Game of the Year -- 3rd Place

This is the eighteenth 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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3rd Place: SM Marc Esserman (BOS) vs FM Ron Simpson (CAR) 1-0






















SM Esserman strongly continued with 13. Rxc6! Qxc6 14. Nxe5 Qc5 15. Nxf7!!, forcing a short but very elegant win.



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 (3rd Place, 18 points): A nice old-fashioned display of violence, based on a true story. The quiet 23. Ra1 that finishes things is a touch of subtlety that places the game above the run of gore fests.



GM Alex Yermolinsky (4th Place, 17 points): An attractive opening kill by Marc. Black chose a risky line in the Ruy Lopez and fell significantly behind in development. The situation was aggravated when he allowed the White Rook to infiltrate on the a-file (10... b4 looked better). Soon the flurry of tactical shots from Esserman ended the game in style.



GM Gregory Kaidanov (5th Place, 16 points): A great game, very energetic and forceful play from White.



WFM Tatev Abrahamyan (10th Place, 11 points): I won't be surprised if I see this position published in tactics books. Another game that doesn't follow the main lines of theory, so either it's nice prep or just an attempt to be creative. Either way, a fun game to watch.



GM Robert Hess (12th Place, 9 points): Now this is a sweet game. Both players seemed new to this position, as each spent quite a bit of time in the opening (thank you ICC). Granted Simpson made a rather poor opening choice as White attained a simple advantage (but in fairness, White gains an advantage in most opening lines), but it still was a very smooth victory. The exchange sacrifice was not a surprise, but was forcing and led to a short victory.



Total Score of Esserman vs Simpson: (3rd Place, 71 Points)


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Stay tuned for the final article in the next couple of days to see which of these two games will be the 2009 Game of the Year!


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

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



Eliminated:


3rd Place (71 Points): SM Marc Esserman (BOS) vs FM Ron Simpson (CAR) 1-0 Article Elimination Article


4th Place (67 Points): GM Pascal Charbonneau (NY) vs IM Dean Ippolito (NJ) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article


5th Place (65 Points): IM John Bartholomew (DAL) vs GM Julio Becerra (MIA) 1-0 Article Elimination Article


6th Place (59 Points): GM Alejandro Ramirez (ARZ) vs GM Joel Benjamin (NJ) 1-0 Article Elimination Article


7th Place (58 Points): IM Daniel Fernandez (DAL) vs FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR) 0-1 Article Elimination Article


8th Place (57 Points): IM Dean Ippolito (NJ) vs GM Pascal Charbonneau (NY) 1-0 Article Elimination Article


9th Place (56 Points): IM John Bartholomew (DAL) vs IM Jan van de Mortel (CHC) 0-1 Article Elimination Article


10th Place (55 Points): GM Giorgi Kacheishvili (NY) vs GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) 1-0 Article Elimination Article


11th Place (52 Points): GM Julio Becerra (MIA) vs GM Josh Friedel (SF) 1-0 Article Elimination Article


12th Place (48 Points): GM Boris Gulko (NJ) vs FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR) 1-0 Article Elimination Article


13th Place (45 Points): GM Julio Becerra (MIA) vs GM Giorgi Kacheishvili (NY) 0-1 Article Elimination Article


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