Game of the Year -- 5th Place

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