| US Chess League: Week Eight Highlights |
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| By Kostya Kavutskiy | |
| October 23, 2011 | |
 In the eighth week of the US Chess League, the Chicago
Blaze's streak looked threatened, but they ended up pulling out a victory against
the Dallas Destiny to clinch the western division title with an 8-0 record. NM
Eric Rosen upset FM Keaton Kiewra with the black pieces to earn himself the
Endgame Clothing Upset of the Week (play through the game below). The Los Angeles Vibe were able to further solidify their second place standing by defeating the Seattle Sluggers 3.5-0.5, including a very nice win by IM Zhanibek Amanov over FM Slava Mikhailuk. 5925 Two teams fighting for playoff contention, the San Francisco Mechanics and Arizona Scorpions, slugged it out to a 2-2 match tie. Lastly the Miami Sharks kept their playoff hopes alive by overpowering the Saint Louis Arch Bishops, 3-1. In the East the Philadelphia Inventors and New York Knights drew their match to stay at the top of the division, with Philadelphia currently holding the better tiebreaks. The Manhattan Applesauce decisively won against the Baltimore Kingfishers to remain in third place while the Boston Blitz beat the Carolina Cobras and currently hold fourth place in the division. The New England Nor'easters only drew with the struggling New Jersey Knockouts. Still New England is only a half point behind in the playoff race. We have two very exciting weeks ahead of us, full of playoff drama. Game of the Week GM Julio Becerra (MIA) - NM Jake Banawa (STL) 1-0 5920 GM Becerra played a nice attacking game and showed why he is a three-time MVP of the league. Read the rest of the article on the USCL blog. Most Exciting Match Dallas Destiny vs. Chicago Blaze 0.5-3.5 Late in the match it definitely seemed like Dallas was going to spoil Chicago's perfect season, and then Chicago ended up winning 3.5-0.5. See for yourself: 5924 5923 5922 5921 Best Move GM Larry Kaufman (BAL) - IM Dmitry Schneider (MAN) 0-1  In this position IM Schneider found... 29.Qxd3 (29.Qf1 Bxg3 30.Qg1 Rxf3-+ is hopeless) 29...Bxg3 30.Kg1 Qxh2+ 31.Kf1 Qh1+ 32.Ke2 Qxc1-+  Black is completely winning and finished it off a few moves later 0-1 For more blogs and this week's line-ups and matches, go to the US Chess League homepage. Watch live games on Monday and Wednesday night on the Internet Chess Club. Kostya Kavutskiy will also be posting weekly recaps from his team's perspective at thelavibe.blogspot.com. |
