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)

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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

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Nelson Lopez II and Abby Marshall win the Denker and Polgar tournaments both with 5.5. points!

Nelson M Lopez II scored 5.5/6 to take clear first at the Denker Tournament of High School Champions. The tournament, which attempts to feature high school champions from every state, hosted a field of 46 young chess stars. Lopez, the North Carolina champion, entered the tournament as the 10th seed.

Alexander Chua, the top seed, finished second with 5 points, while four players tied for 3rd at 4.5: Evan Ju (NJ), Tyler Hughes (CO), Corbin Yu (OR), and Brian Goldstein (FL).

The Denker Tournament also has a counterpart for young female chess champions: the Susan Polgar National Invitational Tournament for Girls. This tournament brought together 44 top young chess minds for a closely contested six-round competition.

In the end, Abby Marshall of Virginia came out on top, winning five games and drawing one to score 5.5 points, good enough for clear first place. Abby finished a half-point ahead of both Louiza Livschitz of California, and Elina Kats or New York, who shared second place.
A complete crosstable for the Denker Tournament can be found here, while the Polgar Tournament crosstable can be found here. Marissa Wai was the girls Hawaii Representative this year, she was also the only Hawaii player to play in the U.S. Open this year! Also won the under 1200 blitz tournament.

To review the top games from these two tournaments go to the following link from www.monroi.com For more direct link to games (click here)

Also check Hawaii Denker representative - Robert Lau third round game using the French opening! Denker Round 3

To qualify for both of these National tournaments you need to play in at least the March 2007 Hawaii State Scholastic Tournament and win the High school Championship section for the Denker and for the Polgar be the top Girl scorer at the same event. Please review the Hawaii Chess Federation calendar to be sure to play in six HCF scholastic tournaments. www.hawaiichess.org .

All these tournaments will be rated by CXR - Chess Express, Inc. www.cxrchess.com and HICL - Hawaii Interscholastic Chess League a local rating for scholastic chess players who play in these events.

Why should you play chess, the winner of the Denker and Polgar tournament's both won - 4 year scholarships to the University of Texas in Dallas! Now that's a new award just for playing chess an winning a tournament!

So are you ready to try! Good, now breakout the chessboards & chess books and start practicing , NOW! Visit your local school chess club or any of Hawaii's public chess clubs!

The first Hawaii scholastic tournament scheduled is Sept 30, 2006 at Le Jardin Academy, for tournament details (click here)



Friday, August 04, 2006

UNITED STATES CHESS LEAGUE - August 28 - November 22, 2006

Aloha Hawaii Chess Players,

We do not have a Hawaii team, but in the future maybe we will have enough players that qualify, currently the USCL is adding two teams per year, last they started with 8, and this year they have 10. See last year's requirements for forming and getting approved to have a USCL team.

USCL 2006 Schedule is set! The Seattle Sluggers and Tennessee Tempo will kick off the season on Monday August 28th, while the rest of the league will start play on Wednesday August 30th. Once again there is a 10 week regular season, followed by playoffs, with an extra WildCard Round this season. Stay tuned all season for 4 great matches every Wednesday evening and new special feature matches every Monday.Below is the schedule for the first week of play: Click here to see the rest of the schedule or just keep reading!


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

Wednesday August 30th 2006
2. New York Knights vs Philadelphia Masterminds 7:00 ET
3. Carolina Cobras vs Baltimore Kingfishers 7:15 ET
4. Boston Blitz vs Miami Sharks 7:30 ET
5. San Francisco Mechanics vs Dallas Destiny 8:30 ET

WEEK 2 -
Monday September 4th 2006
1. Miami Sharks vs San Francisco Mechanics 8:30 ET

Wednesday September 6th 2006
2. Philadelphia Masterminds vs Boston Blitz 7:00 ET
3. Baltimore Kingfishers vs New York Knights 7:15 ET
4. Dallas Destiny vs Tennessee Tempo 8:15 ET
5. Seattle Sluggers vs Carolina Cobras 9:00 ET

WEEK 3 -
Monday September 11th 2006
1. Boston Blitz vs New York Knights 7:00 ET

Wednesday September 13th 2006
2. Baltimore Kingfishers vs Carolina Cobras 7:15 ET
3. Tennessee Tempo vs Miami Sharks 8:15 ET
4. Philadelphia Masterminds vs San Francisco Mechanics 8:30 ET
5. Seattle Sluggers vs Dallas Destiny 9:00 ET

WEEK 4 -
Monday September 18th 2006
1. Miami Sharks vs Baltimore Kingfishers 7:30 ET

Wednesday September 20th 2006
2. Carolina Cobras vs New York Knights 7:00 ET
3. Boston Blitz vs Philadelphia Masterminds 7:15 ET
4. Dallas Destiny vs San Francisco Mechanics 8:30 ET
5. Seattle Sluggers vs Tennessee Tempo 9:00 ET

WEEK 5 -
Monday September 25th 2006
1. New York Knights vs Seattle Sluggers 9:00 ET

Wednesday September 27th 2006
2. Carolina Cobras vs Boston Blitz 7:00 ET
3. Philadelphia Masterminds vs Baltimore Kingfishers 7:15 ET
4. Dallas Destiny vs Miami Sharks 8:00 ET
5. San Francisco Mechanics vs Tennessee Tempo 8:30 ET

WEEK 6 -
Monday October 2nd 2006
1. San Francisco Mechanics vs New York Knights 8:30 ET

Wednesday October 4th 2006
2. Carolina Cobras vs Philadelphia Masterminds 7:00 ET
3. Boston Blitz vs Baltimore Kingfishers 7:15 ET
4. Dallas Destiny vs Tennessee Tempo 8:00 ET
5. Seattle Sluggers vs Miami Sharks 9:00 ET

WEEK 7 -
Monday October 9th 2006
1. Miami Sharks vs Dallas Destiny 7:30 ET

Wednesday October 11th 2006
2. New York Knights vs Carolina Cobras 7:00 ET
3. Baltimore Kingfishers vs Philadelphia Masterminds 7:15 ET
4. Tennessee Tempo vs Boston Blitz 8:15 ET
5. San Francisco Mechanics vs Seattle Sluggers 9:00 ET

WEEK 8 -
Monday October 16th 2006
1. Philadelphia Masterminds vs Carolina Cobras 7:15 ET

Wednesday October 18th 2006
2. New York Knights vs Boston Blitz 7:00 ET
3. Baltimore Kingfishers vs Dallas Destiny 8:00 ET
4. Tennessee Tempo vs San Francisco Mechanics 8:30 ET
5. Miami Sharks vs Seattle Sluggers 9:00 ET

WEEK 9 -
Monday October 23rd 2006
1. Seattle Sluggers vs San Francisco Mechanics 9:00 ET

Wednesday October 25th 2006
2. Boston Blitz vs Carolina Cobras 7:00 ET
3. New York Knights vs Baltimore Kingfishers 7:15 ET
4. Dallas Destiny vs Philadelphia Masterminds 8:00 ET
5. Miami Sharks vs Tennessee Tempo 8:15 ET

WEEK 10 -
Wednesday November 1st
1. Philadelphia Masterminds vs New York Knights 7:00 ET
2. Baltimore Kingfishers vs Boston Blitz 7:15 ET
3. Carolina Cobras vs Tennessee Tempo 8:15 ET
4. San Francisco Mechanics vs Miami Sharks 8:30 ET
5. Dallas Destiny vs Seattle Sluggers 9:00 ET

Playoffs:Wild Card Matches -
Wednesday November 8th
1. 2nd place in East Division vs 3rd place in East Division (2nd place in East gets draw odds)
2. 2nd place in West Division vs 3rd place in West Division (2nd place in West gets draw odds)

SemiFinals -
Wednesday November 15th
1. Winner of East Division vs Eastern WildCard winner (Eastern Division winner gets draw odds)2. Winner of Wast Division vs Western WildCard winner (Western Division winner gets draw odds)

USCL Finals -
Wednesday November 22nd
1. Eastern Division Champion vs Western Division Champion (if tied a tiebreak will follow)

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