09/01/2005

  New York and Boston fight to a standstill
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by IM Greg Shahade
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Boston Blitz	New York Knights
IM Eugene Perelshteyn - 2576	GM Alex Stripunsky - 2663
FM Paul MacIntyre - 2316	IM Jay Bonin - 2379
FM William Kelleher - 2383	NM Gregory Braylovsky - 2376
Ilya Krasik - 2123	John Fernandez - 2116
Avg Rating - 2349	Avg Rating - 2383
Boston Total -------	------- New York Total

Time Control - Game 90 with 30 second increment

 The New York Knights and the Boston Blitz made the first official moves of the US Chess League shortly after 7:00 PM ET on the Internet Chess Club. Everyone knew this would be an exciting match, as New York and Boston have always been big rivals and there was finally an outlet for these two cities to settle the score.


FM William Keheller - 2383 vs NM Gregory Braylovsky - 2376    0-1

 The Knights drew first blood in the game Kelleher - Braylovsky. Braylovsky got into early time trouble and then began to make every move instantly. The game was decided when Gregory found a fantastic swindle that was completely overlooked by everyone watching the game:



  In this position Gregory uncorked the shocking 19....Rxb2! After 20.Rxb2 Qa7! black ends up with an extra piece as white has no way to stop Qa1 check, picking up the entire rook. Kelleher resigned soon after.


IM Jay Bonin - 2379 vs FM Paul MacIntyre - 2316      1/2-1/2

Controversy was abound before the first move had even been played, as the Boston Blitz' second board, IM Igor Foygel, had to cancel at the last minute due to a family emergency. This meant that the Blitz would have to find a replacement, and so they called on team member Paul MacIntyre. Things looked even more grim for Boston as a last second cancellation also results in a time penalty, and so MacIntyre began this game with 60 minutes whereas Bonin had 90 minutes to start. Paul overcame this, fought hard and actually was up a pawn in the knight endgame, however Jay had it all sorted out and stopped black's king from intruding and thus saved the game.


John Fernandez - 2116 vs Ilya Krasik - 2123    1/2-1/2

This game was a true shocker for the fans. It seemed as if John was completely toast, as Krasik had a piece for 2 pawns in the endgame. John struggled to reach the following position:



  White is down a bishop for a pawn, however blacks h-pawn is the wrong color. In such positions, if white can just eliminate the g-pawn, it is a well known theoretical draw. Fortunately for New York, John had a way to do just that with 40.h4! There is now no way to stop John's plan of g4. For instance if 40.h4 Kf6 41.g4 hg4 42. Kg4, black has no way to stop 43.h4, which trades off the final set of pawns and forces a draw.

  The game went 40.h4 Kg7 41.g4 Kh6, but now after 42.f5, black has no way to hold on to his g-pawn and the game was soon drawn. Please note that 40.g4 was premature due to 40...h4! and it there is no way to force a trade of the g-pawn, as after 41.f5 black has 41...g5.


IM Eugene Perelshteyn - 2576 vs GM Alex Stripunsky - 2663   1-0

 This left New York with a 2-1 lead in the match, and so all the pressure was on the top board between IM Eugene Perelshteyn and GM Alex Stripunsky.

 Perelshteyn got a fantastic position out of the opening after Stripunsky misstepped with 18....d5? allowing 19.Bf4! and immediately the US Co-Champion was in grave danger. Stripunsky seemed to be making some semblance of a comeback, until Eugene set his sights on the black king and the following position was reached:




Stripunsky's king is clearly in dire straights, with all of the white pieces circling around it. Perelshteyn found the finishing blow with 46.Rf5!  Now white is simply threatening 47.Rxh5 Nxh5 48.Qxh5 checkmate. Black has no reasonable way to defend against this threat.

 The game followed: 46.Rf5 Kh6 47.Bf3! Re5 48. Bh5!! threatening mate on g6. Stripunsky played two more moves to avoid mate and then resigned.

 It was an impressive clutch performance by the young IM Perelshteyn, as he played a nice attacking game against a very strong opponent and saved Boston from defeat at the hands of their arch rivals.

 Next week these teams are involved in more divisional matchups, as Boston faces the Eastern Division leader, the Philadelphia Masterminds. New York will go up against the Baltimore Kingfishers.

Boston Blitz			New York Knights
IM Eugene Perelshteyn - 2576	1.0	0.0	GM Alex Stripunsky - 2663
FM Paul MacIntyre - 2316	0.5	0.5	IM Jay Bonin - 2379
FM William Kelleher - 2383	0.0	1.0	NM Gregory Braylovsky - 2376
Ilya Krasik - 2123	0.5	0.5	John Fernandez - 2116
Avg Rating - 2349			Avg Rating - 2383
Boston Total -------	2.0	2.0	------- New York Total

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