Quote of the Week

“The Chicago Blaze did not make the U.S. Chess League playoffs, but I think they had a much better season than the Chicago Bears are having.”

Bill Brock at the new Chicago Chess Blog, where he analyzes IM Florin Felecan's victory in the final match of the season.

Check it out.

That's All, Folks!

Blaze draw division-leading Sluggers to end a down-and-up season

IM Florin Felecan

NM Eric Rosen

The Blaze have finished their 2009 USCL season with a 2-2 draw against the division-leading Seattle Sluggers, capping off a late-season mini-surge that gives us a respectable 4-6 record on the year after a poor start in the first half of the schedule.

With the Blaze officially eliminated from playoff competition by Miami’s draw against Boston the previous week, the pressure was off the Chicago squad, and they were relaxed going into the final round against the heavily favored Sluggers. That and the good turnout of fans at the Holiday Inn Skokie created a festive atmosphere for the night that helped the team hold the Pacific Northwest powerhouse.

One of the Blazers who took full advantage of the circumstances was IM Florin Felecan, who scored his first USCL victory against FM Slava Mikhailuk in a 28-move Sicilian Rossolimo.

It took NM Eric Rosen a few more moves to prevail over NM Joshua Sinanan in a Closed Sicilian, but prevail he did, and the two wins secured the draw against Seattle.

As always, here are the games:

1. GM Gregory Serper (SEA) vs IM Jan van de Mortel (CHC) 1-0
2. IM Florin Felecan (CHC) vs FM Slava Mikhailuk (SEA) 1-0
3. FM Marcel Milat (SEA) vs IM Mehmed Pasalic (CHC) 1-0
4. NM Eric Rosen (CHC) vs NM Joshua Sinanan (SEA) 1-0

Thanks for the umpteenth time to our Celebrity Tournament Director for the night Betsy Dynako, who has been a godsend to the Blaze the past two years. Also attending the game was IM Angelo Young, who, though he wasn’t scheduled to play that night and wasn’t feeling well, came out to cheer his teammates.

While the season is over for the Blaze the USCL playoffs are under way, and we’ll have some more posts in the days ahead to recap the year, so ya’ll come back now, you hear?

Stayin’ Alive

The Blaze keep their playoff chances on life support and pull the plug on the defending champs

They may not be the team they were last year, but the Dallas Destiny are still the defending champions of the U.S. Chess League, and last night the Blaze beat them—convincingly.

The 3.5/4 score for the evening was the most resounding victory of the season for Chicago. It eliminated Dallas from playoff contention and kept our own long-shot hopes for postseason play alive, at least until Miami plays this week and possibly into the final week of the season. We had to win last night’s match, and we did, with three victories, a draw, and no losses.

Highlights? Where do I start?

Most likely with IM Jan van de Mortel, who has been settling splendidly into Board 1 of late. Two weeks after beating GM Jaan Ehlvest, Jan played a thrilling game against IM John Bartholomew, coming back from a significant material disadvantage to win.

Look like mate in 2? The final position, with White to move, in IM Jan van de Mortel's exciting victory over IM John Bartholomew.

NM Jeremy Kane, captain of the University of Chicago chess team and Wisconsin state co-champion, made his USCL debut with a solid victory over Gerald Roberts.

Us patzers watching in the peanut gallery wondered why IM Mehmed Pasalic didn’t take a draw offer from IM Keaton Kiewra on Board 3, which came after the Blaze had secured victory in the match. He must have foreseen something we didn’t — namely 51. Qh4 Ng6, forking the White queen and rook. His opponent resigned after the move.

Illinois state co-champion IM Florin Felecan, who seems always to be playing up and doing so without complaint, did so again last night against IM Daniel Ludwig, whose rating is 113 points higher. Florin held on for a draw in a tough game on Board 2 to keep the Blaze undefeated for the night.

It wasn't a big night for pictures, but NM Jeremy Kane, who won his first game as a Blazer, said hi to the camera while his fellow Hyde Parker, IM Jan van de Mortel, looked over one of the games.

End of the Line?
We always thank our Celebrity Tournament Director for the match, but this week we have to heap extra-special praise on Leo Vilker of Highland Park, who had no previous contact with the Blaze until he got a call from us late yesterday morning, explaining that our scheduled TD for the night had to cancel and could he step in. With a few hours’ notice Leo rearranged his schedule and showed up in plenty of time at the Holiday Inn Skokie. We’re extremely grateful to him and to ICA President Tom Sprandel for putting us in touch with Leo.

Unless we make the playoffs, next week's match is the last of the season, and it’s against the Seattle Sluggers, who are tied for the best record in the league this year. It will be a very tough match. If we win, however, and Miami loses this week and next, we'll be tied with them in the standings, and, if I’m not mistaken, game points will be the tiebreaker. However, a Miami draw either this Wednesday night or next week eliminates the Blaze and clinches a playoff spot for them. Stay tuned. Hope springs eternal for the Blaze.

Iron Man

In a loss to Arizona, we learn that Angelo Young is even more amazing than we thought.

Okay, sure, we lost. To Arizona. For the fourth time in a row. And we’ve never beaten or even drawn them, it’s true. And yes, the loss puts our fading playoff hopes on life support.

All duly noted.

If you’re predisposed to negativity, those might be your impressions from last night’s Blaze match against the Scorpions.

But the real news of the night was this:

IM Angelo Young, who we knew was amazing, is even more amazing than we imagined.

He wasn’t even scheduled to play last night, but when a teammate took sick Monday morning he rearranged his schedule and obligingly stepped in to play Board 1, with a huge time penalty (because of the last-minute substitution) against freshly qualified GM-elect Rogelio Barcenilla, whose rating exceeds Angelo's by 258 points.

It didn’t seem to bother Angelo, either, that he was putting his undefeated USCL record on the line under extremely difficult circumstances. And I think I know why: because somehow he must have known that he was going to win.

With no time for dinner, much less to prepare for the game, Angelo played fast, played great, double fianchettoed, won material, and won the game, all while wolfing down appetizers from Tandoor India to keep his blood sugar from crashing.

It was a great game and a superb achievement. It not only extends Angelo’s undefeated streak from the time the Blaze joined the league last year, but it gives him a shot at his second Upset of the Week prize of the season. He has now played every board for the Blaze at least once, and he’s never lost. Congratulations, Angelo, and thanks so much for pinch hitting on such short notice.

True, the rest of the night didn’t go so well for the Blaze. Here are the games:

1. IM Angelo Young (CHC) vs IM Rogelio Barcenilla (ARZ) 1-0
2. IM Dionisio Aldama (ARZ) vs IM Florin Felecan (CHC) 1-0
3. IM Mehmed Pasalic (CHC) vs IM Danny Rensch (ARZ) 1/2-1/2
4. David Adelberg (ARZ) vs NM Eric Rosen (CHC) 1-0

As always, we must give special thanks to our Celebrity Tournament Director for the night, a role played ably and diligently for the second time this season by Mike Cardinale of the Youth Chess Foundation of Chicago.

Next week is Week 9, and we play the reigning champion Dallas Destiny on Monday night. We will have to win (not draw) to have any remaining playoff chances at all. Watch this space for more.

P.S. Though it has been expected for some time, a note of congratulations is in order for our very own Florin Felecan (the 2009 Illinois state co-champion, by the way), who has had his international master title formally approved by the the World Chess Federation. Henceforth, he is IM Felecan. Congratulations, Florin.

Tennessee’s WMDs

It’s not often you see a 2600+ super GM and a recent U.S. chess champion on Board 2 of a USCL match, but that’s what it’ll look like this Wednesday night when the Tennessee Tempo throw everything they’ve got at the Chicago Blaze in an attempt to break their three-match losing streak against our Windy City squad.

It’ll be Jan vs. Jaan on Board 1, IM Jan van de Mortel of the Blaze against one of the nation’s strongest players, GM Jaan Ehlvest of Tennessee. On Board 2, Chicago’s IM-elect Florin Felecan won’t have it any easier, facing another of the nation’s strongest players, former U.S. Champion GM Alexander Shabalov, whom the Blaze have never faced before. Florin will have the Black pieces.



Here are the pairings. The Blaze players are in bold. We’ll have White on Boards 1 and 3 and Black on Boards 2 and 4.

Board 1
IM Jan van de Mortel (2456) vs. GM Jaan Ehlvest (2697)

Board 2
FM Florin Felecan (2430) vs. GM Alex Shabalov (2624)

Board 3
IM Angelo Young (2325) vs. FM John Bick (2260)

Board 4
Trevor Magness (2138) vs. Gerald Larson (2140)

Blaze Avg Rating: 2337 / Tempo Avg Rating:2430

Can the Tempo do it? Can they finally beat the Blaze with two top grandmasters? Do we stand a chance against such firepower? To find out, tune in Wednesday night at 7:00 Chicago time, on the Internet Chess Club, Chicago’s Midway Chess Club, and Twitter. Or better yet, come and cheer the team in person at the Skokie Holiday Inn. All fans are welcome. Go Blaze!

Inventive Play

By hook or crook the Blaze find a way not to lose

The winner: IM Jan van de Mortel

Confounding the league prognosticators who had picked us to go down, the Chicago Blaze fought to the very end last night and found a way not to lose to the favored Philadelphia Inventors. With a victory on Board 2 and draws on Boards 3 and 4, the Blaze played the Brotherly Love contingent to a 2-2 draw.

It was IM Jan van de Mortel who supplied the key win, playing Black against the higher-rated IM Bryan Smith. In a cool endgame, Jan sacrificed the exchange on Move 39, freeing himself to create a passed pawn that tied up White’s remaining rook while Jan’s unmolested king went to work picking off White’s kingside pawns. Meanwhile, the out-of-position White king, powerless to stop the carnage, looked on in horror from the back rank. Smith resigned on Move 47.

Jan’s win was abetted by FM Florin Felecan and NM Eric Rosen, who held on to draw their opponents.

Here are the games:

1. GM Nikola Mitkov (CHC) vs IM Alex Lenderman (PHI) 0-1
2. IM Bryan Smith (PHI) vs IM Jan van de Mortel (CHC) 0-1
3. FM Florin Felecan (CHC) vs IM Richard Costigan (PHI) 1/2-1/2
4. Kavinayan Sivakumar (PHI) vs NM Eric Rosen (CHC) 1/2-1/2

Special thanks to William Shehan, majordomo of the Midway Chess Club, who served as our Celebrity Tournament Director for the evening.

Our record now stands at 1.5-4 with four games left in the regular season. A victory last night would have done a great deal more for our playoff hopes, though if we can put together a string of wins in the weeks ahead we’ll keep our chances alive.

Our next match is a week from tomorrow against the Tennessee Tempo, a much-improved team this year that will be looking for revenge for three previous Blaze victories over them, including one this season. They have the ability to put a super-GM on Board 1, so they’ll be tough. Please tune in and watch the game on the Internet Chess Club or the play-by-play with commentary provided by Midway.

top photo: Betsy Dynako
slide show photos: Daniel Parmet

This Match Promises to be a Scorcher

By Blaze Assistant Manager Daniel Parmet

The Blaze is an eternal fire that will forever burn strong.... we start off slow with a 1-4 record, but now the heat is reaching as a fiery phoenix out of the crowd. Victory is coming to the fire brazen soldiers of the Chicago Blaze! This fire is ready to consume all who would dare stand in its way! Out of the ashes rises our stars: GM Nikola Mitkov, IM Jan van de Mortel, IM-elect Florin Felecan and NM Eric Rosen. Our fire-breathing dragon warriors are ready to meet the Philadelphia Inventors head on in the center of a volcano! Who can stand the heat?! This match promises to be a scorcher!! Here are the match-ups:

Chicago Blaze (White on 1&3, Team average: 2422) vs Philadelphia Inventors (Team average:2401)

(This is the first time the Chicago Blaze has ever had an average rating advantage!)

Fire on board. GM Nikola Mitkov (2547) will face off with White against GM-elect Alex Lenderman (2579) .

Burning sensation. IM Jan van de Mortel (2456) will bring home the bacon with the Black pieces against IM Bryan Smith (2511).

Flaming. IM-elect Florin Felecan (2452) sends on his White warriors to the fiery field against FM Tom Bartell (2434).

The Phoenix himself to lead the victorious charge after his smashing debut last week (a victory over NJ's NM Andrew Ng) will see NM Eric Rosen (2233) with Black against Expert Kavinayan Sivakumar (2079). Does anyone need to be reminded of what Eric did to GM John Fedorowicz a few short months ago with Black at the U.S. Open?

The Chicago Blaze is bringing on the eternal heat. This flame is eternal! The fiery Norse Gods are using the Fehu rune to determine a 3-1 scorching victory over Philadelphia (we just hope we leave the city still standing afterwards).

* * *

[Here are some more picture Daniel took at last week's match against the Knockouts.]

IM Mehmed Pasalic in a deep think

From l. to r., IMs Young and Pasalic and NM Rosen gaze at their screens in Patio A/B

Frisco Holds Blaze at Bay

Chicago bows to Mechanics 2.5-1.5



It was a seesaw match that seemed at first to be going our way, but the storybook ending was not to be, as the San Francisco Mechanics held on, as widely predicted, to beat Chicago Blaze last night 2.5-1.5.

The match, which went well past 11:00 PM Chicago time, ended when San Francisco’s GM Jesse Kraai succeeded in pushing an imminently promotable pawn down the g-file, against the valiant endgame efforts of Chicago’s FM Florin Felecan to prevent it, giving Kraai the game and San Francisco the edge in the match. The Blaze now fall to 1-3 after four weeks, with six matches left in the season.

As usual, there were bright spots for the Blaze. In a game that should be in the running for the league’s new Upset of the Week prize, IM Angelo Young defeated IM Sam Shankland and maintained his undefeated record in USCL play. On Board 1, where Blaze players have often struggled, IM Jan van De Mortel held the much higher rated GM Josh Friedel to a draw.

Here are the games, by board number:

1. IM Jan van de Mortel (CHC)vs GM Josh Friedel (SF) 1/2-1/2

2. GM Jesse Kraai (SF) vs FM Florin Felecan (CHC) 1-0

3. IM Angelo Young (CHC) vs IMSam Shankland (SF) 1-0

4. NM Yian Liou (SF) vs IM Mehmed Pasalic (CHC) 1-0

Special thanks to NM Len Weber, who served as our Celebrity Tournament Director for the evening. Thanks also to GM Nikola Mitkov and Betsy Dynako, neither of whom had official duties with the team last night, for showing up and cheering the Blaze all the same. As always, we were honored to host Professor Gary Alan Fine of Northwestern University, who is following the Blaze and the USCL as part of a larger study on the sociology of chess. Finally, personal thanks to Chessdad64 (Brad Rosen), for a tough and interesting G/40 game.

Our next match is a week from Wednesday against the New Jersey Knockouts, who are jabbing their way through the league this year with a one-two combination of superb chess and bad puns. They’ll be tough, but we’ll be ready. Please join us next week and lend your voice to the cheering section. Go Blaze!

It’s Dark and We’re Wearing Sunglasses

So what if the Blaze are underdogs in Monday night’s match? We’re on a mission from Caissa.

The Chicago Blaze find themselves in familiar territory as they prepare to face the undefeated San Francisco Mechanics Monday night in Week 4 of the U.S. Chess League season. The Blaze are again clear underdogs, as they have been so many times before.

The redoubtable might of the Mechanics squad is clear in the board-by-board matchups below. The Blaze players are in bold.

IM Jan van de Mortel (2456) - GM Josh Friedel (2612)
FM Florin Felecan (2430) - GM Jesse Kraai (2552)
IM Angelo Young (2325) - IM Sam Shankland (2564)
IM Mehmed Pasalic (2346) - NM Yian Liou (2149)

Chicago Blaze average rating: 2389
San Francisco Mechanics average rating: 2469

Note:

• The Mechanics have grandmasters on the top two boards.
• Three of their four players are rated over 2500.
• The average rating of their lineup is 80 points above that of the Blaze.
• They enjoy an advantage of more than 120 points on each of the top three boards.

So what? For inspiration, we channel the greatest of Chicago epic heroes:

Tune in Monday night:
Week 4: Monday September 21st
Chicago Blaze vs San Francisco Mechanics
8:30 PM ET (7:30 Central)

Live broadcast on the Internet Chess Club; play-by-play coverage Chicago's Midway Chess Club; and with any luck some running commentary on Twitter.

The Blaze Ignite

Chicago finally gets on the board with a 2.5-1.5 victory over Tennessee


Photos: Daniel Parmet

It’s good to win. That was the sentiment at the Holiday Inn Skokie last night as the Chicago Blaze finally posted their first victory of the 2009 season, beating the Tennessee Tempo 2.5-1.5 and breaking a five-match losing streak that extended to the end of last season.

As might be expected, it was the ever-reliable IM Angelo Young, still undefeated in USCL play, who hit the Volunteer State crew first, with a victory over FM Todd Andrews to spur his teammates and even the score, after FM Florin Felecan, with the Black pieces and a near-impossible match-up against Jaan Ehlvest on Board 1, had fallen to his super-GM opponent.

That left IM Mehmed Pasalic on Board 3, and NM Jon Burgess, Board 4, with the burden of determining the outcome of the match. Both games looked iffy, and a somber mood momentarily descended on the venue until both players rallied, Mehmed to victory over FM Peter Bereolos and Jon to hold FM John Bick to a draw.

Here are the games:

1. GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs FM Florin Felecan (CHC) 1-0

2. IM Angelo Young (CHC) vs FM Todd Andrews (TEN) 1-0

3. FM Peter Bereolos (TEN) vs IM Mehmed Pasalic (CHC) 0-1

4. NM Jon Burgess (CHC) vs FM John Bick (TEN) 1/2-1/2

Tennessee was one of the weaker teams in the league last year, but with Ehlvest and former U.S. Champion GM Alexander Shabalov now playing for the Nashville cats, they started this season strong and, as the USCL site put it, look like “a different team” this year. Last night’s match was their first defeat of the season. It came harder, and is in some ways more satisfying, than the two Blaze victories over the Tempo last year.

Special thanks to Larry Cohen, who served as our Celebrity Tournament Director for the evening’s match. Kudos also to Blaze Assistant Manager Daniel Parmet, who ran the match superbly in the absence of Manager Glenn Panner.

It’s a short week, and there won’t be much time to celebrate. We come back and play the mighty San Francisco Mechanics on Monday. Tune in to the Internet Chess Club, or watch the live coverage by Chicago’s Midway Chess Club.

Felecan Shares State Championship

Congratulations to FM Florin Felecan of the Chicago Blaze, who finished in a tie for first place with IM GM Mesgen Amanov in this weekend's Illinois Open. The two players, who both went 5.0/6 for the weekend, are now the co-champions of Illinois.

Other Blazers playing in the tournament were IM Angelo Young, Trevor Magness, NM Eric Rosen, and Assistant Manager Daniel Parmet. Special congratulations to Blaze tech guru Sevan Muradian, who went undefeated in his section and raised his rating to 1744. Sevan's rating has spiked about 250 points in the past year. Is he doing de la Maza?

Left: Florin Felecan ponders his position in last year's Blaze match against the Baltimore Kingfishers.

photo: Betsy Dynako

Deja Vu

Blaze Stung by Scorpions in Season Opener Again

In the short rivalry between the Chicago Blaze and the Arizona Scorpions, there really hasn’t been much of a rivalry at all. In fact, the “rivalry” can be summed up easily: they own us.

Aside from the fact that both teams joined the U.S. Chess League at the same time last year, there are few similarities between them, especially when they go head to head. The Blaze dropped both of their matches to Arizona last year, and last night the Scorpions’ streak against the Windy City squad went to three as they handed us our most lopsided defeat ever, 3.5-.5. For the second year in a row, the Blaze lost their opening match of the season to the same team.

A Few Bright Spots
There weren’t many bright spots in last night’s match, but there were a few. FM Florin Felecan managed to hold IM Levon Altounian for a draw. And as Blaze Manager Glenn Panner sees it, the remaining three games, which the Blaze lost, could have gone either way for most of the night.

There was no shortage of excitement. Trevor Magness, this year’s Illinois Denker champion, playing in his first game for the Blaze, gave a sharp and aggressive response to David Adelberg’s Sicilian. IM Mehmed Pasalic of the Blaze blitzed valiantly against FM Robby Adamson, as both of them drew short on time for about the last twenty moves of their game. GM Nikola Mitkov of the Blaze made GM Alejandro Ramirez work and sweat to grind out a victory in the last game of the night to end.

“I think we can be about as happy as you can be after a 3.5-.5 defeat,” said Glenn optimistically at the end of the night. Here are the games:

Board 1. GM Alejandro Ramirez (ARZ) vs GM Nikola Mitkov (CHC) 1-0

Board 2. FM Florin Felecan (CHC) vs IM Levon Altounian (ARZ) 1/2-1/2

Board 3. FM Robby Adamson (ARZ) vs IM Mehmed Pasalic (CHC) 1-0

Board 4. Trevor Magness (CHC) vs David Adelberg (ARZ) 0-1

The Blaze as the Object of Scholarship
Off the board, we had a distinguished guest at the Holiday Inn Skokie, where the Blaze play their games. Professor Gary Alan Fine of Northwestern University, a leading expert on the sociology of leisure and popular culture, was on hand in his capacity as a researcher studying chess. That’s right: the Blaze have attracted the attention of scholars, so have a little respect. Happily, Gary will be with us a good part of the season.

Of course we were delighted to have our celebrity tournament director Betsy Dynako on hand. Betsy not only officiated during a mouse-slip in one game but as always took great pictures, this time doing it with my ancient point-and-shoot camera and despite technical difficulties with her own. We were also joined by the new Blaze assistant manager, Daniel Parmet, about which you'll be hearing more. He knows alot about chess, Indian food, and apparently many other things.

Props also to William Shehan of the Midway Chess Club, which did a webcast from their perch on the Southwest Side to which several people tuned in and NM Len Weber provided excellent play-by-play. I'd also like to thank the Internet Chess Club for providing me with access to the lives games, which enabled me to give real-time commentary on Twitter, such as it was.

It’s good to have our ignominious defeat for the season out of the way. Now the Blaze can concentrate on winning, which we’ll do beginning next week when we take on the Miami Sharks. And we get another shot at the Scorpions later in the year. So things are looking up. Stay tuned: the Blaze have not yet caught fire.

Photos: Betsy Dynako

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 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