Miami Sharks (2.5-3.5) vs Dallas Destiny (2.5-3.5)

  Starts at 8:15 PM ET       Time Control - Game 75 with 30 second increment    

Miami Sharks			Dallas Destiny
GM Julio Becerra - 2624			GM Magesh Panchanathan - 2530
IM Alejandro Moreno Roman - 2437			IM Jacek Stopa - 2512
FM Marcel Martinez - 2415			IM Peter Vavrak - 2471
Luis Barredo - 2160			Nelson Lopez - 2087
Avg Rating - 2409			Avg Rating - 2400
Miami Total -------	0.0	0.0	------- Dallas Total

    Once again we have a Monday night match with enormous playoff implications. The way the standings in the West currently lie it would be difficult to envision that the third and last playoff spot there would not come down to one of these two teams, and with them being tied right now the winner of this match will have a huge advantage in that regard.

 

 

    Board 1 pits GM Becerra vs. GM Panchanathan.  GM Panchanathan really has played much better than his record might inititally indicate, just so far has had an inability to finish his games off properly.  GM Becerra though has been too strong this season, especially with the White pieces, so Miami has to have some edge here.

 

    Board 2 of IM Stopa against IM Moreno Roman is a rather tough one to call.  IM Moreno in his brief USCL career seems to have had a few very solid performances as well as a few he'd probably rather forget so this match could depend on which side of his persona shows up.  IM Stopa has been very solid on the whole though and with him having White, I have to give Dallas an edge here.

 

    Board 3 we have FM Martinez taking on IM Vavrak.  FM Martinez has been struggling in the season so far, and I'm sure is quite anxious to turn things around, and if there was ever a time his team needed him to do it, it would be now.  If he can't, Miami could be in big trouble on this board as IM Vavrak, though appearing somewhat infrequently for Dallas, has been extremely impressive in his few appearances.  However, FM Martinez is really too good of a player to allow his bad streak to continue so like Board 2, this game likely can come down to which personality shows up at the table for Miami, but I think this one's a toss up.

 

    Board 4 of Lopez vs. Barredo.  I've been wrong too many times trying to classify these Board 4 games by who has a higher rating, who has White, etc. so I won't try to do that here and just call this one a toss up as well. 

 

 

    As usual with these Monday matches, the overall result is one which might be predicted to go any of the three ways.  While on the board I think neither side really has an edge, the one thing that really somewhat tips the scale for me is each team's respective ability to perform in the clutch as Miami showed last season that they have what it takes to win even under the harshest of circumstances (i.e. their memorable playoff comeback vs. San Francisco last season, it's just a good thing that Mr. Cochrinov was the assistant manager for the Boston team at that time and not the San Francisco team as that defeat might have caused a scandal of epic proportions. I'm not even sure what his specific accusations might have been, but click here for a potential example).  The Dallas team has unfortunately had more than one result derailed this season due to a last minute mistake so based off of that, I'm going to choose in favor of a 2.5 - 1.5 Miami victory.

Ron Young chooses Dallas to win 2.5-1.5