Fighting chess

Congratulations to NM Adarsh Jayakumar, who became a United States citizen yesterday! 

Adarsh and IM Arjun Vishnuvardhan had a fun brawl on Tuesday.  Arjun makes me want to start playing the Bogo-Indian: he was very close to putting the game away.  But Adarsh slipped away to a tenable ending, Arjun pushed too hard, and....

(Updated to correct scoresheet transcription error.)

27th North American Masters begins Monday!

Come watch our local masters in search of international title norms.  GM Mesgen Amanov, IM Angelo Young, and IM Arjun Vishnuvardhan face of against local stars Kumar, Aung Thant Zin, Rosen, Jayakumar, Chow, Waller, Wolf, Shankar, and Magness!  (But please don't ask me to explain the Schiller System format.)

Rounds are at 1 and 6 p.m. this Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday;  there's one game on Friday at 1 p.m.  All action is at the North Shore Chess Center in Skokie.

Blaze game of the week

Take it away, Jeremy Kane!

Closer to home: Blaze win!

It was very disconcerting listening to the Bears on streaming audio and watching the Blaze on the Internet Chess Club.  I felt that the Bears' squeaker could easily have been a ten-point loss, but I was never worried about Philadelphia beating Chicago on the chessboard.

IM Arjun Vishnuvardhan (still a teenager!) makes an impressive debut for the Blaze!