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Arch Bishops torch Chicago Blaze

By on October 11, 2010 in

[imagefield_assist|fid=8384|preset=frontpage_200x200|lightbox=true|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=200|height=200]Last Wednesday, the Arch Bishops played our rival, the Chicago Blaze. Our previous encounter in week two was interesting in that we had our starting rotation: GMs Hikaru Nakamura, Yury Shulman, Ben Finegold, and myself (Spencer Finegold) and somehow only managed a draw. The difference this time around was that we were playing without Shulman on board two, who somehow lost with White in the second week, and to make matters worse they injected GM Mesgen Amanov to their line-up for this week’s showdown. All of the games were suspiciously played, as we were probably worse on all four boards at one point or another, but we managed a less-than convincing 2.5-1.5 victory to which I can recite the tautological phrase: "A win is a win."

Chess Art Exhibit at Belas Artes

By on October 06, 2010 in

The exhibit, part of the American Arts Experience - Saint Louis, kicks off with an opening reception at Belas Artes on Thursday, October 7, at 5:30 p.m. Members of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra and the Saint Louis Classical Guitar Society will greet attendees with music accompanying a multi-cultural dance demonstration that highlights the origins and progression of the game of chess throughout history.

Nor'easters take Arch Bishops by storm

By on October 01, 2010 in

Week six of the USCL was sad for the Saint Louis Team. We were without our powerhouses Hikaru Nakamura and Yury Shulman, as they are at the Olympiad defending the honor of the USA! One of our reserves, Executive Director, Tony Rich, is also at the Olympiad, and, Spencer Finegold had just gone to the oral surgeon and had his wisdom teeth removed (we could not seriously think of playing Spencer on Board 4 missing his wisdom) so, it was difficult to find four warm bodies for the match! We were paired against the East-leading New England. New England does not have any GMs, but they have a solid team, and, like the Chicago Blaze, have outperformed thus far this season.

New Video Lecture with GM Ben Finegold

By on September 24, 2010 in

Today, GM Finegold covers games from the U.S. Chess League. GM Finegold is a member of Saint Louis' new USCL expansion team, the Arch Bishops. The Saint Louis team features the two highest-rated players in the league in GMs Hikaru Nakamura and Yury Shulman, and with GM Finegold, the Arch Bishops bring one of the most formidable line-ups ever seen in USCL league play.

Lower-rated Arch Bishops secure draw

By on September 22, 2010 in

Week five was shaping up to be a tough one for the Arch Bishops. With GMs Hikaru Nakamura and Yury Shulman off to the Olympiad, our board three, GM Ben Finegold, was bumped up a couple seats and some bench players had to fill in behind him. Instead of our usual rating average of 2500+ we were down to a mere 2345 and, for the first time, lower rated than our opponents. With a little luck though, we were able to wade through the beginning of our Nakamura/Shulman-less stretch and hold a draw (white won on every board!).

London Chess Classic: 2010

By on September 20, 2010 in

LONDON, September 14, 2010 -- Expectation is building for the strongest chess tournament ever to be held in Britain, when eight of the world’s best players meet for the second London Chess Classic, running from December 8-15, 2010 at the Olympia Conference Centre. Tickets are now on sale (www.ukgamesshop.com) both to watch the super-grandmasters and to play in the wide range of subsidiary events.

Arch Bishops draw Miami Sharks

By on September 17, 2010 in

Week four was a topsy-turvy one for the Arch Bishops. If you looked at every board about an hour into the match, you would think our last two boards would win and our two GM ringers would lose! It didn't quite end up that way, but it was close. We ended up tying the match with our bottom boards getting 1.5/2 and our GMs lucky to scrape together .5/2. All things considered we shouldn't be too unhappy with our result, as we were missing 2700-GM Yury Shulman. Also, this was the first time board four (manned by yours truly) didn't lose for our team.

A Saint Louis Signature Event

By on September 16, 2010 in

[imagefield_assist|fid=6802|preset=frontpage_200x200|lightbox=true|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=200|height=200]The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis will be participating in this year's Great Forest Park Balloon Race and Balloon Glow on Friday, September 17, and Saturday, September 18. Our balloon will launch at 4:45 p.m. on Saturday, and there are a number of fun and exciting events surrounding this great St. Louis tradition!

On Friday, the Balloon Glow will offer spectators a spectacular view of all of the hot air balloons lit up on the ground of Central Field in Forest Park.

Victory in Saint Louie

By on September 10, 2010 in

After underachieving in the first couple of weeks, the Saint Louis Arch Bishops finally weaved together enough points to win their match against the Dallas Destiny. In case you were wondering why I didn’t use words like “we” and “our”, it is because board four was held down by Executive Director Tony Rich in my stead. To be honest, neither of us wanted to lose and let our team down, and considering our opponent would be about 300 points higher rated, it was a tough “destiny” to avoid. Our line-up did however still consist of the big three: Lebron, Wade, and Bosh (more commonly referred to as Nakamura, Shulman, and Finegold). They ended up winning the match with 2.5/3, as our GM-titleless fourth board was not so lucky.