Jonathan Hilton's GOTY Picks

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


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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.


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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.


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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.


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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.


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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.


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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.


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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.


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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.


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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.


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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.


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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.


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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.


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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.


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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.


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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.


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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.


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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.


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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.


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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.


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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!