CICL Playoffs - Round 1

Motorola Knights and the Rogue Squadron tied 3-3.

Downers Grove Chess Club beat the Motorola Kings 4½-1½.

The Wombats upset Citadel / University of Chicago 3-2 in games played.  (CITUC forfeited Board 4, so the official match score was 4½-2, with ½ point awarded to the Wombats for the upper board forfeit.)

Rounds two and three tomorrow, and the Chicago Industrial Chess League will have a new champion tomorrow night!

Round two pairings:

Downers Grove CC (1-0) - St. Charles CC (1-0)
Wombats (1-0) @ Motorola Knights (½-½)
Rogue Squadron (½-½) @ CitUC (0-1)
DRW Trading Group (0-1) @ Motorola Kings (0-1)

Irwin Gaines writes:

There may be a little confusion about the location of the playoffs.  Both the team and individual events take place at Concord Place, 16th floor, 401 W Lake St, Northlake, IL 60164.  Some early mailings used the same address but referred to Midwest Conference Center, which is a different building with the same address.  Please make sure all teams and lndividuals know that they should go to Concord Place.

Chicago Industrial Chess League playoffs

Round 1 of the playoffs is underway: DRW (led by FM Igor Tsyganov) lost to St Charles (led by NM Tenzing Shaw) 5-1  Result here  (Any team that can put NM Mariano Acosta on Board 3 is kinda strong!)

Tonight, the Rogue Squadron plays the  Motorola Knights, and the Motorola Kings face the Downers Grove Chess Club.  Also this week, the Wombats face off against the Citadel/University of Chicago superteam.

Rounds 2 and 3 will be held this weekend at the 16th floor of Concord Place, 401 W Lake St, Northlake.

Another game from the DRW-AMARS match

Steve Goredetskiy and Rob Eaman finished just after Hayhurst-Brock was agreed drawn, and the match was drawn 3-3....but not for want of trying on both sides!

Blood on the board, redux

On my way to last Tuesday's Chicago Industrial Chess League match (DRW Trading Group vs. the AMA Rogue Squadron), I was carelessly crossing Wacker Drive (under construction) while checking my iPhone for DRW's address. Just south of the Lyric Opera on Madison, I tripped on the curb and hit the sidewalk hard. It was fortunate that I only bloodied an elbow and not my noggin.

When I told my wise wife that I'd tripped, she said that I needed to spend more time in the real world. I strategically "forgot" to confess the part about not looking where I was going. Fortunately for me, she does not read this blog.

The hospitable folks at DRW help me dress my wound and had Lou Malnati's pizza waiting for us. My clumsiness carried over to the game. After I made my 23rd move, I realized I'd dug a strange little trap for myself, which Lyle Hayhurst of DRW quickly found. The tactic is memorable for being an immediate killer that takes several moves to come to fruition--is that a contradiction?

I sacked a piece in desperation, after which the cool 30.Ng5! would have won immediately. The ending after 41.Nxd2 should also be won for White, but it's nontrivial. Your computer will mislead you if you don't have a tablebase installed: remember that king plus bishop plus rook pawn of the wrong color vs. king is a draw. But if Black sacks the knight for White's g3 pawn, White can blockade the pawns, win them, and then win the KBN vs. K ending (not as hard as it sounds). One idea for White, therefore, is to play h4-h5 an an opportune moment. However undeservedly, I escaped with a draw.

In other February 2011 blood-on-the-chess-board-in-Chicagoland news, NM Pete Karagianis led a his students into battle at the U.S. Amateur Team North. One of his young teammates lost a tooth, and Pete had to render first aid during play.

P.S. White still had a win as late as move 71.  Can you find it?

After 70...g5

White to play and win