Three out of four teams are using double GM lineups as they battle to reach the USCL Championship which naturally includes some high profile matchups with GM Shankland (NE) taking on GM Gelashvili (NY) and GM Becerra (MIA) taking on GM Bhat (SF). Click here for the Semifinal Lineups!
In an old playoff rematch, Miami takes on San Francisco. The two teams met a whopping three times in playoffs in the early seasons of the League with the Sharks astonishingly overcoming draw odds three (!!) times to move past the Mechanics in the postseason. The memories of those tough matches will certainly be looming on San Francisco’s mind as they try to overcome their seeming curse in this playoff matchup to reach their first Championship Match since 2006. On paper they certainly have a very good squad with GM Bhat undefeated on the season against very tough opposition with GM Naroditsky and Banik both having fantastic records this season, and FM Liou being one of the highest rated board threes in the League. But the Sharks will certainly be no pushover team themselves, with GM Becerra always very strong, particularly with the White pieces, and GM Gonzalez showing a few years of being somewhat inactive have not slowed him down as he handed the 2013 MVP, FM Xiong, his first loss of the season last year - a major key to the Sharks moving past the Destiny. And with two time All Star FM Rodriguez anchoring the team along with NM Andretta, the Sharks have every reason to be confident themselves. This will also be the teams’ first playoff meeting which won’t have draw odds playing a factor in the match outcome which will also certainly affect players’ choices as they fight to help their team return to the USCL Championshp Match.
When these two teams met in the 2009 Championship, it was a fantastic struggle with every game having plenty of ups and downs. And when they couldn’t settle things during regulation, an incredible blitz tiebreaker came about to settle the matter, with the Knights eventually making a tremendous comeback after being knocked down to one player with the Sharks having three left.
One can only hope that this year’s Championshp Match can come close to matching the excitement of that match, but it’s certain that given how well both teams have performed, especially recently, that this climax to the USCL season will be a fantastic match between two very deserving teams, and an encounter that no one will want to miss.
Tune in to chess.com as we see the 2013 Season come to a close as the Knights look to become the only three time Champions in history while the Sharks hope their fourth trip to the Championship Match will finally result in a victory!