Finals Prediction

So Greg Shahade has gotten on my case for being lazy and not doing in-depth predictions for the first two playoff rounds. While my initial instinct, as always, was to just threaten to quit if he didn't get off my back, if I were to do so at this stage I might not get paid for this season and given I’ve put in at least twice as many hours of work as him this season (the guy who calls himself the commissioner hah!) that really would be a tragedy so I suppose I’ll oblige for the finals (even though at this point it's impossible for me to win the prediction contest).

We have the Boston Blitz taking on the Dallas Destiny. Aside from the fact that one of these teams is from the East the other from the West, these teams really could not be different in their makeup. Boston uses underrated players on the bottom two boards to stack the top two boards having virtually two players at the rating cap while Dallas is one of only three teams in the league without a GM, instead relying on the ability to use a 2400+ on Board Three. Also, as has been stated, Boston is almost certainly the most vocal team on the league with their numerous blog sites and video displays while Dallas is likely among the most reserved with almost none of those intangibles. In addition, Boston has been one of the favored teams from the league's inception (and especially favored this season) with their top heavy lineups, and they showed why last season with their 8 – 2 regular season along with repeating as division winners this year. Dallas on the other hand is the reverse to a large degree as they struggled mightily in their first season along with doing so at the beginning of last season before finally hitting their groove (and two players I think largely responsible for that turn around will be competing in the upcoming Finals, Kuljasevic and Stopa). I don’t think most people counted Dallas amongst the favorites this year though (likely since they don’t have any of the “big names” on their lineups like most other teams).

So we have two very different teams who will end up battling, and it seems the general consensus is advantage Boston, but as has been pointed out, the historical makeup of the last two league winners, Baltimore and San Francisco does seem to bode well for Dallas if history is any indicator and as always I would never be quick to jump to any conclusions. Let’s take a look at each board.



Board 1: IM Drasko Boskovic vs GM Larry Christiansen. Boskovic just knocked off league MVP Becerra in dramatic fashion and along with his very nice early season win against Stripunsky, it’s obvious he’s not a player to be underestimated. His results when he’s had White haven’t been quite as impressive (perhaps part of the reason why Boston chose Black for this match), and interestingly Christiansen hasn’t lost a single game with the Black pieces in all three seasons of the league! In addition, Christiansen hasn’t lost any games this season in nine tries despite facing some ridiculously tough competition (by far the hardest competition anyone in the league has faced this year I think, with his best games probably coming against Ibragimov and versus Wolff). I think I have to give him a slight advantage based on those facts. (Slight Edge BOS)



Board 2: SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun vs IM Davorin Kuljasevic. As has been mentioned, these two are both having ridiculously strong seasons and will be playing for more than simply being USCL Champions (Board Two All Star, Highest Performance Rating, and a myriad of other things). Although having virtually the same record, stylistically they seem to be very different with Sammour getting into exciting tactical slugfests (like his last week’s Semifinal win against Charbonneau) with Kuljasevic’s victories for the most part seeming to stem from grinding his opponents down in a fairly methodical way (with the notable exception of his impressive win over Tangborn which perhaps should have won Game of the Week). What will happen when the styles of these two players collide? I really am not sure, but I’ll give the advantage to the one with the White pieces. (Slight Edge BOS)



Board 3: IM Jacek Stopa vs NM Denys Shmelov. This board, as mentioned, has been Dallas’s trump this season, and they will almost certainly need a good result here if they want to win this match. Stopa, a Board Two All Star last season, is obviously not a person any Board Three can enjoy sitting down against especially with the Black pieces. Although he hasn’t been quite as active this year as last, he’s still played some impressive games (the best of which I would venture to be his Week 1 win over Bereolos). He’s also probably not the easiest of opponents to prepare for as he’s showcased all of the opening moves 1. e4, 1. d4, 1. Nc3, and 1. Nf3 in his USCL repertoire. Shmelov, the most active player in the league this season, definitely has been no slouch either with his +3 score and definitely seems like someone who will be far from easy to beat with his ultra solid style. He’s also played some great games this year and though I’m not sure which was best, his brutally efficient (albeit somewhat short) victory against Yeager definitely springs to mind. Overall though, given how strong Stopa has seemed to be with the White pieces in his two seasons, I have to give him an advantage. (Edge DAL)



Board 4: NM Chris Williams vs WFM Bayaraa Zorigt. Williams sporting a 6 – 2 record this season is obviously quite a force to be reckoned with on Board Four (especially with White). His strength seems to be his great ability to often tactically outplay his opponents in tricky middlegame positions. His openings have looked a bit shaky at times, but I assume given what is at stake this match, he’ll take great care not to allow that to happen this week. I think his best game of the year likely was his win against Wilson really demolishing a player who’s definitely been amongst the best Board Fours in the league all three seasons. Zorigt seems like a trickier player to nail down as her league games have seemed very up and down. She seems to play well from behind (as witnessed by her first week’s nice save against Wheeler), but she’s also had some shaky moments committing some big oversights to cost herself winning positions. Overall, Williams has just looked too strong on the whole this season and while if Zorigt can really play her best game she has a good shot to score, but Williams has to have the edge here. (Edge BOS)



Over the board, I do agree with most that Boston has the edge (especially considering that if you go by the players’ August ratings, Boston’s team averages 2469 while Dallas is much lower at 2413). Naturally, it never comes down to just that simple fact when dealing with the USCL, but one other thing, which isn’t a factor in other league matches, can also come into play here: the blitz tiebreaker. While this, just like the overall match, can never be a certain result (I don’t think anyone will soon forget the epic battle which ended last season where I venture most would have thought New York had a big edge there due to Charbonneau’s blitz prowess). However, Boston really has two big guns in that regard as both Christiansen and Sammour-Hasbun are known to be phenomenal speed players, and I just don’t know if anyone on the Dallas roster can really match up with them in that category. While from a spectator’s point of view, I really wouldn’t mind seeing the match being decided in that fashion again, something inside me tells me it won’t happen this year. I think Boston wins 2.5 – 1.5.

Semifinal Predictions

Even though my chance of winning this prediction contest is virtually nil at this point, Greg Shahade insists that there are some out there who might care what I think will happen so here's my guess.


Boston ties New York 2 – 2 (Boston advances)

Dallas over Miami 2.5 – 1.5

Wildcard Predictions

Despite the percentages I gave for what I believed to be each team's chances to advance, I'm not necessarily going to stick with those for the prediction contest as I didn't know the lineups for the teams when writing that plus sometimes it's fun to cheer on a team you believe to be an underdog. Also, given my deficit in the contest at this point some controversial picks might not hurt if I want to maintain any shot at winning. Here's my guess for how the Wildcard Round will go.


New York over Philadelphia 2.5 – 1.5

San Francisco over Miami 2.5 – 1.5

Week 10 Predictions

The last major opportunity to close Ron Young's lead as after this there are only five playoff matches to predict!


Boston over Philadelphia 2.5 – 1.5

Queens ties Baltimore 2 – 2

New York over New Jersey 2.5 – 1.5

Tennessee over Carolina 3 – 1

San Francisco over Dallas 2.5 – 1.5

Seattle over Miami 2.5 – 1.5

Remainder of Week 9 Predictions

Once again, I was unable to gain any ground on Ron Young this past week and with Josh Gutman having a monstrous week, suddenly the consolation prize of second place is no longer a sure thing. Either way, something drastic is going to have to happen in one of the two directions to change how things stand right now as time is growing extremely short.


Philadelphia ties New York 2 – 2

New Jersey ties Baltimore 2 – 2

Boston over Queens 2.5 – 1.5

Carolina over Miami 3.5 – 0.5

Dallas over Tennessee 3 – 1

Monday Night Prediction -- Week 9

So we have a repeat from last season to round out the Monday night matches in this season of the USCL. Like many previous matches, the stakes for it are slightly different than what might have been expected, but still not really any less important. Last year this match was the linchpin in determining which team would win the West Division while this year it seems likely to be the one to determine who will take second place (as the winner is most likely to do while the loser will most likely be fighting for third in the final week). However, whatever result happens to come about, it’s reasonably likely that these teams will face off in a rematch during the Wildcard round, and something tells me Seattle won’t want to play San Francisco in the playoffs facing draw odds for two consecutive years and would prefer to put an end to any chance of that happening with a victory to almost assure themselves second place. Let’s see how it looks on each board.


Board 1: Friedel vs. Serper. This is a rather odd game to predict when you consider all the league history between these two players. If one was to go based on information only from this year, it would seem prime for a blowout by the Seattle team with Friedel having a -3 record and Serper a +3 one (along with Serper getting the better of their first confrontation this year along with a victory in the same Monday night match last year). However, I think one would be foolish to also not take into account the two rather impressive wins by Friedel with White the first of which salvaged a draw (and the division lead) for the Mechanics and the second which lead the Mechanics into the Finals. While on the whole, it seems difficult to determine the appropriate mix of these factors to assign an edge in this game, I’ve definitely noticed that Friedel seems to score best when he pushes his Kingside pawns vs. Serper, and I think which side has an edge may well be determined by whether he makes an effort to do just that. In other words, if he opens with 1. g4 or 1. h4, I like Friedel’s chances while if he chooses something dry and banal like 1. e4, I prefer Serper. However, I have a feeling Friedel will be reading this and will see the wisdom of my brilliant advice so slight advantage to him (plus with Friedel allowing Becerra to pass his teammate Bhat on the MVP Leader Board, I’d guess as a good team player, he won’t be inclined to allow Serper to do the same). (Slight Edge SF)



Board 2: Tangborn vs. Bhat. Right now, whether White, Black, or some other color (you know in some chess variant), I’m really not prepared at this time to give anyone an edge against Bhat in any league game. While the day where he finally does lose and sends all of his fans into a state of manic depression is bound to come, I have a feeling it won’t be this week. (Slight Edge SF)



Board 3: Donaldson vs. Schmidt. Donaldson has looked very solid in all games he’s played this year, showing a nice ability to really ground his opponents down. Schmidt hasn’t been especially active, but his games so far just haven’t seemed very consistent. With White, I definitely like Donaldson here. (Edge SF)



Board 4: Sinanan vs. Naroditsky. In the first meeting between these two, Sinanan really outplayed Naroditsky seemingly effortlessly as it just seemed looking back on the game that Naroditsky was never really in it. Having White this time, Sinanan has to be considered a pretty reasonable favorite. Of course, when dealing with young players one can never be too certain of anything as their level of play can really vary from day to day, but I still like Seattle here. (Edge SEA)



It should be clear I feel the Mechanics have an edge over the board (of course, others might disagree as based on this year’s results, most would probably think I’m off my rocker giving San Francisco an edge on Board One, but even though it hasn’t shown through this season, I really feel it’s hard not to give Friedel an edge with White in nearly any league game). Based on that, Bhat’s track record, and the fact that the Mechanics are probably going to be primed for revenge after the Sluggers ended their long unbeaten streak, I’ll take San Francisco 2.5 – 1.5

(FM Ron Young also predicts San Francisco to win 2.5 - 1.5).

Remainder of Week 8 Predictions

Well I did manage to do reasonably well last week especially considering the number of upsets, but Ron Young seems unwilling to give way easily so I'm going to need some luck soon.


Boston over New Jersey 3 – 1

Baltimore over Philadelphia 2.5 – 1.5

Miami over Tennessee 2.5 – 1.5

San Francisco over Carolina 3 – 1

Dallas ties Seattle 2 – 2

Monday Night Prediction -- Week 8

The long awaited subway matchup is finally upon us. At the beginning of the season, I might have guessed that this match would be the one to determine who would win the East Division, but unfortunately for each team, things probably haven’t gone quite the way they might have envisioned at that time. On the other hand, both of these teams have been on the brink of playoff elimination the last couple weeks and have managed to stave it off until now so this will certainly still be a very hard fought match. It just happens that the stakes for this encounter are slightly different than what I expected as instead of fighting for the division title, they are fighting for their playoff lives as the loser of this match is likely to be near mathematically eliminated from contention. Let’s see how it looks from board to board.


Board 1: Nakamura vs. Vovsha. All season long, I’ve been giving Nakamura an edge (in my mind) in all of his games, but he has yet to validate that faith having not won a game so far. Vovsha on the other hand has really probably surpassed most people’s expectations in not having lost a single game in six matches and really is the main reason why Queens is still in the playoff hunt. While I still have to think Nakamura has an advantage, I’m only willing to call it a slight one at this point. (Slight Edge NY)



Board 2: Schneider vs. Charbonneau. Schneider played quite an impressive first game this season to help the Pioneers stave off elimination, but he will likely need something of a repeat performance if Queens is to avoid elimination for the second consecutive week. Charbonneau has had a somewhat up and down season, playing a few very inspired games like his win vs Perelshteyn, but also a few I think he’d probably choose to forget about given the chance. Like Board One, some advantage for New York here. (Slight Edge NY)



Board 3: Arnold vs. Kleiman. Neither of these players has been especially active in the league thus far making this game a little bit harder to call than the others. Queens does have a slight rating edge, but New York has White so I’d venture this game is fairly close. (Even)



Board 4: Zhao vs. Zenyuk. Zenyuk has looked quite impressive thus far in the league, especially in her last week's victory. Zhao has played a couple fairly impressive games himself though pulling two fairly big upsets nearly defeating Dallas's rock Stopa and also winning against Miami's Moreno Roman. This seems a tough one to call so I’ll cope out. (Even)



Over the board, I have to think New York has an edge; but besides that fact, psychologically I really do like the Knights' chances overall coming off two straight wins (over two of the top three ranked teams in the league) and what they are doing seems somewhat similar to their great run at the end of the last season. Queens of course defied most people’s predictions last week in upsetting the Kingfishers so as in any USCL Match, nothing is even close to a sure thing. However, I don’t see the Knights letting their mirror run of last season end here so I’ll take New York 2.5 – 1.5

(FM Ron Young also predicts New York to win 2.5 - 1.5).

Remainder of Week 7 Predictions

I would hope I can do better than last week, but when I only got one correct result out of six, improving shouldn't be that hard should it?


New York over Boston 2.5 – 1.5

Baltimore over Queens 3 – 1

Carolina over Tennessee 2.5 – 1.5

San Francisco over Miami 2.5 – 1.5

Seattle over Dallas 2.5 – 1.5

Monday Night Prediction -- Week 7

So this week we have a Monday night struggle between the Philadelphia Inventors and the New Jersey Knockouts, the two teams I predicted to finish in the last two spots in the East at the beginning of the season. It seems that that belief (like most of mine) wasn’t exactly correct as these two teams are not only far from last, both are in prime position to make the playoffs with this match likely to be a big determiner ff those playoff dreams will be fulfilled. Let’s see how they match up on each board.


Board 1: Kudrin vs. Benjamin. Kudrin finally displayed last week that he was capable of playing a decisive game in the league (and in a good way despite the overall team result!), and I’m sure the Inventors would really appreciate a repeat performance. Benjamin likely may prove a bit tougher to score the full point against, but as always slight edge to the GM who happens to have White. (Slight Edge PHI)



Board 2: Ippolito vs. Smith. Smith has unfortunately, after starting the season solidly, somewhat reverted to his last season’s form in only scoring 0.5 in his last 4 games. Although Ippolito hasn’t played that many games in the league yet, he’s known to be very tough with White so it looks good for the Knockouts on this board. (Edge NJ)



Board 3: Costigan vs. Friedman. Based on his first game, Friedman appeared to be in at least reasonable form likely alleviating at least some worries about his potential rust (so hopefully all of his fans who were stopping by during his last week’s game and saying "Is this Aviv Friedman playing?? No way!!" can be somewhat at ease). Costigan though has certainly been no slouch in the league and despite the uneven ratings, to me Costigan is clearly stronger than his league rating and given he has White, I’m inclined to think this game is pretty level. (Even)



Board 4: Lian vs. Yeager. Lian had a very promising initial game in the league taking down a player who has been very strong in the league, with the Black pieces, in what turned out to be quite a well played game by him. One game is however only one game, and it’s hard to ignore the Inventors rather large rating edge on this board (especially using updated ratings) so definite edge to Philly here. (Edge PHI)



Over the board, like most USCL matches, this is not one which really provides much of an edge to either team on paper. You might think I’d be inclined to call this match (like many matches) a tie based on that, but I’ve predicted the last two Monday Night Matches to be ties, and the commissioner made some ugly threats toward me as to what might happen if I do it again so based on the large board four edge I think they have, I’ll take Philadelphia 2.5 – 1.5

(FM Ron Young also predicts Philadelphia to win 2.5 - 1.5).

Week 6 Predictions

Look for me to regain my lead this week!


New Jersey ties Carolina 2 – 2

Miami ties Queens 2 – 2

Dallas ties Philadelphia 2 – 2

Baltimore over Tennessee 3 – 1

San Francisco over Boston 2.5 – 1.5

Seattle over New York 2.5 – 1.5

Remainder of Week 5 Predictions

Hopefully I can keep up last week's pace!


New Jersey ties New York 2 – 2

Boston ties Baltimore 2 – 2

Philadelphia over Queens 2.5 – 1.5

San Francisco over Tennessee 2.5 – 1.5

Seattle over Carolina 2.5 – 1.5

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).

Remainder of Week 4 Predictions

Maybe this is the week I turn things around?


Queens over New Jersey 2.5 – 1.5

Baltimore over Philadelphia 2.5 – 1.5

Miami over Tennessee 3 – 1

Dallas ties Carolina 2 – 2

Seattle ties San Francisco 2 – 2

Monday Night Prediction -- Week 4

So for the first time in the USCL we have a double grandmaster duel scheduled in what I have a feeling will likely be the most watched match in the league’s short history. Based on the teams’ records an outsider might view this as a mismatch having in one corner the preseason, yet currently struggling, favorites the New York Knights who are treading very closely on the edge of a hole they very likely won’t be able to crawl out of should anything more go wrong. In the other corner, we have the red hot Boston Blitz, the only undefeated team in the league who including last season are a team which has been on a complete tear. While the records of these two teams may not be similar, there last season’s records weren’t exactly similar when they met in the semifinals with the Knights dismissing the Blitz’s regular season dominance with a fairly convincing win. Could it happen again here? Well let’s take a look at each board.

Board 1: Last week’s encounter between Bhat and Nakamura shattered the viewer record for any USCL game, and I have a feeling this week’s Nakamura vs. Christiansen battle may do one better. Not only two of the best players in the league (and country), but both with fairly aggressive styles, it seems likely we’ll be in for a very exciting struggle. I have a feeling Nakamura will be out for blood after his last week’s disappointment and that’s likely to add even more flavor to this game. I must as I almost always do, give the edge to the GM who has White though. (Edge NY)

Board 2: The second GM duel with Perelshteyn facing off against Charbonneau. When the two of them met last season, Perelshteyn had yet to lose a game in the league, but Charbonneau put an end to that in fairly convincing fashion. This of course is only one example of Charbonneau’s overall dominance of Boston since the league’s inception whether he has White or Black, and it seems foolish based on all recent events to discount history when evaluating any match. However, Charbonneau has yet to face Perelshteyn with Black in the league so who can be sure if he can continue to hold his mantra over them in this situation. Though I have to give the edge to Perelshteyn since he has White, due to the history I must think it’s only a very slight one. (Slight Edge BOS)

Board 3: Bonin facing off against Shmelov. This seems like an encounter which will be decided in large part what form Bonin happens to be in on this night as he seems to have some consistency issues, playing some great games and some fairly weak ones in the league. Shmelov on the other hand in his brief league stint has performed quite well so far and using current ratings, even has the rating edge in this game. Bonin does have White though, and given that this game might hinge on which Bonin shows up at the board, a factor I really am not prepared to speculate on here, I’ll just play it safe and call this one even. (Even)

Board 4: Finally we have Williams taking on Vicary. Vicary making her USCL debut and it really couldn’t be at a more important juncture for her team with them really unable to afford another defeat. Williams has looked very strong though in his first two games defeating two players (Lee and Wilson) who have very impressive league records and once again using current ratings, he seems to have a big edge there too. Boston definitely has to hold a fair edge on this board. (Edge BOS)

Overall, I’d be inclined to give a slight edge over the board to the Boston team, but of course judging by the fact that the Knights have seemed to have an edge over the board in all three of their matches and have yet to win one clearly shows there are other factors involved in any match’s result. Each week I’ve also picked the Knights to win also and somehow I haven’t scored any points in the prediction contest in those beliefs. It seems fairly certain based on my overall predicting record that if I choose to abandon them in that regard at this point that they’ll keep me scoreless in predicting their matches for spite by drawing or winning. Based on that and the fact that Charbonneau’s teams have shown a good ability to often rise above the odds especially in very important matches, I think I will call this a 2-2 tie.

(FM Ron Young picks Boston to win 2.5 - 1.5).

Prediction Results – Week 3

The fair non-impressiveness of us USCL prognosticators continues, but at least we seem to be making the contest amongst us interesting with our simultaneous lack of success.

Total after Week 3:


Arun Sharma (+6 This Week): 24
Ron Young (+9): 23
Josh Gutman (+4): 19

SF ties NY 2 - 2

AS/RY: NY 2.5 – 1.5 +0
JG: SF 2.5 – 1.5 +0

BOS over PHI 3.5 – 0.5

AS/RY: BOS 2.5 – 1.5 +2
JG: Tie +0


BAL ties NJ 2 - 2

JG/AS/RY: BAL 2.5 – 1.5 +0


CAR over MIA 2.5 – 1.5

RY: Correct +3
JG: Tie +0
AS: MIA 2.5 – 1.5 +0


DAL over QNS 3 - 1

JG/AS/RY: DAL 2.5 – 1.5 +2

SEA over TN 3.5 – 0.5

JG/AS/RY: SEA 3 - 1 +2

Remainder of Week 3 Predictions

Here is what is likely to occur (or perhaps to not occur given my record so far)


Boston over Philadelphia 2.5 – 1.5

Baltimore over New Jersey 2.5 – 1.5

Miami over Carolina 2.5 – 1.5

Dallas over Queens 2.5 – 1.5

Seattle over Tennessee 3 – 1

Monday Night Prediction -- Week 3

So this week we have the two finalists from last year squaring off in what should be another stiff battle. Despite the pre-game hype around this match (especially the board one encounter), it does seem it will be tough for this match to beat the finals' encounter these two teams had in terms of excitement, but given how high the stakes in this match are (especially for the Knights), I wouldn’t think it’s impossible either. Let’s take a look at each board.

Board 1: Of course this is one game many of us have been waiting for, Bhat vs. Nakamura. The commissioner has pretty well broken down a few of the reasons why this game has been so anticipated, not even taking into account how important it is for the Knights not to suffer another setback (especially one which at this stage could be fatal), but who has the advantage? Bhat seems to have an aura of invincibility around him when he plays in the league, but if anyone could crack that, it seems like Nakamura could be the one to do it. Despite the rather large rating edge Nakamura seems to have, given the overall circumstances and that he has the black pieces, I think he has a small edge at best. (Slight Edge NY)

Board 2: Here we have Krush taking on McCambridge. Although Krush has had two results I’m sure she’s not happy with so far this season, she still should be by far the more in practice player and does have the White pieces. McCambridge has shown an ability to play some fairly inspired chess in the league, but who knows if he can display that side of himself tonight. I think this board is similar to the top one. (Slight Edge NY)

Board 3: Pruess taking on Bonin; Pruess had a solid performance Week 1 with the White pieces while Bonin I’m sure is still trying to forget his season opener. Pruess is generally always strong with White and just seems to be the more consistent player, especially in the league. Add in a rating edge of some sorts, and I really like the San Francisco’s chances on this board. It does seem that it will be very important for them to get a win here though as in my eyes, the other boards do seem more geared towards the opposing team. (Edge SF)

Board 4: Finally we have Herman taking on Young. Both of these players had an inauspicious start to the season with Herman losing and Young barely escaping with a draw, and it obviously would really behoove both players to perform better this week. Though we have only one game in the league to judge Young by so far, Herman overall despite his rough season opener last week really seems to be a pretty consistent player, something that many other board fours lack. Based on his performance last season and having the White pieces, I give him a fair edge. (Edge NY)

Overall, I do think the Knights have an edge when you go strictly board by board. Of course, I and most others have held that belief the past two weeks yet fortune has not been on their side to validate that belief while the Mechanics on the whole have been nothing but consistent since the beginning of last season. This match does however mean far more to the playoff hopes of New York due to the hole they’ve already dug themselves in this season and what a long shot it becomes for them to recover should they lose again here. Nakamura and Krush don’t seem to be the sort who traditionally will fail to rise to the occasion when such a challenge as this presents itself, and so I do think they’re likely to end the Mechanics unbeaten streak. New York wins 2.5 – 1.5

(FM Ron Young also picks New York to win 2.5 - 1.5).

Prediction Results – Week 2

A rather weak performance by all of us this week, but I suppose given the number of surprising results which occurred that was somewhat unavoidable. Here is how things stand.

Total after Week 2:


Arun Sharma (+6 This Week): 18
Josh Gutman (+6): 15
Ron Young (+6): 14

BOS over QNS 3 - 1

JG/AS/RY: BOS 2.5 – 1.5 +2

CAR over BAL 3 - 1

JG/RY: Correct +4
AS: Tie +0


PHI over NY 3 - 1

JG: Tie +0
AS/RY: NY 2.5 – 1.5 +0


TN ties NJ 2 - 2

RY: TN 2.5 – 1.5 +0
AS: NJ 3 – 1 +0
JG: NJ 3.5 – 0.5 +0


DAL ties SF 2-2

AS: Correct +4
RY: DAL 2.5 – 1.5 +0
JG: SF 3 – 1 +0

SEA over MIA 3.5 – 0.5

JG/AS/RY: Tie +0

Week 2 Predictions

Here is what I think Week 2 will entail:


Boston over Queens 2.5 – 1.5

Carolina ties Baltimore 2 – 2

New York over Philadelphia 2.5 – 1.5

New Jersey over Tennessee 3 – 1

Dallas ties San Francisco 2 – 2

Miami ties Seattle 2 – 2

Remainder of Week 1 Predictions

These are my predictions for opening Wednesday. I will not provide any explanation for these theories; instead will leave that in the capable hands of Ron Young and Josh Gutman saving my commentary for the feature matches on Monday Night.


New York over Baltimore 3 – 1

Philadelphia ties Miami 2 – 2

Dallas over Tennessee 3 – 1

San Francisco over Carolina 3 – 1

Boston ties Seattle 2 – 2