The Mechanics' team won last night 3-1 over the Tennessee Tempos and this result, coupled with Seattle's 3-1 loss to New York, has finally made us clear Western Division leaders for the first time this season. The match with the Tempos was pretty clear. Josh, Vince and David all outplayed their opponents and Gerald Larson of Tennessee defeated Daniel in a well-played game. For Vince this was his fourth straight win in USCL competition over the past two seasons. Last year he started slowly, losing his first three matches ( albeit against opposition averaging over  2550 FIDE) but now he is on fire. The turning point seems to have been his lost to IM Pascal Charbonneau last season. Vince lost the game but played very creatively and that seems to have set the tempo for his subsequent efforts. IM McCambridge puts in a long day as a bond trader for RBC Dain Rauscher and hasn't played in regular tournaments in years, which makes his performance all the more remarkable. 

    The Mechanics' faces stiff opposition its next two matches. First up in round six, next Monday night at 5:30 pm, are the New York Knights led by IMs Pascal Charboneau and Irina Krush. The Knights defeated our round seven opponent the Seattle Sluggers, 3-1 this week. The match, pitting two likely playoff teams. had a one-sided score, but if you look at the games it was a tough battle most of the way until their top two Seattle boards blundered in the way that players often do when they have seconds on the clock. Reports indicate  that Seattle had terrible problems with their internet connection and suffered from very bad lag. Such distractions never help a team and this was the second week in a row for the Sluggers that they have had this problem. They will need to resolve this situation before next week as they face a tough and motivated Miami team that will be looking to make up ground in the standings. (Seattle is playing from a new location as of next week - Ed)

    Philadelphia's win over Baltimore gave notice that the Masterminds are going to battle for the last playoff spot in the East. The season is half over and Philly's record is 1-4 but all of their losses were 1.5-2.5. If they finally get top board Jaan Ehlvest back from Europe and into their lineup they will be a force to be reckoned with likely rating advantages on boards 1 and 4 in almost every match and gritty defenders on the interior boards like IM Richard Costigan, one of the league's top overachievers.

    Count Tennessee as one team that really loves to play chess. While the rest of the league is comprised of big cities the Tempi come from all over Tennessee to Nashville, and one player, Gerald Larson, actually makes the trip from Huntsville, Alabama, a 152 miles away!

    Don't miss the match next against New York Monday night at the Mechanics' starting at 5:30 pm. MI Grandmaster-in-Residence Alex Yermolinsky will be doing his usual excellent commentary work ( note there will be no Wednesday night lecture next week) and Former World Champion Boris Spassky will be taking in the action.