Player Recap for Queens Pioneers 2008

The 2nd year Queens Pioneers, definitely one of my picks for the strongest team. They started out with a blistering 5-0, a record only rivaled by the 2006 Boston Blitz. They beat Philadelphia, New Jersey, Arizona, Baltimore, and New York. Apparently, the momentum died out during the second half as they only scored 2/5, beating only Chicago, losing to Boston and Carolina, and tying New Jersey and Carolina, being edged out of first place by .5 game points.

During the season, Queens used two main setups against their opponents. Stripunsky/Schneider/Vovsha on the first two boards, Vovsha/Lenderman on third, and Katz/Ostrovskiy on fourth. Their scored 2.5/5 with both of their losses to Boston (consecutively week10 and quarterfinals.) The second lineup was the somewhat weaker Stripunsky/Schneider/Vovsha/Lenderman on boards 1 and 2, with Zhao/Thaler/Katz, on boards 3 and 4.

Queens has an advantage against most teams because of their 3 2500 lineup. However, it doesn't work against teams like Boston or New York because these 2 teams have strong 3rd boards, which is where Queens is looking for an advantage.

For 2008

1.Alex Lenderman
2.Eli Vovsha
3.Alexander Stripunsky
4.Dmitry Schneider
5.Parker Zhao
6.Benjamin Katz
7.Michael Thaler
8.Aleksander Ostrovskiy

1st Year Alex Lenderman

Alex was a 1st timer to the team, with a much stronger roster than before. He played his games on boards 2 and 3, being the first MVP to not play at board 1. Alex scored a dazzling 7.5/8 (93.75%), but ironically, was not used in the playoffs. He has garnered 22.5 points, drawing only the Boston MVP, Marc Esserman.

2nd Year Eli Vovsha

This is Eli's second year, one of the four veterans that are still on the roster. He has a score of 4.5/7 (64.3%) for this year and 5/9 (55.6%) for last year. With an overall total of 10.5/16 (59.4%) and a total of 10.5 MVP points. Eli played on boards 1, 2, and 3, with his losses to GMs Perelshteyn and Blehm.


2nd Year Alexander Stripunsky

Alex has a life time record of 7.5/15 and finished with 4/6 this year he has a total of 11.5/21 (54.8%). He plays on board one with his only loss to Blitz GM Larry Christiansen.

2nd Year Dmitry Schneider

Dmitry has finished the year with a respectable 3/6 playing on boards 1 and 2. Although he is lower rated than Vovsha and Lenderman, he plays on a higher board. He has a total of 6.5/12 (54.2%) (not 6.5/13, as there is an error on the page).

2nd Year Parker Zhao

Parker has played only three games this year, due to the rather top-heavy lineup. However, he has scored 2.5/3 (83.3%) with 7 MVP points playing on board 3. Last year, he had a 3/5 (60%) score playing on board 3 and board 4 and 4 MVP points.

1st Year Benjamin Katz

The reason why I put Katz ahead of Thaler, even with a much worse score 1.5/6 (25%), is because that Katz was necessary to the 2500 lineup. Other than that, there is not much good that can be said about him.

2nd Year Michael Thaler

Thaler scored 1.5/3 and 2/4 with a total of 2 MVP points. Playing on board 4, he has had a decent 50%. Again, not used much because of the 3 2500 lineup.

1st Year Aleksandr Ostrovskiy

Ostrovskiy played on board 4 for Queens finishing with a not-so-good score of .5/3. Again, there is not much to be said about it except that his name is misspelled on his URL, http://www.uschessleague.com/AlexOstrovsky.html

Watching the USCL Championships 2008 - A rather bleak review.

Having never watched a USCL match on site before, my father and I bravely trekked to the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics to see... Boston lose?!!!!!

The first game to finish during the regular match was Larry Christiansen's game against Marko Zivanic in the Taimanov variation. Larry goaded Zivanic to capture a poisoned f-pawn and quickly lost to the attacking legend. Nice job, Larry!

Here Larry played 18. Rxf6! effectively liquidating into an equal endgame.

The next one to finish was Marc Esserman's game. As always, the should-be-IM quickly defeated IM Schneider in a queen’s pawn opening.

Next, AS I PREDICTED, Ilya Krasik soon lost to might-as-well-be-FM Bayaraa Zorigt in a KID. As the Blitz was already up 2-0, this is the second time she forced the Championship into a tie breaker (Kuljasevic on board 2 was winning at this point).

The last game was a man-slaughter where GM Davorin Kuljasevic beat might-as-well-be-GM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun. Jorge seemed out of it as a horrible opening, followed up by being down two pawns, clearly did not help him. The championship again will be decided by tiebreaker.

I should first explain the tiebreaker system in case you don’t know. The time control is 5 5, with winner moving on to play the higher boards. For example: 4 vs 4, 4 vs 3, 3 vs 3.... A draw will eliminate both players.

The first game of the blitz tiebreaker was a Classic Krasik. You can tell how tense Ilya was by his body language - hunched over, squinting, covering his forehead with his hands. Everyone was silent, except (according to sister) occasional snoring from Charlie Mays in the back. Being under ten seconds doesn't help a person to win an endgame up a pawn. Indeed, Krasik blundered and got forked by Zorigt.

Marc was up next…. Everyone in the room was cheering him on “Let’s go Marc!” The game was a Esserman against Zorigt, the Sicillian Najdorf which she used to beat Krasik at Week 3. During the game, Esserman was winning but missed tactical shots in order to "play it safe". However, he still won even with both players being under ten seconds (did anyone notice Marc was banging his mouse very loudly)?

Here, Esserman played 30... Qe7???? Instead, Rd8 trapped the queen.

The third game was Esserman against Schneider. Again, a queen’s pawn opening, which quickly liquidated into an endgame and Marc wins again some tactical tricks. However, after the two victories Marc couldn’t keep his winning streak going against Dallas's blitz ace, Kuljasevic and after defeat claimed that he would never, ever, play that variation of the Dutch again.

The fifth game was 2-time Dos Hermanas winner Jorge Sammour-Hasbun playing Kuljasevic. Apparently, trying to play for a draw is not a good strategy for Jorge, as Kuljasevic rolled him over in an Exchange Slav with the black pieces.

The sixth and seventh games were played by Kuljasevic and Larry Christiansen. The first game was a hard fought draw where Christiansen had the black pieces. The last game was a positionally crushing but tactically lost game for Christiansen, missing a mate in 3. Being so upset about the lost, I left the site without my coat and my chess set.

Well, Dallas wins again, congrats to them. It was a disappointing yet, motivational result. Next year, hopefully the Blitz will win *cough* with my help *cough*.

P.S. Here are the links for the games.

Larry Christiansen 1-0 Marko Zivanic
Davorin Kuljasevic 1-0 Jorge Sammour-Hasbun
Marc Esserman 1-0 Igor Schneider
Bayaraa Zorigt 1-0 Ilya Krasik

Few comments: White won all of the regular games in the match, and no milkshake for you Krasik.

Tiebreak Games:

Ilya Krasik 0-1 Bayaraa Zorigt
Bayaraa Zorigt 0-1 Marc Esserman
Marc Esserman 1-0 Igor Schneider
Davorin Kuljasevic 1-0 Marc Esserman
Jorge Sammour-Hasbun 0-1 Davorin Kuljasevic
Davorin Kuljasevic 1/2-1/2 Larry Christiansen
Larry Christiansen 0-1 Davorin Kuljasevic

Some photos I took:

Final Predictions

I'm in a gloomy mood today. That's probably because my mood is copied by Krasik, a dark day is coming. Dallas has used Zivanic/Kuljasevic/Schneider/Zorigt, which is the most predictable roster for Dallas in my humble opinion. Although without popularity during the regular season, Dallas won both post season matches with this roster. Their record with this line-up is currently 3/4, only losing to the Mechanics in the first week. Dallas got their revenge in the quarterfinals and week 9.

This is Marko Zivanic's first year for the Destiny, playing against many GMs, scoring a respectable 4/8. He has 6 draws, and a loss against Cuban Grandmaster Julio Beccera, but beating Philly's Sergey Kudrin. Larry, my only suggestion is to play d4 against Zivanic's Phillidor. My prediction is that Larry will win, and crush Zivanic with a super aggresive opening. 1-0 Boston

It's a rematch on board two as Dallas's 2007 and 2008 MVP Kuljasevic faces the Rookie of 2007, Jorge Sammour-Hasbun. Kuljasevic has an undefeated record of 5.5/7, with 4 wins and 3 draws playing on boards 1 and 2. Ironically, he has beaten Beccera even though Zivanic lost to him. Jorge hasn't been doing so well this season and maybe a third time is a charm, but not the whole way. Draw 1 1/2- 1/2 Boston

Unfortunately, Dallas doesn't have Stoopa this year, so Schneider had to take his place. While not as good (again, in my opinion only), he does have an even score, for a high rated board 3 with 4.5/9. While the Boston MVP will gambit as white. I believe that Esserman will win. 2 1/2- 1/2 Boston

Bayaraa Zorigt has definitely been my second choice for team MVP, without her, the Dallas wouldn't have done so well. She has an incredible 7/9, undefeated. Although Ilya has been on a streak, but however, I believe that the streak will end now. 2 1/2- 1 1/2 Boston

Krasik, if you win I'll get you a milkshake from Herrell's. :-)


However, if the Blitz go into another tiebreak, I believe that they will win. Also, please answer the poll.

P.S. Did anyone notice that on the week one, Zorigt's name is spelled wrong? Click here to see (on the bottom).

P.P.S. Greg's probably gonna modify it so the P.S. would look strange.

Player Recap for 2008 Boston Blitz

It's been a long time since 2005 when the US Chess League started. I think we need to reevaluate the players in order of usefulness for the Boston Blitz.

For 2008:
1. Marc Esserman
2. Ilya Krasik
3. Larry Christiansen
4. Jorge Sammour-Hasbun
5. Denys Shmelov
6. Eugene Perelshteyn
7. Charles Riordan
8. David Vigorito (I'm sorry. :-( )

Marc Esserman - 1 year on the team

Marc has had a spectacular undefeated season for the Blitz with a 7/9 record scoring 5 wins and 4 draws (77.8%) and a decent (albeit short) season for the Miami Sharks in 2007, drawing a Sergey that Jorge seems to have tons of trouble with. He is also an underrated player, being used as a 2265, now he is over 2400. He has 16.5 MVP points total, (15.5 from this year, 1 from last year) playing on boards 3 and 4.

Ilya Krasik - 4 years on the team

I'd say every even year, Krasik does well. He has had decent seasons in 2006 and 2008 playing on board four. Krasik's the type of guy where he has a tendency to mess up, so when we are watching at home and he is winning, he makes us say things like, "Krasik, if you mess this up, then I'm gonna haunt you for the rest of your life." It has happened. This year he has a 6.5/10 record (65%), a pretty decent one with 3.5 MVP points and 6 wins, 1 draw, and 3 losses. His total record of 14.5/29 (50%) with a grand total of 4.5 MVP points. If he wins the first time he plays, he does well after a shaky mid-season. Also, an interesting trend Mark La Rocca pointed out. The team has followed Krasik's results. Quite true, with 7 wins and 3 losses.

My Coach Larry Christiansen - 4 years on the team

Ilya Krasik has just over taken him with the most games played (29 to 28). 2008 hasn't been Larry's best season with 3 wins, 2 draws, and 2 losses (one loss was to his nemesis Pascal Charbonneau who he hasn't beat yet. Larry was winning, but blundered lost) with a 4/7 record (57.1%) garnering 2 MVP points. His total record is 17.5/28 (62.5%) and he definitely has the most MVP points on the Blitz (34). This is probably Larry's worst season as his other averages were 60% (6/10), 64.3% (4.5/7), and 75% (3/4) by playing on the very competitive board 1.

Jorge Sammour-Hasbun - this is his 2nd year playing for the team

Jorge hasn't had his best USCL season with only 3/6 (50%) and 0 MVP, by losing to the two Sergeys (Kudrin and Erenburg) Its been harder for him playing on board one, instead of the board 2 that he is used to. His debut season was much better with a startling 6.5/7 (92.9%) with his only draw to the strongest player in the USCL and former US champion, Hikaru Nakamura, getting 14 MVP points.

Denys Shmelov - 2nd year

Denys also had a tougher season playing on second board. Last year he was an underrated 2200, low enough to play on 3rd board having a spectacular 7/11 (63.6%) and 15 MVP points. This year though, he has had an even score with 1 win, 4 draws, and 1 loss (50%), only having 2 MVP points. Denys' total record is 10/17 (58.8%) with 16 MVP points.

Eugene Perelshteyn - 4 years

Eugene is the Blitz's second GM, sharing top board honors with Larry and Jorge. He has a record of 2.5/5, although his regular season record was 2/3 and 5 MVP points. Eugene usually plays about 3-5 games each season, with a total record of 9/16 (56.25%) and 15 MVP points.

Charles Riordan - 3 years

Riordan came back to the team after going to law school. He has a 1/2 (50%) record on board 3, which pales in comparison to his 4.5/6 (75%) in 2006. He has a total record of 8.5/15 (56.7%).

David Vigorito - 1 year

This is Vigorito's first season, albeit, not a good one with only 1/3 (33.3%), 2 draws and 1 loss. However, there aren't enough games to find a trend.


All time best:

1. Jorge Sammour-Hasbun
2. Denys Shmelov
3. Chris Williams
4. Larry Christiansen
5. Marc Esserman
6. Ilya Krasik
7. Eugene Perelshteyn
8. Charles Riordan

1st Chris Williams

Chris is an alternate this year, and since none of the alternates played, I'm not counting him as a 2nd. In 2007, Chris made his debut with a stellar 6/9 (66.7%) only diminished by his blunder in the finals to Zorigt, letting Dallas win in a blitz tiebreaker.

Well, that's all for now. Watch the Boston Blitz play a rematch against Dallas at the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Room P-G03, 60 Garden St, Cambridge. I am going to be there cheering for the team!

USCL FINALS

Nation, ever since watching the Colbert Report, I've been obsessed with Stephen Colbert's products. His book, his wrist-strong band, even his ice cream "Americone Dream". Here is a video of Colbert's nemesis, the incoming White House Chief of Staff, Rahn Emanuel, roasting him. Click here

Now, I must talk about the

USCL FINALS

First, I must give a tip of my hat to the Boston Blitz, who made it possible for a wanted rematch with the Dallas Destiny after a shaky mid-season. I give a wag of my finger to San Francisco Mechanics Daniel Naroditsky and Vinay Bhat. These two singlehandedly gave Dallas the momentum to beat the Miami Sharks. And finally, I give a tip of my hat to Carolina Cobras, after being ranked as the team to do the worst in the Eastern Division, came to back stab the leading Queens Pioneers and steal 1st place with the help of the unknowing Blitz. Alas, that trickery led Boston to defeat the Cobras in the Eastern Finals, garnering the Division title.

Now Now Now, what should the Blitz do, should they use Christiansen/Perelshteyn/Sammour-Hasbun, Esserman, Krasik? or should they go with the more balanced Christiansen, Shmelov, Riordan, Esserman. The Dallas Destiny are a more balanced team so I would say, don't *cough cough* use Krasik *cough cough*.

Over-Parenting to Freedom with Responsibility

Yesterday, I went to St. Paul’s School (SPS) for a tour, a school that stresses the maxim of “Freedom with Responsibility.” Coincidentally, today I picked up the November 17th issue of the New Yorker and saw an article about over-parenting, a topic that piqued my interest. At first glance, one might ask, “What does over-parenting have to do with the motto of St. Paul’s School?” Well, they are complete… Wait, you want to know what over-parenting is? It’s a pandemic destroying the world’s youth, usually characterized by a lot of extracurricular activities and excessive academic pressure. This disease comes from strict ambitious parents who force their children to do things that they sometimes don’t like. In the later stages, this leads to a lack of independence.

I went for my last school interview at SPS. Standard routine, go on a tour, ask a few questions, and … WHAT, no lights out? So obviously, I sought "Why?!". This is the first school I toured without a lights-out system. The answer lies in their motto, the complete opposite of over- parenting. The school forces students to manage their own lives and well-being, without their parents or too much interference from the teachers. I have to say this is better than over-parenting, as kids actually learn how to deal with real-life problems such as: organizing their schedule, resolving conflicts, etc. Maybe, that’s why some ranked this as the number one high school.

Anyway, why should I care about this? Am I being over-parented? The answer to the latter is no. Although I do a lot of extra-curricular activities, I do them because I enjoy them, not because my parents force me to do them. I care about this topic because I know that I’ll encounter overly obsessive parents in the future. Also, if I grow up and become a parent, it will be important for me, not to over-parent. Is St. Paul’s the school for me? Am I ready for freedom with responsibility? To end with a contemplative quote, “Does the path choose the walker, or does the walker choose the path?”, Garth Nix

Boston wins, New York loses!!!

Well, another regular season come and gone, but now its time for the ...................................................................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................................................................

POST SEASON

Cmon, everyones supposed to be excited. :)

Here are the line ups,

1.	GM Larry Christiansen (2670)	1-0	GM Alex Stripunsky (2601)
2.	IM Dmitry Schneider (2508)	1-0	GM Eugene Perelshteyn (2619)
3.	Marc Esserman (2307)	1/2-1/2	IM Eli Vovsha (2532)
4.	Aleksander Ostrovskiy (2042)	0-1	Ilya Krasik (2144)
	Boston Blitz	2 1/2-1 1/2	Queens Pioneers

The first game to finish was a Christiansen specialty in the Paulsen, and I coincidentally had a lesson with Larry yesterday. He showed me what Stripunsky played. Stripunsky blundered and resigned in a lost position.

Esserman and Vovsha duked it out to a hard fought draw. Tactical skirmishes and team thinking was what happened at the end, as Krasik was already winning. Perpetual ensured.

Krasik was the next to win. I was sure the drama queen would blunder and mess it up by drawing. Queens had draw odds and since Eugene was losing, he had to not blunder. However, he won with surprising ease.

Eugene lost to Dimitri. A well fought game with a shaky exchange sac. The game was a toss away since Boston already won.

On the other hand, Carolina beat New York 3.5-0.5, surprising all of the predictors. Everybody assumed that Carolina got lucky winning the division title and New York was hot off 4 straight wins. Also, the Cobras also have what some might say, the weakest roster.

Well, Congratulations to Boston, and a tip of my hat to Carolina for proving that they are not pushovers.