Eric Rosen Draws GM at U.S. Open

Congratulations to one of the newest members of the Chicago Blaze, Niles North High School sophomore Eric Rosen, of Skokie, who played GM Jesse Kraai to a draw at the U.S. Open in Indianapolis yesterday. Eric, a strong expert playing at a deficit of several hundred rating points vis-a-vis the New Mexico grandmaster, hung on to force a stalemate.

Though down a pawn in the endgame, Eric, with the Black pieces, managed the exchange of rooks in a way that prevented GM Kraai from promoting his last remaining pikeman. Congratulations, Eric.

See the game below.

An Expert in the Neighborhood

For a blog that aspires to cover chess in Hyde Park, we're doing a pretty pathetic job of it, I must admit. I only just now spotted this three-month-old article in the Chicago Maroon about strong chess expert Jeremy Kane, captain of the University of Chicago Chess Club. He's 13 rating points shy of national master. Let's root for him to make it to 2200. Please read the article, and kudos to the Maroon for covering chess.

Incidentally, I think I have some photos from the spring chess tournament at U of C mentioned in the article, and I'll try to get those up here in due course. Yes, I know; I should've done it a long time ago. All the usual excuses.

Chicago Blaze Schedule

The 2009 U.S. Chess League season begins in less than a month, and the Chicago Blaze kick off this year's campaign, same as last year, with a match against the Arizona Scorpions. The whole schedule appears below.

The Blaze play their matches at the Holiday Inn Skokie, 5300 West Touhy Avenue, Skokie, Illinois. Fans are welcome to attend the games free of charge, so please come and cheer your team. If you can't make it to the Holiday Inn you can tune in to the matches live on the Internet Chess Club (membership required). You can also follow the team on Twitter.

Week 1 - Wednesday, September 2nd
Arizona Scorpions vs Chicago Blaze
9:00 PM ET (8:00 Central)

Week 2 - Wednesday, September 9th
Chicago Blaze vs Miami Sharks
8:00 PM ET (7:00 Central)

Week 3: Wednesday, September 16th
Tennessee Tempo vs Chicago Blaze
8:00 PM ET (7:00 Central)

Week 4: Monday September 21st
Chicago Blaze vs San Francisco Mechanics
8:30 PM ET (7:30 Central)

Week 5: Wednesday, September 30th
New Jersey Knockouts vs Chicago Blaze
8:00 PM ET (7:00 Central)

Week 6: Monday, October 5th
Chicago Blaze vs Philadelphia Inventors
8:00 PM ET (7:00 Central)

Week 7: Wednesday, October 14th
Chicago Blaze vs Tennessee Tempo
8:00 PM ET (7:00 Central)

Week 8: Monday, October 19th
Chicago Blaze vs Arizona Scorpions
9:00 PM ET (8:00 Central)

Week 9: Monday, October 26th
Dallas Destiny vs Chicago Blaze
8:00 PM ET (7:00 Central)

Week 10: Wednesday, November 4th
Seattle Sluggers vs Chicago Blaze
9:00 PM ET (8:00 Central)

Music in Nichols Park

L.V. Banks and His Swinging Blues Band kicked off the umpteenth season of the annual Nichols Park Concert Series this afternoon.

L.V. Banks

There's a lot more music to come this summer. The concerts take place Sundays from 4:00 - 6:00 PM at the north fountain in Nichols Park, just south of 53rd Street between Kenwood and Kimbark. Just follow the sound. The schedule:

August 9 - Vance Kelly and the Backstreet Blues Band

August 16 - Walter Scott

August 23 - Super Percy

August 30 - Vance Kelly and the Backstreet Blues Band

September 6 - Curtis Black Quartet

September 13 - Akasha

September 20 - Julia Huff-Heath and the Company Band

September 27 - (to be announced)

Sponsored by the Nichols Park Advisory Council and a long list of local businesses to which we are grateful. George and Stephanie Franklin started the series years ago, and an able young chap named Ted, whose last name I didn't catch, appears now to have taken it onboard.

When the Wheels Come Off

Two Wacky Wednesday Games

I know what it's like when you start to blunder. Your game goes south and you can't stop making mistakes. Here are two three-minute (G/3) online blitz games in which it happened to my opponents. My play was by no means stellar; I just wasn't as bad as they were.

Chicago, City of Chess

You could easily have concluded that Chicago was the chess capital of the world today, if you did as I did and took to the streets on this glorious late-July Sunday. First I visited the chess pavilion at North Avenue and the lakefront, where about ten games were in progress at all times throughout the afternoon. FM Aleksandar Stamnov and another gent were playing some kind of game that involved playing cards and chess pieces. I didn't understand it. Chess expert and pavilion mainstay Ron Washington, who usually cruises easily to victory there against unsuspecting patzers and tourists, had his hands full playing a series of three-minute blitz games against a young man who was every bit his equal.

After that it was off to Cecil Locke's chess tables in front of the Art Institute, which were rife with activity as usual. I played a boy named Alexander from Newberry Academy. Though I had a material advantage he lured me into stalemate and the game ended in a draw. He was a solid player, though he's not in a chess club because he says there's none at his school. All this talent shouldn't go to waste. Anybody at Newberry up for starting a chess club?

Eric Rosen Wins U.S. Junior Open

Congratulations to Chicago-area chess prodigy Eric Rosen, who beat Kevin Bu in the "Armageddon" (I love that term) playoff to win the U.S. Junior Open in Milwaukee this past weekend. Eric, a freshman at Niles North High School, and Kevin, were at tied at 4.5/5 at the end of regulation play. Details from the U.S. Chess Federation here and below the video of the exciting playoff round by Chad Hirsch and courtesy of Chessmom64.