10/13/2005

  Philadelphia pulls off a stunning upset, stops Baltimore's winning streak
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by IM Greg Shahade                       
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Baltimore vs Philadelphia

1. IM Pascal Charbonneau (BAL) vs FM Norman Rogers (PHI)  0-1
2. IM Richard Costigan (PHI) vs FM Tegshsuren Enkhbat (BAL) 0-1
3. FM Bruci Lopez (BAL) vs NM Elvin Wilson (PHI) 0-1
4. FM Boris Bacyznskyj (PHI) vs WIM Tsaagan Battsetseg (BAL)  1/2-1/2


  Most people felt that this match was decided before the games even began. Baltimore has been the hottest team in the league in the past 4 weeks, winning all four matches by a combined score of 12.5-3.5! Fans probably would have been impressed if Philadelphia could score 1.5/4 against the ridiculously hot Baltimore Kingfishers. In what was probably the most shocking upset of the season, the Masterminds stopped the Kingfishers cold in incredible fashion.

 IM Pascal Charbonneau had won four straight games on top board for Baltimore and was facing off against Philadelphia's top board, FM Norman Rogers. Rogers had been having a tough time in the US Chess League, as he is usually facing players 200-300 points higher rated than he is and he had been unable to score any points in his first six games. Rogers picked the right time to change this trend as he started attacking Charbonneau immediately out of the opening and didn't stop until Pascal was forced to resign.



It was Rogers (black) to move in the above position. With his king nestled safely on the queenside and all of his pieces aimed at the kingside, Rogers blasted open the position with 15...g5! and developed a raging attack. A few moves later the following position was reached:


(Black to Move)

Rogers played the cute 23...Rh3+ here. Almost everything wins at this point, probably Rhg8 or Nd4 were even stronger but Rh3 is easily sufficient. After 24.Kxh3 Nf4 25. Kg3 Qg4 26.Kf2 Qf3 (...Qg2 was even quicker) 27. Ke1 Nd3 (winning the queen) 28. Qxd3 Qxd3, Charbonneau resigned in two moves.

 Whereas Rogers had been struggling up until this game, Elvin Wilson had been completely unstoppable, winning his first five games, while having the black pieces each time! Wilson was black again, but instead of playing on his usual board 4, he was now playing a 2400+ FM on board 3. This wasn't enough to stop Elvin however, and he continued his impressive streak with another fine victory.


Lopez-Wilson (Black to move after 25.a3)

 White had just played a2-a3 and this turned out to be a deadly blunder. Wilson found the pretty queen sacrafice with 25...bxa3, and proved that the pin was an illusion. As is often the problem in the Winawer, the white pieces have serious trouble transferring themselves from one side of the board to the other. In this case there was no exception, as the white pieces have no way to stop the black a-pawn from becoming a new queen. Lopez captured on b6, but resigned just a few moves later.

 With a 2-0 lead Philadelphia needed just a half point in their final two games to wrap up the victory. IM Richard Costigan has been playing well for the Masterminds, but FM Tegshsuren Enkhbat has been playing even better, as he played another nice game for the Baltimore Kingfishers. It now all came down to board 4, where FM Boris Baczynskyj and WIM Tsaagan Battsetseg were locked in an action packed battle. The pieces were flying off the board fast and furious in this game and despite some inaccuracies by both sides, this game provided a lot of excitement for the crowd. Whenever a game features a move that everyone assumes was a mouseslip, including the chess.fm commentators, GM Ben Finegold and IM David Vigorito, and it turns out that it actually wasn't, then you know you are in for an exciting game.



In the following position Battsetseg played the shocking 21...Ne6, simply putting her knight en prise. It actually turns out that this may have been the best practical try, as white has a huge advantage in all other variations, as after Bb3 the pawn on f7 is facing some serious firepower. Battsetseg managed to complicate the issue and even turn things around and acheive a better position, but Boris was able to hold on tight for the team and draw the game, thus scoring a key victory for the Masterminds.

 Philadelphia is still going to have a difficult time of qualifying for the Playoffs, as with three weeks to go they are still one point behind Baltimore, and the Kingfishers have much better tiebreaks due to their large margins of victory earlier in the season. But let's face it, no one expected Philadelphia to even be talking about the playoffs this late in the season. With a team rating that is much lower than the rest of the league, they have impressed everyone with 3.5/7 for a 50% score. The Masterminds didn't like being thought of as a cellar dweller, and they've played spoiler in what was turning out to be a fantastic race for first place in the Eastern Division, with both Baltimore and New York winning week after week. New York now has a 1.5 point lead with just 3 weeks remaining, and seems the prohibitive favorite to win the division and receive draw odds in the first week of the Playoffs.

 Philadelphia faces another tough task next week as they are facing off against the San Francisco Mechanics. The Schedule makers seem to like hitting Philadelphia with teams when they are hot, as San Francisco just walloped the Carolina Cobras by a score of 3.5/0.5. If Philadelphia wants to even dream about making the playoffs, they are almost surely going to have a score a win next week.

 Baltimore needs to regroup and go back to their winning ways in Week 8. Who better to do this against than the Carolina Cobras, whom have the lowest record in the league at 1.5/7? Despite Carolina's record, they are always a team to be reckoned with, as they have three 2400+ players playing on their top three boards. They just never seem to put it together and all play well at the same time. Baltimore may also be distracted this week, as they are surely looking ahead to Week 9 in their highly anticipated rematch with Eastern Division Leader, the New York Knights. Baltimore and New York drew their match in Week 2 and the Kingfishers hope to win the match and retain some hope of winning the division.

Baltimore Kingfishers			Philadelphia Masterminds
IM Pascal Charbonneau - 2506	0.0	1.0	FM Norman Rogers - 2307
FM Tegshsuren Enkhbat - 2453	1.0	0.0	IM Richard Costigan - 2295
FM Bruci Lopez - 2409	0.0	1.0	NM Elvin Wilson - 2239
WIM Tsagaan Battsetseg - 2273	0.5	0.5	FM Boris Baczynskyj - 2236
Avg Rating - 2410			Avg Rating - 2269
Baltimore Total -------	1.5	2.5	------- Philadelphia Total

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