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!

Monday Matches	Leo	Craig
Queens vs Boston
Stripunsky vs Christiansen	1/2	1/2
Vovsha vs Perehlysten	1/2	0-1
Zaremba vs Esserman	0-1	0-1
Smith vs Wang	0-1	0-1
Leo has Boston winning 3-1 Craig has Boston winning 3.5-0.5
Miami vs. Dallas
Becerra vs Bartholomew	1-0	1-0
Lopez vs Ludwig	0-1	0-1
Rodriguez vs Kiewra	1/2	1/2
Recio vs Lopez	1-0	0-1
Leo has Miami winning 2.5-1.5 Craig has Dallas winning 2.5-1.5
San Francisco vs Seattle
Friedel vs Serper	1-0	1-0
Pruess vs Tangborn	1-0	1/2
Donaldson vs Lee	0-1	1/2
Liou vs Sinanan	0-1	0-1
Leo and Craig predict a 2-2 Draw

and

Wednesday Matches	Leo	Craig
New York versus New Jersey
Kacheishvilli vs Benjamin	1/2	1-0
Charboneauu vs Ippolito	1-0	1-0
Herman vs Shen	0-1	0-1
Norowitz vs Shen	1-0	1-0
Leo has New York winning 2.5-1.5 Craig has New York winning 3-1
Philadelphia vs Tennessee
Kudrin vs Shabalov	1-0	1/2
Lenderman vs Burnett	1-0	1-0
Smith vs Bereolos	1-0	1-0
Swaminathan vs Bick	0-1	0-1
Leo has Philadelphia winning 3-1 Craig has Philadelphia winning 2.5-1.5
Carolina vs. Baltimore
Schroer vs Kritz	0-1
Zaikov vs Enkbhat	1-0
Simpson vs Kaufman	0-1
Jones vs Defibaugh	1-0
Leo predicts a 2-2 draw
Arizona vs Chicago
Ramirez vs Mitkov		1-0
Altounian vs Felecan		1/2
Adamson vs Pasalic		1/2
Adelberg vs Magness		1-0
Craig has Arizona winning 3-1

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.

IM Mark Ginsburg kicks-off a new column reviewing USCL games and discussing opening surprises. He prepared for the 2009 season by looking back at the 2008 Game of the Year.

Shock and Awe:  Winning USCL Openings

In the fast time control of the USCL, opening surprises assume center stage.

Let’s look at some 2008 entries as the 2009 season prepares to start. First off, the 2008 Game of the Year,

GM Christiansen (BOS) – IM Marko Zivanic (DAL)  Sicilian Taimanov

1.e4  c5  2.Nf3  e6  3.d4  cxd4  4.Nxd4  Nc6  5.Nc3  Qc7  6.Be3  a6  7.f4  b5 A standard Taimanov position.

8.Bd3!? Offering an extremely unusual gambit and perfect for USCL play.  Its objective strength doesn’t matter that much.  More popular in this position are a whole handful of moves: 8. Nxc6 (the most popular), 8. Be2, 8. Qf3, and 8. a3.  8. Bd3 is fifth!  However, black is by no means required to enter into gambit territory.

Offering a snack on f4

8…Nxd4?! The dubious symbol ?! for pragmatic reasons.  If black was completely surprised, then the quiet side-step of the gambit with 8…Bb7 was in order. The first order of business in a USCL game is not to enter into a whirlpool of complications IF it is likely the opponent is prepped.  The time handicap is too great.

Note here that in one game, black held a draw with 8…b4? but his position was very bad.   In Bellon Lopez-Kurajica, Surakarta 1982, 8…b4? 9. Na4! Bb7 10. Nb3! d6 occurred and now white missed the powerful and aesthetic 11. Bb6! Qb8 12. Bf2! aiming at b6 with his knight. He played 11. Qe2 keeping a much smaller edge.  It’s instructive how white can turn entirely to the queenside if black leaves too big a vacuum.

9.Bxd4  Qxf4?!

Again, a dubious ?! symbol for pragmatic reasons although the move itself is fine. A person no less than Mark Taimanov himself played the more circumspect 9…Bb7! here.  After the lackadaisacal 10. O-O? Bc5! 11. Bxc5 Qxc5+ 12. Kh1 Ne7  black was completely equal and went on to win by outplaying his opponent in the middlegame, Kozakov-Taimanov, Lvov 2000.   It is the sign of a good player (think Karpov) to avoid debacles with development when surprised.  Correct for white after 9….Bb7! is 10. Qd2! waiting events and keeping a small edge.

10.Rf1

From this position, black had lost 4 and won one in prior games.  Not very encouraging, but this position is fully defensible!  It just needs an unusual outlook and nerves of steel.  It is very hard, though, for black to orient if this is a brand-new position in the high-pressure USCL arena.

Oh where, oh where, should the black queen go?

From a purely psychological standpoint, unless black was prepared, he should not be looking at this on the board!  There is the potential to lose a sacrificial blitzkrieg that (horrors) might be elected USCL Game of the Year!

10…Qc7? Essentially the losing moment (and so soon!).  Forcing an early crisis is perfect USCL strategy on white’s part.

Weirdly, although this is very weak (the queen is needed on the kingside for defense), it unjustly scored the only black win in the prior games.  Let’s first look at 10…Qh4+.  After 11. g3 Qh3 12. Qf3! Nh6 13. e5 Rb8 black’s position looks very bad.  Now let’s try 10… Qg5! – in fact, the right move.  11. Qf3 Nh6! (forced but adequate) 12. e5 (12. Be3 Qf6=) 12…Rb8 13. Ne4 and it’s looking scary, but this is just an illusion.  After 13…Qg4 (can also throw in the Qh4+ check then go to g4)  15. Qf2 Bb7! black is unraveling and is OK.  Interestingly, 12. e5 Rb8 13. Ne4 (13. Be4 b4! =) 13…Qh4+!? might be more accurate. 14. g3 Qg4

Pesky Defense from the Wings

Position after 14…Qg4! (analysis)

15. Qf2 Bb7! deprives white of the possibility of h2-h3 and may be even more accurate.  The defensive construction of a floating queen and a knight on the rim at h6 is not for the faint of heart and shows the value of white’s surprise.  What’s the chance of black realizing this formation OTB?  Very little!  So we have to conclude that black is best, in USCL encounters, to avoid the early surprise – see note to Black’s 9th move.

11.Qh5! After 11. Qf3 Nh6 12. O-O-O Bb7 white played the lame 13. Qf2? f6! and lost in Traczewski-Kolar, Plzen op. 2003.  Naturally, 13. Qh5! kept some edge. In this game, GM Larry goes to the right square right away and black is suffering mightily.

11…Nf6? This “natural” Sicilian move is just losing as white breaks through to the black king right away.   It is a common phenomenon to see complete disorientation when the battlefield takes on unfamiliar appearances. 11…Nh6 struggles on.

12.Bxf6  gxf6  13.Rxf6  d6  14.0-0-0  Bg7  15.Bxb5+! Obvious and nice.  As Reinfeld or Chernev used to say, “as natural as a baby’s smile” to Larry.  The rest is a hideous butchery with white capturing everything in sight with tempo, (think the retreat from Corregidor in the Pacific Theater, World War II) well enjoyed by USCL judges.  Subtlety counts for nothing in USCL quality evaluations!

15…Kf8  16.Rf3  Qe7  17.Rxd6  Bf6  18.Rxf6  Qxf6  19.Nd5  Qg6  20.Rd8+  Kg7  21.Qe5+  f6  22.Qc7+  Bd7  23.Rxd7+  Kh6  24.Qf4+  Qg5  25.Bc6  Rac8  26.Rd6  Rhd8  27.Qxg5+  Kxg5  28.Rxe6  Rf8  29.Kd2  f5  30.Ke3  fxe4  31.Kxe4  Rf2  32.Ne3  Rcf8  33.Re5+  Kg6  34.Kd4  Black resigns 1-0

Moving Forward -What Surprises will the 2009 Season Bring?

Look to this column to explore surprises from the 2009 USCL Season!

His first article appears on his blog, A Personal Chess History.

US Chess League Vice President Arun Sharma has reviewed all 14 rosters (not including alternates) and given a quick summary of possible best line-ups and reasons why teams selected certain players.

Now that the 2009 USCL Rosters are virtually complete, before the season begins, it seems like a good idea to try to give readers some insight into what each team seems to have in mind by doing some brief analysis of their rosters and possible lineups.

No guarantee that these are the line-ups we’ll see during the regular season (or even the play-offs), but take a look to see who’s on which team and why.

The Arizona Scorpions new 2009 Lineup has been announced! It includes many new players with some players from last year staying on as well.

The entire roster is:

1) GM Alejandro Ramirez

2) GM-Elect Rogelio Barcenilla

3) IM Levon Altounian

4) IM Dionisio Aldama

5) FM Danny Rensch

6) FM Robby Adamson

7) NM Leo Martinez

8) Expert David Adelberg

9) Expert Amanda Mateer

 

The two alternates for this season are IM Mark Ginsburg and NM Joel Johnson, both seasoned players from last year.  The first match is against the Chicago Blaze on September 2nd at 6:00pm AZ time. You can watch us on ICC and follow all the games.

The United States Chess League (USCL) season starts next week. This will be the second season for our Arizona Scorpions. I had a chance to sit down and discuss the new team with Scorpions manager/player Leonardo Martinez (LM).

EJ: Good evening.

LM: Good evening. I’m nervous now.

EJ: No need to be nervous.

LM: lol… I know. I’m just messing.

EJ: So we’re 10 days from the start of the second season for the AZ Scorpions in the USCL. What have you been up to since we last saw you?

LM: Well I have been preparing for the season… which includes many things as manager and player. I have been looking at my lineups and roster of course and seeing who we can put on the team this year. Which is always tough because there are so many options and so few roster slots and everyone wants to be on the team. Also I have been looking for sponsors for the team which has been going pretty well

EJ: Let’s talk about the new team for now. Who’s new?

LM: Okay. There are a couple new faces. Well the big new player is Alejandro Ramirez. GM Alejandro Ramirez!

EJ: Our first GM!

LM: He is living in Texas but agreed to play for our team. He’s a great player and a great guy too so we are very excited to have him. He has worked in Tucson before at the Western Invitational Chess camp that Robby (Adamson) runs. So he knows the Tucson chess community and many of the players here.

EJ: And we love him. This is typical for the USCL. What other teams have “hired guns”?

LM: I don’t know how common it is but it does happen for sure. I think Tennessee brings (GM Alex) Shabalov and (GM Jan) Ehlvest in. They both don’t live there as far as I know. Also NY has done it. NY Knights I mean.

EJ: The Yankees of the USCL.

LM: And I think Philadelphia is doing it this year with them picking up (GM Alex) Lenderman. That is all I know though.

EJ: Any other new faces?

LM: Yes. David Adelberg, on the other side of the spectrum, will be playing board 4 for us. We are very happy to have him as well. He is one of the top juniors in AZ if not the top junior! He is almost a master now so he should do very well and one of the things that Robby and I talked about with this team when it first started was that in some way we need to support strong juniors and put them on the team if possible.

EJ: Having a strong 4th board is almost as important as a strong 1st board?

LM: Yes, for sure… having a strong 4th board is almost more important sometimes. If you look at any of the top teams they all have strong 4th boards. 4th boards are more likely to be decisive a lot of times. There aren’t any grandmaster draws in the USCL but the GMs sometimes just cancel each other out. With masters on the bottom boards it doesn’t happen as much

EJ: Last year one of the regulars for 4th board was Warren Harper… will we see him this year?

LM: We actually will not see him again unfortunately.

EJ: It’s a shame.. he finished his season with 3 wins for us.

LM: He was a great 4th board for us at 2300 but actually his rating went up from 2300 to around 2350 or something close to that and that 50 points made it really hard to put him on any teams.

LM: He’s my friend too so that made it tough too… he really wanted to be on the team but he understood.

EJ: A teammate until the end. Hopefully we’ll still see him at some of the matches.

LM: Yah, I hope so.

EJ: It’s really a catch-22 with ratings isn’t it?

LM: Well, in some ways yes, but not always. I mean ratings restrict you but at the same time team commitment and enthusiasm counts for a lot with me when I pick the lineups.

EJ: Warren improving actually made it more difficult to have him on the team, yes?

LM: Yes, I agree it’s ironic. We just couldn’t really keep him while at the same time make teams below 2400.

EJ: It’s like a salary cap for football. Does the league have any rules or mention of year-to-year increases?

LM: Do you mean increases to the U2400 ratings for teams?

EJ: I recall that at a certain point, GM ratings stop increasing… anything similar for the lower boards?

LM: Oh I see. Well for players rated above 2590 (Alejandro for example) they are counted as 2590. If Alejandro is 2610 or something he would count as 2590 for the rating team average but for lower boards theres nothing like that. What you can do is pick a rating supplement.You can pick a rating supplement that you have to use for the whole team and you have about 8 months or something like that to choose from.

EJ: 8 months?! Hence, your busy offseason.

LM: I can’t remember how many months that is. David Adelberg is a good example of being able to use this to your advantage for bottom boards. Under a certain supplement David is 2026. Under his current rating he is close to 2200. I think like 2195 or something. We can use the rating supplement where it is 2026 instead and save those rating points for the higher boards.

EJ: Buy low, sell high.

LM: Exactly! With Warren he was 2350 for all the supplements so he didn’t move around much.

EJ: Just want to mention, I’m still 1467 if ever you need me.

LM: lol

EJ: +2, -1… my math tells me someone else has to go…

LM: Yah we took Ken Larsen off the team as well. He was in the same situation as Warren where his rating was at a certain point where it’s tough to make teams. He was like 2320 or something. I want him on 4th board but it’s tough to make him work and since there are so few spots I unfortunately had to make some cuts.

EJ: If I recall, Ken was the only player last year that didn’t see any playing time.

LM: yah I know… I really wanted to get him in but it didn’t work out for some reason. Last year was tough because it was our first season and things were hectic so we were picking our teams at the last minute and that didn’t help anyone’s schedules obviously. But everyone still loved it!

EJ: There’s a lot to consider when it comes to making lineups. It’s not always about the best players or highest ratings.

LM: Definitely! It’s about picking the right players and the players that have a lot of commitment. Or at least that are the most enthusiastic about playing.

EJ: Does the team get together mid-week for “practice”?

LM: This year I’m not sure what we are going to do… I haven’t really planned it yet. But last season we did a couple of times… I think 3 times in Tucson we met. It was Robby, IM Mark Ginsburg, Warren and me. We prepared some openings and stuff. Nothing too heavy but some work. I think Levon was out of town so he couldn’t make it.

EJ: Robby and Mark were the workhorses last year, playing 7 and 8 times respectively.

LM: I know.

EJ: Will we see them again this year?

LM: Yes. They will both be playing. Well our team is a little different than others. For other teams there are players that play all 10 games, but for us 7 or 8 is a lot because we play from 2 cities (Phoenix and Tucson) so we have to rotate our lineups based on that a lot of times. They both helped out the team tremendously by playing so much.

EJ: More for the manager to consider…

LM: Of course. It’s all part of the job.

EJ: Just filling out my scorecard. I have Ramirez, Ginsburg, Adamson, Martinez, Adelberg…

LM: Okay so that is 5. Danny Rensch is also on the team. He played for the team last season. Also Rogelio Barcenilla, who is actually a GM-elect at the moment. We will have 2 GMs!

EJ: 2 GMs!?

LM: Yup

EJ: Nice. This team looks to be very different from last season.

LM: Yah Rogelio has been GM strength for a while now… but he got his last norm this summer.

EJ: Last season, they were a team without a GM, and now they’ll have 2… Any idea when he’ll get his title officially?

LM: I’m not sure actually but hopefully soon… not before the season though.

EJ: That’s 7… who fills the last spot?

LM: Hmmm.. well actually the lineup isn’t really complete yet… I still have one more player left that I haven’t gotten complete confirmation yet from… I think I have a couple days!

EJ: A surprise? How exciting!

LM: IM Levon Altounian will play for us as well.

EJ: That’s 8… one of them is still a maybe?

LM: But actually this season we will have 9 roster slots and 2 alternate slots. So 11 total players. That is 8.

EJ: 2 alternates is the same as last year… but a roster of 9 is new. Do tell!

LM: Well this season there’s a rule where if you have a woman on the team you have an extra roster slot. Amanda Mateer is on the team.

LM: We will put Joel Johnson on the team as well as an alternate I believe.

EJ: Joel did very well last year winning his 2 games.

LM: Yah Joel is great for the team. He is really enthusiastic too. Last season, after both of his wins he wrote these long articles about how he prepared for his games and what he was thinking as well as annotating his games it was pretty impressive he would play his game and would end around 10:00pm or so and then he would somehow have these articles done the next day! He was great!

EJ: Agreed. I hope we get to see some more of that this season. Wins and the reports.

LM: Yah me too.

EJ: Sounds like a complete lineup with 1 mystery player still waiting to be announced.

LM: You can wait a couple days and find out because I have to pick some one by Wednesday.

EJ: 1467!

LM: lol! You’ll be our honorary interviewer slot.

EJ: Nice! It looks like you’ve done a lot of work in the offseason, improving the team. 2 GMs a couple of IMs, and nearly a complete roster of Masters. The Scorpions look to be a team to keep an eye on this year.

LM: Hmm.. yah Robby does a lot too and everyone is pretty supportive of the team so it’s not too hard. Danny Rensch in Phoenix is also really supportive. I’m excited! I’m waiting for it… I just want it to start!

EJ: We missed the playoffs by just 1/2 of a tie-break point. Any predictions?

LM: Oh man! Hmmm well… I just want to concentrate on one match at a time so I’ll say we win the first match. That’ll be my prediction!

EJ: Fair enough. Do you think we’ll see both GMs on the same line-up once this year?

LM: hmmm… I would say that is definitely a possibility.

EJ: Something for the rest of the league to think about…

LM: Yah a GM on board 2 is pretty crazy for me to think about compared to last season when we didn’t have any.

EJ: You’ve been so busy this off season.. what else have you been able to do? If anything?!

LM: Do you mean with the rest of my life or with the team?

EJ: Both?

LM: Well with the team it has been mostly just trying to get sponsors for the team and keeping people interested. This season we have 2 main sponsors… The Southern Arizona Chess Association (SACA) and Chess.com, which is a major chess website that has basically everything a chess player can want. We also had t-shirts made with all of our sponsors listed on the back. They are $20 a piece, look really good, and the money helps to support the Scorpions.

EJ: Do you have enough time in your life besides the Scorpions?

LM: I have time for other stuff too. I have a job at the hospital, I give private lessons to some kids in Tucson, and I go to the University of Arizona. I just graduated last semester so I’m taking graduate classes now.

EJ: Congratulations!

LM: Thanks!

EJ: Well, I think we’re lucky to have you as our manager.

LM: Thanks.

EJ: Thank you and we look forward to a great season! Match #1 is Wednesday, Sep. 2 vs. Chicago Blaze.

LM: Thanks! Everyone cheer us on!

The first match of the US Chess League is approaching!

On September 2nd the Scorpion season starts against the Chicago Blaze. With the addition of GM Yuri Shulman to Chicago and GM Alejandro Ramirez to Arizona both teams have made major improvements and should be another great match. Chicago will be looking to gain revenge from going 0-2 versus the Scorpions last season while Arizona will be looking to jump start the season with a first match win.