Your writer: FM Ralph Zimmer here and I’m a fellow spectator for the Baltimore - NY rivalry about to come underway.  Last week I had the honor of playing board 4 for Baltimore and it seems to be as exciting watching the matchup from here.  Readers must understand that as a Baltimore resident and player for the Kingfishers, my notes will be biased for Baltimore but don’t hold that against me!  Also, a few good glasses of Chianti and the poker tournament in the background may make my notes seem a bit incomprehensible at times, but there’s always the next sentence that might make better sense! And, as I’m sending this off right after so I can get some sleep and make it to work tomorrow, spelling of names, etc. are out the window - players please forgive! 

Ok folks here we go:  It’s 7:40 and finally it appears the Baltimore games are underway.  I was in the internet world anxiously awaiting so I don’t know what caused the delay but here we go folks:

   After having played with the Kingfishers last week, I know and understand our ambitions and this is an important match against NY!  After 8 moves on board one, Blehm and Charbonneau are still in book and Blehm leads the clock with white by 4 minutes.  Of course at that level, there’s a great deal of preparation and psychology involved - I don’t know if these guys faced each other before, but I’m sure they know about each other well so especially with Black, you will be on the look-out for “home preparation”.  Over on game 2, Enkhbat displays a solid Caro-Kan defense conceding the bishop pair early on, in what surprisingly for me, is surely still theory.  On board 3, I don’t know this for sure, but based on Larry’s speed,  and the abundance of games played by Jay Bonin yearly, I would suspect that Larry is well prepared for this King’s Indian Defense - and so his time lead after 9 moves seems to prove this.  I really like Rohonyan’s choice of opening in the Sicilian defense (shveshnikov) and after 8 moves, I like her position (although it’s surely still book).  Board 1 seems to still be in book after 12 moves with Blehm leading with 6 minutes ahead of Charbonneau.  Enkhbat’s position on board 2 looks as solid as a concrete wall despite the bishop for knight trade. Larry over on board 3 seems to be playing quite quickly with a now 13 minute lead over his opponent on move 10 - I think my prediction of his preparation is starting to prove accurate.  I quite like his position too!  Uh-oh, pieces are coming off on board 1 and an exchange of queens is likely! Clearly white’s pawn structure is better here meaning Baltimore might have its first slight edge and its games have only been underway now for ½ hr!  Ok, board 1, Charbonneau has done what was expected, avoided the exchange of queens and continued pressure on the queenside so as to minimize effect of worse pawn structure…

Not much change on Larry’s position…his opponent is thinking away and Larry actually has a plus time thanks to the increment!  Looking over now at Rohonyan, she also has a plus time thanks to the increment but only of 6 seconds after 8 moves, and her opponent is only at 85 minutes ( in contrast to Bonin who is at 72 minutes and dwindling).  I still like Rohonyan’s position too!

Ok, Bonin has played 10..Nh5 after a lengthy thought.  I doubt we are still in book, but what do I know!  Seems to me that Qd2 and g4 are coming up for white but we’ll see! 

8:15: Ok, let’s take another look: Game 1: I really like Blehm’s position!  I think his “blockade” with the knight on a4 and control over c5, sort of stifles black, while his h4 advance seeks to open attacking lines!  Clearly, both players are battling hard with opposite castling having already occurred.  Enkhbat’s position still seems quite solid, for those bishop over knight lovers, white clearly has that advantage, but it’s significance is questionable in this position, although any chances of black pulling out an advantage any time soon is unlikely (after move 10 - but in how many openings does black take an advantage that early??)  Now Larry, he’s going for the throat!  He’s conceded double pawns on the c file, but at the cost of black’s g7 bishop trade for the knight at c3, and considering Larry is uncastled and black is kingside castled, this could result in a kingside onslaught!  Rohonyan’s position is still quite active with black and I like it after move 8 - unfortunately, not more has happened yet…

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8:25 - Ok, the only Kingfisher who has yet to castle is Larry, but that isn’t surprising as his queenside pawn structure has been destroyed and his kingside is busy trying to organize an attack - so where does the white king go???  We’ll see - hopefully somewhere safe!  On board 1, things are heating up - 17. g4 by white forces black to play more actively and e5 as he played was awaited… OK, white retreated to d2 with his queen - let’s see what this means.  He’s eyeing h6, prepared for h5 and hxg6 and he has a tempo on the bishop which has just moved to e6 as expected…. I suspect h5 is next….

Larry is confronted on move 13 with …Ne5.  Jay’s vast experience seems to have enabled him to place an invincible knight on e5…how to get rid of it - and what a place to have a knight!!!!  I can’t think of a more controlling square on the entire board!!!  Since white hasn’t castled, attempting to remove the knight by f4 will probably only concede the g pawn after Nxg4! Let’s hope Larry still has attacking plans that will work out in the long run….

Ok, its 8:35 and I have just realized that Rohonyan’s game has come to a standstill on time for both sides!!!  I had to bring up the game again… I hope Katherine is not experiencing computer wireless problems again…. Taking a look at the position anew reveals a weakness for Rohonyan on d6 and a solid white position… we’ll see how this progresses…. So far, black needs to come up with something….

AH YES, ON board 1, h5 as suspected on move 19.  This coupled with black’s 8 minute deficiency (65 vs. 73) indicates to me that white has the edge…

8:45: Ok, after 15 moves, I’m worried about Larry… All I see is his c4 is attacked and he is probably going to have to play c5 which could lead to an exchange of queens, which in turn would eliminate his attack - or at least minimize its effect.  On the other hand, the less I watch the poker channel and the more I pay attention to the “details” of Larry’s game, the more I like it… but since I’m not playing I’ll let him show me the win and learn some more poker hands in the process…I’m also worried after 14 moves of Rohonyan’s game…. Nc8? Theory? Seems odd….Was trading the black squared bishops the right way to go?  I hope so!  I just don’t see it yet…

Board 1: 8:50: black played 21…Nf4: Uh-oh! Did white see this?  Looks like pieces are coming off….  But is it favorable for white???  I think tables are turning against Baltimore on board 1….

8:51: Larry has sacrificed a pawn after 15…Bxc4: I have to admit I don’t like it…I just hope I’m wrong…

9:03: After 21…Nd4 on board one, I really am worried about Blehm’s position… his f3 pawn is as good as gone and uh-oh, white got disconnected.. have to serve that one up again… hope he’s ok and didn’t pass out or anything after seeing black’s move!

9:26; Larry is deep in thought on his only 17^th move… and he is a pawn down and his attack is questionable….but who knows….my instinct says there’s something there…

Enkhbat has sacrificed b4 for what may be a promising attack on the queenside…

9:36: If there’s a Baltimore board in trouble, it must be board 3 with Larry a pawn down and only 26 minutes vs. Jay Bonin’s 55 minutes!

9:49: Board 2: Each player used 60 min. for 15 moves!  What a tough game!

OK, Enkhbat played 16..Reb8 to vacate e8 for knight if white plays g5 , and of course to put further pressure on queenside.

10:16: Ok, board 1 is starting to look drawish after 29…Rdxd3. Both players seem to be giving their best shot but material is dwindling down…and each has 4 pawns…

10:21 it’s late…must go to bed…we’ll see what happened tomorrow…

10:29: Ok, too exciting… Board 1 draw on repetition as expected with open white king against black queen vs. white two rooks…

Rohonyan has a draw offer… so let’s see what’s going on at boards 3 and 4…

Larry on 3 is starting to look really good after 22.fxg6. Lots of kibitzers thought g5 instead of f5 on 21 would have been it… citing Qxc3 followed by Bd4! But who knows… let’s hope this does it too.  On 2, Enkhbat is clearly in the driver’s seat after Nxf6 (22…)  better time too: 15 vs. 12 min.

10:35, Katherine is playing on! Fighting spirit!

10:43 This is as exciting as it gets folks, I got three Kingfisher games going on and I’m watching Daniel Negraneu making an important decision on poker tour… it doesn’t get better then this!

10:53 Larry looks winning after 25. Bxg5..

10:54 After 27. Rxh2 it would take a miracle for white not to win! So Baltimore is looking at the first point!

11:05 With Rohonyan down a pawn, doesn’t look great right now…

11:10 Enkhbat needs to find a way to exchange down pieces and win the ending… white’s pawns are scattered everywhere and would then fall more easily….

11:15 ok, Rohonyan’s position isn’t that great, but Enkhbat is good and should find a way to convert although both players keep deeping under 1 minute…

11:23 Enkhbat has done it again after Bb8! Baltimore leads by one again! - shortly that is…

(Hess vs Enkhbat, black to play after 49.Kh2)
With both players very low on time, Enkhbat found the
killer blow 49....Bb8, because after 50.Qxb8 Qf2 51.Kh2
Qxe1+ and black is totally winning.

11:45 Oh my goodness, Katherine is crushing her opponent in the rook ending… can it be, Baltimore CRUSHES NY!!!!

CONGRAGULATIONS BALTIMORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!