US Chess League: Week 1

Submitted by Patzer24 on Wed, 08/27/2008 at 10:05pm.

The US Chess League kicked off it's first week with some exciting chess action. Now with the league having 14 teams there were 7 hard fought matches, each team hoping to start out the season in strong fashion.


The feature Monday night match was between the two new teams of the league, the Arizona Scorpions and the Chicago Blaze. In the end the Arizona Scorpions squeeked out a win with a final score of 2.5-1.5 after FM Adamson went King hunting and was victorious.

IM Levon Altounian

IM Altounian

Below are the games from this match:

Board 1: IM Altounian(ARZ) - IM van de Mortel(CHC) , 1-0



Board 2: IM Pasalic(CHC) - IM Ginsburg(ARZ) , 1/2-1/2

 

Board 3: FM Adamson(ARZ) - NM Burgess(CHC) , 1-0



Board 4: Meerovich(CHC) - NM Harper(ARZ) ,1-0






The next match was a big rivalry with the New York Knights and the Boston Blitz who have had a long history. This time the Boston Blitz came out on top with a dominant score of 3-1 after NM Sammour-Hasbun and NM Krasik were both under pressure when the opponents went in for the attack but they defended well to steal the full point.

NM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun

Below are the games from this match:

Board 1: GM Shabalov(NY) - NM Sammour Hasbun(BOS) , 0-1


Board 2: IM Vigorito(BOS) - NM Braylovsky(NY) , 1/2-1/2


Board 3: IM Bonin(NY) - NM Shmelov(BOS) , 1/2-1/2


Board 4: NM Krasik(BOS) - NM Rosenberg(NY) , 1-0






The next match was between the Baltimore Kingfishers and the New Jersey Knockouts. The New Jersey Knockouts took a convincing victory in the match with a score of 3-1 when the bottom three boards all won their games to compensate for GM Joel Benjamin losing a tough game on the top board.

NM Victor Shen

Below are the games from this match:

Board 1: GM Erenburg(BAL) - GM Benjamin(NJ) , 0-1


Board 2: IM Ippolito(NJ) - IM L_Kaufman(BAL) , 1-0


Board 3: FM R_Kaufman(BAL) - NM Molner(NJ) , 0-1


Board 4: NM Shen(NJ) - FM Zimmer(BAL) , 1-0






The next match was between the Queens Pioneers and the Philadelphia Inventors. The Queens Pioneers edged out a close win on a score of 2.5-1.5 after IM Vovsha won on the black side of a sharp Sicilian.

IM Eli Vovsha

Below are the games from this match:

Board 1: IM D_Schneider(QNS) - GM Kudrin(PHI) , 1/2-1/2


Board 2: IM B_Smith(PHI) - IM Vovsha(QNS) , 0-1


Board 3: IM Lenderman(QNS) - IM Costigan(PHI) , 1-0


Board 4: NM Wilson(PHI) - Katz(QNS) , 1-0






The next match featured two local rivals, the Carolina Cobras and the Tennessee Tempo. The Carolina Cobras dominated the match with a score of 3-1 when FM Zaikov outplayed his opponent on the black side of a Sicilian game.

FM Oleg Zaikov

Below are the games from this match:

Board 1: IM Milman(CAR) - IM Burnett(TEN) , 1-0


Board 2: FM Andrews(TEN) - IM Zaikov(CAR) , 0-1


Board 3: FM Simpson(CAR) - FM Bereolos(TEN) , 1/2-1/2


Board 4: NM McCarthy(TEN) - NM Jones(CAR) , 1/2-1/2






The next match was between the San Francisco Mechanics and Dallas Destiny. This was a very close battle but the San Francisco Mechanics edged out Dallas with a score of 2.5-1.5 after FM Shankland won the only decisive game in the match to carry his team victoriously.

FM Sam Shankland

Below are the games from the match:

Board 1: GM Wolff(SF) - IM Zivanic(DAL) , 1/2-1/2


Board 2: IM Kuljasevic(DAL) - IM Friedel(SF) , 1/2-1/2


Board 3: FM Shankland(SF) - FM I_Schneider(DAL) , 1-0


Board 4: WFM Zorigt(DAL) - FM Naroditsky(SF) , 1/2-1/2






The final match of week 1 was between the Miami Sharks and the Seattle Sluggers. Incredibly the Miami Sharks pulled out a 3.5-0.5 victory despite not using any GM players on the team this time.

FM Bruci Lopez

Below are the games from the match:

Board 1: FM Lopez(MIA) - GM Serper(SEA) , 1-0


Board 2: IM Tangborn(SEA) - FM Martinez(MIA) , 0-1


Board 3: IM Lugo(MIA) - FM Readey(SEA) , 1/2-1/2


Board 4: NM Sinanan(SEA) - NM Rodriguez(MIA) , 0-1






Overall match results for week 1:

Arizona Scorpions - Chicago Blaze , 2.5 - 1.5

Boston Blitz - New York Knights , 3 - 1

New Jersey Knockouts - Baltimore Kingfishers , 3 - 1

Queens Pioneers - Philadelphia Inventors , 2.5 - 1.5

Carolina Cobras - Tennessee Tempo , 3 - 1

San Francisco Mechanics - Dallas Destiny , 2.5 - 1.5

Miami Sharks - Seattle Sluggers , 3.5 - 0.5


Be sure to check out the official website of the US Chess League at www.uschessleague.com

 

Comments:

by Nimzoblanca - 3 months ago
Chicago United States
Member Since: Jan 2008
Member Points: 63
by StarJock - 3 months ago
Phoenix, Arizona United States
Member Since: Oct 2007
Member Points: 61

Thanks for the comprehensive report on week 1 action! I'm looking forward to next week's report and hopefully another win for the ARIZONA SCORPIONS!

There are some great photos of the first week action on the Scorpions webpage at: http://arizonascorpions.blogspot.com/2008/08/week-1-photos.html

by lukeyboy_xx - 3 months ago
london England
Member Since: Dec 2007
Member Points: 4531

great report!

by spencer79 - 3 months ago
Houston, TX United States
Member Since: Aug 2008
Member Points: 23

GREAT report!

 

Go SCORPIONS!!!!!

by eternaloptimist - 3 months ago
Orange Beach, AL United States
Member Since: Feb 2008
Member Points: 252

I'll be rooting for the San Francisco Mechanics to win the title because I'm a Patrick Wolff fan. It's good to see him become an active chess player again. He did a great job of locking up the position & securing the draw in a complicated & interesting game. I see they beat the Dallas Destiny in their match w/ them; that's a good sign that they'll do well this year because Dallas won the last championship. S. F.  has a strong team this year.

by SonofPearl - 3 months ago
Wales
Member Since: May 2007
Member Points: 3841

Great report, Matt.  Must have taken ages.  I'll leave the US Chess League news to you! Wink

 

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