Here is a preview of the first match between the Arizona Scorpions and the Chicago Blaze by FM Elliott Liu:

Hey all!  Although I do not have any affiliation with the Arizona Scorpions whatsoever besides being good friends with several of the players, I will be contributing to their site from time to time throughout the season.  This week I have previewed the Scorpion’s first match against the Chicago Blaze.  As already noted by other individuals, the opening matchup looks promising indeed for Arizona as they maintain a definite rating average edge over Chicago…but most people know ratings don’t mean anything.  Let’s take a look at the four boards (all ratings listed are USCF, which also doesn’t mean anything):

GM Alejandro Tadeo [Insert 15 more middle names] “REAALLLYYYY??!!” Ramirez Alvarez (2608) vs. GM Nikola Mitkov (2547)

The young gun who recently (hopefully) graduated from football chess powerhouse University of Texas at Dallas holds the edge on Board 1 with the white pieces against Chicago’s experienced Grandmaster.  The game will most likely open with some sort of Nimzo-Indian or Catalan set-up.  As long as “Handi” does not get distracted by other members (particularly of the female variety) of his team, he should be able to put pressure on Mitkov—a fighting draw or a win is a likely outcome, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Board 1 goes to Chi-town.

FM/IM Florin Frederick Felecan (*disclaimer: Frederick is not Florin’s real middle name [at least I don’t think so].  I just felt like he needed another “F” in there, with diction comparable to My Fair Lady’s “hurricanes hardly happen”) (2438) vs. IM Levon Aro-altounian (2536)

Just a thought, if Levon replaced the first five letters of his last name with “Aro,” there wouldn’t be too much difference—I just think it rolls off the tongue better, but all Armenian names are the same anyway right?  Aronian, Altounian, what’s the difference?  Well, at any rate, I’m sure they are at least good friends.  Anyway, having studied under Levon’s tutelage for a few years when I was younger, I can attest to what a solid player he is.  Opposing him is Felecan (who’s USCF and FIDE ratings are virtually identical), who fits his team’s name perfectly—Florin is an exciting player who always brings fire to the board…maybe not as much as Shirov, but still his games are entertaining.  If Levon can withstand Florin’s heat, I predict a draw (for some reason).

The Honorable FM Larry Robert “Slow Jerk” Adamson (2337) vs. IM Mehmed Pasalic (2347)

Recently gracing the cover of Chess Life with his baby face, “The Wavemaster” (why is he called this?  Anyone?) is one of the more well-known players on the U.S. chess scene.  He claims to have a “real” job as a well-respected attorney who makes hundreds of dollars an hour, but Larry (who hates to be called his real name, hence why I am doing so) instead spends the majority, AKA 90% of his life, tormenting me on the Internet Chess Club whenever I log on.  Don’t believe me?  And I quote (after typing “quota” on ICC): “In the last 24 hours BLITZMASTER has been here for 769 minutes.”  Robby, you need help.  Anyway, instead of burying himself in endless litigation, Mr. Adamson attempts to get better at chess and is a very good blitz player, boasting a 3200+ blitz rating.

This blitz proficiency will most likely come in handy against another steady Chicago IM, Mehmed Pasalic.  Robby always seems to find himself with his flag hanging at some point during the game and then proceeds to play better with 5 seconds left on his clock then he did for the first 30 moves.  All in all, this is a very intriguing matchup, and in my mind it’s a coin flip if Robby stays out of time trouble.  Otherwise the edge goes to Pasalic.

Trevor Magness (2160) vs. David Adelberg (2183)

Actually, I stand corrected: Alejandro is an old fogy, these two are the young guns.  This is also a great matchup.  In fact, it might as well be the most important of the match for their two respective teams.  Although I am not positive on their ages (*I am sorry if I get this wrong*), I don’t think David has the “teen” thing attached to his two-digit number yet.  Trevor does.  As someone who will be dropping the “teen” from his age in a couple months (scary!), I remember back in the golden days how I used to play much better than my rating simply because I was a kid.  What am I getting at?  Umm…don’t know.  But, in my opinion, whoever prevails on Board 4 will lead their team to victory!

Verdict: Overall, this is a closer first round battle than some people appear to think.  However, in this case, I do still give the edge to Arizona and surprisingly agree with Larry’s prediction of 2.5 – 1.5 in favor of the Scorpions.  However, Chicago has a good chance to claim wins on the lower boards, so we shall see what happens.  My real reason for picking Arizona over Chicago?  Currently, there is a terrible fire in Southern California threatening several of my friends’ homes that needs to be put out ASAP.  Therefore, may the Scorpions extinguish the Blaze!

Hello everyone! This will be a new column where Craig Jones, the manager of the Carolina Cobras, and myself, Leo Martinez, the manager of the Arizona Scorpions will be predicting the results of the rest of the teams of the league each week.  There are many different people doing predictions each week but this contest will be specifically between me and Craig. Craig has been my friend for a long time but while we are doing predictions our friendship is left at the door!

Unlike other predictors we are tallying up the team points as well as individual points.   For each individual correct answer the predictor gets one point.  For team points it is slightly more complicated. You get 2 points for the correct result. 1 bonus point for guessing the right point total at 2.5-1.5, 2 bonus points for guessing the right point total at 3-1 or 2-2 and 3 bonus points for guessing the correct point total at 3.5-1.5.

Also we will be guessing only other teams matches…not our own. You can see Carolina’s blog and Craig’s predictions here.

There are also prizes for each winner.  Stay tuned for what the losers have to do!

and

The Scorpions have joined Facebook and Twitter. You can become a fan of the Scorpions by visiting their Facebook page.

You can also make comments on Twitter about the Scorpions anytime…including during matches! You will see new Twitter feeds on the right as they accumulate.

Good luck to the Scorpions on Wednesday! The match will be starting at 6:00 PM AZ time and 9:00 PM ET. The match will be in Tucson, AZ at the University of Arizona, Cesar Chavez building room 406.  Hope to see you all there or on ICC!

Welcome to the 2009 United States Chess League!  I will be providing predictions on all of the matches each week (though I may duck predicting for the Arizona Scorpions some weeks, since I might be biased).  Please note in my predictions that I do not mean to be too critical of any team or player on a particular match – just one person’s thoughts. Without further ado, here are the predictions for Week 1.

Queens Pioneers v. Boston Blitz

Boston has a nice average rating advantage in this match (2461 to 2401). A nice GM match-up on board 1 with Alexander Stripunsky vs. Larry Christiansen. As happens so often in a game between 2 strong GM’s, the game can be a push. I think Queens needs a victory from Stripunsky in order to win the match. GM Perelshteyn with white against IM Eli Vovsha gives Boston the upper hand. On Board 3, IM Marc Esserman has a rating edge against FM Andrei Zaremba, but Andrei has white, so this is probably a push. Board 4 features expert Shaun Smith and youngster, Andrew Wang – this game might well decide the match. Boston wins 2.5-1.5

Miami Sharks v. Dallas Destiny

Miami has a big advantage both in strength (GM vs. IM), and color (Julio has white). I am looking forward to seeing what GM Julio Becerra plays against IM John Bartholomew’s world-famous Scandinavian Defense (1.e4 d5 2.ed Qd5). Board 2 features new UTD student and USCL rookie, Daniel Ludwig against  FM Bruci Lopez. White has a strength advantage and has white, so I give Ludwig the edge. Comparing just boards 1 and 2, I think Miami has a small edge. With board 3, Eric Rodriguez has white against FM Keaton Kiewra, who has not played in a while. Keaton is known for good preparation, so it will be interesting to see how this game goes. Finally, Nelson Lopez has color and slight rating advantage over Miguel Recio, someone I know nothing about. Overall, I think Miami has a very small edge here, though a tie would not surprise me. I predict a tie.

San Francisco Mechanics v. Seattle Sluggers

In the final Monday match of the night, San Francisco catches a break against the Nakamura-less Seattle Sluggers. With that being said, Seattle actually out-rates San Francisco  – something that I don’t think matters for this match. Pruess is at a ridiculously low rating of 2410, and having Donaldson on board 3 is as good as its going to get, even though he is facing FM Michael Lee. Board 4 features the debut of SF’s newest master, twelve year old, Yian Liou. Overall, I predict a 2-2 tie.

New York Knights v. New Jersey Knockouts

Upon a quick look at this first match of Wednesday, I was amazed at how stacked and high rated NY is. Kacheisvili v Benjamin is a great board 1 match-up, and Pascal Charbonneau on board 2 is quite strong, especially when Pascal has played board 1 many times. What is interesting is that Yaacov Norowitz on board 4 is now higher rated than their board 3, though of course not per the rating list used by NY. With a rating edge on boards 1 and 2, the Shen brothers are going to have to come up big for NJ. I predict NY wins 3-1.

Carolina Cobras v. Baltimore Kingfishers

Carolina by default has to resort to a balanced lineup (Boards 1-4 all within 150 pts of each other) while Baltimore sports GM Kritz, not an easy match for IM Schroer, as well IM Enkhbat, GM Larry Kaufman (Board 3!), and an expert on board 4. For out-ranked Carolina to have a chance, there will be a lot of pressure on the bottom boards (All-Star Ron Simpson and Craig Jones), and Oleg Zaikov will have to continue his incredible USCL success. I predict Carolina falls a little short in this one, and loses 2.5-1.5.

Philadelphia Inventors v. Tennessee Tempo

Philly has upgraded a lot since their disappointing season last year, with abnormally high rated players on boards 2 and 3 (GM Lenderman and IM Bryan Smith). The always dangerous GM Alexander Shabalov will have to carry the day for Tennessee since they are out-ranked on boards 2 and 3. Philly wins 2.5-1.5.

Arizona Scorpions v. Chicago Blaze

Arizona welcomes GM Alejandro Ramirez to board 1, while IM Levon Altounian moves down to board 2. Arizona welcomes the first junior and almost master, twelve year old David Adelberg to the team. Chicago features a balanced lineup lead by GM Mitkov, and 2 IM’s. Arizona wins a squeaker, 2.5-1.5.

SUMMARY OF WEEK 1 PREDICTIONS

Queens Pioneers v. Boston Blitz            Boston wins 2.5-1.5.

Miami Sharks v. Dallas Destiny               Tie 2-2.

San Francisco v. Seattle Sluggers           Tie 2-2.

NY Knights v. New Jersey Knockouts   NY Knights wins 3-1

Carolina Cobras v. Baltimore Kingfishers    Baltimore wins 2.5-1.5

Philadelphia Inventory v. TN Tempo     Philly wins 2.5-1.5

AZ Scorpions v. Chicago Blaze                  Arizona wins 2.5-1.5

The Arizona Scorpions and chess.com are happy to announce chess.com’s sponsorship of the Scorpions for the 2009 US Chess League season.

Chess.com is delighted to associate itself with GM Alejandro Ramirez, GM-Elect Rogelio Barcenilla, IM Levon Altounian, IM Dionisio Aldama, FM Danny Rensch, FM Robby Adamson, NM Leo Martinez, Expert David Adelberg, Expert Amanda Mateer, NM Joel Johnson, and IM Mark Ginsburg.  They are all talented chess players and good sportsmen, who represent the chess community in a positive way.  Chess.com is also excited about the Scorpions’ management and fans.

The Scorpions’ second season should bring a lot of excitement, growth, and great chess.  The Scorpions are very excited to work with a website that helps the chess community through their different exceptional services. The Scorpions are happy to have found sponsorship from a company, which has built such a friendly and fun community around the love of chess.  Both hope that this year’s partnership between the Scorpions and chess.com will be fruitful for the Arizona, US, and cyberspace chess communities.