USCL Week 1: Dreadnoughts off to a strong start!
USCL Week 1!
By: NM Daniel Lowinger
It’s a new season for the Connecticut Dreadnoughts, who have received some dangerous upgrades thanks to the generous support of our sponsor, Mr. Paul M. Albert, Jr., Chairman of Albert Investments!
Connecticut's #1 fan Al Pinto, with his custom Dreadnoughts hat, ready for the games to begin!
Relegating last year firmly to distant memory status, The Dreadnoughts docked back at CCFC harbor last night cannons still smoking, awash in the sweet scent of total triumph. Leaving Baltimore’s Kingfishers in miasmatic desolation, The Dreadnoughts claimed a complete and comprehensive victory on every front: the only sweep, the upset prize (for our board 4 efforts), clean victories on every board, a theoretically relevant statement game from board 1.
Dreadnought Admiral Mikheil Kekelidze stood proudly at the helm of our efforts. The first to finish, his game was a model not only for the rest of our team, but to the chess community at large, as his convincing grip on the advantage in a theoretical line of the King’s Indian defense puts the burden squarely on KID defenders of this line to find improvements. The weight proved too heavy for fellow Georgian and international master Levan Bragadze, Kekelidze’s opponent, who, despite playing some natural and intuitive moves, was bulldozed to destruction by Kekelidze’s theoretically penetrating insights (see the game with analysis on our website).
GM Michael Rohde (L) and GM Mikheil Kekelidze (R)
Vice Admiral grandmaster Michael Rohde, a proud new addition to this year’s squad, showed the power of preparation, his queenside emerging unscathed from the frightful potential destruction typically wrought by White’s Catalan opening. Befuddled, Michael’s opponent, international master Tegshuren Enkhbat, went for a reckless attack on Black’s king, trying perhaps to justify the awkward placement of his knights. In so doing, he neglected the center, a fact that Michael wasted no time in exploiting; Michael’s erstwhile offside knight, whose tour of duty on the square a6 had previously been a cause of concern in the commentary room, soon emerged proudly on e4, repelling the premature attack and taking firm hold of the initiative. It wasn’t long before Enkhbat’s nominally greater attacking force was laid waste by the thematically sleek and efficient counterattacking armada.
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