Fail. That was the word of the night. We thought the night would go better, but oh well. The "vibe" was in the air at the Chess Palace, with the team joking around having a pre-match pizza party. Team members Kostya Kavutskiy and Ankit Gupta were in attendance to provide spirit for the Vibe. Christian Tanaka even got a good luck message from the great FM Daniel Naroditsky of the San Francisco Mechanics. Thank you, Danya!! Unfortunately, we were not so lucky in this match. Let me break down what happened from a spectator's point of view in the match.
On board 1, our very own GM Melik "James Bond" Khachiyan faced IM Rogelio Barcenilla. Mr. Bond tried to equalize the position into a draw, playing a solid Grunfeld type structure against Barcenilla's English opening. Melik made a dubious move in 17...d4, letting Barcenilla fork the bishop and knight by playing 19.e5. We are not sure if this was a mouse slip, as it looks like it loses right away. After this blunder, things just went downhill for Khachiyan, although he seemed to have some compensation. Barcenilla quickly converted his material advantage, and board 1 was the first board to finish in the match.
Board 2 resulted in FM Joel Banawa having an interesting fight with IM Dionisio Aldama in a Modern Benoni Defense. Aldama surprised Joel with this opening, avoiding his normal Kings Indian Defense. Joel exploited Dionisio's queenside with 18. b4, but didn't quite get enough material or initiative to convert to the win. When everything sizzled away, Joel had a Queen for Dionisio's two pieces, resulting in a drawn endgame. Although the match was already decided in the Scorpion's favor, Joel made Aldama show his endgame knowledge, and finally acquiesce to a draw after 72 moves. What a great fight from both players! On a side note, I nominate Joel as the Vibe's MVP. He always shows up in good shape for the matches, and loves to play in team events. Every team needs a player like Joel on their team.
Board 3 featured the USCL Game of the Week between IM Daniel Rensch and WFM Tatev Abrahamyan. As said in my preview, both are extremely tactical players and always out for blood. Where I went wrong was when I said that the game would end up a draw. Nonetheless, this game featured both of the players' styles, with Tatev having two Queens on the board for Rensch's attack. As a spectator, I could not determine which advantage would prevail! Eventually, Danny used his strong calculation skills to force Tatev to give up one of her Queens and eventually the game. Well done, Danny! A great game from both players.
Board 4 was probably the biggest question mark of the match for the Vibe. NM Christian "the balla" Tanaka arrived at the Chess Palace early, extremely eager to play and confident he was in good shape, and moreover seemed well-prepared. However, by move 15, Tanaka found himself in a far worse position, misplaying the white side of a Benoni, courtesy of Amanda Mateer. From then on, all Christian could do was play passively while Mateer slowly exploited the center. The Vibe's basketball stud kept holding a worse position until 31. Qc2, hanging the rook on e1. Showing his fighting spirit, Christian kept playing the position, making Mateer win her position in time pressure. I commend Tanaka for playing on, as most people would just resign after having lost their rook. Kudos to my homie, and I know you will have a better outcome next time!!
Although we lost this match convincingly, that did not lower team spirits after the match. Team members all commiserated about the loss, acknowledged how disappointing outcomes happen to every team, and then moved on to begin analyzing the opening from Christian's game. FM Banawa pointed out, "Whenever we are favored to lose, we win! Whenever we are favored to win, we lose!" So in conclusion, I hope we are underdogs next week against the 2nd place Chicago Blaze, and I hope to see my friend Trevor Magness play on board 4 against my other buddy, Kostya "McLovin" Kavutskiy. Before I conclude this entry, I suggest that you all sign up for a free weekly Vibe newsletter at www.thelavibe.com. This newsletter includes all the games played that particular week. Check back soon for a preview of Wednesday's match!
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