At the 10th Annual TransAtlantic Cup, the usual speeches were given from both sides of the Atlantic. Two were a bit different. GM Ljubomir Ljubojevic not only praised the annual event but pressed for more collegiate chess competition around the globe. Richardson Mayor Pro Tem Mark Solomon delivered a fiery exhortation (in Texas, it is known as swagger, not trash-talk) to the UTD chess team to go all out for the win! Well, we had not won during a 5 year drought. So, we were in need of a rainmaker. The UTD cheerleader with mascot Temoc sent the match off to a rousing start.
Each year there is a live audio video connect between Dallas and Belgrade. It goes silent when the games start.
IA Franc Guadalupe would later tell me that he was shaking his head and feeling sorry to the UTD team after the first 5 games were completed. The score stood at 4.5-0.5 for Belgrade! I was not in the auditorium but in our VIP Room listening to commentary by GM Kosintseva, GM Yotov, and Rodney Thomas, President of Chess Advisory Board. The fog of battle from 16 boards is such that we never knew exactly what the score was. It has been so every year.
Come from behind victory!
As is quite often the case, it once more came down to the last game. UTD led UB led 8-7. But, if IM Kacper Drozdowski were to lose, the match would end in a tie. And, by rule, the Cup would then be sent back from Dallas to Belgrade. Kacper did not disappoint and won the game.
Our top 8 boards played exceptionally well by defeating their opponents 6.5-1.5. But that would not be enough to win. The lower 8 boards had to contribute as well. Though at an enormous rating disadvantage, they held strong with a 2.5-5.5 result. This gave the team a satisfying 9-7 victory. It meant the Transatlantic Cup would be remaining in Dallas another year … and not returning to Belgrade!
The featured game, showing how it was truly a team effort, is an improbable win on Board 16 by Michael Kneen against David Sarenac (FIDE 2306).
[pgn] [Event "Beograd - Dalas 2015"] [Site "ICC"] [Date "2015.11.06"] [White "Kneen, Michael"] [Black "Sarenac, David"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C41"] [WhiteElo "1624"] [BlackElo "2339"] [Annotator "R.Milovanovic"] [PlyCount "99"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bc4 Be7 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. d3 O-O 6. h3 c6 7. O-O d5 8. exd5 cxd5 9. Bb3 Nc6 10. Re1 d4 11. Ne2 Bd6 12. Ng3 h6 13. Nd2 Re8 14. Nde4 Bb4 15. Rf1 (15. c3) 15... Nd5 $2 (15... Be6) 16. Qf3 (16. Bxh6 $1 gxh6 17. Bxd5 Qxd5 18. Nf6+) 16... Nce7 17. Nh5 $1 $18 Qb6 18. Qg3 (18. a3 Bc5 19. Qg3 Nf5 20. Qg4 $18) 18... Nf5 19. Qf3 (19. Qg4) 19... Nde7 20. Kh2 (20. a3) 20... Qg6 $2 ( 20... Ng6) 21. g4 Nd6 22. Nef6+ (22. a3 $142 Nxe4 23. dxe4 Bc5 24. Rg1 $18 Be6 25. g5) 22... gxf6 23. Nxf6+ Kf8 24. Nxe8 Kxe8 25. Qe2 f6 26. f4 Qg7 27. fxe5 fxe5 28. Qf2 h5 29. gxh5 Bf5 30. Rg1 Qh8 31. h6 Kd7 32. Bg5 Ng6 33. h4 Rf8 34. h5 Nf4 35. Bxf4 exf4 36. Rg7+ Kc8 37. Qxf4 Bd7 38. Qxf8+ $1 Qxf8 39. Rg8 Nf5 40. h7 Bd6+ 41. Kg1 Kc7 42. Rxf8 Bxf8 43. h8=Q Bh6 44. Qe5+ Kd8 45. Be6 Be3+ 46. Kh2 Nh4 47. Qf6+ Kc7 48. Qxh4 Bxe6 49. Qe7+ Bd7 50. Rf1 1-0 [/pgn]Gligoric Transatlantic Cup Match History Year Winning Team Final Score 2006 Belgrade 8.5 - 7.5 2007 Dallas 11.0 - 5.0 2008 Dallas 12.5 - 3.5 2009 Dallas 8.5 - 7.5 2010 Belgrade 11.5 - 4.5 2011 Belgrade/Dallas 8.0 - 8.0 2012 Belgrade 9.5 - 6.5 2013 Belgrade 9.0 - 7.0 2014 Belgrade/Dallas 8.0 - 8.0 2015 Dallas 9.0 - 7.0 Dallas 5.0 vs. 5.0 Belgrade
Categories
Archives
- October 2024 (8)
- September 2024 (23)
- August 2024 (27)
- July 2024 (44)
- June 2024 (27)
- May 2024 (32)
- April 2024 (51)
- March 2024 (34)
- February 2024 (25)
- January 2024 (26)
- December 2023 (29)
- November 2023 (26)
- October 2023 (37)
- September 2023 (27)
- August 2023 (37)
- July 2023 (47)
- June 2023 (33)
- May 2023 (37)
- April 2023 (45)
- March 2023 (37)
- February 2023 (28)
- January 2023 (31)
- December 2022 (23)
- November 2022 (32)
- October 2022 (31)
- September 2022 (19)
- August 2022 (39)
- July 2022 (32)
- June 2022 (35)
- May 2022 (21)
- April 2022 (31)
- March 2022 (33)
- February 2022 (21)
- January 2022 (27)
- December 2021 (36)
- November 2021 (34)
- October 2021 (25)
- September 2021 (25)
- August 2021 (41)
- July 2021 (36)
- June 2021 (29)
- May 2021 (29)
- April 2021 (31)
- March 2021 (33)
- February 2021 (28)
- January 2021 (29)
- December 2020 (38)
- November 2020 (40)
- October 2020 (41)
- September 2020 (35)
- August 2020 (38)
- July 2020 (36)
- June 2020 (46)
- May 2020 (42)
- April 2020 (37)
- March 2020 (60)
- February 2020 (38)
- January 2020 (45)
- December 2019 (35)
- November 2019 (35)
- October 2019 (42)
- September 2019 (45)
- August 2019 (56)
- July 2019 (44)
- June 2019 (35)
- May 2019 (40)
- April 2019 (48)
- March 2019 (61)
- February 2019 (39)
- January 2019 (30)
- December 2018 (29)
- November 2018 (51)
- October 2018 (45)
- September 2018 (29)
- August 2018 (49)
- July 2018 (35)
- June 2018 (31)
- May 2018 (39)
- April 2018 (31)
- March 2018 (26)
- February 2018 (33)
- January 2018 (30)
- December 2017 (26)
- November 2017 (24)
- October 2017 (30)
- September 2017 (30)
- August 2017 (32)
- July 2017 (27)
- June 2017 (32)
- May 2017 (26)
- April 2017 (37)
- March 2017 (28)
- February 2017 (30)
- January 2017 (27)
- December 2016 (29)
- November 2016 (24)
- October 2016 (32)
- September 2016 (31)
- August 2016 (27)
- July 2016 (24)
- June 2016 (26)
- May 2016 (19)
- April 2016 (30)
- March 2016 (37)
- February 2016 (27)
- January 2016 (33)
- December 2015 (25)
- November 2015 (23)
- October 2015 (16)
- September 2015 (28)
- August 2015 (28)
- July 2015 (6)
- June 2015 (1)
- May 2015 (2)
- April 2015 (1)
- February 2015 (3)
- January 2015 (1)
- December 2014 (1)
- July 2010 (1)
- October 1991 (1)
- August 1989 (1)
- January 1988 (1)
- December 1983 (1)