The Door's Shut

This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end
Of our elaborate plans, the end
Of everything that stands, the end

I could think of no better eulogy than this baleful, haunting, 1967 classic, “The End”, by the Doors' Jim Morrison.  I guess if you gotta go down… you might as well go down to the monotone drone of the best.  And go down they did… the Blitz that is… in flames.

On a night that started nicely with a win on second board as Kazim worked his magic over GM Kaufman and a corresponding loss by GM Hess for Connecticut in their match with Manhattan, I was beginning to have hope that this lost season was not so lost after all.  All we needed was a CON loss/draw and a Blitz win over the Baltimore Kingfishers…. I mean, really, is that asking too much.  But, I was quickly brought back to Earth by Vadim’s loss on board 3 to NM Jared Defibaugh in what looked to be a draw gone bad. 

Still, I was hopeful, as Denys was struggling well on first board against GM Giorgi Margvelashvili… and Ilya seemed in the drivers seat on board 4… that is, until his opponenent grabbed the wheel and threw him violently to the back seat… or rather, I should say Ilya jumped out of the car entirely… as I’m not sure his opponent FM Ralph Zimmer had all that much to do with Ilya’s loss… but, such is fate and such is “The End” of the Blitz season.

Well, let’s get on with it… starting with our one bright spot… Our Game of the Week winner, Kazim Gulamali, and his thrilling… positional chess be damned… win over GM Kaufman.  Not a bad way to go out…  

FM Kazim Gulamali (BOS) vs GM Larry Kaufman (BAL) 1-0 (Game of the Week!)

A nice piece of what I would call... tactical intimidation.  Great game Kazim! (Boston (1 - 0)

For video analysis of this game, see GM Alex Yermolinsky's review at...

http://www.chessclub.com/videos/uscl-2012-season-game-of-the-week-week-10

And now for a bit of a downer...  Vadim plays his usual, behind the lines kind of attack... but, when the draw is within reach... he declines and lives to regret it.

NM Jared Defibaugh (BAL) vs NM Vadim Martirosov (BOS) 1-0

This was the second saddest moment of the season... at least for me... however, a draw here may, or may not, have mattered... Who knows.   Boston (1 - 1)

But, at the very least, it would have put a lot of pressure on Ilya's opponent as, at the time this game ended, Ilya seemed to have the win on his fingertips...

NM Ilya Krasik (BOS) vs FM Ralph Zimmer (BAL) 0-1

Well, needless to say, Ilya was pretty upset with himself... especially, since this was truly "The End".  Boston (1 - 2)

With no chance to win, the Blitz's playoff chances were gone. 

Denys had been struggling on board 1, but, at the end the draw was in hand... or at least it seemed so...

GM Giorgi Margvelashvili (BAL) vs SM Denys Shmelov (BOS) 1/2-1/2