09/08/2005

  Philadelphia surprises again, ties with Boston
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by IM Greg Shahade                      
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Philadelphia Masterminds vs Boston Blitz 

  Starts at 7:00 PM ET      Time Control - Game 90 with 30 second increment 
  

Philadelphia Masterminds			Boston Blitz
FM Norman Rogers - 2307			GM Larry Christiansen - 2596
NM Carl Boor - 2329			IM Josh Friedel - 2477
IM Richard Costigan - 2295			FM Paul MacIntyre - 2316
NM Elvin Wilson - 2239			Ilya Krasik - 2123
Avg Rating - 2292			Avg Rating - 2378
Philadelphia Total -------	0.0	0.0	------- Boston Total

FM Norman Rogers (PHI) vs GM Larry Christiansen (BOS)   0-1

The Philadelphia Masterminds pulled a rabbit out of the hat in tonight's match. Philadelphia got off to a quick 2-0 deficit as Boston won their games on boards 1+2. GM Larry Christiansen's debut for the Blitz went as well as anticipated, as he dispatched Norman Rogers pretty quickly from the black side of a Giuoco Piano.

IM Josh Friedel (BOS) vs NM Carl Boor (PHI) 1-0

Young IM Josh Friedel outplayed Philadelphian Carl Boor from the white side of a nice Sicilian endgame to give Boston a seemingly secure 2-0 lead.

IM Richard Costigan (PHI) vs FM Paul MacIntyre (BOS)   1-0

IM Richard Costigan brought the match back to striking distance with a nice win over MacIntyre. He sacrificed a pawn in the opening for a tremendous bind.



White found the strong blow 8. d6!, a thematic pawn sacrifice, locking the black bishop in on c8. After 8...Qxd6 9.Qxd6 cxd6 10.Bxf6 gxf6 11.Nh4!, black had an unenviable pawn structure:



 MacIntyre realized he couldn't hold on to his extra pawn and leave himself with such an ugly structure, so he sacrificed one immediately with 11....d5, followed by ...d6 and the possibility of developing the c8 bishop. White's advantage was clear however, and Costigan ground MacIntyre down in the end, to bring Philadelphia one win away from tying the match.

Ilya Krasik (BOS) vs NM Elvin Wilson (PHI)     0-1

This was the real shocker of the match. With Boston only needing a draw, Ilya had a chance to simply things and bring the Blitz closer to victory. Instead Ilya chose a double-edged move late in the game and Elvin took advantage.



In the following position Krasik could just play 34.bxa3 and likely hold on to draw this position and win the match for Boston. Instead he played the controversial 34. b4? and after 34...a2 35.Ba1 (if 35.bxc5 a1=Q 36. Bxa1 Qxa1 37.Kh2 Qxe5 followed by Qxc5 and black is up a pawn and has all the chances) 35...Qc4! 36.Qc3 Qe4 and suddenly black is simply winning. After 37. Rb5 Qb1 38. Kh2 Bxf2 Ilya resigned and the match was tied 2-2.

  Elvin Wilson is now the only player in the USCL with a 2-0 record and is one of the main reasons that Philadelphia remains a half point atop the Eastern Division with 1.5/2.

Philadelphia Masterminds			Boston Blitz
FM Norman Rogers - 2307	0.0	1.0	GM Larry Christiansen - 2596
NM Carl Boor - 2329	0.0	1.0	IM Josh Friedel - 2477
IM Richard Costigan - 2295	1.0	0.0	FM Paul MacIntyre - 2316
NM Elvin Wilson - 2239	1.0	0.0	Ilya Krasik - 2123
Avg Rating - 2292			Avg Rating - 2378
Philadelphia Total -------	2.0	2.0	------- Boston Total

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