The report below is an excerpt from the Boylston Chess Club Blog. Click
here to read
more about Boston area chess.
While most of us are taught not to take pleasure in
the misfortune of
others, it's going to be hard for many class players not to take at
least a bit of solace from the fact that even experienced Masters can
make absolute howlers now and then. One such blunder by Philadelphia's
FM Rogers turned a tight US Chess League
match between the Masterminds
and the Blitz
into a relatively easy win for Boston.
Continuing this season's trend, the Blitz let their
opponents take the early lead. On Board 2, IM
Costigan played a strange set-up against FM Winer's e6-Sicilian
involving b3 and Bd3 (perhaps it might be called the hybrid
Kopec/Queenside Fianchetto variation?). After weakening the dark
squares around his King, failing to break a pin and getting his minor
pieces lined up on the d-file facing doubled rooks, Winer fell victim
to a nice combination/mating attack.
Further up the line, Philadelphia's newest player FM
Smith was no match for GM Perelshteyn.
Facing the King's Indian, Eugene won a key central pawn (a d-pawn of
the passed variety), traded down into an ending and pushed the passer
right down his opponents throat -- a remarkably efficient display.
With the match tied at 1-1, the outcomes on the
lower boards would prove decisive. On Board 4, NM
Martirosov countered NM Wilson with the Exchange Variation of the
Gruenfeld.
Vadim managed to win a pawn and trade down to a Rook and Bishops of
opposite colors ending. However, before the whispers of "MVP" could
reach an audible level, the Rooks were exchanged and the game petered
out into a dead draw. Perhaps Martirosov might have taken more risks by
keeping the Rooks on if things had not been going so well on Board 3 by
this time?
And so, we've arrived at the game
which undoubtedly left Philadelphia fans scratching their heads.
An Accelerated Dragon (by transposition), NM Riordan seemed to be
building a nice initiative around move 15. However, he didn't seem to
be able to do much with it and by move 25, he may have been better but
not decisively so. In the meantime, Charles had managed to get into
significant time trouble with about two minutes remaining for the rest
of the game (plus, importantly, a 30 second increment per move). All
the talk in the gallery was about how Riordan often gets into time
pressure before finishing off his opponents. One kibitzer claimed it
was an intentional strategy on his part.
Intentional or not,
time may well have played a role in what happened next. Perhaps FM
Rogers was trying to keep the pressure on Charles by moving quickly
himself or maybe he just had a moment of tactical blindness. In any
case, with 30...Rf6 he sacrificed a Knight for a checkmate that wasn't
there. Riordan took the piece, defended the mate threat, dispatched his
opponent and won the match for Boston 2.5-1.5. This outcome was
certainly a disappointment for the Masterminds who otherwise had very
good chances to at least draw the match.
(Riordan - Rogers) Black to move after 30.Rd1
It seemed clear that the result of this game would
determine the match and unfortunately for Philadelphia,
Rogers picked a terrible time to blunder a piece. Rogers
played 30....Rf6 thinking that after 31. Rxd7 Rf1 was forced
mate on h1. Unfortunately for the Masterminds, white can
just retreat with 32. Rd1 and there is no mate. Riordan took
the piece and won the game, and the match for Boston.
For the Blitz the win brings them to 4-0 for
the season, now two match wins ahead of their nearest competitors in
the Eastern
Division. Next week they look to continue their winning streak
against the Carolina
Cobras.
