US Chess League, Week 6: Undefeated No Longer
The US Chess League is now deep into the season in week 6. And with some critical match ups this week there would surely be some interesting chess.
The first match of the week was between the struggling New York Knights and the Seattle Sluggers. The match came down to the top and bottom boards where Seattle claimed victories on both boards to win the match with a 2.5-1.5 score. Now New York is really in some trouble heading towards the bottom of the standings while the Seattle Sluggers are looking more like a playoff team.
GM Hikaru Nakamura
Now let's take a look at the battle on the top board which proved to be key for Seattle:
Board results from this match:
Board 1: GM Fedorowicz(NY) - GM Nakamura(SEA) , 0-1
Board 2: GM Serper(SEA) - IM Krush(NY) , 0-1
Board 3: IM Bonin(NY) - FM Milat(SEA) , 0.5-0.5
Board 4: May(SEA) - NM Rosenberg(NY) , 1-0
Overall match score: Seattle Sluggers - New York Knights ,2.5-1.5
The next match was a feature Monday night match with the Arizona Scorpions and the San Francisco Mechanics who might well be one of the favorites to win the whole thing. This match had only two decisive games with San Francisco taking both of them to convincingly win the match with a 3-1 score. With this victory San Francisco puts themselves in prime position to make the playoffs.
IM David Pruess
Now let's take a look at the board 2 match where San Francisco edged out a win to secure victory in the match:
Board results from this match:
Board 1: IM Barcenilla(ARZ) - IM Bhat(SF) , 0.5-0.5
Board 2: IM Pruess(SF) - IM Ginsburg(ARZ) , 1-0
Board 3: FM Rensch(ARZ) - FM Shankland(SF) , 0-1
Board 4: FM Naroditsky(SF) - NM Martinez(ARZ) , 0.5-0.5
Overall match score: San Francisco Mechanics - Arizona Scorpions , 3-1
The next match featured the undefeated Queens Pioneers against the Carolina Cobras. And finally the Queens Pioneers go down and lose their perfect record after losing on the bottom two boards to lose the match with a 1.5-2.5 score. With this victory Carolina now improves to a winning record and momentum going into the rest of the season knowing they took down the hottest team in the league.
FM Ron Simpson
Now let's take a look at the board 3 victory for Carolina which was much needed to claim victory over the undefeated Queens team:
Board results from this match:
Board 1: IM Milman(CAR) - IM Schneider(QNS) , 0.5-0.5
Board 2: IM Lenderman(QNS) - FM Zaikov(CAR) , 1-0
Board 3: FM Simpson(CAR) - NM Thaler(QNS) , 1-0
Board 4: Katz(QNS) - Bapat(CAR) , 0-1
Overall match score: Carolina Cobras - Queens Pioneers , 2.5-1.5
The next match featured the New Jersey Knockouts against the Baltimore Kingfishers. Impressively this match had all 4 decisive games with both teams taking two victories to draw the match with a 2-2 score.
GM Sergey Erenburg
Now let's take a look at the board 1 game which kept Baltimore in the match:
Board results from this match:
Board 1: GM Benjamin(NJ) - GM Erenburg(BAL) , 0-1
Board 2: FM Enkhbat(BAL) - IM Ippolito(NJ) , 0-1
Board 3: NM Molner(NJ) - FM Kaufman(BAL) , 1-0
Board 4: NM Kahn(BAL) - NM Shen(NJ) , 1-0
Overall match score: New Jersey Knockout - Baltimore Kingfishers , 2-2
The next match was between rivals Boston Blitz and Philadelphia Inventors. Historically the Boston Blitz have dominated the rivaly but this time the Philadelphia Inventors turned the tide with 3 decisive games to win the match with a 3.5-0.5 score.
FM Thomas Bartell
Now let's take a look at the board 2 match which helped Philadelphia to finally get a victory from Boston:
Board results from this match:
Board 1: NM Sammour-Hasbun(BOS) - GM Kudrin(PHI) , 0-1
Board 2: FM Bartell(PHI) - IM Vigorito(BOS) , 1-0
Board 3: NM Shmelov(BOS) - IM Costigan(PHI) , 0.5-0.5
Board 4: FM Bengtson(PHI) - NM Krasik(BOS) , 1-0
Overall match score: Philadelphia Inventors - Boston Blitz , 3.5-0.5
The next match was between the Chicago Blaze and the Miami Sharks both of whom are on an equal score for the season. This match had all decisive games with each team splitting two victories to draw the match with a 2-2 score. Both teams are still on an equal standings and will be looking to score some victories in the second half of the season to make a playoff run.
NM Eric Rodriguez
Now let's take a look at the bottom board matchup which helped Miami to score a draw in the match:
Board results from this match:
Board 1: GM Mitkov(CHC) - GM Becerra(MIA) , 0-1
Board 2: IM Lugo(MIA) - IM Tate(CHC) , 0-1
Board 3: IM Young(CHC) - FM Galofre(MIA) , 1-0
Board 4: NM Rodriguez(MIA) - NM Burgess(CHC) , 1-0
Overall match score: Chicago Blaze - Miami Sharks , 2-2
The final match of week 6 was between the struggling Tennessee Tempo and the defending USCL champions Dallas Destiny. There was only one decisive game in this match and the Tennesee Tempo surprisingly took the win and with it the match on a 2.5-1.5 score.
FM Todd Andrews
Now let's take a look at the one and only decisive game from this match:
Board results from this match:
Board 1: GM Ehlvest(TEN) - IM Zivanic(DAL) , 0.5-0.5
Board 2: IM Bartholomew(DAL) - FM Andrews(TEN) , 0-1
Board 3: FM Bereolos(TEN) - FM Schneider(DAL) , 0.5-0.5
Board 4: WFM Zorigt(DAL) - NM McCarthy(TEN) , 0.5-0.5
Overall match score: Tennesse Tempo - Dallas Destiny , 2.5-1.5
League standings:
Eastern Division:
1) Queens (5/6)
2) New Jersey (4/6)
3) Carolina (3.5/6)
4) Boston (3/6)
5) Philadelphia (2/6)
6) Baltimore (1.5/6)
7) New York (1/6)
Western Division:
1) San Francisco (4.5/6)
2-3) Dallas, Seattle (3.5/6)
4-5) Miami, Chicago (3/6)
6) Arizona (2.5/6)
7) Tennessee (2/6)
For more information on the US Chess League you can visit the official website at www.uschessleague.com
