Gorilla Warfare

Blaze will be the first to face St. Louis dream team

The St. Louis Arch Bishops are the new 800-pound gorilla in the USCL, and tonight the massive primate will park itself on our metaphorical living room couch, as the Chicago Blaze face the Gateway City team in Week 2 of the new chess season.

Having kicked off the year against the L.A. Vibe with a two-grandmaster crew, the Arch Bishops will come at us this week with their much-heralded dream team: three GMs and the highest-rated lineup in U.S. Chess League history. It's a rare day when a grandmaster plays on Board 3 in a USCL match and rarer still that a recent national champion plays on Board 2. But that's what the Blaze are up against tonight. Here are the board-by-board lineups:

1. GM Dmitry Gurevich (Chi 2481) vs. GM Hikaru Nakamura: (St.L 2806)

2. GM Yury Shulman (St.L 2715) vs. IM Florin Felecan (Chi 2415)

3. IM Angelo Young (Chi 2415) vs. GM Ben Finegold (St.L 2589)

4. Spencer Finegold (St.L1974) vs. WIM Cindy Tsai (St.L 2171)

Average Ratings:

Chicago Blaze: 2371

St. Louis Arch Bishops: 2521

While the St. Louis dream team is meant to create a nightmare scenario for opponents around the league, members of its first intended victim were remarkably serene Sunday night after the lineups were posted.

“There's no pressure on us,” said one Blazer. “All of it is on them.”

“It sounds like a difficult and exciting match!” said another player matter-of-factly. “We will have to try our very best.”

Please join us tonight when the Blaze do precisely that. The match begins at 7:00 Central time, and the Blaze will be playing for the first time at the new North Shore Chess Center, 5500 West Touhy, Suite A, in Skokie. Join us at the site, watch the games on the Internet Chess Club, or follow us in Twitter. Go Blaze!

Photos:

Top: Gorilla, from Ecotourism Blog.

Bottom: Popular GM Ben Finegold and his son Spencer Finegold will hold down Boards 3 and 4 for the Arch Bishops in tonight's match. Thanks to Mike Wilmering for the photo.