This was a tough match against a longtime rival and the final result, a 2-2 tie, helped neither team as Seattle moved a point ahead in the division.

San Francisco 2 vs Miami 2

1. GM Patrick Wolff (SF) vs GM Julio Becerra (MIA) 1-0
2. FM Marcel Martinez (MIA) vs GM Jesse Kraai (SF) 1-0
3. FM Daniel Naroditsky (SF) vs NM Eric Rodriguez (MIA) 1/2-1/2
4. Miguel Recio (MIA) vs NM Yian Liou (SF) 1/2-1/2

Defeating Julio Becerra is always an accomplishment, doubly so in the USCL where he reigns supreme. His 73 MVP points heading into the 2009 season put him well ahead of second place Vinay Bhat's 46. Here Patrick uses 3.Bc4 to steer in a Ruy Lopez setup. After Black's eighth move White is three tempi ahead of a regular Spanish but as Patrick pointed out just who are those three tempi ( ...a6, ...b5, ...Bb7) good for. Play was delicately balanced until White started to get the better of it with 18.b4 and after 30.Qg3 he had a large advantage which he converted. This battle should be a strong contender for Game of the Week.

Wolff,Patrick (2623) - Becerra,Julio (2615) [C55]USCL San Francisco vs Miami (6), 2009
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 Be7 5.0-0 0-0 6.Re1 d6 7.a4 Na5 8.Ba2 c5 9.Nc3 Nc6 10.Bg5 Nb4 11.Bc4 Be6 12.h3 Nd7 13.Bd2 Nb6 14.Bxe6 fxe6 15.Ne2 Nc6 16.Ng3 Qd7 17.c3 Bf6 18.b4 Nc8 19.Qb3 N8e7 20.bxc5 dxc5 21.a5 Ng6 22.Be3 Be7 23.Nf5 Rac8 24.Red1 Kh8 25.Nxe7 Qxe7 26.Ng5 Nd8 27.d4 exd4 28.cxd4 Nf4 29.Bxf4 Rxf4 30.Qg3 Rf6 31.dxc5 Rg6 32.f4 h6 33.Qh4 Qxc5+ 34.Kh1 Qc2 35.Qh5 Rf6 36.Qe8+ 1-0

White always use to meet the McCutcheon with 9.Bd3 Nxd2 10.Kxd2 but since about 2004 has scored very well with 9.Qf4 planning to recapture with the Queen and not the King on d2. It says a lot that Igor Glek, one of the great exponents of 4...Bb4, has suffered several serious defeats in this variation.

Jesse could have captured the h-pawn ( 20...Qxh4 but after 21.Qb4 White would have enjoyed a serious initiative. One idea might to induce ...b6 by doubling Queen and Rook on the a-line. Once ...b6 was playing a4-a5 would be natural and strong. Jesse tried to mix things up by sacrificing the exchange for play along the long diagonal but it did not work out.

Martinez,Marcel (2475) - Kraai,Jesse (2552) [C12]USCL San Francisco vs Miami (6) 2009
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Bb4 5.e5 h6 6.Bd2 Bxc3 7.bxc3 Ne4 8.Qg4 g6 9.Qf4 c5 10.Bd3 Nxd2 11.Qxd2 Nc6 12.Nf3 Qa5 13.dxc5 Qxc5 14.h4 Bd7 15.Rb1 0-0-0 16.0-0 Kb8 17.Rb5 Qe7 18.Rfb1 Bc8 19.Nd4 Nxd4 20.cxd4 Rd7 21.g3 g5 22.h5 Rc7 23.Qa5 b6 24.R5b3 Bb7 25.Qd2 Rc4 26.Bxc4 dxc4 27.Qb4 Qd7 28.Qxc4 Ka8 29.Ra3 Rc8 30.Qb4 Qc6 31.f3 g4 32.Qxb6 Qxb6 33.Rxb6 gxf3 34.Rxb7 f2+ 35.Kg2 Kxb7 36.Rf3 Rxc2 37.Rxf7+ Kc6 38.Rxf2 Rc4 39.Rf6 Kd5 40.Rxh6 Rxd4 41.Rh7 Rd2+ 42.Kh3 Rxa2 43.g4 Kxe5 44.Rf7 Ra1 45.Kg2 Ra2+ 46.Kg3 Ra3+ 47.Kh4 Ra1 48.Kg5 a5 49.h6 a4 50.h7 Rh1 51.Kg6 a3 52.Ra7 Kf4 53.Ra4+ Kg3 54.g5 e5 55.Kg7 e4 56.h8Q 1-0

Daniel played a great game but in too complex a style for G/60 + 30 second increment. Had he not been down to a minute on his clock he would have undoubtedly found 30.Qf3 or 32.Bxh6, in both cases with a significant advantage for White.

Naroditsky,Daniel (2371) - Rodriguez,Eric (2290) [C79]USCL San Francisco vs Miami (6), 2009
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.0-0 Bd7 7.c3 g6 8.Nbd2 Bg7 9.Re1 0-0 10.Nf1 Qe8 11.Ng3 Kh8 12.Bb3 Ng8 13.h3 f5 14.exf5 gxf5 15.d4 f4 16.Ne4 Rd8 17.d5 Nce7 18.c4 Nh6 19.Bc2 Nhf5 20.Bd3 Ng6 21.g4 fxg3 22.fxg3 h6 23.h4 Rf7 24.h5 Nge7 25.g4 Nd4 26.Nxd4 exd4 27.g5 Rf5 28.Nf6 Rxf6 29.gxf6 Bxf6 30.Bg6 Qg8 31.Rxe7 Bxe7 32.Qxd4+ Qg7 33.Qxg7+ Kxg7 34.Bd2 Bf6 35.Re1 Be5 1/2-1/2

Yian was a little better on the board after 25...c4 but way ahead on the clock. He was a pawn up in the ending after 38...Qd5 but Recio defended very well to split the point. Maybe 41...a5 intending 42...b4 was a better winning try.

Recio,Miguel (2164) - Liou,Yian (2149) [A90]USCL San Francisco vs Miami (6), 20091.d4 f5 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nf3 e6 4.g3 d5 5.Bg2 c6 6.0-0 Bd6 7.b3 Qe7 8.Bb2 0-0 9.Ne5 Nbd7 10.Nd2 Bxe5 11.dxe5 Ng4 12.Nf3 b6 13.Qd2 Bb7 14.Rac1 Rfd8 15.Qf4 Nf8 16.h3 Nh6 17.Rfd1 c5 18.e3 Nf7 19.cxd5 Ng6 20.Qc4 Bxd5 21.Qe2 Rac8 22.h4 Bxf3 23.Bxf3 Ngxe5 24.Bg2 Rxd1+ 25.Rxd1 c4 26.bxc4 Nxc4 27.Rc1 Nfd6 28.Bd4 Qf7 29.Rd1 b5 30.Bf3 a6 31.Bg2 Rd8 32.h5 h6 33.Bc3 Qc7 34.e4 Nxe4 35.Rxd8+ Qxd8 36.Bxe4 fxe4 37.Qxe4 Qd1+ 38.Kg2 Qd5 39.Qxd5 exd5 40.Kf3 Kf7 41.Ke2 g6 42.hxg6+ Kxg6 43.Kd3 Kf5 44.Kd4 Ke6 45.Kc5 h5 46.f4 Nd6 47.Kb6 Ne4 48.Be1 Kd7 49.Kxa6 Kc6 50.f5 d4 51.Ka5 d3 52.Kb4 d2 53.Bxd2 Nxd2 54.f6 Kd6 55.Kxb5 Ne4 56.f7 Ke7 57.a4 Nc3+ 58.Kb4 Nxa4 59.Kxa4 Kxf7 60.Kb3 Kf6 61.Kc2 Kf5 62.Kd1 Kg4 63.Ke1 Kxg3 64.Kf1 Kh2 65.Kf2 h4 66.Kf1 Kh1 67.Kf2 Kh2 1/2-1/2