Congratulations to Mehmed Pasalic

As the title says, congratulations FM Pasalic. For those of you that have not yet had the pleasure of meeting Pasalic, let me take a few moments to tell you a little about him.

Born in Bosnia, Mehmed later moved and grew up in Germany. He has lived in Chicago the last several years. This is his second IM norm. We are pleased to have Pasalic as a member of the Blaze where he will likely be a 2nd/3rd board (and kick some serious butt).

One of the things that really impressed me about him is Pasalic's humility. I recall watching a game between Dr. Mark Sefcheck (a 1700 player) and Pasalic last year at the US Open. Sefcheck played a fine game, and even had Pasalic on the ropes for a time before losing. After the game, Pasalic was gracious enough to show Sefcheck a positional rook sacrifice that was winning while complimenting his play. Sefcheck left feeling very good despite the loss. It was obvious that this game was not Mehmed's finest performance, but his kindness and sportsmanship were noteworthy. More players of all ratings should behave this way.

Also noteworthy is the fact that this marked the 8th FIDE IM or GM norm generated by the hard work of Sevan Muradian's norm bearing round robins. Previously Ben Finegold (2nd) Pascal Charbonneau (3rd) Giorgi Margvelashvili (1st) have scored GM norms, and Ray Robson, Jan Van DeMortel, Tansel Turgut, and Memed Pasalic (1,2) have scored IM norms. Sevan's monthly events are something to look forward to in Illinois chess, and can be followed on the Monroi website.

Glenn