Friday, September 07, 2007

Blitz and Inventors top the QPRs

There has been a fair bit of movement in the US Chess League Quantitative Power Rankings this week, which is not surprising since we are so early in the season. Boston and Philadelphia take the top spots as the only undefeated teams in the league. Interestingly, the two teams are scheduled to play each other next week. The top teams in the West, San Francisco and Dallas, hold the next two spots.

Not only is Tennessee not at the bottom, but they have inched their way up to 10th. Meanwhile, the New York Knights -- pre-season favorites of some -- continue to occupy the cellar, and next week they have to face the 3rd ranked Mechanics.

US Chess League Quantitative Power Rankings
After Week 2
Format - (Match Record, Scaled Score, Last Week's Rank)

  1. Boston (2.0, .913, 4th) - Greater strength of schedule than the Inventors

  2. Philadelphia (2.0, .889, 5th)

  3. San Francisco (1.5, .827, 1st) - Mechanics are ahead of the Destiny on game score with Black, performance rating, and schedule strength

  4. Dallas (1.5, .731, 3rd)

  5. Seattle (1.0, .682, 9th) - More game points than the other 1-1 teams

  6. Carolina (1.0, .628, 10th) - Cobras have a slightly lower performance rating than the Kingfishers but are way ahead on schedule strength and game score with Black

  7. Baltimore (1.0, .518, 2nd)

  8. New Jersey (1.0, .451, 7th)

  9. Queens (0.5, .318, 6th) - Pioneers have a slight edge over the Tempo in performance rating and strength of schedule

  10. Tennessee (0.5, .281, 11th)

  11. Miami (0.0, .112, 8th) - The Sharks and Knights share the worst scores for match record, games score, and games score with Black. They also have the same strength of schedule. Miami gets the nudge with a 2192 to 2160 performance rating advantage

  12. New York (0.0, .100, 12th) - I must admit that I'm not shedding a tear for the Knight's predicament. Then again, the Yankees are odds on favorites to make the playoffs after their horrendous start.
Click here for a discussion of the methodology behind the US Chess League Quantitative Power Rankings.
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How could I not rip this picture?

It's Boylston Chess Foundation Board Member Natasha Christiansen all decked out in Boston Blitz attire. I'm not sure what her connection to the team is, but she must be a very big fan.
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More multimedia from the Blitz -- this time it is an interview with Jorge Sammour-Hasbun after his Board 2 victory on Wednesday night. I was happy to hear that he also thought he was about to be mated before coming back to win.

There is also an 8-minute video of game action from the match. You can skip the first 5:20 which is incredibly boring, but don't miss the the last two and half minutes which covers the moments immediately after FM Critelli's mouseslip.

Disclaimer: BCC Weblog provides independent coverage of the United States Chess League. It is not affiliated with the USCL or the Boston Blitz.

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