IM Levon Altounian 2496 - FM Costin Cozianu 2557
FM Slava Mikhailuk 2431 - IM Rogelio Barcenilla 2583
FM Robby Adamson 2363 - WGM Katerina Rohonyan 2327
Michael Wang 2103 - NM Nick Thumpson 2183
Arizona 2406 - Seattle 2355
Again, Seattle is outrated, but Seattle managed to make their match against Chicago really close. Seattle Sluggers should have their chances this week again.
Board 1: IM Altounian - FM Costin Cozianu
Costin's really strong, and I'm quite surprised that he is not an IM or GM. Perhaps it's because there're hardly any norm events occuring near Seattle. If I remember correctly, Costin won the 2009 Washington Championship very cleanly, drawing Michael Lee and grinding down Howard Chen in a drawish endgame. As for IM Levon Altounian, he is certainly seems to be a solid player, so perhaps it is no surprise that Arizona does not have a GM on their roster! As a matter of fact, it seems that Levon's only loss in the USCL was to super GM Nakamura. I give Costin a slight edge and decent chances of winning, but I predict a draw.
Board 2: FM Slava Mikhailuk - IM Rogelio Barcenilla
Alright. Slava's outrated by, oh wow, 150 points. But judging by his USCL records, Slava always manages to pull out against significantly higher-rated opponents. Just look at his game against GM Shabalov.
HEY ROGER!, look at Slava's face:
Scared? Good. Slava wins this one. Board 2 goes to Seattle.
Board 3: FM Robby Adamson - WGM Katerina Rohonyan
I'm sure that Robby and Katerina are about equal strength. The match should be a sharp Sicilian, and the result could go either way. Ehhhhh, let's call it a draw. :D
Board 4: Michael Wang - NM Nick Thompson
Michael Wang's outrated by 100 points. However, I've played Michael several times before, and he's pretty tough fighter and could draw an NM. I'm sure he'll pull out this time. I predict a draw on board four.
Predicted overall match score: 2.5 - 1.5
YAHHH, Seattle all the way!
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