Chess notes
The US Chess League has 14 teams in competition. Teams are arranged with roughly the same ratings and they compete for the playoffs, a kind of World Series. The rules for qualification for the playoffs are generous. Of the 14 teams, the four with the most match points from each of the Eastern and Western divisions qualify for the playoffs leading to the championship to be played Dec. 5. The teams with the best season scores have an advantage. Any team that is a higher seed by two (i.e., the first seeded team versus the fourth seeded team) receives draw odds (meaning that it wins if the match is drawn), a definite advantage and the choice of color on board (not an important advantage with alternating colors for the four boards). If a team is higher by one seed, it has the choice of either draw odds or color on first board. You can follow the Boston Blitz in the playoffs at www.USChessLeague.com.
The good news for the Blitz is that it has again qualified for the playoffs. At this writing, with one round to go, it has placed second in the Eastern division and will have draw odds and color choice in the quarterfinals.
The bad news is that Boston’s two losses have been 0-4 wipeouts. The New Jersey Knockouts, who lead the East, administered one of the losses. The other was against the Dallas Destiny, league champions for the past two years, but out of the playoffs this year.
The league creates an incentive to put women on the teams. Teams that do are allowed a nine-player roster instead of eight, from which to choose a four-person lineup. The Blitz chose 19-year-old, US born WGM Anya Corke, who held the Hong Kong men’s (!) championship for four years, first at the age of 15. She has entered the lists for the Blitz in week six and week nine and contributed a 1.5-.5 score.
Brevity: Aleksander Wojtkiewicz v. Jan Ehlvest, (1980) 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.Be2 Nc6 7.0--0 Be7 8.Be3 0--0 9.f4 a6 10.a4 Qc7 11.Kh1 Rd8 12.Bf3 Ne5 13.fxe5 dxe5 14.Ndb5 axb5 15.Nxb5 Rxd1 16.Nxc7 Rxf1+ 17.Rxf1 Rxa4 18.b3 Ra2. 0-1. (As another pawn is lost or the N is trapped on c7 after 19 . . . Bd7.)
Winners: BCF Fall Open, 1st/2d - David Vigorito, Charles Riordan; 3.5-.5. 3d, Farzad Abdi; 3-1; Under 1,800 section, Mike Griffin of Quincy 3.5-.5., 2nd - 3rd, Bernardo Iglesias and Robert Oresick, 2.5-1.5;
Coming Events: Friday: Waltham November Triskaidekaphobia G/13. Waltham CC, www.WalthamChessClub.org; Saturday: Tornado #100, Boylston CC, www.BoylstonChessClub.org; 34th New Hampshire Amateur Championship, NH Chess Association, Info:halterrie@comcast.net; Sunday Scholastic Quads, BCC, www.BoylstonChessClub.org. Sunday: 29th Framingham Burger King Scholastic Chess Tournament, Info; matthewgosselin@comcast.net; GM Boris Gulko simultaneous exhibition, Smart School, 1320 Newton Centre St., Newton Centre. Info: NewSmart@aol.com.
