Monday Night Prediction -- Week 5

This week might be a bit of letdown in terms of the star power when the Miami Sharks take on the Dallas Destiny as compared to the last two Monday Night Matches, but it definitely is of no less importance to the teams. The Sharks are already in a position where another defeat could make their playoff chances extremely slim, and the Destiny are in a fairly large battle for supremacy in the West. The boards seem to break down as follows.


Board 1: Becerra vs. Boskovic. Boskovic did surprise the fans in a similar situation, two weeks ago, in taking down Stripunsky in a very well played game by him. He did however lose a fairly tough game this last week. Becerra seems to be his usual self, doing what he’s always been doing – winning for the Sharks (though admittedly in fairly lucky though heroic fashion this last week). Becerra throughout the entire league has just been a terror to his opponents when he's had White so I think it’s easy to discern what I think on this board. (Edge MIA)



Board 2: Bartholomew takes on Martinez. Martinez is one player who really needs to get his league performance up to match the level of player he really is for the Sharks to have any chance at the postseason as he’s really been struggling since the beginning of the 2006 season. Bartholomew, though he’s only played three games in the league, has looked very solid in all of them, and so I think he has a fair advantage here. (Edge DAL)



Board 3: Moreno Roman vs. Zaremba. Moreno, like Martinez, has really struggled in the league thus far, just not being able to get on track. Zaremba, though a team member all three years, hasn’t been the most active of players for the Destiny, but has been quite solid when he’s played. I think this game is probably pretty level. (Even)



Board 4: Milisits vs. Socorregut. Two complete unknowns in the league as both are playing their very first match. It’s difficult of course to gauge this game based on that, but Milisits does have a small rating edge and the White pieces so I’ll give him a slight advantage. (Slight Edge DAL)



I’d be inclined overall to give a slight board edge to the Destiny, but as shown last week, I don’t generally decide things on that factor alone. One big thing to me this week though is that whatever kind of edge you might feel the Destiny might have on any of boards two, three, or four, I feel Miami’s edge on board one is likely larger than any of those, and based on that, I will call this a 2 – 2 tie.



(FM Ron Young predicts Dallas to win 2.5 – 1.5).