Week 10: Game of the Week

A nice attacking game from FM Kelleher which mostly seemed to commence from 20. Nc4! a risky looking idea which allows Black to take both of White's central pawns for the exchange. After 23... Rxe8 the position seems very unclear, with Black having the two pawns for the exchange, and White's attack seemingly harmless. However, after 25. Rh3! it seems very difficult for Black to defend himself and after 27. Bc4+ Black is actually lost as 27.. Be6 runs into 28. Qxg6 so after 27... Kh7 28. Rxh5+! (which was discussed but didn't seem decisive as the follow-up was missed), but FM Kelleher found the blow 30. Bf7! to which Black must find the only defense in 30... Ne2+ followed by 31... Nf4 where after 32. Bg6+ Nxg6 33. Rxd7+ the game still seems very complicated, but due to time pressure FM Enkbhat overlooked this, and FM Kelleher delivered mate the next move (edit - 31....Nf4 was still lost for black). Although this win meant little to Boston, I'm sure it's a confidence boost to defeat the one team which had defeated them this season (and also putting Baltimore out of the playoffs as if Boston had lost this match, it would have been quite likely that they could face Balitmore in the Division Championship and had they had a 0-2 record against them this season, definitely would have been a hard win for them even with draw odds). Unfortunately, Baltimore will not get a chance to defend their Championship. With their manager and second board being away for most of the season, I'm certain their overall result doesn't reflect their team's real strength, and I'm sure if they keep putting forward the same level of players in the future that we'll see them in the playoffs in the next few seasons.

Kelleher-Enkhbat (White to move after 27...Kh7)
FM Kelleher finished off the game with the cute 28. Rxh5!
gxh5 29. Qxh5 Bh6 30. Bf7! Ra6? 31. Qg6 mate. The crowd
thought that 30...Ne2 31.Kh1 Nf4 might save the day, but
32. Bg6! Nxg6 33. Rxd7 Ne7 34. Bg5 is crushing. After a subpar
performance in 2005, Kelleher has played fantastically for
the Blitz in 2006, with a +3 score in just five games.

I seriously considered this game for being the potential winner, largely due to the fact that this win meant more to the victor's team than the one above, but overall I felt the above one had this game beaten in excitement. Despite the closed nature of this in the early game (with each side keeping all eight pawns on the board til move 29), I felt it became a very exciting and interesting game once the position began to clear itself up. 33... Nfxd5! was a very nice move, giving up the exchange, but as FM Hess showed, without the d-pawn the White position was never going to be able to hold itself together making the rest of his stucture fold rapidly. After 38... Qf7 despite the rough material equality, Black is really dominating as White's position is full of holes and all of Black's pieces are really working together while White's are very uncoordinated. FM Rogers couldn't withstand all the threats and ended up trying to sac material to relieve his position and create threats, but FM Hess defended easily and came out with a good win. A very good victory for FM Hess as both this week and the last, he's come out with a win in situations where many thought his position wasn't winnable (especially the previous week where the ending seemed to be a complete draw), and these two wins, both of which saved a draw for NY in the overall match are really the reason why New York was able to squeak into the playoffs so he really must be considered the main reason why the Knights made it. His work is still far from over though as he will likely face a tough challenge in the wildcard in FM Oleg Zaikov who has been very impressive this season, and should NY get past Carolina they then will likely be up against the double GM lineup of Boston, making a win on board three especially crucial.

Another solid attacking game which really began to take its final shape with the shot 26. Nxg6! after which the simple 28. Qe5! flushed out Black's King after which with all of White's pieces participating, the win was inevitable. With this vicotry NM Koons ran his record to an impressive 4-0 (if he'd played more matches, he very likely could have been an MVP candidate) and together with Michael Lee, Seattle has amassed an amazing 8.5-1.5 record on board four (and I'm sure would like to get revenge for that one loss which they may well have the chance to do in the Division Championship if they can get by the Dallas Destiny). Though I'm sure NM Kiewra wasn't happy with this defeat, it seems quite likely he'll get another opportunity in the Wildcard rematch where the Destiny will really need a win as facing draw odds they have a very tough challenge ahead of them.

Koons vs Kiewra: after 25....Bc5-f8
Nat Koons crashed through blacks defense
with 26. Nxg6!? (26. Nxf7 also was winning
according to Fritz). After 26....fxe6 (26...hxg6 is
impossible because of 27. Rh8 mate) 27. Qxe6 Qf7
28. Qe5 white's attack was unstoppable and black
resigned in a few more moves. Congrats to NM
Koons on a 4-0 record during the season.