Cool and Quiet

It’s the Blaze Game of the Week—just not this week

IM Angelo Young sent me these annotations to his September 16 victory against FM Todd Andrews of the Tennessee Tempo some time ago, and now, in keeping with my well-deserved reputation for promptness, I present them to you. I’ll spare you my excuses for the unseemly delay because Blaze fans don’t deserve excuses. Besides, we’re playing Tennessee again this week, so it's fitting to show you a game from our last match against them. Let’s get to the game, shall we?

Click here to punch through the game in PGN format.

IM YOUNG, A - FM ANDREWS,T [A49]
U.S. CHESS LEAGUE, 2009
Annotations by Angelo Young

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.g3. King's indian g3 system. one of my fav. against King's Indian Defense.

3...Bg7 4.Bg2 0-0 5.0-0 d6 6.Re1!? Interesting! First to deviate from normal... [ 6.c4 c6 7.Nc3 Qa5 8.e4 Qh5 9.Ng5 Qxd1 10.Rxd1 IM Young - GM Zapata, Miami 1/2-1/2]

6...Nc6 7.d5

7...Na5 8.Nd4. Took me 15 minutes for this move, looking at possible ... [8.b4 Nc4 9.Nd4 e5 10.Nb3 e4-/+]

8...e5 9.Nb3 Nxb3 10.axb3. I'm hoping for (c4, b4, Nc3, c5, e4, h3, Be3) to be played.

10...Nh5. As I expected Todd will not sit around and wait.

11.e4. Gaining space and stopping f5 for the meantime.

11...Qe8 12.Bf3 f5. I thought its not possible, but I missed:

13.Nc3. [13.exf5 Bxf5 14.g4 Bxc2-+]

13...f4. Now I'm beginning to look for some counter play.

14.Bg4. And to my suprise my opponent played:

14...f3?? [14...Bxg4 15.Qxg4 Qf7 Not bad for Black.]


15.Bxf3 Qf7 16.Kg2! [16.Re3 Bh3 17.Rd3 Nf6 still good for White, I dont know what black was
thinking when he sac'ed a pawn.]

16...Qd7 17.Be3 Nf6 18.Kg1. As the saying goes "One pawn is enough to win"

18...h5 19.Bg2. Cool and quiet!!

19...Ng4 20.h3 Nxe3 21.Rxe3 Bh6 22.Rf3. Keeping the game simple

22...Rxf3 23.Qxf3 Qe7 24.Nb5 c6 25.Rxa7! Gaining another pawn.

25...Rxa7 26.Nxa7 Bd7 27.dxc6 bxc6 28.Qc3 Qe8 29.Qb4 Qa8 30.Qb6 Kf7 31.Qc7 Ke7 32.h4 Ke8 33.Bf1.


I was tempted to play but with a little low on time I stay away from any complication. [33.Qxd6 Qxa7 (33...Bg7 34.Qxg6+ Kf8 35.Qd6+ Ke8) 34.Qxg6+ Kd8 35.Qxh6]

33...Bf8 34.Ba6 Qd8 35.Qb7 Qa5. A little scary Qe1+ and Bh3

36.Qb8+ Kf7 37.Bc4+ d5 38.Qb7 Ke8 39.Nxc6 Qe1+ 40.Bf1 Bd6. [40...Bh3 41.Qa8+ Kf7 42.Nxe5+ Kg7 43.Qb7+ Kh8 44.Nxg6+ Kg8 45.Qb5]

41.Qa8+ Kf7 42.Nd8+ Ke7 43.Qxd5 Bh3 44.Nc6+ Ke8 45.Qb5 Bd7 46.Qc4 Kf8 47.Qd5 Black can't avoid losing a piece so he resigned 1-0.

Click here to punch through the game in PGN format.

The Blaze Ignite

Chicago finally gets on the board with a 2.5-1.5 victory over Tennessee


Photos: Daniel Parmet

It’s good to win. That was the sentiment at the Holiday Inn Skokie last night as the Chicago Blaze finally posted their first victory of the 2009 season, beating the Tennessee Tempo 2.5-1.5 and breaking a five-match losing streak that extended to the end of last season.

As might be expected, it was the ever-reliable IM Angelo Young, still undefeated in USCL play, who hit the Volunteer State crew first, with a victory over FM Todd Andrews to spur his teammates and even the score, after FM Florin Felecan, with the Black pieces and a near-impossible match-up against Jaan Ehlvest on Board 1, had fallen to his super-GM opponent.

That left IM Mehmed Pasalic on Board 3, and NM Jon Burgess, Board 4, with the burden of determining the outcome of the match. Both games looked iffy, and a somber mood momentarily descended on the venue until both players rallied, Mehmed to victory over FM Peter Bereolos and Jon to hold FM John Bick to a draw.

Here are the games:

1. GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs FM Florin Felecan (CHC) 1-0

2. IM Angelo Young (CHC) vs FM Todd Andrews (TEN) 1-0

3. FM Peter Bereolos (TEN) vs IM Mehmed Pasalic (CHC) 0-1

4. NM Jon Burgess (CHC) vs FM John Bick (TEN) 1/2-1/2

Tennessee was one of the weaker teams in the league last year, but with Ehlvest and former U.S. Champion GM Alexander Shabalov now playing for the Nashville cats, they started this season strong and, as the USCL site put it, look like “a different team” this year. Last night’s match was their first defeat of the season. It came harder, and is in some ways more satisfying, than the two Blaze victories over the Tempo last year.

Special thanks to Larry Cohen, who served as our Celebrity Tournament Director for the evening’s match. Kudos also to Blaze Assistant Manager Daniel Parmet, who ran the match superbly in the absence of Manager Glenn Panner.

It’s a short week, and there won’t be much time to celebrate. We come back and play the mighty San Francisco Mechanics on Monday. Tune in to the Internet Chess Club, or watch the live coverage by Chicago’s Midway Chess Club.

Blaze Slip Past Tennessee

We beat the Tempo, just not as resoundingly as last time

Ilan Meerovich (above) made a triumphant return to the Blaze lineup. IM Jan Van De Mortel (below) beat FM Todd Andrews for the second time this year.

It was a different kind of match from the last time the two teams met, but the result that mattered was the same, as the Chicago Blaze defeated the Tennessee Tempo last night for the second time this season.

The Tempo, which had definitely retooled since the 4-0 drubbing they took at the hands of the Blaze in Week 3, this time inflicted some damage in the match, which ended 2.5-1.5 in Chicago’s favor.

Meerovich Returns
The evening saw the triumphant return to the Blaze lineup of Niles North High School chess star Ilan Meerovich, who beat FM Jerry Wheeler on Board 4, giving Ilan a 2-0 record on the season.

The other Blaze victory came from IM Jan Van De Mortel, who beat the Tempo’s FM Todd Andrews, just as he had in the first match. This time, however, Tennessee got in some licks. IM Ron Burnett avenged his earlier loss to Chicago’s GM Nikola Mitkov by beating him this time on Board 1; and FM Peter Bereolos, who lost to IM Angelo Young in the team’s previous encounter, this time managed to eke out a draw against IM-elect Mehmed Pasalic.

Playoff Picture Improves
The victory gives the Blaze a 4-3 record in seven matches and lifts the team over the .500 mark for the first time in its young history. It certainly boosts our playoff chances with three weeks left in the regular season, though just how much it helps will become clearer after the rest of the leagues plays on Wednesday night. More on this later.

Many thanks to Tom Sprandel of the Evanston Chess Club, who served as tournament director for last night’s match. Here are the games, by board number:

1. IM Ron Burnett (TEN) vs GM Nikola Mitkov (CHC) 1-0
2. IM Jan van de Mortel (CHC) vs FM Todd Andrews (TEN) 1-0
3. FM Peter Bereolos (TEN) vs Mehmed Pasalic (CHC) 1/2-1/2
4. Ilan Meerovich (CHC) vs FM Jerry Wheeler (TEN) 1-0

How to Play the Dragon

Today, in an effort to put this week's defeat behind us, we turn back the clock, once again to flog our glorious victory against the Tennessee Tempo in Week 3.

But seriously, folks, you’re in for a treat, because IM Jan Van De Mortel has annotated his victory over FM Todd Andrews and done so in delightful and extensive form. It was one very exciting game and got some votes for USCL Game of the Week. Jan has known Todd for a long time and obviously has great respect for him. He writes:

“I first met Todd in Groningen, the Netherlands, in 1999, where he was part of a group of American youngsters (including USCL President Greg Shahade) trying their luck on the European chess scene. Most of my time during this two-week tournament was spend with the American squad, as I was rooming with Aviv Friedman (who will soon lead the US World Youth Team as coach in Vietnam). I vividly remember that after one of my opponents (who later went on to claim the FIDE World Championship) showed a mean streak in time trouble, surviving a lost position, Todd offered to 'educate' the grandmaster on ethics. I declined his gracious offer, and politely took care of that job myself.”

Click here to see the game and Jan’s analysis.

photo: (c) Betsy Dynako