The 64 - We Are Live!!! - August 29th, 2021 Sunday Recap
...Chess World League.
If the gif continued you would find that Bruce Buffer, the venerated Octagon announcer would have completed his sentence by forcibly exclaiming...
"We are Live... Chess World League"
Celebrating the return of the 8th season of LCWL play. Round 1 pits US Chess against the recently promoted Team Spain in Division 2 play, And much like anyone who has been recently promoted at their current place of occupation (something I know nothing about)
Team Spain displayed a new found vigor and an endless enthusiasm for what they do. This was evident in their numbers on Sunday. Let's get to the action and see what happened on those reputable 64 squares.
Team Spain swept the Rapid & Blitz for the full point. Winning 59.5 to 28.5 and 69.5 to 30.5 in the latter category. But look at those numbers! 44 and then 50 boards filled out each contest. A tremendous amount of participation displayed by both sides which needs to be applauded, but particularly on the Spanish end. With 12(!) 2,000 rated players filling out the top of the lineup and a 1,400 rated player as the caboose of a 50(!!) board deep roster, The Spaniards have just propelled themselves from cellars-dwellars to the cream of the crop. Back in 2016, the English Premiere League club Leicester City kicked off their campaign as a 5,000 to 1(!!!) betting underdog to win the EPL. One year later they were crowned champions of England. Team Spain has all the prospects and promise to follow that similar narrative.
But with all that talk of upsets, it's always beneficial to find a silver lining in matches like these, so let's take a look at those over-achievers who had success on the lower boards and there's really only one obvious answer here. I'm highlighting @wlewis2, who surrendered a near 1,000 point rating differential against his adversary in the Blitz portion.
"Ok, so what? Did he manage to swindle a draw? Big deal. Wait did he win one? Must have been a mouse slip. He finished over 50%? Wait, no...you're telling me he won both matches!?"
Speaking of upsets, this one is on par with the "Miracle On Ice", where the US Hockey team took down the Soviet Union at Lake Placid, NY back in 1980. That night, the legendary broadcaster Al Michales posed the question...
and what wlewis2 pulled off on Sunday was nothing short of miraculous. Don't believe me, let's witness it first hand --
Ok, so it wasn't the prettiest display of chess. Neither player is paving the way for new opening theory here but when someone is higher rated than you, sometimes you need to drag them down onto your level and invite them to roll around in the mud. Make it dirty. Turn it into a dog fight.
Clearly not the Spaniard's best day over the board, seemingly missing tactics and just hanging pieces left and right. Perhaps he was distracted by the recent Messi and Rinaldo transfer news, or possibly he was battling a nagging cold but that's why you play the game. On paper, this was a blowout but the games aren't played on paper. Some games are played on paper. Hangman for instance or in most cases tic tac toe, but not chess. Sometimes, people feel defeated before their games even begin. Psychologically beaten so to speak, like versing "Iron" Mike Tyson in his prime but as long as you just put your best pawn forward, anyone has a chance to win on any given Sunday. I award wlewis2 my coveted "Heart of a Lion" award. The US Chess Club commends your efforts and contribution.
After just one week, there's no need to look at the standings and scoreboard watch. We know where we stand and understand the urgent need to rebound. Sometimes after a rough loss, a team just needs to throw away the game tape and look forward. There's nothing to be done about it now.
"We're on to Cincinnati" as coach Bill Belichick once repeatedly uttered.
Although what I'm about to say has been scientifically refuted, for the sake of my metaphor lets all do our best goldfish impersonation, who (falsely) have been deemed to have three second memories. So let's forget about Spain and move on to Cincinnati, or in our particular case, The Philippines who we play next Sunday, September 5th at 7:20 Pacific time, 10:20 Eastern.
And, if you too are interested in participating in US Chess Live Matches, here's a link to the US Chess Club main page -
https://www.chess.com/club/uschess
- where you can find all the information on how to link up as well as all upcoming events. The club and matches are FREE to join and open to ANYONE who wishes to participate. You do not need a USCF rating! Just join the club and registration for Match Play opens one hour before the scheduled time, just like all other tournaments in the Live Chess tab. It's as simple as that!
It's clear that participation is the first key to success so all newcomers are welcomed. There's correspondence tournaments to participate in, as well as friendlies and often Rapid/Blitz club tournaments throughout the week. There's even future matches down the pipeline with rating caps for players under the 1200 threshold, providing ample opportunity to find competitive games for anyone. And if you're a higher rated player, well... we could sure use a big bat in the heart of our lineup.
Hope to you see on the 64 squares!
But until next week...
