Undoubtedly that's what Astronaut Greg Chamitoff had to do when preparing for the departure of the Soyuz capsule that returned his two fellow Expedition 17 cosmonauts Sergei Volkov and Oleg Kononenko back to Earth after more than six months aboard the International Space Station. The Soyuz flight also saw the departure of Greg's fellow American gamer, computer game industry pioneer Richard Garriott, designer of Ultima and Ultima Online, who paid a reported $30 million to travel into space for twelve days. (Back on Earth, Garriott was reunited with his father, American astronaut Owen Garriott - a veteran of SkyLab and shuttle missions for NASA - at Soyuz' landing site in Khazakhstan. Fittingly, Garriott's return flight was under Sergei Volkov's command; Volkov is the only other second-generation spaceman in history, cosmonaut Alexander Volkov.)It was only then that Chamitoff was able to send his next move, 9.Qd2.
But our kids from Stevenson Elementary School were not above working a little overtime themselves! After school on Friday and on Saturday morning, they sent in their choices for Earth's response. Your choices are listed in the right margin and all Earthlings are encouraged to VOTE NOW!
As USCF Correspondence Director Alex Dunne says: "Greg could have played to demonstrate that superior development is often worth a Pawn. After 9. bxc4 Qxc3 10. Rb1 White has mobilized all his forces while Black, with an extra Pawn, has only his Queen developed, isolated deep in enemy territory. That would have been an interesting fight and a fair one. Now the battle changes."
Greg Chamitoff vs. Earth (after 9.Qd2)
This is a critical juncture in the game and now we need you to put in a little O.T. yourselves.
Voting will close at 3 PM ET (noon PT) on Sunday.
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