Is Shmelov the MVP for Boston Blitz?

In my opinion, Shmelov is the most valuable player for the Boston Blitz. Other people may suggest Sammour-Hasbun or Christiansen as potential MVPs for Boston, but let’s consider that MVP means “MOST VALUABLE player”.

Let’s imagine life without Larry on board 1. Boston would be able to use the combo of Perelshteyn and Sammour-Hasbun on boards 1-2, which is not all that much weaker than the Christiansen-Perelshteyn combo. Without Sammour-Hasbun, Blitz could still use it’s strongest lineup of Christiansen-Perelshteyn on boards 1-2.

Meanwhile without Shmelov on board 3, who would be the go-to-guy for Boston? The only players who could fill this role are Martirosov or Riordan, both of whom are not nearly as strong as Denys. This is why Denys has gotten so much play this season, since Boston has no good replacement (better hope he doesn’t get injured!). Boston also gets Shmelov for a discount, since his US Chess League rating is about 150 points lower than his actual rating.

Denys has coasted under the radar for much of the season because he is very consistent and plays solid. This consistency factor is majorly under rated in team play, where losing a game is much worse for the team than drawing 2 games. I’d much rather have a consistent, but slightly weaker player on my team than a high risk player who is a little bit stronger.

Unfortunately for Boston, both of their board 4 players (Krasik and Williams) have highly fluctuating styles. This may be a major factor in the playoffs when one bad game means you are gone. I still don’t know why Boston didn’t consider picking up Bennet Pellows. Bennet is a highly promising junior from Massachusetts who is currently rated about 2100 (similar to Krasik), but was rated only 1800 less than a year ago. This means Boston could have played the lineup: 1) Christiansen 2) Perelshteyn 3) Sammour-Hasbun 4) Pellows. I’m sure this lineup would strike fear in other teams in the league.

In closing, I think Boston should consider renaming Shmelov’s nickname from “The Bee” to “The Backbone”.