Game of the Year 17th Place Critique

So it seems that my predictions for the GOTY contest were actually not 100% correct (sorry to disappoint you all!). This unfortunately has a rather serious consequence for me though; prior to this week I had the luxury of mocking all the judges for their stupidity when they ranked a game far different than where it actually wound up. But now that I've demonstrated a similar ineptitude with my inaccurate placing of this week's game, my ability to laugh at the judges when they do likewise in the future might be seriously impeded. That might be the the natural assumption anyway, but the Commissioner insists that I still make fun of the judges on the off chance that some out there find it entertaining. So luckily for me, though perhaps not you, I get to keep doing it!

Why though was I so off in my placing of this game (I predicted it to finish 10th while I personally would have ranked it 11th)? A large number of reasons suggest themselves, but one big thing I might not have taken into quite enough consideration was that a major attraction of this game, aside from the piece sac, was its huge playoff implications (which naturally is always a reasonable factor in deciding GOTW). This quality is of course probably not considered nearly as important in GOTY (and rightly so I think) which could well be a reason I was so off. There could be other factors, but I doubt anyone cares so I'll just jump into examining what the judges said and thought.


Ron Young: Well I don't mind his ranking really, but any discussion of his comment would have to include some talk about the nature of his custodial abilities, and I doubt most actually want to hear that.


Jennifer Shahade: It's nice to see that Jenn has reverted back to trying to please me with her rankings (as her ranking this week nearly mirrored my own). She unfortunately may have chosen a rather bad time to do so given this game's overall ranking, but I have to appreciate the fact that she's trying to satisfy me so I won't blast her this time.


Alex Shabalov: Shabalov also seems to be at least making some effort to meet my demands, including a half nickname with his commentary. I hope he takes the next step in further weeks to make them truly complete.


Robby Adamson: I can't really verify that his comment about the opening is correct, but I think it's safe to assume that Robby knows more about openings than myself (yes, quite a feat, I know) and thus if he's right, it's hard to argue with his ranking.


Dennis Monokroussos: I personally felt the sacrifice in this game was a little more complex than his and most others' comments seem to suggest (another reason why I put this game higher than most?). Unfortunately, based on the voting system, this is definitely one scenario where majority rules, and I suppose this is an argument I can't win.


Hopefully I can get back on track with next week's elimination!