Stung! A Week 3 Recap
The Los Angeles Vibe were stunned on September 7th as they were defeated 3.5-0.5 by the Arizona Scorpions. Now the Vibe were only slight favorites to win this match, which makes such a lopsided loss extremely surprising. The reason for the loss is actually pretty simple - the Scorpions played really well. On board 1 IM Rogelio Barcenilla found several "only-moves" to refute GM Khachiyan's sacrifice. On board 2 IM Aldama defended very well to save the half-point. On board 3 IM Rensch was able to create a strong attack and fascinating combination to end the game, even though WFM Abrahamyan had only made one mistake the entire game! And finally on board 4 NM Tanaka had simply mixed up his opening prep and had a difficult position to defend where Mateer gave him few chances.
| Arizona Scorpions | Los Angeles Vibe | ||
| IM Rogelio Barcenilla: 2583 | 1.0 | 0.0 | GM Melikset Khachiyan: 2590 |
| IM Dionisio Aldama: 2399 | 0.5 | 0.5 | FM Joel Banawa: 2416 |
| IM Daniel Rensch: 2471 | 1.0 | 0.0 | WFM Tatev Abrahamyan: 2385 |
| Amanda Mateer: 2135 | 1.0 | 0.0 | NM Christian Tanaka: 2227 |
| Avg Rating: 2397 |
Avg Rating: 2405 |
||
| Arizona Total ------- | 3.5 | 0.5 | ------- Los Angeles Total |
Here are the games, with some comments and analysis.
As you can see, all 4 games were quite interesting. And now the weekly awards.
Kostya's Favorite Game Of The Week
Winner: GM Giorgi Kacheishvili (NY) vs IM Bryan Smith (PHI)
I really liked this game because it was basically a perfect queenside attack in the main lines of the KID, a rarity!
Cutest Move
Winner: Andy Lee (for playing 16. Bf6!)
Best Miniature
Winner: GM Dmitry Gurevich (CHI) - IM Dmitry Zilberstein (SF) 1-0
This is actually the only miniature since Week One, where FM Andy Lee beat NM Nelson Lopez in 25 moves. However, I felt that this gem shouldn't go unnoticed. Also it's the Battle between the Dmitry's!
That's it for Week 3! The Vibe face the Chicago Blaze next week. See ya then!
