US Chess League: Week 1
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
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
