Don't confuse speed with value...

...or as they say, all good things come to those who wait.

Here are the Original US Chess League Quantitative Power Rankings at the midway point of the season:

Original US Chess League Quantitative Power Rankings v.2
After Week 5
Format - (Match Record, Scaled Score, Last Week's Rank)

1. Boston (4.0, .901, 1st) - The Blitz are ahead of the Destiny in game score, performance rating and strength of schedule
   
   
2. Dallas (4.0, .837, 3rd)
   
   
3. Seattle (3.5, .829, 2nd)
   
   
4. San Francisco (3.0, .761, 6th) - The Mechanics have a higher game score than the other 3.0 teams
   
   
5. Baltimore (3.0, .733, 5th)
   
   
6. Carolina (3.0, .695, 4th)
   
   
7. Philadelphia (3.0, .584, 8th)
   
   
8. New Jersey (2.5, .508, 9th)
   
   
9. Queens (1.5, .454, 7th)
   
   
10. New York (1.0, .332, 10th) - When do you suppose that the qualitative rankers are going to come to terms with the fact that the Knights are not a very good team? Despite their playoff run, they weren't a particularly strong regular season team in 2006 either, finishing with a losing record. Of course, if they can figure out how to start winning a few matches, nothing precludes them from squeezing into the tournament and making another run in '07.
    
    
11. Miami (1.0, .324, 11th)
    
    
12. Tennessee (0.5, .096, 12th) - The league psychologist has asked us to refer to the Tempo as "victory-challenged" (at least until their manager learns to take a joke)

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Here are a few interesting facts after 5 weeks of the regular season:

• Queens has faced the toughest competition of any team in the league, both in terms of opposition cumulative record (16.0) and opposition average rating (2410)
  
  
• On the other hand, New Jersey's opponents have the lowest cumulative record (7.5) and Seattle's, the lowest average rating (2351)
  
  
• Dallas and Seattle, 2nd and 3rd in the rankings, are tied for the 2nd easiest schedule in the league (opposition cumulative record = 9.0)
  
  
• Boston has the highest performance rating (2523) and Tennessee, the lowest (2169) -- a difference of over 350 points

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