Wildcard Round

Philadelphia vs. New York:

One night once upon a time while I was tending the local chess club, Harry from the park introduced me to someone he described as a prospective member. It was probably just an excuse to use the bathroom, but I was always flattered when somebody troubled to make an excuse. Anyway, this 40-something guy described himself as basically a beginner, but he had a plan for storming the chessic heights despite his late introduction to the game. He said he was going to study, study and study until he came up with an idea that nobody had ever thought of before, and very early in the game—about move 5 or 6.

Of course, an experienced chessplayer (such as I was) knows that this is a very hard thing to do, but from Mr. 40-something’s self-description, it seemed like he might be the man to do it. He was smart, he graduated from Harvard at the top of his class, AND his psychiatrist was one of the best in the city. Sad to say, though, years have passed and I have heard nothing more of this 50-something-by-now guy. Hikaru Nakamura, aside from showing great form in Europe these past couple of weeks, has often come out with moves that are very offbeat, if not exactly new, even earlier than move 6. By now I think he is ready with the brand-new stuff. I see him leading his team to a one-point victory.


Miami vs. San Francisco:

To me, hero worship is strictly for kids, so while I admire Magnus Carlsen’s great success at such a young age, I haven’t taken down my posters of Sergey Karjakin. But Julio Becerra’s two consecutive MVP seasons have me looking to make wall space. The shortened time control ought to favor a good king-pawn player, so I think Miami has a solid edge on Board One.

Bhat finally lost last week, but if everything could be predicted so easily, there’d be no need for people like me. Joe DiMaggio followed his 56-game hitting streak with a 16-game streak. On the other hand, the Colorado Rockies won 23 out of 24 and then got swept by Boston. But as I said, if it were so easy, you wouldn’t need me. I think Bhat will bounce back and is a likely winner on Board Two.

Unless I counted wrong, Martinez and Zilberstein have met four times in USCL play, with Marcel winning one and drawing the rest. On the one hand, Marcel has had three whites out of four. On the other hand, this game makes it our out of five. So give Miami the edge on Board Three.

So with the match looking very tight on the top three boards, that makes Board 4 the one to watch (especially if you are a “guest”). Barredo has done quite well this season after an uninspiring 2006. This could be because he is a young player who naturally improved over the course of a year. Or perhaps he is a middle-aged guy who has good days and bad, and just happened to have more good ones this year. With no picture and no DOB listed on the USCL page, I can only guess. But I can still use my head a little bit. He is 2160 for league purposes, and apparently still 2160 currently. This indicates a not-too-active player, and so probably a middle-aged guy who happened to have had mostly good days this year. So Board Four looks like a tossup.

So two slight edges for Miami, one perhaps bigger one for San Francisco, and one tossup. You can do the math. But again, if it were just a question of math, you wouldn’t need me. Without the advantage of draw odds, Miami’s players will just assume they need to win, and will be less distracted about game-versus-match considerations. I pick Miami to win, 2.5-1.5.