Game of the Year -- 14th Place

This is the seventh part in a series of articles which will count down to revealing what game was voted as the 2009 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.


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14th Place: GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs GM Alejandro Ramirez (ARZ) 1-0






















GM Ehlvest finished the game with the nice tactic 38. Be2+!, putting an abrupt end to GM Ramirez's valiant resistance.



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 Yermolinsky (7th Place, 14 points): A heavyweight battle of experience versus youth. Alejandro chose a passive line of the Maroczy Bind, but he seemed to hold his own against White's Bishop pair. After a long maneuvering stage Jaan showed his positional mastery by unexpectedly parting with his dark-squared Bishop. The resulting opposite color Bishop situation was very unpleasant for Black. Alejandro made matters worse by moving his Queen away from the Kingside. 33. f5! was a powerful shot that signaled the end, although precise calculation was required. 38. Be2+ was nice also.



GM Robert Hess (9th Place, 12 points): Great opening choice my Ehlvest, gaining a huge space advantage. Ramirez did a solid job of grabbing the initiative by placing his dark squared Bishop on b2. After pressing on with 26. c5, White gained even more space. However, Ramirez missed a decent chance to hold with 27... Rec8 rather than 27... Qc8. After achieving the opposite colored Bishops middle game, White still had a decent edge, and Ehlvest finished Ramirez off in style. Nice mating attack by Ehlvest.



FM Ron Young (11th Place, 10 points): Pushing a GM off the chessboard is as hard as pushing a fish out of the ocean, but that is what Ehlvest does here. It should be noted that Ramirez's brilliant but effortlessly refuted 37... Qxc2 greatly contributed to the entertainment factor.



WFM Tatev Abrahamyan (15th Place, 6 points): Must have been a really unpleasant game for Black. The entire time Black gets tortured and has no choice but to watch White comfortably improve his position. Cute tactic at the end with 38. Be2+, but at that point Black's position is pretty hopeless anyway.



GM Gregory Kaidanov (20th Place, 1 point): Nice, but nothing special.



Total Score of Ehlvest vs Ramirez: (14th Place, 43 Points)


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Stay tuned for twelve more such articles as the field shrinks by one game every day to see which of the following games will be the 2009 Game of the Year!


Week 1: IM Dean Ippolito (NJ) vs GM Pascal Charbonneau (NY) 1-0 Article

Week 3: GM Boris Gulko (NJ) vs FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR) 1-0 Article

Week 5: GM Giorgi Kacheishvili (NY) vs GM Josh Friedel (SF) 1-0 Article

Week 6: GM Alejandro Ramirez (ARZ) vs GM Joel Benjamin (NJ) 1-0 Article

Week 7: IM Daniel Fernandez (DAL) vs FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR) 0-1 Article

Week 8: IM John Bartholomew (DAL) vs GM Julio Becerra (MIA) 1-0 Article

Week 9: IM John Bartholomew (DAL) vs IM Jan van de Mortel (CHC) 0-1 Article

Quarterfinals: GM Giorgi Kacheishvili (NY) vs GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) 1-0 Article

Semifinals: GM Pascal Charbonneau (NY) vs IM Dean Ippolito (NJ) 1/2-1/2 Article

Championship: GM Julio Becerra (MIA) vs GM Giorgi Kacheishvili (NY) 0-1 Article

Wildcard #4: NM Matt Herman (NY) vs FM Daniel Naroditsky (SF) 1-0 Article

Wildcard #5: SM Marc Esserman (BOS) vs FM Ron Simpson (CAR) 1-0 Article

Wildcard #7: GM Julio Becerra (MIA) vs GM Josh Friedel (SF) 1-0 Article



Eliminated:


14th Place (43 Points): GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs GM Alejandro Ramirez (ARZ) 1-0 Article Elimination Article


15th Place (39 Points): FM Victor Shen (NJ) vs IM Marc Esserman (BOS) 1-0 Article Elimination Article


16th Place (36 Points): IM Jan van de Mortel (CHC) vs GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) 1-0 Article Elimination Article


17th Place (35 Points): GM Gregory Serper (SEA) vs IM Jan van de Mortel (CHC) 1-0 Article Elimination Article


18th Place (35 Points): FM Andrei Zaremba (QNS) vs SM Marc Esserman (BOS) 1-0 Article Elimination Article


19th Place (30 Points): SM Marc Esserman (BOS) vs FM Tom Bartell (PHI) 1-0 Article Elimination Article


20th Place (24 Points): GM Josh Friedel (SF) vs IM Marko Zivanic (DAL) 1-0 Article Elimination Article