US Chess League News

Game of the Year -- 1st Place

2009-01-28T22:39:00.000-08:00

This is the final part in a series of articles which has counted down to revealing what game was voted as the 2008 USCL Game of the Year. For more information on exactly how this process worked and the prize information, please refer to: Game of the Year Contest.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Place: GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) vs IM Marko Zivanic (DAL) 1-0

Not content to have only one piece hanging, Christiansen began a parade of tactics with 15. Bxb5+!, never letting up and never giving his opponent a chance to recover.

Below are the comments from the judges on why they ranked the game where they did and in parentheses is the ranking given by that judge and the number of points awarded for that ranking.

IM Ben Finegold (1st Place, 20 points): This is clearly the Game of the Year:

(A) Last week of the event.
(B) Christiansen plays like Christiansen!
(C) White's tactical ability this game is like a SUPER computer! Larry's play is amazing.
(D) High quality + fun to watch, more so than any other game!
(E) BRUTAL!

Winning a game of this quality (all of White's moves are perfect) when the chips are down, makes this GOTY!

FM Ingvar Johannesson (1st Place, 20 points): When looking over all the games, this one catches your eye immediately. Crushing attack, lots of flashy moves, and many of them unexpected, at least for me. At the end of the day this is the kind of game that chess fans like seeing, and I feel the same way. This is I think the prettiest game and so my vote for GOTY!

FM Daniel Ludwig (2nd Place, 19 points): When I stopped and took a deeper look at this game, there was no doubt that this game would be put high up there. Just try and think of the biggest blowout you have ever seen at the highest stage in sports. This game was just as bad, and it became ugly quick. According to the databases, the position after 9... Qxf4 has only occurred six times, but it seems that the previous assessment of this position is that Black is no worse. After 10. Rf1 Qc7 it seems that Black is fine with easy defenses, and apparently even Rybka agrees ... for a couple of minutes. Letting the computer mull over things for a little while allows him to discover the ideas that Christiansen used which gave him a winning position. 11. Qh5 is a theoretical novelty and a darn good one as well. After Christiansen calmly played 14. 0-0-0, Zivanic must not have seen the deadly threat and blindly walked into 15. Bxb5+! The rest was history, but not before Larry threw down the equally nice 17. Rxd6! and 18. Rxf6! It really is mind boggling to think of how badly poor Marko got crushed for the slightest inaccuracy 10... Qc7. Christiansen has always been known to be ruthless, but this was something even more frightening. Let's also not forget at what stage this game took place — the biggest of them all: Board One in the Championship Match. Phenomenal game by Christiansen, unfortunately for him I felt that the Erenburg vs Sammour-Hasbun game was just a little deeper.

FM Ron Young (2nd Place, 19 points): Perhaps it was naive of Black to accept White's pawn sac, but Larry has surrendered bigger things in the opening for less compensation. In any case, this game featured an impressive series of notable moves and almost got my first place vote. In the end though I favored a game where the coolness was deeper even if less abundant.

GM Jan Gustafsson (3rd Place, 18 points): A trademark Larry C storming the barricades effort. I haven't seen this 8. Bd3 pawn sac before, but accepting it against Christiansen seems very risky to say the least. Probably after 14. O-O-O Black is already in deep trouble, but I'm unable to suggest a decent improvement from moves ten through fourteen for Black, and White executes with ruthless precision. I especially like the quiet 16. Rf3! and afterward some roads lead to Rome. 18. Rxf6 and 19. Nd5 are definitely spectacular and at the same time an accurate way to do the job. White never lets his guard down, and both 25. Bc6! and 26. Rd6 deserve praise too.

Total Score of Christiansen vs Zivanic: (1st Place, 96 Points)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Final 2008 Game of the Year Standings:

1st Place (96 Points): GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) vs IM Marko Zivanic (DAL) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

2nd Place (86 Points): GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

3rd Place (76 Points): SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) vs IM David Pruess (SF) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

4th Place (72 Points): IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) vs GM Vinay Bhat (SF) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

5th Place (70 Points): GM Joel Benjamin (NJ) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 0-1 Article Elimination Article

6th Place (64 Points): GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article

7th Place (62 Points): IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs IM Dean Ippolito (NJ) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

8th Place (60 Points): GM Vinay Bhat (SF) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

9th Place (59 Points): GM Alex Shabalov (NY) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 0-1 Article Elimination Article

10th Place (54 Points): IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

11th Place (51 Points): IM Lev Milman (CAR) vs GM Alex Shabalov (NY) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

12th Place (46 Points): GM Sergey Kudrin (PHI) vs GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article

13th Place (44 Points): IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

14th Place (42 Points): GM Pascal Charbonneau (NY) vs GM Sergey Kudrin (PHI) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

15th Place (35 Points): FM Bruci Lopez (MIA) vs GM Gregory Serper (SEA) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

16th Place (34 Points): IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) vs GM Julio Becerra (MIA) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

17th Place (32 Points): GM Patrick Wolff (SF) vs IM Marko Zivanic (DAL) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article

18th Place (27 Points): IM Dmitry Schneider (QNS) vs GM Eugene Perelshteyn (BOS) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

19th Place (22 Points): FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article

20th Place (18 Points): GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs IM Rogelio Barcenilla (ARZ) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

Game of the Year -- 2nd Place

2009-01-28T22:28:00.000-08:00

This is the final part in a series of articles which has counted down to revealing what game was voted as the 2008 USCL Game of the Year. For more information on exactly how this process worked and the prize information, please refer to: Game of the Year Contest.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2nd Place: GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 1-0

Already having a dangerous attack, Erenburg effectively finished the game with the very nice 22. Rd3!, instead of settling for the banal 22. Bh5 and defeated a very strong opponent in a seemingly perfect effort.

Below are the comments from the judges on why they ranked the game where they did and in parentheses is the ranking given by that judge and the number of points awarded for that ranking.

FM Daniel Ludwig (1st Place, 20 points): This to me was perhaps the deepest attacking game of the year, and as Erenburg made clear in his responses on the USCL blog, none of this was by accident. So what makes a great attacking game? Kings castled on opposite sides, check. Pawn storms, check. Pawn sacrifices, check. Exchange sacrifices, check. Rook lift, check. This game was just so complete and oh so brutal. The biggest knock on this game was that it was so one sided, and thus was not a really great game. I for one am so sick of this one sided argument. One sided implies that one side played well, and the other side played poorly thus making it a wipe out. However, did people even take a close look at this game?! Sammour-Hasbun played great defense, and yet people act as though he played terribly. If someone defends well, and yet still gets crushed, that to me is the sign of a great game. It seems to me like most of the judges enjoy this crap where one side has a great position, but then blows it with a bad move, only to get the better position back when the other side also plays bad moves, and etc., etc., until move fifty or so when someone comes up with a cool looking tactic. I'm sorry, but that to me is not a great game, it is a comedy of errors. It is these kind of people who enjoy following Nakamura's one minute games on ICC rather than watching Linares. The same thing goes for the game Christiansen vs Zivanic. Erenburg took the time to post some of his own thoughts on this game, and how he was especially proud of his 17. Rhe1 move, instead of putting the Rook on the natural g1 square. He was of course correct in doing so, and just about every move he made this game was perfect. I'm especially impressed by 14. f5, because when he plays that, he knows that he is probably giving up the exchange. Not only was the exchange sac good on a psychological level, but according to my engine it was sound technically as well! Not surprisingly, Jorge declined to take the Rook on h1, and intended to go for a rock solid position with 16... f6 and 17... Ne5. However, once again Erenburg was right on the money with his response, 18. g6! Once again, I'm sure that Sergey had this line figured out in advance and when it came time, he struck soundly with the beautiful 22. Rd3, winning soon after. The recipient of this gem is especially notable. Sammour-Hasbun has always been the one dishing out nasty defeats, but this time, he gets a taste of his own medicine. Erenburg is a big fan of this line against the Najdorf, and he even dealt me a painful loss in a similar looking position. This was a truly spectacular game, the only downfall being that the game was not longer, so we could not see even more brilliancies from White! Congratulations to Erenburg on an excellent season and getting my vote for Game of the Year.

IM Ben Finegold (3rd Place, 18 points): Sammour-Hasbun gets punished for playing 15... exf5? This fatally opens up the b1-h7 diagonal after a later f6 by White, as well as giving up the d5 square. Erenburg never lets up and wins quickly against a strong opponent in brutal fashion. But this game was so one sided, I could not rank it higher as it seemed like it was over before it started. Black needs to play either 15... Rfe8 or 15... Ne5 to have chances in this line and leave the Kingside as closed as possible.

FM Ingvar Johannesson (4th Place, 17 points): A very impressive Sicilian slaughter by Erenburg. 22. Rd3! is the star move, and all I can say is that Sammour-Hasbun is DE ... wait for it ... NIED ... DENIED! But it's also impressive that it's not at all clear where Black goes wrong. The 16... f6 move seems to be a novelty, but maybe Black must just bite the bullet and accept the first exchange offer.

FM Ron Young (5th Place, 16 points): White expressed the opinion that this was a very good game, and he ought to know. Black seemed to think otherwise, but he should realize, like the Duke of Brunswick, that it takes two to create a great game and be proud of his part in creating this one.

GM Jan Gustafsson (6th Place, 15 points): A very good effort by Erenburg, making it look easy against a strong opponent. I lack knowledge about this Sicilian to say where Black went wrong as he already seems in big trouble after 14. f5!. 18. g6! also looks like a good decision, and 22. Rd3!! is a nice way to finish the game off. The game might be a bit one sided, but to win with such ease without obvious mistakes from his opponent is impressive for sure.

Total Score of Erenburg vs Sammour-Hasbun: (2nd Place, 86 Points)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Place (96 Points): GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) vs IM Marko Zivanic (DAL) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

2nd Place (86 Points): GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

3rd Place (76 Points): SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) vs IM David Pruess (SF) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

4th Place (72 Points): IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) vs GM Vinay Bhat (SF) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

5th Place (70 Points): GM Joel Benjamin (NJ) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 0-1 Article Elimination Article

6th Place (64 Points): GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article

7th Place (62 Points): IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs IM Dean Ippolito (NJ) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

8th Place (60 Points): GM Vinay Bhat (SF) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

9th Place (59 Points): GM Alex Shabalov (NY) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 0-1 Article Elimination Article

10th Place (54 Points): IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

11th Place (51 Points): IM Lev Milman (CAR) vs GM Alex Shabalov (NY) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

12th Place (46 Points): GM Sergey Kudrin (PHI) vs GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article

13th Place (44 Points): IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

14th Place (42 Points): GM Pascal Charbonneau (NY) vs GM Sergey Kudrin (PHI) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

15th Place (35 Points): FM Bruci Lopez (MIA) vs GM Gregory Serper (SEA) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

16th Place (34 Points): IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) vs GM Julio Becerra (MIA) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

17th Place (32 Points): GM Patrick Wolff (SF) vs IM Marko Zivanic (DAL) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article

18th Place (27 Points): IM Dmitry Schneider (QNS) vs GM Eugene Perelshteyn (BOS) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

19th Place (22 Points): FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article

20th Place (18 Points): GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs IM Rogelio Barcenilla (ARZ) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

Game of the Year -- 3rd Place

2009-01-25T22:27:00.000-08:00

This is the eighteenth part in a series of articles which will count down to revealing what game was voted as the 2008 USCL Game of the Year. For more information on exactly how this process works and the prize information, please refer to: Game of the Year Contest.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3rd Place: SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) vs IM David Pruess (SF) 1-0

Sammour-Hasbun had been building up an attack for many moves, having sacrificed two pawns early in the game, and finally crashed through Black's position with 31. Nxe6!! after which the g pawn, which had previously seemed to be serving as more of a defender to the Black King, ended up proving its worth.

Below are the comments from the judges on why they ranked the game where they did and in parentheses is the ranking given by that judge and the number of points awarded for that ranking.

FM Ron Young (1st Place, 20 points): A double pawn sac for long term compensation, then a piece sac (31. Nxe6), and followed by a quiet move (32. Qf4), make this the Game of the Year, in my opinion. If it was all unsound, sorry, nobody told me.

FM Ingvar Johannesson (3rd Place, 18 points): Very entertaining game. Sammour-Hasbun goes all in with an inventive attack starting with 12. Nb5 - d6 followed by 15. f5 - f6. It was interesting, but somehow the attack ends up in a positional bind for White, down two pawns. There seems to be no way through, but an inaccuracy by Black allows another sacrifice and after that Sammour-Hasbun's raw tactical talent showcases itself, and he finishes the game in impressive fashion.

GM Jan Gustafsson (5th Place, 16 points): Not sure what to think about this one. I've never liked these French positions with that ugly c8 Bishop for Black, but that's highly subjective obviously. Castling Queenside and allowing 10... c4 etc. is risky business for sure though. Sammour-Hasbun's concept starting with 12. Nb5 and peaking in 15. f5! and 16. f6 is creative for sure, even though I'm not sure White was actually better after it as my computer is pretty happy with Black. Anyways, he got decent positional compensation and finished very nicely with the fancy 31. Nxe6!! after getting the chance from 30... Qf8. Nice stuff and far from easy to calculate that White is actually winning after 34. Qc7 and 36. Qd6!

Interesting concept, cute finish, but not at the top of my list since I'm not so sure about the objective merits of White's concept and how the position actually was before Pruess went astray with 30... Qf8?? (26... Kg8 also looks strange).

FM Daniel Ludwig (7th Place, 14 points): This was Jorge's finest game of the season. Typically Jorge beats you with some nice tactical shot that you completely overlooked but not in this case. In this case, Pruess had a long time to see what Jorge was doing, and was still unable to find a way to prevent the catastrophic break through with 31. Nxe6! In fact, Jorge spent moves twenty five through thirty preparing this idea, and during all that time, all Pruess could do was push his Pawns forward in what was a useless attempt to counterattack. Also, Jorge was one of the very fortunate people who had the opportunity to train with Tal, and I could definitely see a lot of Tal's influence in this game. 15. f5! was a great idea, regardless of what a computer might think. It is a deep double pawn sacrifice for long lasting pressure and open files. Tal was known for these sacrifices, without any concrete forced win in mind, just putting his opponent on the hot seat, forcing him to make all the tough choices. Unfortunately for Pruess, when the time came, he didn't have the gusto to play his last big opportunity, 30... e5! However, I can't blame him for not doing this, as I highly doubt I would play it either, considering how out of sync this seems to be with the position. After 31. Nxe6 the game is not quite over, but due to Jorge's relentless play, it seemed easier than it probably was.

IM Ben Finegold (13th Place, 8 points): A typical game between the weak players of the USCL. White sacrifices a pawn for nothing; Black has no idea how to defend so White equalizes. Then Black misses an obvious tactic and completely falls apart. Looks like a simul game. Once again, don't look at this game with Rybka or Fritz as you will be disappointed. I ranked it pretty highly though because the players have spirit!

Total Score of Sammour-Hasbun vs Pruess: (3rd Place, 76 Points)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stay tuned for the final article in the next few days as we will announce the 2008 Game of the Year!

Week 8: GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 1-0 Article

Finals: GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) vs IM Marko Zivanic (DAL) 1-0 Article

Eliminated:

3rd Place (76 Points): SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) vs IM David Pruess (SF) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

4th Place (72 Points): IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) vs GM Vinay Bhat (SF) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

5th Place (70 Points): GM Joel Benjamin (NJ) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 0-1 Article Elimination Article

6th Place (64 Points): GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article

7th Place (62 Points): IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs IM Dean Ippolito (NJ) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

8th Place (60 Points): GM Vinay Bhat (SF) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

9th Place (59 Points): GM Alex Shabalov (NY) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 0-1 Article Elimination Article

10th Place (54 Points): IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

11th Place (51 Points): IM Lev Milman (CAR) vs GM Alex Shabalov (NY) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

12th Place (46 Points): GM Sergey Kudrin (PHI) vs GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article

13th Place (44 Points): IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

14th Place (42 Points): GM Pascal Charbonneau (NY) vs GM Sergey Kudrin (PHI) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

15th Place (35 Points): FM Bruci Lopez (MIA) vs GM Gregory Serper (SEA) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

16th Place (34 Points): IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) vs GM Julio Becerra (MIA) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

17th Place (32 Points): GM Patrick Wolff (SF) vs IM Marko Zivanic (DAL) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article

18th Place (27 Points): IM Dmitry Schneider (QNS) vs GM Eugene Perelshteyn (BOS) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

19th Place (22 Points): FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article

20th Place (18 Points): GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs IM Rogelio Barcenilla (ARZ) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

Game of the Year -- 4th Place

2009-01-23T20:55:00.000-08:00

This is the seventeenth part in a series of articles which will count down to revealing what game was voted as the 2008 USCL Game of the Year. For more information on exactly how this process works and the prize information, please refer to: Game of the Year Contest.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4th Place: IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) vs GM Vinay Bhat (SF) 1-0

After cleverly luring Black's Queen away from the Kingside, Kuljasevic brought his own Queen back with 46. Qd2! and struck a fatal blow to the Black King before Bhat could recover.

Below are the comments from the judges on why they ranked the game where they did and in parentheses is the ranking given by that judge and the number of points awarded for that ranking.

FM Daniel Ludwig (3rd Place, 18 points): One word is all it takes to describe this game: clutch. Both players were under five minutes when it became clear that in order for Dallas to advance, Davorin had to win. I recall watching and being amused by all the Dallas fans who were convinced Davorin was winning, and all the San Francisco fans who were likewise convinced it was a draw. I myself had doubts about Kul-J's chances, but that's when he began playing the best moves for about the final fifteen moves. I especially liked the idea he used of transferring the Queen to the Queenside and then immediately back to the Kingside, with the deep idea of throwing the Black Queen out of defensive position. You can dissect this game however you like, but in the end, it isn't doing the game justice if you don't consider the context, and with that in mind it was a great game even though the moves weren't all that spectacular because if it were simply about the entertainment value of the moves, this game would probably be placed closer to thirteenth than third.

GM Jan Gustafsson (4th Place, 17 points): Another great game by Mr. Kuljasevic; I'm really starting to wonder why I'd never heard of this guy!

A topical line of the Slav was played, resembling some Topalov vs Kramnik games. I used to think Black was absolutely fine there, but suffering badly against both Bacrot and Vaganian in that very line has taught me otherwise. Kuljasevic makes another good case for White's chances in that line, the space advantage and attacking chances seem to more than compensate White's "bad" Bishop and Black's play on the c-file.

Both sides played well in this game, but I am a bit skeptical about Bhat's decision to go 22... g5, which seems to ease White's attack. Bhat played very well to stay in the game afterward though; 34. Nf4 might not have been the most precise (34. Rg3!), and 39... R8c3 looks like an improvement, when Black might still be fine. As it was, White built up a decisive attack with simple looking, logical moves getting rid of the key defenders.

Not quite flashy enough to be a winner, but again I am impressed with Kuljasevic's strong and logical play. I might just have to hire him for my Hamburg team!

IM Ben Finegold (7th Place, 14 points): White plays pretty well and has a slight edge, then Black equalizes. After a lot of random moves, Black plays 45... Qb6? and loses. A difficult maneuvering game. I ranked this game higher than normal as Bhat is really tough to beat in the USCL.

FM Ron Young (8th Place, 13 points): Sometimes I'll overstuff a bag of garbage and have difficulty pushing it down the chute in the hallway. I'll push the hatch closed, but the bag will not go quite all the way in, so I open the hatch, push the bag some with my hand, close the hatch again, open and nudge the bag, etc., until finally the bag is all the way in and falls down the chute. The play here from moves forty four through forty six resemble this action, and 47. Nf4 finally sends Black down the chute.

FM Ingvar Johannesson (11th Place, 10 points): Somehow this game didn't do much for me even though I understand the situation was tense because of the match situation and the winner advancing. A pretty hard fought game which seemed pretty even near the end. What kills the mood for me is I don't know if what decided the game was brilliant accuracy by White or if he just got lucky maneuvering around in time trouble. Although it didn't do much for me, it was rather well played overall plus it had some drama, and I feel it deserves a ranking in the middle of the pack.

Total Score of Kuljasevic vs Bhat: (4th Place, 72 Points)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stay tuned for two more such articles as the field shrinks by one game every couple of days to see which of the following games will be the 2008 Game of the Year!

Week 5: SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) vs IM David Pruess (SF) 1-0 Article

Week 8: GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 1-0 Article

Finals: GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) vs IM Marko Zivanic (DAL) 1-0 Article

Eliminated:

4th Place (72 Points): IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) vs GM Vinay Bhat (SF) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

5th Place (70 Points): GM Joel Benjamin (NJ) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 0-1 Article Elimination Article

6th Place (64 Points): GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article

7th Place (62 Points): IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs IM Dean Ippolito (NJ) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

8th Place (60 Points): GM Vinay Bhat (SF) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

9th Place (59 Points): GM Alex Shabalov (NY) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 0-1 Article Elimination Article

10th Place (54 Points): IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

11th Place (51 Points): IM Lev Milman (CAR) vs GM Alex Shabalov (NY) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

12th Place (46 Points): GM Sergey Kudrin (PHI) vs GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article

13th Place (44 Points): IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

14th Place (42 Points): GM Pascal Charbonneau (NY) vs GM Sergey Kudrin (PHI) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

15th Place (35 Points): FM Bruci Lopez (MIA) vs GM Gregory Serper (SEA) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

16th Place (34 Points): IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) vs GM Julio Becerra (MIA) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

17th Place (32 Points): GM Patrick Wolff (SF) vs IM Marko Zivanic (DAL) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article

18th Place (27 Points): IM Dmitry Schneider (QNS) vs GM Eugene Perelshteyn (BOS) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

19th Place (22 Points): FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article

20th Place (18 Points): GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs IM Rogelio Barcenilla (ARZ) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

Game of the Year -- 5th Place

2009-01-21T19:28:00.000-08:00

This is the sixteenth part in a series of articles which will count down to revealing what game was voted as the 2008 USCL Game of the Year. For more information on exactly how this process works and the prize information, please refer to: Game of the Year Contest.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

5th Place: GM Joel Benjamin (NJ) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 0-1

How does one thwart a mating threat by a Queen and Bishop battery on h7? Many possible ways, but walking your King into the center with the majority of pieces still on the board probably isn't high on most people's lists. However, Erenburg showed no fear, doing just that, and via playing flawlessly, eventually made the wandering White Queen a bigger liability than his weakened King and ground his opponent down with impressive technique.

Below are the comments from the judges on why they ranked the game where they did and in parentheses is the ranking given by that judge and the number of points awarded for that ranking.

IM Ben Finegold (2nd Place, 19 points): I watched this game live and was impressed by Erenburg's slow buildup to a winning position. White is slightly better, then, from moves twenty five to thirty gets outplayed, and Erenburg seems fine with his King walk. A gutsy performance, walking his King to the center, especially against such a strong and experienced opponent. The game was long and tedious, but, I give it extra marks for the following reasons:

(A) Usually in the USCL, the GOTW is the one where White WINS after such a Black King walk.

(B) Erenburg beat Benjamin with Black.

(C) Black had excellent technique.

(D) The game seamlessly changes phases. First White attacks, then Black equalizes, then Black wins a pawn, and then technique sets in. A long brutal battle, and a high quality game, between two strong GMs. There were no obvious errors which is very unusual for USCL games.

FM Daniel Ludwig (5th Place, 16 points): This game was only one of two Black wins eligible for Game of the Year. What's more, this victory was against a 2600+ opponent and a three time US champion and was the only game of its kind which was eligible. Most of the games that do well in these sorts of contests have beautiful crushing attacks, and occasionally you see fine positional victories. But not this game; the name of the game here was defense, something that often gets overlooked in great players' games. In fact, I would say that the biggest progression we have seen in chess over the twentieth century is tougher defense. Now this game never got much love because it was apparently just some good endgame technique and some missed opportunities on Joel's part. However, I did analyze it pretty deeply, and it seems to me that Joel didn't really miss anything except for the prophylactic computer move 23. Bd3, preventing 23... Nc4, instead of 23. Bf4 which allowed the maneuver Nc4 – Nd6. I really did like the way that Sergey allowed White to invest so much into this attack that came to nothing. After 25. Be5, 25... Qa5! was especially nice, opening up the Bishop and producing counter threats. If White had played 26. Bxf6 then Erenburg would have responded with 26... Bxf3 27. gxf3 Qd2! protecting h6, thus keeping the Pawn and the advantage after 28... gxf6. This idea of 25... Qa5 was really, really deep. Not only was it good for the reason I just mentioned, but he had the idea of playing 27... Rc8, exchanging the pieces, and then meeting 29. Qg8 the way he did with 29... Qc3! With all this in mind, it is no wonder that Joel went for 23. Bf4, probably thinking that he was nearly winning. I also really liked how the White Queen went from being a menace to a prisoner of war in a matter of several moves. White probably could not stand seeing his strongest asset sit behind iron bars on Black's back rank, and thus decided to give up the pawn with 34. Ne5. It seems to me that people just don't appreciate how difficult it is to accurately defend a position like this with the King in the middle of the board as many would crumble in the situation Erenburg was in. A truly great game with lots of excitement, tons of chances to go wrong, yet very few mistakes in what was a long tense battle.

FM Ingvar Johannesson (6th Place, 15 points): I am very impressed with this game by Black. He equalizes and then goes on to outplay a very strong GM in very clinical fashion with the Black pieces. A fantastic technical effort by Erenburg.

GM Jan Gustafsson (11th Place, 10 points): Strange game. To me the early phase of the game looks like a success for Benjamin as I'm always skeptical about h6 in these IQP positions, it's just so weakening. Erenburg was forced to allow 19. Qh7 and run with his King. I can't believe White isn't better around there – both 20. Rfe1 and 20. b3 come to mind, and 24. Bd3 might also still keep an edge. The way it went Erenburg played some very precise non-obvious moves (25... Qa5! and 27... Rc8!) and took over the advantage. 34. Ne5 looks somewhat panicky, instead after 34. d5 things are probably not that bad. Erenburg finishes with good technique, but I'm a bit disappointed by the way Benjamin mishandled his nice position and miss the special achievement by the winner.

FM Ron Young (11th Place, 10 points): It is hard for Black to win a spectacular game so let us honor Black's cool King walk, tactical alertness (e.g., the initiative seizing 27... Rc8), and solid technique. How I rank it will depend on how I rank the others, and I haven't decided about that yet. In the meantime though, let us all praise this game.

Total Score of Benjamin vs Erenburg: (5th Place, 70 Points)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stay tuned for three more such articles as the field shrinks by one game every couple of days to see which of the following games will be the 2008 Game of the Year!

Week 5: SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) vs IM David Pruess (SF) 1-0 Article

Week 8: GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 1-0 Article

Quarterfinals: IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) vs GM Vinay Bhat (SF) 1-0 Article

Finals: GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) vs IM Marko Zivanic (DAL) 1-0 Article

Eliminated:

5th Place (70 Points): GM Joel Benjamin (NJ) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 0-1 Article Elimination Article

6th Place (64 Points): GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article

7th Place (62 Points): IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs IM Dean Ippolito (NJ) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

8th Place (60 Points): GM Vinay Bhat (SF) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

9th Place (59 Points): GM Alex Shabalov (NY) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 0-1 Article Elimination Article

10th Place (54 Points): IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

11th Place (51 Points): IM Lev Milman (CAR) vs GM Alex Shabalov (NY) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

12th Place (46 Points): GM Sergey Kudrin (PHI) vs GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article

13th Place (44 Points): IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

14th Place (42 Points): GM Pascal Charbonneau (NY) vs GM Sergey Kudrin (PHI) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

15th Place (35 Points): FM Bruci Lopez (MIA) vs GM Gregory Serper (SEA) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

16th Place (34 Points): IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) vs GM Julio Becerra (MIA) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

17th Place (32 Points): GM Patrick Wolff (SF) vs IM Marko Zivanic (DAL) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article

18th Place (27 Points): IM Dmitry Schneider (QNS) vs GM Eugene Perelshteyn (BOS) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

19th Place (22 Points): FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article

20th Place (18 Points): GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs IM Rogelio Barcenilla (ARZ) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

Game of the Year -- Top Five Analysis

2009-01-20T13:53:00.000-08:00

So we have reached the prize stage of this contest, and these are the games that remain:

Week 5: SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) vs IM David Pruess (SF) 1-0 Article

Week 8: GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 1-0 Article

Quarterfinals: IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) vs GM Vinay Bhat (SF) 1-0 Article

Finals: GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) vs IM Marko Zivanic (DAL) 1-0 Article

Wildcard #2: GM Joel Benjamin (NJ) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 0-1 Article

Undoubtedly, the biggest surprise is the continued survival of the Kuljasevic vs Bhat encounter, which the four predictors had placed in 10th, 11th, 16th, and 16th (maybe that's why none of us are actual judges?). Little else really is out of the ordinary though with the other four games all predicted to be near there from the start. For reference though, these are the rankings remaining for the Top Five games for the five judges and the the four predictors:

IM Ben Finegold: 1, 2, 3, 7, 13

GM Jan Gustafsson: 3, 4, 5, 6, 11

FM Ingvar Johannesson: 1, 3, 4, 6, 11

FM Daniel Ludwig: 1, 2, 3, 5, 7

FM Ron Young: 1, 2, 5, 8, 11

NM Jonathan Hilton: 2, 4, 9, 10, 16

IM Greg Shahade: 1, 2, 6, 9, 16

WGM Jennifer Shahade: 1, 2, 3, 4, 11

NM Arun Sharma: 1, 6, 7, 8, 10

Unfortunately, my triumph in being the only one to get nine of the top ten games correct seems to have been short lived as I'm now the only one to get a mere one of the top five correct (with Daniel Ludwig and Jennifer Shahade being on top, getting four of five correct).

While my incompetence in that regard cannot be debated, I'm really not surprised by any Top Five game, other than Kuljasevic vs Bhat like most people probably are. Even though I personally thought both Sammour-Hasbun vs Pruess and Christiansen vs Zivanic were not quite deserving of the Top Five (personally, I felt those players' other games, Shabalov vs Sammour-Hasbun and Kudrin vs Christiansen, were better, but again maybe that's why I'm not a judge!), I definitely am not surprised to see either of them make it here (the judges probably decided to really rub in my face by making those games finish first and second). Nevertheless, I am quite happy to see that my Wildcard pick, Benjamin vs Erenburg, did manage to make it to the promise land as I really felt that it deserved that in the least (and I still hold out hope that it will win!).

So which of these games will win the $500 Grand Prize? Stay tuned to see as it will be announced within the next couple of weeks!

Game of the Year -- 6th Place

2009-01-19T22:09:00.000-08:00

This is the fifteenth part in a series of articles which will count down to revealing what game was voted as the 2008 USCL Game of the Year. For more information on exactly how this process works and the prize information, please refer to: Game of the Year Contest.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

6th Place: GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 1/2-1/2

Following a strong exchange sacrifice by Ehlvest, Erenburg cleverly defended with 27... Bf5! After some more nice tactics by both sides, the game liquidated into a drawn endgame.

Below are the comments from the judges on why they ranked the game where they did and in parentheses is the ranking given by that judge and the number of points awarded for that ranking.

GM Jan Gustafsson (2nd Place, 19 points): We need more Petroffs! Ok, Ehlvest's opening treatment is hardly a refutation, and Black got a very decent position quickly. But the middlegame phase is highly impressive. While the exchange sac 23. Rxf6! was done out of necessity, it also carries a lot of venom, and both sides had to be very precise and creative. 25. e4! Nf4!, 27... Bf5!, and 28. Kh2! are all very strong, non obvious moves – attack and defense on a great level! 28... Kh8 might have been slightly inaccurate, 28... Kg7 covering f6 is probably better. On move thirty Black had the great 30... Qe5! 31. Qxe5 Rxh4 32. Kg3 Rh3 33. Kg2 Rxe5 34. exf5 Rxd3! 35. cxd3 Rxd5 with a good Rook ending, but missing that with low time is hardly a crime. In the game the balance wasn't seriously disturbed, and after the cute 34... Rh1, it quickly finished peacefully. 36. Rh5 might have been a chance to try for more for White actually. A very spectacular game. I was very seriously considering making this one number one, but somehow having a draw as GOTY doesn't seem right, and I also slightly miss more critical opening play. If these should really be criteria is up for discussion of course. Anyways, a cool effort by both sides!

FM Ron Young (4th Place, 17 points): Some people see a Petroff and figure that a dull draw is in store. But every once in a while, you get an exciting draw that leaves you longing for the next Petroff and looking for a Petroff thematic tournament to play in.

FM Ingvar Johannesson (7th Place, 14 points): Had all the makings of a boring Petroff draw, at least the opening and the very end in the Rook ending. But somehow in the middle it seemed like most of the pieces on the board developed some kind of random Tourette syndrome, and the pieces just dropped every which way with no regard for human life. An array of surprising moves in this game like 23. Rxf6, 27... Bf5 and 31... Rh1, although mostly forced. So this game ranks pretty high for its inventiveness and entertainment value.

FM Daniel Ludwig (12th Place, 9 points): I have to admit, Erenburg is quickly becoming one of my favorite GMs in the United States. His play is typically sharp, and he's always trying to win. In this game against Ehlvest, Jaan plays unorthodox as always and gets a worse position out of the opening. After Black played a nice Rook lift, the pressure was too much that White decided to sacrifice the exchange. Black was clearly in control of the game after 12. Be3? and played sharply and accurately to achieve a nearly winning position until he blew it with 30... Bh7 instead of the strong 30... Qe5! This was truly a great game in many respects. It could have easily been Top Five but for two major things. First of all, Ehlvest was just asking for a beating by playing 12. Be3. This move is ridiculous, and I'm sure that Erenburg was upset with himself for having not finishing the job. Secondly, it ended in a draw even though the position was clearly better, if not winning, for Black.

IM Ben Finegold (16th Place, 5 points): Pretty interesting draw. White is outplayed and worse throughout, but plays very resourcefully, and Black misses his chances to be better with 30... Qe5! Pretty well played draw and by far the best of the draws submitted.

Total Score of Ehlvest vs Erenburg: (6th Place, 64 Points)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stay tuned for four more such articles as the field shrinks by one game every couple of days to see which of the following games will be the 2008 Game of the Year!

Week 5: SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) vs IM David Pruess (SF) 1-0 Article

Week 8: GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 1-0 Article

Quarterfinals: IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) vs GM Vinay Bhat (SF) 1-0 Article

Finals: GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) vs IM Marko Zivanic (DAL) 1-0 Article

Wildcard #2: GM Joel Benjamin (NJ) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 0-1 Article

Eliminated:

6th Place (64 Points): GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article

7th Place (62 Points): IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs IM Dean Ippolito (NJ) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

8th Place (60 Points): GM Vinay Bhat (SF) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

9th Place (59 Points): GM Alex Shabalov (NY) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 0-1 Article Elimination Article

10th Place (54 Points): IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

11th Place (51 Points): IM Lev Milman (CAR) vs GM Alex Shabalov (NY) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

12th Place (46 Points): GM Sergey Kudrin (PHI) vs GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article

13th Place (44 Points): IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

14th Place (42 Points): GM Pascal Charbonneau (NY) vs GM Sergey Kudrin (PHI) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

15th Place (35 Points): FM Bruci Lopez (MIA) vs GM Gregory Serper (SEA) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

16th Place (34 Points): IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) vs GM Julio Becerra (MIA) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

17th Place (32 Points): GM Patrick Wolff (SF) vs IM Marko Zivanic (DAL) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article

18th Place (27 Points): IM Dmitry Schneider (QNS) vs GM Eugene Perelshteyn (BOS) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

19th Place (22 Points): FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article

20th Place (18 Points): GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs IM Rogelio Barcenilla (ARZ) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

Game of the Year -- 7th Place

2009-01-17T22:33:00.000-08:00

This is the fourteenth part in a series of articles which will count down to revealing what game was voted as the 2008 USCL Game of the Year. For more information on exactly how this process works and the prize information, please refer to: Game of the Year Contest.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

7th Place: IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs IM Dean Ippolito (NJ) 1-0

In the midst of a tactical melee, Lenderman got the best of the complications with 28. Qxf7!, forcing liquidation into a winning endgame.

Below are the comments from the judges on why they ranked the game where they did and in parentheses is the ranking given by that judge and the number of points awarded for that ranking.

FM Ron Young (3rd Place, 18 points): White made a number of nice moves to reach a winning ending, but Black's inspired King charge made for one of the more exciting mopping-ups since the enchanted mop in Disney's Fantasia. And that one was really more scary than entertaining.

FM Ingvar Johannesson (5th Place, 16 points): A nice tactical game by Lenderman. Black seems to be ok with the two Bishops vs a Rook, but he has some big time coordination problems, and after some nice tactics White ends up in a winning rook endgame. The stalemate attempt 40... Rxc4 was nice although it fell short, but it was somehow a nice cherry on top of a pretty good cake.

GM Jan Gustafsson (10th Place, 11 points): Creative stuff from Lenderman, but I'm not a huge fan of the position he got out of the opening. Black's plan with 16... e5 looks wrong though, giving squares to the White pieces; I'd prefer something less committal such as 16... Qc7. Later on 19. Bxd6 is flashy, but I can't believe that it's the best move; 19. Qf3 instead looks like a huge edge while in the game Black should be ok with the two Bishops for Rook + Pawns. Lenderman came up with the creative 24. h3 25. g4 plan though, applying pressure and provoking Black's mistakes. 28. Qxf7 is a nice if obvious shot, and I'd guess Black is beyond salvation for the rest of the game. Pluses for creativity, but I'm just not buying his concept so not higher on my list.

FM Daniel Ludwig (11th Place, 10 points): Pretty cool game. I enjoyed watching this one, from beginning to end. Ippolito had a nice game going, but got out of control with 16... e5, 17... exf4. One thing that impressed me by about this game was how Lenderman kept the initiative going, even with a Rook against two Bishops. 24. h3, 25. g4 was a nice plan that pretty much sealed the deal. In general this was a great game, but there was nothing deeper than one or two move shots.

IM Ben Finegold (14th Place, 7 points): Lenderman played well (albeit, a bit over the top), but Ippy spoils the game with four consecutive mistakes from moves twenty two through twenty five. A nice tactical win though.

Total Score of Lenderman vs Ippolito: (7th Place, 62 Points)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stay tuned for five more such articles as the field shrinks by one game every couple of days to see which of the following games will be the 2008 Game of the Year!

Week 5: SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) vs IM David Pruess (SF) 1-0 Article

Week 8: GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 1-0 Article

Week 10: GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 1/2-1/2 Article

Quarterfinals: IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) vs GM Vinay Bhat (SF) 1-0 Article

Finals: GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) vs IM Marko Zivanic (DAL) 1-0 Article

Wildcard #2: GM Joel Benjamin (NJ) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 0-1 Article

Eliminated:

7th Place (62 Points): IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs IM Dean Ippolito (NJ) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

8th Place (60 Points): GM Vinay Bhat (SF) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

9th Place (59 Points): GM Alex Shabalov (NY) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 0-1 Article Elimination Article

10th Place (54 Points): IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

11th Place (51 Points): IM Lev Milman (CAR) vs GM Alex Shabalov (NY) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

12th Place (46 Points): GM Sergey Kudrin (PHI) vs GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article

13th Place (44 Points): IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

14th Place (42 Points): GM Pascal Charbonneau (NY) vs GM Sergey Kudrin (PHI) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

15th Place (35 Points): FM Bruci Lopez (MIA) vs GM Gregory Serper (SEA) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

16th Place (34 Points): IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) vs GM Julio Becerra (MIA) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

17th Place (32 Points): GM Patrick Wolff (SF) vs IM Marko Zivanic (DAL) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article

18th Place (27 Points): IM Dmitry Schneider (QNS) vs GM Eugene Perelshteyn (BOS) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

19th Place (22 Points): FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article

20th Place (18 Points): GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs IM Rogelio Barcenilla (ARZ) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

Game of the Year -- 8th Place

2009-01-15T21:07:00.000-08:00

This is the thirteenth part in a series of articles which will count down to revealing what game was voted as the 2008 USCL Game of the Year. For more information on exactly how this process works and the prize information, please refer to: Game of the Year Contest.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

8th Place: GM Vinay Bhat (SF) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 1-0

With a tenuous King position and facing two dangerous passed Pawns, Bhat played the nice 40. Rf4!, simultaneously safeguarding his own King and opening up an attack on the opposing King.

Below are the comments from the judges on why they ranked the game where they did and in parentheses is the ranking given by that judge and the number of points awarded for that ranking.

FM Daniel Ludwig (4th Place, 17 points): The situation that Bhat had is almost my worst chess nightmare. Move thirty five, deep in time pressure, gut tells you that your position is almost winning, but it is so unclear with a Knight for two connected passers and both Kings wide open. To make matters worse, Tate, who is always looking to complicate matters, decides to play 35... Kc6, 36... Kc5, and 37... Kb4, really putting the pressure on White to do something before the pawns start pushing. Let's also not forget that Bhat had to win this game just to tie the match! The entire game was quite good though, even on the side of Tate! Emory's opening choice was fun, and while it was off beat, it certainly wasn't against opening principles. I really like Bhat’s idea of pushing the Pawn all the way down to h6, to punch some holes in the Kingside. There was one point when Bhat could have seized a more serious advantage, but it's hardly clear, and for the most part, both sides were playing great moves. Interestingly enough, the piece sacrifice, 25... Nfxd4 was also strongest. Perhaps Bhat could have saved himself some trouble by not playing 31. f4, weakening his own King, but regardless he recovered excellently to pick up the full point. My favorite point in the game was when Vinay correctly moved his rook back and forth along the f-file forcing Black to give up some coordination. 40. Rf4! was a particularly strong computer like move, that cut off the Queen, while at the same time opening up his own Queen to harass the nomadic King. It's not very often that you find a game that is so fun to watch, with many exciting elements, that is also well played.

IM Ben Finegold (6th Place, 15 points): Now THIS is a USCL GOTW! White obtains a winning position without any trouble against Black's terrible play. Then, *no technique* sets in, and Black is fine. Then, Black goes WAY too far, and White cannot help but win. A very entertaining game for the spectators as it reminds me of two players rated under 1000 in a scholastic tournament. 39...d4?? is funny. Great fun, no quality! Awesome!

GM Jan Gustafsson (7th Place, 14 points): Fun stuff. Having fallen victim to Tate myself I'm well aware of his skills to mix it up even when things might look grim. Not a huge fan of the offbeat French he played and the early strategic decisions like 10... c4 and 12... b4 though, which left his King without a place to go. Bhat did a good job of getting an edge and after say 18. Ng5, I can't see Black surviving.

Later on we get a phase of crazy complications starting with 25... Nxd4 which both sides seem to manage well until the Black King starts a suicide mission with 36... Kc5 and 37... Kb4. Nice finish by Bhat. Being a bit of an opening freak I don't rate this game higher because of Black's strange play in that phase and the fact he didn't get punished appropriately for it. It seemed like Tate was making the key decisions in which direction the game should go but became too creative, and Bhat merely had to cash in later. Still, good entertainment for sure!

FM Ron Young (12th Place, 9 points): This was almost an epic, but it's easier to get the bards on board when the rampaging King prevails over the extra material rather than the opposite.

FM Ingvar Johannesson (16th Place, 5 points): Tate plays a rare opening line that somehow ends up in a French like structure. In the middle game Tate is kind of forced into a piece sacrifice, but we know he doesn't mind it as he likes complicated games with imbalances. It seemed to have the potential to be interesting with connected passed Pawns vs a Knight, but ultimately the King march by Tate proved suicidal.

Total Score of Bhat vs Tate: (8th Place, 60 Points)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stay tuned for six more such articles as the field shrinks by one game every couple of days to see which of the following games will be the 2008 Game of the Year!

Week 5: SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) vs IM David Pruess (SF) 1-0 Article

Week 7: IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs IM Dean Ippolito (NJ) 1-0 Article

Week 8: GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 1-0 Article

Week 10: GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 1/2-1/2 Article

Quarterfinals: IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) vs GM Vinay Bhat (SF) 1-0 Article

Finals: GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) vs IM Marko Zivanic (DAL) 1-0 Article

Wildcard #2: GM Joel Benjamin (NJ) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 0-1 Article

Eliminated:

8th Place (60 Points): GM Vinay Bhat (SF) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

9th Place (59 Points): GM Alex Shabalov (NY) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 0-1 Article Elimination Article

10th Place (54 Points): IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

11th Place (51 Points): IM Lev Milman (CAR) vs GM Alex Shabalov (NY) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

12th Place (46 Points): GM Sergey Kudrin (PHI) vs GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article

13th Place (44 Points): IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

14th Place (42 Points): GM Pascal Charbonneau (NY) vs GM Sergey Kudrin (PHI) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

15th Place (35 Points): FM Bruci Lopez (MIA) vs GM Gregory Serper (SEA) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

16th Place (34 Points): IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) vs GM Julio Becerra (MIA) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

17th Place (32 Points): GM Patrick Wolff (SF) vs IM Marko Zivanic (DAL) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article

18th Place (27 Points): IM Dmitry Schneider (QNS) vs GM Eugene Perelshteyn (BOS) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

19th Place (22 Points): FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article

20th Place (18 Points): GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs IM Rogelio Barcenilla (ARZ) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

Game of the Year -- 9th Place

2009-01-13T15:26:00.000-08:00

This is the twelfth part in a series of articles which will count down to revealing what game was voted as the 2008 USCL Game of the Year. For more information on exactly how this process works and the prize information, please refer to: Game of the Year Contest.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

9th Place: GM Alex Shabalov (NY) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 0-1

How many players would put their King smack in the middle of the board with all the major pieces still on for a bit of extra material against a player like Shabalov? Not many probably, but Sammour-Hasbun defended the position flawlessly and went on to win.

Below are the comments from the judges on why they ranked the game where they did and in parentheses is the ranking given by that judge and the number of points awarded for that ranking.

GM Jan Gustafsson (1st Place, 20 points): My favorite! Shabalov introduces a novelty in a topical opening with 16. Qc2 instead of following in Topalov's footsteps with 16. Bg4. In my experience, being surprised by a new move in a super sharp line like this one is one of the toughest situations there are in chess. Sammour-Hasbun deserves a lot of credit for his, as far as I can see, flawless reaction and handling of the complications, which might just refute Shabalov's novelty. 16... Qxd4 is already a committal and strong decision, and 19... Nf8! seems the only way to keep an edge as the tempting 19... Kd6 only leads to equality according to my helpers. Over the next couple moves I'm also unable to find even the slightest flaw in Black's play; the cold-blooded 30... Rxa2 especially impressed me. Ok, later he might have had some options to finish the game off quicker, but a great tactician like Shabalov still never got a chance to fight back. This game has a lot going for it:

- A fashionable opening, leading to crazy positions with a strange material balance.

- A novelty by Shabalov, making the game an important contribution to the development of this line.

- Almost perfect high-quality play from the winner, rightly judging he is better after returning the Rook with 19... Nf8!

- A win with the Black pieces against a very strong opponent, adding some upset value to the game.

I'm aware this was round one, and that Shabalov always loses in round one, but that doesn't diminish the achievement of the winner and the quality of his play.

FM Ingvar Johannesson (2nd Place, 19 points): Fascinated by this game for some reason. The material balance throughout is very weird and the relative King safety with the King on e5 in the middle of the game makes a nice aesthetic impression. Sammour-Hasbun's tactical talent simply shines through in this very inventive game, both nice defense and then a nice finish after the momentum went over to Black. I gave this second place as it is probably the most interesting game of the lot. I had places two through four pretty evenly matched, but I'll give second to Sammour-Hasbun, no matter whether he wins or loses, his games are very entertaining and interesting!

IM Ben Finegold (10th Place, 11 points): An interesting theoretical line. Black slowly takes over the game, as White never seems to have enough compensation for his material deficit. Shabalov wins and loses a lot of games like this.

FM Ron Young (15th Place, 6 points): Tal used to own the f7 square, and there seem to be more claimants to its inheritance than there were to Howard Hughes's fortune. We can look forward to seeing still more pretenders to the legacy crawl out from the woodwork.

FM Daniel Ludwig (18th Place, 3 points): There seems to be something about Botvinnik's and Moscow's winning game prizes. Don't believe me? Take a look at Nunn/Emms/Burgess's mammoth book of greatest games. Of all the great games they list after 1990 or so, half of them seem to be Botvinnik's, and I disagree with this. I don't think a game should be ranked any higher simply because of the sharp looking opening theory. Already at move fifteen the crowd is probably on the edge of their seats wondering if 12. Nxf7 was come up with over the board, but this is nothing new so let's not credit the players and this game for the false excitement. The point where the game left theoretical paths was at 16. Qc2, the first move that the players actually came up with themselves, which was already a big mistake, and so hardly a good game thus far. After 16. Qc2 Sammour-Hasbun had to simply play a series of greedy captures to reach a winning position which he easily converted. So while Sammour-Hasbun played well, I felt that having to only play a few good moves, capitalizing on poor play by White, did not warrant a higher ranking.

Total Score of Shabalov vs Sammour-Hasbun: (9th Place, 59 Points)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stay tuned for seven more such articles as the field shrinks by one game every couple of days to see which of the following games will be the 2008 Game of the Year!

Week 2: GM Vinay Bhat (SF) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 1-0 Article

Week 5: SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) vs IM David Pruess (SF) 1-0 Article

Week 7: IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs IM Dean Ippolito (NJ) 1-0 Article

Week 8: GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 1-0 Article

Week 10: GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 1/2-1/2 Article

Quarterfinals: IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) vs GM Vinay Bhat (SF) 1-0 Article

Finals: GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) vs IM Marko Zivanic (DAL) 1-0 Article

Wildcard #2: GM Joel Benjamin (NJ) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 0-1 Article

Eliminated:

9th Place (59 Points): GM Alex Shabalov (NY) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 0-1 Article Elimination Article

10th Place (54 Points): IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

11th Place (51 Points): IM Lev Milman (CAR) vs GM Alex Shabalov (NY) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

12th Place (46 Points): GM Sergey Kudrin (PHI) vs GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article

13th Place (44 Points): IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

14th Place (42 Points): GM Pascal Charbonneau (NY) vs GM Sergey Kudrin (PHI) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

15th Place (35 Points): FM Bruci Lopez (MIA) vs GM Gregory Serper (SEA) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

16th Place (34 Points): IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) vs GM Julio Becerra (MIA) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

17th Place (32 Points): GM Patrick Wolff (SF) vs IM Marko Zivanic (DAL) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article

18th Place (27 Points): IM Dmitry Schneider (QNS) vs GM Eugene Perelshteyn (BOS) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

19th Place (22 Points): FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article

20th Place (18 Points): GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs IM Rogelio Barcenilla (ARZ) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

Game of the Year -- 10th Place

2009-01-11T22:00:00.000-08:00

This is the eleventh part in a series of articles which will count down to revealing what game was voted as the 2008 USCL Game of the Year. For more information on exactly how this process works and the prize information, please refer to: Game of the Year Contest.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

10th Place: IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR) 1-0

The already unusual game had another interesting twist, with Knights being taken to corners of the board consecutively with 23. Nxh8 Nxa1. After more twists, White eventually prevailed due to passed pawns on opposite sides of the board.

Below are the comments from the judges on why they ranked the game where they did and in parentheses is the ranking given by that judge and the number of points awarded for that ranking.

FM Daniel Ludwig (8th Place, 13 points): This was a nice game, more because of Lenderman's creativity than the soundness of the moves. 13. Rh3 probably wasn't that strong, but it's a good idea nonetheless, and one that causes imbalances. I'm especially impressed by 21. Nf4! My first reaction was that Lenderman was playing recklessly, but the truth is, it is a deep, well thought out exchange. It really is a great idea that ties up the Black Knights while also giving the Rook on h3 a good purpose in making a passed h5 pawn. Alex could have saved himself some trouble by instead of playing 28. Ne5, playing 28. Nf6, which makes the victory much easier. The reason I didn't put this game any higher is because Lenderman gave away the advantage with inaccurate technique, but won anyways thanks to poor defense by Zaikov, in particular 32... Qe7 and 33... a5.

FM Ron Young (9th Place, 12 points): I admit to getting bleary at yet another Lenderman game, but there are two pretty cool things about this one — the way they capture each other's Rooks on opposite corners with their respective Knights, and Lenderman's Rook lift that takes thirty eight moves to complete but then forces immediate resignation.

FM Ingvar Johannesson (10th Place, 11 points): An entertaining Knight tango in the early middlegame, and then White gets a very solid positional edge which he exploits in a very old school Soviet type fashion. I didn't know much about Lenderman before judging these games, but he has impressed me in the games I have seen in this competition, and his technique in this game did as well.

IM Ben Finegold (12th Place, 9 points): A back and forth game and fun to watch! Black plays a couple of bad moves in the late middlegame though to earn his loss. Low quality, but fun for the spectators.

GM Jan Gustafsson (12th Place, 9 points): Another entertaining, hard fought game. I didn't like White's opening, and 12. Rh3 especially strikes me as a bit odd. I wouldn't have shown my hand so early with 15... O-O-O, after a move like 15... Bf5 or 15... Be7, I'd prefer to be Black, and later on, 19... f6 seems to weaken some squares unnecessarily. The mutual knight dance to the corner some moves later has some aesthetic value and seems like good play too! The position remains unclear until Black loses the thread with 32... Qe7 and 33... a5, after which he never had a chance to comeback. A good fight, but basically just the stronger playing winning in an interesting game after messing up in the opening.

Total Score of Lenderman vs Zaikov: (10th Place, 54 Points)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stay tuned for eight more such articles as the field shrinks by one game every couple of days to see which of the following games will be the 2008 Game of the Year!

Week 1: GM Alex Shabalov (NY) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 0-1 Article

Week 2: GM Vinay Bhat (SF) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 1-0 Article

Week 5: SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) vs IM David Pruess (SF) 1-0 Article

Week 7: IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs IM Dean Ippolito (NJ) 1-0 Article

Week 8: GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 1-0 Article

Week 10: GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 1/2-1/2 Article

Quarterfinals: IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) vs GM Vinay Bhat (SF) 1-0 Article

Finals: GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) vs IM Marko Zivanic (DAL) 1-0 Article

Wildcard #2: GM Joel Benjamin (NJ) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 0-1 Article

Eliminated:

10th Place (54 Points): IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

11th Place (51 Points): IM Lev Milman (CAR) vs GM Alex Shabalov (NY) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

12th Place (46 Points): GM Sergey Kudrin (PHI) vs GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article

13th Place (44 Points): IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

14th Place (42 Points): GM Pascal Charbonneau (NY) vs GM Sergey Kudrin (PHI) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

15th Place (35 Points): FM Bruci Lopez (MIA) vs GM Gregory Serper (SEA) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

16th Place (34 Points): IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) vs GM Julio Becerra (MIA) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

17th Place (32 Points): GM Patrick Wolff (SF) vs IM Marko Zivanic (DAL) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article

18th Place (27 Points): IM Dmitry Schneider (QNS) vs GM Eugene Perelshteyn (BOS) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

19th Place (22 Points): FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article

20th Place (18 Points): GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs IM Rogelio Barcenilla (ARZ) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

Game of the Year -- Midway Comments

2009-01-10T21:29:00.000-08:00

So now that we are halfway through the contest, it seemed appropriate to make some general comments about the way the contest has been going and how those of us who made our own rankings have been doing in terms of relative accuracy to the actual picks. For reference, these are the ten games left (half of which will win a prize!).

Week 1: GM Alex Shabalov (NY) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 0-1 Article

Week 2: GM Vinay Bhat (SF) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 1-0 Article

Week 5: SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) vs IM David Pruess (SF) 1-0 Article

Week 6: IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR) 1-0 Article

Week 7: IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs IM Dean Ippolito (NJ) 1-0 Article

Week 8: GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 1-0 Article

Week 10: GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 1/2-1/2 Article

Quarterfinals: IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) vs GM Vinay Bhat (SF) 1-0 Article

Finals: GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) vs IM Marko Zivanic (DAL) 1-0 Article

Wildcard #2: GM Joel Benjamin (NJ) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 0-1 Article

Things certainly look bright for GM Erenburg, having all three of his games still in contention, though one can never forget the traumatic fate that befell GM Friedel in the 2006 Contest who also had three games in the contest but had his games eliminated in sixth, fifth, and fourth — just out of the prizes. Also, both IM Lenderman and last year's winner SM Sammour-Hasbun have two of their three entries still in the fray.

I can only speak for myself of course, but I personally have been very happy with the job the judges seem to have done (at least up to this point!), they definitely all seemed to put in good effort into their rankings; I've certainly noticed how many of their comments, especially in regards to pointing out key points or moments in the games, have often been very similar, which to me really showcases how carefully they really delved into all the games.

While I, like anyone else, will obviously not agree with every single ranking that the judges' have made (if one chooses to recheck my rankings, linked below, I obviously was hoping for Kudrin vs Christiansen to snare a higher ranking and was expecting Lenderman vs Zaikov to not crack the Top Ten). Of course, even if I wasn't expecting it, I would hope that Lenderman vs Zaikov cracking the Top Ten will silence the large amount of naysayers we had for picking it as GOTW winner. On the whole though, I personally have not been overly surprised by any pick (but that could of course have to do with being pleased with my general standing in comparison to the others who predicted the results of this contest).

On that note, who really has come the closest to predicting the actual results of the contest best? Well, four of us made an effort to do that, and for reference, here were our selections:

Jonathan Hilton

Greg Shahade

Jennifer Shahade

Arun Sharma

**Aside**

I would be remiss of course (given this is my blog and all) to not point out that I'm the only one (including the five actual judges!) to get nine of the Top Ten games correct (everyone else only has seven or eight). Yes, yes, the only one I got wrong happens to be the game which I ranked twentieth, but that's a subject for a different article. I should also note that of the seven Wildcard picks we GOTW Judges made, the only game left in the contest was my pick.

**End Aside**

In any case, recalling back to the Judging Contest we had last year, using the same scoring system (however far from the actual ranking you are for each game, that number of points, and lowest number of points is best), here is how we stand:

1st Place: Arun Sharma (14, 16, 18, 12, 15, 17, 19, 11, 2, 13): 36 Points (Rankings Left: 1, 3 – 10, 20)

2nd Place: Greg Shahade (14, 19, 11, 15, 17, 10, 13, 20, 7, 18): 41 Points (Rankings Left: 1 – 6, 8, 9, 12, 16)

3rd Place: Jonathan Hilton (17, 19, 8, 12, 13, 11, 20, 7, 3, 18): 53 Points (Rankings Left: 1, 2, 4 – 6, 9, 10, 14, 15, 16)

4th Place: Jennifer Shahade (15, 12, 13, 10, 14, 16, 17, 5, 19, 20): 54 Points (Rankings Left: 1 – 4, 6 – 9, 11, 18)

So at the moment I have the lead (which is likely to vanish once my twentieth place game, Lenderman vs Zaikov, appears), but I can enjoy it while it lasts.

I hope everyone is enjoying the sped up GOTY contest; I know the five month length people had to endure in previous years had a way of losing people's interest after awhile, but I sure hope that's not the case this time around. Be sure to stay tuned for the most exciting part of the contest as we get into the Top Ten and then of course into the Top Five and the winner of the $500 Grand Prize!

Game of the Year -- 11th Place

2009-01-09T22:36:00.000-08:00

This is the tenth part in a series of articles which will count down to revealing what game was voted as the 2008 USCL Game of the Year. For more information on exactly how this process works and the prize information, please refer to: Game of the Year Contest.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

11th Place: IM Lev Milman (CAR) vs GM Alex Shabalov (NY) 1-0

Despite the paucity of material on the board, Milman uncorked the nice 43. h4!, forcing the Black King into mate.

Below are the comments from the judges on why they ranked the game where they did and in parentheses is the ranking given by that judge and the number of points awarded for that ranking.

FM Ron Young (7th Place, 14 points): It has been alleged that this game lacks in swashbuckling, but you've got to like a player who wins the ending with just the pieces he began the game with.

FM Ingvar Johannesson (8th Place, 13 points): This seems like a very nice technical effort by White. White emerges from the opening with a tiny but very comfortable edge, and he increased it slowly but surely to win a pawn and when Black tries to stir up counterplay, White finds a nice aesthetic mating pattern out of nowhere to finish the game up nicely. I tend to like such clean games sometimes even more than "flashy" games. The level of the opposition with the Black pieces who was made to look very bad in this game compelled me to rank this in the top half of the competition.

IM Ben Finegold (8th Place, 13 points): This reminded me of Kuljasevic vs Becerra 1-0. Milman plays excellent chess, and Shabalov loses slowly. The game is boring for a USCL game (aka well played) so I did not rank it in the top five, simply due to its lack of excitement. A nice win against a strong player though.

FM Daniel Ludwig (13th Place, 8 points): Lev played fantastic; there is nothing bad I can say about the way he played. Shabalov scared me at first, making it look like he was going to play a standard Berlin. However, he threw in the dubious 5... a6 after which things became interesting. I don't think there is any need to play 8. g4, but Lev did it anyways. Shabalov could have had a slight edge with 12... O-O-O instead of 12... Kf7 and also have kept things much closer with 15... Rh4 instead of 15... Re8. The reason I did not put this higher is because firstly, Shabalov did not defend nearly as well as Shabalov is capable of, and number two, the remaining choices had so much more excitement than this game. Once again, it was a great game, very instructive, just no serious complications.

GM Jan Gustafsson (18th Place, 3 points): A good technical job and high level play by Milman, but still it looks like Shabalov mainly did it to himself in this one. I'm not that familiar with the opening, but it looks like 12... O-O-O might be an improvement. The ending after 12... Kf7 looks nice for White, and 17... Rh6 and 19... b5 didn't help Black's cause either. Good game, but too boring for a GOTY.

Total Score of Milman vs Shabalov: (11th Place, 51 Points)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stay tuned for nine more such articles as the field shrinks by one game every couple of days to see which of the following games will be the 2008 Game of the Year!

Week 1: GM Alex Shabalov (NY) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 0-1 Article

Week 2: GM Vinay Bhat (SF) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 1-0 Article

Week 5: SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) vs IM David Pruess (SF) 1-0 Article

Week 6: IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR) 1-0 Article

Week 7: IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs IM Dean Ippolito (NJ) 1-0 Article

Week 8: GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 1-0 Article

Week 10: GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 1/2-1/2 Article

Quarterfinals: IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) vs GM Vinay Bhat (SF) 1-0 Article

Finals: GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) vs IM Marko Zivanic (DAL) 1-0 Article

Wildcard #2: GM Joel Benjamin (NJ) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 0-1 Article

Eliminated:

11th Place (51 Points): IM Lev Milman (CAR) vs GM Alex Shabalov (NY) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

12th Place (46 Points): GM Sergey Kudrin (PHI) vs GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article

13th Place (44 Points): IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

14th Place (42 Points): GM Pascal Charbonneau (NY) vs GM Sergey Kudrin (PHI) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

15th Place (35 Points): FM Bruci Lopez (MIA) vs GM Gregory Serper (SEA) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

16th Place (34 Points): IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) vs GM Julio Becerra (MIA) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

17th Place (32 Points): GM Patrick Wolff (SF) vs IM Marko Zivanic (DAL) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article

18th Place (27 Points): IM Dmitry Schneider (QNS) vs GM Eugene Perelshteyn (BOS) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

19th Place (22 Points): FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article

20th Place (18 Points): GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs IM Rogelio Barcenilla (ARZ) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

Game of the Year -- 12th Place

2009-01-08T21:56:00.000-08:00

This is the ninth part in a series of articles which will count down to revealing what game was voted as the 2008 USCL Game of the Year. For more information on exactly how this process works and the prize information, please refer to: Game of the Year Contest.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

12th Place: GM Sergey Kudrin (PHI) vs GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) 1/2-1/2

After a tough struggle, facing a dangerous array of pawns, Kudrin dismantled them with 41. Rxd3!, and after a nice tactical sequence by both sides, the game liquidated into a simple, even ending.

Below are the comments from the judges on why they ranked the game where they did and in parentheses is the ranking given by that judge and the number of points awarded for that ranking.

GM Jan Gustafsson (9th Place, 12 points): A well played game by both sides at least as far as I can tell. 9... b5 is a move that just feels wrong to me as it weakens many squares, but I can't suggest any obvious way to exploit it; maybe 10. c4 was worth looking into. In the game it looks like White is just in time, but Christiansen's strong exchange sac 15... c5! and 17... cxd4! proves that Black is doing fine. The game develops logically, but 27... Bxf3?! is a huge surprise for Bishop fans like me as after 27... Rc8!, I'd actually rather be Black! Even in the game, Black remains active enough though, at least his position is easier to play after 31... b3! After 33. Ne6 we get a very complicated position where Christiansen was still calling the shots, but Kudrin defends well, especially 41. Rxd3!!, a nice and correct way to bail himself out. A well played draw!

FM Daniel Ludwig (9th Place, 12 points): I liked this game in many ways. I have always been a fan of exchange sacrifices, and it's especially nice to see a quality Grandmaster do it in a correct situation. It's hard to find any mistakes in this game. In general the entire game was a tense dynamic struggle where White was never much better, and both sides attacked and defended well, making the final result appropriate. Something tells me that 9... b5 is not the strongest move for Black, and that if White handled it more energetically, he could have caused some problems. My issue with this game is that there was no real excitement. The main reason this game is so exciting is because of all the tactics from moves forty one to forty three, but in reality those were just fancy ways of trading off lots of pieces and getting to a dead drawn position.

FM Ron Young (10th Place, 11 points): A game where you could tell the players without a scorecard. Nimzowitsch's "mysterious rook move" to a closed file is well known, but Kudrin likes to employ the mysterious Rook lift, where the Rook is lifted to a closed rank. Meanwhile, Christiansen did his typical aggressive/sacrificial thing. It fizzled out in the end but before it did, the bubbles rose pretty high.

FM Ingvar Johannesson (12th Place, 9 points): Not a flashy game but seemingly very well played. It's interesting how the balance seems to be kept almost throughout the game even though Black gave up an exchange; neither side seems to "threaten" to win the game at any point. Rare that draws are very interesting, but this one certainly is.

IM Ben Finegold (19th Place, 2 points): Pretty good game. White is better all the way, then plays the awful 34. Ra6? I ranked the game lower than normal, since as I previously stated, it was a draw, and it simply was not as exciting as I would expect a GOTW draw to be.

Total Score of Kudrin vs Christiansen: (12th Place, 46 Points)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stay tuned for ten more such articles as the field shrinks by one game almost every day to see which of the following games will be the 2008 Game of the Year!

Week 1: GM Alex Shabalov (NY) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 0-1 Article

Week 2: GM Vinay Bhat (SF) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 1-0 Article

Week 4: IM Lev Milman (CAR) vs GM Alex Shabalov (NY) 1-0 Article

Week 5: SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) vs IM David Pruess (SF) 1-0 Article

Week 6: IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR) 1-0 Article

Week 7: IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs IM Dean Ippolito (NJ) 1-0 Article

Week 8: GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 1-0 Article

Week 10: GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 1/2-1/2 Article

Quarterfinals: IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) vs GM Vinay Bhat (SF) 1-0 Article

Finals: GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) vs IM Marko Zivanic (DAL) 1-0 Article

Wildcard #2: GM Joel Benjamin (NJ) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 0-1 Article

Eliminated:

12th Place (46 Points): GM Sergey Kudrin (PHI) vs GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article

13th Place (44 Points): IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

14th Place (42 Points): GM Pascal Charbonneau (NY) vs GM Sergey Kudrin (PHI) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

15th Place (35 Points): FM Bruci Lopez (MIA) vs GM Gregory Serper (SEA) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

16th Place (34 Points): IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) vs GM Julio Becerra (MIA) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

17th Place (32 Points): GM Patrick Wolff (SF) vs IM Marko Zivanic (DAL) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article

18th Place (27 Points): IM Dmitry Schneider (QNS) vs GM Eugene Perelshteyn (BOS) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

19th Place (22 Points): FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article

20th Place (18 Points): GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs IM Rogelio Barcenilla (ARZ) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

Game of the Year -- 13th Place

2009-01-07T21:35:00.000-08:00

This is the eighth part in a series of articles which will count down to revealing what game was voted as the 2008 USCL Game of the Year. For more information on exactly how this process works and the prize information, please refer to: Game of the Year Contest.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

13th Place: IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 1-0

Despite facing some dangerous looking Kingside threats, Lenderman calmly ignored them, smashed his way towards the opposing King with 33. Bxa6!, and shortly after mated his opponent.

Below are the comments from the judges on why they ranked the game where they did and in parentheses is the ranking given by that judge and the number of points awarded for that ranking.

IM Ben Finegold (5th Place, 16 points): When I looked at this game, I first thought Black was trying to lose on purpose. Lenderman must have realized this also and decided to take a winning position and make it equal so that nobody would be suspicious! Then Lenderman realized that this should not be the case after all and decided to play like a genius! This may be the most entertaining game in the contest. If there were not so many mistakes, it may have gone even higher.

FM Ron Young (6th Place, 15 points): I've often read about how wonderful the two Bishops are, but I always figured all those authors were just parroting each other in order to sound smart. But seeing this game makes me think there may be something to it after all.

GM Jan Gustafsson (14th Place, 7 points): An offbeat French opening by Tate goes wrong badly and after 12. Qf3 White looks close to winning already. Instead Lendermann was attracted by the 13. Nxf7 shot but underestimated Black's counterplay after 13... O-O-O. Tate looked better through most of the middlegame (17... Rdg8! and 23... e4!), but then started losing the thread with 27... Nd8, 28... d4, and 29... Nf7, leaving his King way too open. The punishment was cruel and swift. Entertaining, but too many mistakes.

FM Ingvar Johannesson (17th Place, 4 points): Seemed like an even game for the most part (I even preferred Black at some point), but Lenderman took over after some inaccurate moves, and the mating attack was nicely conducted.

FM Daniel Ludwig (19th Place, 2 points): Another game I didn't appreciate one bit. If you’re looking for instructive games, then I would say never ever ever look at this game. I am sure that many people thought it was a great game, but parts of it reminded me of play I'd see on the bottom boards of an U1400 section. Let's go through many of the fundamental errors that both sides committed. First, maintain the tension! Is it too much to ask to play 3... d5 instead of 3... cxd4? I understand that Tate likes to take the game into unfamiliar territory, but this is simply bad. Secondly, let's consider the basic principle of not moving a piece more than once in the opening. Tate's Knight and Bishop both moved twice (the Knight ending up nicely on the side) while Lenderman's Knight moved twice, and his Queen moved several times. Now, Lenderman's maneuvers seemed to be more purposeful, but all the same, simple ordinary development would have given him a clear edge, more than sufficient to convert into victory. The last principle that I would like to touch on is this obscure idea that one is supposed to defend something with the same number of pieces as his opponent is attacking it with. Is there some reason why Black can't play 9... Nxd4? Not that I can find! As for the rest of the game, Tate had his chances, but blew them with moves like 27... Nd8?? (again, just because it is the new millennium, this does not mean we can forsake those silly principles that all the old dead guys came up with). Now the game isn't a complete joke, as I must commend Lenderman for calmly allowing Tate to take pieces while Alex went for mate. When looking at a game from beginning to end, knowing how the game ends make the moves played seem very easy when this is not in reality the case, and it is for this reason that this is still an okay game.

Total Score of Lenderman vs Tate: (13th Place, 44 Points)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stay tuned for eleven more such articles as the field shrinks by one game almost every day to see which of the following games will be the 2008 Game of the Year!

Week 1: GM Alex Shabalov (NY) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 0-1 Article

Week 2: GM Vinay Bhat (SF) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 1-0 Article

Week 4: IM Lev Milman (CAR) vs GM Alex Shabalov (NY) 1-0 Article

Week 5: SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) vs IM David Pruess (SF) 1-0 Article

Week 6: IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR) 1-0 Article

Week 7: IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs IM Dean Ippolito (NJ) 1-0 Article

Week 8: GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 1-0 Article

Week 9: GM Sergey Kudrin (PHI) vs GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) 1/2-1/2 Article

Week 10: GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 1/2-1/2 Article

Quarterfinals: IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) vs GM Vinay Bhat (SF) 1-0 Article

Finals: GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) vs IM Marko Zivanic (DAL) 1-0 Article

Wildcard #2: GM Joel Benjamin (NJ) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 0-1 Article

Eliminated:

13th Place (44 Points): IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

14th Place (42 Points): GM Pascal Charbonneau (NY) vs GM Sergey Kudrin (PHI) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

15th Place (35 Points): FM Bruci Lopez (MIA) vs GM Gregory Serper (SEA) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

16th Place (34 Points): IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) vs GM Julio Becerra (MIA) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

17th Place (32 Points): GM Patrick Wolff (SF) vs IM Marko Zivanic (DAL) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article

18th Place (27 Points): IM Dmitry Schneider (QNS) vs GM Eugene Perelshteyn (BOS) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

19th Place (22 Points): FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article

20th Place (18 Points): GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs IM Rogelio Barcenilla (ARZ) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

Game of the Year -- 14th Place

2009-01-06T22:15:00.000-08:00

This is the seventh part in a series of articles which will count down to revealing what game was voted as the 2008 USCL Game of the Year. For more information on exactly how this process works and the prize information, please refer to: Game of the Year Contest.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

14th Place: GM Pascal Charbonneau (NY) vs GM Sergey Kudrin (PHI) 1-0

Seeming to be facing some serious central pressure, Charbonneau calmly defused it and also tore apart Black's defenses with the nice exchange sac, 47. Rxe4!

Below are the comments from the judges on why they ranked the game where they did and in parentheses is the ranking given by that judge and the number of points awarded for that ranking.

IM Ben Finegold (4th Place, 17 points): This game is excellent. The game is about level most of the way and looks headed for a draw. Then Pascal plays the ballsy 38. b3 idea, and the game gets too complicated for humans. Kudrin cannot handle the pressure, and White wins with a neat exchange sacrifice. The funny thing is, if White wanted, he could have moved around aimlessly, offered a draw, and the spectators would have thought this was an awfully boring game. Instead, his aggressiveness is rewarded with a nice win.

FM Ingvar Johannesson (13th Place, 8 points): The early part of the game is not the most entertaining of contests. Black solves his opening problems easily and in a normal game the players would have simply signed the score sheets and gone on to other stuff like a nice cold one and some sports. Black seemed to be able to do absolutely nothing but move back and forth to achieve the draw, but you have to admire the tenacity by White to be able to stir things up and finally find the star move, 47. Rxe4!, that finished the job. So most of this ranking is for the fighting spirit and tenacity that White showed.

FM Ron Young (14th Place, 7 points): Maroczy's dread bind seems to be in good hands. If Geza saw this game, he'd be returning to his grave.

FM Daniel Ludwig (16th Place, 5 points): The games are certainly becoming harder to judge, indicating how good overall the level of play has been this season. With that said, I felt kind of bad about putting this game so low, considering how Pascal seemed to do everything right. This game really reminded me a lot of the game Ehlvest vs Barcenilla, in that it was a tense battle with tons of maneuvering for a long time, until Black once again blew it in a big way. In the case of Kudrin, his slip ups were not as serious and obvious as the mistakes made by Barcenilla, but nonetheless he spoiled what was perhaps even a slightly better position at one point. Hats off to Pascal for playing the spectacular 47. Rxe4! with the nice follow up of 48. Bh5 to which there is no defense. However, if instead of 43... d5, Black had played 43... Qd4 then at the very best White has a tough perpetual to find with 44. Qh5. This was the reason I ranked this game so low, because in no way was Charbonneau in control of things from start to finish.

GM Jan Gustafsson (16th Place, 5 points): Nice finish by Charbonneau and a good win against a very strong opponent but still not high on my list for GOTY material. Come on Pascal, you really gotta go 15. Bg4! in this line and get rid of the Bishops when White is then seriously better. For some reason only one pair of Knights each is huge for White in that structure. The way it went I felt Kudrin was doing fine but overextended in the end, and I was also curious why he didn't follow through with his King march with 32... Kd7!? instead of going back. Basically not enough action or genius plans in this game, but still props to Pascal of course.

Total Score of Charbonneau vs Kudrin: (14th Place, 42 Points)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stay tuned for twelve more such articles as the field shrinks by one game almost every day to see which of the following games will be the 2008 Game of the Year!

Week 1: GM Alex Shabalov (NY) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 0-1 Article

Week 2: GM Vinay Bhat (SF) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 1-0 Article

Week 4: IM Lev Milman (CAR) vs GM Alex Shabalov (NY) 1-0 Article

Week 5: SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) vs IM David Pruess (SF) 1-0 Article

Week 6: IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR) 1-0 Article

Week 7: IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs IM Dean Ippolito (NJ) 1-0 Article

Week 8: GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 1-0 Article

Week 9: GM Sergey Kudrin (PHI) vs GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) 1/2-1/2 Article

Week 10: GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 1/2-1/2 Article

Quarterfinals: IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) vs GM Vinay Bhat (SF) 1-0 Article

Finals: GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) vs IM Marko Zivanic (DAL) 1-0 Article

Wildcard #1: IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 1-0 Article

Wildcard #2: GM Joel Benjamin (NJ) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 0-1 Article

Eliminated:

14th Place (42 Points): GM Pascal Charbonneau (NY) vs GM Sergey Kudrin (PHI) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

15th Place (35 Points): FM Bruci Lopez (MIA) vs GM Gregory Serper (SEA) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

16th Place (34 Points): IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) vs GM Julio Becerra (MIA) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

17th Place (32 Points): GM Patrick Wolff (SF) vs IM Marko Zivanic (DAL) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article

18th Place (27 Points): IM Dmitry Schneider (QNS) vs GM Eugene Perelshteyn (BOS) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

19th Place (22 Points): FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article

20th Place (18 Points): GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs IM Rogelio Barcenilla (ARZ) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

Game of the Year -- 15th Place

2009-01-05T19:21:00.000-08:00

This is the sixth part in a series of articles which will count down to revealing what game was voted as the 2008 USCL Game of the Year. For more information on exactly how this process works and the prize information, please refer to: Game of the Year Contest.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

15th Place: FM Bruci Lopez (MIA) vs GM Gregory Serper (SEA) 1-0

Lopez broke through on the Queenside with the strong 26. c6, albeit missing the even stronger 26. Bxa6!!, but nevertheless eventually used this new found pressure to upset his GM opponent.

Below are the comments from the judges on why they ranked the game where they did and in parentheses is the ranking given by that judge and the number of points awarded for that ranking.

FM Daniel Ludwig (6th Place, 15 points): I just don't get why people don't like this game very much. When I first got the list of games that were eligible, I had a feeling that this would be one of the first out. However, every time I was about to eliminate this game I just couldn't find anything wrong with it! Of all the choices, I felt that this was the most complete game. I have often heard people criticize games because they were too short, but certainly not this one. Both players knew the opening well which gave rise to a dynamic middle game, with lots of tension on all parts of the board. Some of my favorite games are the ones that are centered around positional domination that also use tactics to enforce the ideas. This game embodied this ideal, with great technique all the way to the end. 26. c6 was a really nice move, but it's interesting to point out that Bruci could have struck even harder with 26. Bxa6!! After 26... bxa6 27. Qxa6 the Bishop is trapped, and White is nearly winning. Bruci did err a little with 28. Bh4, as 28. Rc5 Qb8 29. Rb1 would have been more effective. After 29. Bc4, Serper made his biggest error of the game when he played 29... Qe8 instead of 29... Qe5 accepting a possible draw. It was after this seemingly slight mistake that Bruci pounced with 30. e5! which made it very tough for Black to get out of his bind. Bruci's play was very impressive afterward as he calmly allowed the d-pawn to keep getting pushed. As someone around the level of Bruci, I'd have to say that one of the toughest things to do when in a better position is to allow your opponent counter chances, especially chances as serious as this. Serper still could have perhaps held a draw, but he panicked with 37... g3 which was not enough to hold on against Bruci's great endgame technique. I'm really interested in seeing how the other judges rank this game because to me it was a great example of a complete game.

FM Ron Young (13th Place, 8 points): A not bad epic struggle, but the technical portion wasn't very interesting.

FM Ingvar Johannesson (14th Place, 7 points): A fighting game, but I got the feeling that Black lost the game just as much as White won it, and I also felt that Black could have put up a better fight in the Rook ending. However, after reviewing the game some more, I realized that White played really well, found some strong moves, navigated the position correctly, and in the end just outplayed his strong opponent.

IM Ben Finegold (18th Place, 3 points): This game is just bad as both sides made lots of errors. I ranked this higher than a couple of other games, but I really expect much more from this level of players.

GM Jan Gustafsson (19th Place, 2 points): A tough struggle but not high on my list. In the opening 12... e5 and 13... Bg4 is a safe equalizer, but Serper might have avoided that line trying to play for a win. Later on the game went up and down and White seemed a bit better to me in the early middlegame. He missed the cute 28. Bxa6 bxa6 29. Qxa6, trapping the Bishop with a huge edge. Nevertheless White was still better as Serper probably shouldn't have allowed 30. e5. 31. Bxb5 might have been wrong, opening some lines for Black's counterplay, but Black erred with 37... g3? which concluded the game in White's favour as after 37... Rc3 there's still a lot to play for. Not Serper's best effort.

Total Score of Lopez vs Serper: (15th Place, 35 Points)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stay tuned for thirteen more such articles as the field shrinks by one game almost every day to see which of the following games will be the 2008 Game of the Year!

Week 1: GM Alex Shabalov (NY) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 0-1 Article

Week 2: GM Vinay Bhat (SF) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 1-0 Article

Week 3: GM Pascal Charbonneau (NY) vs GM Sergey Kudrin (PHI) 1-0 Article

Week 4: IM Lev Milman (CAR) vs GM Alex Shabalov (NY) 1-0 Article

Week 5: SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) vs IM David Pruess (SF) 1-0 Article

Week 6: IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR) 1-0 Article

Week 7: IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs IM Dean Ippolito (NJ) 1-0 Article

Week 8: GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 1-0 Article

Week 9: GM Sergey Kudrin (PHI) vs GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) 1/2-1/2 Article

Week 10: GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 1/2-1/2 Article

Quarterfinals: IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) vs GM Vinay Bhat (SF) 1-0 Article

Finals: GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) vs IM Marko Zivanic (DAL) 1-0 Article

Wildcard #1: IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 1-0 Article

Wildcard #2: GM Joel Benjamin (NJ) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 0-1 Article

Eliminated:

15th Place (35 Points): FM Bruci Lopez (MIA) vs GM Gregory Serper (SEA) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

16th Place (34 Points): IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) vs GM Julio Becerra (MIA) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

17th Place (32 Points): GM Patrick Wolff (SF) vs IM Marko Zivanic (DAL) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article

18th Place (27 Points): IM Dmitry Schneider (QNS) vs GM Eugene Perelshteyn (BOS) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

19th Place (22 Points): FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article

20th Place (18 Points): GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs IM Rogelio Barcenilla (ARZ) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

Game of the Year -- 16th Place

2009-01-04T21:47:00.000-08:00

This is the fifth part in a series of articles which will count down to revealing what game was voted as the 2008 USCL Game of the Year. For more information on exactly how this process works and the prize information, please refer to: Game of the Year Contest.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

16th Place: IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) vs GM Julio Becerra (MIA) 1-0

Already up a pawn, Kuljasevic won another with the nice tactic 27. Rxc4! and soon handed the two time MVP his only loss of the 2008 Season.

Below are the comments from the judges on why they ranked the game where they did and in parentheses is the ranking given by that judge and the number of points awarded for that ranking.

GM Jan Gustafsson (8th Place, 13 points): I must admit I had never heard of Mr. Kuljasevic before, but judging by this game and his overall result in the league, he seems pretty good at chess! Becerra's plan with 8... a6 and 9... e5 isn't the most popular one, and this game might well show why as Black ends up in a worse position with pawn weaknesses. I liked 20. Rxc6, changing the structure and making White's advantage more tangible. 26... c4 is just a blunder, but Black was much worse already, and 27. Rxc4! was a nice petite combination. High level play Kuljasevic, but the game is a bit too positional and one sided to make it higher on my list.

IM Ben Finegold (11th Place, 10 points): Quality wise, this game wins hands down! White played virtually flawless positional chess and beats a very strong player. Too bad the game is so boring.

FM Daniel Ludwig (14th Place, 7 points): I really liked this game, but I won't allow my bias to rank this game any higher than it deserves. This game was meaningful in that Becerra for the first three years of the league was undoubtedly the strongest player. This year however, there can be little doubt that the honor of best player belongs to Kuljasevic. It was after this game (which decided the match 2.5 – 1.5 in favor of Dallas) that I believed that Dallas could beat any team in the league and repeat. Becerra impresses me as he seems to be the master of the Spanish torture (and not just in the Spanish, but in any opening!). In this game, though, Kuljasevic wins so convincingly and makes toppling the league's greatest player seem effortless. So why didn't this game go higher in my book? Well Becerra simply made too many uncharacteristic positional errors. First of all, it is considered inferior to play the line that Becerra played with a6 and e5. Secondly, one of the main principles of isolated Queen Pawn positions is that the side with the isolated pawn should avoid minor piece exchanges, as it weakens the pawn, and defeats the purpose of the IQP which is to be active. Kuljasevic played excellently, capitalizing on every positional error Becerra made, but the game wasn't that easy until Becerra threw away not one, but two pawns. Normally beating Becerra would earn a top five spot, but if you ask Julio, he might tell you this was his worst game of the season.

FM Ingvar Johannesson (18th Place, 3 points): A positional massacre. White is getting everything he wants from this opening when Black tries to give up a pawn but apparently missed the strong shot 27. Rxc4! A very clean game from White, but one gets the feeling that Black was a little too willing to place his head on the guillotine which makes for a rather low ranking for this game.

FM Ron Young (20th Place, 1 point): Edmar Mednis once wrote "If you leave Pawns unprotected – this will be bad". But we can all still use a reminder from time to time.

Total Score of Kuljasevic vs Becerra: (16th Place, 34 Points)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stay tuned for fourteen more such articles as the field shrinks by one game almost every day to see which of the following games will be the 2008 Game of the Year!

Week 1: GM Alex Shabalov (NY) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 0-1 Article

Week 2: GM Vinay Bhat (SF) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 1-0 Article

Week 3: GM Pascal Charbonneau (NY) vs GM Sergey Kudrin (PHI) 1-0 Article

Week 4: IM Lev Milman (CAR) vs GM Alex Shabalov (NY) 1-0 Article

Week 5: SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) vs IM David Pruess (SF) 1-0 Article

Week 6: IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR) 1-0 Article

Week 7: IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs IM Dean Ippolito (NJ) 1-0 Article

Week 8: GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 1-0 Article

Week 9: GM Sergey Kudrin (PHI) vs GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) 1/2-1/2 Article

Week 10: GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 1/2-1/2 Article

Quarterfinals: IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) vs GM Vinay Bhat (SF) 1-0 Article

Finals: GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) vs IM Marko Zivanic (DAL) 1-0 Article

Wildcard #1: IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 1-0 Article

Wildcard #2: GM Joel Benjamin (NJ) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 0-1 Article

Wildcard #6: FM Bruci Lopez (MIA) vs GM Gregory Serper (SEA) 1-0 Article

Eliminated:

16th Place (34 Points): IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) vs GM Julio Becerra (MIA) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

17th Place (32 Points): GM Patrick Wolff (SF) vs IM Marko Zivanic (DAL) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article

18th Place (27 Points): IM Dmitry Schneider (QNS) vs GM Eugene Perelshteyn (BOS) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

19th Place (22 Points): FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article

20th Place (18 Points): GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs IM Rogelio Barcenilla (ARZ) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

Game of the Year -- 17th Place

2009-01-03T19:52:00.000-08:00

This is the fourth part in a series of articles which will count down to revealing what game was voted as the 2008 USCL Game of the Year. For more information on exactly how this process works and the prize information, please refer to: Game of the Year Contest.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

17th Place: GM Patrick Wolff (SF) vs IM Marko Zivanic (DAL) 1/2-1/2

Wolff went for a typical Sicilian sac with 12. Nd5?!, but the Game of the Year Judges didn't seem too impressed by it this time.

Below are the comments from the judges on why they ranked the game where they did and in parentheses is the ranking given by that judge and the number of points awarded for that ranking.

FM Daniel Ludwig (10th Place, 11 points): Lots of excitement with lots of hanging pieces, but in the end this game was plagued by poor technique. Neither Wolff nor this game gets credit for 12. Nd5, because first of all, every Sicilian player is dying to play this idea, and secondly the move is just bad here. After that both sides played accurately to reach a much worse ending for White, but unfortunately Zivanic did not play g6 soon enough to prevent Rf5 and Rxh5. If he had done that, the result would probably have been a win for him. In general, if Zivanic had slowed down and used good technique then perhaps this game would have been bumped up to sixth or fifth even.

GM Jan Gustafsson (13th Place, 8 points): A sideline of the Taimanov, but I don't fully trust this 8... h5 9... Bd6 business; I think White should go for the gold with 10. f4 Nxd4 11. e5!

The piece sac in the game made for an interesting struggle, but objectively it seems dubious to me. Black managed the complications well and was somewhat better in the resulting ending. 23... f6 looked strong while 28... Ra7 looked a bit random and seemed to give up the advantage.

Overall, a well played game by both sides, but not quite enough drama; no bigger fan of draws than me, but then again I'm not trying to win GOTY prizes!

FM Ingvar Johannesson (15th Place, 6 points): An entertaining draw to say the least. White stirred things up with a piece sacrifice in the opening; after that both sides seemed to find strong and inventive moves, and in the end we have a very funny position which is some kind of a stalemate position where neither side can do anything despite there being plenty of pieces still left on the board.

IM Ben Finegold (17th Place, 4 points): White sacrifices for no reason, gets a bad position, and gets lucky to draw when Black's technique is not up to the task. Terrible.

FM Ron Young (18th Place, 3 points): Wolff plays some cool moves here but when White does cool stuff, he's supposed to win. Otherwise, it's like wearing a leather jacket to your accounting job.

Total Score of Wolff vs Zivanic: (17th Place, 32 Points)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stay tuned for fifteen more such articles as the field shrinks by one game almost every day to see which of the following games will be the 2008 Game of the Year!

Week 1: GM Alex Shabalov (NY) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 0-1 Article

Week 2: GM Vinay Bhat (SF) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 1-0 Article

Week 3: GM Pascal Charbonneau (NY) vs GM Sergey Kudrin (PHI) 1-0 Article

Week 4: IM Lev Milman (CAR) vs GM Alex Shabalov (NY) 1-0 Article

Week 5: SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) vs IM David Pruess (SF) 1-0 Article

Week 6: IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR) 1-0 Article

Week 7: IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs IM Dean Ippolito (NJ) 1-0 Article

Week 8: GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 1-0 Article

Week 9: GM Sergey Kudrin (PHI) vs GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) 1/2-1/2 Article

Week 10: GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 1/2-1/2 Article

Quarterfinals: IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) vs GM Vinay Bhat (SF) 1-0 Article

Finals: GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) vs IM Marko Zivanic (DAL) 1-0 Article

Wildcard #1: IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 1-0 Article

Wildcard #2: GM Joel Benjamin (NJ) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 0-1 Article

Wildcard #6: FM Bruci Lopez (MIA) vs GM Gregory Serper (SEA) 1-0 Article

Wildcard #7: IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) vs GM Julio Becerra (MIA) 1-0 Article

Eliminated:

17th Place (32 Points): GM Patrick Wolff (SF) vs IM Marko Zivanic (DAL) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article

18th Place (27 Points): IM Dmitry Schneider (QNS) vs GM Eugene Perelshteyn (BOS) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

19th Place (22 Points): FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article

20th Place (18 Points): GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs IM Rogelio Barcenilla (ARZ) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

Game of the Year -- 18th Place

2009-01-02T20:40:00.000-08:00

This is the third part in a series of articles which will count down to revealing what game was voted as the 2008 USCL Game of the Year. For more information on exactly how this process works and the prize information, please refer to: Game of the Year Contest.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

18th Place: IM Dmitry Schneider (QNS) vs GM Eugene Perelshteyn (BOS) 1-0

Perelshteyn tried an interesting exchange sac here with 12... Bxc3?! but never seemed to quite develop full compensation and in the end, with nice technique, Schneider ground him down.

Below are the comments from the judges on why they ranked the game where they did and in parentheses is the ranking given by that judge and the number of points awarded for that ranking.

IM Ben Finegold (9th Place, 12 points): A very impressive game. The game would have gone higher on my list, had White not missed the obvious win with 35. Rh8+ followed by 36. Bc4. White cashes in on his slight material advantage otherwise.

FM Ron Young (16th Place, 5 points): Exchange sacs are so common and so frequently successful that they threaten to lose their ability to impress. And that would be a shame. So it is good to see a game like this where White just takes the material and wins with it.

FM Daniel Ludwig (17th Place, 4 points): Good game but sorry nothing special. I felt that this was just like any other ordinary victory. Great job Dmitry for beating such a strong player, but I'm still not falling in love with this game. When Black decided to sacrifice the exchange, it would have been better for him to play 13... Be5 or Bf6 instead of 13... Qxf8, retaining the dark squared Bishop and keeping the game about even. After that White maintained a slight advantage for a while until Black made a series of inaccuracies allowing White to go from slightly better to much better. I value technique, but when the losing side makes obvious mistakes, the technique is not as impressive, and the game is simply not as good. Especially as we move into the Top Ten, the side that won was doing so despite excellent defense.

GM Jan Gustafsson (17th Place, 4 points): Good grind by Schneider but not a terribly exciting game. 11. Qc1 is not the most testing move; Black should have considered sacking the exchange with 13... Bf6 14. Bh6 Nxe4 when it looks like he has full compensation. In the game I doubt he did, and frankly it looked like Schneider was on the way to victory all along. Perelshteyn put up good resistance and made him work for it, but nothing too thrilling happened in this game. Good technique though!

FM Ingvar Johannesson (19th Place, 2 points): For me this was more or less a normal fighting game. Nothing spectacular and nothing very inventive. White probably won in the end because Black didn't get enough for the exchange sacrifice.

Total Score of Schneider vs Perelshteyn: (18th Place, 27 Points)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stay tuned for sixteen more such articles as the field shrinks by one game almost every day to see which of the following games will be the 2008 Game of the Year!

Week 1: GM Alex Shabalov (NY) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 0-1 Article

Week 2: GM Vinay Bhat (SF) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 1-0 Article

Week 3: GM Pascal Charbonneau (NY) vs GM Sergey Kudrin (PHI) 1-0 Article

Week 4: IM Lev Milman (CAR) vs GM Alex Shabalov (NY) 1-0 Article

Week 5: SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) vs IM David Pruess (SF) 1-0 Article

Week 6: IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR) 1-0 Article

Week 7: IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs IM Dean Ippolito (NJ) 1-0 Article

Week 8: GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 1-0 Article

Week 9: GM Sergey Kudrin (PHI) vs GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) 1/2-1/2 Article

Week 10: GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 1/2-1/2 Article

Quarterfinals: IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) vs GM Vinay Bhat (SF) 1-0 Article

Finals: GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) vs IM Marko Zivanic (DAL) 1-0 Article

Wildcard #1: IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 1-0 Article

Wildcard #2: GM Joel Benjamin (NJ) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 0-1 Article

Wildcard #3: GM Patrick Wolff (SF) vs IM Marko Zivanic (DAL) 1/2-1/2 Article

Wildcard #6: FM Bruci Lopez (MIA) vs GM Gregory Serper (SEA) 1-0 Article

Wildcard #7: IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) vs GM Julio Becerra (MIA) 1-0 Article

Eliminated:

18th Place (27 Points): IM Dmitry Schneider (QNS) vs GM Eugene Perelshteyn (BOS) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

19th Place (22 Points): FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article

20th Place (18 Points): GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs IM Rogelio Barcenilla (ARZ) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

Game of the Year -- 19th Place

2009-01-01T19:28:00.000-08:00

This is the second part in a series of articles which will count down to revealing what game was voted as the 2008 USCL Game of the Year. For more information on exactly how this process works and the prize information, please refer to: Game of the Year Contest.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

19th Place: FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 1/2-1/2

With both players in severe time trouble, Black missed the nice shot 27... Bh3+!!, and soon after the wild game ended in a draw.

Below are the comments from the judges on why they ranked the game where they did and in parentheses is the ranking given by that judge and the number of points awarded for that ranking.

FM Ingvar Johannesson (9th Place, 12 points): An exciting game with some very inventive moves and tactics but on the other hand a very mistake ridden game as well. 27... Bh3+! would have been a nice move; instead White should be winning after 27... Qh6?, but immediately throws it right back with 28. Ne7? which pulls it down in the rankings.

FM Daniel Ludwig (15th Place, 6 points): This was an extremely exciting game for both good and bad reasons, a game that I vividly recall watching. This game could easily be ranked higher, but the problem I have with it is that the players burned so much clock in just the first fifteen moves that it radically affected the quality later on; but the game was fun to watch, with the result always unclear. Early on, it was Black who had the edge, but gave it away with 20... f4, allowing White to get a winning position. Zaikov played some really nifty tactics to achieve a winning position, but unfortunately blew it with 26. exf4 (26. h3 was simply winning). Jorge correctly responded with 26... Qg6, but missed the brilliant shot that Lenderman came up with live, 27... Bh3+!! This allowed Zaikov to retain his winning advantage after 27... Qh6, but he immediately blew it with 28. Ne7? Thus Sammour-Hasbun was again better, but under time pressure, went for the draw with 31... Rxc4 (Boston was also in good shape to win the match at that point). So to recap, this game had something like five lead changes, several blunders, and tons of excitement. In my opinion, there was too much poor clock management and major mistakes to rank this any higher, but nonetheless it was one the most memorable games of the season.

FM Ron Young (19th Place, 2 points): This game helped us through a slow week, and for that we should be grateful, but it has not aged well.

IM Ben Finegold (20th Place, 1 point): I am not going to rank draws very highly. This game was pretty bad. Black is better, goes nuts, and then he is just lost. White plays badly and missed h3 about six different times. Both sides were lucky to draw.

GM Jan Gustafsson (20th Place, 1 point): A typical fighting game, but with too many mistakes. 12. e4 allowing the typical Ng4 counterplay looks wrong to me, 16. Be3 also doesn't feel right, it's a Bishop, they're better than Knights! Sammour-Hasbun was in control until he blundered with 20... f4?, opening the White Queen's way to h4. While 23. Rxc5 is fine, 23. h3 instead seems to be just winning. 26. h3 was another chance for White to win. After 27. f5?, Black had 27... Bh3!, but in the game 28. h3 was winning once again. Why all that conscious effort to never push h3? The tables turned again after 28. Ne7? and with 31... Bxf5 Black could just stay a pawn up. A fair draw in the end.

Total Score of Zaikov vs Sammour-Hasbun: (19th Place, 22 Points)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stay tuned for seventeen more such articles as the field shrinks by one game almost every day to see which of the following games will be the 2008 Game of the Year!

Week 1: GM Alex Shabalov (NY) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 0-1 Article

Week 2: GM Vinay Bhat (SF) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 1-0 Article

Week 3: GM Pascal Charbonneau (NY) vs GM Sergey Kudrin (PHI) 1-0 Article

Week 4: IM Lev Milman (CAR) vs GM Alex Shabalov (NY) 1-0 Article

Week 5: SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) vs IM David Pruess (SF) 1-0 Article

Week 6: IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR) 1-0 Article

Week 7: IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs IM Dean Ippolito (NJ) 1-0 Article

Week 8: GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 1-0 Article

Week 9: GM Sergey Kudrin (PHI) vs GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) 1/2-1/2 Article

Week 10: GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 1/2-1/2 Article

Quarterfinals: IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) vs GM Vinay Bhat (SF) 1-0 Article

Finals: GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) vs IM Marko Zivanic (DAL) 1-0 Article

Wildcard #1: IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 1-0 Article

Wildcard #2: GM Joel Benjamin (NJ) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 0-1 Article

Wildcard #3: GM Patrick Wolff (SF) vs IM Marko Zivanic (DAL) 1/2-1/2 Article

Wildcard #4: IM Dmitry Schneider (QNS) vs GM Eugene Perelshteyn (BOS) 1-0 Article

Wildcard #6: FM Bruci Lopez (MIA) vs GM Gregory Serper (SEA) 1-0 Article

Wildcard #7: IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) vs GM Julio Becerra (MIA) 1-0 Article

Eliminated:

19th Place (22 Points): FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article

20th Place (18 Points): GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs IM Rogelio Barcenilla (ARZ) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

Game of the Year -- 20th Place

2008-12-31T21:01:00.000-08:00

This is the first part in a series of articles which will count down to revealing what game was voted as the 2008 USCL Game of the Year. The eligible entrants are the thirteen Games of the Week along with the seven Wildcards (full list). There are five judges who ranked the games from 1st to 20th. If a game is ranked in 1st place by a judge, it receives 20 points, if it's ranked 2nd place it receives 19 points, and so on with 20th place receiving 1 point, and the games are then ranked on their total number of points. If there is a tie at a certain total, whichever amongst those games have higher individual rankings will win on tie-break (e.g. a game which gets a 1st + 4th ranking is higher than a game which gets a 2nd + 3rd).

The five judges are:

IM Ben Finegold
GM Jan Gustafsson
FM Ingvar Johannesson
FM Daniel Ludwig
FM Ron Young

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

20th Place: GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs IM Rogelio Barcenilla (ARZ) 1-0

After a solid game by both players, Black finally cracked in time pressure with 38... Nf6?? where 38... Bd4 would have kept the game fairly level.

Below are the comments from the judges on why they ranked the game where they did and in parentheses is the ranking given by that judge and the number of points awarded for that ranking.

IM Ben Finegold (15th Place, 6 points): A very good game, marred, I assume, by time trouble. White is better throughout, but Black defends well, and, just as the game is equal, Black makes the time trouble error 38... Nf6?? Instead, 38... Bd4 would just have been equal. Otherwise, a great game.

GM Jan Gustafsson (15th Place, 6 points): I'm not overly impressed with this game either. In the mainline KID Black plays the quite uncommon 10... c5, trying to lock the Queenside and stopping White's main plan of pushing c5. It does allow White to open lines over there easily though, and I think Ehlvest got an edge playing natural moves. After 18. exf5!, I dislike 18... gxf5 as played (yeah yeah, every Russian school boy knows one should recapture with the g-pawn), but 18... Nxf5 looks sounder to me anyways. In the game, Ehlvest keeps the initiative and gets the two Bishops playing good positional chess, but errs with 34. Bf4, when after 34... Qh7! Black seems back on track. Later the outcome is decided by the (time-trouble?) blunder 38... Nf6?, when 38... Bd4 should have been fine. A solid game by Ehlvest, but not enough beauty (whatever that is in chess) or entertainment to rank it higher.

FM Ron Young (17th Place, 4 points): Some nice maneuvering by White, but pieces dropping with check mars the game's artistic impression.

FM Ingvar Johannesson (20th Place, 1 point): White holds on to a very tiny edge throughout which doesn't seem enough for a win, but Ehlvest shows nice tenacity and takes home the point. Other than being important to win in the end this game didn't do much for me, and I found it clearly the "worst" of the bunch.

FM Daniel Ludwig (20th Place, 1 point): I just wasn't impressed at all. Perhaps most people felt that the final result came about due to incredible technique by Ehlvest, but that couldn't be further from the truth. On move 38, the game was still dead even, however, Barcenilla responded with two terrible moves that resulted in immediate resignation. I was hoping for more from Ehlvest, especially considering that he had a sizable advantage earlier in the game.

Total Score of Ehlvest vs Barcenilla: (20th Place, 18 Points)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stay tuned for eighteen more such articles as the field shrinks by one game almost every day to see which of the following games will be the 2008 Game of the Year!

Week 1: GM Alex Shabalov (NY) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 0-1 Article

Week 2: GM Vinay Bhat (SF) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 1-0 Article

Week 3: GM Pascal Charbonneau (NY) vs GM Sergey Kudrin (PHI) 1-0 Article

Week 4: IM Lev Milman (CAR) vs GM Alex Shabalov (NY) 1-0 Article

Week 5: SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) vs IM David Pruess (SF) 1-0 Article

Week 6: IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR) 1-0 Article

Week 7: IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs IM Dean Ippolito (NJ) 1-0 Article

Week 8: GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 1-0 Article

Week 9: GM Sergey Kudrin (PHI) vs GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) 1/2-1/2 Article

Week 10: GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 1/2-1/2 Article

Quarterfinals: IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) vs GM Vinay Bhat (SF) 1-0 Article

Semifinals: FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 1/2-1/2 Article

Finals: GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) vs IM Marko Zivanic (DAL) 1-0 Article

Wildcard #1: IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 1-0 Article

Wildcard #2: GM Joel Benjamin (NJ) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 0-1 Article

Wildcard #3: GM Patrick Wolff (SF) vs IM Marko Zivanic (DAL) 1/2-1/2 Article

Wildcard #4: IM Dmitry Schneider (QNS) vs GM Eugene Perelshteyn (BOS) 1-0 Article

Wildcard #6: FM Bruci Lopez (MIA) vs GM Gregory Serper (SEA) 1-0 Article

Wildcard #7: IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) vs GM Julio Becerra (MIA) 1-0 Article

Eliminated:

20th Place (18 Points): GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs IM Rogelio Barcenilla (ARZ) 1-0 Article Elimination Article

Jonathan Hilton's GOTY Picks

2008-12-31T09:12:00.000-08:00

20th Place: GM Pascal Charbonneau (NY) vs GM Sergey Kudrin (PHI) 1-0. The best game of an utterly dull and boring week.

Article

19th Place: FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 1/2-1/2. This game never made a big impression on me though I'll admit I haven't analyzed it thoroughly.

Article

18th Place: IM Lev Milman (CAR) vs GM Alex Shabalov (NY) 1-0. This is quite a decent effort from Milman and an upset at that. Still, I didn't find the game particularly inspiring compared to what's out there.

Article

17th Place: GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs IM Rogelio Barcenilla (ARZ) 1-0. Very nice play by Ehlvest but in some ways a bit of a routine defeat of a lower rated opponent.

Article

16th Place: IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) vs GM Vinay Bhat (SF) 1-0. A good game by Kuljasevic, but there wasn't much going on out of the norm here.

Article

15th Place: GM Vinay Bhat (SF) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 1-0. I think Greg is crazy to rank this game so high. It certainly deserved GOTW, but it was Black who was doing the inspirational attacking maneuvers, not White! White benefited from a mistake in a complicated position.

Article

14th Place: IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR) 1-0. I was very surprised to see this game win GOTW, but it's certainly one of the most exciting games played this year. I just can't help but think Lenderman was hoping for a bit cleaner win against his lower rated opponent.

Article

13th Place: IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) vs GM Julio Becerra (MIA) 1-0. A very nice upset by Kuljasevic, grinding out his opponent in strong technical style. Still, this was one of our last wildcard picks, mainly because it doesn't stand out.

Article

12th Place: GM Patrick Wolff (SF) vs IM Marko Zivanic (DAL) 1/2-1/2. I'm going to be nice to Greg and give his Wildcard pick the benefit of the doubt. The saving grace of this game I think is that the players realized when the position was drawn and simply agreed to it, so that the judges can focus on the short but intense middlegame tactics.

Article

11th Place: FM Bruci Lopez (MIA) vs GM Gregory Serper (SEA) 1-0. Greg says this game doesn't stand out, but I think that it does. I doubt the judges will take into consideration the time pressure of the final scramble, but I thought the game was remarkably exciting nonetheless.

Article

10th Place: GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) vs IM Marko Zivanic (DAL) 1-0. The best game of the few we had to choose from in the Finals but overly one-sided. This game might crack the Top Ten because it was a finals game, but I don't think it deserves to be in the Top Five. Christiansen simply schools his opponent as to why Pawn-grabbing with the Queen in the opening is bad -- good for a beginner's opening book but bad for GOTY.

Article

9th Place: GM Joel Benjamin (NJ) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 0-1. A solid wilcard pick from Arun which I'll place towards the middle of the pack.

Article

8th Place: IM Dmitry Schneider (QNS) vs GM Eugene Perelshteyn (BOS) 1-0. I may be crazy for ranking this game so high, but I have a sort of liking for it. Schneider really had to work hard for this victory, but he did so, taking a GM scalp with him.

Article

7th Place: IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 1-0. I felt this game was a strong performance by Lenderman, and the concluding tactics were sufficiently flashy to make it stand out. It was my first choice for the Wildcard picks.

Article

6th Place: IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs IM Dean Ippolito (NJ) 1-0. Splendid calculation by Lenderman. This game gets two thumbs up from me.

Article

5th Place: GM Alex Shabalov (NY) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 0-1. A crazy attacking win with the Black pieces by Sammour-Hasbun.

Article

4th Place: SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) vs IM David Pruess (SF) 1-0. One of Sammour-Hasbun's best attacking wins of the season.

Article

3rd Place: GM Sergey Kudrin (PHI) vs GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) 1/2-1/2. A really spectacular draw, and I hope it does as well as I'm ranking here. Black over expands, holds on by a thread, and a lot of interesting moves are made as he manages to salvage a draw.

Article

2nd Place: GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 1-0. My choice for best attacking win of the season. This game is far richer, deeper, and deserving of GOTY than Christiansen vs Zivanic.

Article

1st Place: GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 1/2-1/2. Unless someone has refuted either side's play and hasn't told me, this is the best mix of quality and excitement available from all the games of the year. The result was accurate too, showing that BOTH sides were able to navigate the tactical complications.

Article

And just for humor value to see how badly this contest might have gone if we GOTW Judges had extended our tenure to GOTY rather than passing it on to a much more competent judging panel, the overall standings would then have been:

1st Place (56 Points): GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 1/2-1/2

2nd Place (51 Points): SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) vs IM David Pruess (SF) 1-0

3rd Place (51 Points): GM Sergey Kudrin (PHI) vs GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) 1/2-1/2

4th Place (49 Points): GM Alex Shabalov (NY) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 0-1

5th Place (47 Points): GM Joel Benjamin (NJ) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 0-1

6th Place (46 Points): GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 1-0

7th Place (44 Points): IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs IM Dean Ippolito (NJ) 1-0

8th Place (43 Points): GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) vs IM Marko Zivanic (DAL) 1-0

9th Place (35 Points): GM Vinay Bhat (SF) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 1-0

10th Place (26 Points): IM Dmitry Schneider (QNS) vs GM Eugene Perelshteyn (BOS) 1-0

11th Place (25 Points): IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 1-0

12th Place (25 Points): FM Bruci Lopez (MIA) vs GM Gregory Serper (SEA) 1-0

13th Place (24 Points): GM Patrick Wolff (SF) vs IM Marko Zivanic (DAL) 1/2-1/2

14th Place (21 Points): IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) vs GM Vinay Bhat (SF) 1-0

15th Place (18 Points): IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) vs GM Julio Becerra (MIA) 1-0

16th Place (18 Points): GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs IM Rogelio Barcenilla (ARZ) 1-0

17th Place (17 Points): IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR) 1-0

18th Place (14 Points): IM Lev Milman (CAR) vs GM Alex Shabalov (NY) 1-0

19th Place (11 Points): GM Pascal Charbonneau (NY) vs GM Sergey Kudrin (PHI) 1-0

20th Place (9 Points): FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 1/2-1/2

Stay tuned until tomorrow when the real GOTY selections finally begin to come out!

Arun Sharma's GOTY Picks

2008-12-27T23:32:00.000-08:00

The Game of the Year (GOTY) contest has snuck up on us again, and so I will be giving you dear readers my (undoubtedly wrong) thoughts on the matter. I definitely have learned a couple of things from last year's contest such as how much the judges (at least last year's) tend to favor playoff games, but most importantly that some of the things I consider very important when judging Game of the Week (GOTW) like how important the game was to the match situation and the way it went down when played live are often not really considered relevant by the judges. While I intend to rank the games by what I feel based on all those factors, often I will make a note how I feel a game is likely to score higher or lower in the actual contest due to those general factors. Do take these rankings with a grain of salt though since it's been proven by scientific fact that Greg Shahade and Jonathan Hilton are far better judges than I and as such their predictions should be taken much more seriously.

20th Place: IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR) 1-0. I think that the choice for last place is very nebulous compared to last year, and I honestly didn't really have a clear choice in mind. Given all the ribbing we took for this game winning GOTW (which to a point I agree with since those who might cheat and scroll down and might see that I ranked another game from that week, Benjamin vs Erenburg, just a tad higher in my picks; despite that, I personally felt this game being a GOTW winner wasn't quite as ridiculous as most were making out), but it still seems the most logical choice for the very bottom spot as it was going to be a game I ranked low for sure anyway.

Article

19th Place: GM Pascal Charbonneau (NY) vs GM Sergey Kudrin (PHI) 1-0. Like the above game, I was sure I was going to rank this game low, and it was also a game that most said had no business in winning GOTW when it did. So once again giving the public what they want is the easiest way to copout from making a potentially tough decision.

Article

18th Place: IM Dmitry Schneider (QNS) vs GM Eugene Perelshteyn (BOS) 1-0. Nice effort by Schneider and a nice struggle, but very little to distinguish this game overall as it wasn't important to the match result and didn't have any truly flashy moves. As such I can't see putting it higher than here and nor do I expect it to finish much higher than this in the contest.

Article

17th Place: FM Bruci Lopez (MIA) vs GM Gregory Serper (SEA) 1-0. Like the Schneider game, nice, hard fought, and a good upset, but again not too much to make it stand out and so I think I have to put this relatively low also. The GOTY judges will likely rank this a bit higher than me, especially if they favor quality over excitement greatly, but I still don't see it cracking the Top Ten.

Article

16th Place: FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 1/2-1/2. Like Greg, I could definitely see this game getting last since there were clearly more mistakes in it than most of the other games. I think whether that happens mostly comes down to what the judges value highest. Whether a somewhat dry but fairly accurate game scores higher than a super exciting time pressure game with many mistakes is the real question. I personally favor something kind of in the middle for games which do not manage to be both exciting and accurate, but if forced to make a choice I would generally favor the latter type so I put this game slightly higher than many probably will.

Article

15th Place: IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) vs GM Julio Becerra (MIA) 1-0. This game is another that I would not be surprised to see near the very bottom even though I think of it slightly higher. One of the attractive things about it was that it was the only one the two time MVP lost all season – something I doubt the GOTY judges will consider very important. Still it was a very strong performance by Kuljasevic so I think ranking it here is appropriate.

Article

14th Place: GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs IM Rogelio Barcenilla (ARZ) 1-0. It seems the peanut gallery mostly disagrees with me on whether this game should have been a Wildcard. I personally thought it was a reasonably exciting contest with several interesting moments, and although Black lost due to a blunder, on the whole there are fewer mistakes in this game than many others in the contest so I still feel it's a fine choice and would choose to rank it here.

Article

13th Place: IM Lev Milman (CAR) vs GM Alex Shabalov (NY) 1-0. Another strong effort by the victor and a reasonably attractive finish in the endgame, but again hard to find anything truly distinguishing about it so a mid to low ranking seems best. As for what the judges will do, I would be very surprised if it made the Top Ten, but pretty much any ranking outside of that won't be too shocking as many of the games around this ranking I feel are very close.

Article

12th Place: GM Patrick Wolff (SF) vs IM Marko Zivanic (DAL) 1/2-1/2. Definitely the biggest anomaly in the contest having received no consideration at the time of it being played. I agree it likely should have received some attention with its interesting early game play and not having many mistakes by either side so a middle of the road ranking is what I would go with.

Article

11th Place: IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 1-0. Not sure what to really think about this game; it definitely was flashy (as both of these players' games tend to be), but both the early game play by White and middlegame play by Black seemed somewhat iffy. Weighing the flashiness versus this factor, going right in the very middle can only be correct.

Article

10th Place: IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) vs GM Vinay Bhat (SF) 1-0. Like Kuljasevic's other game, I think this game will likely get a lower ranking than I'm giving it here. Its biggest attraction was the importance of the game, and the dramatic fashion it was played under – again things the GOTY judges aren't likely to consider tremendously important. I personally feel, especially considering the time pressure involved, that this game was better than it likely will receive in the contest, but it wasn't exactly flashy either so it gets the other very middle spot in my picks.

Article

9th Place: GM Vinay Bhat (SF) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 1-0. Like Tate's loss to Lenderman, this clearly wasn't the most accurate of games by either side, but very flashy. I personally liked this game a bit more than that one since it was a much longer fight, and as such had many more interesting moments, but still the mistakes have to keep it from the very top in my rankings though I wouldn't be shocked to see it in the Top Five.

Article

8th Place: GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) vs IM Marko Zivanic (DAL) 1-0. This definitely seems to be a game where Greg and I severely differ. Yes it was very flashy and was from the Finals which is why I've ranked it this high, but the one-sidedness of this game was really extreme, with Black virtually committing suicide before move ten. I have a feeling, as Greg said, that this game will likely make the Top Five, and even though I don't quite agree with that, it certainly isn't a bad choice.

Article

7th Place: SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) vs IM David Pruess (SF) 1-0. Another game which I think is likely to make the Top Five (and perhaps even win), where I don't quite agree with it being quite that high. I too really liked the tactics by Jorge, especially the way his innocuous pushing of the Pawn to g6 wound up being the instrument behind it, but Black was a bit cooperative in allowing it and was likely better, if not winning, had he managed to avoid White's deadly tricks.

Article

6th Place: GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 1-0. Like the Christiansen vs Zivanic game, the one-sidedness of this game managed to keep it out of my Top Five. I know Greg clearly thinks higher of the Christiansen game compared to this one, but I personally disagree. That game was obviously more flashy and more important matchwise, but I feel Erenburg definitely had to work harder in this game for this win as again Zivanic was likely lost before move ten. Perhaps that's just an assumption that was made since an amazing attacker like Christiansen made his game look so easy when it certainly might not really have been so, but that was the way I happened to judge those two games so I ranked them as such.

Article

5th Place: IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs IM Dean Ippolito (NJ) 1-0. I definitely agree this is the best of Lenderman's entries as this game had very few mistakes along with many interesting moments and tactics – a very solid Top Five contender in my book, and I have a feeling the judges will also rank it about here overall.

Article

4th Place: GM Alex Shabalov (NY) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 0-1. This is a very tough game to call. I personally thought it would be the unequivocal GOTW winner in Week One, and no one would debate it, but clearly there were some dissenters. I disagree with those saying that this game shouldn't have won, as considering how well Jorge defended and played, it obviously was a very tough position to play even if White did miff up the move order. As such, I think it was worthy then and worthy now so this is another solid Top Five game to me, and I have a feeling it will finish about here in the contest.

Article

3rd Place: GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 1/2-1/2. Another easy Top Five game, one of the most exciting Petroffs perhaps ever played and certainly of high quality on top of that. The fair irrelevance of this game to the Playoff Picture may keep it out of the very top rankings of some judges, but I personally think it definitely belongs here and wouldn't be surprised if it even won.

Article

2nd Place: GM Sergey Kudrin (PHI) vs GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) 1/2-1/2. Another very high quality and very exciting game. This is another game where I disagree with Greg's overall assessment, mostly his saying that it was "less exciting" than the Ehlvest vs Erenburg draw (though I don't think there is a big difference). I personally found this game was more exciting than that one since the "meat" of this contest was quite a bit longer than the other game. Given that and that it was certainly of no less importance, I have to favor it with a slightly higher ranking.

Article

1st Place: GM Joel Benjamin (NJ) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 0-1. Well a game which didn't even win GOTW is again my choice for GOTY winner. Unfortunately, when I voted this game first during its week and was assuming it would win in a landslide then, I was quite incorrect, and as such I can only assume that I will be here also. To me this game being first was an easy choice (in both GOTW and GOTY) since I feel it's the best mix of quality and excitement, and so I have to hope it will win. I however won't be broken up if it doesn't do so, as the contest is very close between many games especially for the top spot, but I would be quite disappointed if this game doesn't even manage to crack the Top Five as I think it's 100% deserving of that honor at least.

Article

Greg Shahade's GOTY Picks

2008-12-26T22:30:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone, below are my guesses for the order of the top twenty games. For all fans who create such a list, we will have an informal contest to see whose picks most closely mirror our esteemed judges. Please note that I made these selections before any judges made their rankings and proved this by sending them to Arun Sharma weeks ago so if I happen to get all twenty games exactly correct, it's because I'm a huge genius, not because I cheated. As I'm not an official judge I didn't study all of these games for an hour before I made these rankings; just sort of went with my gut in many occasions. After having read some of the actual judges' comments, I'm very impressed with the work the judges put into their rankings.

Arun Sharma's rankings will be published tomorrow.

20th Place: IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 1-0. I don’t think this game will actually finish last so not sure exactly why I put it here. Just the game felt kind of random to me. Of course, I also gave it first place for GOTW when it happened, so I’m really confused obviously. To be honest, this season I'm very interested in seeing which game finishes last place as I think there are quite a few contenders this time around. In 2007 it was pretty obvious that one game was likely to finish last, and I felt that the nineteenth place finisher was also pretty clear (although I was right about it, that ended up being a very close vote). This time around I won't be shocked if there are a few surprises at the bottom of the standings.

Article

19th Place: FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 1/2-1/2. In reality I believe this game should finish last. Sure it was exciting and dramatic, but the fact remains that both players made some serious mistakes in the time scramble at the end of the game. In fact probably half the moves that made up that portion of the game were clear errors. The only reason this won GOTW was because it was so exciting while it was going on, but IMO it won’t crack the top fifteen and will probably be one of the first games out. I do believe that judges tend to rank playoff games higher than usual so that's why I have it in here instead of last. No offense to these guys, it was very hard to find the correct moves with so little time on the clock, and I did rank this game first that week, but it just doesn’t deserve to finish very highly in this contest.

Article

18th Place: IM Lev Milman (CAR) vs GM Alex Shabalov (NY) 1-0. As nice as it is that Milman defeated the multiple time US Champion, it was an endgame pretty quickly, and I found the game relatively uninspiring from an aesthetic standpoint. I'm sort of biased against games like this though, so I wouldn't be shocked to see it with a higher ranking in the thirteenth to fifteenth range.

Article

17th Place: IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) vs GM Julio Becerra (MIA) 1-0. In theory I prefer this game to Kuljasevic's other victory, however the fact that the other game took place in the playoffs and was extremely important to the team’s Championship run, while this was simply a regular season game, led to me choosing to give a higher ranking to Kuljasevic's win over Bhat. This was a nice strategical demonstration by Kuljasevic in his play against Becerra's hanging pawns and was also Becerra’s lone defeat of the 2008 season.

Article

16th Place: IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) vs GM Vinay Bhat (SF) 1-0. A clutch game from Kuljasevic, sending Dallas into the SemiFinals. Unfortunately if one is honest you have to admit it wasn’t particular exciting at all. Basically zero flashy tactics and no extremely instructive strategically moments. Kuljasevic played quite well, but not amazingly really and so here seems about right.

Article

15th Place: GM Patrick Wolff (SF) vs IM Marko Zivanic (DAL) 1/2-1/2. A controversial game from Week One in that it got zero GOTW votes, and there was some criticism about this. I looked at it while feverishly searching for Wildcards and realized that it was actually a pretty cool game by both sides. I guess that early in the season we are more biased against the draws. Also, I felt at the time that the draw was premature (although I don't think now that it actually was.) Still I'm not sure this really deserved my Wildcard bid, but whatever, since a few people thought that it was robbed in Week One, let's see how it really does. Also note that there was some vocal opposition to the game that did win Week One (Shabalov vs Sammour). Well now we have two other Week One games in the contest in this one and Lopez vs Serper. Let's see how they stack up this time around; I think our result will be confirmed by the GOTY judges.

Article

14th Place: GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs IM Rogelio Barcenilla (ARZ) 1-0. Sure Ehlvest played great and beat the strong IM, but don’t we expect such play from GM's! It wasn’t particularly artistic or exciting so I don't see the game finishing too highly.

Article

13th Place: GM Pascal Charbonneau (NY) vs GM Sergey Kudrin (PHI) 1-0. This is another game I expected to finish very low in the contest, but after further reflection, it was a long struggle with some good yet obvious tricks at the end. At certain points during the game it felt as though the players were shuffling the pieces around randomly, which certainly doesn't help it’s chances. I'll be very surprised if this game cracks the top ten, and not surprised at all if it finishes around sixteenth or seventeenth as well.

Article

12th Place: IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR) 1-0. I sort of thought this game was cool, lots of fun things happening, but the peanut gallery thinks that both sides made lots of mistakes. I'm not sure they were so clear, and I think they are being a bit too harsh. In any case, I'm going to put it in twelfth, but won’t be shocked if it finishes lower due to those things I heard.

Article

11th Place: IM Dmitry Schneider (QNS) vs GM Eugene Perelshteyn (BOS) 1-0. How the hell did this game end up in eleventh place in my rankings? I have no idea. Fact of matter is Schneider played a very nice game. It wasn't exciting or anything, but whatever he played very well against a strong player. This is basically the part of the contest where all the games go where one side played well against a stronger player, winning, but in the process nothing too spectacular happened.

Article

10th Place: FM Bruci Lopez (MIA) vs GM Gregory Serper (SEA) 1-0. I was very surprised to rank this game so highly. I mean I only picked it as my second wildcard game, after a game that I end up ranking much lower! How can I possibly be so illogical? I have no idea! Anyway Lopez played well to defeat a solid GM in Serper, there were a few cool moments, it wasn't really boring or anything, but not super-duper exciting or spectacular. I can't see this game breaking eighth place, but would be surprised if it finishes too low. Honestly if I had to guess, twelvth place would probably be more likely, but these are not just my predictions but also my own personal feelings about how I'd rank the games if I were a judge. In fact it's a mixture of both, my pure rankings may be slightly different, but I will be sure to note when those situations come up. For instance I suspect that the game I ranked in second place is more likely to win the contest than the game I ranked first.

Article

9th Place: GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 1-0. A fun game that some judges will rank highly because they love massacres, and others will rank lower because it was too one-sided. I think that'll translate into about ninth place.

Article

8th Place: IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs IM Dean Ippolito (NJ) 1-0. This was definitely the best of Lenderman's trio of entries into the contest, but it's hard to say where it will finish. Lenderman played well, but I'm just not sure if it has the firepower to crack the top five. I do strongly suspect it will finish ahead of his other two games, as both sides played quite well from beginning to end.

Article

7th Place: GM Sergey Kudrin (PHI) vs GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) 1/2-1/2. I think this game is going to have a real tough time cracking the top five, because I think that the other big draw, between Ehlvest and Erenburg, was simply more exciting. I suspect most judges will instinctively compare these two games, and rank that one higher, thus putting this game around the sixth to eleventh spot.

Article

6th Place: GM Joel Benjamin (NJ) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 0-1. Ok one may wonder why I didn’t rank this game highly when it came up in Game of the Week, but suddenly it now receives sixth place overall? The answer is because I am easily swayed by public opinion. If everyone feels that Erenburg played a great game, who am I to argue? However it's not exciting enough to crack my top five. I won't be surprised if this finishes anywhere from fourth to ninth.

Article

5th Place: GM Alex Shabalov (NY) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 0-1. A lot of people said this was mostly theory and as soon as Shabalov diverged that he was simply losing. I don't believe that most watching this game agreed or will agree while judging it. I suspect that this will definitely cause one or two judges to rank it lower than usual however, so wouldn't be surprised to see it finish anywhere from fourth to tenth.

Article

4th Place: GM Vinay Bhat (SF) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 1-0. A fun game, with Tate sacrificing a piece for a bunch of pawns and walking his King towards the center. I think that if Tate ended up playing well to win this game, it'd have a great chance of first place in Game of the Year. Since Bhat won, I think somewhere around third to seventh place is more likely.

Article

3rd Place: GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 1/2-1/2. A very exciting and well played draw. In terms of quality and excitement it's hard to do much better than this, although it's a shame that the match had no real effect on the standings. Such things tend to matter more in GOTW and less in GOTY though I believe.

Article

2nd Place: GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) vs IM Marko Zivanic (DAL) 1-0. If you had to ask me to pick the game which will probably win, I'd say this one. Something about the fact that it was an aesthetically pleasing crush from the USCL Finals played by fan favorite, Larry Christiansen, makes me think it's got the best chances. I talked to a lot of random non-judges whom when asked what their favorite game of the year was, brought up this game first, although that could have something to do with the fact that the USCL Final was on their mind as it ended so recently.

Article

1st Place: SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) vs IM David Pruess (SF) 1-0. A great attacking effort by Sammour. I ranked this game first because he found some pretty difficult to find moves. The idea of simply capturing on e6 and playing Qf4 was very nice. I felt like the game was more hard fought than my 2nd place game, but as stated I think that Christiansen vs Zivanic is more likely to appeal universally.

Article

May as well give my percentages for what games I think might win first place:

Christiansen vs Zivanic (43%) – What can I say, I have a strong feeling about this game, but I'm also more of an extremist, giving huge percentages based on my gut feelings.

Sammour-Hasbun vs Pruess (25%)

Ehlvest vs Erenburg (8%)

Shabalov vs Sammour-Hasbun (7%)

Bhat vs Tate (6%)

Benjamin vs Erenburg (6%)

Erenburg vs Sammour-Hasbun (3%)

Kudrin vs Christiansen (1%)

Lenderman vs Ippolito (1%)

All other games (almost zero chance)

Here are my percentages for each game to make the Top Five:

Christiansen vs Zivanic (98%)

Sammour-Hasbun vs Pruess (85%)

Ehlvest vs Erenburg (55%)

Bhat vs Tate (50%)

Shabalov vs Sammour-Hasbun (50%)

Benjamin vs Erenburg (50%)

Lenderman vs Ippolito (35%)

Erenburg vs Sammour-Hasbun (35%)

Kudrin vs Christiansen (25%)

Lopez vs Serper (9%)

Schneider vs Perelshteyn (7%)

All other games (I know that it's completely unrealistic to believe this, but I just don't see how any of them can possibly finish in the Top Five. Maybe the only game with a prayer is Lenderman vs Zaikov if people think it was sufficiently exciting, so I guess I can give that 1-2%? (We will see if I'm wrong…)