Dallas Destiny Blog

Destiny Excommunicates Archbishops

2011-09-15T19:12:00.011-05:00

As the Dallas Destiny manager I'm happy to report that we picked up our first win of the season last Wednesday, beating St Louis 3.5-.5. This win moved us to 2-1 on the season into 3rd place in the Western Division. I know that St Louis was in the process of hosting the Kings vs Queens tournament and as a result I'm sure some of their best USCL players were occupied or worn out. I am going to provide some analysis of the games from boards 3 and 4 from our match. I hope you enjoy!

Board 3: Kiewra-Eckert

1.e4 d6 It just goes to show, you can never successfully prepare for anyone in the USCL because they are also preparing something for you! I hadn't seen any games where Eckert played this move before and I was thoroughly surprised.

2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 e5 Transposing into a Philador. I felt good about this having wins under my belt in this system against such strong players as IM Marko Zivanic and GM Mekheil Kekeleidze.

4.Nf3 Nbd7 5.Bc4 Be7 6.0-0 0-0 7.Bb3 exd4 I'm not sure if this is how the opening is supposed to go or not, but it did not work out in the game due to White's spatial advantage. More common is 7.c6 with ideas to leave the position closed and play on the Queenside.

8.Nxd4 Nc5 9.Re1 Nxb3 10.axb3 c6 11.Qf3 Kh8 12.h3 Be6 13.Nf5 Bxf5 14.Qxf5 Qd7 15.Qf3 The ending is comfortable for white, but I think black suffers more in the middlegame due to his lack of space. White can now play natural developing moves and focus on the weak d6 pawn.

15...a6 16.Bf4 Ne8 17.Rad1 f6 18.Rd3 Rd8 19.Red1 Qe6 20.Ne2 Qf7 21.c4?! Better is Ng3 suppressing black's counterplay. I calculated 21.Ng3 g6 22.Bh6 Rg8 23.e5!? but black seems fine after 23...d5. Thus I played c4 which controls d5 and prepares a c5 thrust. If black answers with b6 my idea works perfectly, however black found active counterplay with...

21...f5! 22.e5 dxe5 23.Rxd8 Bxd8 24.Rxd8 White has no advantage after 24.Bxe5 Bf6! 25.Qxf5 Bxe5 26.Qxe5 Qxf2+

24...exf4 25.Nxf4 g6 26.Qc3+ Ng7 27.Rd6 Kg8 28.Qd4 Re8 29.Rd7 Re7 30.Rd8+ Re8 31.g3 Ne6 32.Nxe6 Qxe6 33.Qd7 Qxd7? The rook ending is a headache for black. Black could equalize here with a series of precise moves: 33...Qe1+ 34.Kg2 Qe4+ 35.Kh2 Rxd8 36.Qxd8+ Kf7 37.Qh8 Qe2 38.Qxh7+ Kf6 39.Qh8+ Kf7 40.Qd4 Qxb2= The match was already over though and the price of this mistake was not very high. Doug offered me a draw which I would have gladly accepted, but because total points are important to the tiebreak system I needed to play on.

34.Rxd7 Re1+ 35.Kg2 Re2 36.Rxb7 Rxb2 37.Ra7 Rxb3 38.Rxa6 c5 39.Rc6 Kg7 40.Rxc5 Kf6 41.Rc8 Rc3 42.h4 h5 43.c5 Ke6 44.c6 f4 45.gxf4 Kf5 46.f3? My friend IM John Bartholomew pointed out that I missed a nice win: 46.c7 Kg4 47.f5! strips black's King of any shelter.

46...Kxf4? White is winning anyway at this point. 47.c7 Rc2+ 48.Kh3 1-0

Board 4: Hua-Xiong

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 0-0 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.0-0-0 d5 10.exd5 Nxd5 11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.Nxd5?! cxd5 13.Qxd5 This line has been almost nonexistent at the high level in the last several years due to the excellent play black receives for the pawn. Michael Adams tried it with white against Alexei Federov in 2001 in a losing effort.

13...Qc7 14.Qc5 Taking the rook on a8 is a bad idea. 14.Qxa8 Bf5 15.Qxf8+ Kxf8 16.Bd3 Qe5 17.Bxf5 Qxe3+ 18.Kb1 Qb6! with a winning position for black.

14...Qb7 15.b3!? more common is 15.Qa3.

15...Bf5 16.Qa5 Rac8 17.Bd3 Qc6 18.Bxf5 gxf5 19.c4 Qg6 20.g3 Rc6 Despite white's extra pawn the position is more pleasant for black who can generate threats against white's King without having to worry about his own King too much. In order for white to win he would have to neutralize black's attack by trading pieces and escape into a favorable ending while avoiding the tactical pitfalls in the position, much easier said than done :)

21.Qd2 a5 22.h4 a4 23.h5 Qe6 24.h6 axb3! Xiong finds a winning piece sac. 24...Bf6 was also winning, but this is nicer and effective.

25.hxg7 Qxc4+ 26.Kb2 Rb8 27.Rc1 bxa2+ 28.Ka1 Rb1+ 29.Rxb1 axb1=Q+30.Kxb1 Qb3+ 31.Qb2 Qd3+ 0-1

New Season

2011-09-13T16:31:00.011-05:00

Aloha again. We are back for yet another reason of exciting USCL. First week's match vs LA was a doozy. I didn't have the heart to review the games with such swings (at one point or another, all games had +-12 eval for one side). We luckily drew with the GOTW Holt's swindle.

Moving on to week 2, we got our good partners from SF. Interesting fact: every season I debut vs SF. Anyway, I'll go over my game with GM Wolff.

Wolff-SF (2623) - Bercys-DAL (2576) [C06]

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Be7 4.Ngf3 didn't really expect this move. Wolff hasn't played a lot recently but from his past his move was mainly Bd3.

4...Nf6 5.e5 Nfd7 6.Bd3 c5 7.c3 Nc6 8.0-0 a5 9.a4!? Tough move to judge. White locks up the queen side but gives up a really strong outpost on b4. After the game I saw that Mickey Adams played it before as well but I doubt white has anything.

9...b6 I think better than what Adams' opponents did by playing cxd4 early. This move order does not allow for Nd2-b1-c3 repositioning.

10.Re1 Ba6 11.Bb1 cxd4 12.cxd4 Nb4 13.Nf1 Rc8 14.h4?!

I was taken aback by this move. I didn't know why white had to rush anything. I expected Ra3.

14...Bxh4 NOM 15.Nxh4 Qxh4 16.Nh2 h6 I like this prophylaxis. Dark squared bishop cannot annoy as easily now.

17.Ra3 Rc4 Only move to prevent a serious initiative from taking over.

18.Nf3 Qe7? This is where I started losing it. Correct placement for the queen was on g4. It protects e6 from there and allows safer castling...but I didn't want to castle so the whole idea was just bad.

19.Rae3 Kd8? Following through with the wrong plan. Advantage is almost gone without Kd8...and with it, white puts out tremendous pressure. Correct was the simply Nf8! White has no h pawn to harass the knight on g6. h4-h5 is the main weakness to all g6 knights. Really should have seen this move.

20.Bd2 Rc6 21.Nh2 Kc7 22.Rg3 f5?! This move is technically a "?" move but the reason I played it was to keep some hope alive for a swindle. Our boards 2-4 were not looking so hot so I couldn't force myself to play a correct move g6 which basically gave my opponent permanent initiative.

23.exf6 gxf6 24.Ng4 h5? The stretch from 18th to 24th move is just terrible. Here the simple Qf8! held the balance and was gonna kick out the knight with h5 afterwards.

25.Nh6! I severely underestimated this move. The knight simply cannot be touched.

25...h4? Mistakes will NOT stop. Houdini likes Qf8 Qxh5 e5...but I am not houdini and opening up the position like that as a human is a suicide mission.

26.Rh3? White lets one go. I had no idea that 26. Nf5! Qf8 27. Rg7! was just crushing. Black has no way to survive the onslaught.

Position after 27. Rg7!

Kb7 27.Rxh4 Qf8 The main idea was 27...Nd3 but after recalculating this mess I realized I overlooked some stuff: 28. Nf5 Qf8 29. Rxh8 Qxh8

30. Bxd3 Bxd3 31. Ne7! with a strong attack.

28.Qf3 Ka7 Repositioning for the fight to draw.

29.Qh3 Bc8 30.Nf5 Rg8? Overlooking white's

possible finisher next move...

31.Ng3? Wrong again! 31. Rh7! was similar to 27. Rg7! idea. Game is practically over. With this last error, we enter the endgame phase. I will skip to it... f5 32.Nh5 Nf6 33.Nxf6 Qxf6 34.Rh7+ Ka8 35.Bc3 Qd8 36.Re3 Rc7 37.Rxc7 Qxc7 38.Qh4 Qd7 39.b3 Qc7 40.Qh2 Kb7 41.Rh3 Rg7 42.Qxc7+ Kxc7 43.f3 Kd6?

Overlooking a not so hard drawing resource. 43...Ba6! with the idea of Bd3 was basically forcing white to exchange on b4. Which is very drawish afterwards.

44.Kf2 Bd7 45.Bd2 b5 46.Bf4+ Kc6 47.axb5+ Kxb5 48.Rh8 Nc6 49.Bd6! Oh the trickery...

49...Kb6 50.Bd3 Kb7 51.Be2 Rf7 52.Ke3 Rg7 53.Bf1 Kb6 54.Kf4 Kb7 55.Bc5?! Not sure if white should have allowed my king to get c7. It protects better from there.

55...Kc7 56.g3 Rf7 57.Be2 Kb7 58.Kg5 Rg7+ 59.Kf4 Rf7 60.Ke3 f4+! Only chance to draw.

61.gxf4 Ne7 62.Bxe7 Rxe7 63.Bd3 Rg7 64.Rh7 Rxh7 65.Bxh7 Kc6 66.Bd3 Kd6 67.f5 e5?? I won't post a diagram here as it's not hard to click a link above...but this move. Wow. Leads to a lost endgame. 67...Ke7! followed by Kf6 fortress should hold it...but I thought he could put me in a zug somewhere. Bad, bad, bad.

68.f6! Be8 69.Bf5 Bf7 70.Kd3 Be8 71.Kc3 Bh5 72.Kd3 Be8 73.Ke3 Bf7 74.Bc8 Bh5 75.f4

Game drawn by mutual agreement ?????????????????????????

White is winning. I am sure of it. 75...exd4 76. Kxd4 Bd1 77. Kc3 and black will eventually be put in a zug with black bishop on h5 and white bishop on c8 with white king on c3. It's sometimes better to be lucky than to be good!

1/2-1/2

Tomorrow, we play Hikaru-less (PHEW!) St. Louis. Let's do this!

The Destiny Unfulfilled.

2010-10-29T09:56:00.032-05:00

The ride is over. The flight has landed. Our king is in a checkmate. Ok, enough of the metaphors!

Season is over so let's go over the deciding match top games.

(GM) Gurevich, Dmity - (IM)Bercys, Salvijus

Pre-game facts: I love KID. I do. But I also feel pragmatic enough to know playing KID as black against a player of Gurevich's caliber (especially with his skill to eat KID alive) was not right. I eventually found Dutch and was satisfied with his opening lines for black.

1. d4 f5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bg5!?

This has been played (with my opponent having a good chunk of the games in this line) before but to be honest this is no way to play against Dutch. I don't see how giving up a bishop compensated for anything. Temporary discomfort? Maybe. 
e6 4. Nbd2 Be7 5. Bxf6 Bxf6 6. e4 O-O 7. e5 ?!

A bit surprised is an understatement. And after I check the databases after my game I realized why - only 3 games played.

Be7 8. Bc4 c5 Computer, amazingly like 8...d5 9. cxd6 cxd6 with 10...d5. I understand the position but I think I was right to not go into a positionally damaged position against one of the better positional players.

9. c3 9. d5 is a bit premature as 9...b5! is there. For example, 10. d6 bxc4 11. dxe7 Qxe7 12. Nxc4 Ba6 with Nc6 coming. Or: 10. Bxb5 cxd5 with Bb7 and d6 coming. Bishops will get freaky...

cxd4 10. cxd4 Nc6 Rybka still likes d5...that fish lost its marbles IMO. Also, Nc6 was bad before cxd4 as 11. d5! would have given white a nice comfortable edge.

11. a3? Definitely a mistake. White had to play 11. d5 for any chance to win. 11...Na5 would have followed...

12.  d6 Bg5 13. 0-0 {13. Nxg5 Qxg5 14. 0-0 f4 with complicated play} Bh6 !? with b6 and Bb7 coming. Two bishops should suffice.  
12. 0-0 !? Nxc4 13. Nxc4 b5! and I felt that black was fine. 
11...d5! At least equalizing.  Now my knight on c6 will be attacking pawn on d4 after the exchanges and suddenly black is very active.
12. exd6 Qxd6 13. Nb3 a6 very important to kick the bishop out. In the variations without Nc6 and a3 included, a6 was never a threat because white didn't have to defend pawn on d4 with the d2 knight.  Now if a4, black has Qb4+.  
14. O-O b5 15. Be2 Qd5? I realized this was a mistake when I showed the game to UTD coach Rade Milovanovic. During the game I thought it pressured Nb3, allowed more coverage for c5 through Be7, defended b5 pawn if a4 was ever played and had some tricks after Bb7 on the big diagonal.  Useless, useless move! Rd8 followed with Bf6 was the correct choice.  
16. Rc1 Rd8 17. Re1 Bf6 I ended up doing the same...with a tempo down. That can't be right. 
18. Bf1 Nxd4 I missed some things in the long run when I went for this line.  But I am no longer sure if black can fight for advantage here.  
19. Nbxd4 Bxd4 20. Nxd4 Qxd4 21. Qf3 Rb8 22.Red1 Qf6 23. Qc6 Rxd1 24. Rxd1 Qe7 25. g3!

Last accuracy. Trading bishops is vital because even the rook endgame with white rook on 7th rank is a draw it seems. 
Bb7 26. Qb6 Ra8 27. Rd6 Bd5 No Kf7 as 28. Rxe6 and white is suddenly winning! 
28. Bg2 Bxg2 29. Kxg2 Kf7 30. Rc6 Ra7 31. Rxe6 Qxe6 32. Qxa7+ Kg6 { Game drawn by mutual agreement} 1/2-1/2
Not too shabby. Could have definitely played better though.

(IM) Sadorra, Julio - (GM) Amanov, Mesgen

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 dxc4 5. e4 A very interesting move that has gained

popularity.

White basically gives up a pawn b2 for a very

pressuring position.

5...Bb4


6. Bxc4 Nxe4 7. O-O Nxc3 8. bxc3 Be7 Black can't take the pawn because of the following line - 9. Rb1 0-0 10. Qd3 Ba5 11. Ng5 g6 12. Qh3 h5 13. g4! with a strong attack. 
9. Qe2 O-O 10. Re1 Nc6 This move felt a bit too passive...10...c5 was definitely worth a look.  
11. Qe4 Bf6 12. h4 Ne7 Black is simply too passive! 
13. Bd3 g6 14. Bg5 Bxg5 15. hxg5 It sure looks like white is gaining quite a bit of initiative, don't you think? 
15...Bd7 16. Ne5 Bc6 17. Qh4 Nf5 18. Qf4 Qd6 19.g4?! Risky looking but we had to win the match. 
Ne7 20. c4 Be8 21. Rad1 Nc6 22. Be4 Nxd4 23.Kg2! Ba4 24. c5 Qxc5 25. Rh1! (The exclamations are for gutsiness itself.)
 Ne2? Loses!  Does anyone remember the game "Simpson - Sadorra" where white could have sacrificed a queen and be winning! If you don't remember, check the game out here. 19. Qxd7! is what I am talking about. Now coming back to this game...you won't believe but black is winning again! By sac'ing a queen...again! I don't know if this is Ino's effect where his opponents must sac a queen to win...but check this out.  25...Bxd1 seems to lose to 26. Nd7! but suddenly 26...f5!! and complications arise where the computer likes black.  Astounding...
26. Qh2 h5 27. Rd2 Bb5 28. gxh5 gxh5 29. Bf3 Rfd8 30. Rxe2 Bxe2 31. Bxe2 Rd2?? Loses instantly. 32.Qf4! 
Rf8 33. Qxd2 Qxe5 34. Bf3 b5 35. Rxh5 Qg7 Here comes the circus! Why else would black clown around? Ino's opponent's hobby perhaps? I look forward to more performances. I left the room around here for an instant. 
36. Qd7 c5 37. Qxb5 Qd4 38. Qb1 Rd8 39. Qh7+ I came back and still playing.  As coach Rade says, if he enjoys playing a lost position, you should enjoy winning it!
39...Kf8 40. g6 fxg6 41. Qxg6 Rd7 42. Qxe6 Rg7+ 43. Kh3 Rf7 44. Qc8+ Ke7 45. Qc7+ Oh no! White is going for a perpetual!  
45...Kf8 46. Qb8+ Ke7 47. Qxa7+ Kf8 48. Qb8+ Ke7 49. Qe5+ Or not...
49...Qxe5 50. Rxe5+ Kd6 51. Rd5+ Ke6 52. Rd3 Ke5 53. Kg3 Rg7+ 54. Bg4 c4 C-pawn reaching dangerous levels...it has only three more moves until promotion! 
55. Rd7 Rg6 56. f4+ Ke4 57. Rc7 Kd3 58. f5 Ra6 59. Rxc4 Oops. No more C-pawn. 
59...Rxa2 60. Rf4 Ke3 61. f6 Ra8 62. f7 Rf8 ! Only move! What great defensive efforts! 
63. Bh5... tick tock...
{Black forfeits on time}  1-0 
Gutsy game by IM Julio Catalino Sadorra! I hope that Amanov's clowning around does not skew the greatness of this game in the GOTW voting.  
Ino was definitely a bright star during this bleak season. If I remember correctly, 4.5 out of 6 for Board 2 was 2nd All-Star team so 5 out of 6 is a clear clinch for sure.  Team record does not help much though. 
Overall note about the league - I don't follow baseball or football trends, but I was told that in baseball is West is crowded and East is stacked up at top with weaker bottom half.  I know the same is in the NBA so it makes you wonder why is USCL the same way too. Anyway, playing in the super competitive west was a blast.  Thanks to manager Keaton Kiewra, ass. manager Igor "Freshmans" Schneider, our TDs Tautvydas Vedrickas and Chaitanya Vaidya for their time, and of course our loyal fans.  We will see you next season. In the playoffs hopefully!

Victory in the Lone Star State!

2010-09-30T20:47:00.021-05:00

Hello again!

So we finally got a way overdue victory against a Carolina. Let's review!

Bercys,Salvijus (2467) - Schroer,Jonathan (2437) [E15]

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Be7 7.Bg2 c6 8.0-0 d5 9.Qc2 0-0 10.Bf4 Nbd7 11.Rd1 Ne4?!

Up to this moment, I was thinking that my opponent prepared for me. However, this last move (and my opponent thinking for some time still in the opening theory) made me think that my opponent expected my new addition to my white repertoire as I demonstrated over last few months.

Here I sat down to analyze why Ne4 is not played instead of Rc8. Rc8 had a vital role of protecting c-file of any invasion from white's queen. Additionally, white usually places knight on c3 blocking that idea but only after Rc8...

12.Nbd2 g5!? I saw this move but I pushed it to the back of my mind as I did not expect my opponent purposely weakening his position in such a drastic way. 13.Be3 f5 14.cxd5 cxd5 15.Qc6 I was really happy with this position to be honest. I thought I had really strong momentum here. However, I missed the simple 15...Kh8! and I can't take the pawn since the queen is suddenly trapped! 16. Qxe6 Rf6 17. Qxd5 Nc3. Oops?

Position after 17...Nc3

Luckily my opponent missed this fantastic resource and went for the move that I thought couldn't possibly work because so much would fall. My intuition was right. f4? 16.Qxe6+ Kg7 17.Nxe4 fxe3 17...dxe4 fails due to 18. Ne5! +/- 18.Nc3? Obvious blunder. I felt like there were just too many moves that were good and I must have went for the worst one out there. Lacking the great in depth calculative abilities I thought that line 18. Qxd5 Bxe2 19. Nexg5 Bxg5 20. Nxg5 exf2+ 21. Kh1 is a bit dangerous and pawn on f2 made me really uneasy. exf2+ 19.Kxf2 Nf6 20.Kg1 Bc8? Black returns the favor yet again!

20...Rc8! offered quite a bit of pressure and compensation.

Possibly black's last chance.

21.Qe3? This move is a blunder simply because I missed a clear win with 21. Qe5! h6 22. Nxg5! hxg5 23. Nxd5 and white wins. Ng4 22.Qd2 Bb4 23.a3 Bxc3 24.Qxc3 Ba6 25.h3 Nf6 26.Nxg5 Qe7 27.e4 I sat here for quite a while. My first consideration was 27. Qc7! but after I saw Nd7 I ruled it out as insufficient. Or to be more specific - downright scary. I just wanted to stay in control. h6 Obviously 27...dxe4 28. d5 +- 28.Qb4! I was really happy I found this move because it helped liquidate some material and make this game a lot easier. Qd7 29.e5 hxg5 30.exf6+ Rxf6 31.Re1 Re8 32.Rxe8 Qxe8 33.Re1 Re6 34.Rxe6 Qxe6 35.Qd2 Kf6 36.h4! Finishing blow. gxh4 37.Qh6+ Kf7 38.Qxe6+ Kxe6 39.gxh4 Be2 40.Kf2 Bd1 41.Bh3+ Kf6 42.b4 a5 43.Kg3 axb4 44.axb4 Bh5 45.Kf4 Bg6 46.Bg2 Bf7 47.Bf3 Be6 48.h5 Bf7 49.h6 Bg8 50.Bh5 Bh7 51.Bd1 Be4 52.Bf3 Bc2 53.Bxd5 Kg6 54.Be4+ Bxe4 55.Kxe4 Kxh6 56.Kd5 Black resigns 1-0

Quick notes on the other three games:

Simpson,Ron (2330) - Sadorra,Julio (2471) [E06]

Ino is a nut job. And he somehow wins those positions! I, for one, don't know how! Game was insane and impossible to evaluate for a human. There is absolutely no point in running this game through a computer since it will show mistakes from as soon as complications started to until they died. Human element of chess cannot be accounted for. Maybe Ino will post his thoughts later. For Ron Simpson's analysis, click here.

Kiewra,Keaton (2361) - Jones,Craig (2286) [C06]

Keaton...well as GM Dan said "Keaton I love you but your openings couldn't get any worse!"

Position after move 16. Qd1

22 moves later...

Move 39. How did THIS happen? I don't know either.

Bapat,Udayan (2214) - Lopez,Nelson (2229) [D20]

Last not but not least our hero for few matches himself lost and he couldn't have picked a better day! This game started off with fireworks right off the bat. 3. exd5 promised a super sharp play afterwards...wait...I am confusing variations here... it's the dreaded exchanged French! I for one, am not sure, how exchanged French is suppose to play for a win. Draw, maybe. Win? Unlikely.

Of course, Nelson took this game into his hands and made most of this dreadfully boring variation.

14...g5?! as the game proved seemed dubious at best. 14...Rb2! offered good chances and great counter-play.

Final note: I hope Ino (Julio for those who didn't catch on yet) wins or at least qualifies for some prize in this week's GOTW. The game is TOO crazy to not qualify!

Until the next blue moon...

A Star is Born...

2010-09-27T03:41:00.007-05:00

My name is Daniel Fernandez, IM from Texas. I am an ex-UTD student and still maintain close contacts with several of my ex-teammates from Dallas. This is the main reason I decided to join the team this year. I always closely watch the Destiny matches while they are played on ICC and this time I decided to share some thoughts from a particular game played by our new star, IM Julio Sadorra from Philippines.

Julio has been one of the few bright spots on the Destiny this year and following is his week 5 victory. Since joining the team Julio has provided a great spark (going 2-0 the past two weeks) and has proven to be a great addition to our team.

IM Sadorra,Julio (2471) - IM Brooks,Michael (2411) [E00]

Week 5, 20.09.2010

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 A move order that is becoming more and more popular. White is avoiding the Queen's and Nimzo Indians (considered two of Black's best chances for equality against 1.d4) and instead opting to play a Catalan against 3...d5 or against Bogo-Indian (3...Bb4). Also, it is worth mentioning that if White uses this move order he is limiting himself to playing the fianchetto variation against the Benoni (not necessarily a bad thing) or 4.Nf3 in response to 3...c5, which has been a battleground for many top level games over the past few years 3...Bb4+ 4.Bd2 Bxd2+ 5.Qxd2 d6 6.Bg2 0-0 7.e4 e5 8.Ne2!? A novelty proposed by Avrukh in Volume II of his Opening repertoire for White.

8...c5 9.d5 b5? This move looks far from sound. Black attempts to get a Benko-style position but with a few significant drawbacks. First, e5 is occupied by a pawn so Nbd7-e5-c4 ideas are nonexistent. This makes Black's only viable option for his b8 knight the more passive Nb8-a6-c7 route, which is not aesthetically pleasing. Secondly, White is able to construct a 'fortress' to neutralize Black's play on the a- and b-files by being able to have in a4 and knights on c3 and b5, limiting the scope of Black's rooks on the a- and b-files [Better is 9...Na6 10.Nbc3 Nc7 11.0-0 Rb8 12.a4 b6 13.Nc1 a6 14.Nd3 b5 15.b3 (Worse is 15.cxb5 axb5 16.b4 c4 17.Nb2 bxa4 18.Ncxa4 c3 19.Qxc3 Nb5 20.Qd2 Nd4 with compensation -Avrukh) 15...Nd7 16.cxb5!N axb5 17.b4 c4 18.Nb2 += Avrukh] 10.cxb5 a6 11.Nbc3 axb5 12.Nxb5 Ba6 13.Nec3 Qb6 14.a4 Nbd7?

This normal-looking move is wrong. Black's pieces get bundled up because of his lack of space. The d7 knight's only shot of getting into the game will be via b6, but that would require moving the queen and even so, White can easily stop any ...Nc4 intrusions by simply playing b3 or moving Bf1 at some point. Being down a pawn, Black was hesitant to trade pieces but in Benko-type positions, trading is never too bad unless it involves one of your rooks (your main compensation for the sacrificed pawn) [Better is 14...Bxb5 15.Nxb5 Na6 16.0-0 Nc7 17.Nxc7 Qxc7 after this series of trades, Black now clears the a- and b-files in order to allow his rooks free movement along these files. It is not so easy for White to deal with this. For example: 18.b4 cxb4 19.Qxb4 Rfb8 20.Qa3 Nd7 21.Rfb1 Nc5 22.a5 h6 23.Rxb8+ Qxb8; Black does not have enough compensation for the pawn but he is definitely doing better than he was before the trades]

15.0-0 Rfb8 16.Rfb1 Ne8 Black finally gets the idea but it would have been more efficient to use the other knight to begin with 17.a5?

White's first mistake of the game. This move seems too committal. It softens up both the knight on b5 as well as the a5 pawn, giving Black unnecessary hope.

17...Qd8 18.Bf1 Ndf6 Black correctly puts the d7 knight on f6 to pressure e4. Also, and more importantly, d6 is now defended by someone other than the e8 knight making ...Nc7 possible next move 19.Bd3 Its hard to find a better move, for example: [19.f3 Nc7 20.Nxc7 Qxc7 when Black seems to have taken care of most of his problems; 19.b4 cxb4 20.Rxb4 Bxb5 21.Nxb5 Rxa5 22.Rxa5 Qxa5=] 19...Bc8 [Trying to win his pawn back by using tactical means doesn't work, for example: 19...Bxb5 20.Nxb5 Nxe4 21.Bxe4 Rxb5 22.Bxh7+! Kf8 23.a6±; Better is 19...Nc7]

20.f4 Nd7 [I am still not sure why Black didn't play 20...Rxa5 after 21.fxe5 (21.Rxa5 Qxa5 22.Na3 exf4 23.Nc4 Qc7 24.gxf4 Ba6 25.b3 +=) 21...dxe5 22.Qe3 Rxa1 23.Rxa1 Qb6 24.Bc4 += Where in both cases White still has a positional advantage but at least Black is not losing by any material] 21.Qe1 Ba6 With this move again Black prefers to keep the tension. Maybe he is holding out for a more opportune time to take on a5? [21...Rxa5 22.Rxa5 Qxa5 23.Ra1 Qb6 24.Bc4 +=] 22.Qe3? The queen was playing a great role on e1 (keeping both e4 as well as a5 defended). I did not see the point of moving her from there except to defend the d3 bishop to avoid ...Nc7 tactics. If that was the problem then why not just move the d3 bishop? [Better is 22.Bf1] 22...Ndf6!

Taking advantage of the poor position of White's queen because now 23.fe5 is met by ...Ng4! Also, now the knight on d7 is no longer undefended once the queen leaves d8, therefore, Black is now threatening to take on b5 and recover his pawn on a5

23.Be2 Bxb5 24.Nxb5 Rxa5 25.Rxa5 Qxa5 26.Na3 Qa4 27.Nc4 Qa2?! Overextending the queen. It would have been wise to keep her on a4 from where she can still assist operations on the queenside but simultaneously be able to swing to the kingside via d7 in case things open up on that side of the board [Better is 27...Rb3 28.Qc1 exf4 29.gxf4 Qd7! unclear] 28.Qd3 Rb3?

Smothering his own queen, losing a tempo, and giving White strong counterplay along the a-file all with one move. After this move Sadorra is relentless in bringing home the point finding one precise move after another.

29.Qd1 Qa4 30.fxe5 dxe5 31.Ra1 Qb4 32.d6 Nd7 33.Ra8 Kf8 34.Nxe5! g6 [34...Nxe5 doesn't help: 35.d7 Nxd7 36.Qd6+! Kg8 37.Rxe8+ Nf8 38.Rxf8#] 35.Nxd7+ Kg7 36.Rxe8 Rxb2 37.Rb8 1-0

First half review

2010-09-26T20:12:00.008-05:00

Hola!

Arun promised a very easy season in 2011 if I blogged. Who I am to say no to that?

So far it's been like a bad, bad dream. Seems like nothing is going our way (I am not helping).

Let's quickly review first 5 weeks.

Week 1

San Francisco - Dallas

Great start! Got bashed. I over pressed a position where I was up a pawn but basically had no advantage. I remember thinking I had chances but Danya found a precise equalizer with 24...Qd7. At the same time I saw Nelson was suffering greatly and I was very unsure about Keaton's craziness. Puchen seemed like the only one holding his own. Seeing that, I decided I had to win to have a chance for a draw even and pushed. Denied!

Week 2

LA - Dallas

I didn't play but I remember our Blizzardeer held his own against Melik in the same opening that they played just 3 weeks ago in US Open. Keaton held his ground and drew as well. Nelson delivered a nice win while Tyler won a rollercoaster game with time pressure. Dallas on board!

Week 3

Dallas-St. Louis

Wasn't playing once again, but I was in the playing area after my class. I remember seeing Alejandro going for the sac but I was unsure if he could consolidate his position before GM of the year regrouped. Sadly, latter happened. Meanwhile, Keaton held his own but Tyler was getting positionally outplayed. Soon it was all over and Nelson was last playing for tiebreaks. Setback.

Week 4

Dallas-Arizona

Very, very painful loss. It was a must win match and everything went wrong. I won a pawn rather easily but missed a breakthrough with d5 that would have basically finished the game. Later I also messed up an endgame. Shameful game.

Ino made his USCL debut and rocked with his usual crazy position. Bottom 2 boards lost 2 close games and that was all she wrote.

Week 5

St. Louis-Dallas Part II: Revenge of the Nerds (should have been anyway!)

If there was a single match that we should have won it was this. However, as tragedy struck again, 4 white wins later it was 2-2. I (for who knows what reason) decided sacking a pawn would be fun.

I remember looking at 18. Bxc6 bxc6 19. Rx6 Be4 but 20. Nd4 left black hopeless. Once again, I don't know why I sacked. Rf3 was just a follow through that offered some chances and I almost made them work. But I completely missed a tactic associated with h3. Oh well.

Really tough part was when Tyler let a pretty nice position slip with his 36...g4? I am not sure as to what he saw but I was very confused why he went for such complication when Bayaraa was up a queen. Team matches make people do crazy things. I won't even mention the really unfortunate end to this match.

So here we are...1.5-3.5. The universe is conspiring against us...or maybe it's all Arun's fault. Somehow. Do you know he enjoys torturing his calculus students? Pure evil!

Tomorrow vs Carolina. I won't be predicting anything because there is nothing to predict. Every match we come expecting a win. Whether board 1 is "Why did you keep playing after your team lost?" GM or IM Schroer.

I'll review other matches sometime soon too. Maybe tomorrow.

2010-09-26T14:40:00.001-05:00

Dallas Destiny recap

2010-09-15T13:35:00.002-05:00

Hello All,

My name is Keaton Kiewra. I am a member of the Dallas Destiny, and also happen to be the mangager. We have had a disappointing start to our season with a record of 1-3. Our first 3 weeks we played the toughest schedule of anyone in the league, and started 1-2 which was not terrible, however our loss last week to the Arizona Scorpions was very disappointing.

It was a match that we needed to win, and definitely could have won. Our new board 2 stud, IM Julio Sadorra, made quick work of FM Warren Harper (who is a very strong player!) with black. At that point my game with FM Robby Adamson, as well as Bayarra Zorigt's game with David Adelberg, were unclear. IM Sal Bercys had a big advantage vs IM Levon Altounian, so we appeared to be in very good shape. As fate would have it Bayarra and I lost our games, and Sal was held to a draw.

I take our week 4 loss entirely upon my shoulders. It was my responsibility to find a way to beat Robby with white, or at least to not lose the game. I chose a bad opening, made positional inaccuracies throughout the game, and played too aggressively in an equal position. These mistakes cost me the game and ultimately cost our team the match. I promise my team that I will play better the rest of the season, and I guarantee that we will bounce back from this rough start. The Dallas Destiny has a lot of heart, and we are also way too strong to continue to be held back. Look for us to bounce back Monday with a win over a depleted St Louis lineup.

FM Kiewra Blogs

2009-10-03T03:37:00.004-05:00

FM Keaton Kiewra shares his games with us this week. With a 2009 USCL record of 3-1, Keaton has been one of the bright spots on the Destiny this season.

Hi, my name is Keaton Kiewra. I am a recent graduate of UTD and co-manager of the Dallas Destiny. I am a Fide Master with one GM norm. I am going to try to analyze my USCL games and post them on the Dallas Destiny blog for your entertainment, and who knows, you might actually learn something about chessJ Here are my games from weeks 1, 3, 4, and 5. I did not analyze these games with an engine for a couple reasons. First, my analysis engine is not workingJ and second, I feel that anyone can analyze a game with a strong computer. My goal is to convey to you what I was thinking during the games and my own thoughts after I analyzed the games, not Rybka’s. I hope you enjoy…

Game 1: Rodriguez-Kiewra

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Bg5 This opening came as a complete surprise since Eric usually plays g3 systems against the King’s Indian. I can only remember playing against this opening once before and that was a game I lost to Felix Barrios (2350) but I was familiar enough with the plans for black to feel comfortable. h6 6.Be3 c5 Eric thought for a while after this move which made me feel more comfortable. It is always a nice feeling when my opponent stops moving quickly and I realize that I am no longer playing against preparation. 7.dxc5 Qa5 8.Qd2 dxc5 9.0-0 0 Nc6 10.Nd5 Qxd2+ 11.Rxd2 Nxd5 12.cxd5 Nd4 13.Nf3 I was expecting the less ambitious 13.Ne2 which keeps white’s pawn structure in tact after which the position is probably dead even. The text is more double-edged. 13.Nf3 weakens white’s pawn structure but it also opens up key lines for white’s pieces. 13…Nxf3 14.gxf3 b615.Bb5+ Bd7 16.Bxd7+?! I was very happy to trade the light square bishops since I could not think of a good square to put this bishop on. From a positional point of view this is a bad trade for white. White would be better off putting this Bishop on g2 and using it to create complications in the center. 16…Kxd7 17.f4 Kc7 18.Rg1 Rhg8 19.f3 Rad8 20.f5 gxf5?? This was a horrible oversight on my part. After the game was over I was racking my brain trying to figure out how I could make such a move, and I think I figured it out. When white’s pawn moved from f2 to f3 I didn’t make the connection in my mind that the rooks were now able to double. When I had spent some time analyzing the position a few moves ago when white’s pawn was on f2, I never considered the idea of white doubling his rooks on the g-file because it wasn’t possible, so rather than reanalyzing the new position I relied on analysis that I had done earlier in the game. This is not the first time I’ve made this error and this time it was costly. 21.Rdg2 fxe4 22.fxe4 Bxb2+ 23.Kxb2 Rxg2+ 24.Rxg2 f5 25.exf5?! This move is slightly inaccurate and gives black better chances than he should have. I prefer 25.Bxh6 giving up the e4 pawn because I feel that the most efficient way for white to win is to turn his h-pawn into a weapon and run it as quickly as possible. This will force black’s rook into a passive position and White should have no problems cleaning up. 25…Rxd5 26.Bxh6 Rxf5 27.Bg5 Rf3 28.h4 Rh3! Now black is able to stop White’s h-pawn with his rook in an active position which gives black some hope. Activating the black rook is much more important than saving the weak e-pawn which will fall anyway. 29.Bxe7 Kc6 30.Rd2 c4 31.Kc2 Re3 32.Bg5 Rh3 33.Re2 b5 34.Re3 Rh2+ 35.Kc3 Rxa2 White should have been able to find a way to proceed without giving up this pawn but Eric was low on time and this position was no longer nearly as easy to win as it was when I initially blundered the piece. Still, I cannot believe that giving up this a-pawn was in white’s best interest. Black now has 3 connected passed pawns and all three results are now possible. 36.h5 Rh2 37.h6 Rh5 38.Bf4 Rh4 39.Re6+ Kd540.Re5+ Kc6 41.Rf5 a5 42.Kd4 a4 43.Rf6+ Kd7 44.Kd5 c3 45.Rd6+ Ke8 46.Be3 b4 47.Rc6 a3 48.Bg5 a2 49.Ra6 Rh2 50.Ke6 Re2+ 51.Kf6 b3 52.h7 Rh2 53.h8Q+!! A brilliant resource and the only way that White could win. White sacrifices the pawn that was one square away from queening in order to form an inescapable mating net. 53…Rxh8 54.Ke6 Rh6+ 55.Bxh6 Kd8 56.Bf4 a1Q 57.Rxa1 Kc8 58.Ra3 Black resigns 1-0

After the game: My colleague John Bartholomew mentioned earlier in the Dallas Destiny Blog that I missed a draw a few moves ago so I won’t go into it. I felt that this was a very interesting game which contained a couple of lessons:

1. It is important to analyze each position on its own rather than relying on analysis that you did earlier in the game to ensure that you don’t miss a nuance and then blunder.

2. Even when your position looks bad it is important to fight and try to defend your position as well as possible. I’m sure that there were several armchair chess players watching this game on ICC and in the moment when I blundered a piece, kibitzing things such as “looks like this one is over” or “time for black to resign”. I remember my coach GM Miron Sher telling me that GM Gata Kamsky is known for resigning a game much later than any of his colleagues and because of this he saves roughly 10% of games that he wouldn’t have saved had he resigned “on time”. This seems like a worthwhile proposition to me.

Game 2: Kiewra-Martirosov

1.e4 c5 I was expecting this game to be a Ruy Lopez, but I had been busy the last few days and had not had time to prepare, so to see black’s pawn on c5 was a welcome sight. 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 e6 Ah, now I saw the method behind Martirosov’s madness. He was heading for a line in which I had a few unglamorous losses in the database to the likes of strong players such as GM Alejandro Ramirez and IM Davorin Kuljasevic. I wasn’t worried though because I had prepared an improvement in this line and I wanted to see how it worked.4.0-0 Nge7 5.c3 a6 6.Ba4 b5 7.Bc2 Bb7 8.a4 Never before had I played this move so early. White immediately puts pressure on black’s pawn structure and forces him to make a decision. Most GM’s whose games I have seen in the database meet this a4 thrust with an immediate b4. 8…d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.d4 Be7 11.axb5 axb5 12.Rxa8 Bxa8 13.dxc5 Bxc5 We have arrived at a wide open position where both white’s and black’s pieces have a lot of scope. Black’s bishop looks good on c5 but it actually does not belong there since white’s night can now head to e4 with gain of time and create problems for black. 14.Nbd2 0-015.Ne4 Be7 16.Qd3 Black cannot protect both the mate threat on h7 and the pawn on b5. 16…f5 is met nicely by Neg5 capitalizing on black’s weak e6 pawn. 16…Qb8 17.Nc5 g6 18.Nd7 Qb7 19.Nxf8 Bxf8 20.Qe2 Nce7 21.Re1 Nf5 22.Bxf5 gxf5 23.Rd1 Qc6 24.Qe5 Bd6 25.Qd4 Be7 26.Bh6 Bf6 26…e5 can also be met by Qa7. 27.Qa7 Qe8 I was hoping for 27…Nc7 when I could finish the game with 28.Qb8+ Ne8 29.Rd6! 28.Ra1 Bc6 29.Nd4 Bg7 30.Nxc6 Bxh6 31.Qb7 White’s rook comes decisively to a8 next move. Black resigns 1-0

Game 3: Kiewra-Lee

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 Another Rossolimo. I was happy with the preparation I had against 3…g6 and to my knowledge I had no games in the database in the line that I was prepared to play… 4.0-0 Bg7 5.c3 Nf6 6.e5 In the past I had played 6.Re1 so Michael probably was not expecting this. Nd5 7.d4 cxd4 8.cxd4 0-0 9.Nc3 Nc7 9…Nxc3 is also possible 10.Bg5 h6 11.Bh4 Nxb5 12.Nxb5 Qa5 A possible crazy continuation would have been 12…a6 13.Nd6 g5 14.Bxg5 hxg5 15.Nxg5 exd6 16.Qh5 Re8 Qxf7+ which should lead to a draw. If white wants to try to win he can sidestep this line and just play 13.Nc3. 13.Nc3 d5 14.exd6 exd6 15.d5 Ne516.Nxe5! 16.Be7? would have been a disaster after 16…Re8 17.Bxd6 Nc4. At first glance the position looks equal after the text, but white has a few things to play for. I knew that if I could ever capture black’s week d6 pawn my d5 pawn would become a monster. Black also is a little bit weak on the dark squares which are protected only by his dark squared bishop. 16…Bxe5 17.Qd2 Kh7 18.Rae1 Bf5 Daring me to sac on e5! This had been my plan when I played Rae1 so I quickly accepted the challenge. 19.Rxe5 dxe5 20.Be7 Rfe8 21.d6 This is an interesting, double edged position. I was not sure white was better, but I knew I definitely was not worse. My strong passed pawn on d6 and dominance of the dark squares provide sufficient compensation for the exchange. 21…Rxe7 22.dxe7 Re8 23.Qd6 Qb6 24.Qxe5 IM Jacek Stopa told me after the game that he thought my best continuation was 24. Qxb6 axb6 25.Nd5 Kg7 26.Re1 Be6 27.Nxb6 Rxe7 28.a4 with a slight edge for white. I thought I would be comfortable in this endgame but I liked the chances that the middlegame offered me a little bit better. 24…Qe6 25.Qd4 Rxe7 26.h3! 26.Nd5 offers white nothing after 26…Qe5 and 26.Qxa7 is met by Bd3! The text creates luft for White’s king and threatens to play g4 attacking black’s bishop which has no satisfactory squares. Black is forced to sacrifice his a-pawn.Qe5 27.Qxa7 Bxh3? Black’s best chance is to try to hold this endgame a pawn down, although I don’t like black’s chances. If white simply centralizes his Queen and trades the Queens I don’t think black can hold this ending after the white rook transfers to the b-file pressuring black’s b-pawn. The text, however, offers little hope to black.28.gxh3 Qg5+ 29.Kh1 Qf4 Michael probably thought that he could play Qh4 and force a perpetual, however after 30.Qb8! Qxh3+ 31.Kg1 Qg4+ 32.Qg3 white’s queen makes it back in the nick of time. 30.f3 Qg3 31.Qf2 Qxh3+ 32.Kg1 Re5 33.Ne4 Qe6 34.Qd4 g5 35.Qd6 Rxe4 I didn’t blunder this J 36.Qd3 f5 37.fxe4 fxe4 38.Qe2 Qe5 39.Qh5 Qd4+ 40.Kh1 Black resigns 1-0

Game 4: Adamson-Kiewra

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nf6 4.Nc3 cxd4 5.Nxd4 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 Nc6 8.Qd2 0-0 9.0-0-0 Nxd4 I normally play 9…d5 here but I figured that Robby was expecting this and had something prepared. I hadn’t played this position after the text in a couple of years, but I still felt fairly comfortable. 10.Bxd4 Be6 11.Kb1 Qc7 12.Nd5 When I made my GM norm in Kavala 2008 my only loss of the tournament came to GM Mircea Parligras who is a well known “Dragon Slayer”. I was looking over his games the morning of the match and I saw that he plays 12.h4 in this position with very good results. I didn’t feel like I could prepare something good against this h4 line in such a short time, so I made up my mind that I was going to play a different Sicilian. However when we started the game I was shocked to see him play d4 on move 1! Perhaps Parligras was more afraid of me in the Dragon than I was of himJ 12…Bxd5 13.exd5 Rfc8 14.Rc1 Nd715.Bxg7 Kxg7 16.h4 h5 17.g4 Nf6 18.gxh5 Nxh5 19.Bh3 Rh8 20.Bg4 Qc4 21.Rce1 Qf4! If I did not have this resource white’s position would probably be better. My idea is that after 22.Qxf4 Nxf4 23.Rxe7 Rae8! 24.Rxb7 I have 24…Rxh4! However after 25…Rd1 the position is double edged. This is probably the best way for white to go.22.Qc3+ Qf6 I was expecting 23.Rxe7 here. The game would probably have continued 23…Qxc3 24.bxc3 Nf4 with a sharp and probably roughly equal ending. 23.Qc7 Nf4 24.Qxe7 Rae8 I could have swapped the queens first and then played Rae8 with the same ending I mentioned before, but I thought that it was in my best interest to get my rook on e8 right away. Now if Robby swaps the queens I don’t think I have anything to worry about in this ending despite being a pawn down. All of my pieces would be active and White’s bishop on g4 is very bad. 25.Qc7 Qxh4! This is stronger and more forcing than 25…Rxh4 26.Qc3+ An interesting resource white has is 26.Be6 threatening mate, but I can play 26…Nxe6 since the Knight attacks white’s Queen and after 27.fxe6 Rxe6 28.Qc3+ Qf6 black is better. Qf6 27.Rxh8 Rxe1+ 27…Qxc3 was a tempting alternative but I felt that my chances were better of winning the ending with a Queen and Knight vs a Queen and Bishop. My long time coach, Tom O’Connor, taught me early on that a Queen and Knight have better chemistry than do a Queen and Bishop because they can create threats on any color of square. This one was for you Tom! 28.Qxe1 Kxh8 29.Bc8 b6 30.Qe4 Kg7 31.a3 Ng2 32.c4 32.Bh3 dislodging my Knight is probably necessary, however Robby was low on time. 32…Qf4 33.Qxf4 Nxf4 Now my King comes to e5 to control the center and I can reroute my Knight any square it needs to get to to create threats. 34.Kc2 Kf6 35.Kc3 Ke5 36.b4 f5 37.Bd7 g5 38.Bc8 Ng2 39.Kd3 Nh440.Ke2 f4 41.Ba6 Kd4 42.c5 bxc5 43.b5 c4 44.a4 Kxd5 45.Bc8 Kc5 46.Bd7 Kb4 No need to allow white to create winning chances (!) with a5. 47.Bc6 Nf5 48.Kd2 Ne3 49.a5 Kxa5 50.Kc3 Kb6 White resigns 0-1

Destiny Top Blitz 4-0

2009-09-16T17:04:00.006-05:00

What a match!

Hope I can provide a better recap later this week. For now, here are some photos courtesy of Dujiu Yang (Darwin's father).

Dallas Loses to San Francisco, 3-1

2009-09-09T22:26:00.001-05:00

Bercys just resigned. Difficult match. Thanks for those who stayed up to follow this! We'll be sure to give a recap sometime this week.

Adarsh Goes Down

2009-09-09T21:34:00.002-05:00

Adarsh just resigned against NM Liou. Tough game. It seemed like White had a slight pull out of the opening, but Liou counterattacked nicely. After some exchanges, Adarsh just couldn't deal with Black's Q+R+N activity.

2-1 San Francisco. We need Bercys to swing for the fences against Shankland.

A Shout Out

2009-09-09T21:05:00.002-05:00

I'd like to take this opportunity to congratulate former Dallas Destiny player FM Andrei Zaremba for his stellar play in the first two weeks for Queens.

Despite years of irrelevant philosophizing, online poker, and womanizing, he still manages to play a decent game of chess. Congrats, Drei.

Board 1

2009-09-09T20:34:00.005-05:00

Not looking good for Marko on board 1. This is like deja-vu from last year's finals: a 2...e6 gone badly awry for Zivanic. Friedel is in his element in these king-hunts just like GM Larry Christiansen.

UPDATE: Marko lost. That was total annihilation, sheesh. Score stands at 1-1. Surprising blowouts and blunders on the top couple boards.

Wow!

2009-09-09T20:23:00.004-05:00

GM Jesse Kraai blundered a piece against IM Daniel Ludwig!

It appears that Kraai missed the simple double-attack 16.Qg3

UPDATE: ...and Kraai has resigned. We'll take it! 1-0 Dallas.

A Few Pics

2009-09-09T20:12:00.002-05:00

Sorry they're so blurry...yes, I have a cheap camera.

Sal Bercys

Daniel Ludwig

Adarsh Jayakumar (left) and Sal Bercys (right)

Daniel Ludwig once more

Live Blogging: Dallas vs. San Francisco, Week 2

2009-09-09T19:45:00.002-05:00

We are up and running, with only Marko Zivanic experiencing some technical difficulties with his computer. He has a degree in Computer Science though, so I think he'll be fine.

Games look normal to start...I'm going to try and upload some pictures if my camera cooperates.

Tonight: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Blog

2009-09-08T21:31:00.006-05:00

Recently I read this amusing post by Seattle's HA81. Though obviously written tongue-in-cheek, the author describes the Dallas Destiny blog as "the most boring blog" in the league.

You know what? HA81 is right. We need to spice things up around here. Seriously. If I strictly write match reports for the rest of the season I think I'm going to lose it. GM Joel touched on this subject in his CLO article here.

I'm going to draw on Sublime for inspiration. Here's "What I Got" for tonight:

Early in the evening, log on ICC
Head over to Starbucks and order a Chai Tea
Got to find a reason, a reason our blog blows
Got to find a reason for our readership woes
I got this 'net connection, and I can still make posts
I can rock for Dallas like I'm Hall and freakin' Oates

So there you have it. My pledge to you, dear reader, for a better and more interesting blog. Tomorrow I'll be liveblogging our match against San Francisco and hope to deliver some hall-of-fame worthy updates.

It's a start, right?

Week 1: Dallas Falls to Miami 3-1

2009-09-01T17:31:00.018-05:00

So we got killed this week.

It wasn't exactly a violent death-by-chainsaw-in-bathub style killing a la Scarface (Miami connection? I tried), but it was still a good, old-fashioned thrashing. The Sharks always field a dangerous team that has the potential to beat virtually anyone. Not the most ideal way to start our 2009 campaign, but after so much success the past two seasons we have to learn to take our lumps.

Let's start with the good and move towards the bad:

Nelson, who graciously filled in for Bayaraa this week, played a nice game on board 4. He responded to the Winawer with an unusual sideline (4.Qd3!?) that garnered him some nice pressure right from the get-go. It seemed that Nelson was always in control as he guided the game into a superior N vs. B ending that culminated with a thematic pawn break:

Board 4: NM Nelson Lopez (2218) - Miguel Recio (2164)

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qd3 dxe4 5. Qxe4 Nf6 6. Qh4 Nc6 7. Nf3 Ne7 8. Bd3 Nf5 9. Bxf5 exf5 10. Bg5 Be6 11. O-O Be7 12. Rad1 c6 13. Rfe1 O-O 14. Ne2 Re8 15. Nf4 Ne4 16. Bxe7 Qxe7 17. Qxe7 Rxe7 18. Nd2 Nxd2 19. Rxd2 Rae8 20. Rde2 Kf8 21. b3 g5 22. Nd3 Bd5 23. Rxe7 Rxe7 24. Rxe7 Kxe7 25. f3 b5 26. Kf2 Kd6 27.a3 f6 28.Nc5 h5 29. Ke3 f4+ 30. Kd3 f5 31. c4 Bf7 32. Kc3 bxc4 33. bxc4 Bg8 34. Nd3 Be6 35. Kb4 Bg8

White to move

36. h4! gxh4 37. Nxf4 Bf7 38. Nd3 Be6 39. f4 Bg8 40. Ne5 Be6 41. Nf3 Bc8 42. Nxh4 Be6 43. g3 Bd7 44. Nf3 Be6 45. Ne5 Bg8 46. Ka5 Bxc4 47. Nxc4+ Kd5 48. Ne5 Kxd4 49. Nxc6+ Ke3 50. Ne7 Kf3 51. Nxf5 Kg4 52. Ng7 Black Resigns 1-0

Board 3 was a roller-coaster. Keaton built up a big time advantage early on, but made a horrendous blunder on move 20. A piece down, he fought on and almost succeeded in turning the game around in Rodriguez's time pressure. Analysis shows that 49...Rh1! would have given Black the draw.

Board 3: NM Eric Rodriguez vs. FM Keaton Kiewra

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Be3 c5 7. dxc5 Qa5 8. Qd2 dxc5 9. O-O-O Nc6 10. Nd5 Qxd2+ 11. Rxd2 Nxd5 12. cxd5 Nd4 13. Nf3 Nxf3 14. gxf3 b6 15. Bb5+ Bd7 16. Bxd7+ Kxd7 17. f4 Kc7 18. Rg1 Rhg8 19. f3 Rad8 20. f5!

20...gxf5?? 21. Rdg2 fxe4 22. fxe4 Bxb2+ 23. Kxb2 Rxg2+ 24. Rxg2 f5 25. exf5 Rxd5 26. Bxh6 Rxf5 27. Bg5 Rf3 28. h4 Rh3 29. Bxe7 Kc6 30. Rd2 c4 31. Kc2 Re3 32. Bg5 Rh3 33. Re2 b5 34. Re3 Rh2+ 35. Kc3 Rxa2 36. h5 Rh2 37. h6 Rh5 38. Bf4 Rh4 39. Re6+ Kd5 40. Re5+ Kc6 41. Rf5 a5 42. Kd4 a4 43. Rf6+ Kd7 44. Kd5 c3 45. Rd6+ Ke8 46. Be3 b4 47. Rc6 a3 48. Bg5 a2 49. Ra6 Rh2? Here Keaton had a surprising resource in 49...Rh1! (diagram). The idea is to gain a tempo to advance the b-pawn. A sample line goes 50. Rxa2 (50.h7 Kf7! 51.Kc4 Rxh7 52.Rxa2 is probably White's best, hoping for an eventual R+B vs. R scenario) b3 51. Ra8+ Kf7 52. Rb8 b2 53. Kd4 b1=Q 54. Rxb1 Rxb1 55. Kxc3 with an obvious draw.

Position after 49...Rh1! (analysis)

50. Ke6 Re2+ 51. Kf6 b3 52. h7 Rh2 53. h8=Q+ Rxh8 54. Ke6 Rh6+ 55. Bxh6 Kd8 56. Bf4 a1=Q 57. Rxa1 Kc8 58. Ra3 Black Resigns 1-0

New UTD student IM Daniel Ludwig made his debut on board 2 against FM Bruci Lopez. Daniel is known for his opening preparation, and he seemed quite comfortable on the White side of this Saemisch KID:

Board 2: IM Daniel Ludwig vs. FM Bruci Lopez

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3 O-O 6. Nge2 Nbd7 7. Be3 c5 8. Qd2 Qa5 9. d5 a6 10. Nc1 Rb8 11. Nb3 Qb4 12. Qc2 Ne5 13. a3 Qb6 14. Be2 e6 15. O-O exd5 16. cxd5 Qc7 17. a4 Bd7 18. h3 b5 19. Nd2 Rfe8 20. Rfe1 b4 21. Nd1 Bc8 22. Rc1 Ned7 23. b3 Nh5 24. Nc4 Ne5 25. f4 Nxc4 26. Qxc4 Ng3 27. Bf3 h5 28. Nf2 Bc3 29. Red1 Nf5 30. exf5 Rxe3 31. fxg6 fxg6 32. Ne4 Bxh3 33. Kf2 Rxf3+ 34. gxf3 Qe7 35. Kg3 Bf5 36. Nxc3 bxc3 37. Re1 h4+ 38. Kf2 Qh7 39. Qxc3 Rf8 40. Qe3 Qh6 41. Rh1 Bd7 42. Rc4 Qh8 43. Qd2 Qh5 44. Re4 h3 45. Kg3 g5 46. Rg1 Bf5 47. Ree1 Bg6 48. Kh2 Rxf4 49. Re8+ Kg7 Daniel has won the exchange and appears to be reeling in the point. 50. Qc3+ Rd4 51. Re6! followed by 52. Rxd6 is more than sufficient. Round about here, though, his wireless connection went out and we had to scramble for a new laptop. Daniel said afterwards that this really rattled him - especially since Lopez was in terrible time pressure.

White to move

50. Re3? Rd4! Now Black has serious counterplay 51. Re7+ Kh6 52. Qe3 Rd3 53. Qe1? (53.Qe2) Qxf3 54. Rg3 Qxd5 55. Ree3 Rd2+ 56. Re2 Rd3 57. Rxd3 Qxd3 58. Re3 Qc2+ 59. Kxh3 d5 60. Kg3 Be4 61. Qf1 Kg7 62. Kg4 Qh2 63. Rh3 Qe5 64. Rg3 c4 65. bxc4 Kg6 66. Kh3 Qh8+ White Resigns 0-1

Board 1: GM Julio Becerra vs. IM John Bartholomew

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. d4 The Yates variation. Bg4 10. d5 Na5 11. Bc2 c6 12. h3 Bc8 13. dxc6 Qc7 14. Nbd2 Qxc6 15. Nf1 Nc4 16. Ng3 Re8 Interestingly, former Dallas Destiny member GM Magesh Panchanathan played Becerra in this very same line back in 2005. That game continued 16...g6 17. a4 Re8 18. b3 Nb6 and was drawn on move 58. 17. a4 Bb7 18. Nf5 Bf8 So far, so good. Julio is a huge expert in the Spanish, but I was aware of the theory up until this point. 19. Bg5!? A surprise. I thought this was a novelty at first, but apparently it has been played by Judit Polgar against Kamsky in a rapid event in 1992 and was first tried in a game from Moscow in 1989. This continuation looks promising for White. d5 Rybka initially loves to grab the b-pawn but then it starts to appreciate White's attack after 19...Nxb2 20. Qc1 Nxa4 21. Bxf6 gxf6 22.Nh6+ += 20. axb5 The Polgar-Kamsky game continued with 20. exd5, but that is definitely weaker. axb5 21. Rxa8 Bxa8 22. Bxf6 Qxf6 23. exd5 I spent some 20 minutes trying to find an acceptable continuation for Black here. The notes to the Polgar-Kamsky game say "23...g6=" but I can't see how Black can claim equality after 24. Ne3 Nxe3 25. Rxe3. My solution wasn't great, but it gave me chances: Rd8 24. b3 Nb6 25. c4! Awesome move that I completely missed.

Position after 25. c4!

25...bxc4 26. bxc4 Bb4 My only chance. The pawn is taboo because 26...Nxc4 27. Qd3 threatens 28. Ne7+ and 28. Qxc4 27. Rxe5?! Here I started to see a glimmer of hope Nxc4 28. Re4 Bxd5 29. Rd4 Nb2! (Forced, but good) 30. Qc1 Bc3 31. Rg4 The critical moment of the game.

Black to move

My pieces are kinda awkward, but Black is holding. Here 31...g6! should equalize cleanly. In my time pressure though I started seeing ghosts. The only thing I could focus on was getting mated with Qh6 and Ng5 looming. 31...Be6? Panic. 32. Rxg7+ Kh8 33. Rg5 Bxf5 34. Rxf5 Qxf5 35. Bxf5 Rd1+ 36. Qxd1 Nxd1 37. Bc2 Nb2 38. Ng5 f6 39. Ne4 I thought 39. Nxh7 was winning much easier. Be5 40. g3 Kg7 41. f4 Bd4+ 42. Kg2 Nc4 43. Bb3 Ne3+ 44. Kf3 Nf5 45. Be6 Ne7 46.g4 Ng6 47. Nd6 Bc3 48. Nf5+ Kf8 49. Ne3 Kg7 50. Nd5 Bd2 51. Ke4 Bc1 Black might have some outside chances to hold this ending, but it's a longshot. 52. Bf5 Bd2 53. Bxg6 hxg6 54. f5 g5 55. Kd4 Kf7 56. Kc5 Be1 57. Kd6 Bg3+ 58. Kd7 Be1 59. Nc7 Bd2 60. Nb5 Bf4 61. Nd6+ Kf8 62. Ke6 Be5 63. Ne4 Kg7 64. Nxg5 Black Resigns 0-1

We have another tough match against San Francisco next week. Hopefully we'll be able to right the ship and I can report on a Dallas victory.

-Johnny B, manager

Season Debut: Tomorrow, 7:00 PM CST

2009-08-30T16:11:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow evening the Dallas Destiny will make their 2009 USCL debut against the Miami Sharks. Due to some scheduling conflicts, IMs Marko Zivanic, Jacek Stopa, and Salvijus Bercys were unable to play this week. Nonetheless, expect a hard-fought season opener! As always, the games will be broadcast via the ICC.

Miami Sharks			Dallas Destiny
GM Julio Becerra: 2615			IM John Bartholomew: 2499
FM Bruci Lopez: 2480			IM Daniel Ludwig: 2543
NM Eric Rodriguez: 2290			FM Keaton Kiewra: 2365
Miguel Recio: 2164			NM Nelson Lopez: 2218
Avg Rating: 2387			Avg Rating: 2406
Miami Total -------	0.0	0.0	-------Dallas Total

2009 Roster Is Released

2009-08-25T14:02:00.002-05:00

I'm pleased to announce that the roster for the 2009 Dallas Destiny has been finalized:

September 08 Ratings

1. IM Marko Zivanic (2552)

2. IM Jacek Stopa (2507)

3. IM John Bartholomew (2501)

4. IM Daniel Ludwig (2459)

5. IM Sal Bercys (2454)

6. FM Keaton Kiewra (2331)

7. FM Darwin Yang (2246)

8. WFM Bayaraa Zorigt (2217)

9. NM Adarsh Jayakumar(1974)

Alternates:

1. NM Chaitanya Vaidya (2327)

2. NM Nelson Lopez II (2211)

Keep checking back for pictures, stats, and bios on the 2009 Destiny members!

2009 Dallas Destiny Schedule

2009-07-19T21:10:00.000-05:00

Here is the Dallas Destiny's 2009 schedule. The USCL has devised a tough first few matches for us, as we will be facing the perenially strong Miami Sharks and San Francisco Mechanics in weeks 1 and 2. Week 3 will feature a rematch against the 2007 and 2008 USCL runner-up, the Boston Blitz. (Note: "W" indicates that the Destiny will play White on boards 1 and 3, "B" means the opposite).

Week 1 - 8/31: B vs. Miami Sharks
Week 2 - 9/9: B vs. San Francisco Mechanics
Week 3 - 9/14: W vs. Boston Blitz
Week 4 - 9/23: W vs. Seattle Sluggers
Week 5 - 9/30: B vs. Arizona Scorpions
Week 6 - 10/7: B vs. Tennessee Tempo
Week 7 - 10/12: B vs. Carolina Cobras
Week 8 - 10/19: W vs. Miami Sharks
Week 9 - 10/26: W vs. Chicago Blaze
Week 10 - 11/4: W vs. San Francisco Mechanics

All games will be played on the ICC. Get ready for the season kick-off on Monday, August 31st!

Welcome to the Official Dallas Destiny Blog

2009-07-18T19:29:00.000-05:00

Hello USCL fans! I'd like to welcome you to the official blog of the Dallas Destiny, one of the most exciting and successful teams in the United States Chess League. This will be the place to keep up on all your Dallas Destiny news as the two-time defending champions try to add another title in 2009. Have a look around, leave a comment, add us to your favorites, and get ready for another action-packed season!

-Johnny B, manager