Skokie Leaders Attend Blaze Match

Skokie Mayor George Van Dusen, Blaze Manager Glenn Panner, North American Chess Association President Sevan Muradian, Brad Rosen, and Skokie Village Trustee Randall Roberts.

The Chicago Blaze got some high-level fan support during their Wednesday-night match against the Baltimore Kingfishers, when the mayor of Skokie, Ill., and a town trustee showed up to kick off the meet.

Mayor George Van Dusen was on hand at Skokie’s Holiday Inn, where the Blaze play their matches, to thank them for their presence in his town, a northern suburb of Chicago, and to make the ceremonial first move in the evening’s match. He was accompanied by his grandson Anthony, a third grader who plays chess, and Skokie Trustee Randy Roberts.

Skokie has lately become a major chess Mecca in the Chicago area. In addition to the Blaze games, Sevan Muradian’s North American Chess Association has held a series of FIDE-rated tournaments there, to which players come from all over the country to earn IM norms. One of those tournaments is in progress now, in fact, and was under way Wednesday night when the mayor was there.

Exclusive video footage:

Kudos to Brad Rosen ("Chessdad64") for interfacing with the mayor to arrange his visit.

More at Chess Life Online.

photo: (c) Betsy Dynako

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.

USCL Season Kicks Off with Blaze-Scorpions Match

The Chicago Blaze and the Arizona Scorpions, both new expansion teams in the United States Chess League, will go head to head Monday night in a match that will lead off the league's 2008 season, and the chess world is all abuzz about it.

According to an article just posted on the U.S. Chess Federation's Web site:

"The United States Chess League kicks off its 4th Season starting this Monday, August 25, 2008, with a match between the two newest teams in the league, the Arizona Scorpions and the Chicago Blaze. Both of these expansion teams are excited to participate in such a prestigious league. The remaining matches for Week 1 (see below) will be played on Wednesday, August 27,
2008."

The Blaze will gather for its historic first match at the Holiday Inn in Skokie, the new mecca for chess on the North Shore, where they will play against the Scorpions via the Internet Chess Club. The matchups for Monday night's meet are:

Board 1 IM Levon Altounian v IM Jan Van De Mortel
Board 2 IM Mehmed Pasalic v IM Mark Ginsburg
Board 3 FM Robby Adamson v NM Jon Burgess
Board 4 CM Ilan Meerovich v NM Warren Harper

The Blaze players are in bold. They all live in Chicago or the surrounding suburbs.

Tune in Monday night to ICC at 8:30 Central time Monday night, or come to the Holiday Inn to cheer the team in person. The Blaze are here to set the league on fire!