US Chess League Week 3 Quiz
By Jennifer Shahade   
September 11, 2008
In the third week of U.S. Chess League action, the Chicago Blaze swept the Tennessee Tempo 4-0, the Queens' Pioneers moved to 3-0, while New York and Baltimore scored their first wins, against Philadelphia and Carolina, respectively. In two great Monday night matches, the San Francisco Mechanics bested the Miami Sharks while the Dallas Destiny won against the Boston Blitz. Both Monday night winners won by the narrowest of margins, 2.5-1.5 Catch up on more news including all the games as well as daily links to blogs and articles on the USCL website. Also tune into commissioner IM Greg Shahade's video updates on chessvideos.tv.

This week, Chess Life Online is offering up to $30 worth of USCL store merchandise for the first person to answer all the puzzles correctly plus a special trivia question. If there are no perfect answers as of Monday, September 15 , Noon EST, the entry with the most correct answers up to that point will win the prize. Login as a member and post your answers as a comment to this article. Include your email in your answer or email [email protected] if you'd prefer to keep your email private. Sorry, previous winners, USCL players and managers are not eligible. 


U.S. Chess League Week 3 Quiz

1.
25...Rac8.jpg
White to Move


Todd Andrews of the TN Tempo played e5 in the position above against Jan Van Der Mordel of the Chicago Blaze. Jan responded with Rxc1 and won convincingly. What is the quickest win for Black if White instead played Bxe3?

2.

61...b2Zhao.jpg
White to Move


What game is this position from and what is the easiest way for White to win?

3.

37...h5Gulko.jpg
Black to Move


In his US Chess League debut, GM Boris Gulko infiltrated Black's position in a Bogo-Indian. But it didn't appear easy to win...until Black played h5 in the above position. What did Gulko play then?

4.

47.Rxe4.jpg
Position after 47.Rxe4, Black to Move


GM Pascal Charbonneau just played Rxe4! against GM Sergey Kudrin. Kudrin captured with the queen and lost quickly after Bh5! What is the best continuation if Kudrin instead played 47...dxe4? (Full credit for a three move sequence (i.e- dxe4, White moves, Black moves, White moves, Black moves, White moves)

5.
28...Qc6ShahadeHerman.jpg
Position after 28...Qc6, White to Move



Jennifer Shahade of the Philadelphia Inventors played 29.Qxh7 against Matthew Herman, of the New York Knights in the above position, which led. Was 29.Rxg7 any better?

6.

30.Rfe1Lenderman.jpg
Position after 30.Rfe1, Black to Move

In his third straight win for the Queens' Pioneers, IM Alex Lenderman found a star positional move in the above position against IM Mark Ginsburg. What was it?

7.What were the first and last games to finish on Wednesday night?