How about some USCF lawsuit news?
Friday, November 7, 2008
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Interview with Queens Pioneer IM Dmitri ("Sugar") Shneider
Elizabeth Vicary: You just got back from China. Tell us a story from your time there.
Dmitri Shneider: I have to say it was one of the most incredible tournaments I've ever been a part of. Being part of a team is always more fun than playing individually, and the competition was quite strong with the stakes being some of the highest that I’ve had the pleasure of competing for.
One moment really stands out in my mind though. It was in the playoffs, during the first round against Ukraine. I wasn’t even playing, which made it more intense, as I had to watch the games get down to the final minute, where every move was the difference between the win and a loss of the individual game, as well as, potentially, the match.
So I was watching Shaba's game against Korobov (top 100 GM), which was opposite-colored bishops with queens when he was up some pawns but his king was in constant danger. It was incredible how they both had less than a minute left and we're down 2-1, and Shaba just kept on pushing and pushing and pushing, opening up his king with g5, and then h4 (which looked crazy, but brilliant). And then white's king came to d6, and they both queened, and at some point they made moves with less than 5 seconds on the clock. I normally don't get too excited with regards to chess (when playing, there’s not that much time to get nervous as it’s necessary to focus on the board; while in all the team tourneys I’ve played in, it was never really that close or the stakes weren't that high)... and here its just going down to the wire, and Shaba's really just playing his heart out, and if he wins the match is tied, if he loses we're in quite a hole. And I’m like, he has to have mate, but he couldn’t find one, and they both get 2nd queens, and you have to figure something has to give... but unfortunately within a few moves everything was traded and a theoretical draw occurred with only the rook pawn and the wrong colored bishop against the lone king.
And it’s like wow, that was exciting. My heart was just beating the last 10 minutes of that match. Definitely wish there was more chess like that, and thinking well, everyday should be more like that. Definitely super impressed with Shaba there.
Elizabeth Vicary says: With his chess or his nerves or both?
Dmitri Shneider says: His nerves, his chess (I’m sure he had wins somewhere, but he just kept putting pressure, taking risks, but somehow staying alive), his whole demeanor as he gave it 100%, there was no holding back. That's why he's a world class player: he knew that there was only one result and he didn't give up until the position on the board made him.
Elizabeth Vicary says: How was the chess you played there? I understand you were the only American to win in the Armageddon final vs. Iran? Was that your best game?
Dmitri Shneider says: I played ok. I'm semi-retired now, as work doesn't give me much time to play often. I definitely made lots of mistakes, and my rustiness was evident. I played some good games, but the games I lost were horrible. I made moves and miscalculations that I never would have when I was playing regularly.... The game against Iran, I knew that I could beat that guy, and my mind was clear. I was in the zone. I don't think it was the highest quality game, but I put lots of pressure on him from the beginning, and I was more or less always in control, even with black; and I feel like I was just the better player that game... Whether it was my best game is hard to judge, as I made lots of mistakes the whole tournament. I did enjoy the finish against the Mexican player where I sacked the queen and it turns out he has to resign a few moves later.
Elizabeth Vicary says: So you graduated from UTD a year and a half ago with a degree in finance(?) What’s your life been like since you move back to New York? Job? Apartment? Social life?
Dmitri Shneider says: I have a B.S. in finance, and a minor in economics. I took some time off after I graduated to play some tourneys in Europe, as well as a few strong open/invitationals in US. I felt like I needed to get it all out of my system before going corporate (that and I had no idea what I wanted to do, so it gave me a little bit of time to figure it out).
NY is amazing... I love my apartment, and the Upper West Side. Central Park (especially now in the autumn) is the most beautiful thing in the world. I'm pretty lucky to be working at J.P. Morgan, (especially since it sometimes it feels that Wall St. is crashing down), but also because I work with some very smart and friendly people and have developed some great relationships within our analyst class.
Elizabeth Vicary says: What exactly do you do day-to-day at your job?
Dmitri Shneider says: I work for the Private Bank at J.P. Morgan, helping manage money for ultra high-net worth clients. I analyze data, a lot of it, follow the stock market, make sure that everything is running smoothly, so that our Portfolio Managers can do their job as best they can.
Elizabeth Vicary says: How much time do you spend at work? What do you do on weekends?
Dmitri Shneider says: My hours are pretty good for finance: I get in by 8am and leave by 6:30-7pm unless I have urgent things to finish up.
Social life is great. I mean how can it not be in NYC? On weekends, I try to do all the things I didn’t get a chance to during the week: i.e. going for a run in the park/ gym, laundry, groceries as well as just catching up with friends, going for brunch, catching an indie at Lincoln Center. Obviously the night life is awesome and now that it’s fall, its NY Giants and Entourage time…Weekends go by wayyyyyy too fast.
Elizabeth Vicary says: Do you see yourself returning to competitive chess in America?
Dmitri Shneider says: Well, I didn’t plan on returning anytime soon, but China has been an inspiration, so I'm hoping to try to qualify for the U.S. Championship. I’ll definitely play USATE as I’ve missed only twice since I was 10 years old.
Elizabeth Vicary says: Has it been announced how you can qualify for the US Champs?
Dmitri Shneider says: No, I’m still trying to figure that out.
Elizabeth Vicary: You mentioned that you played a lot post-college. Tell me about that.
Dmitri Shneider says: Post-college playing was great. I played incredibly well at Pardubice Open in the Czech Republic in the summer 2007 and missed a norm by half a point. I was in a really good spot-- had something like 6/7, and I was playing GM Potkin and he offered me a draw. And doing the calculations before the game, I knew that if I won, I’d make the norm immediately, and if I drew I’d probably play down with black and would have to win. But if I lost there was a chance I’d get too low of a player and would be out of the running. My position was better, so I had to play on, and in time pressure I blundered a pawn and lost. Sometimes, I second-guess that decision to decline... but if the position is better have to play on no matter what, so overall pretty sure I would do the same thing again.
Elizabeth Vicary says: If it was so great, then why had you decided (pre-China) not to return to competitive chess?
Dmitri Shneider says: I was super busy the whole year. There are so many things to do in NYC that chess kind of takes a backseat. However, after periods of rest, there’s always an urge to come back. Hopefully, U.S. Championship will be the event that gets me back into it.
Elizabeth Vicary says: How different is the experience of playing for Queens? How did you come to play for Queens instead of the NY Knights?
Dmitri Shneider says: Well, Dallas is a college team, and we played in the Student Union. So we'd have people always coming back and watching our games, somewhat distracting sometimes... and that’s why in our first year we didn't do as well as could have.
How I ended up on Queens originally, was that last year I was traveling post-grad but decided I wanted to play USCL very late and Alex was gracious enough to find a spot for me on the team, albeit as an alternate since it was past the submission deadline. So I played 2 games and won both, which felt great.
Queens is very professional, and I have to thank Alex Stripunsky for making sure everything is running smoothly. Strip treats the players very well, and the conditions are great, so if I was to play again, I'd play for Queens.
Elizabeth Vicary says: How exactly does he treat the players well?
Dmitri Shneider says: He's just very respectful, and if people want to play he tries to accommodate them as much as possible. I know some other managers don't quite have that same mentality.
Elizabeth Vicary says: Let’s discuss the upcoming USCL playoffs. If you were team manager, who would you play, both for Queens and for Boston? Who do you think would win this match, board by board?
Dmitri Shneider says: We have a few good lineups that we can use. I think Strip absolutely has to play, and then it’s either me, Eli or Alex with Ostrovskiy on 4.
For Boston, I’m not quite sure who they have besides Larry and Eugene (and I think Sammour plays for them), so I don’t know about their board 3+4. But I would think that board one is a close match and board 2 we're slight underdogs but we're favorite on 3 and slight underdogs on 4. So we'd need to hold 2 and 4, while maximizing on 3
Elizabeth Vicary says: one sec… possible lineups…
1st / 2nd: Two of Christiansen / Perelshteyn / Sammour-Hasbun
3rd: Esserman
4th: Krasik
1st: Christiansen / Perelshteyn / Sammour-Hasbun
2nd / 3rd: Two of Vigorito / Shmelov / Riordan / Esserman
4th: Krasik
1st: Christiansen / Perelshteyn / Sammour-Hasbun
2nd: Shmelov
3rd: Riordan
4th: Esserman
Dmitri Shneider says: Okay, well Larry and Eugene must play. I don’t see any other lineup giving us any trouble, and we should be the favorites against this one as well.
Elizabeth Vicary says: So let's say it's Larry - Alex, you- Eugene, Esserman – Vovsha/ Lenderman, Ostrovskiy- Krasik?
Dmitri Shneider says: If that occurred, I’d have to hold Eugene, and Vovsha has to beat Esserman and Ostrovskiy would need to hold Krasik… with Larry and Alex being a toss up. But we'd have white on 2 and 4. If we play our best, we have to be favorites here. And, of course, we have draw odds.
As an aside, Boston Blitz blogs are funny. They're kind of ridiculous… written in a very amateurish way.
Elizabeth Vicary says: The whole thing or something in particular? I must say I enjoy their videos.
Dmitri Shneider says: The whole thing is pretty ridiculous. I guess some people are insecure and need to talk themselves up to feel good.
Elizabeth Vicary says: Any response to Krasik’s recent words?
Dmitri Shneider says: I forget what he said, don't really keep that stuff in my memory, let me double check…
Elizabeth Vicary says: I believe he called you "not Karpov."
Dmitri Shneider says: Who is? Anyway, we'll see how much we learned our lesson next week.
Elizabeth Vicary says: Who would predict to win Carolina- NY? Miami – Seattle? San Fran- Dallas? The East? The West? The Finals?
Dmitri Shneider says: NY. Miami. Dallas (my upset pick) and Queens winning it all, obviously.
Elizabeth Vicary says: You think NY beats Carolina, even though Carolina dominated all season and NY just snuck in?
Dmitri Shneider says: I think NY has momentum, and now that they finally got their act together, they're just a very good team. Gotta go with the hot hand.
Elizabeth Vicary says: Okay, thanks a lot for the interview and good luck next Wednesday. Is there anything else you would like to add?
Dmitri Shneider says: Just that I'm glad Queens has given me an opportunity to stay in touch with the game, since I don't have much time to play. And that Greg Shahade is a genius for starting this whole enchilada and getting the country's best players involved. Pass da sugar.
Dmitri Shneider says: I work for the Private Bank at J.P. Morgan, helping manage money for ultra high-net worth clients. I analyze data, a lot of it, follow the stock market, make sure that everything is running smoothly, so that our Portfolio Managers can do their job as best they can.
Elizabeth Vicary says: How much time do you spend at work? What do you do on weekends?
Dmitri Shneider says: My hours are pretty good for finance: I get in by 8am and leave by 6:30-7pm unless I have urgent things to finish up.
Social life is great. I mean how can it not be in NYC? On weekends, I try to do all the things I didn’t get a chance to during the week: i.e. going for a run in the park/ gym, laundry, groceries as well as just catching up with friends, going for brunch, catching an indie at Lincoln Center. Obviously the night life is awesome and now that it’s fall, its NY Giants and Entourage time…Weekends go by wayyyyyy too fast.
Elizabeth Vicary says: Do you see yourself returning to competitive chess in America?
Dmitri Shneider says: Well, I didn’t plan on returning anytime soon, but China has been an inspiration, so I'm hoping to try to qualify for the U.S. Championship. I’ll definitely play USATE as I’ve missed only twice since I was 10 years old.
Elizabeth Vicary says: Has it been announced how you can qualify for the US Champs?
Dmitri Shneider says: No, I’m still trying to figure that out.
Elizabeth Vicary: You mentioned that you played a lot post-college. Tell me about that.
Dmitri Shneider says: Post-college playing was great. I played incredibly well at Pardubice Open in the Czech Republic in the summer 2007 and missed a norm by half a point. I was in a really good spot-- had something like 6/7, and I was playing GM Potkin and he offered me a draw. And doing the calculations before the game, I knew that if I won, I’d make the norm immediately, and if I drew I’d probably play down with black and would have to win. But if I lost there was a chance I’d get too low of a player and would be out of the running. My position was better, so I had to play on, and in time pressure I blundered a pawn and lost. Sometimes, I second-guess that decision to decline... but if the position is better have to play on no matter what, so overall pretty sure I would do the same thing again.
Elizabeth Vicary says: If it was so great, then why had you decided (pre-China) not to return to competitive chess?
Dmitri Shneider says: I was super busy the whole year. There are so many things to do in NYC that chess kind of takes a backseat. However, after periods of rest, there’s always an urge to come back. Hopefully, U.S. Championship will be the event that gets me back into it.
Elizabeth Vicary says: How different is the experience of playing for Queens? How did you come to play for Queens instead of the NY Knights?
Dmitri Shneider says: Well, Dallas is a college team, and we played in the Student Union. So we'd have people always coming back and watching our games, somewhat distracting sometimes... and that’s why in our first year we didn't do as well as could have.
How I ended up on Queens originally, was that last year I was traveling post-grad but decided I wanted to play USCL very late and Alex was gracious enough to find a spot for me on the team, albeit as an alternate since it was past the submission deadline. So I played 2 games and won both, which felt great.
Queens is very professional, and I have to thank Alex Stripunsky for making sure everything is running smoothly. Strip treats the players very well, and the conditions are great, so if I was to play again, I'd play for Queens.
Elizabeth Vicary says: How exactly does he treat the players well?
Dmitri Shneider says: He's just very respectful, and if people want to play he tries to accommodate them as much as possible. I know some other managers don't quite have that same mentality.
Elizabeth Vicary says: Let’s discuss the upcoming USCL playoffs. If you were team manager, who would you play, both for Queens and for Boston? Who do you think would win this match, board by board?
Dmitri Shneider says: We have a few good lineups that we can use. I think Strip absolutely has to play, and then it’s either me, Eli or Alex with Ostrovskiy on 4.
For Boston, I’m not quite sure who they have besides Larry and Eugene (and I think Sammour plays for them), so I don’t know about their board 3+4. But I would think that board one is a close match and board 2 we're slight underdogs but we're favorite on 3 and slight underdogs on 4. So we'd need to hold 2 and 4, while maximizing on 3
Elizabeth Vicary says: one sec… possible lineups…
1st / 2nd: Two of Christiansen / Perelshteyn / Sammour-Hasbun
3rd: Esserman
4th: Krasik
1st: Christiansen / Perelshteyn / Sammour-Hasbun
2nd / 3rd: Two of Vigorito / Shmelov / Riordan / Esserman
4th: Krasik
1st: Christiansen / Perelshteyn / Sammour-Hasbun
2nd: Shmelov
3rd: Riordan
4th: Esserman
Dmitri Shneider says: Okay, well Larry and Eugene must play. I don’t see any other lineup giving us any trouble, and we should be the favorites against this one as well.
Elizabeth Vicary says: So let's say it's Larry - Alex, you- Eugene, Esserman – Vovsha/ Lenderman, Ostrovskiy- Krasik?
Dmitri Shneider says: If that occurred, I’d have to hold Eugene, and Vovsha has to beat Esserman and Ostrovskiy would need to hold Krasik… with Larry and Alex being a toss up. But we'd have white on 2 and 4. If we play our best, we have to be favorites here. And, of course, we have draw odds.
As an aside, Boston Blitz blogs are funny. They're kind of ridiculous… written in a very amateurish way.
Elizabeth Vicary says: The whole thing or something in particular? I must say I enjoy their videos.
Dmitri Shneider says: The whole thing is pretty ridiculous. I guess some people are insecure and need to talk themselves up to feel good.
Elizabeth Vicary says: Any response to Krasik’s recent words?
Dmitri Shneider says: I forget what he said, don't really keep that stuff in my memory, let me double check…
Elizabeth Vicary says: I believe he called you "not Karpov."
Dmitri Shneider says: Who is? Anyway, we'll see how much we learned our lesson next week.
Elizabeth Vicary says: Who would predict to win Carolina- NY? Miami – Seattle? San Fran- Dallas? The East? The West? The Finals?
Dmitri Shneider says: NY. Miami. Dallas (my upset pick) and Queens winning it all, obviously.
Elizabeth Vicary says: You think NY beats Carolina, even though Carolina dominated all season and NY just snuck in?
Dmitri Shneider says: I think NY has momentum, and now that they finally got their act together, they're just a very good team. Gotta go with the hot hand.
Elizabeth Vicary says: Okay, thanks a lot for the interview and good luck next Wednesday. Is there anything else you would like to add?
Dmitri Shneider says: Just that I'm glad Queens has given me an opportunity to stay in touch with the game, since I don't have much time to play. And that Greg Shahade is a genius for starting this whole enchilada and getting the country's best players involved. Pass da sugar.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
i would like to give a shout out to certain government agencies
Today I had jury duty at Brooklyn Civil Court. It was fantastic. One woman ran the whole thing and it was kind of professionally amazing for me to watch: every direction she gave was perfectly clear and impossible to misunderstand and represented the most efficient way for the group to complete a task. I was really impressed. Also, it was not unpleasant at all: they had a shelf of free books, captioned CNN, and free wifi. She was so incredibly efficient that most of us got dismissed at 12:40 and had the rest of the afternoon off. I had a 3 hour nap and now feel very calm and happy.
And speaking of this, I had a really terrific experience last time I got my passport renewed. I had lost the previous one in Canada (amazingly, they let me back over the border with only an expired college ID). I needed to get a new one in under two weeks, because I was flying domestically but didn't have any other official ID. But the urgent need for a new passport was complicated by the fact that I didn't have my old passport, didn't have a driver's license or other government ID, and have an English birth certificate that's really just a hand-written note.
I could see trouble coming. But I ended up speaking to some customer service lady at the passport agency who arranged to expedite the replacement approval and send it overnight delivery for about $100 extra, and I had it four days later. On the phone, I almost couldn't believe it was happening.
well done, government agencies!
Interview with San Fransisco Mechanics Manager IM John Donaldson
1. SF seems to be the one team that is good during the regular season every single year. What's the secret to SF's success?
We have a nucleus of strong players who have been with the team since the first season – Vinay Bhat, David Pruess and since the second year Josh Friedel. Having a former US Champion like Patrick Wolff play on the team has been a great experience. It’s been pretty amazing how well he plays despite being retired from the game for 10 years.
There are not many active adult players in the Bay Area, maybe only 250 or so, but we do have a pretty good junior program. Lots of kids play locally and people like Michael Aigner and David Pruess try to identify the ones who are eager and show some promise. They were both instrumental in working with the Mechanics this year to have a series of workshops for talented youngsters.
Our top four young stars have all benefited from their US Chess School opportunities which have inspired them to work harder. I’m pretty amazed at what they have accomplished this year. Sam just tied for first in the World Under 18 and got his IM title, Daniel is playing at 2400 FIDE at age 12, Gregory tied for first in the US Junior Closed at 13 and Nicholas earned his Masters title before his 10th birthday. Going into the season it was pretty clear that a lineup with Sam and Daniel on the bottom boards would be pretty formidable.
It helps that everyone is excited about the league and wants the team to do well. Players on the Mechanics’ team live all over the Bay Area so playing in the USCL is a good excuse for us to get together. Opening preparation help is always there for anyone who needs it.
2. How much thought do you put into the lineups each week? What factors do you use to decide?
This year the lineups were pretty much decided by which players were in town each week. Sometimes it was hard to keep track. I can remember Josh and David played in China while Daniel and Sam just got back from Vietnam. Patrick made a several long business trips and was never completely sure when he could play so I was very glad Vinay decided not to go to Europe this fall! It was definitely a good thing we had some depth.
3. So you are playing Dallas on Monday. Which lineup do you think they will go with and how do you see SF’s chances, board by board?
We have a nucleus of strong players who have been with the team since the first season – Vinay Bhat, David Pruess and since the second year Josh Friedel. Having a former US Champion like Patrick Wolff play on the team has been a great experience. It’s been pretty amazing how well he plays despite being retired from the game for 10 years.
There are not many active adult players in the Bay Area, maybe only 250 or so, but we do have a pretty good junior program. Lots of kids play locally and people like Michael Aigner and David Pruess try to identify the ones who are eager and show some promise. They were both instrumental in working with the Mechanics this year to have a series of workshops for talented youngsters.
Our top four young stars have all benefited from their US Chess School opportunities which have inspired them to work harder. I’m pretty amazed at what they have accomplished this year. Sam just tied for first in the World Under 18 and got his IM title, Daniel is playing at 2400 FIDE at age 12, Gregory tied for first in the US Junior Closed at 13 and Nicholas earned his Masters title before his 10th birthday. Going into the season it was pretty clear that a lineup with Sam and Daniel on the bottom boards would be pretty formidable.
It helps that everyone is excited about the league and wants the team to do well. Players on the Mechanics’ team live all over the Bay Area so playing in the USCL is a good excuse for us to get together. Opening preparation help is always there for anyone who needs it.
2. How much thought do you put into the lineups each week? What factors do you use to decide?
This year the lineups were pretty much decided by which players were in town each week. Sometimes it was hard to keep track. I can remember Josh and David played in China while Daniel and Sam just got back from Vietnam. Patrick made a several long business trips and was never completely sure when he could play so I was very glad Vinay decided not to go to Europe this fall! It was definitely a good thing we had some depth.
3. So you are playing Dallas on Monday. Which lineup do you think they will go with and how do you see SF’s chances, board by board?
We have played Dallas twice this season and the results (each team won 2.5-1.5) indicate that it will be a close match. I expect they will use the same lineup they employed twice against us in the regular season – Marko Zivanic, Davorin Kulasevic, Igor Schneider and Bayaraa Zorigt. It follows a Dallas tradition of using a balanced lineup where they try to contest each board as closely as possible. Their top two boards will soon be GMs and already play at that level. I would consider them and our counter of Josh and Vinay to be pretty even matchups.
Board three decided both matches this season so it might well be the key next Monday. Schneider is a strong IM level player while we will counter with Sam who has been our key so far this season scoring 6.5 from 8. One major reason for Dallas winning the league last season and making the playoffs this year is their successful play on board four of Zorigt who is undefeated this season. We will counter with Daniel who showed strong character in coming back from a difficult first half in the World Youth.
In the end I can easily see the match ending 2-2 so having draw odds is nice to have.
4. Who do you expect to see in the division finals and in the league finals?
Miami is always a very good team and it starts with having Julio Becerra on board one but Seattle has their secret weapon in Hikaru. If he plays Seattle should not be dismissed. Slava Mikhailuk is on a hot streak and Michael Lee is a 2300 board four. Still I think the percentages favor a Miami-San Francisco matchup where I hope the return of our two young stars will make the difference
Queens versus Boston should be a tough one. Despite all the GM firepower I think it will be decided on board 4. Queens draw odds is a real plus. I predict 2-2 and they will advance. It is very likely that these are the two strongest teams in the East.
Carolina is much improved over last year. The key addition has been Ron Simpson who has played outstandingly for them this season consistently mowed down 2300s during the regular season. He will face significantly stronger opposition in the playoffs. How he and Oleg Zaikov (on board 2) do will likely decide the fate of the Cobras. The match with New York will be closely contested on all four boards and I predict 2-2 with Carolina advancing but then losing 2.5-1.5 to Queens.
If Josh, Vinay, Sam and Daniel collectively play at their normal level I like our chances to become the first team to win the USCL twice but having said that there are probably 5 teams that are quite capable and one should never forget the primary rule of the US Chess League – in any match any team can win! This might seem trite but if you watch enough USCL matches you start to realize that anything is possible.
5. This year Naroditsky and Shankland were two players whose league ratings were about 200 points lower than their current ratings. Does SF see any players like this for 2009?
This was a unique situation. Sam went from 2250 to over 2450 FIDE in 15 months and Danya from a high Expert to near IM strength. We won’t have anything like that next season though I think we will be competitive. I expect Nicholas Nip and Greg Young will see more action. The youngsters coming up behind them still need more seasoning.
This is a normal situation in the USCL. Boston had Shmelov and Williams last year and could have been expected to be closer to the middle this year but got a lucky addition in Esserman who makes good lineups out of their existing personnel.
6. Vinay Bhat is a GM, yet has an extremely low USCF rating. A lot of this can be blamed on the fact that most of his serious chess is played internationally. Should the USCL have provisions for those who have USCF ratings, but are clearly stronger than these ratings, due to their improvements only being seen in international play?
It’s partly true but Vinay also just seems to play better in Europe! To be more exact I think he is much stronger playing one game a day and those events are only found in Europe – and in Berkeley this December (contact David Pruess at pruess@gmail.com for details). There will always be some anomalies with certain player’s ratings so I wouldn’t worry too much about it.
7. Were you around and did you participate in the telephone leagues from the late 70s? Can you compare them to the USCL?
Yes I was. I played for the Portland Blitz and the Seattle Rain. The team names were definitely better – Berkeley Riots, Washington Plumbers etc. If I remember correctly we played on weekends (phone bills were cheaper) which was really nice because we could start earlier and not end so late. There could be delays since each team only had one runner for 6 boards. More local people showed up for the matches – now everyone follows the action from home, so both leagues had their advantages though I must say this incarnation is much better organized. Greg and Arun do a great job.
I’m certainly not the only player two play in both leagues. Mike Shahade, Rick Costigan, Larry Kaufman, Eric Tangborn and Larry Christiansen definitely played. I think Mark Ginsburg as well. I’m probably missing someone
8. Tell us a funny story about a USCL match.
I don’t have any really funny stories but every time I see Patrick Wolff arrive a minute before a game seemingly appearing out of nowhere, sit down, grab a quick bite while conversing with Daniel’s dad Vlad about recent developments in the financial world and proceed to hold a strong GM at bay I feel like I am in the presence of one of the world’s great multi-taskers.
Board three decided both matches this season so it might well be the key next Monday. Schneider is a strong IM level player while we will counter with Sam who has been our key so far this season scoring 6.5 from 8. One major reason for Dallas winning the league last season and making the playoffs this year is their successful play on board four of Zorigt who is undefeated this season. We will counter with Daniel who showed strong character in coming back from a difficult first half in the World Youth.
In the end I can easily see the match ending 2-2 so having draw odds is nice to have.
4. Who do you expect to see in the division finals and in the league finals?
Miami is always a very good team and it starts with having Julio Becerra on board one but Seattle has their secret weapon in Hikaru. If he plays Seattle should not be dismissed. Slava Mikhailuk is on a hot streak and Michael Lee is a 2300 board four. Still I think the percentages favor a Miami-San Francisco matchup where I hope the return of our two young stars will make the difference
Queens versus Boston should be a tough one. Despite all the GM firepower I think it will be decided on board 4. Queens draw odds is a real plus. I predict 2-2 and they will advance. It is very likely that these are the two strongest teams in the East.
Carolina is much improved over last year. The key addition has been Ron Simpson who has played outstandingly for them this season consistently mowed down 2300s during the regular season. He will face significantly stronger opposition in the playoffs. How he and Oleg Zaikov (on board 2) do will likely decide the fate of the Cobras. The match with New York will be closely contested on all four boards and I predict 2-2 with Carolina advancing but then losing 2.5-1.5 to Queens.
If Josh, Vinay, Sam and Daniel collectively play at their normal level I like our chances to become the first team to win the USCL twice but having said that there are probably 5 teams that are quite capable and one should never forget the primary rule of the US Chess League – in any match any team can win! This might seem trite but if you watch enough USCL matches you start to realize that anything is possible.
5. This year Naroditsky and Shankland were two players whose league ratings were about 200 points lower than their current ratings. Does SF see any players like this for 2009?
This was a unique situation. Sam went from 2250 to over 2450 FIDE in 15 months and Danya from a high Expert to near IM strength. We won’t have anything like that next season though I think we will be competitive. I expect Nicholas Nip and Greg Young will see more action. The youngsters coming up behind them still need more seasoning.
This is a normal situation in the USCL. Boston had Shmelov and Williams last year and could have been expected to be closer to the middle this year but got a lucky addition in Esserman who makes good lineups out of their existing personnel.
6. Vinay Bhat is a GM, yet has an extremely low USCF rating. A lot of this can be blamed on the fact that most of his serious chess is played internationally. Should the USCL have provisions for those who have USCF ratings, but are clearly stronger than these ratings, due to their improvements only being seen in international play?
It’s partly true but Vinay also just seems to play better in Europe! To be more exact I think he is much stronger playing one game a day and those events are only found in Europe – and in Berkeley this December (contact David Pruess at pruess@gmail.com for details). There will always be some anomalies with certain player’s ratings so I wouldn’t worry too much about it.
7. Were you around and did you participate in the telephone leagues from the late 70s? Can you compare them to the USCL?
Yes I was. I played for the Portland Blitz and the Seattle Rain. The team names were definitely better – Berkeley Riots, Washington Plumbers etc. If I remember correctly we played on weekends (phone bills were cheaper) which was really nice because we could start earlier and not end so late. There could be delays since each team only had one runner for 6 boards. More local people showed up for the matches – now everyone follows the action from home, so both leagues had their advantages though I must say this incarnation is much better organized. Greg and Arun do a great job.
I’m certainly not the only player two play in both leagues. Mike Shahade, Rick Costigan, Larry Kaufman, Eric Tangborn and Larry Christiansen definitely played. I think Mark Ginsburg as well. I’m probably missing someone
8. Tell us a funny story about a USCL match.
I don’t have any really funny stories but every time I see Patrick Wolff arrive a minute before a game seemingly appearing out of nowhere, sit down, grab a quick bite while conversing with Daniel’s dad Vlad about recent developments in the financial world and proceed to hold a strong GM at bay I feel like I am in the presence of one of the world’s great multi-taskers.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
hola amigos
I know it's been a long time since I rapped at you, but I kinda had a breakdown. No, just kidding, missing my favorite Onion columnist Jim Anchower. (although Smoove B and Herbert Kornfeld are also great.) His columns always included a car problem, some kind of new job that he quits or is fired from, and an ongoing quest to get really high. Or as they put it "He comments on community-affairs, automotive, and employment issues." But I haven't seen him in a while-- maybe phasing out?!
So I haven't posted in a while because my attempts to resuscitate my social life have been reasonably successful. I actually hung out with another real person for eight of the last ten evenings. hurray! I spent today at a kids' tournament. Here are some photos:
Emmanuel, age 7, rated 727, absolutely the most cute-hilarious kid ever. He comes to the IS 318 chess club because his sister Rebecca and brother Joel go to school there. I'm going to make him 1800 by the time he enters 6th grade.
left: Pobo, 1567, and sole winner of the tournament's open section. (His real name is Oghenakpobo, but of course that gets shortened.)
Rochelle, who you'll remember from the recent NY Times article (reprinted here in the International Herald Tribune), 1779, waiting for her opponent in round 1. She finished with 3/4.
Tony, a new 6th grader
.JPG)
Richard
Lisa
Daniel M.
I don't think most of my friendships outside of chess are built around having something in common, or if they are, that something is location or life situation. (meaning I'm friends with two types of non chessplayer: people who have geography in common with me, i.e. live near me, and people who have life situation in common with me, i.e. are 4/5 of: liberal, white, middle-class, well-educated adult women.) But these friendships often end up feeling kinda pointless--they can easily get reduced to gossiping about mutual friends or endlessly discussion of our own lives. So I like the idea that kids, especially girls, get the idea early that it's normal for friendships to be built around an (intellectual*) activity. I like the idea that kids learn to expect their social and intellectual lives should be connected.
Last year I taught 8th grade honors English as well as chess, and it killed me that I could never come up with a good answer to the question "Why do we have to do this?" My class asked me pretty frequently. And my math teacher friend was stumped when asked how learning to factor equations would ever actually be useful. Of course, the kids are right and most of what we are teaching isn't relevant to their lives at all.
But in chess, no one ever asks me why you would want to win. Sometimes kids don't want to play, but it's very rare that a kid wants to play and doesn't want to win (and these rare ones are usually so happy-go-lucky that they wouldn't dream of questioning a teacher who ordered them to play a game).
And aside from making my life easier, this fact that chess is inherently motivating means that students who have come to see school and by extension many kinds of thinking as totally irrelevant now suddenly really want to think and to be good at thinking. And this effect is magnified when chess is an inherent part of the kid's social life (as in 1.)
3. Chess has qualities that make it unusually good preparation for original thinking in science/math/ economics/ etc.
To make intellectual discoveries, even just to know in what direction to go, you have to be able to evaluate what's working in your thinking and what's not, to see the big picture as well as to deal with the details, to work both intensely and over an extended period of time, to consistently be enthuasiastic and deal with harsh setbacks. All this in inherent to chess. A few more things chess has going for it, as a training method:
>Students receive immediate and unambiguous feedback about their progress (in the form of wins and losses). It's pretty unusual, I think, to find logical abstraction and unambiguous results together.
>The evaluation process is obviously fair and transparent, so that no one can feel cheated by the rating system (as you might in a dog show, for example).
>To improve, students have to be brutally honest with themselves about what they know and don't know, and what they are good at and not good at.
>Students have access to multiple ways of improving and have to select what's effective :
playing (slow games/ blitz; opponents of their level/ higher rated opponents),
studying (reading books, doing tactics, watching videos, going over opening lines, analysing their games).
I'm not really going anywhere coherant with these three things, just throwing them out there.
In other news, I'm reading a great book: The Chess Instructor 2009. I'm reviewing it for Chess Life, so I won't say too much, other than it's a fascinating and impressively wide-ranging collection of essays about chess and education.
I'm thinking about volunteering at a prison. I feel like I could teach a series of maybe 6 3-hour chess seminars that could alleviate a whole lot of boredom. I'm also very curious about prisons.
So I haven't posted in a while because my attempts to resuscitate my social life have been reasonably successful. I actually hung out with another real person for eight of the last ten evenings. hurray! I spent today at a kids' tournament. Here are some photos:
Emmanuel, age 7, rated 727, absolutely the most cute-hilarious kid ever. He comes to the IS 318 chess club because his sister Rebecca and brother Joel go to school there. I'm going to make him 1800 by the time he enters 6th grade.left: Pobo, 1567, and sole winner of the tournament's open section. (His real name is Oghenakpobo, but of course that gets shortened.)right: D'Andrea, whose rating has gone from 336 to 1204 in the last 2 months.
Rochelle, who you'll remember from the recent NY Times article (reprinted here in the International Herald Tribune), 1779, waiting for her opponent in round 1. She finished with 3/4.
Tony, a new 6th grader.JPG)
Richard
Lisa
Daniel M. So I get asked pretty often what benefits I think chess offers kids. Of course there are many: concentration, patience, strategic thinking, etc. But there are three in particular that I'm especially excited by and wish to go on about briefly:
.
1. Chess teaches the idea that friendships are built around shared interests/activities.
I don't think most of my friendships outside of chess are built around having something in common, or if they are, that something is location or life situation. (meaning I'm friends with two types of non chessplayer: people who have geography in common with me, i.e. live near me, and people who have life situation in common with me, i.e. are 4/5 of: liberal, white, middle-class, well-educated adult women.) But these friendships often end up feeling kinda pointless--they can easily get reduced to gossiping about mutual friends or endlessly discussion of our own lives. So I like the idea that kids, especially girls, get the idea early that it's normal for friendships to be built around an (intellectual*) activity. I like the idea that kids learn to expect their social and intellectual lives should be connected.
2. Chess has value as an intellectual activity that is inherently meaningful to kids.
Last year I taught 8th grade honors English as well as chess, and it killed me that I could never come up with a good answer to the question "Why do we have to do this?" My class asked me pretty frequently. And my math teacher friend was stumped when asked how learning to factor equations would ever actually be useful. Of course, the kids are right and most of what we are teaching isn't relevant to their lives at all.
But in chess, no one ever asks me why you would want to win. Sometimes kids don't want to play, but it's very rare that a kid wants to play and doesn't want to win (and these rare ones are usually so happy-go-lucky that they wouldn't dream of questioning a teacher who ordered them to play a game).
And aside from making my life easier, this fact that chess is inherently motivating means that students who have come to see school and by extension many kinds of thinking as totally irrelevant now suddenly really want to think and to be good at thinking. And this effect is magnified when chess is an inherent part of the kid's social life (as in 1.)
3. Chess has qualities that make it unusually good preparation for original thinking in science/math/ economics/ etc.
To make intellectual discoveries, even just to know in what direction to go, you have to be able to evaluate what's working in your thinking and what's not, to see the big picture as well as to deal with the details, to work both intensely and over an extended period of time, to consistently be enthuasiastic and deal with harsh setbacks. All this in inherent to chess. A few more things chess has going for it, as a training method:
>Students receive immediate and unambiguous feedback about their progress (in the form of wins and losses). It's pretty unusual, I think, to find logical abstraction and unambiguous results together.
>The evaluation process is obviously fair and transparent, so that no one can feel cheated by the rating system (as you might in a dog show, for example).
>To improve, students have to be brutally honest with themselves about what they know and don't know, and what they are good at and not good at.
>Students have access to multiple ways of improving and have to select what's effective :
playing (slow games/ blitz; opponents of their level/ higher rated opponents),
studying (reading books, doing tactics, watching videos, going over opening lines, analysing their games).
>Students get a sense of how incredibly deep expert knowledge in a field can be.
I'm not really going anywhere coherant with these three things, just throwing them out there.
In other news, I'm reading a great book: The Chess Instructor 2009. I'm reviewing it for Chess Life, so I won't say too much, other than it's a fascinating and impressively wide-ranging collection of essays about chess and education.
I'm thinking about volunteering at a prison. I feel like I could teach a series of maybe 6 3-hour chess seminars that could alleviate a whole lot of boredom. I'm also very curious about prisons.
.
*Obviously, sports teaches this also, but while I'm sure it's nice to go running with a friend, although I personally hate this, who plays team sports as an adult?
Friday, October 24, 2008
Mr. Green Genes / New York Times endorses Obama
Mr. Green Genes is the first fluorescent cat in the United States, said Betsy Dresser, the center’s director.
The researchers made him so they could learn whether a gene could be introduced harmlessly into the feline’s genetic sequence to create what is formally known as a transgenic cat. If so, it would be the first step in a process that could lead to the development of ways to combat diseases via gene therapy.
The gene, which was added to Mr. Green Genes’ DNA when he was created earlier this year in the Audubon center’s laboratory, has no effect on his health, Dresser said. Cats are ideal for this project because their genetic makeup is similar to that of humans, said Dr. Martha Gomez, a veterinarian and staff scientist at the center.
Why a glowing cat?
To show that the gene went where it was supposed to go, the researchers settled on one that would glow.
The gene “is just a marker,” said Leslie Lyons, an assistant professor of population health and reproduction at the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of California, Davis, who is familiar with the Audubon center’s work.
“The glowing part is the fun part,” she said.
Glowing creatures made international news earlier this month when the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to three scientists who had discovered the gene through their work with jellyfish. They used the gene, whose formal name is enhanced green fluorescence protein, to see how things work inside animals and even inside cells.
Mr. Green Genes — his name comes from Mr. Green Jeans, a character on the long-departed “Captain Kangaroo” television show — is deeply suspicious of strangers. He spends most of his days napping, and he doesn’t like being held when he doesn’t want to be cuddled.
In normal light, the 7-pound cat, who lives at the center, looks and acts like any other feline.
But turn out the room lights and switch on some black light, and you can see glowing ears, nostrils, eyes and gums. Those body parts light up because the protein is more likely to express itself in mucous membranes, Lyons said.
“You can’t lose that cat at night,” said C. Earle Pope, the center’s senior scientist.
“The frozen zoo”
In theory, his litter box could glow, too, because cat droppings include epithelial cells, where the gene can be found. But there is entirely too much other stuff around them to allow for readily visible glowing without messy lab work, Gomez said.
The Audubon center started its animal-cloning experiments in 2001. Two years later, Ditteaux, an African wildcat, was born there. He was the world’s first cloned wild carnivore.
Cloning starts with cells — generally skin cells, Gomez said, because retrieval isn’t too invasive — and the cells’ genetic material is stored in a tank of liquid nitrogen where the temperature is 316 degrees below zero. The Audubon center has 12 such tanks of genetic specimens awaiting use;
Dresser calls them “the frozen zoo.”
For work with felines, eggs are collected from a donor cat — usually a domestic cat — and the DNA is removed and replaced. To create Mr. Green Genes, the fresh DNA included the fluorescent gene.
Then the fertilized egg is inserted into a surrogate mother cat for a pregnancy lasting 65 to 70 days.
After Ditteaux’s arrival, Gomez was invited to discuss it before a group of gene-therapy specialists, who, she said, were interested in the prospect of creating a genetic model for fighting diseases.
A tool to spot cystic-fibrosis
The Audubon scientists want to use their technique to develop a gene-therapy treatment for cystic fibrosis, an incurable hereditary disease for which, Gomez said, there are no gene-therapy models.
The fluorescence gene will go alongside the cystic-fibrosis gene and make it easy to spot. The long-term goal of this process, for which there is no timetable, is the production of what Gomez calls a “knockout gene.”
Work on this project is under way, she said. “We are getting some preliminary data, but we don’t have the full funds for it.”
Mr. Green Genes’ next role for the center will combine science and sex. He will become a stud so the Audubon team can determine whether the fluorescence gene can be transmitted. That should take no more than two breeding cycles, Gomez said.
“If he is fertile and if the female is fertile, it should be quick,” she said. “The idea is not to have a lot of green cats around, but to demonstrate that the gene can be passed.”
After that, he will retire to Gomez’s home, where two cats already live.
“I feel that he is my baby,” said Gomez, who led the team that created him.
“You have to realize that this is our first transgenic cat,” she said. “I don’t want him to go to just anybody. I feel he is mine.”
NY Times editorial. some excerpts:
The United States is battered and drifting after eight years of President Bush’s failed leadership. He is saddling his successor with two wars, a scarred global image and a government systematically stripped of its ability to protect and help its citizens — whether they are fleeing a hurricane’s floodwaters, searching for affordable health care or struggling to hold on to their homes, jobs, savings and pensions in the midst of a financial crisis that was foretold and preventable. ...
Mr. Obama has met challenge after challenge, growing as a leader and putting real flesh on his early promises of hope and change. He has shown a cool head and sound judgment. We believe he has the will and the ability to forge the broad political consensus that is essential to finding solutions to this nation’s problems....
In the same time, Senator John McCain of Arizona has retreated farther and farther to the fringe of American politics, running a campaign on partisan division, class warfare and even hints of racism. His policies and worldview are mired in the past. His choice of a running mate so evidently unfit for the office was a final act of opportunism and bad judgment that eclipsed the
accomplishments of 26 years in Congress.
Given the particularly ugly nature of Mr. McCain’s campaign, the urge to choose on the basis of raw emotion is strong. But there is a greater value in looking closely at the facts of life in America today and at the prescriptions the candidates offer. The differences are profound....
The Candidates
It will be an enormous challenge just to get the nation back to where it was before Mr. Bush, to begin to mend its image in the world and to restore its self-confidence and its self-respect. Doing all of that, and leading America forward, will require strength of will, character and intellect, sober judgment and a cool, steady hand.
Mr. Obama has those qualities in abundance. Watching him being tested in the campaign has long since erased the reservations that led us to endorse Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Democratic primaries. He has drawn in legions of new voters with powerful messages of hope and possibility and calls for shared sacrifice and social responsibility.
Mr. McCain, whom we chose as the best Republican nominee in the primaries, has spent the last coins of his reputation for principle and sound judgment to placate the limitless demands and narrow vision of the far-right wing. His righteous fury at being driven out of the 2000 primaries on a racist tide aimed at his adopted daughter has been replaced by a zealous embrace of those same win-at-all-costs tactics and tacticians.
He surrendered his standing as an independent thinker in his rush to embrace Mr. Bush’s misbegotten tax policies and to abandon his leadership position on climate change and immigration reform.
Mr. McCain could have seized the high ground on energy and the environment. Earlier in his career, he offered the first plausible bill to control America’s emissions of greenhouse gases. Now his positions are a caricature of that record: think Ms. Palin leading chants of “drill, baby, drill.”
Mr. Obama has endorsed some offshore drilling, but as part of a comprehensive strategy including big investments in new, clean technologies.
__
Mr. Obama has withstood some of the toughest campaign attacks ever mounted against a candidate. He’s been called un-American and accused of hiding a secret Islamic faith. The Republicans have linked him to domestic terrorists and questioned his wife’s love of her country. Ms. Palin has also questioned millions of Americans’ patriotism, calling Republican-leaning states “pro-America.”
This politics of fear, division and character assassination helped Mr. Bush drive Mr. McCain from the 2000 Republican primaries and defeat Senator John Kerry in 2004. It has been the dominant theme of his failed presidency.
The nation’s problems are simply too grave to be reduced to slashing “robo-calls” and negative ads. This country needs sensible leadership, compassionate leadership, honest leadership and strong leadership. Barack Obama has shown that he has all of those qualities.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
please take a minute for something that is so obviously just
Hello Elizabeth's Blog Readers,
Across the country, people are picking up the phone, usually in the evening, and hearing a recorded voice recite vile smears about Barack Obama. The voice could be Rudy Giuliani's, or Sarah Palin's, or someone anonymous, but the pattern is the same: overheated rhetoric spreading distortions and lies designed to whip up fear or anger at Barack Obama.
The calls are so bad, even some Republicans have come out against them. Republican Senator Gordon Smith's spokesman said, "Senator Smith does not condone these sort of calls."
Susan Collins "urges the McCain campaign to stop these calls immediately." Even Norm Coleman in Minnesota has distanced himself from the calls.
It's time we get all Senators and House members on record about these calls. Follow this link to listen to a couple of these calls, and then fax or call your elected officials and urge them to condemn the McCain-Palin robocalls:
http://www.truthfightsback.com/robocalls
We've been working hard at TruthFightsBack.com to highlight these types of political tactics. We need to make these tactics unacceptable, make it politically painful to run these types of smear campaigns.
Our country deserves better than the slash-n-burn politics of the past. So fax or call your Senators and your Representative in the House and ask them to come out against these calls.
Thanks,
Brian Young
Across the country, people are picking up the phone, usually in the evening, and hearing a recorded voice recite vile smears about Barack Obama. The voice could be Rudy Giuliani's, or Sarah Palin's, or someone anonymous, but the pattern is the same: overheated rhetoric spreading distortions and lies designed to whip up fear or anger at Barack Obama.
The calls are so bad, even some Republicans have come out against them. Republican Senator Gordon Smith's spokesman said, "Senator Smith does not condone these sort of calls."
Susan Collins "urges the McCain campaign to stop these calls immediately." Even Norm Coleman in Minnesota has distanced himself from the calls.
It's time we get all Senators and House members on record about these calls. Follow this link to listen to a couple of these calls, and then fax or call your elected officials and urge them to condemn the McCain-Palin robocalls:
http://www.truthfightsback.com/robocalls
We've been working hard at TruthFightsBack.com to highlight these types of political tactics. We need to make these tactics unacceptable, make it politically painful to run these types of smear campaigns.
Our country deserves better than the slash-n-burn politics of the past. So fax or call your Senators and your Representative in the House and ask them to come out against these calls.
Thanks,
Brian Young
Joel Johnson Annotates
NM Joel Johnson - ARZ (2211) – Ilan Meerovich - CHC (2131) [B20]
ICC 60 30 u Internet Chess Club, 10/22/2008, Board 3
1.e4 d6 No need to panic. Based on my research, I am sure that he wants to play a Sicilian and this move does not change my opinion of that fact.
2.d3 g6
3.g3 Bg7
4.Bg2 Nf6
5.f4 0–0
6.Nf3 c5 Ah, yes, all is well now.
7.0–0 Nc6
8.h3
22...f5
23.exf6 Bxf6
24.Rae1 Qc7
25.Ne5 Nxe5
26.fxe5 Bg7
27.Rxf8+ Bxf8
28.Rf1
28...Rb2? I had expected him to play 28. ... Bg7, after which I had planned on playing g5, followed by Ng4 and Nf6 with a growing advantage.
ICC 60 30 u Internet Chess Club, 10/22/2008, Board 3
1.e4 d6 No need to panic. Based on my research, I am sure that he wants to play a Sicilian and this move does not change my opinion of that fact.
2.d3 g6
3.g3 Bg7
4.Bg2 Nf6
5.f4 0–0
6.Nf3 c5 Ah, yes, all is well now.
7.0–0 Nc6
8.h3
8...d5 Even though this is the best move in the position for Black, I felt comfortable playing against this line. The move that I spent the most time on here was 8. ... b5.
9.e5 Nd7
10.c3 e6 Even though this is a solid move, I was happy to see it. Practically speaking, it seemed better for him to counter with 10. ... Nb6 and 11. ... Bf5. Part of the problem with e6 is that Black has to play very precise to avoid having his Bishop on c8 becoming locked out of the game.
11.Na3 a6
12.Nc2 b5
13.d4 c4 Black continues to play moves that make it more and more difficult to free his locked in light-squared Bishop on c8. And, even though it would appear that the situation is a wash because of my locked in dark-squared Bishop on c1, I plan on making kingside Pawn advances that will provide my Bishop with some real future value.
14.Qe1 My goal now is to secure the queenside, then turn my full attention to building up a kingside attack.
14...a5
15.a3 Rb8
16.Kh1 Qe7
17.Bd2 Rb6
18.g4 Ndb8
19.Qg3 b4
20.axb4 axb4
21.Ne3 bxc3
22.bxc3
22...f5
23.exf6 Bxf6
24.Rae1 Qc7
25.Ne5 Nxe5
26.fxe5 Bg7
27.Rxf8+ Bxf8
28.Rf1
28...Rb2? I had expected him to play 28. ... Bg7, after which I had planned on playing g5, followed by Ng4 and Nf6 with a growing advantage.
29.Qf4 My intention is to play Nd5! on the next move, but it is also very good here. One of the lines I was looking at here was 29. ... Bg7 30. Nd5! ed5 31. Bd5 Kh8 32. Qf8!! Bf8 33. Kg7 Rg8#.
29...Qe7
30.Nxd5 exd5
31.Bxd5+ Black resigns
All moves lead to checkmate, for example:
31. ... Be6 32. Be6 Kh8 33. Qf8 Qf8 34. Rf8 Kg7 35. Rg8#;
31. ... Kh8 32. Qf8 Qf8 33. Rf8 Kg7 34. Rg8#;
31. ... Kg7 32. Qh6 Kh8 33. Rf8 Qf8 34. Qf8# 1–0
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
We ARE Queens Boulevard
Some USCL gossip for you: I hear that Queens will be changing its name next year from the Queens Pioneers to the Queens Entourage.
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