8/21/2006
USCL MVP Charbonneau moves to a new team
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by IM Greg Shahade
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GM Pascal Charbonneau led the Baltimore Kingfishers to the
league championship and in the process won the 2005 USCL MVP. This year
New York hopes to reap the benefits of Pascal's play as he has jumped
ship to one of Baltimore's biggest rivals. It was Pascal whose stubborn
defense against New York's top board GM Alexander Stripunsky which sent
the
Knights packing and the Kingfishers headed to the league championship
game.
In another change of scenery, IM Josh Friedel has been plucked
up by the San Francisco Mechanics. One of the strongest young players
in the nation, Josh played for the Boston Blitz last year. Boston was
hoping to retain his services again this season, however the lure of
the West Coast was too strong for the rapidly improving Friedel.
Friedel was 3rd fiddle in Boston behind GM Christiansen and GM
Perelshteyn, however in San Francisco he becomes the highest rated
player on the team. Will Friedel relish the spotlight or will he falter
against his higher rated Grandmaster counterparts?
There are a lot of juicy subplots in the 2006 version of the US
Chess League and only time will tell which city comes out on top.