Blaze Bow to Queens Machine

The Chicago Blaze became the latest victims of the Queens Pioneers’ rolling juggernaut last night, falling to the formidable Forest Hills squad in their USCL match by a score of 3-1.

It was the worst defeat yet for Chicago and the first match in which no member of the Blaze won a game. The going was roughest on the top two boards, where FM Florin Felecan lost to strong GM Alex Stripunsky and IM Emory Tate became the latest notch in the belt of IM Alex Lenderman (pictured at left), the 19-year-old pheenom who has won all of seven of his games this season. Stripunsky and Lenderman are two of the reasons the Pioneers (6.5-1.5) are tied for the best record in the league. (See Elizabeth Vicary's interview with IM Lenderman here.)

For the Blaze, the only bright spots were boards three and four, where IM-elect Mehmed Pasalic and IM Angelo Young, both undefeated this year, drew their opponents.

You can’t win ‘em all, of course, and the defeat followed a few weeks of mostly solid performances for the new Blaze team, which had raised its record to 4-3 after last week. That record now falls back to an even .500, and we hang on dearly to our playoff hopes. The last two matches of the regular season, against Arizona and Dallas, will be decisive.

The Pioneers are an impressive team and deserve their success. To get where they are they have had to overcome obstacles, such as an undistinguished record last year, their first, and what has to be the most ill-conceived name and logo in the league. (Trust me, I was born and raised in New York City’s largest borough. Nothing about Queens even remotely suggests cowboys or pioneers or sunsets. None of it resonates. But when you’re winning, who cares?)

On the bright side, Blaze Manager Glenn Panner gave the team’s non-player personnel—all of whom very much need chess improvement—an enjoyable lesson in the Scotch Game using Charousek vs Von Popiel (Budapest, 1896) and Bruce Pandolfini’s Chess Life column on the game from August 2006 (USCF membership required).

Many thanks to Maret Thorpe for serving as tournament director last night for the second time this year. Here are the games:

1. FM Florin Felecan (CHC) vs GM Alex Stripunsky (QNS) 0-1

2. IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 1-0

3. IM Mehmed Pasalic (CHC) vs NM Parker Zhao (QNS) 1/2-1/2

4. NM Michael Thaler (QNS) vs IM Angelo Young (CHC) 1/2-1/2

Blaze Keep the Heat on Miami

Chicagoans Pull Out a Draw in Tough Match

IMs Emory Tate and Angelo Young put the shark bite on Miami last night to salvage a draw for the Blaze.

Some but not all of the Blazers on hand last night: Manager Glenn Panner, IM-elect Mehmed Pasalic, GM Nikola Mitkov, IM Emory Tate, IM Angelo Young.

On yet another night when the new Chicago Blaze could easily have gone down to defeat, the team hung tough to salvage their match yesterday evening with a 2-2 draw against the Miami Sharks, a team that was considered one of the league’s strongest as the season began.

Once again it was the middle of the lineup, IMs Emory Tate on Board 2 and IM Angelo Young on Board 3, that provided the victories. Both players are grinding it out in style these days. Emory has now won his last three games. Angelo is undefeated in USCL competition and is currently among the league’s top ten players in game MVP points.

Playing Black, Emory beat off an early but premature mating attack by IM Blas Lugo in their Caro-Kann, Two Knights game, going on methodically to squeeze his opponent’s kingside and enter the endgame up a knight to a pawn. White resigned after Move 60.

Angelo’s game against FM Charles Galofre went late into the night, generally looking drawish to most of the observers on the scene at the Holiday Inn Skokie. In an endgame that went on for about 60 moves, however, Angelo managed to capture his opponent’s last pawns while retaining one of his own. Charles resigned after Move 111, as Angelo was about to promote. (Warning: Game not for those with short attention spans.)

The draw keeps the Blaze at .500—three points in six meets—and maintains our playoff hopes without actually advancing them. Every week is different, interesting and fun. Next up: the Blaze play the Tennessee Tempo again on Monday.

Thanks to Chris Baumgartner for providing first-rate tournament direction last night. Here are the games by board number.

1. GM Nikola Mitkov (CHC) vs GM Julio Becerra (MIA) 0-1

2. IM Blas Lugo (MIA) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 0-1

3. IM Angelo Young (CHC) vs FM Charles Galofre (MIA) 1-0

4. NM Eric Rodriguez (MIA) vs NM Jon Burgess (CHC) 1-0

Blaze Beat Baltimore in Nail Biter

Blaze Manager Glenn Panner watches nervously in the early going as IMs Mehmed Pasalic and Emory Tate play their Baltimore opponents. All turned out well, however, as the team gave Glenn an excellent birthday present by beating the Kingfishers. photo: (c) Betsy Dynako

For the second week in a row IM Emory Tate posted the only game victory for the Chicago Blaze, but this time, thanks to draws on the other three boards, it was enough to secure the margin of victory, as the team won its match last night against the Baltimore Kingfishers 2.5-1.5.

On a night when Skokie Mayor George Van Dusen and Trustee Randy Roberts attended the games to show the town’s support for the Blaze, which plays at Skokie’s Holiday Inn, the four masters in the night's lineup took advantage of the political encouragement to finish the night without a loss.

One of the most exciting moments of the evening came at the very end, when all the other games were finished and IM Mehmed Pasalic of the Blaze, down a piece, executed an exciting and skillful endgame against FM Ray Kaufman to secure a draw in the game and seal the match victory for the Blaze. There was a lot on the line. A loss for Mehmed would have meant a drawn match, depriving the Blaze of the victory that now puts them in a four-way tie for third place in the U.S. Chess League’s Western Division and keeps our playoff hopes alive.

Here are the games by board number:

1. FM Tegshsuren Enkhbat (BAL) vs FM Florin Felecan (CHC) 1/2-1/2

2. IM Emory Tate (CHC) vs IM Larry Kaufman (BAL) 1-0

3. FM Ray Kaufman (BAL) vs IM Mehmed Pasalic (CHC) 1/2-1/2

4. IM Angelo Young (CHC) vs NM Aaron Kahn (BAL) 1/2-1/2

More later. For now, here’s what Mehmed’s endgame looked like.

Position after 54. ... Rf7

55.Bf4 Kc5 56.Kf3 b4 57.Ke4 Kc4 58.Be5 Re7 59.Rc1+ Kb3 60.Rc8 Ka2 61.Ra8+ Kb3 62.Kd5 Kc2 63.Ra2+ Kd3 64.Rb2 Rxe5+ 65.Kxe5 Kc3 66.Rh2 b3 67.Rh3+ Kc2 68.Kd4 b2 69.Rh2+ Kb3 70.Rxb2+ Kxb2 Game drawn because neither player has mating material 1/2-1/2

Once again, thanks to Betsy Dynako for serving as tournament director for the match.

English Novel

Why not 3. ... f5?

IM Emory Tate has annotated the opening of the game in which he beat FM Michael Lee of the Seattle Sluggers last week. I guess 3. ... f5 is something of a novelty in this position, though I gather it has been played before in master competition. In any case, it worked for Emory.

Go here to see the game, and feel free to add your own comments, kibitzing, and additional annotation.

Position after 3. ... f5!?

Seattle Power Lineup Nips Blaze

Well, you can’t win ‘em all. Last night, the Chicago Blaze went up against one of the strongest lineups a USCL team has brought to the boards this year and came up short, losing to the Seattle Sluggers 2.5-1.5.

The Sluggers, who had struggled in the early weeks of the season, put a lot on the line, with a lineup that included two grandmasters, including super-GM Hikaru Nakamura, the former U.S. chess champion. In one of the most anticipated games of the season, Nakamura, with the White pieces, outlasted Chicago’s GM Nikola Mitkov in the 70-move marathon.

IM Emory Tate (photo: Betsy Dynako)

Seattle’s other grandmaster, Gregory Serper, didn’t fare quite as well on the second board: he had to settle for a draw against IM Jan Van De Mortel of the Blaze, who played a tough and aggressive game against the higher-rated player. The game ended when both players ran out of mating material. (Actually, it went on for a bit even after that.)

The bright spot of the evening was IM Emory Tate, playing in his second match for the Blaze, who hung on to beat a tenacious NM Michael Lee. Emory thought he had a better position early in the game and said he was impressed with how long the youngster hung in there.

Emory does a postmortem with Adam Strunk

I only have eyes for chess. Eminent local chess personages Brad "Chessdad64" Rosen (left) and Larry Cohen cut up a bit during the match. The Blaze have fun even when they lose. Come and see sometime.

On Board 4, Adam Strunk of the Blaze lost two pawns to Seattle’s Andy May and wasn’t able to recover.

Here are the games.

1. GM Hikaru Nakamura (SEA) vs GM Nikola Mitkov (CHC) 1-0

2. IM Jan van de Mortel (CHC) vs GM Gregory Serper (SEA) 1/2-1/2

3. NM Michael Lee (SEA) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 0-1

4. Adam Strunk (CHC) vs Andy May (SEA) 0-1

Click here for Seattle’s take on the match. Thanks to NM Len Weber for flawless tournament direction last night.

Next up: the Blaze play the Baltimore Kingfishers a week from Wednesday.

The Snake, Coiled and Waiting

For the first time in the illustrious three-week history of the Chicago Blaze, we have a tie for the honor of the Blaze Game of the Week. Our distinguished panel of judges agrees that IM Jan Van De Mortel’s victory over FM Todd Andrews with the Sicilian Dragon should share honors with this game by IM Angelo Young.

I had the privilege of being in the car last Wednesday night after the game, when IM Emory Tate, who wasn’t playing that night but had come to cheer his team, characterized IM Angelo’s style of play. As Angelo mentions here, Emory said Angelo is like a snake: he sits lying in wait, camouflaged, as it were. By the time his opponent realizes he’s a snake, it’s too late: he’s set his trap and is ready to strike.

Here’s Angelo’s game, annotated by him personally. He dedicates the game to all Chicago Blaze Fans.

M Young, A. - FM Bereolos, P [E67]USCL CHI- TEN Chicago USA, 2008

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.g3
King's Indian (g3 System)

3...Bg7 4. Bg2 0-0 5. c4 d6 6. 0-0 Nbd7 7. Nc3 e5
All book.

8.e3
This is not the first time I used this line. Solid and good for the team play.

8...c6 9.Qc2 Qe7 10.b3 Ne8? 11.Ba3 f5 12.dxe5 Nxe5 13.Nd4!

Quiet and effective.

13...Bd7 14.Rad1 Rd8 15.Rfe1
After the game IM Tate mentioned comparing my play to a snake, waiting to strike anytime, and when the venom is injected it will paralyze the victim.

15...Bc8 16.f4
The first strike!

16...Nf7
Noticed black pieces.

17.e4 fxe4 18.Nxe4 Qc7 19.Kh1 Qa5 20.Bb2 Nc7 21.Bc3 Qh5 22.Nxc6!!
A very deep move considering I don't have much time to think as I have to see the end when I played this move.


22...bxc6 23.Bxg7 Kxg7 24.Qc3+ Kh6
Only move! bad was [24...Kg8 25.Nf6+]

25.Nf6
The root of the combination.

25...Qc5 26.g4 g5 27.Ne4!

Brutal! After the game IM Tate said people watching from all over the world and there is no need to play this fancy but brilliant move although the move stops Bg4 when Ne4 is already enough to win. Maybe with Nd7!! it can be considered a brilliant game.

27...Bxg4 28.Qf6+ Kh5 29.Nxc5 Bxd1 30.Rxd1 Nd5 31.Bxd5
Black resigned, not waiting for Ne6, Bf3+, Bf7+. 1-0

Play through the whole game:

photo: Sevan Muradian

The Other Game of the Week

While we prefer to tout games that the Blaze win, the USCL, for understandable reasons, has chosen as its Game of the Week this game in which San Francisco's IM Vinay Bhat beat IM Emory Tate of the Blaze. It was a truly wild game:

More at the USCL blog.

Blaze Hold on for Draw Vs. Frisco Powerhouse

Blaze chief technology officer Sevan Muradian served as the official team glad-hander last night, congratulating the winning players: Mehmed Pasalic (top) and Angelo Young.

After beating the Dallas Destiny last week, the San Francisco Mechanics may have thought they’d make short work of the Chicago Blaze. But the Bay Area powerhouse, which some say is the strongest team in the U.S. Chess League after their defeat of the defending champions from Texas, were thwarted in their march to glory as the new team from the Windy City posted two victories last night to come away with a draw for the match.

Though the Mechanics’ blog spoke of compounding the Blaze’s misery after our opening-week loss to the Arizona Scorpions, the Blaze gave as good as they got from the Holiday Inn Skokie, as FM (IM-elect) Mehmed Pasalic beat FM Sam Shankland and FM Daniel Naroditsky fell to IM Angelo Young of the Blaze.

Mehmed, who is undefeated in the first two weeks of play, posted the first victory of the night. At that point it looked like it could be a big evening for the Blaze, but then FM Florin Felecan lost a hard-fought game to GM-elect Josh Friedel, and IM Emory Tate’s characteristically wild and wooly game with IM Vinay Bhat dropped into the San Francisco W column. It fell to Angelo to pull it out for the Blaze, and he did so masterfully, going up on time against Daniel Naroditsky and squeezing the California FIDE Master’s position. Naroditsky resigned at about 10:45 PM Chicago time.

Don’t get me wrong: the Blaze would have been thrilled with a victory for the night, but considering this was only our second match and we were again facing an opponent with an overall ratings advantage, most of the team was satisfied with the result.

Here are the games, in order of board number:

1. FM Florin Felecan (CHC) vs IM Josh Friedel (SF) 0-1
2. IM Vinay Bhat (SF) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 1-0
3. FM Mehmed Pasalic (CHC) vs FM Sam Shankland (SF) 1-0
4. FM Daniel Naroditsky (SF) vs IM Angelo Young (CHC) 0-1

We hope to have more later on—maybe some analysis later in the week. Please look at the games, leave your comments, and stay tuned. The Blaze are starting to set the league on fire.

P.S. Many thanks to Maret Thorpe for first-rate tournament direction last night.

photos by Chessdad64

Update (09/06): See a commentary on the match by IM Vinay Bhat of the Mechanics.

This Week's Opponent: San Francisco

Here are the matchups for this week's meet between the Chicago Blaze and the San Francisco Mechanics. The Mechanics beat the defending champion Dallas Destiny in their first meet last week, and they have significant ratings advantages against Chicago on two of the fours boards. "Really tough match this week, but there should be some interesting games," Manager Glenn Panner told the players tonight.

Please tune in at 7:30 Wednesday night on the Internet Chess Club, or better yet come to the Holiday Inn Skokie and cheer the team in person.

Here's the lineup. The Blaze players are in bold.

Chicago Blaze (0.0-1.0) vs San Francisco Mechanics (1.0-0.0)
Starts at 7:30 PM Central time

Wednesday, September 3
Time Control - Game 75 with 30 second increment

FM Florin Felecan (2449) vs. IM Josh Friedel(2595)

IM Vinay Bhat (2481) vs. IM Emory Tate (2392)

FM Mehmed Pasalic (2375) vs. FM Sam Shankland (2364)

FM Daniel Naroditsky (2321) vs. IM Angelo Young (2356)

Blaze Avg Rating: 2393

Mechanics Avg Rating: 2440