US Chess League, Week 3: Blazing Victory
Week 3 of the US Chess League saw some interesting results with a couple of the undefeated teams losing their perfect records which tightened up the league standings. Let's get right into the action!
The first match up of the week was a Monday Night match featuring the undefeated Boston Blitz against the Dallas Destiny. This match came down to the only decisive game on board 4 as all the top 3 boards ended in draws. WFM Bayaara Zorigt carried her team on her shoulders pulling out a win for the Dallas Destiny and taking away the perfect record from the Boston Blitz.
WFM Bayaara Zorigt
Now let's take a look at this critical board 4 game from the match:
Board results from this match:
Board 1: NM Sammour-Hasbun(BOS) - IM Kuljasevic(DAL) , 0.5-0.5
Board 2: IM Bartholomew(DAL) - IM Vigorito(BOS) , 0.5-0.5
Board 3: NM Shmelov(BOS) - FM Schneider(DAL) , 0.5-0.5
Board 4: WFM Zorigt(DAL) - NM Krasik(BOS) , 1-0
Overall match score: Dallas Destiny - Boston Blitz, 2.5-1.5
The next match of the week was also a Monday Night match featuring the undefeated Miami Sharks against the San Francisco Mechanics. This match started with an unexpected occurance when San Francisco had to have IM John Donaldson fill in on board one for GM Patrick Wolff due to an unexpected emergency. However, even with this circumstance San Francisco was able to pull out the match win when FMs Sam Shankland and Daniel Naroditsky won their games on the bottom two boards.
FM Sam Shankland
Now let's take a look at the victory of Sam Shankland which helped San Francisco to win the match:
Board results from this match:
Board 1: IM Donaldson(SF) - GM Becerra(MIA) , 0-1
Board 2: FM Perea(MIA) - IM Friedel(SF) , 0.5-0.5
Board 3: FM Shankland(SF) - FM Galofre(MIA) , 1-0
Board 4: NM Rodriguez(MIA) - FM Naroditsky(SF) , 0-1
Overall match score: San Francisco Mechanics - Miami Sharks, 2.5-1.5
The next match was between the New York Knights and the Philadelphia Inventors. This match saw some heated battles on the top boards with two victories on boards 1 and 2 for the New York Knights to take the match.
GM Pascal Charbonneau
Now let's take a look at the important board 1 game from this match which led the New York Knights to take victory:
Board results from this match:
Board 1: GM Charbonneau(NY) - GM Kudrin(PHI) , 1-0
Board 2: IM Smith(PHI) - GM Fedorowicz(NY) , 0-1
Board 3: IM Bonin(NY) - NM Yeager(PHI) , 0.5-0.5
Board 4: WGM Shahade(PHI) - NM Herman(NY) , 0.5-0.5
Overall match score: New York Knights - Philadelphia Inventors , 3-1
The next match saw the Carolina Cobras against the Baltimore Kingfishers. In this match Baltimore was able to get two wins with the black pieces on boards 1 and 3 to win the match and claim their first team victory of the season.
FM Ralph Zimmer
Now let's take a look at the board 3 game where FM Zimmer was able to outplay his higher rated opponent with the black pieces:
Board results from this match:
Board 1: IM Milman(CAR) - GM Erenburg(BAL) , 0-1
Board 2: FM Enkhbat(BAL) - Schroer(CAR) , 0.5-0.5
Board 3: FM Zaikov(CAR) - FM Zimmer(BAL) , 0-1
Board 4: NM Kahn(BAL) - Bapat(CAR) , 0.5-0.5
Overall match score: Baltimore Kingfishers - Carolina Cobras , 3-1
The next match was between the Chicago Blaze and the Tennessee Tempo. Incredibly the Chicago Blaze won on all boards, scoring a stunning 4-0 against the Tennesse Tempo. This strong effort now brings the Chicago Blaze up to an even score for the season at 1.5-1.5
GM Nikola Mitkov
Now let's take a look at the game of USCL newcomer GM Nikola Mitkov:
Board results from this match:
Board 1: GM Mitkov(CHC) - IM Burnett(TEN) , 1-0
Board 2: FM Andrews(TEN) - IM van de Mortel(CHC) , 0-1
Board 3: IM Young(CHC) - FM Bereolos(TEN) , 1-0
Board 4: FM Bick(TEN) - Strunk(CHC) , 0-1
Overall match score: Chicago Blaze - Tennessee Tempo , 4-0
The next match-up was the Queens Pioneers against the Arizona Scorpions. In this match the Queens Pioneers scored the only two decisive games in the match to keep their undefeated record alive unlike some other teams this week.
NM Parker Zhao
Now let's take a look at the big upset game of the match:
Board results from this match:
Board 1: GM Stripunsky(QNS) - IM Barcenilla(ARZ) , 0.5-0.5
Board 2: IM Ginsburg(ARZ) - IM Lenderman(QNS) , 0-1
Board 3: NM Zhao(QNS) - FM Rensch(ARZ) , 1-0
Board 4: NM Martinez(ARZ) - Katz(QNS) , 0.5-0.5
Overall match score: Queens Pioneers - Arizona Scorpions , 3-1
The final match of the week was between the Seattle Sluggers and the New Jersey Knockouts. This hard fought east/west coast match ended in a tie after both teams one a game and then drew the other two games. This match did have the highest rated pairing of this week in the US Chess League when two GMs well over 2600 battled it out on the top board.
GM Hikaru Nakamura
Now let's take a look at this critical heavy weight battle from the top board:
Board results from this match:
Board 1: GM Nakamura(SEA) - GM Bejmain(NJ) , 1-0
Board 2: GM Gulko(NJ) - IM Tangborn(SEA) , 1-0
Board 3: FM Readey(SEA) - NM Molner(NJ) , 0.5-0.5
Board 4: Lian(NJ) - NM Sinanan(SEA) , 0.5-0.5
Overall match score: Seattle Sluggers - New Jersey Knockouts , 2-2
League Standings:
Eastern Division:
1) Queens Pioneers (3/3)
2) Boston Blitz (2/3)
3) New Jersey Knockouts (1.5/3)
4-7) Baltimore, Philadelphia, Carolina, New York (1/3)
Western Division:
1) San Francisco (2.5/3)
2-3) Miami, Dallas (2/3)
4) Chicago (1.5/3)
5-6) Arizona, Seattle (1/3)
7) Tennessee (0.5/3)
For more information on the US Chess League you can visit the official website at www.uschessleague.com
