Ouch! a Sting can hurt!
(Beat Reporter: Mark LaRocca)
After last weeks poor performance, a (1.5 - 2.5) drudging at the hands of the smushy Applesauce, the Blitz find themselves in a true must win... if they hope to contend this season. Yes, they have dug themselves a hole and if they lose this week, they should just crawl into it and hibernate through the winter. And it gets no easier this week as the venemous Scorpions come to town... figuratively... and will attempt to put a dagger in the hearts of our heroes... or, rather, a stinger. This is it guys... time to get back to 500... even up the score and get back on track. Here are the match-ups...
| Arizona Scorpions (1.0 - 1.0) | vs | Boston Blitz (0.5 - 1.5) |
All Time Series Record: (Tied 0.5 - 0.5)
Starts at 9:00 PM EST, Tuesday, Sept 8, at SOCH building, 59 Shepard st. Cambridge, MA.
| Arizona Scorpions | Boston Blitz | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| GM Mackenzie Molner: 2581 | 0.5 | 0.5 | GM Eugene Perelshteyn: 2597 |
| IM Mark Ginsburg: 2397 | 0 | 1 | FM Denys Shmelov: 2473 |
| FM Pedram Atoufi: 2355 | 0.5 | 0.5 | NM Chris Williams: 2310 |
| Matthew Noble: 2084 | 0 | 1 | NM Ilya Krasik: 2264 |
| Average Rating: 2354 | 1 | 3 | Average Rating: 2411 |
The Blitz have the rating advantage in this one... so, no excuses. I am predicting a Blitz victory... surprise... in a (3-1)... rebound for honors sake. The team needs some confidence and the return of their top player, GM Eugene Perelshteyn could, and should, be the elixir they very much need. But, GM Molner is one tough cookie... and I expect a close one on first board. Similarly, third board is no gimme... and Chris's irregular performance (Brilliant wk 1 vs not so smart wk 2) is a question here. So, I hope/predict two draws on these boards.
Our strength lay in the ratings... and boards 2 and 4. However, this does not mean we can push too hard here. As has happened in the past, players feel the "must win" bug and try to force things. But our two experienced players... Denys and Ilya... should be able to control their emotions and build up winning games. Well, at least in my visualization... Let's see how it goes... Hope to see you there... Oh, and I hope to get some analysis of last weeks game out soon. I was tied up this weekend and just broke loose. Now... let's GO BLITZ!
