Round 2: Primates v LeChess Maestros

Sorry to be late on the posting for Round 2:
Here is the line up
Campagnolo (2035) White - Chessduke (2108) Black: Time Still TBD
Nosalt - Fegary 0-1
Livis (1944) White - Smitty120 (1936) Black: Friday, Oct 31 @ 1600
Dnmuscg - Chessateer 1-0 (forfeit)

Primates 3.5 – Tomato Paste 0.5

Round 1 went well, with Tom, Don & Kristian all triumphiant while I drew on board 1 in an interesting endgame. I frankly was pretty closed to being busted, in a game that my only hopes lay in pushing for a Rook and Pawn endgame – which in fact happened.

Here is what happened next:

I have managed to force myself back into the game and now am up a rook for 2 pawns. White offered a draw and I accepted, not being sure if in fact I could stop that h pawn, especially with my king so far out of play.

Here is some analysis, which confirms my suspicions

56...Rf5 57.Kh6
This is pretty much forced (and what I expected to play). All other moves lose

- 57.h6 Rg5 58.b5 Rxg3 59.b6 Rg6 (59...f5?? throws the game away 60.b7 Rb3 61.Kg6 f4 62.h7 Rb6+ 63.Kf5 f3) 60.b7 Rb6 61.Kg7 Rxb7 62.Kf6 Rb6+ 63.Kxf7 Rxh6

57...f6
- 57...Rb5 (This doesn't work) 58.g4 Rxb4 59.Kg7 (59.g5 Rg4 60.g6 f5 61.Kg7 f4 62.h6 f3 63.h7 f2 64.h8Q f1Q 65.Qh5 Qe2–+) 59...Rxg4+ 60.Kxf7 Rh4 61.Kg6 Rg4+ 62.Kf7 Rh4 63.Kg6 Ke2 64.h6 Kf3 65.h7=]

58.Kg6 Rg5+ 59.Kxf6 Rxh5
- 59...Rxg3 (This doesn't work either) 60.h6 Rh3 61.Kg7 Rg3+ 62.Kf7 Rh3=

60.g4 Rb5 61.g5 Rxb4 62.g6 Rb6+ 63.Kf7 Ke2 64.g7 Rb8= ½–½

Round 1: Primates take on Tomato Paste

Here is the line up for Round 1:

SonofFlash (2200) White – Campagnolo (2035) Black: Friday, 24 Oct @ 2000
DFME (2000) Black – Nosalt (1994) White: 0-1
MrKarma (1651) White – livis (1944) Black: Friday, 24 Oct @ 1700
Cory (1521) Black – dnmuscg (1930) White: Friday, 24 Oct @ 1945

Tomato looks tough on the upper boards, but Tom posted an early, impressive win yesterday – a great start to our season. The rest of our games will be going on this evening, conceivably all three could be going on at the same time if Kristian’s game goes long.

Also, Kudos to Mutaant, the Magnolia Division TD, who promptly fixed a glitch in Tom’s game score. Thanks!

Of note, I did sign up to play for the Peons U2200, so I have that game at 0500 Sunday morning!!! Yikes, but the family plans on going to Busch Gardens after Church, so I have to wedge the game somehow. I guess I will sleep while the wife drives.

I’ll post the results probably Saturday.

Return of the Primates!!!

Tournament #39 has begun. We have assembled the “Primates of the Caribbean” together once again, with all five players returning and the addition of Kristian (aka “Livis”). Trond wanted to stay on the team, but because of work commitments, wanted to play more in a reserve role vice playing every week. All in all, I think the team has good chemistry (if there can be such a thing as chemistry when the team play is all online), especially given that Don, Tom and I play on the same team at US Amateur Team East every year and have known each other for years and years. I also was asked to play as a sub for the U2200 division team “The Peons”, so hopefully I will get some more good games in. I am slated to play 2 games with them, which I think I can handle without too much difficulty.

Getting back to the ICC Team 45 45 Tournament #39, we are seeded in the U2000 Magnolia Division with the following teams: “Tomato Paste”, “Runners U2000” and “LeChess Maestros”. First round kicks off next Tues, October 21st. Once the lineup and game times are announced, I will post them.

Playoff Round 1: Primates 2 - The Peons 2

Well, I have to say I am a bit disappointed -- not sure why exactly. We drew the match with the Peons 2-2, but lost out on tiebreaks, which ironically was the number forfeited games you had. We had 2, Peons had 1 -- so they advance. I am kinda scratching my head here: we didn't lose a single match all season and had the best record, and yet here we are spectators -- without losing a match.

And I feel guilty. Here is why:
1. I play my match against Nfork, who has me outrated by 200+ points. But I have white, so can dictate the position. We go into the famous IQP position played a billion times before that have arisen from Queen's Gambits, Nimzoindians and Caro-Kanns. It turns in to a very interesting R & opposite colored bishop ending, which we draw. But the thing is, in looking back over the game, I think I should have pushed for the win, which would have clinched the match. It was probably a draw, but then again perhaps not. OBTW, I will post it (I know, I have at least 3 games I need to post).
2. So we are up 2 - 1 with 1 game to go: Holm's game. I leave him a message that all we need is a draw. He ends up losing (and to add insult to injury it is the Game of the Week -- which I do not think it was. Don had a pretty ending that I think merited the honors). Did I influence Holm, which cost him the game?

Oh well, our entire team is coming back for T39. We should be tough!!!!!

Round 6: Primates 2.5 - Knightmares 1.5

We finished the season is good shape, beating the Knightmares 2.5 - 1.5, which was not as close as the score would indicate (no offense intended to our opponents). Nosalt took the week off to play in a REAL chess tournament (gasp!), but dnmuscg & I both posted early wins, the Holm clinched the victory with a draw v his opponent, who was 100 points above him. So the match was already won before the last game was to be played, which was fortunate as Nosferatu1 got his dates mixed up and missed this game.

So, we finish up with the best match record 5.5 out of 6, best in the U2000 division. We also had the best game points with 16.5 out of maximum total of 24. We lost a total of 3 games for the entire season (not including my forfeit or Nosferatu1's). Pretty impressive. Dnmusg went 4-0, Holm went 4.5 of 5, and Nosferatu1 had 2 wins and 2 draws. There is no doubt that our middle/lower boards did the heavy lifting and is the strength of the team.

Next stop -- Playoffs as the #1 seed!

Round 5: Primates of the Caribbean 3.5 -- Team Voja 0.5

Well, we clinched the U2000 Maple Division with a round to go with a well played round across all four boards, with only Tom giving up a draw after winning a pawn on move 7. With Don taking the week off, we were matched up rating-wise pretty closely with Team Voja and the final score doesn't indicate how close some of the games were. On a personal note, I finally won a game, defeating Cappelo-upgrate in a variation that I actually had studied quite a bit and played a similar game back in December 2007 -- unluckily for Cappelo, who probably was wondering what hit him. As it is my first win in 5 rounds, I will definitely publish it (I still owe the game from round 4).

We go into Round 6 with Tom taking the week off as he is playing in a 3 day tournament this weekend. And the first result is already in, with Don winning (again! I think he is 4-0-0). Here is the lineup. Once I get Nosferaut1's scheduled game time, I'll post that:

Campagnolo (2043) White - Kinghunter08 (2172) Black: Monday Sep 1 @ 1900

Holm (1900) Black - DFME (2000) White: Monday Sep @ 1500

dnmuscg (1891) 1 - Ehab (1837) 0

Nosferatu1 (1835) Black - Ernie1 (1669) White: TBD