Catching up on Rounds 1 & 2; Looking ahead to Round 3

Due to a late schedule, Curt finished up his round 1 match in the second week (which is entirely legal) with a victory and providing us with the match draw against the Runners in the U2000 Division. His was a nice win when we needed it in the clutch.

In the Round 2 match, Justin had the Grandmaster Draw of grandmaster draws, when his opponent, who has white and was rated higher over 200 points, offered a draw at move 1. Tom and I subsequently drew our games, only Don lost. We lost a close match 2.5-1.5, despite all for of our boards being heavily outrated. We now trail in second place in the U2200 Everest Division, a match point adrift.

In the U2000 Division, the other Bob pulled out a tough draw as black to secure the match victory against the team “Mistaken Identity” 2.5-1.5. As a result, after 2 rounds we sit atop the leader board in the U2000 Magnolia Division in what looks to be a highly competitive division. Not bad.

This week is going to be interesting as Don, Tom & I all head off to play in the US Amateur Team East. For those who have never played in the USATE, it is a unique, wonderful experience where players range from the Grandmaster to the brand new school kid learning to play. I am hoping that all the hard work that Don, Tom & I have put into studying and playing in the 45 45 league pays off in our OTB games.

Finally, here are the line ups for Round 3:

“Primates” v “To be determined”
TheChessKid (2137) v Easycure (2332): TBD
Campagnolo (2097) v Blade (2163): Tuesday, 17 Feb @ 1500
Nosalt (2047) v Slimedog2 (2142): Wednesday, 18 Feb @ 2000
Dnmuscg (2002) v Ser-Enigma (2119): Tuesday, 17 Feb @ 1400

“Lower Primates” v “Long Live the King”
Nosalt (2047) v trophyking (2313): Thursday, 19 Feb @ 1900
Dnmuscg (2002) v Alexdb (2005): Friday, 13 Feb @ 2100
Ivanson (1788) v Wheels (1870): Monday, 16 Feb @ 1600
Budzo (1676) v Fuzzie (1777): Saturday, 14 Feb @ 1000

Round 2: Here we go!

Primates v Les Goolie Crushers

After 1 round, we sit atop the Everest Division, but now have to face some serious competition where all four boards are higher rated than we are (once again, Justin has it worst at an ~180 point difference). Here are the pairings, only Don has played his match so far:

Les Goolie Crushers v Primates of the Caribbean

Pandorasbox (2309) v TheChessKid (2137): TBD
Izit (2184) v Campagnolo (2097): TBD
Kingcapture (2181) v nosalt (2047): TBD
Jonesey (2060) v dnmuscg (2002): 1-0



On the Lower Primate side of the house, round 2 has us matched against “Mistaken Identity”, where I think we match up pretty well. Curt still has his round 1 game to play, so he has the bye. Don and Tom played yesterday (Thursday), with both coming away victorious. Here are the match ups:

Lower Primates of the Caribbean v Mistaken Identity

Campagnolo (2097) v Folgers (2115): Saturday, 7 Feb 2100
nosalt (2047) v BigTweeds (2050): 1-0
dnmuscg (2002) v MeanMrMustard (1925): 1-0
Budzo (1676) v azbycx (1827): TBD

Results from Round 1

I think the theme of Round 1 is “endgame”. Ironically in the 45 45 League, I am sure that opening preparation plays an important role in the game, and obviously positional and tactical themes run rampant, but as I watched some of our team’s games, I saw a common theme of endgames impact. I think the major difference is that you can recover from bad positional play, or poor opening preparation or even missed tactics, but endgame play is technique which will directly cause a win/draw/loss. I have studied endgames a bit (nowhere near enough, but I do feel pretty comfortable). I am not an endgame expert, but I do play one on TV. For those who want the greatest return on an investment (meaning you don’t want to spend too much time on endgames), my first recommended book is Glenn Flear’s Improve Your Endgame Play. It is only 160 pages and you can plow right through it. You’ll get the basics, just play Fritz in some of the test positions and Bingo! My other recommendation if you have more time is Jeremy Silman’s Complete Endgame Course. Jeremy’s book is much longer and it is divided into what to know at whatever your rating/expertise is vice thematically like Glenn’s.

OK getting back to Round 1
Primates victorious over “Los Zetas”
Primates 2.5 v Los Zetas 1.5
Don cruised (Don usually makes it look easy), Tom lost, I had a good game, but Justin had THE game of the match, playing a FIDE Master 200+ points higher rated with the white side of a Dragon. It was a very interesting game to watch (Dragons usually are) and it quickly got very messy, with both players missing subtle tactics. It ended as a draw, with Justin up a rook for 3 pawns (I cannot fault him as I ironically also had a draw with a rook v 3 pawns). Besides the draw secured the match and our first victory in the U2200 League. Congrats, Justin! Not bad for your first match.


Lower Primates 1 – Runners 2
With Curt’s game yet to play, we trail the Runners 2 – 1, with Tom and Don both drawing and Bob getting into time pressure and missing a tactic which undid his position. To Bob’s credit, he hung tougher than I probably would have after dropping the pawn, as his position quickly deteriorated. He almost recovered enough to get to a playable Rook & Pawn endgame. Don played magician and wiggled out of a near dead lost endgame, sacrificing his bishop for his opponent’s last 2 pawns, leaving the poor guy alone with a knight. Don, in his typical humorous fashion, told me after the game, “I don’t think my opponent knows how to mate me with his knight.” Tom also drew, after suffering for most of the game, then getting to a King & Pawn ending where he at one point could have pulled out the victory. His position was study-like in nature (If I have time, I will post it). But in the end, Tom got a Queen & Pawn v Queen & Pawn dead drawn ending.

Good luck to Curt, who plays Friday @ 3:00 PM ICC server time.

Probably Wed I will post Round 2’s pairings.

And it begins – Round 1!

Round 1 kicks off with the Primates squaring off with “Los Zetas”. With the exception of Justin, who is outrated by close to 200 points, I think we match up quite well. Here is the lineup (of note, Don & my games are already scheduled for Friday)

Primates of the Caribbean v Los Zetas:

TheChessKid (2137) v Gringo (2313) : TBD
Campagnolo (2097) v GeofDev (2080) : Friday, Jan 30 @ 21:00
nosalt (2047) v SlowDragon (1950) : TBD
dnmuscg (2002) v Tiesto (1725): Friday, Jan 30 @ 10:00

As for the Lower Primates, I selected myself to take the week off (I am trying to “ease” back into the swing of things). We kick off with a grudge match v. the “Runners U2000”, whom we played twice last tournament. The Other Bob (or is Bob “the real Bob” and I am “the other Bob”? Not sure yet on that issue!) and Curt debut for the Lower Primates on Boards 3 & 4. Here is the schedule:

Lower Primates of the Caribbean v Runners U2000
nosalt (2047) v chiiwen (2002) : TBD
dnmuscg (2002) v martineden (1963): Monday, Feb 2 @ 10:00
KarloTurk (1914) v Ivanson: TBD
chess9397 (1805) v Budzo (1676): Monday, Feb 2 @ 19:30

I will update the match times once I they are posted.

TheChessKid joins the Primates

Justin (aka "TheChessKid"), who happens to be a friend of Tom's and from the same town, has agreed to play as Board 1 for the Primates. Welcome to the team, Justin! So we now have 6 players, which to some might seem too many, but Trond is planning on serving as an alternate (he was quite happy to play 2 games in Tourn 39, so he will plan to play about the same this time). Also, Tom, Don and I will be going to Amateur Team East to defend our title in Feb and will need some deserved rest before, during and after. It will be interesting to see how we fare against the unquestionably tougher competition that the top section is sure to offer.

So the lineup is:
- Justin (TheChessKid- 2137)
- Me (Campagnolo - 2097)
- Tom (Nosalt - 2047)
- Don (dnmuscg - 2002)
- Trond (Holm - 1998)
- Kristian (livis - 1956)

Our team average is 2070.75, which is on the low side for the section, but we are good with that. Wish us luck!


And if we weren't gluttons for enough punishment, on a whim Don, Tom & I formed another 45 45 team for the U2000 section, the team being aptly named "Lower Primates o the Caribbean" (I couldn't fit the "f" in the word "of" in the title due to our name having too many letters). So "Lower Primates" we shall be!

For those who think us completely crazy, I would contend that:
1. I truly enjoy this format -- especially the team aspect, which gives me the motivation to do my best for the team
2. One game a week is perfect. As I do not play enough over the board tournament chess, this will reduce the amount of "rust" I usually suffer from
3. As a result of joining the league I play less speed chess, which is addictive but really doesn't do anything positive for your game (and can be very frustrating).
4. I think it has improved my game

One final note: It looks like Gary and I are going to go to play in the Guernsey International tournament in October. I have wanted to play overseas for some time (England or Ireland would have been perfect), but Guernsey is close enough. More to follow on that adventure as it gets closer!

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.