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Player Spotlight: GM Eugene Perelshteyn

After sharing first place in the 2006 Foxwoods Open, Eugene Perelshteyn also earned his third GM norm, thus giving him the well deserved title of Grandmaster. At only 26 years old age, the future is bright for Eugene, and Boston is hoping that he picks up where he left off last year, with a fine 2.5/3 result while playing first board.

Eugene shocked the World in 2003 when he dominated the strong Generation Chess International. The brainchild of GM Maurice Ashley, this round robin tournament was the first major event to institute a "no-draw" rule, which prohibited draws by agreement before move 40. Not only did Eugene win the event, but it wasn't even close, as going into the final round he had a 1.5-point lead on the field. After losing a "meaningless" game to Ehlvest in the final round, Perelshteyn remained the victor by a full point. This was no small task as GM's Ehlvest, Christiansen and Yudasin were all competing in the event, along with Akobian (who made the GM title shortly after this event.) This result may have been one of the most surprising results in American chess history, as at the time Eugene was just an unheralded IM.

GM Eugene Perelshteyn

Photo courtesy
John B. Henderson

Age - 26
Rating - 2614
Style - Calculating

Eugene has had many other major chess accomplishments. He won the Samford Chess Fellowship in 2002, an award that amounts to $64,000, which is awarded to the top American player under 25 years old. Eugene has also led the University of Maryland, Baltimore County to a few Pan American championships from 1998-2002. Eugene also won the highly prestigious US Junior Championship in 2000.

Perelshteyn played in the 2005 season for the Boston Blitz., alongside teammate GM Larry Christiansen, among others. Below he annotates his opening round game against GM Alex Stripunsky, of the New York Knights.

Perelshteyn,E - Stripunsky,A
USCL Annotated Game Boston, MA (1), 31.08.2005

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.g3 Bb4 7.Bd2 Nc6

7...Nf6 8.Bg2 Nc6 is normally the move order here.

8.Nb3 Be7

Preparing d6. 8...Nf6 9.Bg2 transposes to main line.

9.Bg2

9.f4 stops Ne5, followed by 10.Bg2. However, I didn't regard Ne5-c4 as a dangerous threat.

9...Ne5 10.0-0 d6

10...Nc4 is met by 11.Bc1 followed by Nd4 and b3.

11.Nd4!

Activating the knight and at the same time preparing b3, a4.

11...Nf6 12.b3 Bd7 13.a4 Rc8 14.a5 0-0 15.Na4 Nc6 16.Nxc6 Bxc6 17.Nb6 Rcd8 18.Qe2

18...d5?

Black probably missed 19.Bf4! Correct was 18...Nd7 19.c4 where White has a slight edge.

19.Bf4!

Now Black is forced to play e5, after which his q-side collapses.

19...e5 20.exd5 exf4 21.dxc6 bxc6 22.Qxa6 fxg3 23.hxg3 Bc5 24.Na4! Ba7

25.Nb6

I decided to give up the pawn, eliminating Black's counter-play.

25...Rb8 26.Qc4 Bxb6 27.axb6 Rxb6 28.Rfe1

White is clearly better.

28...c5 29.Qc3

29.Ra5 Re6 and black is holding on.

29...h5?!

Creates an additional weakness

30.Re5 c4

30...Rc8 31.Bh3

31.bxc4

31.Ra4 felt as an even stronger move, yet weakening of the first rank seemed dangerous.

31...Rfb8 32.Rae1 Rb1 33.Bf3 Rxe1+ 34.Rxe1 Rc8

It seems as Black almost equalized, but...

35.Rd1!

...holds on to the extra pawn.

35...Qc5

35...Qxc4? 36.Rd8+

36.Kg2 Qf5 37.Rd4 Qg5 38.Qd3 Qa5 39.Bd5

Aiming directly at the king, White's pieces start the offensive.

39...Re8 40.Rf4

With idea Rxf6 and Qg6+ with mate.

40...Qa1

40...Qb6 41.c5! Qd8 (41...Qxc5 42.Rxf6! and etc.) 42.c4 and White is dominating.

41.c3 Qa6 42.Qd4

42.Qg6 is met by 42...Re7.

42...Re1 43.Qc5 Qa1 44.Qc7

It turns out that Black really has no threats along 1st rank.

44...Qxc3 45.Qxf7+ Kh7 46.Rf5 Kh6 47.Bf3!

Simple and strong.

47...Re5 48.Bxh5! Kh7 49.Rxf6 Rg5 50.Rf5 1-0

USCL - 2006 Season starts this week!

The Seattle Sluggers and Tennessee Tempo will kick off the season on Monday August 28th, while the rest of the league will start play on Wednesday. Once again there is a 10 week regular season, followed by playoffs, with an extra Wild Card Round this season. Stay tuned all season for four great matches every Wednesday evening and new special feature matches every Monday. Below is the schedule for the first week of play: Click here to see the rest of the schedule.

Click here to see lineups for this week, and to follow the scores live!

WEEK 1 - Monday August 28th 2006

1. Tennessee Tempo vs Seattle Sluggers 9:00 ET

Tennessee Tempo		Seattle Sluggers
IM Ron Burnett - 2449		GM Gregory Serper - 2570
FM Todd Andrews - 2360		IM Eric Tangborn - 2465
FM Peter Bereolos - 2319		FM John Readey - 2331
NM Jerry Wheeler - 2200		NM Nat Koons - 2223
Avg Rating - 2332		Avg Rating - 2397

Wednesday August 30th 2006

2. New York Knights vs Philadelphia Masterminds    7:00 ET
3. Carolina Cobras vs Baltimore Kingfishers            7:15 ET
4. Boston Blitz vs Miami Sharks                                  7:30 ET
5. San Francisco Mechanics vs Dallas Destiny             8:30 ET

Stay tuned to Chessville
or the USCL website, for more details!

Tune in and watch the games live on the Internet Chess Club !!