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http://www.chicagoblazechess.com/category/blog/

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Rosen Draws Robson in St. Louis

Photo: Betsy Dynako

Congratulations to NM Eric Rosen of the Chicago Blaze, who drew wunderkind GM Ray Robson in the first round of the U.S. Junior Closed Championship now taking place in St. Louis, alongside the U.S. Women’s Championship. Take a look at this exciting game, with strong threats on both sides of the board.

Since I’m not competent to comment on chess at this level or any other for that matter, let’s get the annotation from the press release of the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of St. Louis, which is hosting both the junior and women’s tournaments:

“In a match-up that featured the greatest rating differential in the tournament, Robson (2613) took on NM Eric Rosen (2209). Rosen did not let the 404-point difference faze him.

“’It was a hard pairing, playing Ray in the first round,’ Rosen said. ‘It’s always good to play the strongest player to get them out of the way.’

“Early on, Robson used more than 10 minutes on 9…Nc5. ‘I think I used way too much time in
the opening,’ he said.

“Robson said it was a complicated position in the middlegame that led him even deeper into time trouble.

“’I was doing fine up until I blundered [37…] Kh7,’ he said.

“This allowed Rosen to fork Robson’s rook and queen, winning the rook and putting pressure on the defending champion. Robson managed to advance his a-pawn down the board and, after a series of rook checks by Rosen, the two agreed to a draw.”

See Bill Brock's commentary as well.

2010 Schedule Announced

The 2010 U.S. Chess League season begins next month, and the Blaze kick off this year's campaign with a match against the Seattle Sluggers, one of the top teams in the league’s Western Division. We finished last season with a draw against that team. The whole schedule appears below.

This year the Blaze will play its matches in new digs provided by the North American Chess Association. Stay tuned for details (and the Skokie address).

Fans are welcome to attend the games free of charge, so please come and cheer your team. If you can't make it to the site you can tune in to the matches live on the Internet Chess Club (membership required). You can also follow the Blaze on Twitter and Facebook.

Week 1 – August 23
Seattle Sluggers
8:00 PM

Week 2 – September 1
St. Louis Arch Bishops
7:00 PM

Week 3 – September 8
San Francisco Mechanics
7:30 PM

Week 4 - September 15
Los Angeles Vibe
8:00 PM

Week 5 – September 20
Arizona Scorpions
8:00 PM

Week 6 – September 27
Philadelphia Inventors
7:15 PM

Week 7 – October 6
St. Louis Arch Bishops
7:00 PM

Week 8 – October 11
Arizona Scorpions
8:00 PM

Week 9 – October 18
Miami Sharks
7:00 PM

Week 10 – October 27
Dallas Destiny
7:00 PM