Game of the Year -- 18th Place

This is the third 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.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


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






















FM Zaremba began an attractive tactical display with 28. Rxa7+! and soon, via some other tactics, brought home the full point.



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 (9th Place, 12 points): Most of the fans watching favored the audacious leap 19. Nc5!?, but White felt he could be more patient and it turned out that he could. The final flurry was fun, but it was like a fireworks display in a public park; nice to watch but without the extra frisson of excitement you get in a backyard display. You knew that Zaremba was in no danger of losing any fingers.



GM Robert Hess (14th Place, 7 points): Let's be frank – Black just did not play a very good game. After giving Black doubled pawns, White simply steamrolled. Black had little to no counter play, and the King on a8 was squashed. It feels to me like this game is a candidate strictly because of Esserman's league history along with the pretty mate at the end. Not a fan of this one.



GM Alex Yermolinsky (15th Place, 6 points): Yermolinsky only provides commentary for his top ten games.



GM Gregory Kaidanov (16th Place, 5 points): Nice game, but nothing special, standard Pawn storm, nice finish.



WFM Tatev Abrahamyan (16th Place, 5 points): A very one-sided game. I was expecting something more exciting and dynamic, but it just seemed like Black didn't even try to make things exciting on the Kingside, and White got very easy and nice play on the Queenside.



Total Score of Zaremba vs Esserman: (18th Place, 35 Points)


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Stay tuned for sixteen 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

Week 10: GM Gregory Serper (SEA) vs IM Jan van de Mortel (CHC) 1-0 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 #1: FM Victor Shen (NJ) vs IM Marc Esserman (BOS) 1-0 Article

Wildcard #3: IM Jan van de Mortel (CHC) vs GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) 1-0 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 #6: GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs GM Alejandro Ramirez (ARZ) 1-0 Article

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



Eliminated:


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