It's the Knights!

New York made it look easy, crushing Philadelphia 3.5-0.5 in Round 1 of the US Chess League playoffs. As a result, Boston will get to face their biggest rival in a match to determine who will represent the Eastern Division in the Championship finals.

In case you missed last year's playoffs, the Knights defeated the heavily favored Blitz in the same round and dashed Boston's Championship hopes. In case you missed the last three years, New York's probable Board 2 is a Blitz killer, no matter who from Boston he faces across the board. One has to imagine that Blitz fans were looking forward to any opponent other than the Knights.

**********

Last year, a bit of controversy was created when then Knights' Manager Jen Shahade used a post here at BCC Weblog as bulletin board material to motivate her team for the playoff match with Boston. Well, that's not going to happen again this year. Why? Because...

The New York Knights are the best team in the US Chess League! The Knights are going to obliterate Boston! Start making plans for the Championship parade now!

Let's start at the top -- GM Nakamura, for the last month, he has only been the best chess player on the planet. Then on Board 2, it's the unbeatable Charbonnator. Boston could have both their GMs consult during the game and still they wouldn't be able to find a way to defeat him. We probably won't even see Irina Krush at the boards on Wednesday; but, if we do, remember that she was the key to last year's victory.

Down below, there's IM Bonin. Jay is an absolute legend. No, I take that back. He's a legend's legend. We don't know of such things up here in New England.* Finally, there's Iryna Zenyuk -- she's on fire (stay with me folks, we're talking chess playing here).

So New York fans, bask in the glory and await the inevitable destruction of the Blitz. Stop reading now and go pack your bags for a trip to the finals.

**********

Alright, now that they've all left, let's get serious...

Unlike last year's playoff match, there isn't a whole lot of intrigue about what lineups the teams are going to use. It's hard to imagine that Krush will put herself in and have to exclude either Nakamura or Charbonneau. And while Arnold could substitute for Bonin and Herman for Zenyuk, I just don't see it happening. Therefore, unless there are availability issues, the New York lineup will likely be:

Board 1 - GM Nakamura
Board 2 - GM Charbonneau
Board 3 - IM Bonin
Board 4 - WFM Zenyuk

For Boston, the only possible question is Board 2 -- go with the two GMs or use Sammour-Hasbun instead. I think the numbers make this an easy decision. Jorge has arguably been the best relative performer on the team all season, while Eugene has been the worst. Jorge hasn't lost a game, while Eugene hasn't won one. GM Perelshteyn has had two shots at Charbonneau over the past two years and he is 0-2. SM Sammour-Hasbun did face one GM this season (Nakamura!) and came away with half a point.

As for the other boards, I see no reasonable argument for going away from the ones that got you this far. Therefore, barring availability constraints, I expect Boston to lineup like this:

Board 1 - GM Christiansen
Board 2 - SM Sammour-Hasbun
Board 3 - NM Shmelov
Board 4 - NM Williams

**********

Let's take a look at the individual matchups.

Board 1 - It's hard not to give an edge to Nakamura, but LarryC has been unbeatable this season against a constant stream of GM competition, including Hikaru. I think Christiansen has a reasonable chance to hold the balance with Black.

Board 2 - Pascal gets the edge against any Blitz player until one of them beats him. However, don't be completely surprised if Jorge ends up being the hero of the night for Boston.

Board 3 - Shmelov has a psychological advantage going into this game. He and Bonin have faced each other twice this season, and Denys came away with a draw and a win.

Board 4 - Zenyuk defeated Williams with White earlier in the season, but in this game she'll have Black. This time you can expect Chris to play a move like 24...Qe6!?. Call me a homer if you wish, but I consider this game to be a push. However, a draw seems the least likely result. One of the two will probably score a (potentially decisive) full point.

**********

How do the Blitz advance to the Championship match?

In my view, this match revolves around Board 4. If Williams can score a full point, then the Blitz have several reasonably straightforward paths to 2 points even if Jorge fails to breakthrough against Charbonneau. Shmelov could defeat Bonin or he and Larry could both draw. However, if Zenyuk wins then Jorge is going to have to do something on Board 2. The most likely winning scenario for Boston in that case would be two draws up top and a win for Denys on Board 3 -- certainly a trickier proposition overall.

Of course, I suppose Iryna and Chris could have the last laugh by agreeing to a draw on move 10. Otherwise, fans should focus on Board 4 Wednesday night as it is likely to be the pivotal game of the match.

By the way, if you run into any Knights players or fans before then, don't tell them this ... I'm looking for the Blitz to advance 2-2. Shhhhh!!

**********

*Well, actually we do -- think John Curdo, for instance. There's no need to tell the New Yorkers, though.

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

IM Mikhail Shur simul

Center Makor Chess Club invites you to participate in a simultaneous exhibition on Sunday, November 11, 2007, at 12 noon.

Three-time champion of Azerbaijan

IM Mikhail Shur (FIDE 2423)

will play on multiple boards against anyone

Suggested donation is $5.

Please bring your own sets and clocks.

Address: Temple Bnai Moshe, 1845 Commonwealth Ave , Brighton

Please RSVP to Mr. Alexander Fridman at 617-699-4569 or via e-mail alrfridman@yahoo.com

Scenes from the Somerville episode of Red Hot Pawn

A few moments from Monday's fire incident at the club:

• When the woman (who turned out to be Carey's fiancée, Christine) burst into the club and yelled "Fire!", several people looked up from their games and had the same reaction -- "Shhhhh!", they exclaimed.
  
  
• My first thought was that this had something to do with the experimental theatre group that meets across the hall. You know, as a warm up exercise, they told someone to run across the hall, yell "Fire!" and see how the audience would react.
  
  
• Whether it was bravery, curiosity, or lack of common sense, the first handful of people who left the club headed directly for the Grey2K office. After the door was opened and smoke began rushing out, they quickly hurried back down the hallway.
  
  
• Timing is everything... It couldn't have been ten seconds between Walter's draw offer and the first shout of "Fire!" from Christine. What choice did Carey have but to accept?
  
  
• Before getting up from the board, I stopped my clock. I was on move at the time, after all. Later, I discovered that my opponent had been even more diligent, recording the clock times on his scoresheet. He was up a pawn at the time, after all.
  
  
• While we were waiting outside near the back of the building, a woman walking two dogs came by to see what was happening. Alex Cherniack told her about the fire and how our chess games had been interrupted in midstream. "That's all right," she said, "You're probably losing anyway." "Not yet," Alex replied. It turns out, the lady was right.

In a more serious vein, Carey sent a note of appreciation to the club (which I hope he doesn't mind my reposting here):

Friends:

I want you to know how grateful I am for your support last night. Many players ran down to our office with me to try to help when the small fire occurred.

Also, several Championship and Hauptturnier players were gracious to Christine and Zoe while we were all standing outside waiting for the firemen to do their work.

We're fortunate (especially Zoe) that it wasn't more serious.

Yours,

Carey

Zoe

13th annual BU Open, Sat. Nov. 10

Sat., Nov. 10, 2007

13^th annual Boston University Open

(in association with the Boylston Chess Foundation)

4-SS; G/60; 3 Sections: Open; U1900; U1600

Boston University,

George Sherman Union , Backcourt

775 Commonwealth Ave. Boston 02215

E F:

$15 for BU students (BUID)

$15 if check received by Nov.7

$20 by web or by email by Nov. 7

$25 for all others at site

Cash Prizes: based on Entries. Because prize checks will be mailed by Boston University, winner must provide home address and social security number to receive a check.

Open section: 1^st & 2^nd / Top under 2200

U1900 section: 1^st & 2^nd

U1600 section: 1^st & 2^nd l/ Top under 1200

Allan Ong Prize for the top undergraduate college student:

Trophies for 3 player teams: Top college / Top high school / Top elementary or middle school

You must be a current member of the USCF to play in this tournament.

NC, NS, W.

Reg: 9:00 - 9:45 am

Rds: 10:00, 12:30, 2:45, 5:00

Preregistration:

email: oresick@bu.edu

phone: 617 794 -1200

Advance Registrations.

BU Open 2007

(57 players) - 11/8/2007 6:20 PM

Name	Section	Rtng	ID	USCF exp.	Byes rds
Lieberman, Seth	U1600	1487	12604895	11/30/2008
Dover, Travis J	U1600	1455	12749379	12/31/2099
Reed, Harvey G	U1600	1410	12524765	12/31/2008
Saadat, Soheil	U1600	1400	13288647	*10/31/2005
Yedidia, Adam	U1600	1319	12871990	1/31/2008
Lung, Luke L	U1600	1311	13048541	1/31/2008
Yuksekkaya, Seyhmus	U1600	1218	13672312	3/31/2008
Lai, Barry	U1600	1178	12919031	11/30/2009
Saini, Akshay	U1600	1108	13512932	10/31/2010
Lung, Christine	U1600	1093	12910962	11/30/2007
Groff, Jared	U1600	1084	13278065	11/30/2007
Di Nosse, Anthony	U1600	1067	12922817	1/31/2008
Aylward, Lillian C	U1600	904	12486957	12/31/2007
Njuguny, Nicodemus	U1600	882	13771521	10/31/2008
Young, Tristan Rob	U1600	770	13159711	6/30/2008
Nemirovsky, William	U1600	703	13159863	5/31/2009
Soohoo, Richard	U1600	531	13288668	11/30/2008
Ong, Ta-Chung	U1600	unr	13776952	10/31/2008
Thapa, Sonu	U1600	unr	13802793	11/30/08
Rompani, Santiago	U1600	unr	13799955	11/30/2008
Weinhold, Michael	U1600	unr	13801920	11/30/08
Salustro, Samuel	U1600	unr	13802092.	11/30/08
Goldowsky, Howard	U1900	1830	12460579	12/31/2099
Rozhansky, Lior	U1900	1816	12825910	3/31/2008
Mishkin, Paul A	U1900	1804	12432059	11/30/2010
Sharamet, Artem Vl	U1900	1790	13528237	10/31/2008
Shiva, Vikas	U1900	1716	13197575	10/31/2008
Kaprielian, Mark	U1900	1708	10007763	12/31/2099
Lung, Genesis	U1900	1705	12910963	11/30/2007
Griffin, Mike	U1900	1691	10017793	12/31/2099
Abrahams, Steven	U1900	1653	12892478	1/31/2010
Luczak, Slawomir A	U1900	1648	12428016	2/29/2008
Ding, Darwin	U1900	1642	13034164	12/31/2008
Fletcher, Adam W	U1900	1632	12718014	10/31/2008
Dondis, Harold B	U1900	1620	10018765	12/31/2099
Frazier, Frank	U1900	1614	10014280	12/31/2099
Foye, Edward Franc	U1900	1600	12888390	3/31/2009
Oresick, Robert J	U1900	1517	12659519	10/31/2009
Lung, Timothy	U1900	1464	12910965	11/30/2007
Wiegand, Max	U1900	1361	13141545	3/31/2008	1
Chudnovsky, Jacob	Open	2397	12571158	4/30/2009
Williams, Christopher	Open	2302	12788759	6/30/2008
Chase, Christopher	Open	2299	10010985	7/31/2008
Pismennyy, Avraam	Open	2255	12858217	8/31/2008
Times, Lawyer	Open	2241	12167330	10/31/2008
Zhang, Melvin	Open	2193	12663907	11/30/2007
Epstein, Esther	Open	2165	12515912	12/31/2007
Salomon, Brian D	Open	2036	12685114	12/31/2099
Noy, Dmitriy N	Open	2011	13253086	10/31/2008
Didham, Scott	Open	1951	11480977	6/30/2008
McGrady, Ryan D	Open	1942	12742439	2/29/2008
Cramton, Steve	Open	1927	12684316	1/31/2008
Lung, James	Open	1924	12910964	11/30/2007
Brudno, Stephen	Open	1900	10017734	12/31/2099
Christiansen, Natasha	Open	1827	11366805	12/31/2099
Rozhansky, Lior	Open	1816	12825910	3/31/2008
Lwin, Aung Kyaw	Open	unr	13560614	11/30/2007

GM Christiansen visits the heartland

Natasha forwarded a few pictures from Larry's visit to The Chess Club in Kansas City.

And now, the photo you've all been waiting for...

LarryC takes on a "Porker" Platter

Larry reports that "the BBQ was delicious!"

IM David Vigorito is the BCC Champion for 2007

The BCC champion for 2007 is IM David Vigorito. David earned 8 of 9 points and $300 and a year's free entry to BCC events.

NM Charles Riordan finished in 2nd place (6 of 9; $200) and FM Paul MacIntyre was 3rd ( 5.5 of 9; $100).

Congratulations to all the winners and all who played in this challenging tournament. David demonstrated what is meant by a professional chess player in a strong field.


The Hauptturnier has two rounds remaining. Carey has 8 and David, Eddie, and Ken have 6.5.

Just as Walter offered Carey a draw, Carey's fiance rushed in to say there was a fire in the greyhound office. Carey took the draw and ran off to investigate.

Somerville firemen and trucks arrived shortly and asked us to leave the building.

The TD couldn't find anything about fires in the rule book, and a police officer insisted we leave, so we all milled about watching the firemen, except for Greg and Libardo who finished their game in a coffehouse.

Two games were adjourned. After about a half hour, they determined that it was an electrical fire in a light fixture and cleared us to resume play.

Rather than twiddling your thumbs

Here is some Boston Blitz performance data for the 2007 US Chess League regular season that you can review while waiting around to find out who the Blitz's opponent will be in the second round of the playoffs. Players are listed by the difference between their performance rating and actual rating (descending order). Actual ratings as listed in the USCL game files were used (not USCL lineup ratings listed in the rosters).

1. SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (2576)
   
   Wins-Losses-Draws: 4-0-1
   Average Opponent Rating: 2481
   Avg Opp Rating - Player's Rating: -95
   Performance Rating: 2801
   Perf Rating - Player's Rating: 225
   
   
2. NM Chris Williams (2241)
   
   Wins-Losses-Draws: 5-2-0
   Average Opponent Rating: 2216
   Avg Opp Rating - Player's Rating: -25
   Performance Rating: 2387
   Perf Rating - Player's Rating: 146
   
   
3. NM Denys Shmelov (2391)
   
   Wins-Losses-Draws: 4-0-5
   Average Opponent Rating: 2354
   Avg Opp Rating - Player's Rating: -37
   Performance Rating: 2532
   Perf Rating - Player's Rating: 141
   
   
4. GM Larry Christiansen (2669)
   
   Wins-Losses-Draws: 2-0-6
   Average Opponent Rating: 2642
   Avg Opp Rating - Player's Rating: -28
   Performance Rating: 2742
   Perf Rating - Player's Rating: 73
   
   
5. NM Vadim Martirosov (2264)
   
   Wins-Losses-Draws: 0-0-1
   Average Opponent Rating: 2291
   Avg Opp Rating - Player's Rating: 27
   Performance Rating: 2291
   Perf Rating - Player's Rating: 27
   
   
6. FM William Kelleher (2392)
   
   Wins-Losses-Draws: 0-2-1
   Average Opponent Rating: 2478
   Avg Opp Rating - Player's Rating: 86
   Performance Rating: 2211
   Perf Rating - Player's Rating: -181
   
   
7. Ilya Krasik (2137)
   
   Wins-Losses-Draws: 0-2-1
   Average Opponent Rating: 2214
   Avg Opp Rating - Player's Rating: 77
   Performance Rating: 1948
   Perf Rating - Player's Rating: -189
   
   
8. GM Eugene Perelshteyn (2615)
   
   Wins-Losses-Draws: 0-2-2
   Average Opponent Rating: 2520
   Avg Opp Rating - Player's Rating: -95
   Performance Rating: 2320
   Perf Rating - Player's Rating: -295
   

Here are a few interesting facts to ponder:

• Sammour-Hasbun, Shmelov and Christiansen didn't lose a game all season.
  
  
• Martirosov, Kelleher, Krasik and Perelshteyn didn't win one.
  
  
• Only Williams had both wins and losses, yet he had no draws.
  
  
• All eight Blitz losses came on Boards 2 and 4 (four each).

**********

In other Blitz news:

• Boston topped the final version of the second most famous USCL quantitative power rankings.
  
  
• Larry Christiansen took second in OrangeKing's MOP awards. Shmelov and Williams took the top two spots for Best NM.
  
  
• Arun Sharma gives the Blitz a 34% chance of winning the 2007 USCL Championship.

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

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.