Seattle's Ballard Looks East

US Chess League Commissioner IM Greg Shahade interviewed Seattle Slugger's Team Manager Clint Ballard. Here are a few excerpts that may be of interest to Boston Blitz fans and BCC Weblog readers:

7. Tell us your thoughts about your top 2 players, GM Serper and IM Orlov. Do you ever plan on using them both in the same match?

Having both Orlov and Serper on the team is like having two GM's on the team and allows us to matchup against any other team, even Boston's Christiansen/Perelshteyn duo....

Drinking a double shot of half-caf espresso is like having a double espresso, but it isn't having a double espresso, is it?

9. Aside from Seattle of course, which team do you think is the strongest team in the league?

Certainly Boston, the only other team with only 1 draw so far and a non-master manager, is one of the teams I wouldn't be surprised to meet in the finals. However, if Baltimore beats them in week 6, then anything can happen. If they don't how can anybody else in the East catch up to them?...

No doubt Matt will agree that having a non-Master manager is the primary driver of Boston's success this season.

And finally, where do you suppose Greg might have come up with this question?

8. What are the chances that there will be cheerleaders at a Sluggers match this season?

Until the games are televised, I don't really see the need for cheerleaders, plus it could distract our players. I was thinking of setting up a webcast from the other room that the other teams could watch :)

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Line-ups for this week's match against the Philadelphia Masterminds are out and, on paper at least, the Blitz look to be in good shape to maintain their unbeaten streak (Boston has White on Boards 1 & 3):

GM Eugene Perelshteyn (2614) vs. FM Bryan Smith (2442)

FM Steven Winer (2422) vs. IM Richard Costigan (2287)

NM Charles Riordan (2283) vs. FM Norman Rogers (2270)

NM Vadim Martirosov (2259) vs. NM Elvin Wilson (2240)

Current BCC Champion Charles Riordan makes his 2006 debut and giant-killer Vadim Martirosov drops down from Board 3 to 4.