Primates move on up to U2200 for T40!

Congrats to the guys! You worked hard and it payed off.

- Don's rating improved over 50 points

- Tom's rating improved over 40 points

- Trond's rating improved 90 points!! (wow)

So, despite not making the T39 playoffs, the Primates' ratings improved so much so that it created a a small problem. We have done so well that the team's average is OVER 2000.

We had a couple options: break the team up or move up a section. As we truly have a great team chemistry and want to continue to play together -- now in the rarified air of the U2200 division --- there really was only one choice.

Now the reward for all that hard work is tougher competition. Ooof.

Tournament 40 kicks off on Jan 27, so stay tuned for updates!

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On a different note, I finished Garry Kasparov's "Kasparov v Karpov 1975 - 1985" over Christmas holiday. Great book, highly recommended. Reminded me of the Tal's "Tal-Botvinnik 1960." Both are very readable and games can be enjoyed casually or studied deeply.

Round 6: Primates 3.5 -- Tomato Paste 0.5

The Primates finished up in fine style, winning 3 and drawing one. I took the week off to go travel out of town for Thanksgiving weekend, and Tom stepped up to board 1 for the first time, drawing SonofFlash; while Don, Kristian and Trond all won their games. Well done, Gents.

So we finish up second in the Magnolia Division, but still played pretty solidly throughout. I am planning already for tournament 40, which starts in January. Watch for the Primates!

On one final note: We never did hear back on the protest. Or perhaps in fact we have. Hmmmm.

Also....For an early Christmas present, I picked up Garry Kasparov's "Kasparov v Karpov 1975 - 1985". I am not much for chess books, but I have always considered that rivalry as big as any in sport (if you consider chess a sport, but that is another discussion). I have to say "Kasparov v Karpov 1975 - 1985" is amazing. Wow. No punches pulled and the way he describes not only the variations but the emotions too are top-notch. My goal is to go through this book in the next couple of weeks.

Round 5: Primates v Runners

Here is the belated lineup:
Chiiwen (2069) White -- Campagnolo (2035) Black: Sunday, 23 Nov @ 2100
Martineden (2035) -- Nosalt (1994) 0-1
KarloTurk (1994) -- livis (1944) 1/2 -1/2
chess9397 (1845) -- dnmuscg (1930) 1-0

Please note that chess9397-dnmuscg game is under protest. More to follow after the final game on sunday and result of the protest is determined.

Round 4: Primates 2 -- LeChess Maestros 2

What a weird round this was. In the first game, Tom played an amazing game against Fegary... and drew! Both players were at their best, and the end result was one of the best games I have seen in this league. Then it was my turn and I played Chessduke (I had Black). We went into a rather innocuous line, where I have not lost in tournament play. I knew the entire line all the way to move 16, where Chessduke offered a draw. I accepted. You could call it my "Grandmaster Draw"; I think I have 2 of those in this tournament.

Then bizarro things started to happen. Nosferatu1 showed up an hour late for his game -- and forfeited. Then the very next day, Don's opponent also was a no-show and forfeited. End result: match tied 2-2. Looking back at the match -- 2 draws and 2 forfeits.

Round 5 (the next round) against the Runners arguably is going to the critical round. We are tied with LeChess Maestros and the Runners in match points, but behind a half point in total games won to the Maestros and ahead a half a point in total games won to the Runners. This is a very competitive division and every game now counts -- no grandmaster draws!

One final note: I have noticed an amazing amount of forfeits in tournament #39. Not sure what the cure for that problem is, but I would be interested in seeing some statistics on it.

Round 3: Runners 3 -- Primates 1

It was bound to happen. After 10 rounds of being undefeated, we finally succumbed to the inevitable and lost a round. I knew we were in for a tough fight when Tom, cruising in a superior position, overlooked a pin and hung a rook. Then Kristian fought hard, but went down swinging in a Rook and Pawn endgame. I was the third game to play, and at this point I had to win even to give us a chance to split the match. But it was not to be, as my erstwhile opponent deftly played the Black side of a Maroczy Bind and I could not make a dent into his defensive formation and we drew. As it turned out Trond also drew the final game, and we were left on the short side of a 3-1 decision.

Round 4: Primates v LeChess Maestros
Now we face arguably our biggest match in this tournament as we face LeChess Maestros for the second time, with whom we are tied with 2 of 3 match points but trail them by 1 game point.

Here is the line up:
Chessduke (2108) White -- Campagnolo (2035) Black : Time TBD
Fegary (2038) Black -- Nosalt (1994) White: Friday, Nov 14 @ 09:15
Smitty120 (1936) White -- Dnmuscg (1930) Black: Monday, Nov 17 @ 15:00
Chessateer (1833) Black -- Nosferatu1 (1876) White: Sunday, Nov 16 @ 12:00

Chessduke and I are still trying to work out the times as he resides in India with a 10.5 hour time difference.

Round 3: Primates v Runners

Here are the Round 3 pairings. Don is taking the week off and Trond is filling in. I think we match up pretty well on paper, let's see how it goes over the board (as it were).

Campagnolo (2035) White - Chiiwen (2069) Black: Sat 8 Nov @ 2100
Nosalt (1994) Black - Martineden (2035) White: Sat 8 Nov @ 1000
Livis (1944) White - KarloTurk (1994) Black: Fri 7 Nov @ 1500
Holm (1899) Black - Chess9793 (1781) White: Tues 11 Nov @ 1230

All times are Eastern Standard Time. Once Tom & Trond get their times posted, I will update.

Primates 3 - LeChess Maestros 1

Despite Tom posting a early loss, we reeled off 2 wins plus Don's opponent forfeiting, giving us the match 3-1. Of note, Don is now 7-0-0 (1 forfeit included). Pretty incredible. My match was the last one to be played, while we were up 2-1, so the least we could do was tie the match. But here I was, tell me what you would do here. Would you sac? Would you risk it all?

Well, not yet.

11.Bf4 Qd8 (pretty much forced)

But after this I decided to go for it:

12.Nxf7!? Rxf7

- 12...Kxf7 13.Rxe6 Ke8 14.Qd2 b4 15.Rxe7+ Qxe7 (15...Kxe7 16.Qe3+ Kd7 17.Qe6#) 16.Re1

13.Bxe6 b4 14.Ne2 Bd5 15.Bxf7+ Bxf7 16.Qd3 Bd6 17.c4 Bxf4 18.Nxf4 Qd6

19.Ne2 Nc6 20.b3

- 20.Rad1 Bg6 21.Qg3 Re8 22.Qxd6=

20...Bg6 21.Qg3 Qxg3

- 21...Nxd4 22.Nxd4 Qxd4 23.Qxc7 Ng4 24.Qg3 Rf8 25.Rad1 Qxf2+ 26.Qxf2 Nxf2 27.Rd6 a5 28.Rd5 Ne4 29.Rxa5+/=

22.hxg3 Re8 23.d5 Ne5 24.Nf4 Bf7 25.Rad1 g5 26.Ne6 Bxe6 27.Rxe5

- 27.dxe6! Might be better but he doesn't have to take

27...Bg4 28.Rxg5+ Kf7 29.f3 Bh5

- 29...h6! 30.Rxg4 Nxg4 31.fxg4 Re2 32.Rf1+ Kg6 33.Rf2 is a pretty tough win for me

Now this is a matter of technique: 30.d6 cxd6 31.Rxd6 Re6 32.Rxe6 Kxe6 33.Ra5 Bg6 34.Rxa6+ Ke7 35.Rb6 Bb1 36.Rxb4 Bxa2 37.Kf2 Nd7 38.Rb5 Kd6 39.Ke3 Nc5 40.b4 Nd7 41.Kd4 Bb1 42.Rd5+ Ke6 43.c5 Bc2 44.Rd6+ Ke7 45.b5 Ba4 46.b6 Nb8 47.Rh6 Black resigns 1-0