Kings Lose, Francisco Wins Again

The Atlanta Kings went down to the Rio Grande Ospreys in USCL action last night. Heavily outgunned on the top two boards and having to play with only 66 minutes, versus 84 for the Pandion haliaetus, or Fish Hawks, whichever you prefer, because of a last minute lineup change that did not benefit Atlanta rating wise, the Kings almost drew the match when, down 1-2, Lawrence White, playing his first game for the Kings, managed to get a Rook, Bishop, and Knight into his opponents position with mating chances, while down three pawns! Unfortunately for the Kings the game ended in a draw by repetition.

This leaves the Kings tied for fifth in the Southern Division, but only a half game behind Baltimore and Connecticut. Wonder if one can order grits in the land of the Dreadnoughts? The regular season ends next week with the Kings facing the Sharks of Miami, while the Dreadnoughts face off against the Kingfishers. Baltimore should have spelled their name, “Kingfischers.” Although tied with Atlanta with a score of 3 1/2-5 1/2, the Cobras have been eliminated from the playoffs while the Kings are still alive. I have no idea why…

The Frisco Kid has now scored 6 1/2 out of 8 and is tied for fourth place in the USCL with 17 1/2 points. I have no idea how the USCL point system works. His PR is a Grandmasterly 2522.

Francisco, Richard (2382) – Guerrero, Alejandra WIM (2110) [C02]
USCL Week 9 Internet Chess Club, 22.10.2014

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Bd7 6.Be2 f6 7.0-0 fxe5 8.dxe5 Qc7 9.Re1 g6 10.Na3 a6 11.Bf4 Bg7 12.Qd2 Nge7 13.Bd3 0-0 14.Rad1 b5 15.Bb1 Rad8 16.h4 d4 17.cxd4 cxd4 18.Bg5 Bc8 19.Rc1 Bb7 20.Be4 Rc8 21.Nxd4 Qxe5 22.Nxc6 Nxc6 23.Bxc6 Qxb2 24.Qxb2 Bxb2 25.Bxb7 Rb8 26.Rc7 Bxa3 27.Rxe6 Rf7 28.Rxf7 Kxf7 29.Bd5 Kg7 30.Rxa6 Bc5 31.Rc6 1-0

Serna, Jeffrey (2074) – White, Lawrence (2179) [B90]
USCL Week 9 Internet Chess Club, 22.10.2014

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e5 7.Nf3 Qc7 8.a4 b6 9.Bg5 Nbd7 10.Nd2 Bb7 11.Bc4 h6 12.Bxf6 Nxf6 13.Qe2 Be7 14.0-0 0-0 15.Rfd1 Rfd8 16.Nf1 Bf8 17.Nd5 Bxd5 18.Bxd5 Ra7 19.Ne3 Rc8 20.c3 Qb8 21.Nc2 Rc5 22.Nb4 Qc8 23.Bb3 a5 24.Nd3 Rcc7 25.Ne1 Qa8 26.Bd5 Qe8 27.Nc2 Rc5 28.Ne3 Qb8 29.Qd3 Qc8 30.Bb3 Nh5 31.g3 Qd8 32.Nc4 Rd7 33.Na3 Qg5 34.Qf3 Nf6 35.Nb5 Qg6 36.Re1 Nh7 37.h4 Nf6 38.Rad1 Qg4 39.Qxg4 Nxg4 40.f3 Nf6 41.Rd3 h5 42.Red1 Rc6 43.Bd5 Rc8 44.Na3 g6 45.Bc4 d5 46.Bb5 Rdd8 47.Nc2 d4 48.R3d2 Bh6 49.Rd3 Rf8 50.Na3 Rc5 51.Nc4 Rb8 52.cxd4 exd4 53.Rxd4 Rbc8 54.e5 Nh7 55.Rd8+ Nf8 56.Rxc8 Rxc8 57.f4 Ne6 58.Nxb6 Rc7 59.Nc4 Bf8 60.Nxa5 Rc2 61.Nc4 Bc5+ 62.Kh1 Nd4 63.Rd2 Rc1+ 64.Kg2 Nf5 65.Nd6 Rg1+ 66.Kh2 Nh6 67.Ne4 Ng4+ 68.Kh3 Be3 69.Re2 Rh1+ 70.Kg2 Rg1+ 71.Kh3 Rh1+ 72.Kg2 Rg1+ 73.Kf3 Rf1+ 74.Kg2 Rg1+ 1/2-1/2

St. Louis Leaves Atlanta Singing the Blues

The St. Louis Arch Bishops defeated the Atlanta Kings by a score of 3-1 in USCL action last night. Richard Francisco scored the Kings lone point with a win over FM Doug Eckert on board three. St. Louis was led by the $100,000 chess man, GM Wesley So, playing only a couple of nights after winning the Millionaire Open, who defeated GM Alonso Zapata on first board. GM Ben Finegold, with the Black pieces, defeated FM Daniel Gurevich. NM Matthew Larson also won with the Black pieces, besting the Kings NM Leo Martinez on fourth board.
Statistics on the Southeast Chess website show the Arch Bishops with an average rating of 2469, which is 69 points over the 2400 limit. How is this possible? I cannot explain this anomaly. If anyone can explain why one side is allowed to field a team 69 points over the limit, please leave a comment, or email me at: xpertchesslessons@yahoo.com.

Week 8: St. Louis Arch Bishops (STL 2469) vs Atlanta Kings (ATL 2399)
Wednesday, October 15, 8:00pm
1. GM Wesley So (STL 2751) – GM Alonso Zapata (ATL 2555) 1-0
2. FM Daniel Gurevich (ATL 2393) – GM Ben Finegold (STL 2591) 0-1
3. FM Doug Eckert (STL 2281) – Richard Francisco (ATL 2382) 0-1
4. Leo Martinez (ATL 2266) – Matthew Larson (STL 2251) 0-1
​St. Louis Wins 3-1 (http://www.southeastchess.com/atlanta-kings.html)

The Frisco Kid has now scored 5 1/2 out of 7 games and has a 2532 performance rating.

Eckert,Doug (2281) – Francisco,Richard (2382) [A15]
USCL Week 8 Internet Chess Club, 15.10.2014

1.c4 Nf6 2.g3 e5 3.Bg2 c6 4.d4 exd4 5.Qxd4 d5 6.cxd5 cxd5 7.Nf3 Nc6 8.Qd1 Be7 9.0-0 0-0 10.Nbd2 Re8 11.Nb3 Ne4 12.Be3 Bf6 13.Nbd4 Bg4 14.Rc1 Rc8 15.Qa4 Qd7 16.Nxc6 bxc6 17.Bd4 c5 18.Qxd7 Bxd7 19.Bxf6 Nxf6 20.e3 Bf5 21.Rfd1 Red8 22.Ne5 c4 23.g4 Nxg4 24.Nxg4 Bxg4 25.Rxd5 Be6 26.Rxd8+ Rxd8 27.Bf1 Rc8 28.Rc3 Kf8 29.b3 cxb3 30.Rxc8+ Bxc8 31.axb3 Ke7 32.Bd3 a5 33.Bc4 f6 34.Kf1 Kd6 35.Ke2 Kc5 36.Kd3 Kb4 37.f3 g5 38.Kd4 Bh3 39.Bg8 h5 40.Ke4 Kc3 41.Bf7 h4 42.f4 g4 43.Be6 Bg2+ 44.Kf5 g3 45.hxg3 h3 0-1
The Kings are in third place in the Southern division, with a record of 3 1/2-4 1/2, two points behind the Archies, but only one point behind the Sharks of Miami. Next week the Sharks face-off with the Dallas Destiny, while the Kings battle the Rio Grande Ospreys in the penultimate round of the regular season. The finale has the Kings facing the Sharks, a match which could determine a spot in the playoffs.

Daughter Maitland – St. Louis Blues (Boardwalk Empire)

US Masters: All Over But The Shouting

The grueling ordeal that is the US Masters came to an end last night with GM Bartlomiej Macieja alone in first place at +6 while winning $5000. GM Yaroslav Zherebukh in second place at +5 and took home $3000. Six players tied for third at +4. They each won $850. If you think this a tremendous disparity between first and third, the winner of the ongoing Sinquefield Cup will win $100,000. It pays to be at the top.
GM Alonso Zapata drew with Damir Studen in the last round with both finishing with a +1 score of 5-4. Damir took home $114.29 as second U2300 while the GM went home empty-handed.

Michael Corallo drew his last game with Vladimir Romankenko to also finish at +1 and also won $114.29. IM Carlos Perdomo also finished with a +1 score, but took home only $75 after his last round draw with Nicolas D Checa.

Sanjay Ghatti lost in the last round to Gabriel Petesch to finish at -1, with a score, but yet took home 266.67 for the 2nd U2100. As is often the case in tournament chess it often pays to be a lower rated player.

The Frisco Kid, Richard Francisco, showing great fighting spirit when those around him were doing the “buddy-buddy shake,” won his last round game against Sam Copeland to finish with an even score and took home that home as consolation.

Michael Corallo (2300) vs Vladimir Romankenko (2548)
USM Rd 9
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 a6 8. O-O-O Bd7 9. f3 Be7 10. h4 h6 11. Be3 b5 12. Nxc6 Bxc6 13. Kb1 Qc7 14. Ne2 d5 15. e5 Nd7 16. f4 Nc5 17. Bxc5 Bxc5 18. Nd4 Bd7 19. g4 O-O-O 20. h5 Kb7 21. Bg2 Ka7 22. Rhe1 Qb6 23. Nb3 Be7 24. Rh1 Rc8 1/2-1/2

Richard Francisco (2382) vs Sam Copeland (2302)
USM Rd 9
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 f5 4. d3 fxe4 5. dxe4 Nf6 6. Be3 Nxe4 7. O-O d6 8. Qd3 Bf5 9. Ng5 Nxg5 10. Qxf5 Be7 11. Bxg5 Bxg5 12. Qf3 h5 13. Bxc6 bxc6 14. Qxc6 Kf7 15. Nc3 Kg6 16. Rae1 Kh7 17. Nd5 Rc8 18. g3 Qe8 19. Qa6 c6 20. Nc3 Rc7 21. f4 Bd8 22. fxe5 dxe5 23. Qd3 Qg6 24. Rf5 Kh6 25. Rexe5 Bf6 26. Qe3 1-0

I was able to provide most of these games because I transcribed them myself, and enjoyed replaying them immensely. Unfortunately, the scoresheets for most of the last round games have not been provided on the website (http://www.carolinaschessinitiative.com/tournaments/US-Masters-NC-Open-2014/)
The disparity between the ratings shown is because the USCF rating is different, and usually higher, than the FIDE rating.

Shout – Otis Day & The Knights (Animal House 1978)

The Isley Brothers – Shout