Hikaru Nakamura To Lead Stacked Miami Champions In PRO Chess League
The Miami Champions are expecting to live up to their name, benefiting from the fact that one of the world's most talented players also happens to be a Floridian. That man: Grandmaster Blitz Battle Championship runner-up, GM Hikaru Nakamura.
Managers Steve Abrahams and Bryan Tillis have assembled a lineup that can compete with any team in the world. In recruiting Nakamura, Abrahams and Tillis have already proven that they take the challenge of winning seriously.
“We were incredibly excited when we saw the announcement for the league,” said Tillis. “When we saw that the Miami Sharks of the U.S. Chess League had dissolved, we saw an opportunity and dove right in.”
Said Abrahams: “We wanted to integrate the talent we have here in South Florida with highly-skilled players from around the world.”
In addition to Nakamura, the Miami managers were also able to sign recent Olympiad gold medalist GM Baadur Jobava to their robust rotation of free agent Grandmasters.
“We are thrilled and honored to have GM Jobava as well as several other amazing Grandmasters on our roster,” said Abrahams. “Each week we plan to push as close to the 2500 limit as we can to challenge for the title.”
The Miami Champions lineup features a rotation of top-level GMs as free agents including:
GM Baadur Jobava: 2016 Olympiad Gold Medalist (2734 peak FIDE rating)
GM Bassem Amin: Egyptian number one, top 100 in the World (2665 FIDE)
GM Jonathan Speelman: Mathematician, writer, and former World #4 (2645 peak FIDE rating)
The Miami Champions local lineup is also quite strong featuring:
GM Yuniesky Quesada Perez: Miami-based Cuban GM (peak FIDE rating 2655)
IM Blas Lugo: Popular Miami-based IM (2399 FIDE)
FM Marcel Martinez: Former U.S. Chess League all-star and champion (2013).
With such a top-heavy lineup, expect the GMs to rotate while players such as Abrahams (2055 FIDE) will be forced to square off against higher-rated opposition.
For more information about the Miami Champions, visit www.miamichampions.org
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The PRO Chess League welcomes the Miami Champions!
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