In three short days, the season kicks off as the teams in the Western Conference battle each other to see who can jump out to a strong start in 2013, the exact lineups being found here.
The night begins with Miami taking on Carolina. The Sharks are showing that they mean business, immediately featuring a monster two GM lineup with GM Becerra, one of the most successful Board Ones in history, making his first appearance on Board Two in nine seasons! With such strength, the Sharks are clearly the favorites on paper, but one can never count out the plucky Cobras who have scored more than a few surprising match wins and draws in their recent history despite often times being vastly out-rated.
In a battle between the two top teams in the West from last year’s regular season, both have come armed for bear, each using a double GM lineup! With both teams likely to rely on a similar such lineup for many matches, the key to their success may well lie in their Board Four players who, especially since they are likely to be outrated in most of their games, could provide a very key contribution to the effort if they can pull off some upsets.
Next is a rematch of last year’s Semifinal between Seattle and Arizona. The Sluggers managed to overcome draw odds along the way to their first Championship in that encounter, and the Scorpions will no doubt be looking for revenge enroute to a good start to the season. A surprising rating disparity in this encounter as the defending Champion Sluggers are using a lineup of average rating only about 2300, while the Scorpions, like most teams, have a lineup well above 2400 using current ratings. However, the Sluggers overcame seeming long odds over and over last year, and it’s unlikely that anyone will be calling this match until it’s officially been decided on the board.
To end the night the battle for California supremacy takes place with San Francisco taking on Los Angeles. And both teams seem very set upon this fight ending in their favor, each using a player just under 2500 on Board Three - a very rare phenomenon in the League since the institution of the 2000 minimum rating. Overall, the Mechanics possess a fair rating edge on the second board, quite natural as they are using the highest rated lineup of any team in the West this week, with the other three boards all being fairly balanced. GM-elect Naroditsky scored three consecutive GM norms over the summer and clearly can be a huge asset to the Mechanics if he can keep that trend up, with Week 1 being an interesting test for him, being the only member of his team having a clear rating edge in his game.
Tune in Tuesday August 27 on chess.com as the 2013 Season kicks off!