Saturday, August 26, 2006

Upcoming chess events in Hawaii and ICC - USCL

Aloha Hawaii Chess Players,

We got lots of chess coming this week and especially over Labor Day weekend here in Hawaii. First the USCL starts Monday, second the Hawaii State Championships are being held at the Ohana Outrigger Hotel, 5 rounds, Gam /120, over three days Sept 2 - 4th and lots of cash prizes.

So you think your good at chess or you want to be, well lets see how you do, and be sure to write your moves down so you can reveiw your games later to see what went right or wrong and do it better next time! See http://www.hawaiichess.org/ calendar for more details on the tournament. Now for some hightlights on the USCL from Boylston Chess Club forum: http://boylston-chess-club.blogspot.com/2006/08/uscl-flops-flush.html!

The season beings for the USCL. Now where are those high rated Hawaii Chess players, like to see them try this out, next time USCL adds a few teams to its league! These games have been are rated by CXR since USCL started its first season http://www.cxrchess.com/

UNITED STATES CHESS LEAGUE USCL
League Commissioner - IM Greg Shahade (gregshahade@yahoo.com/admin@uschessleague.com)
Official 2006 USCL Schedule - 12 teams with 4 players each
(Team Listed first gets white on boards 1+3)
Watch all games LIVE on the Internet Chess Club (ICC)!

WEEK 1 -Monday August 28th 2006

1. Tennessee Tempo vs Seattle Sluggers 9:00 ET (HST 3:00pm)

Wednesday August 30th 2006

2. New York Knights vs Philadelphia Masterminds 7:00 ET (HST 1:00pm)
3. Carolina Cobras vs Baltimore Kingfishers 7:15 ET (1:15pm)
4. Boston Blitz vs Miami Sharks 7:30 ET (HST1:30pm)
5. San Francisco Mechanics vs Dallas Destiny 8:30 ET (HST 2:30pm)

================================================

Monday, August 21, 2006

USCL Flops a Flush
http://boylston-chess-club.blogspot.com/2006/08/uscl-flops-flush.html

The United States Chess League appears to have achieved a major coup by securing its first financial sponsor. Today, Commissioner Shahade announced an arrangement with online poker site PokerStars.com. PokerStars major claim to fame is that 2003 WSOP Main Event Champion Chris Moneymaker and 2004 Champion Greg Raymer both won their seats through satellites on the site.

Under the deal, each of the original eight USCL teams "...will receive a stipend for the season to help them pay their top players..." Apparently teams must complete a full-year in the league before becoming eligible for these payments. Therefore, neither Tennessee nor Seattle will be receiving the stipend this year. While the USCL announcement doesn't mention the value of the deal, in a comment to a previous post on BCC Weblog Shahade indicated that teams would be receiving $100 per match. For its part, PokerStars now has a banner advertisement prominently displayed near the top of the USCL homepage.

Obviously, PokerStars has recognized that chess players are often drawn to the game of poker. Our very own Bryan Clark could be exhibit #1 -- not to mention "Action" Dan Harrington, Howard "The Professor" Lederer, and many more. You can also check out this post on the Daily Dirt about chess players cashing at this year's Main Event. I suppose the big question for the tournament chess community is this -- after tasting the rewards of poker, do these individuals continue to play chess?****In other USCL news, the Boston Blitz have completed their 2006 roster by adding three additional names:

GM Eugene Perelshteyn - Perelshteyn was the Blitz's strongest performer last season and joins this year's team as a newly-minted Grandmaster.

FM Bill Kelleher - By contrast, Bill had the worst performance rating on the 2005 squad. One has to imagine that this was an odd aberration given his years of tournament experience.

NM Vadim Martirosov - New to the team this year, Vadim is a strong master and all around nice guy. His chess teaching prowess is legendary.

Former member of the Blitz, IM Josh Friedel, has joined the San Francisco Mechanics as their top-rated player. Rumor has it that Josh is trying to get them to change the name of the team to the Maniacs.

Disclaimer: BCC Weblog provides independent coverage of the United States Chess League. It is not affiliated with the USCL or the Boston Blitz.

Reprinted from Boylston Chess Club Weblog

No comments: