Greg Pulls Back the Curtain

A producer of chess videos named “curtains,” who is generally understood to be U.S. Chess League Commissioner Greg Shahade, has annotated the games in last Monday's match between the Blaze and the Arizona Scorpions at ChessVideos.tv.

Good stuff and well worth watching. Notice how Greg describes the key move in Ilan Meerovich’s victory over NM Warren Harper: 18. Nh4.

Hat tip: Brad and Sevan.

More Pictures

The Blaze may not have won our first match, but we did have the good fortune to have Betsy Dynako as our tournament director last night. In addition to being a certified TD, Betsy is also the best chess photographer in the country. If you read Chess Life or Chess Life Online, you've seen plenty of her photos. Here are some she took during last nights' match with the Arizona Scorpions. More photos here.

Ilan Meerovich is nonchalant about his victory, but Sevan Muradian is pretty psyched about it.

Jan does a long think

IM Mehmed Pasalic battled IM Mark Ginsburg to a draw.

Blaze Fall to Arizona in Season Opener

The Blaze lineup for its first match, from left: IM Jan Van De Mortel, IM Mehmed Pasalic, Ilan Meerovich, NM Jon Burgess



Jon Burgess and Tournament Director Betsy Dynako joke as Betsy collects the players' cell phones before the game.

Niles North High School star Ilan Meerovich overcame a 170-point ratings deficit against National Master Warren Harper last night to post the sole victory for the Chicago Blaze, as the Windy City's new chess team lost its first match, the U.S. Chess League season opener, to the Arizona Scorpions.

The score was 2.5-1.5, a perfectly respectable showing for the Blaze considering that Arizona enjoyed a ratings advantage on all fours boards. IM Mehmed Pasalic was the other Blaze player to get on the scoreboard, with a 70-move draw against Arizona IM Mark Ginsburg that went late into the night.

The key to victory for Ilan was a ferocious kingside attack that deconstructed Harper's Nimzo-Indian Defense, prompting the Arizona master to resign on move 25. See all the games here:

1. IM Levon Altounian (ARZ) vs IM Jan van de Mortel (CHC) 1-0

2. FM Mehmed Pasalic (CHC) vs IM Mark Ginsburg (ARZ) 1/2-1/2

3. FM Robby Adamson (ARZ) vs NM Jon Burgess (CHC) 1-0

4. Ilan Meerovich (CHC) vs NM Warren Harper (ARZ) 1-0

Thanks to the four Blaze players and also to Betsy Dynako for serving as tournament director. Next up: the Blaze face the San Franciso Mechanics on Wednesday, September 3, at 7:30 Central Time.

Update (8/27): Blaze Manager Glenn Panner, who unfortunately had to be out of town for the first match, has this to say on his blog.

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!

The Leader of the Pack

The fortunes of America's top chess players in this year's championship tournament are chronicled in the current issue of Chess Life magazine, and top billing goes to Barrington, Ill.-based GM Yury Shuman, who led the pack and brought the championship home to the Prairie State.

Yury, a member of the Chicago Blaze, had finished a close second at the championship meet two years ago. This year he arrived at the event in Tulsa knowing he had a good chance to win. He also knew he'd have to outplay reigning champion Alex Shabalov as well as former champs GMs Boris Gulko and Alexander Onischuk and other hungry competitors, like GM Sergey Kudrin, GM Varuzhan Akobian, IM Josh Friedel (who earned his final grandmaster norm in Tulsa), and Blaze teammate GM Dmitry Gurevich.

Here are two of Yury's most exciting games from the eight-round event. Check out the tripled-pawn situation he overcame in the endgame against IM David Preuss. And see why Chess Life Online used the word "carnage" to characterize Yury's seventh-round confrontation with GM Julio Becerra-Rivero.

Chicago Blaze Announced

The Illinois Chess Association and the Chicago Blaze have issued this press release today:

For Immediate Release

Big League Chess Comes to Chicago

Illinois Chess Association Forms Chicago Blaze for U.S. Chess League

CHICAGO, July 10, 2008—Big league chess will finally come to Chicago this summer, when the Chicago Blaze (http://www.chicagoblazechess.com/), a new team with several of the area’s top chess players, joins the United States Chess League (USCL) and competes against teams across the country.

The Blaze is an initiative of the Illinois Chess Association, which made the announcement today.

The Blaze boasts several of America’s strongest chess players, all of whom live and play in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs. The initial roster includes Grandmaster Yury Shulman, the 2008 United States Chess Champion; Grandmaster Dmitry Gurevich; International Masters Angelo Young and Jan Van De Mortel; FIDE Master Mehmed Pasalic, and experts Adam Strunk and Ilan Meerovich. Pasalic recently completed the requirements for the international master title and is expected to receive it shortly from the World Chess Federation.

The team will be managed by Glenn Panner, a chess expert and national tournament director based in Frankfort, Ill. Chicago-based Sevan Muradian, the U.S. Chess Federation’s organizer of the year for 2007, will serve as assistant manager.

“It’s great to have a team from Chicago in the league,” said International Master Greg Shahade, commissioner of the USCL. “It’s a town with a great chess tradition, and with all their talent, the Blaze could be a contender from day one.”

The USCL is a organization of professional chess teams from across the country that play matches during a ten-week season that runs from late August through late October and is then followed by playoffs and a championship. Last year the league had twelve teams, from New York and Boston to Seattle and San Francisco, but until now none from Chicago. Two expansion teams will be admitted for the 2008 regular season, the Blaze and the Arizona Scorpions. USCL matches are played online, via the Internet Chess Club.

The schedule is available at http://blazechess.blogspot.com/2008/06/blaze-schedule-announced.html.

“The Blaze will be an integral part of the Chicago and Illinois chess communities,” said Panner. “We want everyone who enjoys chess to be part of the fan base. It will be good for the city, good for the state, and good for the game.”

About the Illinois Chess Association
The Illinois Chess Association is the official U.S. Chess Federation affiliate for the Prairie State. The ICA organizes major tournaments such as the Illinois Open and the Illinois Class Championships and helps bring national tournaments to the state. Members receive the award-winning Illinois Chess Bulletin. The Illinois Chess Association is a 501(C)(3) non-profit organization, and donations to the group are tax-deductible.

About Chess Titles
Superior chess players can earn a variety of titles from the World Chess Federation (French acronym: FIDE) and the U.S. Chess Federation based on their tournament performances.

FIDE titles are the highest and include, in descending order of strength, grandmaster, international master, and FIDE master. American players can earn titles such as national master and expert from the U.S. Chess Federation.

# # #

Contact

Blaze Schedule Announced

The U.S. Chess League has announced the schedule for the 2008 season, and here's the lineup of matches for the Chicago Blaze:

WEEK 1
Monday, August 25
Arizona Scorpions vs Chicago Blaze
8:30 PM CT

WEEK 2
Wednesday, September 3
Chicago Blaze vs San Francisco Mechanics
7:30 PM CT

WEEK 3
Wednesday, September 10
Chicago Blaze vs Tennessee Tempo
7:00 PM CT

WEEK 4
Monday, September 15
Seattle Sluggers vs Chicago Blaze
8:00 PM CT

WEEK 5
Wednesday, September 24
Baltimore Kingfishers vs Chicago Blaze
6:15 PM CT

WEEK 6
Wednesday, October 1
Chicago Blaze vs Miami Sharks
7:00 PM CT

WEEK 7
Wednesday, October 8th
Tennessee Tempo vs Chicago Blaze
7:15 PM CT

WEEK 8
Wednesday, October 15
Chicago Blaze vs Queens Pioneers
7:00 PM CT

WEEK 9
Wednesday, October 22
Chicago Blaze vs Arizona Scorpions
8:30 PM CT

WEEK 10
Wednesday, October 29
Dallas Destiny vs Chicago Blaze
7:15 PM CT

All USCL games are played online, on the Internet Chess Club. The Blaze will play their games at IM Angelo Young's Touch Move Chess Center, 5639 North Ashland Avenue, in Chicago.

Please mark you calendar and plan to follow the games. Fans are welcome to attend each match in person, or they can follow them on ICC.