This is It, Folks

It all comes down to Week 10 against Dallas

If ever in your life you’ve felt guilty for not having rooted hard enough for the Chicago Blaze, you’re about to get a chance to redeem yourself.  You only have to do one thing: root as hard as you can for your team this Wednesday night, when they go up against the Dallas Destiny in a make-or-break match to gain a playoff spot in the Western Division of the USCL.

The situation is this. The Blaze are currently in second place, a hair’s breadth ahead of St. Louis on tiebreaks, but none of that really matters. What matters is that there are three competitive playoff spots in the Western Division, six teams have a chance to win them, and with one round of games left in the regular season it will all be decided this week. The pressure!

On Wednesday night the Blaze play the Dallas Destiny, who themselves have a chance to make the playoffs, but they must win the match to do so. Here’s what it comes down to. If they Blaze win, they’re in the playoffs. If they draw, they’re in the playoffs. If they lose they’re out.

 But the Blaze really need a win because we’ve gone .5-2.5 the past three weeks, two losses and a draw. You don’t want to head into the playoffs not having won a single match the last four weeks of the regular season. That’s why the Blaze must win, and that’s why you have to root for them harder than you ever have before.

Here are the lineups. We have the white pieces on Boards 1 and 3. 

Please join us Wednesday night at 7:00 PM at the North Shore Chess Center, 5500 West Touhy, Suite A, in Skokie. Or watch the games on the Internet Chess Club. It's now or never. Go Blaze! 

And here are some photos from last week's drawn match again Miami. Photos by Jae Lim and Andi Rosen.