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This is the seventeenth part in a weekly series of articles which will count down to revealing what game was voted as the 2007 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 Preview.
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4th Place: GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) vs GM Patrick Wolff (SF) 1-0
GM Christiansen delivered a strong blow with 27. Nd5! which soon forced a win of decisive material.
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.
WGM Jennifer Shahade (4th Place, 17 points): I remember arguing about this game with someone. He thought it was a typical win while I was excited by it. Obviously since I ranked it fourth, I went with myself :) Games like this convinced me to quit the c3 Sicilian and start playing the Open Sicilian. And thank goodness I did, as my chessplaying career would be much less joyous if I had hundreds of c3's and Bb5's jamming up "Jennifer's database"
Finally, how can you not love 20. g3 ? There's something standard and unusual about it at the same time, which sort of mirrors my thoughts about the game.
FM Dennis Monokroussos (5th Place, 16 points): Two strong grandmasters and an exciting opening get the game off to a good start, and then Wolff was kind enough to commit suicide by playing 20... Qxg3. I've seen enough of Larry's games over the years to know that even if 20... Qxg3 was good (it's not), it's bad against Christiansen. Needless to say, Wolff got hacked to pieces. A loss for his team, yes, but a gain for USCL fans everywhere. Thanks, Patrick!
FM Ron Young (6th Place, 15 points): Castling by hand is not so unusual, but here Black does it only after castling conventionally on the other side. Unfortunately, he castled into it by hand. Or to be more accurate, he castled with it. But it continued to pursue him, and finally it was all over the Black king. And that was it.
GM Alex Shabalov (7th Place, 14 points): Grendel vs Beowulf. 18... Qe5, very provocative move, and the patzer took it, WOW! He just had to play 20... Qc7. Someone should applaud Patrick for the sportsmanship of allowing Larry to attack.
FM Robby Adamson (7th Place, 14 points): In a battle between the "Old Dogs", the game went into a complex Richter Rauzer where Larry kept Wolff off balance tactically, and eventually Larry netted the full point. I award this game fourteen points.
Total Score of Christiansen vs Wolff: (4th Place, 76 Points)
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Stay tuned for two more such articles as the field shrinks by one game each week to see which of the following games will be the 2007 Game of the Year!
Wildcard Round: FM Marcel Martinez (MIA) vs IM Dmitry Zilberstein (SF) 1-0 Article
Semifinals: GM Julio Becerra (MIA) vs IM Drasko Boskovic (DAL) 0-1 Article
Championship: SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) vs IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) 1-0 Article
Eliminated:
4th Place (76 Points): GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) vs GM Patrick Wolff (SF) 1-0 Article
5th Place (70 Points): IM Vinay Bhat (SF) vs GM Hikaru Nakamura (NY) 1-0 Article
6th Place (69 Points): GM Eugene Perelshteyn (BOS) vs GM Pascal Charbonneau (NY) 0-1 Article
7th Place (66 Points): GM Julio Becerra (MIA) vs GM Alex Stripunsky (QNS) 1-0 Article
8th Place (61 Points): IM Lev Milman (CAR) vs IM Ron Burnett (TEN) 0-1 Article
9th Place (54 Points): IM Josh Friedel (SF) vs GM Gregory Serper (SEA) 1-0 Article
10th Place (52 Points): IM Bryan Smith (PHI) vs GM Eugene Perelshteyn (BOS) 1-0 Article
11th Place (49 Points): NM Mackenzie Molner (NJ) vs IM Larry Kaufman (BAL) 1-0 Article
12th Place (44 Points): IM Dmitry Zilberstein (SF) vs IM John Bartholomew (DAL) 1-0 Article
13th Place (44 Points): NM Mackenzie Molner (NJ) vs FM Marc Arnold (NY) 1-0 Article
14th Place (43 Points): IM Eric Tangborn (SEA) vs IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) 0-1 Article
15th Place (35 Points): IM Vinay Bhat (SF) vs IM John Bartholomew (DAL) 1-0 Article
16th Place (35 Points): GM Julio Becerra (MIA) vs IM Ron Burnett (TEN) 1-0 Article
17th Place (35 Points): IM Jay Bonin (NY) vs NM Mackenzie Molner (NJ) 1-0 Article
18th Place (30 Points): FM Slava Mikhailuk (SEA) vs IM Jonathan Schroer (CAR) 0-1 Article
19th Place (29 Points): IM Josh Friedel (SF) vs IM Lev Milman (CAR) 0-1 Article
20th Place (7 Points): IM Jay Bonin (NY) vs NM Denys Shmelov (BOS) 1-0 Article
FM Monokroussos continues to hold a solid lead, and time is running out for everyone else. As mentioned last week, FM Young had an inevitable big hit coming to him when his 16th Place Game happened to be eliminated, and it didn't disappoint his competitors in knocking him from 2nd down to 4th. Given the rankings left (which I've noted below), it's very unlikely for anyone to catch Monokroussos at this stage though WGM Shahade who's been near the bottom for most of the contest might have the best chance given that she's the only one to rank the Top Four Games exactly as the Top Four actually are. This is how things look.
1st Place: Dennis Monokroussos (20, 13, 19, 18, 12, 17, 7, 11, 16, 14, 10, 9, 6, 3, 15, 2): 48 Points (Rankings Left: 1, 4, 5, 8)
2nd Place: Alex Shabalov (20, 12, 16, 15, 17, 10, 18, 9, 13, 19, 4, 14, 11, 8, 3, 2): 55 Points (Rankings Left: 1, 5, 6, 7)
3rd Place: Jennifer Shahade (18, 20, 8, 12, 17, 19, 5, 14, 16, 7, 10, 15, 11, 13, 9, 6): 60 Points (Rankings Left: 1, 2, 3, 4)
4th Place: Ron Young (20, 19, 13, 9, 7, 18, 14, 17, 11, 12, 15, 10, 1, 2, 8, 16): 62 Points (Rankings Left: 3, 4, 5, 6)
5th Place: Robby Adamson (20, 12, 19, 16, 17, 6, 18, 10, 5, 4, 14, 3, 15, 13, 1, 9): 72 Points (Rankings Left: 2, 7, 8, 11)
and the two non-judges,
Arun Sharma (20, 19, 18, 11, 12, 15, 5, 9, 13, 17, 16, 4, 6, 3, 2, 10): 56 Points (Rankings Left: 1, 7, 8, 14)
Braden Bournival (19, 20, 9, 17, 7, 4, 18, 14, 15, 16, 12, 11, 8, 13, 2, 1): 63 Points (Rankings Left: 3, 5, 6, 10)
There is a good chance this contest will be mathematically decided as of next week so tune in to see if that's true!
So naturally when I finally get fed up with making wrong predictions, the game I'd anticipated to go for so long finally managed to do so (I suppose someone out there wanted to insure that I'd be mocked in some fashion even if I tried to avoid it by not making a prediction this week). Even though this game got a bit of a higher ranking than I expected, in most ways I'm not really surprised about how things turned out as its anomalous nature struck me as the sort of game which could get both very high and very low rankings (which it did). I am a bit surprised by which judges happened to give it the very high rankings as for the most part GM Shabalov and FM Monokroussos have seemed to be the two judges who have focused most highly on a games' quality factor -- the one thing which I felt this game was really lacking in. Let's examine what they actually said.
Alex Shabalov: Well I definitely like his nicknames, but claiming that the middle-game was at a "really high level" and that the two pawn sacrifice was "amazing" weren't exactly in line with the perspective that I'd developed about this game.
Dennis Monokroussos: For those not following, Dennis and I had a bit of a disagreement regarding the ranking of last week's game, and I suppose I have no choice but to set us up to have another one (it's my job after all!) as I must admit that this comment and this ranking were not what I would have expected from him at all. The first thing that surprised me was that he made mention of the time disadvantage as his judging in general and his comments about last week's game, I wouldn't have anticipated him to be the sort to be impressed by something of that nature. But the main things that I found interesting was how he noted (in the just mentioned comment) that the Perelshteyn vs Charbonneau game was something you needed "to be there" to appreciate, as the Bhat game actually struck me as something that would have had that quality far more than the other game (however, Nakamura being involved probably would change that in many people's view). Also, while this again might clearly be different to every person, saying that the ending was "technically difficult to win" rather surprised me as well since I felt the ending in the other game was a far more difficult one to win than this one (an ending which he didn't seem overly impressed by).
Jennifer Shahade: Basically what I felt about this game even though it seems to me that the seventy to one time disadvantage factor is causing this game to shoot up far more in the judges' rankings than I really think it ought to in a contest of this nature.
Robby Adamson: Every week there seems to be at least one judge who shares essentially my exact view and nearly exact ranking for a game. This week it happens to be Robby.
Ron Young: While I mentioned above that I felt this game was the sort which could get some low rankings, I still am surprised it got a ranking quite this low. Nevertheless, I feel overall this game did better than it probably should have so it's hard for me to find much fault here.
Keep tuning in as we inch closer and closer to the $1000 winner!
This is the sixteenth part in a weekly series of articles which will count down to revealing what game was voted as the 2007 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 Preview.
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5th Place: IM Vinay Bhat (SF) vs GM Hikaru Nakamura (NY) 1-0
Down two pawns and trailing seventy to one minutes on the clock, IM Bhat boldly pressed forward with 52. f6! and managed to pull off an amazing victory.
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 Alex Shabalov (2nd Place, 19 points): Blue Anand vs Meat Processor. This is how every USCL game should be: the middlegame was played at a very high level. The two pawn sacrifice by Blue Anand was amazing, and it's no wonder that Meat Processor missed a couple of good defenses.
FM Dennis Monokroussos (2nd Place, 19 points): An incredible battle! The game was complicated throughout, both players fought like crazy to win, the advantage went back and forth, Bhat overcame a seventy one to one minute time disadvantage, and then won a technically difficult ending to boot. Against Nakamura! A fantastic contest that would normally win Game of the Year honors.
WGM Jennifer Shahade (6th Place, 15 points): I chose this game because Bhat managed to defeat the mighty Nakamura in a pawn down game, playing on just his increment. Nakamura showed a crucial flaw in this game, overconfidence: he had seventy one minutes to Bhat's one on move forty. In terms of USCL drama, you couldn't beat this game: it was Nakamura's first game for the league, and it was a Monday night game. Hundreds were watching on ICC, including World Cup champ Gata Kamsky. An impressive display of nerves and fighting spirit by Bhat.
FM Robby Adamson (9th Place, 12 points): I am interested in what the other judges think of this game. This game gave me fits for a few reasons. First of all, defeating Nakamura is always an accomplishment. Second, doing so with a seventy to one minute disadvantage on the clock makes it even more remarkable. However, the main reason it doesn't rank higher in my book is that in a game where Hikaru played too fast throughout this game as well as during the USCL season, Hikaru outplayed Vinay and only due to a slip up did Vinay cash in. Balancing these factors, I award this game twelve points.
FM Ron Young (16th Place, 5 points): This game has had its influence on chess play, as Nigel Short could testify. In the future, chess hustlers will be forced to offer increment odds rather than time odds.
Total Score of Bhat vs Nakamura: (5th Place, 70 Points)
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Stay tuned for three more such articles as the field shrinks by one game each week to see which of the following games will be the 2007 Game of the Year!
Week 6: GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) vs GM Patrick Wolff (SF) 1-0 Article
Wildcard Round: FM Marcel Martinez (MIA) vs IM Dmitry Zilberstein (SF) 1-0 Article
Semifinals: GM Julio Becerra (MIA) vs IM Drasko Boskovic (DAL) 0-1 Article
Championship: SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) vs IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) 1-0 Article
Eliminated:
5th Place (70 Points): IM Vinay Bhat (SF) vs GM Hikaru Nakamura (NY) 1-0 Article
6th Place (69 Points): GM Eugene Perelshteyn (BOS) vs GM Pascal Charbonneau (NY) 0-1 Article
7th Place (66 Points): GM Julio Becerra (MIA) vs GM Alex Stripunsky (QNS) 1-0 Article
8th Place (61 Points): IM Lev Milman (CAR) vs IM Ron Burnett (TEN) 0-1 Article
9th Place (54 Points): IM Josh Friedel (SF) vs GM Gregory Serper (SEA) 1-0 Article
10th Place (52 Points): IM Bryan Smith (PHI) vs GM Eugene Perelshteyn (BOS) 1-0 Article
11th Place (49 Points): NM Mackenzie Molner (NJ) vs IM Larry Kaufman (BAL) 1-0 Article
12th Place (44 Points): IM Dmitry Zilberstein (SF) vs IM John Bartholomew (DAL) 1-0 Article
13th Place (44 Points): NM Mackenzie Molner (NJ) vs FM Marc Arnold (NY) 1-0 Article
14th Place (43 Points): IM Eric Tangborn (SEA) vs IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) 0-1 Article
15th Place (35 Points): IM Vinay Bhat (SF) vs IM John Bartholomew (DAL) 1-0 Article
16th Place (35 Points): GM Julio Becerra (MIA) vs IM Ron Burnett (TEN) 1-0 Article
17th Place (35 Points): IM Jay Bonin (NY) vs NM Mackenzie Molner (NJ) 1-0 Article
18th Place (30 Points): FM Slava Mikhailuk (SEA) vs IM Jonathan Schroer (CAR) 0-1 Article
19th Place (29 Points): IM Josh Friedel (SF) vs IM Lev Milman (CAR) 0-1 Article
20th Place (7 Points): IM Jay Bonin (NY) vs NM Denys Shmelov (BOS) 1-0 Article
Despite how outraged I was personally at this game not being in the Top Five, it would be hard to deny that it has brought a shred of competitiveness back into the judging contest with FM Monokroussos's lead no longer seeming insurmountable. Unfortunately, his two closest competitors, myself and Ron Young both have little realistic chance to catch him with me having many low rankings still to be revealed (how shameful that I only cgise one of five games in my Top Five which actually wound up being in the Top Five) while Ron still has his 16th place game in the running. GM Shabalov seems be the only realistically likely person who could pull off that tough feat at this stage. Here is how things currently stand.
1st Place: Dennis Monokroussos (20, 13, 19, 18, 12, 17, 7, 11, 16, 14, 10, 9, 6, 3, 15): 45 Points
2nd Place: Ron Young (20, 19, 13, 9, 7, 18, 14, 17, 11, 12, 15, 10, 1, 2, 8): 51 Points
3rd Place: Alex Shabalov (20, 12, 16, 15, 17, 10, 18, 9, 13, 19, 4, 14, 11, 8, 3): 52 Points
4th Place: Jennifer Shahade (18, 20, 8, 12, 17, 19, 5, 14, 16, 7, 10, 15, 11, 13, 9): 59 Points
5th Place: Robby Adamson (20, 12, 19, 16, 17, 6, 18, 10, 5, 4, 14, 3, 15, 13, 1): 68 Points
and the two non-judges,
Arun Sharma (20, 19, 18, 11, 12, 15, 5, 9, 13, 17, 16, 4, 6, 3, 2): 51 Points
Braden Bournival (19, 20, 9, 17, 7, 4, 18, 14, 15, 16, 12, 11, 8, 13, 2): 59 Points
We'll see if we have any interesting further developments when the first money game goes next week!
Well I've without a doubt reached the point which has to be considered the epitome of low. This might lead one to think I should have no qualms about continuing since I have no place to go but up, but after some serious thought I'm really not sure. I mean I even tried to utilize a cheap trick a couple of weeks ago to give myself a much better chance to break the drought, but judge FM Dennis Monokroussos pointed out how unethical that really was (though I can't lie, I did seriously think about pulling the trick he alluded to in the aforementioned comment this week). However, on the whole, a person can take only so much being wrong and mocked etc., and I've reached that point. So to avoid any further instances of it, my cheap trick to try to avoid it this week will be to simply not make a prediction! (plus all of you who are clamoring about how whatever game I predict is assured of not being eliminated -- this should put an end to that. After all I can't be accused of actually influencing the results even if it is after the fact)! So for those of you who came here expecting to see some percentages or anything of that nature, gotcha or something.
...
Well I was really prepared to end this post on that line, but unfortunately when my lovable employer read it (our esteemed commissioner), he didn't take a fancy to it after which the following was said to me
Greg: Dude, you have to do a prediction
Greg: PEOPLE WANT MORE WRONG PICKS
Greg: Plus I thought when we got to 5 was going to be one last big feature to congratulate the final 5 etc.
Now, one of the first rules of having a job (pay attention kids!) is you must listen to your employer even when you know he's wrong.
...
Well once again that might have been where I would have ended this article (after giving the obligatory percentages) had this all transpired a couple of weeks ago. But this is now and my inability to endure any more being wrong, as mentioned above, is overpowering the just mentioned truth so I guess I have to defy his order about making a prediction. On the other hand, the idea to congratulate the Top Five did seem like a reasonable one; however, given that I felt four of these five games didn't especially deserve to be in the Top Five, how could I really go about doing that properly? Determined for this to be one of the few things I wouldn't foul up (at least through fault of my own), I sought out the advice of former GOTY contender, IM Josh Friedel, who told me the following:
Arun: So what should I say to congratulate them?
Josh: I think you should just compliment them on playing a game of low enough quality that it managed to impress the judges; after all if they'd played a better game they would have been eliminated already like my game, Julio's game, and Pascal's game.
So it's quite apparent that the judges have managed to pull off a very impressive feat in impressing Josh Friedel with their picks. As such, congratulations to the Top Five, you've really managed to achieve something special today!
Well I definitely never would have expected this. One might have been able to guess that based on the percentages I gave for this week's elimination, but it still has me in fair shock as everything inside me was convinced this game was almost assuredly going to be in the top couple spots (and sure for those of you who love to point out how often I'm wrong, not being in the top couple is still a long ways from not being in the Top Five). Let's see what judging calamity caused this travesty.
Robby Adamson: I definitely can't be faulting this judge for what happened; the only thing really of note is his saying that the piece sacrifice was "forced" while FM Monokroussos describes it as "panicky". Who's correct? Well I know better than to get in the middle of these judge fights so I'll move on.
Alex Shabalov: I like the double nickname and the ranking so not much to say here.
Ron Young: Saying that Black's only pressure in the ending was to avoid the fifty move rule and three-fold repetition seems a bit odd to me, since you know, winning the ending to begin with doesn't seem like the easiest of tasks (especially if you'd asked the spectators that night, including our esteemed commissioner, as to what they thought his chances to win that ending were).
Jennifer Shahade: Jenn doesn't seem to list any detraction for this game so I'm not sure why she only ranked it in the middle of the pack especially given the positives she noted.
Dennis Monokroussos: While I find this ranking quite shocking (especially since Dennis has been the most consistent judge in his choices, and this is the first one which he has completely differed from the rest of the pack). While it's difficult to argue with his assessments (given you know, he uses a computer to help himself make them), even if he felt this game's quality wasn't that high, I still find it hard to believe it could be lower than the majority of the other GOTY contenders, but his note about excitement is what really surprised me. Granted, as someone who watched all these games live, I have a different perspective, but given this game was from the biggest rivalry in the USCL (Boston vs New York), occurred on Monday night, was clearly going to determine the match outcome, and was an ending which had all the spectators declaring "dead draw" and things of that nature, I'm really not sure what else someone could want for excitement (as FM Adamson points out himself). Of course, as I alluded, someone not having watched this game live could have a completely different perspective on the game (and he seems to be aware that others will disagree with him based on his ending with "Sorry"), but in entirety given all the other games involved, 15th just seems like way too low a ranking to me.
Tune in next week to see which the first money game winner is!
This is the fifteenth part in a weekly series of articles which will count down to revealing what game was voted as the 2007 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 Preview.
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6th Place: GM Eugene Perelshteyn (BOS) vs GM Pascal Charbonneau (NY) 0-1
This ending, dead drawn or not? The spectators sure all seemed to think so, but GM Charbonneau admirably proved them wrong.
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 Robby Adamson (1st Place, 20 points): And then there was one. In a GM Matchup, Pascal Charbonneau played a fantastic game against Perelshteyn, outplaying him in an English. After forcing Eugene to sacrifice a piece, Pascal had to win an ending with just minor pieces and no pawns, and all with little time on his clock. The length of the game and the players involved made this deserving. I know this didn't have any special sacrifices, but the excitement of the game was special. In all honesty, any of the top five games were deserving of the Game of the Year award. I award this twenty points.
GM Alex Shabalov (3rd Place, 18 points): Ragazzi Del Norte (both Eugene and Pascal) or Boston Chicken vs Loverboy. Ragazzi Del Norte treated us to a wonderful mix of subtle maneuvering, shocking sacrifices, and computer-like endgame technique. In the end, it was Loverboy who demonstrated better qualities, to withstand this crush test.
FM Ron Young (8th Place, 13 points): Rarely does one have to deal with KRBN vs. KRB without the assistance of 100 computers working parallel, but Charbonneau rose to the task. The reason I didn't rank it higher was that the only pressure Black faced in the ending was the 50-move rule and the triple-occurrence-of-position rule. Also, without pawns on the board, there was a shortage of soul.
WGM Jennifer Shahade (9th Place, 12 points): This game would not make it as high on the list if it was just the middle-game combination that led to an edge for Charbonneau. What sets it apart is the incredible fighting spirit that Charbonneau showed to squeeze out the win. Pascal wakes up at some ungodly or at least ungrandmasterly hour to go to work, making it all the more impressive to me.
Normally best game prizes favor flashy finishes, and obviously since I didn't rank this one #1 or 2, I'm not entirely immune to this type of thinking.
FM Dennis Monokroussos (15th Place, 6 points): This was a really tough game to rate. Two very strong players going at it in a game with competitive significance is normally a recipe for a high ranking, but the game's chess content, as opposed to its dramatic content, didn't fare so well. Perelshteyn was getting outplayed, but in a still tenable situation made a panicky piece sac that netted him a lost ending. Then Charbonneau erred and allowed Perelshteyn to equalize, before the latter in turn lost the drawn ending. The winner's technique in hunting down the enemy king was very good, but on the whole I didn't find the game in itself either especially well-played or entertaining. Sorry.
Total Score of Perelshteyn vs Charbonneau: (6th Place, 69 Points)
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Stay tuned for four more such articles as the field shrinks by one game each week to see which of the following games will be the 2007 Game of the Year!
Week 3: IM Vinay Bhat (SF) vs GM Hikaru Nakamura (NY) 1-0 Article
Week 6: GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) vs GM Patrick Wolff (SF) 1-0 Article
Wildcard Round: FM Marcel Martinez (MIA) vs IM Dmitry Zilberstein (SF) 1-0 Article
Semifinals: GM Julio Becerra (MIA) vs IM Drasko Boskovic (DAL) 0-1 Article
Championship: SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) vs IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) 1-0 Article
Eliminated:
6th Place (69 Points): GM Eugene Perelshteyn (BOS) vs GM Pascal Charbonneau (NY) 0-1 Article
7th Place (66 Points): GM Julio Becerra (MIA) vs GM Alex Stripunsky (QNS) 1-0 Article
8th Place (61 Points): IM Lev Milman (CAR) vs IM Ron Burnett (TEN) 0-1 Article
9th Place (54 Points): IM Josh Friedel (SF) vs GM Gregory Serper (SEA) 1-0 Article
10th Place (52 Points): IM Bryan Smith (PHI) vs GM Eugene Perelshteyn (BOS) 1-0 Article
11th Place (49 Points): NM Mackenzie Molner (NJ) vs IM Larry Kaufman (BAL) 1-0 Article
12th Place (44 Points): IM Dmitry Zilberstein (SF) vs IM John Bartholomew (DAL) 1-0 Article
13th Place (44 Points): NM Mackenzie Molner (NJ) vs FM Marc Arnold (NY) 1-0 Article
14th Place (43 Points): IM Eric Tangborn (SEA) vs IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) 0-1 Article
15th Place (35 Points): IM Vinay Bhat (SF) vs IM John Bartholomew (DAL) 1-0 Article
16th Place (35 Points): GM Julio Becerra (MIA) vs IM Ron Burnett (TEN) 1-0 Article
17th Place (35 Points): IM Jay Bonin (NY) vs NM Mackenzie Molner (NJ) 1-0 Article
18th Place (30 Points): FM Slava Mikhailuk (SEA) vs IM Jonathan Schroer (CAR) 0-1 Article
19th Place (29 Points): IM Josh Friedel (SF) vs IM Lev Milman (CAR) 0-1 Article
20th Place (7 Points): IM Jay Bonin (NY) vs NM Denys Shmelov (BOS) 1-0 Article
As I've mentioned several times, this contest is more of a race for second at this juncture given the enormous lead that NM Monokroussos has, but for those rooting for the underdog(s) at least they have something to cheer about as for the first time in several weeks, NM Monokroussos didn't have the closest rankings amongst all the judges (sad how I and the other judges are reduced to scoring Pyhrric victories of that sort isn't it?). Here's how things stand.
1st Place: Dennis Monokroussos (20, 13, 19, 18, 12, 17, 7, 11, 16, 14, 10, 9, 6, 3): 36 Points
2nd Place: Alex Shabalov (20, 12, 16, 15, 17, 10, 18, 9, 13, 19, 4, 14, 11, 8): 49 Points
3rd Place: Ron Young (20, 19, 13, 9, 7, 18, 14, 17, 11, 12, 15, 10, 1, 2): 49 Points
4th Place: Jennifer Shahade (18, 20, 8, 12, 17, 19, 5, 14, 16, 7, 10, 15, 11, 13): 56 Points
5th Place: Robby Adamson (20, 12, 19, 16, 17, 6, 18, 10, 5, 4, 14, 3, 15, 13): 63 Points
and the two non-judges,
Arun Sharma (20, 19, 18, 11, 12, 15, 5, 9, 13, 17, 16, 4, 6, 3): 47 Points
Braden Bournival (19, 20, 9, 17, 7, 4, 18, 14, 15, 16, 12, 11, 8, 13): 55 Points
See if the rest of us battlers have any other small victories to celebrate next week!
Although I originally anticipated that this game would do much better in the contest than it wound up doing, recent events don't make me especially surprised that it wound up in this place. I felt all along that this games' one-sidedness could definitely be a detraction to some judges, and that it might really just be a matter of whether they were more strongly influenced by Becerra's great play or turned off by the sheer lopsidedness of the game (similar I think to the disparity in the judging of Tangborn vs Kuljasevic -- whether you were more influenced by Kuljasevic's great play or Tangborn's suboptimal play). That, in addition to the judging of Zilberstein vs Bartholomew, which had a similar detraction doesn't make me surprised by this game's overall ranking. Let's look at what the judges said.
Ron Young: I guess I must not have a very high degree of chess culture (what a shock, I know) since I always thought quickies of this sort tended to be a result of a nice tactical sequence or a quick mating attack -- neither of which really requires a sacrifice. I suppose, there are many examples of every type, and I sure don't know which is the most prominent variety.
Dennis Monokroussos: Once again, very little to say here as this comment was basically dead on with my perspective on this game (and the same ranking I would have given it to!), but as always I look forward to what improvements he will find for Black in his video.
Alex Shabalov: Although this ranking was quite different than what I would have given, it still was in basic tune to what I felt about the game as well, he apparently just felt the one-sidedness was more of a detraction than I did.
Jennifer Shahade: This is the second game that Jenn admits she ranked lower than she might otherwise have done so since she "expects" Becerra to win like this. While I might have a similar expectation, I don't tend to view that as a detraction (certainly not more than a very minor one in any case) as I prefer to focus on the game itself (and its consequences) rather than the players (though I don't ignore that factor completely either).
Robby Adamson: Although the Judges' Contest seems to suggest that FM Adamson has had the least desirable picks, one can't question his foresight as every time he's made a prognostication of the variety "I will judge this higher" or "I will judge this lower", he's been spot on. This might lead one to think that he should use such feelings to alter his rankings as such (he has to try to win the all important Judges' Contest right?). But since each judge was to rank by their own opinions, maybe not? I'm not sure myself, but it's clear based solely on said comments that FM Adamson would probably have been a far better predictor for this contest than I have been.
Tune in next week to see which game will be the dreaded bubble game!
This is the fourteenth part in a weekly series of articles which will count down to revealing what game was voted as the 2007 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 Preview.
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7th Place: GM Julio Becerra (MIA) vs GM Alex Stripunsky (QNS) 1-0
GM Becerra capitalized on his dangerous initiative with 27. Rd1!, winning decisive material.
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 (2nd Place, 19 points): It's amazing that someone could defeat such a strong grandmaster as Stripunsky inside of thirty moves without even giving any material away, save for a single sealer-sweeper pawn sac. This may seem paradoxical to you if you do not have a high degree of chess culture, but it is true nonetheless.
NM Dennis Monokroussos (3rd Place, 18 points): A very attractive attacking game by Becerra, who showed that the "safe" Kan isn't so bullet-proof after all, even in the hands of a strong GM like Stripunsky. White's play flowed beautifully throughout, and poor Stripunsky never had a chance.
GM Alex Shabalov (8th Place, 13 points): There were a couple of games like this last year. Nice positional attack with a pawn sac but too one wayish to be a top contender.
WGM Jennifer Shahade (13th Place, 8 points): This is a very nice game in which Becerra plays almost perfectly, and makes Stripunsky look like a much weaker player. I had a really hard time deciding between games 7-12. All but one fell into the same category for me. Really nice games with special tactics, but sort of one-sided shows in which their opponents fell with not too much resistance. As clean as this game was, it wasn't particularly surprising, so that's why I ranked it 13th. Although to be honest, it's hard to be objective when you know who the players are: If a 2300 won this exact game against Stripunsky, I probably would have given it a higher ranking. Unfortunately, with Becerra winning in this way, it seems more like a natural result, and the strongest impression it leaves me with is that "Stripunsky needs to work on this Sicilian line."
FM Robby Adamson (13th Place, 8 points): Although not privy to how the other judges voted, I am guessing I am going to judge this game harsher than others. Becerra played exceptionally in this game, but Stripunsky basically got killed in a game where his King was stuck in the center. Julio finishes it off with a nice tactic. I award this game eight points.
Total Score of Becerra vs Stripunsky: (7th Place, 66 Points)
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Stay tuned for five more such articles as the field shrinks by one game each week to see which of the following games will be the 2007 Game of the Year!
Week 3: IM Vinay Bhat (SF) vs GM Hikaru Nakamura (NY) 1-0 Article
Week 4: GM Eugene Perelshteyn (BOS) vs GM Pascal Charbonneau (NY) 0-1 Article
Week 6: GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) vs GM Patrick Wolff (SF) 1-0 Article
Wildcard Round: FM Marcel Martinez (MIA) vs IM Dmitry Zilberstein (SF) 1-0 Article
Semifinals: GM Julio Becerra (MIA) vs IM Drasko Boskovic (DAL) 0-1 Article
Championship: SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) vs IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) 1-0 Article
Eliminated:
7th Place (66 Points): GM Julio Becerra (MIA) vs GM Alex Stripunsky (QNS) 1-0 Article
8th Place (61 Points): IM Lev Milman (CAR) vs IM Ron Burnett (TEN) 0-1 Article
9th Place (54 Points): IM Josh Friedel (SF) vs GM Gregory Serper (SEA) 1-0 Article
10th Place (52 Points): IM Bryan Smith (PHI) vs GM Eugene Perelshteyn (BOS) 1-0 Article
11th Place (49 Points): NM Mackenzie Molner (NJ) vs IM Larry Kaufman (BAL) 1-0 Article
12th Place (44 Points): IM Dmitry Zilberstein (SF) vs IM John Bartholomew (DAL) 1-0 Article
13th Place (44 Points): NM Mackenzie Molner (NJ) vs FM Marc Arnold (NY) 1-0 Article
14th Place (43 Points): IM Eric Tangborn (SEA) vs IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) 0-1 Article
15th Place (35 Points): IM Vinay Bhat (SF) vs IM John Bartholomew (DAL) 1-0 Article
16th Place (35 Points): GM Julio Becerra (MIA) vs IM Ron Burnett (TEN) 1-0 Article
17th Place (35 Points): IM Jay Bonin (NY) vs NM Mackenzie Molner (NJ) 1-0 Article
18th Place (30 Points): FM Slava Mikhailuk (SEA) vs IM Jonathan Schroer (CAR) 0-1 Article
19th Place (29 Points): IM Josh Friedel (SF) vs IM Lev Milman (CAR) 0-1 Article
20th Place (7 Points): IM Jay Bonin (NY) vs NM Denys Shmelov (BOS) 1-0 Article
As I alluded to last week, this contest seemed to be nearing the stage of a runaway, and this week only further confirmed it with NM Monokroussos once again having the closest ranking to solidify his already large lead. That, along with his nearest competitor FM Young being tied for having the furthest ranking this week, now makes it especially unlikely that anyone can catch him in the waning weeks. On the other end, FM Adamson seems to be running away with last place in once again getting (though tied this week) the furthest ranking. This is where we stand.
1st Place: Dennis Monokroussos (20, 13, 19, 18, 12, 17, 7, 11, 16, 14, 10, 9, 6): 32 Points
2nd Place: Ron Young (20, 19, 13, 9, 7, 18, 14, 17, 11, 12, 15, 10, 1): 44 Points
3rd Place: Alex Shabalov (20, 12, 16, 15, 17, 10, 18, 9, 13, 19, 4, 14, 11): 48 Points
4th Place: Jennifer Shahade (18, 20, 8, 12, 17, 19, 5, 14, 16, 7, 10, 15, 11): 50 Points
5th Place: Robby Adamson (20, 12, 19, 16, 17, 6, 18, 10, 5, 4, 14, 3, 15): 57 Points
and the two non-judges,
Arun Sharma (20, 19, 18, 11, 12, 15, 5, 9, 13, 17, 16, 4, 6): 43 Points
Braden Bournival (19, 20, 9, 17, 7, 4, 18, 14, 15, 16, 12, 11, 8): 49 Points
See if NM Monkroussos can manage to win this contest with five weeks still left in it in next week's update!
Yet another dreadfully horrendous pick which couldn't have been much further off. I really though I had it nailed this week as throughout the contest I figured the Bhat vs Nakamura game to be one which would likely get a couple very high rankings along with a few mediocre ones, and the clue of being in 8th place along with having gotten a first place vote seemed to be exactly the ticket for it, but as usual I was in error. While the game which did go this week had slowly but surely grown on me, I'm still quite surprised that it received a first place vote as despite how highly I chose to rank it in my most recent predictions, I just never got that "first place feeling" from it. Let's look at what the judges said.
Ron Young: I've already stated above that I'm quite surprised that this got a first place ranking, and it's quite hard for me to comment on the remainder of what he says as my mother doesn't even know how to play chess making it hard for to understand his connotation about the ending of this game not being "your mother's back-rank mate".
Dennis Monokroussos: I'm somewhat surprised by his saying that he thought this was one of the most visually pleasing games of the year. Like most things, it of course depends at the way you look at it, but to me other than the Qe3+ blow, I wouldn't have really described this game as "visually pleasing" while I felt there were other games in the contest which had multiple moves of that nature.
Alex Shabalov: Succinct comment so succinct critique.
Jennifer Shahade: I've always been skeptical of any claim that a game "played itself". Obviously some games fit that description more than others, but when you defeat such a strong player, I would never rush to say something of that nature.
Robby Adamson: Did he consult FM Young for his comment this week? This after all is the first analogy attempt made by FM Adamson, and I suppose he timed it quite well given exactly what stage we are in in the NCAA tournament. This "super-precise" note is rather strange to me also, but likely has a hidden meaning (especially given who it's credited to) of which I'm unaware. Perhaps someone can elaborate?
I've given up on saying "hopefully I do better next week" since that's clearly not working so I guess I'll just say "hopefully I do worse next week" (reverse psychology maybe?, I don't know, I'll try anything at this stage).
