News
Miami Puts the Shark Bite on the Blaze
- Details
- Created: 10 September 2009 10 September 2009
But IM Young comes through again
Angelo Young always shows up.
As any Blaze fan will tell you, the popular international master and seven-time Illinois champion plays hard and always gives the team 100 percent. True to his reputation and record, Angelo came through again last night, posting an impressive victory with the Reti/King’s Indian Attack against NM Eric Rodriguez of the Miami Sharks to give the Blaze a lift and maintain his undefeated record in USCL play.
That, however, was the good news, and unfortunately, there wasn't anymore of it, as Angelo’s teammates, GM Nikola Mitkov, IM Jan van DeMortel, and expert Trevor Magness each fell to their Miami opponents. The Sharks won the match 3-1, handing the Blaze their second consecutive defeat of the new season and leaving us with an 0-2 record heading into the third week of the ten-week season.
Here are the games.
Board 1. GM Nikola Mitkov (CHC) vs GM Julio Becerra (MIA) 0-1
Board 2. FM Bruci Lopez (MIA) vs IM Jan van de Mortel (CHC) 1-0
Board 3. IM Angelo Young (CHC) vs NM Eric Rodriguez (MIA) 1-0
Board 4. Miguel Recio (MIA) vs Trevor Magness (CHC) 1-0
Special thanks to Mike Cardinale of the Youth Chess Foundation of Chicago, who served as our celebrity tournament director for the evening. Mike will be back with us again later in the season. Next up, the Tennessee Tempo: Week 3: Wednesday, September 16th Tennessee Tempo vs Chicago Blaze 7:00 PM Central Time
Deja Vu: Scopions 3.5 -- Blaze 0.5
- Details
- Created: 03 September 2009 03 September 2009
Blaze Season Kicks Off This Week
- Details
- Created: 31 August 2009 31 August 2009
Chicago Blaze action begins at 8:00 Central time at the Holiday Inn Skokie 5300 West Touhy. Fans are welcome, so please come and cheer the team or follow them on the Internet Chess Club.
The pairings for this season’s first match, between the Chicago Blaze and the Arizona Scorpions, have been posted on the U.S. Chess League site. As the teams get ready for the opening salvos of their 2009 title quests, the Chicago Blaze finds itself underdogs vs. Arizona, and not for the first time.
Here’s the lineup, in which Arizona has a ratings advantage on every board:
- Board 1 GM Alejandro Ramirez vs. GM Nikola Mitkov (Chicago)
- Board 2 FM Florin Felecan (Chicago) vs IM Levon Altounian
- Board 3 FM Robby Adamson vs. IM Mehmed Pasalic (Chicago)
- Board 4 Trevor Magness (Chicago) vs. David Adelberg
Robson Shines at 23rd NACA Event Scoring 2nd GM Norm
- Details
- Created: 27 August 2009 27 August 2009
Ray Robson scored his second GM Norm at the recently completed 23rd NACA Event. He scored 7/9 5 wins and 4 draws going undefeated and taking home the first prize of $1500.
In 2nd place with 6.5/9 was GM Gior Kacheishvili followed by GM Mesgen Amanov and IM Michael Mulyar in a tie for third place on 6/9.
The event was a great success not only did Robson get his GM Norm but Molner also got his IM Norm with 4.5/9.
Robson is expected to get his final GM Norm at the Spice Cup next month. His USCF rating is expected to break the 2600 mark for the first time.
Another notable performance was by NM Erik Santarius of WI. He scored 5/9 with a win over local FM Albert Chow in the last round. Alexander Velikanov 2069 from WI didn't let the fact that he was the lowest rated player get him down he scored 4/9 only losing 2 games.
Final results are shown below. Congrats to all the players.
NACA 23rd Invitational Under Way
- Details
- Created: 24 August 2009 24 August 2009
The 23rd edition of the NACA Invitational Chess Tournament is under way at the Holiday Inn in Skokie.
Young Superstar player IM Ray Robson is leading the tournament with an impressive 3.5/4 which includes a win over strong GM Izoria.