my opponent played a dubious (but common) variation and I gave a little lesson in ripping the queenside apart and not getting mated and I won fairly smoothly. In round 5 I was paired up to a 2278 as black. My opponent played the Exchange French which is a line that has definitely more poison than its reputation. If black plays lazily he can end up with problems developing his "free" french bishop. My opponent played a move that looked inaccurate in the opening and I found my chance to equalize completely. I realized from looking at the boards that I would probably need to win to give my team a real chance so I wanted to keep my chances high. I was quite proud of the move I found in the following position:<br /><br />White just played 17. Qf5<br /><img alt="http://www.eddins.net/steve/chess/ChessImager/ChessImager.php?fen=r2q2k1/pp3p2/2pb1nnp/3p1Qp1/3P4/P1N1BN1P/1PP2PP1/R5K1" src="http://www.eddins.net/steve/chess/ChessImager/ChessImager.php?fen=r2q2k1/pp3p2/2pb1nnp/3p1Qp1/3P4/P1N1BN1P/1PP2PP1/R5K1" /> (image generated from http://www.eddins.net/steve/chess/chessimager)<br /><br />I was black in this position against an opponent more than 150 points higher rated than me. I had forseen this position and felt I should be better, but I realized I was a little loose and if I wasn't careful my better minor pieces could become less of a factor than my loose queenside. However, I had prepared a shot in this position which I will post the result at the bottom of this post, so don't scroll down if you want to try to find the strongest move in the position on your own. By the way, this move only achieves a positional goal and clarifies the position, it does not win material or give some overwhelming advantage. I would say after this move the position is clearly =+.<br /><br />Anyways, I went on to win this game (although even after the diagram my opponent had reasonable drawing chances) which had a nice finish for me as the game simplified to KNNB v K which I could have won faster, but decided to enjoy myself by winning with just KNB v K ignoring my other knight. In the last round I chose not to play a game (otherwise someone else on my team wouldn't have gotten a game) and decided to give the games to the teammates who would get the most interesting games. And our 3rd and 4th boards stepped up as I mentioned to net us the U2100 prize on tiebreaks.<br /><br />My goals:<br />Well, I guess I had some miscalculations in game 3 which wasn't great, but it was a tough game and I can't be totally disappointed with it. I am not holding myself to a standard of never missing anything in my calculations as my current goal is still to break 2200 and I'm not insisting to be perfect as that would be unreasonable. I spotted some nice tactics in a few of my games and don't feel like I missed out on major opportunities for the most part due to lazy calculation.<br /><br />Rating change: 2132 -> 2144 (2 points from my all-time high!)<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Solution to diagram: 17... Qc8! White cannot play 18. Qxf6 because Be7 traps the queen so the white queen is excavated (he traded it off on c8).JGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05640674632764696369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23251939.post-65978135020580077532007-02-08T10:25:00.000-08:002007-01-31T13:14:59.071-08:00TNM: Round 5I think I need to learn to be more vindictive at the chessboard. Not necessarily to my opponents, but to his moves. I think I definitely let my opponent off the hook for a couple of strange looking moves which just <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">yielded</span> an endgame which was probably superficially better for me, but should have been drawn. This is actually how I beat him last time as well. This time we went into a pawn endgame that should have been a draw, but offered me better chances (kind of a strange thing to say about a pawn endgame). Sure enough he didn't find the most accurate moves (although I will admit the only defense I've found is kind of ugly-looking) and he lost the game.<br /><br />I'm a little upset with myself lately, I haven't been studying chess as much as I should, but I've been a little preoccupied with my social life, strange to say that as a <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">chess player</span>. This game kind of made me think of something interesting. In many chess positions we play, we have no sense absolutely as to whether the position is a win or a draw, but we can normally quantify some kind of "advantage", when is it okay to go into a position we know objectively is a draw, but will very often be a win in practice. For example the endgame K+R+B vs K + R is a theoretical draw, but given the opportunity to play this endgame from the attacking side or maintain some small, but definite advantage in an endgame I would probably choose to be the attacking side in K+R+B vs K + R as in practice the defender does very poorly. But then of course I would feel guilty that I simply ignored the "chess truth" in the position and instead took an overly practical point of view. I'm not sure where I'm going with this, but I think it's an interesting discussion. I guess the day some opening is worked out to a K+R+B vs K+R endgame we will see how much chess truth matters where we see if either 1, the white side avoids it or 2) the black side avoids it. Although I guess in a sense, neither side can be too happy. White didn't maintain a theoretical advantage and black gave a position where his losing chances are high and his winning chances are nil.JGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05640674632764696369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23251939.post-59750324979915749552007-01-31T13:07:00.000-08:002007-01-31T13:14:59.214-08:00Tuesday Night Marathon: Round 4This game wasn't a success by most measures. I gained some experience playing the white side of the Catalan. I'm still learning this opening and I carelessly played what looked like a natural move only to find that it was a true gambit of a pawn. I still had reasonable Catalan-like compensation, and I thought I managed to hold things together with a key exchange sacrifice that give one or two moves to consolidate (somehow I need to consolidate to be better, not the rook, it was strange) I would've had a nice position, but my opponent found some accurate moves to put the point away. Kind of sad, I missed a few opportunities in the middlegame, but I think I got a much better feel for the position which is necessary before I can really start analyzing it intelligently on my own.<br /><br />Kind of a curious point here. It's very hard to simulate the ideas you get under game-pressure at home. I've tried, but the development isn't normal. Maybe I just need to work on the exercise a little more. I've been thinking about this a little. I guess part of the problem is it becomes a little trickier when if you miss an idea for one side you will likely miss it for both, but still it seems there should be some reasonable way of trying to do this type of exercise for an hour or so a couple of times a week. Find some middle-game position in an opening I play, try to put in serious time and do some solitaire chess. Afterwards take a quick look to see if any of my ideas had interesting merit, check them out and be done with it.JGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05640674632764696369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23251939.post-33133291590055508492007-01-24T13:20:00.000-08:002007-01-24T13:42:28.286-08:00Tuesday Night Marathon: Status after round 3I decided to give the Tuesday Night Marathon another go even after my heart-breaking finish in my last attempt. I am 2/2 as white so far which is slightly out of the ordinary for me lately, but these games were both playing down so we'll see how things go in future rounds. I'm 3/3 after 3 rounds overall, this tournament is one of the few FIDE-rated events in the bay area so I figured I should be playing in it with any attempt to get more rated games, starting next round I should get a crack at some of the stronger opponents, I just need to keep winning like I did last time so I can keep playing them. I would say my nicest game so far was a quick win in round 2 where my opponent played an inaccurate move order in the opening which I responded to with the best move and then my opponent overreached a little bit by playing moves which somewhat attempted to refute my opening which was a pretty good sign I would have resources to get a better position. I did, which he followed up by letting his queen get trapped so he had to sacrifice it for a rook and knight, but being behind in development and not having a reasonable place to castle he was doomed and resigned a few moves later. Round 1 I showed an amazing ability to miss the same idea multiple times as part of a tactical sequence to only amazingly see it later when it somehow still worked, I wasn't too proud of this performance, but hey, it got the job done.<br /><br />Round 3:<br /> This game I played okay, I think I missed some early opportunities to get a very large advantage, but I did manage to go into an endgame with a large positional edge and quickly won a pawn. After this I will admit I played somewhat inaccurately, but then something happened which isn't entirely new to me, my opponent, clearly being the defender and being a pawn down offered me a draw. Now, I will admit, I'm not 100% sure the position was winning at that point, but I'm positive it was not a trivial draw either. I've seen people do this and I think once you're above 1800 it's an absolutely rude and ridiculous thing to do, especially to a higher rated opponent. I even saw my good friend offer a draw to a grandmaster in a 4 vs 3 rook ending from the defending that <span style="font-style: italic;">may</span> have been defensible from the defensible, although I have my doubts, but was certainly no clear draw. But I think any player above 1800 should at least follow this rule: if it is clear that your opponent is even nominally better and it's clear that you have 0 chances to win, do not offer a draw, it does not show your understanding of chess, what it does show is a lack of class. I especially love when these players then after the game tell you the position "was an obvious draw" after they go on and lose the game. I mean it is known that King + Bishop + Rook vs King + Rook is a draw, I expect 99.9% of players to make the defender play it out. It doesn't matter how trivial the drawing technique is by the way for an endgame, let the attacking side offer the draw, you show you understand what's happening on the board that way.JGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05640674632764696369noreply@blogger.com1