No "Closer" in ARZ - BOS draw

(Beat Reporter: Mark LaRocca)

Those of us in the New England area surely remember the fiasco that was the Boston Red Sox "Closer by Committee".  The lesson learned was that if you have two closers... then you have none... and that's just the problem the Boston Blitz had last Tuesday as they zoomed to a  (2 - 0) lead on the strength of wins on board 2 and 4... and then were unable to finish off the match as Eugene fell to GOTW winner GM Molner in an other worldly... extra-terrestrial performance... one for the X-Files for sure... Oh... Sorry... that would be Mulder... Well, anyway he played great.  And then Chris (Last Man Standing) Williams gets some really bad calls from the umpire and simply can't find the plate in what should have been a sure draw to wrap it up.  Hey, I don't play the games... I just make it sound like it should'a been easy.

Ok, so you say the baseball analogy is stupid... and you would be right... if you weren't so wrong.  I was there and saw it with my own eyes... Ilya played a smooth... quick... easy... un-Ilya like game and cruised to the first victory of the night.  Our starter came through big-time... check it out.

A truly fun game to watch... if you were a Blitz fan. 

Boston (1 - 0)

Anyway, Ilya came out in the 6th inning... and in came middle reliever, Denys (never say die) Shmelov.  He didn't have his usual stuff and soon found himself with the bases loaded... no outs... and, to make matters worse, surrounded by knights.   His opponent, IM Ginsburg, was swinging for the fences... and it looked like he just might hit one out... how's that for analogies...  no... don't like it... well, take a look at this game and I think you might change your mind.

Well, What'a'ya think?  Some middle relief... could give a guy real heartburn... no plop-plop fizz-fizz here.   But, Denys got the job done.

Boston (2 - 0)

Now, all we needed was one simple inning from our Closers... Yes, I said Closers... as in two... and you know what that means.

Although, I must say that I was very much intrigued by Eugene's game... as he played his special sicilian... you know, the one that he explained in his book "Chess Openings for Black, Explained".  It was co-authored by GM Lev Alburt and GM Roman Dzindzichasvili... but this variation 1.e4 c5   2.Nf3 g6  is all Eugene.  Take a look at the theory here... and please tell me why?... Why didn't he follow his own book analysis?  These GMs... I'll never understand them.

Ok, so the first member of the committee failed... to a GOTW (Game of the Week) performance.  Well, you get those some times.

Boston (2 - 1)

Still, we had another chance... Chris had two outs with no one on base and 2 strikes and no balls on his very sneaky opponent, FM Atoufi.  We had it in the bag... didn't we?

Yikes!  Such bad luck... Again, we let the match slip.  Like I said... it's so easy to see the right moves from my perspective.  Anyway, it was another learning experience.

Boston (2 - 2)

So, again... did you like my baseball analogy... tell the truth...  chess is a lot like baseball, don't ya think.  Except, I don't think there are draws in baseball all that often... and no chin music in chess.. and we use pieces... and they throw balls... come to think of it... what a stupid analogy... nevermind.

And remember, you can watch the fun yourself since the USCL matches are hosted by the Internet Chess Club (www.chessclub.com)

Or you can come down to Harvard SOCH building, 59 Shepard st., this Wednesday at 7:40 pm, and give us a hand... We can always use another Closer!!