The Chess Blog of the Boylston Chess Club... The Boylston Chess Club (BCC) is a part of the Boylston Chess Foundation (BCF).
I must say that I was shocked when this game was picked as a Wildcard. Why? Well because I frankly didn’t think it deserved to be in the GOTY contest. And if it doesn’t deserve to be in the contest then why should it do well in it? Simple answer: it shouldn’t.
Start your new year right at the annual Herb Healy Open House on New Year's day.I’d provide a link to it, but Hanon Russell doesn’t appear to believe in permalinks, so any link I’d provide here would break in short order, hence there’s no point in doing so...While it is in fact a bit challenging to find the permanent links on The Chess Cafe site, they are there. Look in the archives section (there's a link at the bottom right on the front page). For example, a permalink to the Dvoretsky article in question can be found here.
It just got to a point where my enthusiasm was shot to hell and I just couldn't be bothered with it anymore....Read his complete post, "It's not cricket...".
I know some people can take a positive from their losses, but for me, well it just pisses me off. There's a dozen other pastimes out there I can excel in in only a few months of practise and I'd rather spend my rather limited time, patience and enjoyment on those than constantly bang my head against a brick wall that is the Australian chess scene.
Do I love Chess? my oath. On design and principle it's strategic gaming at the absolute pinnacle with a rich and fascinating history.
But if you want to learn to play to win, you better start before you grow pubic hair because it's one hell of a bloody competitive game and for a late bloomer like me, I'm way way too late to the game to hold my own against the top dogs.
So with regret and sadness I am withdrawing from the Knights. I was foolish to think that it would help me get a leg up on the competition but really, I was just fooling myself.
IM David Vigorito, currently the Champion of Massachusetts and of the Boylston Chess Club, discussed two interesting recent games.
The audience of 17 - mostly BCC members who had free admission - enjoyed David's sophisticated and witty comments about a King's Indian game and a Sicilian he played with Paul MacIntyre in the BCC Championship. There were ample refreshments and a smaller than expected simul (6 intrepid souls.) All in all a delightful chess evening.
Boylston School Break Chess Camp SeriesIn keeping with its name, Chess Park will feature 10 tables with chessboard designs. There will also be a giant chessboard for playing giant chess, explained Alan Cajacob, the DeLand architect who designed the park.Players will need to be careful not to wager on games, make illegal moves or knock the pieces off the board when they are about to lose, since all the action will be monitored.
"I understand that some of these giant chess parks have tournaments going on till the wee hours of the morning," Cajacob said.
There will be super-size game pieces — pawns, knights, rooks, bishops, queens and kings — that players may move about on the park's checkerboard surface....
...Chess Park will be equipped to record any lawlessness that occurs within its walls.
"I'll have security cameras in it," [Volusia County director of facilities services, Fred] Schwenck said.
So, if Art of Attack is on your list of chess books to read, this might be just the impetus you need to pick up a copy, crack it open and join Takchess' virtual book club.
Here's a web application that allows you to play against Shredder using your iPhone (it works perfectly well in a regular browser as well). Use the menu button to choose your color, set the program's playing strength and takeback your move after Shredder shows you the folly of your play.
International Master David Vigorito
Unlike 2006, the Blitz were well represented in this year's US Chess League All-Star Team selections. Obviously playing well is important, but this year's difference seems to be the fact that most of their games were concentrated among four players.Chess Notes
By Harold Dondis and Patrick Wolff
Globe CorrespondentsThe US Chess League came to a climax in one event-filled evening that lasted until 2:30 in the morning. Dallas Destiny defeated the Boston Blitz in what must be called a most surprising finish. The two teams were matched in the first play-off as follows:
First board (Blitz v. Destiny): Larry Christiansen v. Drasko Boskovic; second board: Jorge Sammour-Hasbun v. Davorin Kuljasevic; third board: Denys Shmelov v. Jacek Stopa; fourth board: Chris Williams v. Bayaraa Zorigt. Christiansen, as Black, drew early when his opponent elected to play a repetition of moves. Sammour-Hasbun came up with a victory and Denys Shmelov drew against Stopa. Williams had the better position against Zorigt, but she gained material during time pressure, and the match was tied.
So the two teams went into the accelerated play-offs. The rules were that these would start with Board 4 and move to the top by elimination. A draw eliminated both players until only one player was left on a team. Boston Blitz seemed impregnable, with ICC champion Sammour-Hasbun and former US champion Christiansen on first board. Williams started off by avenging his defeat by Zorigt, but was eliminated by Stopa, who turned out to be a spoiler in the match. Stopa defeated Shmelov and then drew with Sammour-Hasbun, thus striking three Blitz players off the list. Christiansen was left alone to face Dallas' first two boards. Christiansen drew with Kuljasevic and then defeated him. He then moved on to Boskovic, but erred in the end game and Boskovic won. Thus did Dallas end Boston's long list of victories and became US Chess League champion. A remarkable win....
I didn't have a chance to meet Greg prior to his illness, but I did get to know him relatively well through over a decade of interactions at the Boylston Chess Club. What amazed me was how positive he always remained about life despite the serious medical challenges he faced. Every time I asked him how he was doing, I usually got the same answer, "I'm doing pretty well, thanks." Sometimes he would be away from the club for several weeks or months for a surgery, treatment or other hospitalization, but he never expressed any anger or resentment about his predicament. Instead, he'd show up one day and say "I was gone for awhile, but now I'm happy to be back playing chess with you guys again." Greg had plenty of reason to say NO to life, but he always said YES instead.
While Carey will tell you that he got lucky in a couple of his games, the fact is he thoroughly dominated this year's 12-man field. Carey scored 10 out of 11, going undefeated and allowing only two draws. Further, he went 3-0 against the other experts in the field. Congratulations to Carey on an outstanding performance.I suppose an aside to explain this view is warranted, since I'm sure some will disagree with my supposition. While it is theoretically possible that a team's 1st board might be defeated by the 2nd or 3rd board of the other team, I suspect the actually probability of this is fairly low. Therefore, more often than not, it doesn't really matter what happens in the preliminary blitz games because eventually the 1st boards will face each other for the title. So far, this is how things have played out the two times tiebreaks have been used. It's only a guess on my part, but I'd bet that over the next several decades, this will be the case more than 9 out of ten times (we should only be lucky enough that the USCL shows enough longevity to generate such a large sample).....In the game that mattered, GM Christiansen eschewed a draw and played on seeking winning chances. Instead, it was Larry who made the critical blunder and a minute later Boston's season was over. Some might claim that Christiansen's loss was attributable to the fact that he had to play three blitz games as opposed to his opponent's one. I find this highly unlikely. Larry may very well have been tired, but only because it was 2:00 am, not because he had to play an extra 30 minutes of chess.
After 49.Qd3
Larry certainly could have
Over the years as his illness progressed, his calculation and perceptive abilities declined, but not his fighting attitude - Greg always played an interesting game, full of attack and sacrifice.
Born in Newton, NJ, he was raised in Rochester, New York and lived in Somerville for the past 10 years. Gregory was a Realtor, CRS and GRI with Charles Associates in Cambridge for 10 years. Formerly he was Chemist with the Seamen Company in Boston. Gregory attended Rochester Schools, Fordham University and the University of Maryland where he received his Masters Degree. He also was an avid reader and for many years was a member of the Boylston Chess Club in Somerville.
Cherished son of Angela M. (Dovi) Hager of Rochester, NY and Somerville and the late Robert E. Hager. Loving nephew of Anna Louise Huguenin of New York City. His faithful dog Zeppo. Also survived by many many loving friends. A funeral service will be conducted in the Dello Russo Funeral Home, 306 Main St., MEDFORD Saturday at 4 pm. Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to attend, and may visit with the family from 3 thru 4. Interment will be private. In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be sent in Gregory's name to the VNA of Middlesex East and Visiting Nurse Hospice, 607 North Ave., Suite 17, Wakefield, MA 01880.
Elizabeth Vicary has done a nice job this week getting members of the Dallas Destiny to talk unguardedly about their opponents in tonight's US Chess League Championship match.I have never heard of that guy. Frankly, I don’t really care about random people expressing their ridiculous opinions. I’m ok with whatever leaves that gentleman’s mouth.Dallas 1st board IM Draks Boskovic on Ilya Krasik:
Well, I don’t really know who this person is (Ilya Krasik).... If four players like Ilya Krasik played against Dallas, they wouldn’t score more than ½ point. hahaha.After slights like these, we can expect to see an extra special effort from Boston's head cheerleader tonight. No doubt he's warming up the Championship pom-poms as we speak.
TWIC, Chesslab. Chessgames.com, ICC, Chessbase and BoylstonCC I get recent games, news, and local color. Chesslab is easy to use, TWIC has great timely info, Chessbase has it all and the Boylston blog keeps me informed on local issues. ICC is simply the best site out there.USCL Commissioner IM Greg Shahade:
Hmmm, uschessleague.com, uschess.org (at least before they did the terrible makeover), lizzyknowsall.blogspot.com, boston-blitz.com, boylstonblog.blogspot.com (probably got the url wrong, but you know what I mean)Let's hope Greg has us bookmarked since that url isn't going to help him find his way here.
In fact, Bhat’s loss was a triumph of good sportsmanship. As shown in my previous post, in league competition Bhat plays his moves on a regular board and with a regular clock, then enters them into the computer. (At least until the time pressure gets too intense, then he switches to all-computer mode.) Against Lugo, Bhat played 23. Bd5 and then realized it was a bad move. However, according to Donaldson, because he had already made the move on his board "he felt honor bound to make that move on the computer."I'm not sure what to make of this. The USCL rules clearly state that entering a different move into the computer than was made on the board is illegal:
A player may also play with a physical board at their side, as some players can concentrate better on an actual chessboard as opposed to playing directly at a computer. In this case the players would first make their move on the chessboard and then input it into the computer. The player is FORCED to make whatever move they made on the chessboard on the computer as well. If a TD sees that they have done otherwise then the player will be penalized.Were this rule not in place, players would be able to use their physical boards to analyze the position prior to selecting a move to play on the computer -- a clear violation of the principles of OTB play.
With seven of the eight players the same as in their team's previous playoff round, it's difficult to find any intrigue in the line-up decisions. Nevertheless, those stretching for a story might note that Boston could have put GM Perelshteyn on Board 2 without changing the rest of the lineup. While this would have increased the Blitz's rating advantage, I doubt anyone seriously contemplated sitting Jorge and his 2800+ USCL performance rating.A former Lowell (Mass.) High School math teacher and chess coach was sentenced Monday to 20-40 years in prison for repeatedly raping a young girl....
Prosecutors had urged an even stiffer sentence of 30-60 years in prison. Assistant County Attorney Patricia LaFrance recognized Wamala won't become eligible for parole unless he admits his guilt as part of the prison's sex-offender treatment program and thus may serve the maximum term, effectively a life sentence.
"If he chooses to step up and admit what he did, he has the chance to get out of prison before he dies," she said. "It's on him . . . the ball is in his hands."The victim, now 16, said though her life has improved since his arrest, Wamala had "ruined my life in a lot of different ways."
"There's nothing he can do to erase the past six years of my life. The damage is done," she said....
Wamala spoke at length before he was sentenced. Wamala said he agrees that a person found guilty of sexual assaults should be removed from society, but he said juries sometimes make mistakes and did so in his case.
Wamala said the girl had lied many times during her life, usually to cover up when she got into trouble. He spoke at length about instances when he said she lied about hitting another child in sixth grade, using a cell phone in school and sharing test answers with friends. Repeatedly, he remarked, "everything I have said can be verified by someone other than me."
"You have fooled people," he told her. "You know how to make yourself a victim, to appear as a victim."....
Once the winds stopped swirling, all could see that Jorge's house had come crashing down upon the Canadian menace. Pascal was dead. Pascal was dead! After three years of tyranny, his reign of terror upon Blitzville had ended and Blitzkins everywhere piled into the streets and celebrated long into the night.
**********
After 15...f5"This isn't a real tournament"Now to be fair to Hikaru, even if he is being paid to play in the USCL (and I don't know that he is), it is a small pittance at best. As a world class player, it pales in comparison to the potential rewards of winning a critical game at a major international tournament or a big money swiss. Therefore, from a perspective of self interest, you can't really blame him for his attitude.
"I'm not going to waste any of my d4 prep on this"
After 37...h6
With thanks to The Knights of Castle Kimbark ... the young player pictured above must be a big fan of Noah Pang's chess career.
After 25.Bb2-c3Chess Notes
By Harold Dondis and Patrick Wolff
Globe CorrespondentsChess has its heroes but they cannot parade through the streets of Boston to the acclaim of thousands. The Boston Blitz chess team does not claim to be a nation, like the Red Sox, but it has clinched the Eastern Division of the US Chess League. The Blitz does not have a Jonathan Papelbon to whiff ninth-inning batters and do a folk dance before a full stadium of fans. It doesn't have a Jacoby Gazellesbury to steal a base and win free Tacos for every person in the nation. However, it has its heroes who toil at the chessboard and come up with victories in live games on the Internet in front of a worldwide audience. Larry Christiansen and [Jorge] Sammour-Hasbun have nearly always held Board 1, facing the likes of Hikaru Nakamura and Alex Stripunsky, with no losses and with plus scores. Eugene Perelshteyn and Bill Kelleher have generally bulwarked second place, Denys Shmelov is Boston's third-place guy with no losses and a plus score. Fourth Board has been defended by Ilya Krasik and Chris Williams (who has a plus score).
Recall that the Boston Blitz won its Division last year but succumbed to New York in the playoffs. This year, New York has again qualified as a wild card. Jay Bonin came through with a critical win against the New Jersey Knockouts in the last round.
The schedule appears to be that the Philadelphia Inventors will play the New York Knights in Round 1. The winner will then face the Boston Blitz. In the West, the San Francisco Mechanics will play the Miami Sharks for the right to play the Dallas Destiny team. The winners of the two divisions will then face each other for the finals. [DG] in his Boylston Chess Blog has used a computer calculation to predict the winners, and he has [the] Boston Blitz on top, but like the computer printouts for global warming, we must wait and see actual results....
Williams on Zenyuk:I think Chris is very dangerous opponent. Looking at his games I see great determination from his side, he is an aggressive player, calculates very well, he is not afraid to go into sharp, double-edged play where the price of tempo can cost you a point. The first game we played was very sharp, at some point I thought I lost the thread of a game, after 21.Nd6 I thought I was just worse, my attack didn’t work and my king was bad. Then, after 21…Nb6 I found nice rook maneuver, of course giving up his bishop was a mistake but we were both in time pressure, so it was hard to find the best moves. I hope for a hard fought game on Wednesday! And btw the song about Chris is great!
Apparently, punctuation is a lost art.Well in our last game I really just messed up at the end, I didn’t play my fav move of all time quite possibly, I had my mouse about to release it instead I like just gave her a bishop and was lost the move was Qe6 sacking the queen for 2 pieces some pawns and tremendous dirty potential specially with her time situation. Iryna is a very strong player shes original, solid, and methodical, my game with her will be a hard one im sure I just hope I will be able to keep a consistent mind set throught the entire game.
The Open Section was won by Harvard freshman FM Teddy Coleman with 4 of 4 points.
Steven Abrahams, a BU freshman, won the U1900 section with 4 also. Teddy and Steven both tied for the 1st annual Allan Ong prize for the top undergraduate college student.
Travis Dover, a BU alum and former BU Chess Club president, won the U1600 section, also with a perfect 4.
Stuart Finney of the
You can view crosstables and photos of the BU Open at
Open section:
1st FM Teddy Coleman (4.0; $300)
2nd NM Christopher Williams (3.0; $40) & NM Lawyer Times (3.0; $40)
Top U2200 WIM Esther Epstein (3.0; $40) & Dr. Aung Kyaw Lwin (3.0; $40)
U1900 section:
1st Steven Abrahams (4.0; $75)
2nd Kapil Chandran (3.5; $40)
U1600 section:
1st Travis Dover (4.0; $75)
2nd Soheil Saadat (3.5; $20) & Corey Tolbert (3.5; $20)
Top U1200 Akshay Saini (3.0; $40)
Artem Sharamet, Soheil Saadat, Corey Tolbert, Eric Lawless, Kent Leung
(Only the top three scores were counted.)
Jesse Nicholas, Lior Rozhansky
James Lung, Christine Lung, Timothy Lung
