Hi, I’m Ron, and I’ll be your prognosticator. I’m new
at this but if it makes you feel better, Jimmy the
Greek was my childhood hero, and I used to vote for
president according to who his wife’s astrologist was.

In Carolina-San Francisco, the Mechanics have an overall rating edge, coming mostly
from board four. The key may be how much rust has
attached to McCambridge, and how quickly he adapts to
the newfangled technology. I give a slight edge to San
Francisco but the predicted score is 2-2.

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It is nice to see the New York-Boston rivalry open on
a new front, and the sides are well-matched. So who
has more incentive? The Yankees’ collapse in last
year’s playoffs certainly wants avenging...but these
guys are mostly from Brooklyn and Queens, so they’re
probably Met fans. Looking at the ratings, it looks
like Bonin was at low ebb on the relevant list, so the
Knights caught a break there. Braylovsky is a
notorious time-trouble addict but I have rarely seen
him play other than G/30. So the question is whether
the more relaxed time control will take care of the
clock issues or if the lack of an impatient stare
across the board prevents him from ever making a move
at all.

Oh, a score? Bstntunahalfonenahalf.
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It is very tempting to pick against a team that calls
itself the “Destiny” before they’ve played their first
match, but the Wheeze Kids to look to be outgunned
here. I’ll pick Dallas to win by 3-1.
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The Miami-Baltimore match features nearly identical
average ratings, so this is where the prognosticator’s
art can really be seen. I pick Baltimore
2.5-1.5...just because.