The United States Chess League is entering its 5th season in 2009, with most of the largest chess playing cities in the country taking part. However there is one notable omission that I am always asked about--Los Angeles!Our plan at the moment is to expand to 16 teams and then slow down our expansion drastically, likely resulting in us not even expanding at all for a few years. We wouldn’t feel complete if LA wasn’t part of the fun, and this is our call to someone in the LA area to form a team. L.A. is one of America's chess centers, with numerous masters, titled players and top-flight Open tournaments. I’m hoping that this message will bring everyone together and that LA will come together with a strong bid. Here are some details of what we are looking for.
To all those other cities that have applied, please forgive us for showing such favoritism towards LA, but if they put together something serious they will be part of the league, and then we will choose one of the remaining applicants to fill out the 16 teams. L.A. players and organizers: Please let me know as soon as possible if you are working towards a USCL bid. You can find the league contact info at www.uschessleague.com or can even message me at the handle “curtains” on ICC.
Many thanks to Pokerstars for their continued generous support of the USCL for the 2009 season and to the Internet Chess Club for hosting us!
If L.A. needs some chess inspiration to get excited about the league, check out the final three in the USCL GOTY competition and look on USCL in the next 3 days to see who will win the $500 grand prize.
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