At least they're having fun

At ChessUSA, Jack Lemoine reports on his participation at the recent USCF Executive Board meeting. While it sounds like everybody had a good time eating and drinking together, I didn't read much that suggested that the Board had any new ideas on how to promote chess in the United States. Instead, the creative thinking seems focused on "inside baseball" topics, like how to change the way EB members are elected.

Why am I not surprised?

Blitz finish season atop the USCL QPRs

The final Original US Chess League Quantitative Power Rankings for the 2007 regular season are out and there are a couple of surprises.

First, while 5 of the six playoff teams comprise the top 5 teams in rankings, the remaining playoff team -- Miami -- is ranked only 8th. Quite simply, the computer doesn't think much of the Sharks remarkable comeback over the past two weeks. Why? Well for one thing, Miami scored only 19 game points all season. This is less than Seattle and New Jersey and the same as Queens and Carolina, all teams that won't be playing in the post-season tournament. Next, the Sharks performance rating for the season (2364) is fourth worst in the league, ahead of only Carolina, Baltimore and Tennessee. Finally, Miami played the second weakest schedule of any team, based on opponent's cumulative record.

The other surprise is San Francisco edging Dallas for the number two spot despite coming in behind the Destiny in the Western Division standings. This is explained by several factors. First, while Dallas has one more match win, the two teams share the same number of game points. Next, the momentum indicator points towards the Mechanics who finished the season with two wins in a row. Last, while the Mechanics schedule strength was in the middle of the pack, the Destiny faced the weakest schedule of any team in the league.

It is interesting to compare the Dallas and San Francisco schedules. Excluding the two matches they played against each other, the teams shared the following opponents in common: 2 matches against Seattle, Tennessee, Carolina and Miami. Their unique matches were as follows:

• Dallas - Philadelphia, Queens, Tennessee
• San Francisco - Boston, New York, Carolina

It's not hard to see that the Destiny had an easier road in 2007.

If the playoffs follow the QPRs (which is very unlikely), then the East will follow form - Philadelphia will defeat New York in Round 1 and Boston will prevail in Round 2. In the West, after defeating Miami in Round 1, San Francisco will upset Dallas in Round 2. Finally, in a close match Boston will take the 2007 Championship.

Of course, no one is really interested in computer analysis, so let's have them play the matches instead.

Original US Chess League Quantitative Power Rankings v.2
After Week 10
Format - (Match Record, Scaled Score, Last Week's Rank)

1. Boston (7.0, .928, 2nd)
   
   
2. San Francisco (6.0, .870, 4th)
   
   
3. Dallas (7.0, .822, 1st)
   
   
4. Philadelphia (6.0, .729, 3rd)
   
   
5. New York (5.0, .622, 7th)
   
   
6. Queens (4.5, .611, 9th)
   
   
7. Seattle (4.5, .576, 5th)
   
   
8. Miami (5.0, .543, 10th)
   
   
9. New Jersey (4.5, .479, 6th)
   
   
10. Carolina (4.5, .445, 11th)
    
    
11. Baltimore (4.0, .413, 8th)
    
    
12. Tennessee (2.0, .074, 12th)

BCC Weblog provides independent coverage of the United States Chess League. It is not affiliated with the USCL or the Boston Blitz.

Clarified Comment Policy

Several members of the Boylston Chess Foundation Board have become increasingly concerned about the content, tenor and tone of some comments on BCC Weblog. After consultations with them, we have decided to implement a no tolerance policy regarding comments which might be construed as offensive, off color, inappropriate or which contain personal attacks on others. IP addresses of those leaving such comments will be banned. All comments on posts which are currently on the front page have been reviewed and edited/deleted consistent with this policy. For the time being, the policy will be implemented with a hair trigger -- there is no appeals process.

As supporters of the free exchange of ideas, we regret that it has become necessary to implement this policy in such a strict way, but it has. The good news, however, is that the vast majority of commenters on the site will not be impacted by this policy since they don't leave comments which run afoul of it.

This policy is consistent with the previous Rules and Regulations of the site, but we have updated them anyway to make the no tolerance concept explicit.

Drawing up plans for the playoffs

It really has been a tale of two seasons for the Boston Blitz. After storming out of the gates with three straight wins, Boston has become the master of the drawn match ever since. Excluding a single win against San Francisco and their only loss of the season to New York (while using a lineup without GM Christiansen or Perelshteyn), the team has been stuck on 2-2 match scores.

Last week against the Queens Pioneers was no different, with the added symmetry of all four games ending in draws. The Blitz only had winning chances on Board 4 and it should have been enough. Ilya Krasik built up a winning position against Michael Thaler but missed several opportunities to cash in. Blitz beat reporter Mark LaRocca mentions a couple of missed wins by Krasik; here's another:

Krasik-Thaler

After 39...Kf6

Ilya chose to trade rooks with 40.Rxf7. While this wasn't a bad move, taking the bishop with 40.Rxc6+ would have been just devastating. After 40...Kxf5 41.Rd5+ Ke4 42.Rxb5, Black has no reasonable moves to stay in the game. Here are a few variations (with some help from Fritz):

42...Bc5 43.Rcxc5 Nxc5 44.Rxc5 +-

42...Nd4 43.Rxc4 +-

42...Bd2 43.f3+ Kd3 44.Rd5+ Ke2 45.Re6+ Kd1 46.Bxd2 Nxd2 47.Red6 +-

42...Be1 43.Re6+ Kd3 44.Rxe1 +-

The draw left Boston tied for first in the Eastern Division with the Philadelphia Inventors, making this week's matchup between the two teams a very meaningful one. However, in an interesting twist of fate, the team that has mastered the drawn match this season, finds itself in a position where it can "draw" itself all the way to the US Chess League Championship match. How so? Since Boston defeated is ahead of Philadelphia in game points earlier in the season, they need only a draw to secure 1st place in the Division and the first round playoff bye which comes with it. Then in the second round, they will have draw odds against their opponent, so two points will be enough to secure themselves a spot in the finals.

I suppose if this comes to pass, it will be safe to assume that the Blitz will draw the Championship match with the Western Division representative and go to tie breaks. Of course, the tie break games will be drawn, so eventually the league will use an Armageddon game to decide a winner (actually it doesn't really work with this way I'm not sure how the league plans to break a tie if last year's tie break model doesn't decide it, but bear with me for the sake of thematic continuity). Here the critical moment will be reached. One way or another, Boston must somehow get the Black pieces and then take home the crown by holding on for a draw!

**********

Looking at the lineups for this week, it seems quite likely that the Blitz will be able to secure at least a draw. In fact, I can't see one Board where the Inventors have a clear edge. The only real question seems to be whether Williams is ready to rebound from his back-to-back defeats in Weeks 7 and 8.

GM Larry Christiansen: 2663 vs. GM Sergey Kudrin: 2599
GM Eugene Perelshteyn: 2601 vs. IM Bryan Smith: 2446
NM Denys Shmelov: 2251 vs. IM Richard Costigan: 2287
NM Chris Williams: 2175 vs. NM Daniel Yeager: 2247

Boston gets the White pieces on Boards 1 & 3.

**********

Braden Bournival has a piece on why Shmelov should be considered the MVP of the Blitz. In it, he explores the "3-GM" lineup concept we mentioned back before the season started and makes what might be considered a roster strategy recommendation for the 2008 season (assuming Blitz manager Phelps can find next year's edition of Bennet Pellows).

BCC Weblog provides independent coverage of the United States Chess League. It is not affiliated with the USCL or the Boston Blitz.

Stepak's 1989 Photo of Kasparov at Harvard

Kasparov visits Sanders Theatre Harvard v Vivek Rao
Photo: Stepak 1989.

Eat a "Porker" Platter with LarryC

Apparently that's going to be one of the highlights of GM Larry Christiansen's day long visit to The Chess Club in Kansas City, Missouri on Saturday, November 3rd.

Here are links to the details of the event and to a menu from the Smokehouse BBQ.

Steve Stepak reunites with Garry Kasparov after 18 yrs.

Can you put my favorite photo on the BCC web page?

The photo was taken by a friend who wishes to remain anonymous just after I was conversing with Kasparov as he signed his book for me; I was reminiscing about Fall of 1989 when he came to Harvard to give talk at Russian Research Center and an 8 board master clock simul at Sanders Theatre: 7 humans and a computer. Garry won all games. I reminded Garry that one of the photos I took of him doing his simul appeared on the cover of Chess Horizons that Winter !! Garry facing off with now IM Vivek Rao! at Sanders Theatre.

Kasparov was happy to remember this visit, after which we were inspired to seal our memories with a handshake. And here you see it. Real smiles on both sides because 1989 were happy times, Perestroika and Glasnost appear on USSR horizon. Garry introduces Cambridge audience of 1989 with these terms; and now 15 Oct 2007 18 yrs later, Garry delivers a highly appreciated and well-applauded speech on life on and off the chess board at First Parish Church, Cambridge, MA USA.

I am grateful. Steve

Securing Their Spots

With one week left in the regular season, the four teams that have clinched playoff berths have separated themselves from the field in the most recent edition of the Original US Chess League Quantitative Power Rankings. At the other end of the list, Tennessee, despite their improved play as of late, has secured the bottom spot for the 2007 season.

If the QPRs are right, then Seattle and New Jersey will lock up the remaining playoff spots next week and New York, Baltimore and Miami will have to wait until next year.

Original US Chess League Quantitative Power Rankings v.2
After Week 9
Format - (Match Record, Scaled Score, Last Week's Rank)

1. Dallas (7.0, .883, 1st) - Only a Destiny loss and a Blitz win next week can challenge Dallas' lock on the top spot.
   
   
2. Boston (6.0, .820, 2nd) - The Blitz hold the edge over the Inventors in game score and performance rating. While Philadelphia has higher scores in momentum and strength of schedule, these factors are weighted less heavily in the model.
   
   
3. Philadelphia (6.0, .776, 4th)
   
   
4. San Francisco (5.0, .728, 5th)
   
   
5. Seattle (4.5, .533, 3rd) - The Sluggers are ahead of the Knockouts in game score, performance rating and strength of schedule.
   
   
6. New Jersey (4.5, .525, 7th)
   
   
7. New York (4.0, .514, 6th) - The Knights actually have a lower game score than the Kingfishers, but have the edge for all the other variables.
   
   
8. Baltimore (4.0, .449, 9th)
   
   
9. Queens (3.5, .429, 8th) - The Pioneers ranking ahead of the Sharks is primarily attributable to strength of schedule. Queens has faced the toughest schedule in the league, while Miami has had the second easiest one.
   
   
10. Miami (4.0, .403, 11th)
    
    
11. Carolina (3.5, .312, 10th) - Remember back in week 4, when the Cobras were ranked 4th?
    
    
12. Tennessee (2.0, .082, 12th)

**********

Should the US Chess League update the polls on their website?
	Yes. Since I vote everyday, I'm sure by now that most of the responses are mine
	No. I'm still waiting to find out who won the FIDE World Championship in Mexico
	Yes. Try as I might, I can't keep up with all of Krasik's votes for Boston to win the Championship
	No. I'm still uncertain which way to vote on all of the questions
	The US Chess League has polls on their website?
pollcode.com free polls

BCC Weblog provides independent coverage of the United States Chess League. It is not affiliated with the USCL or the Boston Blitz.

Tipping Technology

1. A chess playing robot - Hat Tip: Affairs of Chess
   
   
2. A chess clock for your iPhone - Hat Tip: Greenpoint Chess and Go Club
   
   
3. A how-to on Chessbase's "Repertoire Database" Feature (Part 1, Part 2) - Hat Tip: chess improvement
   

Decisions, Decisions

Let's see...

Live Blog the Blitz-Pioneers match
or
Watch Game 1 of the World Series

Watch Game 1 of the World Series
or
Live Blog the Blitz-Pioneers match

If I were you, I wouldn't bother stopping by here tonight for updates on the chess.

However, for those of you who root for Cleveland, New York, Los Angeles of Anaheim, Arizona, Chicago or Philadelphia, here are a few story lines to watch for on the ICC tonight:

1. Can the Blitz wrap up a playoff spot? - OrangeKing can take you through the specific details, but suffice it to say that this is almost certainly going to be the week that Boston punches its ticket. In fact, there are scenarios where the Blitz lose tonight and still clinch a playoff berth.
   
   
2. Where does the Division race stand? - Only a Boston win and a Philadelphia loss will wrap up the Eastern Division race. Therefore, it is very likely that next week's Blitz-Inventors match will be meaningful.
   
   
3. Welcome back, Mr. Perelshteyn - We haven't seen much of Eugene this season, but Manager Matt Phelps likes to trot out the two GM lineup when he really wants (needs?) to win. While SM Sammour-Hasbun has certainly established himself as a formidable Board 2 this season, it will be interesting to see what kind of form GM Perelshteyn is in as the post-season approaches.
   
   
4. Possible Board 4 controversy - Has Phelps lost faith in the bear or is he just giving NM Williams a week off after two straight losses? The usual "availability" excuse won't fly this time, since we know for a fact that Chris is available. In any case, it gives us another chance to see Ilya Krasik on Board 4, which is almost never boring.

BCC Weblog provides independent coverage of the United States Chess League. It is not affiliated with the USCL or the Boston Blitz.

BCC Championship update

David Vigorito (6.5 of 7) continued on his ineluctable march to the Championship - he needs only a draw in the remaining two rounds to clinch. Paul MacIntyre (5.5 of 7) and Charles Riordan (4.5 of 7) will try to stop the juggernaut as they play the last two rounds with the IM.

In the Hauptturnier, Carey "the haupt-vigorito" Theil is now 7 of 7, having just defeated his chief rival, David "the blog meister" Glickman (5 of 7). Eddie "the cicada" Chisam is trying to repeat his ten year cycle (5 of 7) and Ken Newman (5 of 7) is hanging back waiting to make his move if Carey falters.

How would you proceed?

Here is a position from the 5th round of the BCC Championship with White to move.

FM MacIntyre-NM Times

After 21...Bf5

After wrestling with the position for awhile, highlight the space between the brackets for the game continuation.

[Paul played 22.Rc7! and the game proceeded 22...Bxc2 23.Rgxg7+ Kh8 24.Bc3 Rae8 25.Rh7+ 1-0]

Quote of the Day

"I don’t consider something to be a sport if I can do it better while smoking." - one wag

From "Nakamura Breaks Out" at thepHtest.

A Crumbling Foundation?

As goes the lower boards, so goes the Boston Blitz. At least, that's the way it seems these past couple of weeks. Earlier in the season when Boston was tearing through the league it most often seemed that excellent performances from Shmelov and Williams were the keys to victory. In fact, both were mentioned as 1st Team All Stars at the halfway point in the season. Against the New Jersey Knockouts last Wednesday night, just a half point on Boards 3 and 4 combined was not enough to push Boston over the top. Instead, the Blitz had to settle for a draw and must wait at least one more week to clinch a US Chess League playoff spot.

While one would hardly be justified in calling out Denys for his recent performances -- he's 1.5-0.5 over the past two weeks including a win over the New York Knights' IM Jay Bonin -- he did nonetheless have the best of it for awhile against NM Evan Ju before having to settle for a draw. So perhaps the bee just needs to sharpen up his stinger a bit.

On the other hand, the bear has clearly gone into hibernation. The previously awesome one, NM Williams, is now 0-2 in the last two weeks after losing with White to NM Victor Shen. Did you just ask, "Where's Ilya?"

According to Robby Adamson, "Chris Williams went berserk on board 4 and lost a position where it appeared he had all the chances." The Kenilworthian's Michael Goeller instead chose to focus on Shen's accomplishment:

The loss for New Jersey on Board 2 was fortunately balanced by a win on Board 4 by the young Victor Shen in a wild game where both sides created second Queens. Shen has struggled against his usually more mature opponents, but this game showed him at his best.

Speaking of Goeller, one of the good things about playing New Jersey is that Michael annotates all the Knockouts' games. Check out his notes on the match with the Blitz.

Enough dwelling on the negative... Boston maintains a half point lead over second place Philadelphia and are still odds on favorites to take the Eastern Division regular season crown. So, rather than looking at where Chris might have gone wrong, let's instead take a look at a couple of positions from Jorge's impressive win on Board 2. His game is a great case in point for why you shouldn't spend all your time studying openings. Although Jorge played a line that didn't offer much compensation for his sacrificed pawn, he subsequently outplayed his opponent once they were both on their own.

I particularly like this position with White's knights standing side by side and dominating the board. Nevertheless, I'm not sure I would have found Jorge's next move, 20.g4.

Sammour-Hasbun-IppolitoAfter 19...Kh7

This next position contains a nice, straightforward tactic which allowed White to win the exchange and eventually the game.

Sammour-Hasbun-IppolitoAfter 29...Rh7

Solution: 30.Qxh7+ Kxh7 31.Nf6+ forking the king and queen.

**********

With Boston only achieving a draw, Dallas' revenge win over Seattle has vaulted them into the top spot in the QPRs for the first time this season. As I anticipated last week, rankings in the middle of the pack remain quite volatile.

Original US Chess League Quantitative Power Rankings v.2
After Week 8
Format - (Match Record, Scaled Score, Last Week's Rank)

1. Dallas (6.0, .824, 2nd)
   
   
2. Boston (5.5, .817, 1st)
   
   
3. Seattle (4.5, .714, 3rd) - Despite losing to the Destiny, the Sluggers edge in game score, performance rating and strength of schedule kept them percentage points ahead of the Inventors.
   
   
4. Philadelphia (5.0, .700, 4th)
   
   
5. San Francisco (4.0, .622, 7th) - The Mechanics lead the other 4.0 teams based on a much higher game score.
   
   
6. New York (4.0, .612, 5th)
   
   
7. New Jersey (4.0, .455, 10th)
   
   
8. Queens (3.0, .437, 9th) - Surprisingly, the Pioneers rank ahead of both 3.5 teams due to strength of schedule and a higher momentum indicator.
   
   
9. Baltimore (3.5, .409, 6th)
   
   
10. Carolina (3.5, .393, 8th)
    
    
11. Miami (3.0, .300, 11th)
    
    
12. Tennessee (2.0, .083, 12th)

BCC Weblog provides independent coverage of the United States Chess League. It is not affiliated with the USCL or the Boston Blitz.

Chess Blog Carnival - The Sequel

It has been up for about a week, so I would imagine that most of you have already come across the second edition of the Chess Blog Carnival at Samurai Chess. Nevertheless, Jack Lemoine asked me to give it a plug and I'm happy to do so.

Something Different

That had to be one of the strangest Annual Members' meetings I've attended in a long time. There were many reasons, but I'll just mention the most obvious -- an actual Club Officer election took place!

Incumbent BCF President FM Paul MacIntyre faced a challenge from long time member and former Officer, Board Member and Club Champion FM Chris Chase. Prior to the vote, much discussion was had, between the two candidates and among the assembled members, about current issues and future directions for the foundation and the club. Members variously expressed support for both candidates and the outcome of the eventual balloting was very much in doubt.

Voting was done by secret ballot and I had the privilege of tabulating the results with the assistance (and under the watchful eye) of Ted Gorcyzca. The count was rather eventful itself. Chase got off to a strong lead, but as more votes were unfolded MacIntyre slowly came back. Finally, the two were dead even with only two ballots remaining to be counted. Already I was thinking about what we might need to do to break a tie ... a second vote? rock, paper, scissors? Someone mentioned a Blitz game. The last two ballots were unfolded and they were both for Paul. A tie had been averted, but it sure was close. I was thankful that there were no demands for a recount.

From there, the meeting reverted to the typical Chinese Communist Party elections we typically have -- not OMOV, but OCNV (one candidate, no vote). Nevertheless, this still resulted in a 50% turnover among the Officers for the new year. Those serving as Officers in 2007-8 are:

• President - FM Paul MacIntyre
• Vice President - FM Chris Chase
• Treasurer - Robert Oresick
• Clerk - Anthony Scali

There were nine nominees for the Board of Directors with six elected, including several new faces. The Board Members for 2007-8 are:

• Bernardo Iglesias
• Natasha Christiansen
• NM Alex Cherniack
• Carey Theil
• Jason Rihel
• Joshua Haunstrup
  

Vigorito by a length

2007 BCC Championship after Week 6

Only three rounds to go and David Vigorito maintains his one point lead over Paul MacIntyre. The two are scheduled to meet in Round 8. Charles Riordan has moved up the leaderboard the last few weeks and now finds himself in sole possession of third place. He faces MacIntyre next week.

5.5/6 - IM Vigorito (2432)
4.5/6 - FM MacIntyre (2276)
4.0/6 - NM Riordan (2331)
3.5/6 - NM Williams (2302)
3.0/6 - FM Chase (2338)
2.5/6 - NM Cherniack (2296)
2.5/6 - NM Wang (2249)
2.5/6 - Kaden (2071)
1.5/6 - NM Times (2241)
0.5/6 - NM Rueda (2261)

2007 Hauptturnier after Week 6

Several Round 6 games were postponed due to the Kasparov event. As a result, only 4 players have completed a full schedule to date. Of those, David Glickman continues to lead Eddie Chisam and Ken Newman by half a point. Carey Theil is still lurking with an undefeated record and two games to play. Next Monday's matchups include Glickman-Theil and Chisam-Newman.

5.0/6 - Glickman (2027)
4.5/6 - Chisam (2063)
4.5/6 - Newman (1909)
2.0/6 - Lee (1724)
----------
2.5/5 - Frazier (1600)
2.0/5 - Haunstrup (1898)
2.0/5 - Portugues (1823)
1.0/5 - Oresick (1472)
0.0/5 - Gorczyca (1380)
----------
4.0/4 - Theil (2031)
1.5/4 - Driscoll (1800)
----------
1.0/3 - Slive (2000)

Laughing it up with Garry

Here is a clip of Garry Kasparov's appearance on The Colbert Report (not sure how long it will be up).

Campaigning Extended

Please note that the starting time for tonight's Boylston Chess Foundation Annual Members Meeting has been changed. The meeting will now commence at 8:00 pm.

A Game from the Hauptturnier

Ok, this is not the greatest game ever, but it is one free of major mistakes, and an opportunity to take a look at the Cambridge Springs Defense.

2007 Hauptturnier -- Round 5
October 8, 2007

Edward Chisam (2063) vs. David Glickman (2027)

1. c4

[In my last Hauptturnier (2000), I relied solely on 1. e4 in order to minimize the number of likely adjournments in a long tournament. But adjourned games are a thing of the past now.]

1.... c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 e6 5. Bg5

[There was a time when the development of the queen's bishop early in the Queen pawn openings was frowned upon, because of black's possible counterplay on the queenside with the bishop absent for defensive purposes. Boylston chess club member Harry Pillsbury was among the first to demonstrate the strength of this bishop move in Queen pawn games.]

5.... Nbd7 6. e3 Qa5

Glickman chooses the Cambridge Springs Defense.

7. cxd5

[I was aware that 7. Nd2 is the most popular move here, but this would not surprise Glickman, who would be well versed in those lines.]

7...... Nxd5 8. Qd2 N7b6

[This surprised me. I remembered that ...Bb4 was a system here, but did not consider this move, remembering that Tarrasch said that a knight on b6 is always misplaced. ]

9. e4!?

[A sign of ambition. Of course, I could play 9. Nxd5 Qxd2+ 10. Nxd2 exd5 11. Bd3 and shake hands a few moves from now. However, this would have the drawback of me being greeted by FM Chris Chase in the tournament room, chastising me for yet another boring game in this tournament. After due deliberation, I decided that it was critical not to allow this to occur.]

9...... Nxc3 10. bxc3 Na4!

[After this move, I knew that Glickman had outwitted me. Black would not be playing this way, so quickly, without a reason. Sure enough, after 11. Rc1? Black plays ....Nxc3 anyway and white is in serious trouble. Still, staying calm, one realizes that White does have a development lead, so he can just gambit this pawn and get the king into safety, with reasonable compensation.]

11. Bd3! Qxc3!

[After 11..... Nxc3 12. 0-0 Black has some problems. Aside from white's development lead, black is in an inconvenient pin, and has to deal with ideas like Ne5 and Nc4.]

12. Qxc3 Nxc3 13. a4

[Black is confronted with the problem of how to rescue his knight.]

13....... b5

[The alternative 13.....f5 lead to a draw in the game Johner-Becker, Carlsbad 1929, with 14. exf5 exf5 15. 0-0 Bd6 16. Rfe1+ Kf7 17. Ne5+ Bxe5 18. Rxe5 19. Bd2 Nd5 20. Bxf5 Bxf5 21. Rxf5+]

14. axb5 Nxb5

[The alternative is 14....cxb5 15. Bd2 b4 16. Bxc3 bxc3 17. Ke2, and analysis shows that black cannot prevent white from winning back the pawn.]

15. 0-0! Be7

[White is a pawn down, but black needs several moves to complete his development, while white is already mobilized. White must do something in the next few moves to address his pawn deficit.]

16. d5

[This is ok, but stronger was 16. Be3 avoiding the exchange and eying a7.]

16...... Bxg5

17. dxc6

[White does not recapture his piece right away, but takes advantage of the opportunity to remove one of the two black queenside pawns that in the long run could win the game for black. With two pieces attacked, black cannot hang onto both.]

17...... Be7

[More natural is 17..... Bf6 18. e5 Nc7 19. exf6 gxf6, and black is an extra doubled pawn ahead on the kingside, and slightly better. This would be punishment for white's failure to play 16. Be3.]

18. Bxb5 0-0 19. Ba6

[This is OK because black is prevented from running his a pawn down the board. The drawback is that black can exchange off the c8 bishop which has no scope. 19. Rfd1 is an alternative.]

19..... Bc5 20. Rfc1 Bb6 21. Kf1 Bxa6+ 22. Rxa6 f6!

[The last few moves have been good play by both sides. With ....f6, Glickman keeps white's knight out of e5.]

23. Nd2

[Here 23. Ra4 is more flexible, because white is going to have to double rooks on the c file soon anyway, to preserve the c6 pawn.]

23....... Rac8! 24. Ra4 Rfd8 25. Nb3 e5

[After 25...... Rd3 26. Rb4 is OK for white.]

26. Ke2 Rd6 27. Rac4 Kf7 28. f3 Ke7 29. Nd2

[White dreams of putting this knight on d5, but Black makes sure this doesn't happen.]

29.... Rd4 30. R4c2! Rd6 31. Nf1 Bd4 32. Ne3 Bxe3

Draw Agreed.

1/2 - 1/2

[33. Kxe3 a5 will soon lead to the trade of black's a pawn for white's c6 pawn.]