United States Chess League 2013
The United States Chess League 2013 was the ninth edition of the United States Chess League , the US team championship in chess.
The champions were the Miami Sharks team , while the defending champions Seattle Sluggers missed the playoff. As in the previous year, the competition was held with 16 teams.
For the reported team roster, see the 2013 United States Chess League team roster .
Game dates
The competitions of the preliminary round ( Regular Season ) took place on 27./28. August, 3rd / 4th, 10th / 11th, 17th / 18th and 24./25. September, 1st / 2nd, 8th / 9th, 15th / 16th, 22nd / 23rd and 29./30. October 2013, four competitions were played on the first and second date. Two competitions each of the quarter-finals were played on November 5th and 6th, the semifinals took place on November 16, and the final on November 20. All competitions were played on the Internet Chess Club server .
mode
The 16 participating teams were divided into two groups of eight ( Eastern Conference and Western Conference ), which in turn were divided into two sub-groups of four teams each (Eastern Conference in the Atlantic Division and Northeast Division , Western Conference in the Southern Division and Pacific Division ). Each team played twice against the other members of the same subgroup and once two members of the other subgroup from the same group as well as against one team from each of the two subgroups of the other group. The number of team points (one point for a win, half a point for a draw, no point for a defeat), then the number of board points (one point for a win, half a point for a draw, no Point for defeat). The first two of each subgroup qualified for the final round ( playoff ), which was played in the knockout system .
Preliminary round
Grouping
The 16 teams were divided into the preliminary rounds as follows:
| Eastern Conference | Western Conference |
|---|---|
| Atlantic Division | Southern Division |
| New York Knights | Miami Sharks |
| Philadelphia Inventors | Dallas Destiny |
| New Jersey knockouts | St. Louis Arch Bishops |
| Manhattan apple sauce | Carolina Cobras |
| Northeast Division | Pacific Division |
| Baltimore Kingfishers | San Francisco Mechanics |
| Boston Blitz | Seattle Sluggers |
| Connecticut dreadnoughts | Arizona Scorpions |
| New England Nor'easters | Los Angeles vibe |
Eastern Conference
Atlantic Division
While Manhattan qualified early for the playoff, the decision on the second playoff participant was made in the last round between New York and New Jersey.
Closing table
| Pl. | society | Sp | G | U | V | MP | Board P. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Manhattan apple sauce | 10 | 6th | 1 | 3 | 6.5: 3.5 | 25.0: 15.0 |
| 2. | New York Knights | 10 | 4th | 3 | 3 | 5.5: 4.5 | 21.0: 19.0 |
| 3. | New Jersey knockouts | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 4.0: 6.0 | 18.5: 21.5 |
| 4th | Philadelphia Inventors (D) | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6th | 3.0: 7.0 | 15.5: 24.5 |
decisions
| qualified for the playoff: Manhattan Applesauce , New York Knights | |
| (D) | Last year's division winner |
|---|
Northeast Division
New England and Connecticut had already qualified for the playoffs before the last round.
Closing table
| Pl. | society | Sp | G | U | V | MP | Board P. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | New England Nor'easters | 10 | 5 | 4th | 1 | 7.0: 3.0 | 24.0: 16.0 |
| 2. | Connecticut dreadnoughts | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 6.5: 3.5 | 23.5: 16.5 |
| 3. | Boston Blitz | 10 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 4.5: 5.5 | 19.0: 21.0 |
| 4th | Baltimore Kingfishers | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 3.5: 6.5 | 16.0: 24.0 |
decisions
| qualified to playoff: New England Nor'easters , Connecticut Dreadnoughts |
Western Conference
Southern Division
Before the last round, all decisions were made.
Closing table
| Pl. | society | Sp | G | U | V | MP | Board P. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Miami Sharks | 10 | 6th | 3 | 1 | 7.5: 2.5 | 25.0: 15.0 |
| 2. | Dallas Destiny (D) | 10 | 7th | 0 | 3 | 7.0: 3.0 | 22.5: 17.5 |
| 3. | St. Louis Arch Bishops | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 6.0: 4.0 | 20.5: 19.5 |
| 4th | Carolina Cobras | 10 | 0 | 2 | 8th | 1.0: 9.0 | 13.0: 27.0 |
decisions
| qualified for the playoff: Miami Sharks , Dallas Destiny | |
| (D) | Last year's division winner |
|---|
Pacific Division
Before the last round, all decisions were made.
Closing table
| Pl. | society | Sp | G | U | V | MP | Board P. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | San Francisco Mechanics | 10 | 6th | 1 | 3 | 6.5: 3.5 | 24.5: 15.5 |
| 2. | Los Angeles vibe | 10 | 4th | 1 | 5 | 4.5: 5.5 | 19.5: 20.5 |
| 3. | Arizona Scorpions | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 4.0: 6.0 | 16.5: 23.5 |
| 4th | Seattle Sluggers (M) | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6th | 3.0: 7.0 | 16.0: 24.0 |
decisions
| qualified for the playoff: San Francisco Mechanics , Los Angeles Vibe | |
| (M) | Champion of the previous year |
|---|
Finals
Overview
| Quarter finals | Semifinals | final | ||||||||
| Manhattan apple sauce | 1½ | |||||||||
| New York Knights | 2½ | |||||||||
| New York Knights | 2½ | |||||||||
| New England Nor'easters | 1½ | |||||||||
| New England Nor'easters | 2 | |||||||||
| Connecticut dreadnoughts | 2 | |||||||||
| New York Knights | ½ | |||||||||
| Miami Sharks | 3½ | |||||||||
| Miami Sharks | 2 | |||||||||
| Dallas Destiny | 2 | |||||||||
| Miami Sharks | 2½ | |||||||||
| San Francisco Mechanics | 1½ | |||||||||
| San Francisco Mechanics | 3 | |||||||||
| Los Angeles vibe | 1 | |||||||||
decisions
| American team champion: Miami Sharks |
Quarter finals
The quarterfinals saw tight decisions. Two competitions even ended 2: 2, and New England and Miami only reached the semi-finals because of the better preliminary round placement.
Semifinals
New York and Miami also narrowly prevailed in the semifinals.
final
With a clear victory, Miami won the title for the first time.
Awards
Most Valuable Player
The title of Most Valuable Player (MVP) was awarded on the basis of the preliminary round results. A player received four points for a winning game on the first board, four points were deducted for a defeat. On the second board, 3.5 plus or minus points were awarded analogously, on the third board three and fourth board 2.5. In addition, one point was credited for each winning and drawing game achieved with the black pieces. Jeffery Xiong (Dallas) won the title with 29.5 points, followed by Swiad Isoria and Ryan Goldenberg (both Manhattan) with 28 and 25 points respectively.
Rookie of the Year
The title of Rookie of the Year was given to the most successful debutant in the USCL. The title went to Swiad Isoria (Manhattan), who achieved 7 points from 8 games.
Most Improved Player
The title of Most Improved Player was awarded to the player who was able to increase his tournament performance the most compared to his previous participation in the USCL. The title went to Jeffery Xiong (Dallas).
All star teams
Three All Star Teams were nominated. The first team consisted of Swiad Isoria (Manhattan), Jeffery Xiong (Dallas), Akshat Chandra (New York) and Ryan Goldenberg (Manhattan), the second Julio Becerra Rivero , Renier González , Eric Rodriguez (all Miami) and Siddharth Banik (San Francisco) and the third Vinay Bhat , Daniel Naroditsky (both San Francisco), Vadim Martirosov (Boston) and Lawyer Times (New England).
Game of the Year
After each round, a game of the week (was Game of the Week ) chosen from the 13 games of the week as well as seven other games ( wildcards ) the game of the year (was Game of the Year ) selected. The title went to Tamas Gelaschwili's (New York) winning game against Marc Esserman (Boston) in the sixth round, followed by Joel Benjamin (New Jersey) against Dmitry Schneider (Manhattan) in the fifth round in 2nd and 3rd place and by Samuel Shankland (New England) against Tamas Gelashvili (New York) from the semi-finals.
The championship team
| 1. | Miami Sharks |
 |
Julio Becerra Rivero , Renier González , Marcel Martinez, Eric Rodriguez, Antonio Arencibia Monduy, Vlad Yanovsky, Gaston Andretta, Dennis Mederos. |
Web links
- Schedule on the USCL homepage
- Preliminary round tables on the USCL homepage (English)
- Final round results on the USCL homepage
- Player statistics on the homepage of the USCL (English)
- Games of the Week on the USCL homepage