09/08/2005

  Dallas recovers in week 2 and moves back to .500
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by IM Greg Shahade                      
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San Francisco Mechanics			Dallas Destiny
IM John Donaldson - 2442			GM Alejandro Ramirez - 2565
FM Dmitry Zilberstein - 2435			IM Amon Simutowe - 2471
FM David Pruess - 2432			IM Peter Vavrak - 2476
NM Andy Lee - 2231			Andres Suarez - 2087
Avg Rating - 2385			Avg Rating - 2399
San Francisco Total -------	0.0	0.0	----- Dallas Total

This was a highly anticipated matchup as there was a lot of firepower facing off on boards 1-3.


Andres Suarez (DAL) vs NM Andy Lee (SF)  0-1

Andy Lee drew first blood on board four, with a quick win over Andres Suarez. Lee played his favorite Benko Gambit and achieved an unbelievable amount of queenside pressure. Suarez immediately succumbed and allowed Lee to win material and in effect the game.

IM Amon Simutowe (DAL) vs FM Dmitry Zilberstein (SF)  1-0

Zilberstein was the hero for San Francisco last week, as his grinding down of Carolina Cobras FM Matt Hoekstra was the win that brought San Francisco back to tie the match. This week Dmitry got the black pieces again, yet with a different result. Zilberstein had the chance to be the hero in this game as well as he had a chance to win in one move...



White has just played 29.Rc7, with menacing looking threats. However white is actually threatening nothing because Rxd7 will be met by ...Qh2+ Kf1 Qh3+ forking the king and the rook on d7. Because of this Dmitry could force a winning position with 29....Bd6! with the dual threat of Bxc7 and Bxg3. After the nearly forced 30.Rxd7 Qh2 31.Kf1 Qh3 32. Kg1 Qxd7, black is completely winning. Instead after 29...Bg5? things got hairy after 30.Qc3 Qh2 31. Kf1 Bh3 32.Ke2 Re6 33.Ne4, and Amon broke through black's defenses just ten moves later. If Dmitry had only found ...Bd6, it's very likely that San Francisco would have won the match and improved to 1.5/2 instead of dropping to 0.5/2.


FM David Pruess (SF) vs IM Peter Vavrak (DAL)  0-1

Pruess seemed to have a very slight advantage in the opening, but he let things get out of control with 29.c4.



(After 29. c3-c4)

 After Peter's 29....Nfe3!, it was all downhill for Pruess, as black's pieces came crashing in, leading to an endgame with 2 extra pawns for IM Vavrak. The endgame was totally winning for black and suddenly Dallas was up 2-1.


IM John Donaldson (SF) vs GM Alejandro Ramirez (DAL)  1/2-1/2

This was the most exciting and anticipated game of the match. John is often known for his technical and solid style of play, however anyone who believed that would have never suspected he was playing the white pieces in this game. Donaldson acted as though his pawns were meaningless and sacrificed one after another to go after Alejandro's stranded king in the center of the board.



Donaldson is down a shocking three pawns on the board, however black's king lacks a permanent home. Donaldson played 25.Qc3 and an extremely complex game arose. Alejandro probably had the best of it, but it's not easy to play with such a weak king under such a pressure situation. After both sides traded blows, the game eventually became a draw by perpetual check. This wasn't what Donaldson was looking for, as at the time the game was drawn, it was clear he needed to win to retain any hope of salvation for the San Francisco Mechanics, however the position left him no choice. This game has been voted as the Week 2 Game of the Week, (IM Eugene Perelshteyn's win over GM Stripunsky was the Week 1 Game of the Week) and we hope to have it annotated by at least one, if not both of the players.

 The Dallas Destiny needed this win badly after their surprise loss to Philadelphia in Week 1. With 1 out of 2, Dallas is in clear 2nd in the West behind Miami (2-0) and ahead of Carolina and San Francisco (0.5-1.5). 
 
 San Francisco is suffering from the same problem they had in Week 1, as they aren't performing well enough on the top boards. They have won both weeks in impressive style on board 4, yet are a combined 1.5/6 on boards 1 through 3. The season has just begun however, and San Francisco has a long time to turn it around.

San Francisco Mechanics			Dallas Destiny
IM John Donaldson - 2442	0.5	0.5	GM Alejandro Ramirez - 2565
FM Dmitry Zilberstein - 2435	0.0	1.0	IM Amon Simutowe - 2471
FM David Pruess - 2432	0.0	1.0	IM Peter Vavrak - 2476
NM Andy Lee - 2231	1.0	0.0	Andres Suarez - 2087
Avg Rating - 2385			Avg Rating - 2399
San Francisco Total -------	1.5	2.5	----- Dallas Total

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