Week 9 Results

The second to the last week of the season had 10 games decided over the board, a few people have dropped out at this point, or stopped responding... We'll have to figure out how we can avoid this in the future, but let's concentrate on the good and check out the results. This week Team Lake Erie played white versus Team Lake Huron, and Team Lake Michigan played first against Team Lake Superior.

Team Lake Erie vs Team Lake Huron

Board 1: @Practicality vs @Neatgreatfire 0 - 1

This queen's pawn game was over fairly quickly, as @Neatgreatfire trapped @Practicality's dark squared bishop on the kingside early, and delivered mate a few moves later. This just shows how little margin for error there is at this level of play. Well played, @Neatgreatfire, if it weren't for a really remarkable checkmate later on in the analysis this one would be a candidate for knockout of the night.

Board 2: @Mhm_Ham 1 - 0 @TheKirbster https://www.chess.com/game/live/38190218281

Board 3: @KidCharlemagne420 vs @Ngosman 1 - 0

@KidCharlemagne420 flexed his tactical muscle again in week 9, this one being a French Defense that was ripped open really early on. On move 16 he moved his queen to the kingside and by move 26 he was up an entire army. @Ngosman didn't resign though, playing on until @KidCharlemagne420 ended the game with a nice pawn checkmate on move 54. Another really good performance by @KidCharlemagne420, no blunders or missed wins, and only one mistake for a total of 86.2% accuracy. MVP?

Board 4: @bspencer1967 vs @Gherkins54868 1 - 0

The Giuoco Piano game played by @bspencer1967 in this one was truly marvelous. First he let his pawns get doubled on the e file, but being a true imbalance conscious player, @bspencer1967 used the half open f file to his advantage. By move 19, @bspencer1967 was up three pawns with pressure all over the board, and it didn't take long for the pressure to prove too much for his opponent, winning by resignation on move 24 in a mate in 3 position. This game was played at a 93.2% accuracy, no mistakes, blunders or missed wins! I said MVP? for KidCharlemagne420, but now I'm thinking this one might take that prize.

Board 5: @Mathyou86 1 - 0 @Go0setav https://chess.com/live/game/38514911195
Board 6: @Pawnscum76 1 - 0 @shiverosu https://www.chess.com/game/live/38617396829

Team Lake Erie 5 - 1 Team Lake Huron

Team Lake Michigan vs Team Lake Superior

Board 1: @bluberrie_tea vs @houghton24 1 - 0

Season 1 has belonged to @bluberrie_tea, without a doubt. Each week it's a question not of if they are going to win, but how and how quickly. That being said, I feel like @houghton24 deserves some kind of award this week for playing 31 moves against @bluberrie_tea without giving away advantage. I don't know specifically but I think this might be the toughest match the league leader has faced this season. Tough or not though, when a mistake was made, @bluberrie_tea punished it immediately and won an exchange. The last 30 moves of this game were @bluberrie_tea tightening his grip, and on move 60, @houghton24 resigned in a lost position. Commendable play by @houghton24, but another stellar win and performance by @bluberrie_tea.

Board 2: @tewald 1 - 0 @Gorgonops https://www.chess.com/game/live/38363075699
Board 3: @blinddd7 vs @MinnesotaDude 1 - 0

This is the knockout of the night for sure, and possibly the season. @blinddd7 started this game out swinging, playing a Vienna game and putting the pressure on early with moves like d4 and e5. By move 8, @blinddd7 was up a full 3.5 points in evaluation, the material was equal, but the early aggressive moves by white had put such pressure on black's center, king and queen that nearly every move for black was losing. When @MinnesotaDude played f6, logically trying to chip away at this imposing pawn wall, @blinddd7 hopped in like a tactical pro, playing Nd5 to chase the queen back do d8, and then a beautiful discover check with exf6. Black had only a couple of legal moves in the resulting position, the best move losing a full piece by way of Ne7. Instead of giving up a piece, black played Kf7 and @blinddd7 ended the game with a beautiful checkmate of the knight. Knockout of the night and checkmate of the knight, well played @blinddd7, congrats on the award!

Board 5: @2288sam vs @Srobocop0615 0 - 1

@Srobocop0615 played this game wonderfully. Everything started out normally, but when white played the aggressive move d5, @Srobocop0615 played the game of positional imbalances by trading his knight for white's centrally placed light squared bishop. After that he placed his bishops in active positions, pushed some pawns and ended up winning material. The rest of the game showed his experience as a chess player as he used his long range pieces to chase white's rooks around, winning pawn after pawn. The game ended in a beautiful checkmate as white was trying to garner some type of counterplay by pushing his remaining pawns, black punished his king's immobility and finished the game with Rh3#. @Srobocop0615 was 115 points lower ranked than his opponent and won the Upset Of The Week award for this impressive win.

Team Lake Michigan 4.5 - 1.5 Team Lake Superior

With the win over Team Lake Superior, Team Lake Michigan solidified first place in the first regular season of the Great Lakes Live Chess League! Erie put themselves in second place, a half of a point above Superior, so there are definitely things left to be decided in week 10!

Standings after week 9:
Team Lake Michigan: 5 - 1 - 2 : 6.0pts
Team Lake Erie: 4 - 2 - 1: 4.5pts
Team Lake Superior: 4 - 3 - 0: 4.0pts
Team Lake Huron: 2 - 5 - 0: 2pts
Team Lake Ontario: 1 - 5 - 1: 1.5pts

Weekly Awards:

Checkmate Of The Week: @blinddd7


Upset Of The Week: @Srobocop0615


MVP For Week 9: @bspencer1967



Standings After Week 9:
Team Lake Michigan: 5 - 1 - 2 : 6.0pts
Team Lake Erie: 4 - 2 - 1: 4.5pts
Team Lake Superior: 4 - 3 - 0: 4.0pts
Team Lake Huron: 2 - 5 - 0: 2pts
Team Lake Ontario: 1 - 5 - 1: 1.5pts