10/06/2005

  New York wins 4th straight, stays on top of the East
---------------------------------------------
by IM Greg Shahade                       
--------------------------------------------     

Home     Standings

Games

Schedule

Players

Rules

Stats

League Leaders

History

Dallas vs New York

1. GM Alejandro Ramirez (DAL) vs GM Alex Stripunsky (NY)  0-1
2. IM Irina Krush (NY) vs GM Magesh Panchanathan (DAL)  1/2-1/2
3. IM Peter Vavrak (DAL) vs IM Jay Bonin (NY)  1/2-1/2
4. Evan Rosenberg (NY) vs Sam Copeland (DAL)  1-0


  Before the season began, many thought that this would be a preview of the league finals. New York and Dallas were both the favorites in their division, however only New York is living up to the hype. The two GM combination on boards 1+2 for Dallas isn't working so well as both GM Alejandro Ramirez and GM Magesh Panchanathan combined have won only one game. Meanwhile New York is clicking on all cylinders, winning key games left and right, and counting on different players each week for key victories.

 Irina Krush had a chance to acheieve a very powerful position against GM Panchanathan immediatley out of the opening, but she missed a strong blow.



White has just played 17.Be7 to which black responded with 17...Nc6. Now instead of 18.Qxd6, which was played in the game, Irina had the nice zwichenzug 18.Qe4! Black would be forced to reply 18....g6 19.Bxf8, and although black has some counterplay after 19...Nxb4, it should surely be much better for white.
After 18.Qxd6 Nxe7 19. Qxe7 Ne5 20.Qxc7 Rxc7 21.Rfd1 Rfc8, white's large advantage has been dissolved. The game was equal and was later agreed drawn. (although white missed a forced win in the king and pawn endgame, as 43.g5 was winning almost immediately)


 It seemed like Dallas used up all their luck in this game. Sam Copeland, the hero in the match two weeks ago versus Carolina, was unable to perform any heroics against Evan Rosenberg, as Evan played a nice energetic game to give New York the win. Evan is now 2-0 on fourth board for the Knights. Jay Bonin fought Peter Vavrak to a draw in what looked like a difficult position. Vavrak was 2-0 in league play until this game.

 The matchup between 17 year old GM Alejandro Ramirez and US Championship 2nd place finisher, GM Alex Stripunsky was the game the fans on ICC were most interested in. Stripunsky refuted that old textbook saying that all bishops of opposite color endgames are drawn.



 Stripunsky played 34...Kf7, and although many would assume its drawn due to the opposite colored bishops, black actually has a signifigant advantage. White has no way to defend the a4 pawn, thus black will soon be up a pawn. The black king is more active and the black pawn on b3 is a terrible nuisance. Stripunsky won in style after 34....Kf7 35. f3 Ke6 36.Kf2 Kd5 37. Ke3 Bf1 38.Kf2 Ba6 39.Ke3 Kc4 40. Kd2 Bb7 41. c6 Bxc6 42.Bf8 Bxa4



Suddenly black has two raging pawns for nothing, and white cannot even capture on g7 because 43...b2 will force a queen on b1. Alejandro retreated with 43. Kc1 Kc3 44. Ba3 Bb5 45. h4 a4 46. h5 Bf1 47.g4 and Alejandro resigned before waiting on 47....Be2.

 New York has won two weeks in a row while Stripunsky was away in Spain, and now with him back at the helm, you have to wonder who is going to stop the Knights. Next week New York has a rematch against the Boston Blitz. These teams drew their first week matchup, but since then it's been all uphill for New York and it's been a bumpy road for the Blitz. Despite the Knight's incredible performance, the Baltimore Kingfishers are right on their tail with 4.5/6. New York and Baltimore will meet again in Week 9, in what should be an incredible matchup and a possible preview of the Eastern Division Playoff. Don't forget that the team that finishes atop the division will receive draw odds in the playoffs. Baltimore and New York drew in their first showdown, so it's very important to finish first place in the division and receive this extra advantage.

 Dallas will face off next week against the Western Division leader, the Miami Sharks. The last time these two teams met, the match was negotiated as a draw when Miami's internet connection went sour. This probably saved Dallas half a point in the standings as their positions on the board were unenviable. Dallas will need to show some spark soon if they want any chance to compete for the divisional title. A win over Miami would leave them just one match out of first place and would put them right back in the thick of things. The good news for Dallas is that they remain in a tie for 2nd place in the West, as San Francisco and Carolina just can't seem to get things going.

Dallas Destiny			New York Knights
GM Alejandro Ramirez - 2565	0.0	1.0	GM Alex Stripunsky - 2663
GM Magesh Panchanathan - 2487	0.5	0.5	IM Irina Krush - 2445
IM Peter Vavrak - 2476	0.5	0.5	IM Jay Bonin - 2379
Sam Copeland - 1960	0.0	1.0	Evan Rosenberg - 2131
Avg Rating - 2372			Avg Rating - 2405
Dallas Total -------	1.0	3.0	------- New York Total

Click here to go back to the US Chess League homepage