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     Included below are icons with descriptions next to them.  Within the icons are links that lead to material that members may wish to have quick acess to.  Click on the links to activate them.     USCL Official Website       U.S.C.L. team profiles on Chess.com      San Francisco Mechanics      Team Profile;  Team Blog      Arizona Scorpions      Team Profile;  Team Blog      Los Angeles Vibe      Team Profile  Team Blog        Boston Blitz        Team Profile  Team Blog     Connecticut Dreadnoughts     Team Profile  Team Blog

The United States Chess League The U.S.C.L. is currently the only nation-wide chess league in America. Every year, from late August through November, teams play one match a week against another team within the league. Each match consists of four games. At the end of the regular season, the top four teams (determined by the best match point totals) from each of the two divisions compete in the league playoffs, which are matches played in a knockout format. The winning teams from each division then play a Championship Match, to determine the U.S.C.L. Champions for that season! The league was founded in 2005 by IM Gregory Shahade. Some of the highest rated chess players in the United States play in the U.S.C.L., on one of the many teams that the league represents. The league itself continues to grow with each new season, so please join us here on Chess.com's " United States Chess League " group and show your support! The icons below contain links within them that lead to other online sources about the league. Click on them to activate the link. A Wikipedia article about the league The U.S.C.L. homepage

Today, I want to introduce my United Chess Competitions project to all of you! Firstly, what is it? Opinion: United Chess Competitions is a lot of different events that are linked together in one single System. You can participate in UCC as a part of a Team. Opinion: United Chess Competitions project is modeled after the real-life SOCCER. We'll have Divisions(just like Country Leagues) and Cups here and the Chess Champions League in Season 2. Opinion: UCC club has various events and opportunities to promote your club(gain members in particular). Also, you can work at UCC and help us to organize it properly. All these opinions describe the UCC Official Club on Chess.com! It's your choice of course, but we're hoping that you'll support this record-breaking(we aim for 1,000 participants and 160 Teams), super exciting project! You can see our official rulebook here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AL7n-XZ4WMoZk8SGsl_AZ8v75yf54EGT0X9Xd6nx5Ic/edit?usp=sharing But be careful - it's 19 pages long)) Let's make history together!! #SayNoToWar

The league has been restructured and the new schedule is posted at this link.

Join the Connecticut Dreadnoughts (USCL) group! From the group profile: Formed: Sep 12, 2013 This is the official group for members, fans & friends of the Connecticut Dreadnoughts! We've been in the Northeast Division since 2012!

Here are the details on my league! (remember that anyone can create their own 8-16 player league just by posting in these group forums, either just for their friends, or for anyone to join). Details Name: DPruess' League Players: between 8 and 16 (we will try to fill up) Registration: Open to anyone Draft Date/Time/Location: Sunday, September 2nd, 11 AM Pacific, group chat room. To sign up, just post in this forum that you are in, but you MUST be able to show up for the draft!! Questions? Ask! Rules? Here.

Week 1 Navara gonna Beat us - tazerdadog 3.5-3 Shankland - BustedFlush 3.5-2.5 Radja's not KIDding - Championship Conshenders 2.5-2.5 Battle Kraai - ACEChess 2.5-1 Lucidish_Lux - RaderRohmer 3-2.5 BrotherJosh - kswalters 2.5-1.5 chixesu - The Turk ½-2.5

Here are current, updated rosters for the 13 teams in the league. The only thing you should post in this forum are official trades or pickups (changes to your roster). I will then update your roster, and delete those posts. I will keep this as updated as possible, so that you know which players are where for trades, and which players are available for pick-up. Shankland's Team Lenderman; Holt; Akobian;Zilberstein; Naroditsky; Gulamali; Goldberg; Mu; Wheeler; Yanayt; A Lee; Colas; D Schneider; Paikidze Lucidish_Lux's Team Becerra; Charbonneau; Ben Goldberg; Abrahamyan; Perelshteyn; Checa; Kavutskiy; Perez; Shmelov; Herman; Sharevich; Gorman; Collyer; Omori RaderRohmer's Team Erenburg; Bhat; Z Amanov; Getz; Zaikov; Sevian; Chandran; Yanayt; Milman; Costigan; Liu; Enkhbat; Mandizha; Viswanadha Radja's not KIDding Holt; Hess; Akobian; Kekelidze; Will Fisher; Bartell; Defibaugh; Minear; Altounian; Chandran; Kevin Wang; Andrew Wang; Balakrishnan; Chirilla KSWalter's Team Sammour-Hasbun; Kacheishvili; B Finegold; Sadorra; Naroditsky; Vovsha; Chakraborty; Gelashvili; Sharevich; Mu; Feng; Krasik; Sinanan; Shmelov TheBustedFlush's Team Ivanov; Hess; Benjamin; Chirilla; Vigorito; Zierk; Orlov; Perez; Mandizha; Puchen Wang; Z Amanov; Kannappan; Riordan; Huschenbath chixesu's Team Abrahamyan; Gulko; Kraai; Sadorra; Vovsha; Bonin; Bournival; A Lee; Bodek; Ginsburg; Chase; Sinanan; Martirosov; Barcenilla ACEchess's Team Kacheishvili; Lenderman; Mohandesi; Xiong; Bartell; Krasik; Khachiyan; Mikhailuk; Shvartsman; Ginsburg; Cozianu; Bournival; Kiewra; Vilenchuk BrotherJosh's Team Shankland; Charbonneau; Finegold; Xiong; W Fisher; Bonin; Zaikov; Romanenko; Shvartsman; Margvelashvili; S Chiang; Korley; Kapengut; Heredia Championship conShenders Erenburg; Sammour-Hasbun; Sarkar; Milman; Justus!; Liou; A Shen; Defibaugh; Molner; Matikozyan; Getz; Herman; Collyer; Ryba Battle Kraai Stripunsky; Kraai; Khachiyan; Bhat; Zierk; Molner; Kavutskiy; Vigorito; Ivanov; Kaufman; Enkhbat; Casella; Donaldson; Mateer Navara gonna beat us Shankland; Becerra; Colas; Chakraborty; Sevian; Liou; Justus!; Feng; Wheeler; E Rodriguez; Puchen Wang; A King; Altounian; K Wang tazerdadog's Team Gelashvili; Gulko; Stripunsky; Benjamin; Kekelidze; Gulamali; Wu; Zimmer; Chase; Bodek; A King; Margvelashvili; Perelshteyn; Barcenilla

To all those who celebrate: Happy Forth Of July

The rosters for the 2011 USCL season have been posted at http://www.uschessleague.com/ , and it looks like there's a lot of shake-up this year! GMs Yury Shulman, Sergey Erenburg, and Alejandro Ramirez, the numbers 4,5, and 6 rated players in the league, have all switched teams this year. Check out that, all the other roster change, and your favourite team's roster before the start of the season this coming Monday, August 29!

Howdy do everyone! Well I'm going to try to kickstart this group back into existence by saying that the 2011 Schedule has been announced at the U.S.C.L. Site. The season runs from August 29th to November 20th, that includes the regular season and the playoffs as well. Time controls will range from 60+30 to 90+30 depending on the start time and time zone (or sometimes even faster in rare cases). The first week's matchups are as follows: (The team listed first in each matchup gets the White pieces on Boards 1 & 3) Week 1: Monday, August 29th 1. Boston Blitz vs New England Nor'easters 7:00 PM EST 2. Manhattan Applesauce vs Philadelphia Inventors 7:15 PM EST 3. Miami Sharks vs Arizona Scorpions 9:00 PM EST 4. Los Angeles Vibe vs Dallas Destiny 9:00 PM EST Wednesday, August 31st 5. Carolina Cobras vs New Jersey Knockouts 7:00 PM EST 6. Baltimore Kingfishers vs New York Knights 7:15 PM EST 7. St. Louis Arch Bishops vs San Francisco Mechanics 8:30 PM EST 8. Seattle Sluggers vs Chicago Blaze 9:00 PM EST Last year, the U.S.C.L. Championship was won by the New England Nor'easters as they took down the Miami Sharks 3-1. Of course we all know New England is spear-headed by our very own and now GM Sam Shankland. For more information on the new schedule, player stats, downloadable PGNs from seasons past, just visit the Official site. -Mark

Blog Contest #1 - (December - January) - "Who is Your Favorite U.S.C.L. Player, and Why?" Hello U.S.C.L. fans, welcome to the first Blog Contest thread! We look forward to your participation, and hope that you have fun with this. Listed below is the subject you will be writing about in your blog: “Who is your favorite U.S.C.L. player, and why?” This contest begins on Wednesday, December 1st 2010, and will be finished no later than Monday, January 31st 2011. Blogs can be created from the starting date, up until Friday, January 14th 2011. Any blogs created after this date will not be eligible to win. Contestants must post their blog entry on their personal page in the blog section. If you are not sure where this is, message the administration contact (William_Smitham) and he will be able to help you find the correct place to enter your blog. Any blog entries that are not located in the contestant’s personal blog section of their profile page will not be eligible to win. All blog entries must contain original work. Any blog that is copied and pasted from another source, or is just reworded from another source, will not be eligible to win. The blog entry must be written by the author. Any blog that is written for the author, by another, will not be eligible to win. A blog entry may contain any of the following, to accompany the text of the blog: Pictures; diagrams; puzzles; games; and drawings... as long as these items serve a purpose within the blog itself. Authors may also include text from other sources, as long as those sources are identified (For example: IM Rensch, in his article Who's Your Daddy!?, said of David's move 23. Rxg4, "Welcome to Ouch-town!"). Items added that do not serve a purpose within the blog, or sources that are not identified, will subtract from an article's overall score with the judges. Outside of the above criteria, you are free to create your blog however you wish to. It can be as long or as short as you feel comfortable with. It can include extra items; or text only. This is your chance to explain why this individual is your favorite out of the many who play in the league. Give your reasons... state your case. Express yourself, and most importantly, have fun! Judges will have from Saturday, January 15th until Monday, January 31st to read and judge all entries. During this time period, the winner of the contest will be announced. The winner, if a non-titled member, will receive a one month Diamond Membership! If the winner is a titled player, they will be offered prizes equal to the value of a Diamond Membership, in the form of either Chess.com or U.S.C.L. gear. The winner will be contacted by message to learn about how to claim their prize. Included below are two icons. One is to the Rules News Article; the other is two the U.S.C.L. official player's profile main page. You will be able to locate all league players here, and it should be a good starting point for all bloggers. <----- United States Chess League group Blog contest rules article. <----- U.S.C.L. Website player's profile main page.

Hello U.S.C.L. fans! As the end of the year is fast approaching, the league has been busy in the past few days looking at the games of the week in order to determine the Game of the Year! The link below is to the league home page. There are a few different posting about this subject, so take a look! <----- League Homepage

Hello U.S.C.L. fans! Today, Arun has posted the league All Stars for board one. Below is included a link to the league news article. What do you think? Do you agree with the picks? Do you think there should be others that are not included? Should some on the list not be included? What is everyone's opinion? <----- League article

Hello fellow group members. In order to help promote a stronger group community, as well as to encourage understanding and growth in chess, we are happy to announce a project that will help individual members as well as Chess.com! This project will come up with various ways to help members from time to time. Our desire is to encourage friendship and participation in the group as well as the site itself. One of the ways to do this is to offer access to the many learning tools that a membership has to offer. Then, if members later contemplate supporting the site with a monthly membership they will have first hand knowledge as to what Chess.com can do for them! The first member we are looking to build a stronger community with is Mr. Hanson ( Yoopy ). Yoopy has been awarded a one month Diamond membership, in order to look deeply into some of the wonderful tools that the site has to offer (and in the process, help with understanding and enjoyment of the game). I will be contacting him by message today. On behalf of the staff and members of the United States Chess League group, we congratulate Yoopy, and sincerely hope that our small gift gives a large return in the form of learning, friendship, and fun!

To all of our members who celebrate: We wish you a Happy Thanksgiving! Have a safe and enjoyable holiday weekend! To those members who do not celebrate: We wish you a Happy Thursday! (Posted a day early for those who may travel, or will not be online tomorrow)

Greetings U.S.C.L. fans! This evening, our first group contest wrapped up as the New England Nor'easters became this year's League Champion. The final weekly match prediction contest is over, and it is now time to list the results. Although these statistics have been available on the rules news article page, we have decided to list the results here as well. Listed below are the weekly results from each week of the contest. The final entry is the season totals. _____________________________________________________________________________________ 2010 Weekly Match Prediction Contest - Week 6 Totals meanpc – (DAL, CHI, NE, BOS) = 4 games (Winner after tie-breakers) WanderingWinder – (DAL, NE, BOS, BAL) = 4 games IM ACEChess – (DAL, CHI, LA/MAN Tie, BOS) = 4 games nimzo5 – (DAL, CHI, LA/MAN Tie, NE) = 4 games IM dpruess – (DAL, LA/MAN Tie, NE) = 3 games pdela – (DAL, NE, BAL) = 3 games ArchBadger – (BOS, SEA, BAL) = 3 games Zendo – (DAL, NE) = 2 games William_Smitham – (LA/MAN Tie, NE) = 2 games ChessMarkstheSpot – (NE) = 1 game vowles_23 – (NE) = 1 game notlesu – (DAL) = 1 game _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2010 Weekly Match Prediction Contest - Week 7 Totals IM ACEChess - (MAN, MIA, ARZ, NE) = 4 games (Winner after tie-breakers) Petrosianic - (MAN, ARZ, NE, STL) = 4 games ChessMarkstheSpot - (MAN, MIA, NE, STL) = 4 games pdela - (MIA, ARZ, NE, STL) = 4 games FM Kacparov - (MAN, MIA) = 2 games IM dpruess - (MIA, MAN) = 2 games mottsauce - (NE, LA/SEA tie) = 2 games meanpc - (ARZ, NE) = 2 games William_Smitham - (MIA, STL) = 2 games vowles_23 - (MAN) = 1 game Zendo - (STL) = 1 game WanderingWinder - (none this week) = 0 games _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2010 Weekly Match Prediction Contest - Week 8 Totals William_Smitham - (NJ/MAN Tie, DAL, ARZ, STL) = 4 games (Winner after 2nd tie-breakers) pdela - (DAL, ARZ, STL, MIA) = 4 games IM ACEChess - (DAL, ARZ, MIA) = 3 games vowles_23 - (NE, BOS/CAR Tie, MIA) = 3 games ChessMarkstheSpot - (DAL, ARZ) = games collinsdanielp - (ARZ, MIA) = 2 games FM Kacparov -(ARZ) = 1 game meanpc - (MIA) = 1 game _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2010 Weekly Match Prediction Contest - Week 9 Totals kptom - (BOS, CHI/MIA Tie, NE, DAL/LA Tie) = 4 games ChessMarkstheSpot - (BOS, CHI/MIA Tie, NE) = 3 games William_Smitham - (BOS, NE, PHI) = 3 games IM dpruess - (BOS, NE, STL/ARZ Tie) = 3 games FM Kacparov - (BOS, CHI/MIA Tie, NE) = 3 games pdela - (NE, PHI) = 2 games vowles_23 - (NE, DAL/LA Tie) = 2 games Zendo - (BOS, CHI/MIA Tie) = 2 games drumdaddy - (NJ) = 1 game IM ACEChess - (NE) = 1 game meanpc - (NE) = 1 game _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2010 Weekly Match Prediction Contest - Week 10 Totals William_Smitham – (NE, PHI, CHI, MIA, SEA, LA) = 6 games IM dpruess – (NE, PHI, CHI, MIA, SEA) = 5 games pdela – (NE, CHI, MIA, SEA) = 4 games WanderingWinder – (NE, PHI, BAL, SEA) = 4 games vowles_23 – (NE, BOS/NY Tie, LA) = 3 games Petrosianic – (NE, CHI, MIA) = 3 games ChessMarkstheSpot – (NE) = 1 game kptom – (NE) = 1 game _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2010 Weekly Match Prediction Contest - Quarterfinals Totals William_Smitham - (NE, BOS, MIA, ARZ) = 4 games ChessMarkstheSpot - (NE, BOS, ARZ) = 3 games kptom - (NE, BOS, ARZ) = 3 games IM dpruess - (NE, BOS) = 2 games FM Kacparov - (BOS, ARZ) = 2 games mottsauce - (MIA, ARZ) = 2 games pdela - (BOS) = 1 game vowles_23 - (ARZ) = 1 game _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2010 Weekly Match Prediction Contest - Semifinals Totals William_Smitham - (NE, MIA) = 2 games FM Kacparov - (NE) = 1 game IM dpruess - (MIA) = 1 game kptom - (NE) = 1 game ChessMarkstheSpot - (NE) = 1 game Petrosianic - (MIA) = 1 game mottsauce - (MIA) = 1 game pdela - (none) = 0 games Yoopy - (none) = 0 games _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2010 Weekly Match Prediction Contest - Championship Totals IM dpruess - (NE) = 1 game vowles_23 - (NE) = 1 game William_Smitham - (NE) = 1 game ChessMarkstheSpot - (NE) = 1 game FM Kacparov - (NE) = 1 game mottsauce - (NE) = 1 game kptom - (NE) = 1 game pdela - (MIA) = 0 games _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2010 Weekly Match Prediction Contest - Season Totals William_Smitham – 24 games pdela – 18 games IM dpruess – 17 games ChessMarkstheSpot – 16 games IM ACEChess – 12 games vowles_23 – 12 games FM Kacparov - 10 games kptom - 10 games meanpc – 8 games WanderingWinder – 8 games Petrosianic - 8 games mottsauce - 6 games Zendo – 5 games nimzo5 – 4 games ArchBadger – 3 games collinsdanielp - 2 games drumdaddy - 1 game notlesu – 1 game Yoopy - 0 games The Season Totals winner is: William_Smitham.

In their first season!! With an undefeated record, by far the best in league history!! Wow!?!?! and check out this game from board 1: http://www.uschessleague.com/games/shanklandbecerra10finals.htm Wow! Shankland really did a great job all season on board 1 against strong GMs. And in the finals he had to face the several time, including 2010, USCL MVP GM Becerra. What a season!

Hello group members, this is the official Championship week match prediction contest thread. Here, you will post your picks for the upcoming week's match. Please refer to the "2010 Weekly Match Prediction Contest" article in the group news for rules of the game. Listed below is the match set for the upcoming week. Below the list is the deadline set for you to turn in your pick. Please make a post to this thread indicating your selection for this week. Good luck, and have fun! Championship: Saturday, November 20th 1. New England Nor'easters vs Miami Sharks 6:00 PM ET DEADLINE FOR PICK!: The Deadline for this week's pick are: Saturday, November 20th, 2010, at 5:30 pm ET for Saturday's match. Picks made after the deadlines will not be accepted, no exceptions. At the bottom of the page is a link to the league site's current match page, as well as a link to the Contest rules article in our Group News section. Another Rules reminder: We will no longer be giving out weekly prizes, since we are now into the post season, and there is only game. The picks made during the league playoffs will count towards the season totals for the seasonal part of the contest only! Please see the rules link below. <----- U.S.C.L. Upcoming Matches Link <----- Contest Rules Article Link

Hello U.S.C.L. fans! The following is a blog that I posted this morning concerning the upcoming Championship Match tomorrow. The reason I am posting this is to get some last minute feedback from YOU, the members of the group! Outside of predicting a winner of the match (in the Weekly Match prediction contest), how do you see the games being played out? What factors do you think will matter in this contest? Later today, I will be posting in this thread my thoughts on each board's match-up; so I encourage you to voice your opinion as well! __________________________________________________________________________ “Havoc!” New England Nor'easters vs. Miami Sharks Tomorrow, November 20th, the United States Chess League will conduct its final campaign of the 2010 season. As evening settles over the country, the New England Nor’easters will play the Miami Sharks to decide who will be the 2010 League Champion. Starting with only 90 minutes on each clock (+30 sec. increments), the match itself will be played out on four separate boards. As managers, IM David Vigorito (NE) and IM Blas Lugo (MIA) have fielded the best players they could muster from within their team’s rosters. Once League President IM Greg Shahade cries, “Havoc!” both will let slip the dogs of war! For perhaps the first time in their inaugural season, the New England Nor’easters find the winds of opinion blowing their way as they are considered the favorite by many. At first glance, that may be hard to explain. Not only did they compile the best regular season record for 2010 with 9.5 out of 10 points; they set a new league record. Their playoff matches have seen them move past two of the Eastern Division’s annual contenders (New York and Boston). They have defied the skeptics week after week, since August 25th. It truly has been a team effort, and Saturday’s lineup showcases many of the Nor’easters players who have helped to make that point: IM Sam Shankland - After starting slowly, Sam has become a force to be reckoned with on board 1. Many of the opponent’s top players have fell victim to Shankland’s strong play this season. Even though he will have White on board one, his skills will once again be tested by none other than the League MVP! IM Robert Hungaski – With five wins and two tie games in seven appearances this season, Robert has been “Mr. Go-to” in 2010. Four of those games were on board 1 (where he went 2-0-2); while his three appearances on board 2 have all been wins. Although he will have Black on board 2 this game, he will prove extremely difficult for his opponent (who has not enjoyed the same success on this board). FM Christopher Chase – Christopher’s performance has been average (in terms of wins/loses/ties) in 2010, and his loses in the playoff rounds might concern New England fans. But he is a crafty and successful veteran, who also will have White in this board 3 match up. It may well be enough to succeed against his opponent, who has not played since mid-season. NM Alex Cherniack – Alex has been a consistent fixture on board 4 all season long for New England. His performances have secured much needed points in all eight of his appearances in 2010. His solid play and higher rating should make up for the fact that he has Black against his surprising non-titled opponent. Being counted out is nothing new to the Miami Sharks in 2010. Unlike their opponent, Miami has had to fight from the murky depths of the Western Division after losing their first three matches. With two tie games to follow, it was not until week 6 that the Sharks sank their teeth into a victory. Through strong performances late in the season, Miami clinched a playoff berth. Playing against draw odds throughout the playoffs, Miami has earned their place in the Championship match. This turn-around is largely due to a set lineup that Miami has fielded in recent weeks. That lineup has been altered for this match, and it will be up to the following four players to prove that the change did not matter: GM Julio Becerra – What can be said of the 2010 League MVP that has not already been said? Julio is the anchor of the Miami roster, and he proved this once again this season. He is playing on an extremely high level at the moment; and will give his opponent all he can handle even though he has Black on board 1. FM Marcel Martinez – Marcel has been a dominating player all season… on board 3. In his only appearance on board 2 this year, he lost. He will have White on board 2 this match and will look to capitalize on this. He will be facing a strong opponent on the other side of the board as New England’s go-to guy looks to end Marcel’s shot at winning. FM Charles Galofre – Charles has taken the roster spot that is usually filled by Martinez. While he has not played as often this season as the other members of his team; he has made sure to make the most of the games that he has played. With two wins (including a game of the week winner) and a tie, he will look to avoid his first loss of the season. He will have Black on board 3, and be facing an opponent who has dropped both of his playoff games this post season. Nicholas Rosenthal – After starting the 2010 season poorly (three loses and a tie), Nicholas has played well in his last three games. His three wins have been impressive (including the game of the week in the Semifinals), and he will look to add one more to the books as he has White on board 4. He will be playing one of New England’s most consistent players, and will once again be the underdog against a much higher rated player. The battles will play themselves out over the course of the evening. While some may feel that the statistics show one match-up favors one team or another, any chess fan that has watched the U.S.C.L. can tell you that statistics do not tell you the full story. Many a hero has fallen from grace in the course of League Playoff history, and nothing is for sure until Vice-President Sharma posts it on the League’s match page. Who will win Saturday’s Match? Perhaps only Caissa knows for sure; while those of us who are mere mortals must watch and see!