Seattle Sluggers

Reply to the Mechanics

2008-10-10T08:41:00.000-07:00

I shake my head. There are things that seem to exist, like mirages in the sand. Yet, unlike mirages these images have supporting evidence that make them impossible to deny. In my world though, these things have no place, no haven to rest in or sanctuary to give them comfort. Such things appear in the words of my esteemed fellow USCL bloggers, whose words flow from their hands like the river of dreams. I wonder where the words come from? I don't know.

Just in this past week we have seen one of the bloggers upset with Carolina because they didn't do as he expected, he worked it out in his mind that a player should have won but lost instead and the bloggers whole world is upside down? WHAT!!! Ok, players get there feelings hurt because of, uh, the air conditioning is too loud. LIVE WITH IT! I see that Arun can't really explain what the power rankings are measuring. Ok, I kind of suspected that. Of course, we all have to sympathize with Arun as he is getting threats from one of the team captains. I don't really know any of the participants in this episode, but you gotta think somebody was using the extremely recessed parts of their mind for that one. Oh, none of the pickers chose Dallas to beat Philly, despite the fact that Dallas was tied for first in the west and Philly has been playing like mud (uh, do you think their captain has my phone number? Nah!!! couldn't be that lucky). I mean, this
is worse than trying to keep up with a daytime drama. "Oh did you see the look that the Boston player made when the WIM moved the knight?" This is silliness. But, not the end.

I see that the Mechanics have weighed in.

http://sfmechanics.blogspot.com/2008/10/cutting-down-sluggers.html

Let’s see, Bhat’s first assertion is that the match was rescheduled due to weather and the arrival of a baby, later in a reply to Chris there is mention that Mr. Bhat expected Seattle wouldn’t field a team and finally he states “ a match had been moved to avert what I saw as a no-show”. Wow, it’s true the longest road is the one to the truth. When the match did happen there was Serper on second… oh wait, it was patently unfair for Seattle to have the same lineup. I seem to note they didn’t have the same lineup. Boy, this is just the stuff of cold war novels, those clever Sluggers covertly passing false information in order to get, Slava on second board! Very devious.

I will now fess up to what could be my part in this. I made light of the possibility that the Mechanics possibly achieved greater success because they were forced to drop their first board. At some level you have to see the logic in this, I mean it be curious if a team achieved a better result without their top player than they might have with him. So, if Wolff plays and Nakamura defeats him while Bhat wins from Mikhailuk the split is the same as what resulted in the actual match. Mr. Bhat, is it really so bad to win by 3 – 1? No, I didn’t think so. Further, Mr. Wolff’s replacement could hardly have been more uncertain; the Mechanics have IM Friedel, IM Preuss, IM Zilberstein, but they ended with IM Donaldson. It would certainly not have been so beneficial to Seattle to have that change. Was it such a successful ruse that you need to proclaim how lucky the Mechanics were to win, unless you are much less confident in your teammates? Very curious.

My final take (not edited because I have no “official” standing). What do I take away from this? The titled players are all taking this very seriously, which is certainly good for the level of chess, maybe a bit too seriously. This last affair clearly indicates that one of the teams doesn’t view the rest of the league as colleagues, that the idea of sportsmanship has devolved to getting in sharp accusations at others in the league and that the camaraderie many observers thought was common among titled players is merely one of those illusions. The people involved that don’t play are certainly having a lot of fun with it, but the enjoyment will dissipate if the level of “gamesmanship” is allowed to extend to such levels. I will formally apologize to the Mechanics for any comments they took as offensive, if they so wish, as I feel that is my responsibility. However, I will not simply ignore this egregious breach of sportsmanship as one players opinion or “take”. I would hope that the league or the commissioner would help to shed some light on this as currently it is nothing more than “he said” without any “she said”. Whatever the facts are around this match or the results of the games, this incident became a large black eye on the league because of Mr. Bhat’s comments.

Thank You.

Mechanics vs. Sluggers recap

2008-10-09T11:10:00.001-07:00

What is the difference between the bus and the airplane? Taking the plane gets you to your destination and whole lot quicker, but you still have issues with cost and checked baggage. Bus trips take longer and it is a bit harder to sleep, yet the scenery can make up for some of that. Well, the Sluggers are looking at the bus trip right now, and it will be a long ride. Last nights match against San Francisco was a detour out of the airport.

There was something amiss with the match even before it started. It was scheduled to take place on Monday, but was postponed. Then the pairings on the top two boards abruptly changed as Patrick Wolff and Gregory Serper were pulled from the lineups.
This turned out to be a push, at least on paper. Really this turned out to be an excellent swap for the Mechanics. Nakamura seems to have some kind of vexation with Bhat and it worked to the Mechanics advantage as Bhat won a fine game. On second board Mikhailuk faced Donaldson with the former wearing the older player down. The top two boards were thus a split. I certainly don’t think that Seattle would have done better with Serper on second board, a win there is a win. I am perplexed though considering the consequences of Wolff playing Nakamura and Serper, with White, against Bhat? Is it possible that not playing a GM helped the Mechanics?

Board 3 was for me the most interesting game. I think that Readey equalized with the Black pieces and even missed more in the middlegame. At move 35 I think that Ne3 by Readey might have born fruit. White can’t allow Nc2, so must oppose on the c-file. With one pair of rooks off the Ne3 goes to f5 to remind White of the h4 pawn, combined with the Bg7 I feel Black will have plenty of chances to gain a full point. Andy May on board four appeared to just be outplayed from the opening. To me this appears to be another example of “team” play. Nakamura had been a rock for the Sluggers, but when his game went astray the other players were left to fight for better scores.

After losing to the Mechanics 3-1 last night the Sluggers have virtually no chance of winning the division. They still have good chances of making the playoffs with the last 3 matches against the teams below them in the West. Now all there matches are “playoff” scenarios. For the Sluggers to get to the Finals they will have to win the rest of the regular season and then likely face the top 2 teams in the conference playoffs, likely Dallas and SF again. This is not going to be an easy trip, but I did see a lot of fight in the Sluggers last night and that is a good step for them.

USCL Rd. 7: Mechanics vs. Sluggers

2008-10-04T10:36:00.000-07:00

I knew this week was going to be kind of short notice, that kind of thing happens when you are looking at the calendar to find the next paid holiday and accidentally see that the USCL is playing on Monday night. Lots to say, so let's not waste any more blog.

To start, I need to say that the tribute to Eddie was well deserved. Of course, I did embellish because of my own style of egocentric writing. The Sluggers deserved to win, are very deserving of congratulations and we should all appreciate how Eddie stood up for his team. Yet, it still had that flavor to it that causes doubt instead of removing it. Think about it, the Knights are just playing in a funk, Seattle played the "Jumbo" lineup with Nakamura and Serper plus got a great performance on 4th board, but in the end the Sluggers avoided a tie due to one false move in extra time by an old man. This is not a great sign, especially when the arch nemesis is next up. Everybody be honest now, with Nakamura playing we all expected a victory while remaining conscious of the past history of these two teams and there was nearly an amazing addition to the script between these sides ( for those not sure what I am talking about, it seems Bonin might have missed a winning continuation in his endgame). So, for me at least the Sluggers have passed one hurdle with plenty more ahead.

Just prior to writing this I checked the USCL website and noted the lineups. It is pretty much open knowledge that the Mechanics are taking this one seriously, playing Wolff and Bhat on the top two boards. If anything good can be drawn out of this it is that Nakamura seems as dangerous with Black and Serper plays more confidentaly with White. The Sluggers can feel good about those matchups, but it is the other two boards that we should scrutinize. Board 3 had Shankland with White facing Readey, then bottom is May going against Naroditsky. Third board should be quite interesting as there is a contrast in styles which lends itself to decisive results. Both players have had solid results without anything spectacular. Fourth board has a whole other dynamic as Naroditsky has been a real strength for the Mechanics and May is just beginning to get any kind of a name in the league. In the NY match it appeared that Andy had done some homework on a specific opening line, if that is true this would be an excellent opportunity as Naroditsky is likely to have plenty of games available for research. If I was the SF captain/manager I would pull Naroditsky aside and tell him to play slow easy chess, just to see if May can make anything happen on his own. Problem with that is these are both youngsters and can't really control themselves to that extent.

This match is quite important. If the Mechanics win they can try to sprint for home, whereas a Seattle victory throws the playoff scenarios spinning. More than that, it is a matchup of rivals, bringing a little more zing to the result. I would not expect more than one draw in the match, which sounds like Seattle has to win on the outside boards to get the match. If they get anything more than a draw on the inside it is gravy. The Mechanics might aim to make it a match of the two boards where they seem stronger, second and fourth, but they have black on those boards. In the end, this appears to be a match about will and who has the stronger will.

Tribute to Zeus

2008-09-30T21:03:00.000-07:00

" All a man can betray is his conscience" Under Western Eyes - Joseph Conrad

Here I am dear readers, before you with nothing but my conscience to keep the cold chill off. I made a small agreement with Eddie Chang and herein lies the payment. On Monday evening the Seattle Sluggers defeated the New York Knights by a score of 2 1/2 - 1 1/2 , which was certainly not the score I would have expected. Eddie did a great job of guiding his charges to a victory, the first ever for the Sluggers against the New Yorkers. I think that we in Seattle can join together joyfully in any defeat inflicted on the evil hordes coming from "The Big Apple" by our hometown boys. This was an exceptional victory for the Sluggers as they seemed to have a plan for victory and followed it to the letter. I have no doubt that Eddie had spent long countless hours divining every possible way his players could achieve the smallest of advantages. He then revealed the fruits of his work to the Sluggers with such immense confidence that they couldn't help but feel as though the match was theirs for the taking. Armed with this knowledge they fell into battle with their vile foes. There was nothing more for Eddie to do but follow the preordained sequences with his eyes as they played out on the boards before him. Alexander, Caesar, Napoleon, Chang... the name roles off the tongue, does it not! From the moment that Eddie was able to determine the lineup he would have to face New York there was no doubt in his mind of the outcome and in the end there was no doubt at all. Congratulations to the Sluggers is more than due, but for Eddie mere congratulations would pale as the rose does when the wind blows cold. I know this, for I had seen into the hearts of the Knights and knew what they expected. They had experienced only Seattle teams that were thrown together like the garments of a vagabond, players capable but without direction. On Monday the Knights felt the breath of another team, a team with fire in their hearts and malice in their souls. Fire and malice that Eddie brought them. Eddie did more than coach, much much more. He instilled the idea of victory in his players. We should all salute Eddie. Hail Eddie, Hail Eddie, Hail Eddie......

Recap: New York versus Sluggers USCL Rd. 6

2008-09-30T09:13:00.001-07:00

Good Morning folks, doesn't the morning seem brighter than normal? Probably because the Sluggers shrugged off the monkey last night and defeated the New York Knights, a team that had between then in every previous meeting. Doesn't the air smell a little sweeter?

The first board matchup between Fedorowicz and Nakamura was surprisingly the first to finish. Playing the Pauslen/Kann Sicilian with some of that very modernistic piece development Nakamura gained a position with plenty of play. The Fed went for a pretty direct attack aimed at h7 or g7 and evenutally got there. Eventually is the operative word. Nakamura had established enough of an advantage on the q-side that giveing up the h7 pawn to exchange some active White pieces was a bargain and the action snapped over to stuff west of the d-file. A very nice win. (I had flashbacks to games I lost like that many eons ago to John Boy).

Second board was Serper versus Krush and frankly I was in for an immmediate surprise as I didn't think Krush ever played the King's Indian. Both sides treatment was very interesting, but Black eventually fanagled and advantage. I would not doubt that Serper might have missed a chance later, but Krush's pursuit of victory was quite exemplary.

Andy May on board 4 either had a prepared novelty or just dreamt it up over the board. In a line that had been a side pocket for Caro players since the mid seventies May calmly took the material offered and kept his King safe. Very nice job

Board 3 was a bit of a concern as Jay Bonin has been an all star. Milat shoved out the Grunfeld and landed in one of the queenless middlegames that has become a standard for the opening. Bonin showed why he has a reputation and kept pressing for the victory, missing his best chance just at the end. The split point brought victory to the Sluggers.

So, a little bit of good luck for a change. Of course there was a good effort by the players. It's like that old saying I just made up " Good Luck follows good work like Saturday follows Friday". (Hey, don't like it... you try making this stuff up!)

Good day and good luck to the Sluggers.

Recap: Dallas versus Sluggers in Rd. 5

2008-09-25T09:19:00.000-07:00

Another example of how close the Sluggers can play. As a theme, a small advantage was the focus last night. Michael Lee acquired an advantage in the form of active rooks and displayed excellent skill in turning it into two pawns, then victory. Slava aimed for an endgame where his outside passed pawn would be an advantage, but it ended up being only enough to draw. The first board game appeared to be headed into a middlegame contest with an IQP when it took a sharp turn into an ending. That became a bishop’s of opposite color where the players looked to spend more time convincing themselves they could win. So, only Readey’s game was left. It looked like John was working to keep a solid position and didn’t achieve much form the opening. Slowly Bartholomew outplayed him to get to a better ending and a win. A tie match was a common expectation and that’s what we got.

I said on the message board that the Sluggers needed a win to keep realistic playoff hopes alive. That was a bit of an exaggeration, but it doesn’t look great for them. The next 2 Mondays the Sluggers face New York, a team they have had zero luck against, and then the West leading Mechanics. There might be a little pull for the Sluggers against the Mechanics based on the rivalry, but they will need more than some emotional push. The rest of the schedule sees Arizona twice wrapped around a match with Tennessee. As much as I would like to say that the schedule favors them, it just doesn’t. We aren’t entirely sure how good Arizona is and the first match with the Tempo ended in a tie. The Sluggers are not out of the playoffs today, but they have a pretty rough road to get there. There is a bright spot that they hold their fate in their own hands.

USCL Rd. 5: Versus the Dallas Destiny

2008-09-20T11:10:00.000-07:00

Week 5 of USCL play sees the Sluggers facing off with the defending champion Dallas squad. As these two teams have been in the playoff picture for the past two years and their matches always seem to be close this has taken a bit of a rivalry flavor. More importantly this season the match appears to be a do or die affair for the Sluggers. With the slow start they got off to they have been relegated to the bottom of a 3 way tie for 3rd in the West, while the Destiny are in second. A loss by the Sluggers will make getting to the playoffs a real climb. Splitting the match won't help that much. So, this paints a scene of necessity.

Dallas is a unique team. Their squad are all college aged, working their way up type players. They have a simple approach; keep all 4 games close, get one player to win and draw the rest. They are not adverse to tying some matches. My impression is that the strength of their players is relatively closer from top board to bottom than any other team. That means that if you aim to defeat them by winning on the top boards you have to be concerned about the bottom. It seems to me that Seattle might be just the team to give them trouble. With 2 tough GM's on top the Sluggers could win a game and put the pressure on the other boards. The big thing is who do the Sluggers put on 3 and 4? Of course, availability is a big question. I would think that you want to put the two players who are most likely to hold down there. That would be the formula I would take.

A quick note on last Wednesday's matches. What happened between New Jersy and Boston is a good example of team tactics and psychology. I don't know if Benjamin had some home cooking ready or Christiansen just blundered, but Boston seeing their first board lost in under 10 moves was a disaster. I suspect that it rubbed off on second board more than any, but still the Blitz players didn't change their mental outlook and got beat. The Carolina - New York match was another surprise. The Knights are having a rough season and this just added to it. In that match it appeared that events on the top two boards provided extra confidence to the entire Cobra lineup and they just went with the momentum. It got me to thinking that if the Sluggers could pull this one out and get more enthusiasm going they could still go all the way!

Last thought: this Monday Queens plays New York. The Pioneers are the only perfect team left and have proven a bit of a surprise. What concerns me is that they will be fielding a squad with 3 2500+ players this Monday. I know, you think I am crying like some kid in the schoolyard. But think about it, they are stretching the spirit of the rules here and once that happens there is no going back. Precedent will be set and teams will be looking for any way to push those boundaries. If this becomes standard my hunch is that it will not be a good thing for the USCL.

USCL Rd. 4 : versus Chicago Blaze

2008-09-16T06:27:00.000-07:00

The Sluggers got their first win of the season against the expansion Chicago Blaze. At the start of the season it looked like this might be an easy match for the Seattle team, but the first 3 weeks of the season had seen the Sluggers being the Struggles and the Chicago team being an upstart willing to fight. Well, the Blaze kept fighting in this match, but Seattle found its bearings.

Nakamura moved to 2-0 for this season with a win over GM Mitkov. Mitkov gave up a piece on move 12 in order to strip away the defense of Nakamura's king, but Naka had a clever reply that deflected the play away from his g3 square. It turned into a running battle with the Seattle player securing the point. Serper returned to days of his youth by playing the black side of an Old Indian. Equality turned out to be an easy objective for Serper. What followed was a lot of hand waving as each side tried to convince the other into committing an inexactitude. Draw in the end with K and 2 N versus K and 1 N. Michael Lee made his season debut on board three versus the veteran Emory Tate. This turned into a contest of little tactics which didn't see either side get much. My feeling is that Lee pushed too hard to win this and didn't realize the trouble that could be found. In the end Tate outplayed his young opponent in a bishop ending. Andy May made his overall USCL debut with a victory to get the Sluggers the match. Andy just took the pawns and kept going. Pretty easy game, isn't it Andy?

A win is a win and the Sluggers needed this one. Now a long week to get ready for the Dallas Destiny, defending USCL champions. Let's keep our fingers crossed for this one.

ttyl

USCL Rd. 3 Versus New Jersey

2008-09-10T21:11:00.000-07:00

You gotta have a good strong stomach to be a Sluggers fan, the ups and downs can really get to you. The only game that didn't seem to go up and down a couple of times was Eric's game on board two. I don't know enough about the Bogo Indian to make any claims, but Black seemed to have a position missing a leg out of the opening. Still, Eric hung in there. Gulko is a veteran GM who just wore him down. The board one game started out very tamely, Nakamura paying some tribute to past NW greats by lunging forward with 1.g3. It turned into something from a 1950's B movie when the Black minor pieces and queen started draping themselves on the d-file. White worked his way out and then with just a minute bit of ooomph got a jump start to win some pawns on the K-side. That turned out to be enough. Readey was outrated by 100 points, but you wouldn't have known it. Black adopted a passive stance in the opening, zipped out to snag a pawn, labored the way back to being only passive. Then in a fit of frenzy Black made a rush to try to get active, with the Q side still at home, and ran into a solid beam in the center of the board. Time was a bit of a factor here as it seemed to be in all the games. Black looked to be grovelling when a perpetual appeared. Fourth board was typical of the Modern Benoni where it seems people just play crazy. Pawn down, pawn up. There were certainly some moves I didn't expect. In the end the player who was material ahead took the repetition. Very strange.

Most of the predictions were for a NJ victory, so the Sluggers should look at this in a positive light. Still, no victories after 3 rounds is not where they expected to be. They will have a short week, next Monday they are scheduled to face the expansion Chicago Blaze who are at 1.5 / 1.5 coming off a 3-0 (?) win over the Tennessee Tempo. Round 5 will see the Sluggers up against the defending champs Dallas. Could be an interesting couple of weeks!

Tennessee - Seattle

2008-09-04T06:25:00.001-07:00

Whoa! That was a match. I think my comments about ratings not being a big factor and playing with motivation being a bit more of a factor. The match with Tennessee showed it.

First off, I want to describe "Slugger-vision". At about the 90 minute mark I stopped skipping between games and put all for of them up at the same time. This was really cool, all the white clocks ticking, all the Sluggers clocks ticking, all the black players clocks running, all the Sluggers clocks running, multiple moves all at once drawing my eyes to and fro. Really kind of fun. Oh, did I mention the Sluggers clocks running? Serper was the first one into the time abyss, he had only 17 minutes left after about 12 moves. The Slava kind of wandered into the shortage of time followed by Lee. It was a bit unnerving when all their clocks were going and it didn't look like any moves were on tap. Just too crazy.

Serper played the Sicilian, sac'd a b-pawn for 2 B's, 2 center pawns and 3 open Q side files. Andrews put up some resistence, but once the B's started humming it was too difficult for White. Lee's game was quite interesting. Wheeler defended the English opening with the English defense 1...b6 and had the opportunity to play Bxf3 in the opening when it would leave White with doubled f pawns and d4 weak. I think this might have been a better choice than going into the Hedgehog, as Lee marshaled his forces very accurately, snatched the b6 pawn and was able to navigate some tactics to get to the winning ending. Readey played the Black side of the Samisch Kings Indian and just got squeezed. Mihkailuk - Bereolos was the most fascinating game as a cat and mouse affair turned into a duel of weak pawns, white's on b6 and black's on c5. Slava seemed to get the kind of thing he wanted, but short of time made a dangerous decision to avoid a Queen exchange. Bereolos was able to swing his forces over to the f file and get a winning attack. So, 2-2 tie. Better than a loss, but still not a win. The Sluggers seem to be kind of a hit and miss bunch, when they go strong they play as well as any team and when they are off almost anything can happen.

Ok, until next itme.

Season Opener

2008-08-28T20:08:00.000-07:00

Suddenly it's that time of year again -- and the Sluggers are playing their first match of the season. The pre-match buzz had us as slight favorites over Miami (esp. as Beccarra wasn't playing), but we knew it'd be a tough match.

Lugo,Blas (2393) - Readey,John (2296) [B07]USCL, 27.08.2008

1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.Be3 Nf6

This was my first time playing Blas, but from my brief review of his games, I could see he had
a straight forward attacking style. I'm not surprised he goes into one of the sharpest lines against the Pirc.

5.f3 c6 6.Qd2 Qa5

I swing my Queen out to discourage q-side castling, but...

7.0-0-0 b5 8.Kb1 b4 9.Nce2 Nbd7 10.Nc1 Rb8 11.h4 h5 12.Nh3 Ba6?

I was having a tough time getting focused in this game. There was a lot of commotion due to problems with the computers and such. My last move doesn't look best.

13.Nb3 Qa4

Here I thought White had a simple line to a clear edge: 14.e5 dxe5 15.dxe5 Nd5 16.e6 fxe6 17.Bxa6 Qxa6 18.Nf4+/-. I was relieved when he played:

14.Bd3 Bxd3 15.cxd3?! Qb5 16.Nf2 a5 17.g4 0-0

I thought Black was doing fine here.

18.Bh6 Kh7?!

This was actually my last chance for a4. I didn't play it because I was hopping to gang up on the d4 pawn without White have time to play Nb3-c1-e2. But the N on e2 actually lets me get an effective central break in: 18...a4 19.Nc1 Kh7 20.Bxg7 Kxg7 21.Rdg1 Rh8 22.gxh5 Nxh5 23.Rg5 Qb6 24.Ne2 e5-/+.

19.Bxg7 Kxg7 20.gxh5 Nxh5 21.Rdg1 Qb6

a4 is now too late, White breaks through on the k-side: 21...a4?? 22.Rg5 Qb6 23.Rxh5 gxh5 24.Qg5+ Kh7 25.Qxh5+ Kg7 26.Rg1+ Kf6 27.Qh6 mate. So I have to drop the a5 pawn. Well at least I have the open a-file.

22.Rg5 Rh8 23.Rxa5 Ra8 24.Rxa8 Rxa8 25.Ng4 Nf8 26.Qh6+ Kg8 27.Rg1 Qa7

I'm trying to attack a2 and at the same time keep d4 under observation, but just as I played this I realized White had 28. Qxh5 gxh5 29. Nf6+! Kg8 30. Rg8 mate! After the game I showed this line to Serper whose non-plused reaction was: "Why take the Queen? There's no threat". Indeed after: 28.Qxh5 Qxa2+ 29.Kc2 Ra3! 30.Nc1 Rc3+ 31.Kd1 Qxb2 Black's attack crashes through.

28. Kc2 Ne6 29.Ne3 Nxd4+ 30.Nxd4 Qxd4 31.Nf5 b3+??

I quickly threw the b3 move in. My thinking was that it couldn't hurt to cut off the b3 square for the White King. But I missed the cunning: 31...Qc5+ 32.Kb3 (otherwise I take the rook with check) Ra3+! 33.bxa3 Qc3+ 34.Ka4 Qxa3 mate.

32.axb3 Qc5+ 33.Kd2 Qf2+ 34.Kc3 Qc5+ 35.Kd2 Qf2+ 36.Kc3 Qc5+ 37.Kd2 Qf2+

At this point I took a quick look at the other games, and the match seemed pretty level, so I took the safe course of securing a draw. Black could play on with 37... Ra7 when the situation is...unclear.

1/2-1/2

After this game finished I was shocked to see the games on the other 3 boards quickly deteriorate. In the next 10 minutes Serper, Tangborn, and Sinannan had to resign. Not the best day for the sluggers!

Round 1 : Miami vs. Seattle

2008-08-27T22:28:00.000-07:00

I had a running commentary going, but decided to abandon it for a couple of reasons. First, I came in late, basically getting home and mowing lawn. Second, this USCL is the weirdist thing because at the end I don't know if anything I wrote is relevant. So, I will just go with a quick wrap up

Board 1 appeared quite positive for Serper from the time I got in. He had a Knight on d4 and looked like he was going to dictate the pace of the game. I don't know if time shortness affected his play, but the position just switched from being completely in Black's control to a total grip for White. It seems to me that Serper played too quickly on the K-side (25...h5) without taking some precautions on the other side. A fine performance from Lopez

Board 2 Tangborn looked to be building a solid advantage, but slowly. Martinez found a continuation to create some complications, Eric came out with two minors for a rook and the Black heavy pieces buzzing around the d-file. I think somewhere Eric lost the thread as the next time Black had 3 passed pawns to go with the rook and White had no targets.

Board 3 This seemed to start out as a flashback 40 years to games played in the Northwest by a certain BC player who became a 3 volume legend. Then, Readey castled and it turned into a race. Funny enough Lugo snatched a Q-side pawn in passing, found a pretty good attacking theme only to have Readey respond with a very nice rearguard defense

Board 4 Sinanan played the White side of a Slav. The pieces were arranged ok, but White had a knight that couldn't find a really effective square. Both sides seemed to shuffle pieces for a while and then White pushed forward with f5 and then e5. This all happened without any proper preparation and lost a pawn. I suspect that the match situation affected Josh after that as the White Knight was just knocked off the board without a wimper.

A 3 1/2 - 1/2 loss! Ouch! I don't think anyone saw that coming. The funny thing is that the Sluggers appeared to be doing ok on the boards they lost on and then suddenly all of them went up in flames. It was like a total collapse. Very irregular.

I have said this before and guess it bares repeating. The Sluggers sometimes try to play a little too "finely". There is one thing that has become apparent about the USCL, you have to take the play to your opponent. There aren't many games where one player just outclasses another, so bringing the fight to the opponent tends to bring some advantage. When they can do that consistently it will make them much more of a contender than adding one GM or two.

Donate to the Sluggers!

2008-08-16T00:16:00.000-07:00

Donate to the Sluggers!

July 1st and looking for the USCL

2008-07-01T20:36:00.001-07:00

Hiya, Hiya, Hiya. Hope all the readers have had a good summer, especially the 4 days of summer we have had here in the Pacific Northwest. We have had some colder than normal weather, but that has nothing to do with your ... SEATTLE SLUGGERS!!

We are about 8 weeks away from the start of the season and there hasn't been any news about the Sluggers, at not in my ears. This is the time for the fans to start talking about what could get the Sluggers into the playoffs and over the hump. New players? Better matchups? Brighter lights? What do you think would help? Personally, I don't know if any new players on the books or maybe there is some lower player that is going to turn into a big surprise, but I have lots of ideas. Here's one: a contest for the fans where the fans guess the final score of that weeks match and as a tiebreak the total number of moves in all 4 games and the winner is the one closest to the actual number without going over, prize is a Sluggers cap or shirt! Here's another: a couple of times a season have special home matches where there is a guest team captain... somebody like Shaun Alexander (ok, he left but you get the idea... somebody who is kinda into chess and has a bit of a name). How about this: the Sluggers have had some trouble with internet connections in there early matches, so why not have a couple of warm ups? My idea is to get 4 of the Sluggers, probably only one of the titled players at a times, and play a match over the net with a local high school or junior team? You could get the juniors a location in some school, they all are wired nowadays, and just have a friendly warm up? Certainly isn't the worst idea I have ever had.

Ok, without knowing who the players are going to be we can take a quick look at the schedule. Here is a quick peak

-Miami
-Tennessee
-New Jersey
-Chicago
-Dallas
-New York
-San Francisco
-Arizona
Tennessee
-Arizona

This is an interesting schedule. Start out with a rematch of last year's week 10 match that got the Miami Sharks into the playoffs and ended the Sluggers season, then the Tempo who I suspect will be better this year, a likely tough match with New Jersey and a week 4 face up with expansion Chicago. All of these matches could be hard but, if the Sluggers can get through that point without any major accidents they are likely to be in contention for first place, Dallas plays SF and Boston while the Mechanics have a match with New York. The middle 3 are the gauntlet with the New York Knights, a team the Sluggers have struggled mightily against, between matches with division rivals Destiny and Mechanics. The last 3 matches will either be a sprint as the Sluggers have a playoff chance in their control or a forced march with them checking the scoreboard for some help. We have no real idea how good the Arizona team will be, but expansion teams seem to lose poise the later in the season it gets. It doesn't seem to me that there is anything to complain about in this schedule, except maybe an extra match with Miami (payback you know). The odd thing is that the schedule looks like 7 - 3, but with a little luck one way could be 8 1/2 - 1 1/2 or the other way to 5 and 5. I will say 7 1/2 out of 10 and into the playoffs.

Well, that is my initial take on this. As I hear more I will share with you dear readers. Don't forget to go to the Wachess bulletin board and talk up the Sluggers!!!

Seattle - Miami : USCL Rd10

2007-10-31T18:24:00.000-07:00

18:20 post Well, good evening folks. The games in this important match have already started, here is a quick peek: Serper is playing his favorite line versus Becerra's Kings INdian, the 5.Nge2 line which I believe is named after the Hungarian GM Forintos. The position is still in the opening, but you gotta think Serper is happy with this. 2nd board has the Miami player listed as BlasLugo in one name, he is playing the white side of an open sicilian against Mikhailuk. Schmidt for Seattle on board 3 has accepted the notorious "Samisch" Gambit in the King's Indian, I don't know if this is prep or not. The Miami player on 4th board didn't move for 20 minutes, but is catching up now. Barredo is playing the white side of the Benko line in the Classical Kings Indian. Very typical that both teams looking to win are venturing the Kings Indian, a very agressive double edged line. Also, there are 3 different ways to play involved. Back in a bit

18:40 update Serper is taking the approach that black's king side pawn advance is simply a feeble idea, has posted a knight on h5 with some thoughts of taking the Bg7, has h4 in to support other action and hasn't developed his QB or either rook. Schmidt is the gambit pawn up, but exchanged his dark square bishop. This can be disasterous in this line, we will have to see if he has something in mind as an antidote to the black square weakness. Barredo has played h4 to go with g4, common in the Benko line of the KI. White's idea is to use those pawns as an advance barrier and once the K-side is fixed turn attention to the Q-side. This will be interesting to see what Lee has, if you aren't familiar with this line it can be very frustrating. Pupols has played it numerous times. The one Sicilian is queenless and both sides castled Q-side. Lugo is looking to either create or provoke a weakness, probably on b6. more later

19:00 update I don't know what is going on with the Serper game. Becerra pushed f5-f4 giving up the e4 square, but looking at Nf5. Serper exchanged Nh5 x Bg7, then hit the pawn chain with g3, Becerra took on g3 and Serper took the N on h6 with his bishop giving check followed by recapture the g3 pawn. Serper must know something about this that the rest of us don't, it looks like Black has an easy game and I am not sure how Serper is going forward. Schmidt has put up some barricades on the black squares and it isn't obvious how Black will get active. Of course, that is how it always seems in this line. Blas has played Nc5 attacking Be6 and b7, Mikhailuk is going to have to do a minor regroup over there. Lee has reacted in true KI manner, plopping up c6 and b5 to undermine the center from his right hand side (the Q side). This is still in opening analysis, I would think, so no clear conclusion yet. Very dynamic for both sides
In the Boston - Philly match it looks like the Beaners are a bit better.

19:20 update The board 3 game has seen Martinez (black) post his bishop on e5 so the he could then play Re8 to hit the e4 pawn, the thing is I see that Schmidt could play c5 here threatening Bb5 forking Re8 and Na4. I don't know? Serper is regrouping and maybe trying to take the b1-h7 diagnol with Bd1-c2. Board 2 has seen some exchanges: down to rook, white squared bishop and 6 pawns each. Slava has an isolated, but passed, d4 pawn. Lugo has some issues with his bishop on a4 hemmed in by a2/b3/c4 pawn chain. Barredo - Lee looks like a role reversal as white has g4 and h4 in while black has b5 and a5 up. I suspect that White will exchange on c6 and try to make something of the d5 square, as otherwise he has to wait... and youth doesn't wait for anyone.

19:40 update Serper has Bc2 in, but unless he can disturb black Nc5 it isn't going anywhere. Board 2 is radically changed: Mikhailuk is one pawn up and likely to be two, but Lugo will have connected passers on the a and b files, though Mikhailuk will have all 4 pawns passed! This could be very dramatic. Schmidt didn't play c5, I guess black would have just captured with the Na4. Still a pawn up, but a/c/e pawns are all isolated. Lee has blocked with f5-f4 and then b5-b4 with c6-c5, possibly based on match tactics... Seattle only needs to tie. All of the games are down to 20 minutes or so, Serper is less.

20:00 post Looks like Lee might be trying to sneak around on the a-file, has rooks doubled on a7/a8, but has to play a5-a4 to get it in. That could be risky as the b4 pawn will drop off. Lugo - Mikhailuk is still deciding how many extra black pawns there will be, but looks good for Slava. Schmidt has a very weak e4 pawn, problem is it is being attacked. He is going to have to find some kind of bail out. Serper might be playing to get Nd1-f2 in to boot the black Bh3 back to c8 (threat g4 to trap it) and then push forward.

20:10 update Serper has down to white squared b's, 1 knight and 5 pawns each with g/h versus h pawn for black, 5 versus 4 on queenside in black's favor. I don't know if he can win, but very hard to imagine Serper losing. Mikhailuk is still trying to snag the g4 pawn, there might be some kind of simplifying combo giving up the d4 pawn to get to easy ending. On 4th board White has now loaded up Rooks on a2 and a1, if the get someting on a4 and a6 it will be a bingo. Meanwhile, Shmidt is hanging tough, a phrase real common with these Sluggers... hanging tough.

20:20 post Serper and Becerra have ceased hostitilites, draw. Lugo - Mikhailuk is down to R and 3 passers for black versus rook and 2 for white, black has h4/g7 and d4 in, white has b4 and a2. Slava is under 9 minutes, I think he is just calculating with double checking turned on. Schmidt is almost 9 minutes, Martinez down to 7 and 1/2. Loren has given up the extra pawn, but it is doubled on the a file. Martinez has a combo, Nxe4 and if Loren takes it Bxc4 hits both rooks and undermines the Nd5. Ugly for white. Board 4 has all the rooks off, black will have a passer on the h file.

whatever time it is update. Mikhailuk is a queen up, I expect his opp to resign. Schmidt lost. Lee could play for a while, but is under a minute

21:00 update. Looks grim. Serper drew, Slava won, Schmidt lost and Lee is down 3 pawns... Knight and 3 for white versus Knight. I think Miami is in the playoffs... but I have 2 fingers crossed

Fingers crossed didn't help. Miami won 2 1/2 - 1 1/2. Congratulations to the Sharks and good luck against the Mechanics.

I will be putting something on the bboard about how I felt the Sluggers did this season. Thanks and see you later

Seattle - Miami : USCL Rd10

2007-10-31T18:23:00.000-07:00

18:20 post

Seattle Sluggers - SF Mechanics : USCL Rd. 9

2007-10-22T19:32:00.000-07:00

19:40 update

Ok, all these guys like to play really positional games and things have slowed down. Friedel hasn't moved since the last update, probably working out how to stand pat. He doesn't seem to have an attack, but could get one of he could airlift the Na4 and Ra1 over. In the meantime Serper will probably start targeting both f2 and c2.

Bd. 2 Tangborn is on steroids or some dang thing. He played g4 to boot a Nh5 away, and slow down f5, then hopped up with Kg2. The only thing is, I don't think Eric can afford to lose much more hai... er I mean uh, Eric can't handle the rage.

Bd. 3 Donaldson has an advantage in space and gets to line up his pieces however he wants. Against most players that wouldn't be much, but John is pretty good at this kind of thing. Loren, I hope you have a good trench over there.

Bd. 4 I don't know how much I like the White position. If he could get to play Qb3 without allowing Nd3 I think I would be more comfortable with it. As it is, it looks about equal

19:55 update

Bd. 1 the kibitzers seem to like White, but not me (maybe that tells you something). I think that Serper is going to play Rd2 and opinions will change. We will see

Bd. 2 Everybody is still lining up. Bhat has advanced his Q-side pawns while Tangborn improved is pawns a bit. Still not much

Bd. 3 They have exchanged a pair of N's and Black got in f5. I don't know how smart that will be, but maybe it foretells some action on the h1-a8 diagonal.

Bd. 4 Black has taken a bunch of clock to play Qd8-c8-e8. I expect c4-c5 by Sinanan momentarily

20:15 update

Bd. 4 White did play c5 and then b5, Black exchanged on c5. Black still has some space on the K side and some vague ideas, but I think the real direction is going to be what happens to the pawn on d5. It is all alone, but isn't blocked. THat spells something good for one side or the other.

Bd 3 both sides are still squaring off for space. I think that Schmidt has done quite well so far, but is getting a bit short of time

20;20 UPDATE

a quick return. Bd. 4 Naroditsky is under 10 minutes and the game is getting a bit complex. Bd. 3 Schmidt decided to advance b6-b5 and Donaldson exchanged. I suspect this is helpful to white. Bd 1 both sides are working for the initiative, maybe equal?

20:35 update

Bd. 1 Well, White has all the black squares and Black has a bunch of white squares. Serper is down to 9 minutes and Friedel is at 12

21:00 update Bd. 1 is down to R and Q and B's of O. Serper is more active, a little, but has less time.

Bd. 2 Tangborn is a pawn up, but Bhat has a bunch of play with a passer on the 6th.

Bd. 3 Donaldson has advantage with passed b-pawn, but material is reduced. Might be winnable

Bd. 4 Looks drawish as all the pawns are reduced. White will have an extra pawn on K-side, Black has passer on a5 with White King very active

21:15 update

the first 3 boards are in endgames that don't look good for Seattle. I think Friedel will win a pawn. Bd. 2 Bhat has an outside passer, but with Q's on could be a draw. Donaldson has steadily pushed forward and is a pwn up. Even board 4 isn't clear, but closer

21;20 Tangborn lost a piece and resigned. Good try by him.

Bd. 4 is going to be draw by repitition

Bd. 3 John is now 2 pawns up, but I don't think he can keep them both. Might not need to

Bd. 1 Serper pressed a bit and now is mated. That is about the end of it.

Well, we kind of knew that it would take a bit of extraordinary play for the Sluggers to beat SF again. Serper pushed to win and it didn't work out. Tangborn played hard, but I think he lost sight of the goal... not to lose. Schmidt played hard and got a draw out of it, a result we would have all taken before hand if it was offered. I think that Sinanan still has to work on his White openings, it didn't appear that he got much out of the line he played.

Ok, 8 days off and Miami. Seattle still has a great chance to be in the playoffs and face the Mechanics again. Let's keep our fingers crossed that they can get this turned around.

ttyl

Seattle - San Francisco: USCL Rd 9 19:20 post

2007-10-22T19:19:00.000-07:00

Bd. 1 is just into the middlegame and the kibitzers are already finding all kinds of "mates" for White. My feeling is that unless there is something really good the long term chances are with Black. The time is about even, which is always a good thing for Serper.

Bd. 2 Tangborn isn't sititng still!! He is lined up R's on b1 and c1 for a Q-side charge and then... played Nf1 and f3 to get in e4. I don't really know how good mixing those plans is, but he is the IM.

Bd. 3 Still in the Hedge phase of the Hedgehog. Funny side note, Donaldson has already played Nd5, then attacked the Black Q on a5 and then retreated Nd5-c3, in the position on the board John could play Nd5 as a tactic attacking the Black Q on c7 to which I am certain Loren would play... Qd8 and then white retreats Nd5 - c3 again. I wonder of there is any record for number of times a Knight retreated from d5 in a game?

Bd. 4 Black has gotten g5 and Ng6 in, the storm is brewing. Of course Sinanan has a4 in and a bunch of space on the Q-side.

back in a bit

Seattle - San Francisco: USCL Rd 9 19:00 post

2007-10-22T18:54:00.000-07:00

F-S Serper exchanged pawns on e4 and got the 2 B's in the process. He is remaining true to himself in that he likes the prelates. The thing is, I don't know how active they are going to be as White won't have anything to target. Friedel has made a mate threat, so Serper had to weaken K-side with g6

Bd. 3 Schmidt had traversed the distance to play Nd3 and then two moves later retraced back Ne5. Black's position seems solid enough, just that he needs a real plan for setting up the fort.

Bd. 4 Sinanan has exchanged his white square B for a N that popped into d3. This is going to be a typical kind of KI middlegame with hodling a N on e4, hoping to get in c5 and working to make the Bg7 un important.

Seattle - San Francisco: USCL Rd 9 18:40 post

2007-10-22T18:41:00.000-07:00

Hello again viewers, sorry I am late. Had some yardwork, got stuck behind a rake, yatta yatta... Anyway, the games are underway.

Friedel - Serper (F-S) is a Sicilian, Paulsen - Kann line. Serper seems to like this a lot as Black. Friedel player a line with Nxc6 after Bd3 and fianchettoed the QB. Serper has the e6/d5/c6 pawn triangle. Looks like White is going to try to put the squeeze on with c4 and Rac1. Time is about even

Tangborn - Bhat (T-B) Eric went right into the QGD exchange variation. The white squared B's are off and White just played Nf3-d2. This looks kind of like a non-commitment kind of approach, might work for Eric. The real deal will be in about 15 moves (they just played move 12) when one side or the other decides to make contact, it looks like Bhat will have to initiate the conflict.

Donaldson - Schmidt (D-S) Surprise, Surprise, an English, but for something different they got there from a Benoni Declined (old school speak). This one will go for a while also

Sinanan - Noroditsky (S-N) is a main line Bayonet Attack Kings Indian. I hope that this is some kind of prep by Josh, as the SF Mechanics have a player who published a book on this line. It is still early though, I don't understand some of the moves.

My first public attempt at conspiracy theory

2007-10-21T20:06:00.000-07:00

It is my humble opinion that within the next 20 years there will be courses taught at small colleges on "Conspiracy Theory". My belief in this is due to the ever increasing number of situations and incidents that crop up to suggest such things. Area 51, the grassy knoll, New World Order and "Paul is dead" are all familiar phrases that have caused us to question the validity of what we hear and then question our own perception (for those of you too young to know "Paul is dead" check Wikipedia under conspiracy theories and then buy the Abbey Road album). While those are all likely to be overblown coincidences, the recent confession of an NBA referee to fixing point spreads in games has many people nodding their heads about games lost in the most peculiar circumstances, and the confession isn't a figment of imagination.

So, lets all bring the USCL into the modern world. What scenario would cause us to question the way things work in the USCL? Here is my idea. What if Seattle were to defeat San Francisco Monday night, then Carolina defeats a Miami team sitting there first board? That sets up a situation where if, just if, Tennessee were to get their first league win over Dallas the last round would see a Dallas team feeling the hot breath of Seattle on their heals facing a San Francisco squad needing a win to avoid sitting out the playoffs. In our scenario Carolina would be facing a Tennessee team coming off a big win, Seattle would have a chance for first yet facing the toughest lineup Miami has as Becerra would return. Sounds way outside, but like Judy Tenuta says "could happen". But wait....

In the East it is more crazy. Consider if Queens beats Boston (hey, we had Tennessee beating Dallas, work with me), then Philly - New York and Baltimor - New Jersey both end in ties? Then you have Boston vs. Philly at 5 1/2 each, New York facing New Jersy at 4 1/2 each and Queens in with Baltimore at 4 each. The symmetry for the points is fun, but the real neon sign is the New York - New Jersey winner is in the playoffs, while Boston might end up playing in the wild card round. This would be just too great for TV ratings! Uh, buh, un, no tv? Sorry, I got carried away. Guess that won't ever happen without TV.

Just remember this, if Seattle beats SF Monday watch the Tennessee match really closely.

seattle - Dallas USCL Rd. 8 last post

2007-10-17T22:27:00.000-07:00

OOOOFFF!! That was tough. I think that Slava got a bit carried away and ended up fighting to the bitter end a rook down. Tangborn was unable to make anything out of a structural superiority and was slowly outplayed and the same happened on fourth board to Sinanan, though that one was probably more of a desparation effort by Josh. Serper was able to sneak out a win, but it proved insufficient for a tie. So, congratulations are due to the Dallas Destiny. They seem to have just about wrapped up the West. Next up for Seattle is a match for 2nd/ 3rd place in the West with the Mechanics.

See you later.

Seattle - Dallas USCL Rd. 8 19:50 post

2007-10-17T19:52:00.000-07:00

Well, stuff has developed. Not for the good either. Slava is a rook down and I don't know if his attack is really worth anything. The guy does calculate a lot though. Serper has rearranged his pieces and now has a space advantage, don't know how much it is worth. Board 4 Guadalupe seems to have changed his mind about a plan, while Sinanan has just simply arranged a pawn break on the Q-side. Tangborn has a bit more space in the middle, but I suspect that Kuljasevic is going to get a good game if he plays Ne4 sometime.

I will stop for a bit as I have some speed chess to play, back after that.

Seattle - Dallas USCL Rd. 8 19:15 post

2007-10-17T19:13:00.000-07:00

The board 3 game has taken a course that wasn't unexpected. Mikhailuk lined up on the a2 pawn after Kiewra played Kb1, then sac'd the exchange on c3 to get it. Now, Kiewra is making some noise around b7/b8 and we will see if Slava has a good estimate of the position.

Tangborn's game looks like something I have played. He has a little better pawn structure, but things have a kind of random appearance. Maybe Eric is thinking about playing to take the Bc8 and then attack the pawn on f5?

Sinanan I think has played a little too slowly. It looks like Black is going to put a toll both on d4 and I am not sure how White can react.

I have to say that playing the white side of the Reti is slow business, and Boskovic seems to like it. But, so does Serper.

In the SF - Carolina match it looked like Shankland and Bhat had switched boards as the fourth board was a French! Oh, Craig Jones was Black on board 4. Never mind. I was a bit surprised that Donaldson offered a draw, must be feel pretty clear about the others, but I don't know if either of the top two is ok for SF.

Seattle - Dallas USCL Rd. 8 18:45 post

2007-10-17T18:44:00.000-07:00

The game on board 4 is a line that is interesting. By playing a line in the symmetrical English reversed one side or the other seems to be saying that a tempo either isn't worth much (black plays a tempo less) or is worth a lot ( white gets to choose the defense he thinks is best with an extra tempo). All very subtle ( unline playing 1...e5 against the english, symmetrical lines aren't anything reversed, they are english lines). I think that Josh may have missed something as I remember a Romanishin game in this line where he played 8.Ng5 e6 9.Nge4 b6 10. Qa4 Bb7 11.Nxd5 exd5 12.Nc3 and won the d5 pawn.

Serper's game will also be interesting as he seems to have gotten a position that folks in San Francisco seem to think is ok if not pretty good for Black. Wait, are we relying on the Mechanics?

Board 2 is interesting as it isn't quite in character for Eric to pitch the 2 B's . Have to watch that one.

ttyl