Seattle Power Lineup Nips Blaze
The Sluggers, who had struggled in the early weeks of the season, put a lot on the line, with a lineup that included two grandmasters, including super-GM Hikaru Nakamura, the former U.S. chess champion. In one of the most anticipated games of the season, Nakamura, with the White pieces, outlasted Chicago’s GM Nikola Mitkov in the 70-move marathon.
IM Emory Tate (photo: Betsy Dynako)
Seattle’s other grandmaster, Gregory Serper, didn’t fare quite as well on the second board: he had to settle for a draw against IM Jan Van De Mortel of the Blaze, who played a tough and aggressive game against the higher-rated player. The game ended when both players ran out of mating material. (Actually, it went on for a bit even after that.)
The bright spot of the evening was IM Emory Tate, playing in his second match for the Blaze, who hung on to beat a tenacious NM Michael Lee. Emory thought he had a better position early in the game and said he was impressed with how long the youngster hung in there.
Emory does a postmortem with Adam Strunk
I only have eyes for chess. Eminent local chess personages Brad "Chessdad64" Rosen (left) and Larry Cohen cut up a bit during the match. The Blaze have fun even when they lose. Come and see sometime.
On Board 4, Adam Strunk of the Blaze lost two pawns to Seattle’s Andy May and wasn’t able to recover.
Here are the games.
1. GM Hikaru Nakamura (SEA) vs GM Nikola Mitkov (CHC) 1-0
2. IM Jan van de Mortel (CHC) vs GM Gregory Serper (SEA) 1/2-1/2
3. NM Michael Lee (SEA) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 0-1
4. Adam Strunk (CHC) vs Andy May (SEA) 0-1
Click here for Seattle’s take on the match. Thanks to NM Len Weber for flawless tournament direction last night.
Next up: the Blaze play the Baltimore Kingfishers a week from Wednesday.
[Cross-posted from Chicago Blaze blog]
0 comments:
Post a Comment