Manager Leo Martinez and Expert Amanda Mateer Preview the Playoffs

Manager Leo Martinez Comments about the Monday Playoff Results as Well as Previews the Wednesday Playoff Matches

The playoffs definitely bring on a different atmosphere then the regular season. Everyone is preparing. Everyone is putting full effort and everyone is thinking about the team. Monday’s Eastern Conference results were very interesting. I thought the Boston – New York match was pretty close but I thought that New York had a slight edge and wouldn’t have felt like this was an upset if New York happened to win. With Kacheishvili with White on board 1 leading the way I couldn’t really see where Boston had any advantage. The reason I agree with John Donaldson in thinking that Boston should have put Esserman on board 3 is that with draw odds a win by Esserman would have been huge. In hindsight I guess it didn’t matter as Martirosov won his game in the end. This was a very interesting match that could have gone either way for sure and the result (New York won 2.5-1.5) makes for a very interesting Quarterfinal match between New York and New Jersey. This pits Benjamin vs Kacheishvili, Ippolito vs Charbonneau, Molner vs Herman, and Norowitz against many possible options for New Jersey. These are my guesses at least. Should make for an interesting match…I’m not sure who’s the favorite just looking at the lineups but you got to go with New Jersey given their momentum from the regular season.

The Miami – Seattle match up seems like a clear advantage to me for Seattle. Seattle’s lineup is pretty impressive but Miami, as they showed last year, are pretty vigilant. My feeling is that Becerra has to score in his game. A loss with White, albeit against the US Champion, in this spot would be tough on the rest of the team. Miami is a tossup on board 3 and probably a favorite on board 4 but somehow they have to score 2.5 points. Maybe a draw by Becerra and a win on the bottom two boards is the way to do it but it’ll be tough. Should be interesting to see how both teams change their play based on how the rest of their team is doing.

The Arizona – San Francisco match is a good one and has been well covered by John Donaldson and some others. As John said, this is the closest match in terms of team rating and literally is a toss up on every board. Arizona has their best player in Alejandro Ramirez leading the way on board 1. With Alejandro’s help taking control of board 1 and leaving board 2 for the others to play Arizona has been able to make it to the playoffs this season. Board 1 should be an interesting match up as youth fights against experience is this never-ending battle. Alejandro has done well with White this season but Wolff has loads of experience on his side and is a good defender so it should be very interesting. I find the USCL even more fun to watch during the playoffs as these GM’s go all out for wins with no mention of a draw in sight. You can see this even more clearly by the fact that all GM vs. GM encounters on Monday were decisive results. On board 2 Danny Rensch is fighting against Vinay Bhat. These two have encountered each other more than once, most recently fighting to a draw at the 2009 SPICE Cup. Again this match is a battle of styles as Danny is fairly aggressive while Vinay is perhaps more positionally natured, although he can also fight tenaciously when needed.

Robby is facing the very solid and strong Daniel Naroditsky. Although Daniel lost in week 8 to Danny Rensch he is always a formidable opponent and doesn’t lose any game easily. On fourth board I come back to face the young Yian Liou. Yian has played a lot more than me so far this season but hopefully I can pull this one off. Every game should be close and I wouldn’t miss any of them when watching ICC Wednesday night at 7:15 PM Tucson time.

Amanda Mateer Previews the Scorpion – Mechanics Playoff Match

Hi everyone!

So, let’s try this one more time. Last time I previewed a match, it was against Baltimore, and we definitely lost that one. So this time, I’m going to hope I’m not the kiss of death…

Basically, this match is expected to be full of craziness, and if it wasn’t, I think all around everyone would be shocked.  Last time either team could have easily won the match 3.5-0.5, and we somehow crawled out ahead – this time, let’s hope the Scorpions can win in a much smoother style – considering 2/4 players this week nearly have a heart attack each match as it is (cough cough Leo and Robby cough)…

Board 1: GM Alejandro Ramirez vs. GM Patrick Wolff

I think this could easily be the most crucial game of the match. First of all, Alejandro not only is really good on his own board, but I feel like he makes everyone around him better, too. Whenever he’s playing physically in Arizona (last week doesn’t count, since he was in Dallas!), I feel like everyone’s play just sort of goes up. Maybe it’s the GM vibes, or something else, who knows, but he just brings a different feeling to the match. Given his 3/3 record this season with the white pieces, it should definitely be exciting – and I predict Jandi will be the only one to come through with the win pretty cleanly.

Board 2: GM Vinay Bhat vs. IM!!! Danny Rensch

This is Danny’s debut on Board 2 for the Scorpions, which definitely makes it an interesting game to look forward to. Having a much better season than last and fresh off earning the IM title, Danny will be looking to prove that he can handle the internet chess world. Vinay is no pushover, though, and I’m going to guess that after a lot of chaos, the game peters out to a draw.

Board 3: FM Robby Adamson vs. FM Danya Naroditsky

This game should definitely be another exciting one – wait, who am I kidding, they’re all going to be nuts, remember the last AZ-SF match? But these two have been decent and steady performers in the past in the USCL, and after a rough week last week, Robby will definitely be looking for redemption. I have a hard time really picking someone in this game, and I feel like it may be the last one to finish – but that at the end, the game will finish up with a draw after several close calls.

Board 4: Yian Liou vs. Leo Martinez

Leo’s definitely coming out ready to fight, and there would be no better time for him to score his first USCL win then now. But SF’s board 4 in Yian has been super strong this season, and with Leo having the black pieces, it certainly won’t be easy. All I really know is that this kid plays super fast, and Leo is a lot steadier – and as long as he can control all his crazy nerves, he should be fine. I think that if anyone has chances this game, it will turn out to be Leo – in this scenario, I’m thinking the experience may mean more than ever before. But I’ll predict Yian finds a way to hold on to the draw with a significant time edge.

So overall, I predict Board 1 with Alejandro to be the only decisive result. That doesn’t mean the other three draws will be clean – in fact, I’m sure they will be anything but – and there’s no telling what can really happen with these two teams. But I’m going to go with the 2.5-1.5 win by the Scorpions, advancing them to the semi-finals and keeping their finals hopes alive!