Young Scores USCL “Upset of the Week”

As adumbrated on this very site earlier in the week, IM Angelo Young of the Chicago Blaze has won the U.S. Chess League's Upset of the Week prize for his victory last Monday night over IM Sam Shankland.

The prize goes to the USCL player who defeats an opponent with a higher rating advantage than in any other pairing in the league for that week. Shankland is rated 235 points higher than Angelo, yet his Slav Defense was not adequate to IM Young's attack the other night. For his achievement, Angelo gets a t-shirt from the stunning array of chesswear by Endgame clothing. (Delicious irony: IM Shankland appears on the Endgame site modeling one of their shirts.)

Congratulations, Angelo! It's great to see our star player, who is still undefeated in league play, get some of the recognition he so richly deserves. Here's the game:

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!