09/21/2006
John Donaldson reports on San Franciscos 2-2 tie with Dallas
--------------------------------------------
by San Francisco Mananger: IM John Donaldson
--------------------------------------------
The report below is an excerpt from the Mechanic Chess Club's
newsletter. Click here
to see the latest newsletters
Last night the Mechanics' drew their first match of the year 2-2
against a tough Dallas team with one GM and two IMs in their lineup. We
defeated Dallas 3-1 in the first round but this time both teams fielded
different lineups. Only top board GM Magesh Panchanathan repeated for the Texans who are composed of
students from the University of Texas at Dallas.
The second game to conclude was Vavrak-Zilberstein where the
Slovak IM, in his 2006 USCL debut, won to make his score against the MI
3 for 3 over the past two seasons. Last year Vavrak scored an
undefeated 4 out of 5 against IM opposition so he might have the best
lifetime record in the league. Possibly academic obligations limit his
play, but if I were the Dallas Captain I would try to pencil his name
in the lineup each week.
Pruess-Stopa was an unbalanced
Sveshnikov that in hindsight looked pretty balanced and finished
in a draw that was not for lack of White trying for more. Polish IM
Stopa ( yes, the Dallas team is like a mini United Nations) looks like
another player who is likely to become a fixture in the Dallas lineup
and it might be that this week's team is their maximum, full
metal jacket unit. Look for the Dallas-Miami match next week to be a
brutal fight as both team battle to stay in playoff contention.
To do well in the US Chess League you need a strong first board and IM
Josh Friedel is the Mechanics' rock. For the second week in the row his
game was the last to finish and the one to decide the match. He defeated Panchanathan in
a long brutal struggle. Josh got a comfortable position out of the
opening but then the Indian GM sacrificed a pawn for the exchange and
with the Bishops pair as well, chances were probably about equal. Josh
outplayed his opponent who was behind on the clock, in the ending. It
looked like White was getting close to a draw with 52. b7 but Black's
trick with 53...h4! should have won the spot immediately and did bring
home the point to equalize the score. Thanks Josh!
After four rounds the MI is now in second with 3.5, just behind Seattle
with 4 but due to some scheduling quirks ( the MI already has played
Dallas twice and Seattle has faced Tennessee a couple times) it is
not clear where things stand. Likely the situation in the West will not
be resolved until late in the season after a pair of matches
between the two West Coast rivals . It is also way too early to
count out Miami or Dallas, but the latter definitely needs to win their
head to head this coming week. Tennessee was unlucky to lose to
Seattle by 3.5 - .5 ( 2-2 could easily have been the final score
had the Nashville players not lost two nail-biters). Poor
Jerry Wheeler, one of the unluckiest players in the league, might need
to see a cardiologist if he keeps getting massive time
pressure scrambles.
Come see the MI play next week against Tennessee on Wednesday, starting
at 5:30 PM. MI GM-in-Residence Alex Yermolinsky gives excellent live,
but delayed (about 3 to 5 moves behind the actual game) commentary. A
group of regulars come each week led by Josh Gutman and Mingsen Chen
and new people show up all the time. Yesterday it was FM Paul
Cornelius, a mainstay on the Berkeley Riot team in the old
National Chess League.
Panchanthan,M
(2530) - Friedel,J (2513) [D11]
USCL Dallas vs San Francisco Internet Chess Club (4), 20.09.2006
Click
here to go back to
the US Chess League
homepage
