It's been a long time since 2005 when the US Chess League started. I think we need to reevaluate the players in order of usefulness for the Boston Blitz.
For 2008:
1. Marc Esserman
2. Ilya Krasik
3. Larry Christiansen
4. Jorge Sammour-Hasbun
5. Denys Shmelov
6. Eugene Perelshteyn
7. Charles Riordan
8. David Vigorito (I'm sorry. :-( )
Marc Esserman - 1 year on the team
Marc has had a spectacular undefeated season for the Blitz with a 7/9 record scoring 5 wins and 4 draws (77.8%) and a decent (albeit short) season for the Miami Sharks in 2007, drawing a Sergey that Jorge seems to have tons of trouble with. He is also an underrated player, being used as a 2265, now he is over 2400. He has 16.5 MVP points total, (15.5 from this year, 1 from last year) playing on boards 3 and 4.
Ilya Krasik - 4 years on the team
I'd say every even year, Krasik does well. He has had decent seasons in 2006 and 2008 playing on board four. Krasik's the type of guy where he has a tendency to mess up, so when we are watching at home and he is winning, he makes us say things like, "Krasik, if you mess this up, then I'm gonna haunt you for the rest of your life." It has happened. This year he has a 6.5/10 record (65%), a pretty decent one with 3.5 MVP points and 6 wins, 1 draw, and 3 losses. His total record of 14.5/29 (50%) with a grand total of 4.5 MVP points. If he wins the first time he plays, he does well after a shaky mid-season. Also, an interesting trend Mark La Rocca pointed out. The team has followed Krasik's results. Quite true, with 7 wins and 3 losses.
My Coach Larry Christiansen - 4 years on the team
Ilya Krasik has just over taken him with the most games played (29 to 28). 2008 hasn't been Larry's best season with 3 wins, 2 draws, and 2 losses (one loss was to his nemesis Pascal Charbonneau who he hasn't beat yet. Larry was winning, but blundered lost) with a 4/7 record (57.1%) garnering 2 MVP points. His total record is 17.5/28 (62.5%) and he definitely has the most MVP points on the Blitz (34). This is probably Larry's worst season as his other averages were 60% (6/10), 64.3% (4.5/7), and 75% (3/4) by playing on the very competitive board 1.
Jorge Sammour-Hasbun - this is his 2nd year playing for the team
Jorge hasn't had his best USCL season with only 3/6 (50%) and 0 MVP, by losing to the two Sergeys (Kudrin and Erenburg) Its been harder for him playing on board one, instead of the board 2 that he is used to. His debut season was much better with a startling 6.5/7 (92.9%) with his only draw to the strongest player in the USCL and former US champion, Hikaru Nakamura, getting 14 MVP points.
Denys Shmelov - 2nd year
Denys also had a tougher season playing on second board. Last year he was an underrated 2200, low enough to play on 3rd board having a spectacular 7/11 (63.6%) and 15 MVP points. This year though, he has had an even score with 1 win, 4 draws, and 1 loss (50%), only having 2 MVP points. Denys' total record is 10/17 (58.8%) with 16 MVP points.
Eugene Perelshteyn - 4 years
Eugene is the Blitz's second GM, sharing top board honors with Larry and Jorge. He has a record of 2.5/5, although his regular season record was 2/3 and 5 MVP points. Eugene usually plays about 3-5 games each season, with a total record of 9/16 (56.25%) and 15 MVP points.
Charles Riordan - 3 years
Riordan came back to the team after going to law school. He has a 1/2 (50%) record on board 3, which pales in comparison to his 4.5/6 (75%) in 2006. He has a total record of 8.5/15 (56.7%).
David Vigorito - 1 year
This is Vigorito's first season, albeit, not a good one with only 1/3 (33.3%), 2 draws and 1 loss. However, there aren't enough games to find a trend.
All time best:
1. Jorge Sammour-Hasbun
2. Denys Shmelov
3. Chris Williams
4. Larry Christiansen
5. Marc Esserman
6. Ilya Krasik
7. Eugene Perelshteyn
8. Charles Riordan
1st Chris Williams
Chris is an alternate this year, and since none of the alternates played, I'm not counting him as a 2nd. In 2007, Chris made his debut with a stellar 6/9 (66.7%) only diminished by his blunder in the finals to Zorigt, letting Dallas win in a blitz tiebreaker.
Well, that's all for now. Watch the Boston Blitz play a rematch against Dallas at the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Room P-G03, 60 Garden St, Cambridge. I am going to be there cheering for the team!
14 comments:
Sacmaster,
You should point out that David's two draws were rather team-strategy in nature. In one game, he was clearly better, and allowed the draw when it was all the team needed. In another, he played perfectly for the draw from move 1, which was another team-based decision.
I disagree the first game David blundered in a winning position and had to find a perp in order not to lose, the 2nd game he did hold quite well.
Also, the more someone plays, the more difficult it is to maintain a high level performance. Since, preparation becomes more of a factor. But otherwise an interesting stats look - Can it be used to construct the last round performance based lineup.
I was suprised to see you want to leave Krasik out of the finals lineup, he has been the sole reason for the Blitz success vs Carolina, I wonder why that is? Do you have some personal against him, or do other lineups make more sense?
No, Honestly, Ilya has been a stellar player for the Blitz this year, but I think that Zorigt has been better. Plus, Krasik has had a bad record so I suggest Esserman because I thnk Krasik would lose.
You people have way too much time on your hands
Sacmaster I could be wrong, but didnt you just contradict yourself there?
Sorry, to clarify, I mean a bad record against Zorigt
but if u put Esserman on 4 then u cant have larry or Jorge and u gotta play Riordan on 3, isnt that even worse??
No, because I believe that Denys would hold, Larry and Mark would win. And Riordan could definitely hold against Shneider
FOr your inFormation Kuljasevich is rated 2525 FIDe and he is probably underated he has just beaten GM Beccera and GM Bhat, he is undefeated this season but yet you seem sure a 2400 would hold with black, okkkkkk.
So what if Denys loses, Boston will still win 2 1/2-1 1/2
Oh I see, so its better to lose on bd 2 than to lose on b4 goes your logic, i geeet it.
well, the first game I was winning easily but then blundered indeed. the main cause of the blunder was me switching from the real board to the computer screen. this was my first game in the USCL and it was very disorienting to switch from a board and pieces to an unfamiliar computer screen with just a couple of minutes. I basically froze, and later I was told I actually thought myself down to 8 seconds. this did not affect the match at all, so I didn't lose any sleep over it.
the second game, I was the only player paired down and I had Black, so making an easy draw was good strategy, although the team ended up losing badly.
the third game I was again Black and had huge time edge as well as a few ways to make an easy draw, but the team's situation was dire, so I was forced to play on with serious risks and I lost accordingly.
but I never played again and hardly heard from the Manager, so perhaps you are right after all!
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