Like Board Four the decision for the first couple teams was fairly easy, but the third team was anything but. Who wound up making it? Read on to find out!
If you are wondering what criteria was used to determine these All Stars, please refer to the first post on this subject.
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1st Team: NM Francisco Guadalupe II (DAL)
A fairly easy decision as Guadalupe had a monstrous plus six score, playing in nearly every match for his team and was certainly very instrumental to the Destiny making it to the Championship as he scored several huge wins along the way.
Although he’s played only two seasons in the League, he has already amassed one of the highest winning percentages for any player who has played a fairly large number of games, and like many All Stars it will be interesting to see if he can keep it up come 2015 and beyond.
Record: 8.5 / 11 (77%)
Performance Rating: 2571
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2nd Team: NM Richard Francisco (ATL)
Another fairly easy decision as Francisco also had a tremendous plus six score playing in all but one match for his team and was without question the player who helped keep Atlanta on the brink of a playoff berth until the very end.
His performance was strong enough that he was not far off from even making it to the first team, but considering that he played several games on Board Four (as reflected in his somewhat lower performance rating), and that Guadalupe’s performance helped drive his team to the Championship, we felt that Guadalupe was the slightly stronger candidate.
Whether first or second though, it was truly a great first season for Francisco. Many players/teams in the past have really struggled in their first season of the League due to the unfamiliarity with playing long games over the internet, but he certainly didn’t follow that trend, and if he can continue his fine effort in seasons to come, the Kings can look forward to making it to the postseason sooner rather than later.
Record: 7.5 / 9 (83%)
Performance Rating: 2531
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3rd Team: FM Cameron Wheeler (SF)
This was a close decision between Wheeler, his teammate Vignesh Panchanatham, and Michael Bodek for the final spot. With the first two having identical records (and also an identical number of Blacks), and Bodek also having a very similar record, obviously the decision was bound to be close. In the end the nod was given to Wheeler over Panchanatham due to his much higher performance rating, reflecting his tougher opposition. And while in some sense this might have seemed like the obvious differentiation point, the fact that Panchanatham’s only loss occurred against the top All Star in rather ludicrous fashion did give us pause, but we felt the difference in performance rating was large enough that Wheeler should get preference over him. Meanwhile when none of the three players played a ton of games, the playing of an extra game carries much more weight which was why we gave him the nod over Bodek as well.
But whoever got the honor in the end, it is very clear that the San Francisco Team is not likely to run out of strong young talent anytime soon. And with Wheeler, Panchanatham, and Banik all likely to return for future seasons, the Mechanics may be giving headaches to their opponents for years to come in the middle to lower boards.
Record: 4.0 / 5 (80%)
Performance Rating: 2571
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Other Candidates:
As mentioned, FM Vignesh Panchanatham (SF) (4.0 / 5, 2471 Performance) and FM Michael Bodek (NY) (3.5 / 4, 2471 Performance) was certainly the nearest candidate to making it. As stated, the fact that the former’s only loss was to Guadalupe under rather strange circumstances, a game which he would have at least drawn (and likely won) nearly every other time (either of which would have gotten him the spot for sure) did make us rethink the decision. And since also that loss, while in the postseason, did not end up affecting the match result, it was somewhat unclear, but in the end Wheeler’s stronger opposition gave him the upper hand. Bodek also had a very strong season, but again we always favor people who played more when two players are so similar statistically.
A couple others who had strong seasons but did not play enough or score quite well enough to merit consideration over the other candidates were NM Federico Gonzalez (MIA) (3.5 / 5, 2544 Performance) and FM Robby Adamson (ARZ) (3.0 / 4, 2494 Performance), both of whom scored plus two with some important wins mixed in, but again neither had quite the resume needed to make the All Stars.
Stay tuned as we will announce the All Stars for the other two boards within a few days!