USCL Power Rankings Week 1

The Power Rankings have been computed for week 1. Of course, with a sample size of one week, the power rankings are extremely unreliable.

This year, I'm not going to give scores, but just a ranking from 1 to 14. If a team is tied from the calculation, the tie will be broken by calculating a team rating (which is not the average of the individual ratings, but think of it as if the team were an independent entity). Ties won't happen very often, except in the first few weeks.

Blah blah blah, let's get to the good stuff.

POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 1

1 -	Miami
2 -	Boston
3 -	New Jersey
4 -	Carolina
5 -	San Francisco
6 -	Queens
7 -	Arizona
8 -	Dallas
9 -	Philadelphia
10 -	Chicago
11 -	New York
12 -	Baltimore
13 -	Tennessee
14 -	Seattle

Until next week!

USCL Ratings after Week 1 (UPDATED with Board Top 5)

After Week 1, here is the (unofficial) USCL ratings list. Once again, details of how the ratings are computed are here.

Note: Only players active in the 2008 season are included, and players must have played at least three lifetime games in the USCL (in any season).

Complete List

1	2619	Jorge Sammour-Hasbun
2	2576	Sergey Erenburg
3	2575	Patrick Wolff
4	2567	Sergey Kudrin
5	2555	Joel Benjamin
6	2538	Davorin Kuljasevic
7	2531	Eli Vovsha
8	2514	Gregory Serper
9	2509	Dean Ippolito
10	2501	Lev Milman
11	2500	Josh Friedel
12	2485	Dmitry Schneider
13	2477	Denis Shmelov
14	2452	Bryan Smith
15	2447	Gregory Braylovsky
16	2442	Bruci Lopez
17	2436	Jay Bonin
18	2433	Oleg Zaikov
19	2433	Sam Shankland
20	2431	Ron Burnett
21	2410	Eric Tangborn
22	2407	Marcel Martinez
23	2394	John Readey
24	2390	Blas Lugo
25	2386	Richard Costigan
26	2385	Elvin Wilson
27	2374	Mackenzie Molner
28	2371	Victor Shen
29	2369	Todd Andrews
30	2343	Eric Rodriguez
31	2336	Larry Kaufman
32	2318	Bayaraa Zorigt
33	2316	Ilya Krasik
34	2294	Igor Schneider
35	2284	Craig Jones
36	2273	Daniel Naroditsky
37	2251	Peter Bereolos
38	2250	Josh Sinanan
39	2243	Ray Kaufman
40	2234	Ralph Zimmer
41	2204	Evan Rosenberg

Board 1 - TOP 5
2619 Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS)
2576 Sergey Erenburg (BAL)
2575 Patrick Wolff (SFM)
2567 Sergey Kudrin (PHI)
2555 Joel Benjamin (NJK)

Board 2 - TOP 5
2538 Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL)
2531 Eli Vovsha (QUE)
2509 Dean Ippolito (NJK)
2500 Josh Friedel (SFM)
2452 Bryan Smith (PHI)

Board 3 - TOP 5
2477 Denis Shmelov (BOS)
2436 Jay Bonin (NYK)
2433 Sam Shankland (SFM)
2394 John Readey (SEA)
2390 Blas Lugo (MIA)

Board 4 - TOP 5
2385 Elvin Wilson (PHI)
2371 Victor Shen (NJK)
2343 Eric Rodriguez (MIA)
2318 Bayaraa Zorigt (DAL)
2316 Ilya Krasik (BOS)

USCL Week One Predictions

No nonsense here. Just some straight up predictions.

Monday

Arizona over Chicago 3-1

See this.

UPDATE: Arizona won, but with 2.5

Wednesday

New York and Boston tie, 2-2

The top board Shabalov-Sammour Hasbun will be exciting, and likely the most watched match of the night. If USCL rookie and former US Champion Shabalov can hold off the Blitz powerhouse player (uncharacteristically playing first board), New York is in good shape. If he loses, watch out. Spectators should keep an eye on Jay "45,000 rated games a week" Bonin and Shmelov, who've had some entertaining encounters in past USCL games.

UPDATE: Watch out was right. Shabalov lost, and so went the Knights, losing 3-1.

New Jersey over Baltimore 2.5-1.5

With a year under their belt, the Knockouts ought to start the year off right. Benjamin and Erenburg both have had some OTB success this year. Look for a win from the KOs with White, either board two Dean Ippolito or board four, Victor Shen, which should put them over the top.

UPDATE: Well, both Shen and Ippolito won, so New Jersey won 3-1.

Philadelphia over Queens 2.5-1.5

The key here is newcomer to the USCL, Alex Lenderman. While he seemingly lives on ICC and is obviously used to the interface, he is taking on USCL veteran Richard Costigan, who tends to come up big in USCL play. If Lenderman draws (or loses), Queens will lose. If he wins, the match will be a tie.

UPDATE: Lenderman won, and Queens squeaked above Phildephia 2.5 - 1.5.


Carolina over Tennessee 3-1

The Battle of the Blue Ridge should see the Cobra desynch the Tempo. Wins are more likely to come from the edge boards, while the middle boards ought to slug it out.

UPDATE: The two top boards were decisive, but it was 3 - 1 Carolina.

San Francisco over Dallas 2.5-1.5

The Mechanics have a real good shot of taking down last year's champions Dallas. Chief Mechanic Patrick Wolff should gobble newcomer Marko Zivanic, while the bottom board is a toss-up, since World Champion Daniel Naroditsky has black, and the match is probably past his bedtime. A good longshot to bet on is for Dallas' second board Kulasevic to take down should-be-a-GM-any-day-now-if-FIDE-would-get-their-act-together Josh Friedel.

UPDATE: I got the score, but not the details. SF wins 2.5 - 1.5.

Seattle over Miami 2.5-1.5

This is probably the safest bet of the night; Seattle might even win 3-1 or 3.5-0.5. The top two boards for Miami are overmatched -- the Shark's perennial MVP Julio Becerra is off for the night. Miami can probably win one of the two games on the bottom boards, but not both.

UPDATE: Did I say this was the safest bet? You all knew I was kidding and wrote this on opposite day... All I can say is "oops". Miami a big winner at 3.5 - 0.5.

USCL Season: Week 1 Monday Predictions

The United States Chess League season starts next week, and I have been asked to participate in this year's prediction contest! I am very excited and honored to be part of it.

For most of the games and matches, I will be drawing heavily from my unofficial USCL ratings list, which I am planning to maintain throughout the year.

However, since the Monday match is between the two expansion teams, nobody on those teams has a USCL rating.

So, I suppose, I could predict a 2-2 tie, but I think I'll do something a little more intelligently.

Both boards 1 and 3 of Arizona have white, and outrate (USCF ratings) their opponents by about 80 points or so. Therefore I expect at least 1.5 out of those boards.

On board 2, IM Mehmed Pasalic (Chicago) is white against IM Mark Ginsburg (Arizona). Although Ginsburg is a little higher rated, Pasalic plays a lot in the North America Chess Association's FIDE norm tournaments, so he's probably in a good form.

On board 4, Warren Harper outrates his opponent by over 150 points, and although he has black, he's got a better shot to pull it out.

Thus, my prediction is Arizona over Chicago 3-1.

Fun Games for Baby

Chess is a fun game for a baby. They like chewing on the pieces.

Bad Films Usually Have a Lot of Trees

After humiliating myself in a chess tournament this afternoon (0.5 - 2.5), I flung myself on the couch and turned on the TV. Sunday Night Baseball was on, and while that would normally occupy my attention, I deemed it too intellectual for my fried brain. Instead, the movie "Meatballs", starring Bill Murray, was just starting.

What a mistake.

I watched the entire film, realizing about 15 minutes in that I had seen it a few years ago, and thought it was pretty bad then, but deciding to give it another chance. The only thing that I got out of it is that Bill Murray is a fine actor. And that 1979 has some pretty bad clothing fashion.

Is there a worse film ever made? I didn't laugh, nor did I crack a smile. I sat there stone-faced, wondering how such a load of crap could ever be made. Then, I realized that, there was a worse film, the horrible and tasteless "The Emerald Forest", my pick for the worst film ever.

Both films have a lot of trees in them. Are trees bad?

Bobby Fischer's last days

An interesting article about the disposition of Bobby Fischer's assets and his last days is here. Definitely worth reading.

An Early Thanksgiving Parade...

Thanksgiving is still months away, but that didn't stop these three turkeys from parading across the street and into someone's driveway this morning in Bloomfield, New Jersey, not 50 yards from our house. I stopped the car, and took this picture with my cell phone.

That, in combination with the bobcat I saw from our front window last week, peaks one's interest in urban ecology. Unfortunately, the bobcat disappeared before I could take a picture of it.

Was Jorge Sammour-Hasbun the USCL's rookie of the year?

A few days ago in this blog entry, using the USCL rating system I developed, whether Todd Andrews should have won the USCL's Most Improved Player award. Today, I examine whether Jorge Sammour-Hasbun of the Boston Blitz should have won the Rookie of the Year award.

Sammour-Hasbun had a fantastic year in the USCL. He won six and drew two, without a loss. (Indeed his results in other tournaments have been similarly great; he just repeated as champion of the Dos Hermanas tournament - which was an incredible feat, given the competition he knocked out on the way there.)

But was he really the USCL's rookie of the year? How should that even be defined?

Let's start with the USCL rating system. One measure of whether a player is the rookie of the year is comparing the player's initial assigned rating and the player's rating at the end of the year, on the final 2007 list, and looking for the greatest difference. Remember that initial ratings are assigned by the board on which the player first competed.

Given that criterion, the rookie of the year would be the New York Knights' Irina Zenyuk (also spelled Iryna - I don't know what she prefers). She gained 136 points from her initial rating, while Sammour-Hasbun gained 125. Zenyuk also had an excellent year, with four wins, three draws, and a single loss.

Here are the top five rookies of 2007. They must have played a minimum of three games in 2007 to be included on this list.

1. Irina Zenyuk 2386 (+136, started at 2250, board 4)
2. Jorge Sammour-Hasbun 2575 (+125, started at 2450, board 2)
3. Eric Rodriguez 2370 (+120, started at 2250, board 4)
4. Chris Williams 2363 (+113, started at 2250, board 4)
5. Francisco Guadalupe 2352 (+102, started at 2250, board 4)

What rookie will take the award this year?

Was Todd Andrews the USCL's most improved player?

Todd Andrews won the "Most Improved Player Award" in the United States Chess League last season. Using the USCL rating system I developed, one thing we can check is whether this award was justified.

The easiest measure of this is the greatest difference between the rating on the final 2006 list and the rating on the final 2007 list. We have to set a one criterion, however; the player must have played a minimum of three games in 2007 in order to be eligible for consideration, as well as at least three in 2006 or earlier. (Remember also that the USCL ratings are dependent to some degree on how the player's results contributed to the team's results.)

So, did Todd Andrews have the greatest difference between these two lists? No! That honor goes to Davorin Kuljasevic, who gained 106 points from 2006 to 2007. Andrews gained 101 points in the 2007 season.

Here are the top five most improved players from 2006 to 2007, according to the USCL rating list.

1. Davorin Kuljasevic +106 (2434 to 2540)
2. Todd Andrews +101 (2307 to 2408)
3. Mackensie Molner +74 (2266 to 2339)
4. Jonathan Schroer +55 (2338 to 2393)
5. Marcel Martinez +41 (2345 to 2386)

In an upcoming post, we'll try and figure out the rookie of the year award.

USCL Ratings End of 2005

The USCL Ratings have been calculated for the 2005 season.

As with the 2006 list and the 2007 list, the same conditions apply namely that (1) players must have played in the 2005 season, and (2) players must have played three lifetime USCL games to be published.

Final 2005 USCL Rating List

1	2597	Eugene Perelshteyn
2	2585	Pascal Charbonneau
3	2584	Vinay Bhat
4	2558	Larry Christiansen
5	2552	Alex Stripunsky
6	2552	Alejandro Ramirez
7	2543	Julio Becerra
8	2532	Marcin Kaminsky
9	2527	Vince McCambridge
10	2514	John Donaldson
11	2499	Irina Krush
12	2495	Gregory Braylovsky
13	2481	Magesh Panchanathan
14	2477	Jay Bonin
15	2475	Lev Milman
16	2472	Tegshsuren Enkhbat
17	2445	Peter Vavrak
18	2441	Marcel Martinez
19	2438	Larry Kaufman
20	2427	David Pruess
21	2427	Josh Friedel
22	2423	Norman Rogers
23	2421	Richard Costigan
24	2417	Paul MacIntyre
25	2415	Miguel Espino
26	2411	Dmitry Schneider
27	2405	Dmitry Zilberstein
28	2394	Matthew Bengtson
29	2372	Blas Lugo
30	2369	Elvin Wilson
31	2362	Andrei Zaremba
32	2356	Charles Riordan
33	2348	Carl Boor
34	2344	Katerina Rohonyan
35	2323	Ray Kaufman
36	2320	Tsagaan Battsetseg
37	2302	Matthew Hoekstra
38	2291	Boris Baczynskyj
39	2291	Mark Pinto
40	2288	Jennifer Shahade
41	2287	Bruci Lopez
42	2284	Evan Rosenberg
43	2281	William Kelleher
44	2274	Daniel Fernandez
45	2267	Andy Lee
46	2262	Nicholas Yap
47	2256	Ilya Krasik
48	2255	Andres Suarez
49	2244	John Fernandez
50	2238	Sam Copeland
51	2235	Jose Cabrera
52	2223	Lewis Eisen
53	2203	John Timmel
54	2192	David Pecora
55	2181	Eric Moskow
56	2175	Greg Samsa

USCL Expansion Team Logos

Back in December, I posted a review of all the team names and team logos in the United States Chess League. I gave "incomplete" grades to the Chicago Blaze and the Arizona Scorpions, because their logos had not been released yet. Here's what I said then...

• Arizona "Scorpions" - As I said above, I think there are scorpions in Arizona, and I certainly wouldn't want to encounter one, so this is the most "terrifying" team name. No chess reference, but that's ok. The name rolls off the tongue well. Also, while we'll all be calling them the "Scorps" if they win a lot, we can also call them the "Peons" if they lose. No logo yet. Grade: Incomplete, pending logo.

• Chicago "Blaze" - Again, I said above that there was a fire in Chicago a long time back, so I suppose this gets the nod for being relevant to the city. And, "blaze" also has a connotation of running rampant over your opponents, so that works. However, it sounds too much like "Blitz". You can't have that many Zs in team names and still stay sane. No logo yet. Grade: Incomplete, pending logo.

Well, the logos were recently released -- the Scorpions earlier today, actually. So, what about these new logos?

The Chicago Blaze logo has a nice echo of the famous water tower in Chicago, and dresses them up nicely as rooks. But the shield? Has a heraldic touch, but not all that relevant. What would have been really funny is if it was a chessboard instead, but the squares between rank 6 and 7 didn't line up properly, which mimics the strange street shift to the left about 50 feet that happens when you drive north in Chicago. Okay, maybe that's too obscure. Overall grade (name and logo): B



The Arizona Scorpions logo is over the top. Way over the top. Way too frightening. So totally not for children. The A-claws are clever. That's all good. What's not so good? The tail should curve the other way which would make the tail look like the top of an S; right now it looks like the top of a question mark. And what does the logo designer have against capital Ns? All the other letters are capitalized - why not the N? Still, it is a mean looking logo and a mean name and they complement one another well. Overall grade (name and logo): A-

Next year, for the 2009 season, I'll review the new team names and logos of the USCL.

New Media Chess Essay

Two Columbia journalism students put together a website that explores chess people and chess in New York City. They interview six players on video (including Nakamura, Ashley, Waitzkin, and Vicary), present some photos and video of chess sites in New York City, and have a History of the game. The content is somewhat scattershot, but there is a lot of content to explore. While the site is ostensibly called "Masters and Hustlers", besides the interviews of some masters and a few hustlers, there really isn't a unifying principle that threads the site together.

The interviews of the players are the best part, and is worth checking out just for those-- the one with Nakamura is especially illuminating. There is an interview with a chess hustler as well, which seems put in for completeness sake.

The timeline of the history of the game was interestingly presented, but only on some years did I get Padolfini's narration; I'm not sure if that's a site error, or there wasn't any narration on some of them (mysteriously, you have to click on the "GAME" link, and not something called History). Unfortunately, some things just seem like they were added at the last moment (e.g., inconsistent fonts, typos), but this only slightly detracts from the presentation.

Furthermore, they try all sorts of Flash-esque techniques on the website (cursor changing, zooms, fades, rolling clickable landscapes, and so forth). Some are useful and some are superfluous and ultimately frustrating. When they keep it simple -- the embedded video with a textual sidebar overview, for instance -- it works the best.

In summary, even though it is unfocused, a little sloppy, and tries too hard at times to be clever, the website does present some insightful, probing, and worthwhile content. If you are interested in chess players or chess in New York City, then by all means, check it out.

USCL Ratings End of 2006

At the end of the 2006 season, the USCL rating list would have looked like what is displayed below.

Note that the same conditions apply as the end of the 2007 list, namely that (1) players must have played in the 2006 season, and (2) players must have played three lifetime USCL games to be published.

Final 2006 USCL Rating List

1	2617	Vinay Bhat
2	2571	Eugene Perelshteyn
3	2566	Julio Becerra
4	2563	Jaan Ehlvest
5	2555	Georgi Orlov
6	2537	Josh Friedel
7	2529	Larry Christiansen
8	2527	Pawel Blehm
9	2524	Gregory Serper
10	2523	Jacek Stopa
11	2516	Vince McCambridge
12	2510	Pascal Charbonneau
13	2484	Robert Hess
14	2475	Lev Milman
15	2473	Tegshsuren Enkhbat
16	2469	Peter Vavrak
17	2468	Irina Krush
18	2454	Magesh Panchanathan
19	2453	Igor Foygel
20	2443	Oleg Zaikov
21	2443	Ron Burnett
22	2443	Slava Mikhailuk
23	2442	Bryan Smith
24	2441	Charles Riordan
25	2440	Andrei Zaremba
26	2440	David Pruess
27	2436	Richard Costigan
28	2434	Davorin Kuljasevic
29	2433	Eric Tangborn
30	2432	William Kelleher
31	2430	Miguel Espino
32	2423	Dmitry Zilberstein
33	2421	Jay Bonin
34	2413	John Readey
35	2412	Bruci Lopez
36	2410	Blas Lugo
37	2402	Larry Kaufman
38	2388	Alejandro Moreno Roman
39	2384	Marcel Milat
40	2380	Sam Shankland
41	2369	Matthew Hoekstra
42	2360	Elvin Wilson
43	2350	Craig Jones
44	2350	Steven Winer
45	2349	Matthew Bengtson
46	2348	Matthew Herman
47	2348	Vadim Martirosov
48	2345	Marcel Martinez
49	2339	Norman Rogers
50	2338	Jonathan Schroer
51	2333	Ray Kaufman
52	2333	Katerina Rohonyan
53	2322	Mark Pinto
54	2317	Igor Schneider
55	2310	John Rouleau
56	2307	Todd Andrews
57	2303	Nat Koons
58	2297	Keaton Kiewra
59	2286	Michael Lee
60	2285	Ilya Krasik
61	2278	Peter Bereolos
62	2267	Jennifer Shahade
63	2266	Mackenzie Molner
64	2257	Ralph Zimmer
65	2251	Michael Shahade
66	2251	Nelson Lopez
67	2250	Boris Baczynskyj
68	2237	Boris Privman
69	2237	Luis Barredo
70	2233	Gerald Larson
71	2227	Daniel Naroditsky
72	2223	Jerry Wheeler
73	2215	Javier Torres
74	2188	Jose Cabrera

USCL Ratings (with 2007 Final List)

I have independently created a United States Chess League rating system that takes into several elements that other rating systems do not. Most importantly, the USCL ratings take into account that players are part of a team, and their strategy about how to conclude their individual games depend on the games situations of their teammates.

Here is an overview of the USCL rating system.

1. Modified Glicko

Rating calculations are based on the Glicko system, with some minor modifications. These modifications are as follows:
(a) Maximum RD is 100 (not 350);
(b) Ratings are updated after every game;
(c) At the end of each season, each RD is modified by increasing it 1/2 its distance to 100. For example, if a player's RD is 40, then the new RD is 40+((100-40)/2) or 40+(30) or 70. This eliminates step 1b in the Glicko process.

2. Initial Ratings Based on Board

Initial ratings for each player are based on which board they played the first time they played in a USCL match. Players who were Board 1 start with an initial rating of 2550; Board 2, 2450; Board 3, 2350; Board 4, 2250. All are set with an RD (ratings deviation) of 100.

3. Expected Score Depends on Color

Expected score from each game is modified by the color each player has. An initial investigation showed that, in the USCL, the performance rating of a player with the White pieces is about 72 points higher than the performance rating of a player with the Black pieces. Therefore, when calculating expected score of a games between two players, we temporarily add 36 points to White's rating, and subtract 36 points from Black's rating.

4. All Games Rated with Equal Weight

All games, including playoff games and blitz tiebreak games, were given equal weight in the ratings.

5. Scores for Draws Depend on Team Result

In team chess, where the goal of the team is to win the match (with 2.5/4 points or more, or 2/4 in a match with draw odds), individual results can be skewed by the circumstances of the match situation. For example, if it looks like your team is about to win two games and lose one game, winning the match comes down to what happens on your board. Suppose that in your game you have a moderate advantage, but the position is dynamic and unstable. In such a case, you might decide to trade all your pieces to reach a dead drawn endgame, so that you will draw the game and clinch the match for your team. This is fundamentally a good result for your team, as your will win the match.

Therefore, the result of the team match is considered when assigning scores for individual players' draws. If the final team match is drawn, each player who drew gets 1/2 point. If a team wins, all the players on the winning team who drew their games get 2/3 point each. Conversely, all the players on a losing team who drew their games get 1/3 point each. (Wins are still 1 and losses are still 0, regardless of the team match score.) Note that these point assignments are only for rating calculations only.

---

Final 2007 United States Chess League Rating List

• Every game in every season of the USCL was rated, not just 2007.
• Only players who were played at least one game in 2007 (i.e., active) are included in the list.
• Players must have played at least three games in the history of the USCL to be included in the list.
• While every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, re-rating might occur to correct any mistakes.

1	2591 Sergey Kudrin
2	2589 Vinay Bhat
3	2586 Patrick Wolff
4	2581 Larry Christiansen
5	2580 Hikaru Nakamura
6	2579 Jorge Sammour-Hasbun
7	2576 Joel Benjamin
8	2571 Drasko Boskovic
9	2569 Gregory Serper
10	2566 Julio Becerra
11	2543 Davorin Kuljasevic
12	2523 Jacek Stopa
13	2522 Eli Vovsha
14	2519 John Donaldson
15	2505 Pawel Blehm
16	2495 Josh Friedel
17	2494 Alex Stripunsky
18	2491 Lev Milman
19	2487 Georgi Orlov
20	2487 Dean Ippolito
21	2484 Pascal Charbonneau
22	2481 Eugene Perelshteyn
23	2477 Irina Krush
24	2466 Jay Bonin
25	2463 Vince McCambridge
26	2460 Bryan Smith
27	2454 Tegshsuren Enkhbat
28	2453 Dmitry Schneider
29	2449 Denis Shmelov
30	2441 Eric Tangborn
31	2440 Ron Burnett
32	2433 Marcel Milat
33	2432 Slava Mikhailuk
34	2428 Sam Shankland
35	2423 Oleg Zaikov
36	2415 John Bartholomew
37	2415 Robert Hess
38	2411 Richard Costigan
39	2407 Dmitry Zilberstein
40	2406 Jonathan Schroer
41	2405 Keaton Kiewra
42	2402 Irina Zenyuk
43	2399 William Kelleher
44	2397 Blas Lugo
45	2389 David Pruess
46	2389 Francisco Guadalupe II
47	2388 John Readey
48	2387 Andrei Zaremba
49	2386 Aviv Friedman
50	2382 Mikhail Zlotnikov
51	2381 Marcel Martinez
52	2380 Todd Andrews
53	2366 Parker Zhao
54	2365 Elvin Wilson
55	2361 Bruci Lopez
56	2360 Chris Williams
57	2358 Katerina Rohonyan
58	2354 Larry Kaufman
59	2354 Vadim Martirosov
60	2353 Daniel Yeager
61	2343 John Rouleau
62	2334 Mackenzie Molner
63	2333 Eric Rodriguez
64	2327 Bayaraa Zorigt
65	2322 Victor Shen
66	2319 Miguel Espino
67	2314 James Critelli
68	2311 Marc Arnold
69	2309 Michael Thaler
70	2307 Peter Bierkens
71	2304 Luis Barredo
72	2303 Loren Schmidt
73	2301 Evan Ju
74	2301 Gregory Young
75	2300 Matthew Herman
76	2297 Alejandro Moreno Roman
77	2295 Craig Jones
78	2287 Michael Lee
79	2279 John Timmel
80	2276 Ralph Zimmer
81	2265 Daniel Naroditsky
82	2264 Udayan Bapat
83	2263 Ilya Krasik
84	2261 Tsagaan Battsetseg
85	2258 Josh Sinanan
86	2239 Matthew Bengtson
87	2228 Peter Bereolos
88	2211 Jerry Wheeler
89	2209 Gerald Larson
90	2183 James Wu

NOTE: While the commissioner of the United States Chess League is aware of the existence of these ratings and the rating system, neither the ratings nor the rating system have been officially endorsed nor sanctioned by the Unites States Chess League, its affiliates, or sponsors.

Nine year old master

Nine year old Nicholas Nip became a USCF Master with an unofficial rating of 2207. Personally, I think it is unconscionable to be a master if your age at which you became a master is earlier than your bedtime at that mage. He had better go to bed at 9:30!

Read all about it here. And f-pawn (aka Michael Aigner) wrote about it here.

D&D Creator Slain by Life

Gary Gygax, the creator of Dungeons and Dragons, has died. D&D played a big role in my life, as it increased my love of all types of games.

I fondly remember the three books D&D started with (before there was Advanced D&D), and the near pornographic (at least to an 12 year old) cover of the third book, Eldritch Wizardry.

CNN story here.

Bobby Fischer is dead

Bobby Fischer has died.

He was not a great person, but was a great chess player.

Read about it here (NY Times) and here (BBC) and here (CNN).

A chess game

Here's a link to a game that I play last week. I think I played reasonably well, and ended up drawing an 1850 (and I'm 1384, right now). Although I was up material at the end of the game, I was pretty low on time, so I offered a draw.

This was played at International Master Dean Ippolito's new chess school in Branchburg, NJ, at a time control of G/55 + 5 second delay. Dean has a clean and attractive school in a strip mall, next to a deli and a pizzeria. Dean and his wife Dawn run the place, and they are a friendly and generous couple. I encourage you to check it out!

USCL News: Arizona, Chicago, and Nicknames and Logos

There is news from the United States Chess League during the long off-season.

Just today, it was announced that the two new expansion teams will be the Arizona Scorpions and the Chicago Blaze. The teams will be joining the Western division of the USCL, and the Carolina Cobras will move from the West back to the East, where they were in the 2006 season. I think the nicknames are reasonable - there are scorpions in Arizona (I think), and Chicago did burn in that supposedly cow-induced fire.

Certain nicknames in the USCL are hard to figure out, and seem random. I have surveyed them all, as well as their logos.

Baltimore "Kingfishers" - Kingfishers are birds, but only one species is common in North America, the Belted Kingfisher. While the general shape of the bird is close to what is shown on the logo, the colors are wrong. Obviously, kingfisher is a pun on "fishing for the king", but since "fish" is also a term for a bad chessplayer, it just doesn't seem right to name your team that - even if the meaning is different. The Kingfishers do get points, though, because their name is a bird, like other Baltimore sports teams (Orioles, Ravens). Grade: B-

Boston "Blitz" - Blitz clearly has a double entendre - a name for speed chess, as well as a term for beating your opponent (e.g., I "blitzed" him). Perhaps it also refers to the team's rumored penchant for partying? I don't know. But, the alliteration of the name is a plus, and the name scans quite well. The logo looks too much like the Red Sox logo, though, which takes away from the uniqueness of the team. Grade: B+




Carolina "Cobras" - Cobras? I'm not really up on my North Carolina wildlife surveys, but I highly doubt there are a lot of cobras in the Carolinas. Not sure, either, what cobras have to do with chess. Still, the alliteration is there again. So the name falls into the somewhat random category. The logo is cool, although it could have looked more like a capital C. Grade: C-

New Jersey "Knockouts" - Again with the alliteration, but this time with a different letter. Obvious boxing reference in the name and logo, but besides a one-on-one sport (and chessboxing, I suppose), what is the reference? I suppose that knockouts allude to the fact that the FIDE World Cup is a knockout tournament, but I'm not sure that I would name team after a tournament type (Savannah Swiss Systems? Rochester Round Robins?). No one asked me, but if they had, I would have suggested the New Jersey Initiative as the team name, and shorten it to the New Jersey Nits. The logo is bold and powerful, but the colors strike me as harsh and dissonant. Grade: C

New York "Knights" - More alliteration but with a different letter. Clearly the Knights refer to the chess piece, which has the chess reference. (Not all teams have to have a chess reference in their name, but there ought to be some connection with either the city/state or chess.) The name also scans well. The logo is very good - the knight in front of the shield, and the shield's heraldic elements are classical and appropriate. I only wish the knight had a little more detail on the face. Grade: A-

Philadelphia "Inventors" - The name has a nice allusion to that famous chessplayer, inventor, diplomat, mailman, etc., Ben Franklin, and at least Franklin spent a lot of time in Philadephia. Invention at the chess board is also considered a good thing (as long as you aren't overly creative in the opening!). Saying the name, however, isn't easy, but not a tongue twister either. The logo is simple, but effective. I wish it had used a profile of Franklin himself, rather than the generic face it uses, but whatever. Grade: B+


Queens "Pioneers" - Hunh? Perhaps the name refers to the fact that the players have to make it all the way out to the far reaches of Queens to reach the Polgar Chess center, but what it has to do with chess escapes me. You were given a name of a chess piece as your place name! Use it! Imagine this: you could have been the Queens "Gambit" or the Queens "Sacrifice". The logo is pretty and looks like a pioneer, I suppose, but it also looks like a generic cowboy, or someone who lives in Texas - like Polgar. Grade: D

Arizona "Scorpions" - As I said above, I think there are scorpions in Arizona, and I certainly wouldn't want to encounter one, so this is the most "terrifying" team name. No chess reference, but that's ok. The name rolls off the tongue well. Also, while we'll all be calling them the "Scorps" if they win a lot, we can also call them the "Peons" if they lose. No logo yet. Grade: Incomplete, pending logo.

Chicago "Blaze" - Again, I said above that there was a fire in Chicago a long time back, so I suppose this gets the nod for being relevant to the city. And, "blaze" also has a connotation of running rampant over your opponents, so that works. However, it sounds too much like "Blitz". You can't have that many Zs in team names and still stay sane. No logo yet. Grade: Incomplete, pending logo.

Dallas "Destiny" - The 2007 USCL champions have another alliterative name, that really feels pleasant to say in your mouth. Not sure, though, what Destiny has to do with chess or Dallas, but it certainly gets points from the existentialists. I have no idea how many points they have, though. The logo combines a lot of nice elements (the lone star in the center, the fact that it looks like a sheriff's badge, the green color mimicking the Dallas Stars hockey team), although I think it is a bit too dull. Grade: B



Miami "Sharks" - A good name that fits with the theme of other sports teams in Miami (Marlins, Dolphins) and also is a scary aminal. Shark, also being the name for a card hustler, hints at a "game" aspect. The logo is stylish and just plain cool. The whole package is simple but effective. Grade: A

San Francisco "Mechanics" - If you don't know it, the Mechanics are named after the chess club in which they play, which is a famous chess club in the USA. So, the name fits the team, and has the chess and the city element combined. Besides the cutesy "gear" theme on the outside, the logo is a complete ripoff of the San Francisco 49ers logo. It just doesn't work for me. All in all - very good name, bad logo. Grade: C+



Seattle "Sluggers" - Another boxing themed name, which came before the NJ Knockouts. More alliteration too. The name is nice to say. However, I can't get by the fact that it is just boring to me. The logo is too creepy for me - the knight looks like it downed some caffeine pills to try and combat its looming psychosis. Grade: C-

Tennessee "Tempo" - While those of you reading this may see the word "tempo" and think in terms of chess lingo, many more people would see "tempo" and think of music. The fact that Tennessee plays in Nashville (symbolic home to country music) makes Tempo a great name for the team. Although, I think that Tempi would have been better, as the "ee" sound that ends both Tennessee and Tempi would pay off each other nicely. The logo, however, tries to do too much. The musical notes are ok, but you need only one, not two. And it looks like the big blue T is supposed to be hearkening to that blue thing on that building on the right of the Nashville skyline (see picture below), but unless you actually know Nashville (or are crazy enough to look up a picture of the skyline, like I was), you would never know. Grade: B+

Photographer: Bill Penn

Krazy Kwiz from ChessCafe

Every year, ChessCafe creates a chess trivia quiz that is really really difficult. They go to an enormous amount of work, and offer some fabulous prizes.

This year, they have done it again. You can access the quiz here, but the link is probably only active for a little while.

Final Regular Season Famous Original Power Rankings

The regular season of the United States Chess League, sponsored by PokerStars.com and played on the Internet Chess Club, has concluded. Boston and Dallas have won the East and West divisional titles, with Philadelphia and San Francisco coming in second in the same respective divisions. The New York Knights completed their late season rally with a win in the final week over the New Jersey Knockouts, and squeaking by into the third and final playoff spot in the East, and Miami shocked Seattle to take the final spot in the West.

In this final week of the power rankings, the Boston Blitz have regained the top spot after blitzing the Inventors of Philadelphia, while the Dallas Destiny were drowned in their pensieve by the Mechanics of San Francisco. Despite being in the playoffs, the Sharks of Miami are still only in eighth place, while the team they devoured, the Sluggers of Seattle, finished the season in the top half of the power rankings.

1 -	Boston	1.000
2 -	Dallas	0.974
3 -	San Francisco	0.963
4 -	Philadelphia	0.944
5 -	New York	0.906
6 -	Seattle	0.895
7 -	Queens	0.876
8 -	Miami	0.856
9 -	New Jersey	0.844
10 -	Carolina	0.837
11 -	Baltimore	0.825
12 -	Tennessee	0.724

The playoffs start next week, with the wildcard round in the East and the West. New York challenging Philadelphia (with the Inventors getting draw odds) and Miami attempting to dethrone the 2006 USCL champion San Francisco (with the Mechanics getting the draw odds). Tune in Wednesday evening on ICC.