09/29/2005

  Boston and San Francisco draw after a dramatic finish
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by IM Greg Shahade                       
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Boston vs San Francisco

1. IM Eugene Perelshteyn (BOS) vs IM John Donaldson (SF)  1-0
2. FM Dmitry Zilberstein (SF) vs IM Josh Friedel (BOS)  1/2-1/2
3. NM Charles Riordan (BOS) vs FM David Pruess (SF)  1/2-1/2
4. NM Andy Lee (SF) vs Ilya Krasik (BOS)  1-0


  I am not the only person to provide in depth coverage of this match, as the Boylston Chess Club Weblog provided live play by play coverage on their blog. If you can't watch the games on ICC and want to follow the action, the BCC Weblog is a great place to find out what's going on with the Boston Blitz.

 This was a key match for both teams. Boston and San Francisco came into this week as the third place team in their respective divisions. As only the top two teams in each division qualify for the playoffs, they were both hoping to make up some ground with a win. San Francisco continued to score poorly on the top boards, with 0.5/2 on boards 1+2. San Francisco has yet to win a game on boards 1+2 this season. The first board matchup was interesting as you saw two of the foremost theoreticians in the Accelerated Dragon, fight it out in their favorite opening. Perelshteyn demonstrated his knowledge of the opening by grinding Donaldson down with the white pieces.

San Francisco and Boston are nearly polar opposites, as Boston is 4/5 on first board but struggles on the lower boards, whereas San Francisco does great on the lower boards but struggles on the top boards. This trend continued as San Francisco's Andy Lee knocked off Boston's Ilya Krasik.

With the score knotted at 1.5-1.5, the following position was reached between NM Charles Riordan and FM David Pruess with white to move:



 With both players under 5 minutes on the clock, and the fate of their team in resting on their shoulders, the pressure was high. White (Riordan) went for it and sacrificed the exchange with 45.Rxd4 exd4 46. Qxd4 Kg8 47. Nd5, planning to stick the knight on d5 and infiltrate on the dark squares. The game went on for another 50 moves, as even with very little time, you can play many moves due to the 30 second increment. Pruess always seemed to have slightly the better of it once queens came off the board, but he was never able to destroy Riordan's defenses. Riordan held the draw, and with two draws against higher rated opposition, is showing that he might be just what Boston needs on board 3, as before Riordan got into the action, Boston was 0/3 on third board.


Boston is now a game out of second place in the East, as the two teams ahead of them, New York and Baltimore, both won their matches. San Francisco actually jumps to a tie for 2nd place in the West as the team they were a half point behind, the Dallas Destiny, lost to Baltimore. Despite being tied for 2nd, San Francisco still remains behind Dallas on tiebreaks, as they both have the same number of game points, yet Dallas beat San Francisco in their head to head battle, and head to head results are the league's second tiebreak.



Boston Blitz

San Francisco Mechanics
IM Eugene Perelshteyn - 2576 1.0
 0.0
 IM John Donaldson - 2442
IM Josh Friedel - 2477 0.5
 0.5
 FM Dmitry Zilberstein - 2435
NM Charles Riordan - 2272
 0.5
 0.5
 FM David Pruess - 2432
Ilya Krasik - 2123 0.0
 1.0
 NM Andy Lee - 2231
Avg Rating - 2362

Avg Rating - 2385
Boston Total -------
 2.0
 2.0
 ----- San Francisco Total


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