Thursday, August 27

US Chess League Begins on Monday Night

The US Chess League begins on Monday night with three dynamite matches. The one most likely to attract attention on the west coast will pit the San Francisco Mechanics against division rival Seattle Sluggers. While Seattle's top board GM Hikaru Nakamura will no doubt be unavailable because he is playing in Holland at the Rising Stars Versus Experience tournament, the Sluggers still have solid GM Gregory Serper, star teenager FM Michael Lee and a diverse supporting cast.

With what lineup will the Mechanics counter? First read about the 2009 team roster in this post from two weeks ago. Next check out intriguing possibilities:
  • Wolff, Friedel, Shankland, Liou = 2397, 2492
  • Friedel, Bhat, Shankland, Liou = 2372, 2465 -- top two are just about "GGGg"
  • Friedel, Kraai, Naroditsky, Liou = 2378, 2443
  • Kraai, Shankland, Naroditsky, Young = 2384, 2437
  • Kraai, Pruess, Naroditsky, Young = 2400.75, 2409
(The first number is the official rating, using the September 2008 list. This average must be below 2401 each week. The second number is current USCF average.)

Log into ICC next Monday evening to watch LIVE beginning at 6:00pm PDT. Type the command "/finger USCL" to find the games, or look under the Events window.

US Chess League Schedule for San Francisco Mechanics

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