Well, the Philadelphia Inventors take on the Boston Blitz tomorrow. It is going to be a tough match for both sides. Lets check out each of the match ups.
Board 1
Larry Christiansen vs. Magesh Panchanathan
As far as I can tell, this will be the first time these two Grandmasters play. [Edit: I found a nice write up here, thanks to the Boylston Chess Club. Apparently, Panchanathan will be looking for revenge tonight!] Christiansen has about a 100 point rating edge on Panchanathan. At my level, which is Class A, 100 points honestly doesnt mean a whole lot. At the Grandmaster level, and perhaps at any high level it may mean more. The idea is that it is much harder to gain rating points at the highest levels, so the ratings are more accurate. Also, Grandmasters will be more wary of giving up rating points, whereas players at my level can show up to tournaments, play terribly and lose in 20 moves. Well, at least I do that sometimes!
The main point is that Panchanathan has his work cut out for him. However, I would in no way be surprised if he was able to come away with the win. A draw would also be an excellent result, considering the circumstances.
Board 2
Bryan Smith vs. Eugene Perelshteyn
Perhaps this is the most interesting match up to preview because these two players have met twice before in the US Chess League and both have been mainstays with their respective teams for years now. The first game, Perelshteyn was able to get the better of Smith.
However, Smith has had the last laugh.
One common factor between both these games is that they were exciting. Hopefully tonight's game swings this mini rivalry to Smith's favor!
Board 3
Denys Shmelov vs. Thomas Bartell
Well, again if there are games between these two I cant find them. These two are basically the same rating, though Shmelov has a 50 point edge on Bartell. As Bartell proved last week, though, he is not averse to upsetting his opponent.
Board 4
Grant Xu vs. Kavinayan Sivakumar
This is Philly's best match up of the night. Sivakumar has about a 50 rating point edge over Xu. As noted in the other Boards, I dont think that is so much of an advantage, but I think Sivakumar has a great chance of coming away with the win here. This will also be Sivakumar's 2010 debut.
Well, that pretty much wraps it up. I am not really a predicting kind of guy for this kind of thing, but I saw that Boston foolishly predicted they will 4-0 the Inventors. I think 2.5 in favor of Philly is much more likely.
Well, the match is about to begin, sorry this preview is so late. Hopefully it holds you over for hour or so before the match begins. Good luck to the Inventors!
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