The DKos Chess Tournament 2009 open thread is now open! Updated standings and results through Round 3 are posted below.
Yesterday I analyzed a close match between Cobbler and M31, which came down to the wire on their clocks. Today I will analyze another exciting Round 3 match, Gangster Octopus vs. ben masel. On Friday, I will analyze mquander vs. montrealdan, and on America Day I will look at the Bobby Fischer-Boris Spassky match of 1972.
Chess players! Remember to schedule and complete your match with your opponent, and then enter your information into papicek's game entry webpage. Round 3 runs until the evening of Monday, July 6. Yes, it's a holiday weekend. If there are schedule conflicts, please let me know ASAP.
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DKOS CHESS TOURNAMENT 2009: ROUND 3 (June 29-July 6)
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UPCOMING MATCHES
White | Black | Match Time | Match Site |
Dbug | Dan Morris | Thursday, July 02, 2009 06:00 PM ET | Chess.com |
Abelian | Thutmose V | Thursday, July 02, 2009 08:00 PM ET | Chess.com |
jerseycorn | Sharkmeister | Thursday, July 02, 2009 08:00 PM ET | Chess.com |
Bill White | writerkirk | Thursday, July 02, 2009 10:00 PM ET | Chess.com |
PedsNeuro | rhutcheson | Thursday, July 02, 2009 10:30 PM ET | Chess.com |
mnguy66 | eztempo | Friday, July 03, 2009 01:00 PM ET | Chess.com |
lostboyjim | Marcion | Friday, July 03, 0009 05:00 PM ET | Chess.com |
Kimball | Grey Paladin | Friday, July 03, 2009 09:00 PM ET | Chess.com |
KillerKoala | Odysseus | Friday, July 03, 2009 09:00 PM ET | chess.com |
Blue Wind | Spud1 | Friday, July 03, 2009 11:00 PM ET | Chess Cube |
dov12348 | Twin Planets | Saturday, July 04, 2009 12:00 AM (midnight) ET (Friday, July 03 @ 9 PM Pacific) | Chess.com |
cskendrick | mconvente | Sunday, July 05, 2009 03:00 PM ET | chess.com |
To chess players: When you have agreed to a schedule and chess website with your opponent, enter your match information at this webpage. Confirm your match schedule here.
To the community: If you would like to watch an upcoming match, you will first need to register for an account on the website where the game is taking place, then log in. You can observe the games on Chess.com by opening Live Chess (under the Play tab at the top of the main page) and finding the user of your choice. On FICS, type "observe [INSERT USER'S NAME HERE]" into the command console. On Chess Cube, add the user you're looking for as a friend, click on that user's profile, and observe the game he/she is playing. On Yahoo! Games, you will need to know which room/lounge the user is playing in -- then just enter it and sit at the table.
See more information about using these websites here.
Analysis: Gangster Octopus (WHITE) vs. ben masel (BLACK)
King's Indian Defense for White, countered by the Budapest Gambit for Black (2...e5). Both White and Black would employ the Bishop fianchetto at Move 8, from which Black arguably benefited more by wresting control of the middle with 16...c6 17. Nc3 Nxf3 18. Qxf3 Qc7 19. Rfd1 Rad8 20. Ne2 Be5 21. Bxe5 dxe5. While neither player made any serious blunders in this match, Black had the positional advantage after a series of exchanges that took the Queens and Rooks off the board by Move 31. Black's Pawns were more developed, the Black King was in a better defensive position, and Black still had a Bishop to counter the White Knight. Generally, Bishops are preferred in the endgame to Knights -- so how would this one play out?
White would make a strong play by capturing the b5 Pawn on Move 37. If Black took back with the Bishop, then 38. Nc7 would have forked the Bishop and King -- but if the Bishop retreated to d7, then it would have simply been a free Pawn for White. Instead, Black opted for the Bishop-Knight exchange, for which Black would regain the Pawn deficit with 38...Kxd5.
Despite the left-sided Pawn attack for White after 39. a4, Black may have missed a major opportunity to destroy it with his King. 39...c4 would have forced White to capture with 40. bxc4+, and the Black King would recapture, leaving the a4 and b5 Pawns helpless to stop the King from taking them. However, Black instead chose 39...e4, which allowed White to throw the King out of position with 40. fxe4+ Kxe4 41. a5 Kd5.
After 42. Kf2 g4 43. hxg4 hxg4, White's King could not afford to stray too far from his lone Pawn on the g file, lest the Black Pawns threaten to promote to Queen. On the other hand, Black's King could not afford to retreat to defend his f and g Pawns without allowing a White Pawn on a or b to advance, nor could he spend any time traveling to b7 to help take out the White a and b Pawns, which would have left the Black f and g Pawns vulnerable to attack from the White King, allowing the White g Pawn to advance with the King in tow. The immobility of both Kings in this situation led to a draw.
An exciting game from two top tier players in this field. I wish them the best of luck in Round 4.
UPDATE: As mquander points out in the comments below, 42. a6, or any further point in the game with the Black King at d5, would have won it for White. The Pawn at c5 prevented the Black King from dealing with the White a and b pawns.
MATCH-UPS
The match-ups for Round 3 have been selected by the Tournament Director based on the results of Rounds 1-2 and the approximate skill rating of each player. All matches will have a 30-minute time limit per player, 0 bonus time. Every effort is being ensured to maintain color balance. In other words, every player will have ample opportunity to play as both White and Black throughout the tournament.
WHITE | vs. | BLACK | WINNER |
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high5 | vs. | cschess | cschess |
nargel | vs. | MakeChessNotWar | MakeChessNotWar |
PsiFighter37 | vs. | Anderson Republican | . |
vets74 | vs. | Dvd Avins | . |
Albanius | vs. | FWIW | . |
Gangster Octopus | vs. | ben masel | DRAW |
jerseycorn | vs. | Sharkmeister | . |
Abelian | vs. | Thutmose V | . |
Cobbler | vs. | M31 | Cobbler |
mquander | vs. | montrealdan | mquander |
TeacherRyan | vs. | i know | . |
DoomsdayShark | vs. | RickMassimo | . |
Keith Pickering | vs. | wmorriss | . |
dov12348 | vs. | Twin Planets | . |
FightingRegistrar | vs. | Andrew Lazarus | . |
Jumpin J | vs. | AndrewMC | . |
ericledford | vs. | spider441 | . |
PedsNeuro | vs. | rhutcheson | . |
LaughingPlanet | vs. | thereisnospoon | thereisnospoon |
hekebolos | vs. | BTP | . |
Kimball | vs. | Grey Paladin | . |
ActivistGuy | vs. | cavebird | cavebird |
debedb | vs. | brendanm98 | . |
Robert Naiman | vs. | ferrisbueller | . |
kto9 | vs. | PinkFreud | . |
lostboyjim | vs. | Marcion | . |
sharris0512 | vs. | hanswall | . |
stlbucket | vs. | Melanchthon | . |
Bill White | vs. | writerkirk | . |
Dbug | vs. | Dan Morris | . |
RageKage | vs. | dmet | . |
dnta | vs. | dpinzow | . |
cmorrison | vs. | DynamicUno | . |
dissonantharmony | vs. | USArmyParatrooper | . |
Elvis Vader | vs. | papicek | papicek |
cskendrick | vs. | mconvente | . |
Chicagoa | vs. | Seneca Doane | Seneca Doane |
drache | vs. | black2thefuture | . |
Guy Fawkes | vs. | eddiem86 | . |
BaxKen | vs. | Mo | BaxKen |
SuperBowlXX | vs. | bgblcklab1 | bgblcklab1 |
mnguy66 | vs. | eztempo | . |
evilstorm | vs. | Ignacio Magaloni | . |
Blue Wind | vs. | Spud1 | . |
Blue Intrigue | vs. | Geenius at Wrok | . |
ThyrsiodB | vs. | Free Radical | Free Radical |
KillerKoala | vs. | Odysseus | . |
TheCid | vs. | Unlabled | DRAW |
vescis | vs. | ajsuited | . |
cartwrightdale | vs. | lexington1 | . |
zamrzla | vs. | filmgeek83 | . |
DeadB0y | vs. | rmonroe | . |
ZaBlanc | vs. | Something the Dog Said | . |
Joffan | vs. | Jimdotz | . |
mattc129 | vs. | Patch Adam | . |
JeffLieber | vs. | Pym | . |
Kevin in Long Beach | vs. | foodmetaphors | . |
Celtic Merlin | vs. | neilliebus | . |
13 of 58 Round 3 matches have been completed.
STANDINGS
Note: Standings are sorted first by points, then by alphabetical order. Color balance is included.
Player | # Matches | Points | # White | # Black |
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Cobbler | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
cschess | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
MakeChessNotWar | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
mquander | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
ben masel | 3 | 2.5 | 1 | 2 |
Gangster Octopus | 3 | 2.5 | 2 | 1 |
Abelian | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Albanius | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Anderson Republican | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Andrew Lazarus | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
BaxKen | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
bgblcklab1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
cavebird | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
DoomsdayShark | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
dov12348 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Dvd Avins | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
FWIW | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
high5 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
i know | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
jerseycorn | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Keith Pickering | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
M31 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
montrealdan | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
nargel | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
papicek | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
PsiFighter37 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
RickMassimo | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Seneca Doane | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
Sharkmeister | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
TeacherRyan | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
thereisnospoon | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
Thutmose V | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Twin Planets | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
vets74 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
wmorriss | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
FightingRegistrar | 2 | 1.5 | 1 | 1 |
Free Radical | 3 | 1.5 | 1 | 2 |
hekebolos | 2 | 1.5 | 1 | 1 |
Jumpin J | 2 | 1.5 | 1 | 1 |
LaughingPlanet | 3 | 1.5 | 2 | 1 |
rhutcheson | 2 | 1.5 | 1 | 1 |
spider441 | 2 | 1.5 | 1 | 1 |
ActivistGuy | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
AndrewMC | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Bill White | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
black2thefuture | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Blue Wind | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
brendanm98 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
BTP | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Chicagoa | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
cmorrison | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
cskendrick | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Dan Morris | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Dbug | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
debedb | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
dissonantharmony | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
dmet | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
dnta | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
dpinzow | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
drache | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
DynamicUno | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
eddiem86 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Elvis Vader | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
ericledford | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
evilstorm | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
eztempo | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
ferrisbueller | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Guy Fawkes | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Geenius at Wrok | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Grey Paladin | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
hanswall | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
Ignacio Magaloni | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Kimball | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
KStreetProjector | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
kto9 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
lostboyjim | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Marcion | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
mconvente | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Melanchthon | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
mnguy66 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
Mo | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
PedsNeuro | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
PinkFreud | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
RageKage | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Robert Naiman | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
rteeter | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
sharris0512 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
stlbucket | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
SuperBowlXX | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
TheCid | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
ThyrsiodB | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
USArmyParatrooper | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
writerkirk | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
cartwrightdale | 2 | 0.5 | 1 | 1 |
Unlabled | 3 | 0.5 | 1 | 2 |
ajsuited | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Blue Intrigue | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Celtic Merlin | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Crawdaddy | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
DeadB0y | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
filmgeek83 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
foodmetaphors | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
JeffLieber | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Jimdotz | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Joffan | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
kentuckydave | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Kevin in Long Beach | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
KillerKoala | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
lexington1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
matador | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
mattc129 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
neilliebus | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Odysseus | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Patch Adam | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Pym | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
rmonroe | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
sjohntucson | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Something the Dog Said | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Spud1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
vescis | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
ZaBlanc | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
zamrzla | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
aaraujo | 1 | 0.5 | 0 | 1 |
Uncle Cosmo | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
valislav stein | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
KEY:
Points = 1 point for a win, 0 points for a loss, 0.5 points for a draw.
# White = Number of times played as White.
# Black = Number of times played as Black.
# Matches = Number of matches played.