The game is heating up, as each side completed a move today.
At this stage of the International Space Station mission - offcially called ISS Expedition 17 - Greg's normal sleep period extends from about 5:30 PM ET to 2 AM ET. (This will change next week, when a Soyuz spacecraft arrives with replacements for Greg's two Russian colleagues, Commander Sergei Volkov and fellow Flight Engineer Oleg Kononenko, who will then fly Soyuz home later in the month.)
With Saturday's vote on Earth's fourth move closing at 1:30 PM ET, it turns out that Greg had enough time during his "evening" to consider our move, 4...Nb8-c6, and to send back 5.Bf1-b5 before turning in.
USCF Correspondence Chess Director Alex Dunne comments: "Chamitoff's 5.Bb5 is a bit off the regular lines for the London System. It is designed to conquer e5 but there some problems with the White queenside. White may soon have to give up his b5 Bishop for the c6 Knight. White probably should have stuck with the more usual 5.Bd3 and early kingside castling."
Greg Chamitoff vs. Earth (after 5.Bb5)
The Stevenson Chess Team - fresh from the excitement of a 20-minute live (via satellite) meeting with Greg on Thursday - is now back at work, preparing up to four choices for all of Earth to vote on.
UPDATE: It is now Earth's turn to choose between the four candidate moves at right - please vote by 1 AM EDT Monday (10 PM PDT Sunday).
And you can also check the NASA TV schedule for ISS Mission Reports that often include coverage of this ongoing battle, and broadcasts of the live question and answer session in which Greg answered ten questions from Stevenson team members, in an event hosted on Thursday, October 9, by Bellevue Community College and NASA. In the next week or so, we expect to have videos from the broadcast for you to watch on demand.
Reminder: Don't miss a moment of this historic match - add our RSS feed to keep up with the latest developments, as articles and moves are posted here, and as voting periods occur.