As usual each of these awards includes a $100 bonus to the winner.
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Rookie of the Year:
IM Robert Hungaski (NE)
Amongst all the postseason awards, this was one of the very few for which there was no real debate as IM Hungaski's tremendous season not only netted him top Board Two All Star Honors, but also the Rookie of the Year Award.
Although in the end the decision was clear, there were nevertheless several others who were in close contention until the very end. Most notably amongst these were Hungaski's teammate, top Board Four All Star, NM Alex Cherniack (NE), who essentially was running neck to neck with him for this award prior to the Championship but in the end, their opposing results in that match made the choice very clear. A few others who were also very strong, but not quite up to Hungaski's level were All Stars Alex Guo (SEA) and IM Julio Sadorra (DAL), both of whom would have been very fine choices for this award in the absence of Hungaski, but as is, once again the decision was easy.
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Most Improved Player:
IM Florin Felecan (CHC)
Unlike the above award, the choice for this award was extremely close between Felecan and Board Three All Star IM Daniel Rensch (ARZ), both of whom drastically improved upon their last season's and entire previous USCL play drastically in 2010. Arguments could be made for either of them to get this award, but in the stat that is considered most important for this award: the difference between a player's current season and previous season, Felecan seemed to have the edge and so was given the honor. Going from a 2.5 / 8 to scoring 5.0 / 9 really speaks for itself, and in his strong season included several important victories such as a win over Board Two All Star FM Lee and a GOTW and huge upset against GM Shulman. Rensch also had a strong turn going from 2.0 / 5 to 4.0 / 6 likewise showcasing a GOTW performance against WFM Abrahamyan. Rensch was nearly given the award since, when considering all of each player's previous USCL play, his overall improvement was much more drastic. But again, as the improvement from previous season is considered the most relevant, really only having a slightly sub par -1 season in 2009 compared to Felecan's -3 there, Felecan wound up narrowly taking the prize.
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So with that, the individual player awards are complete! Congratulations to everyone, and once again be sure to key an eye on the USCL site to keep tabs on the Game of the Year Contest for which announcements will begin in the next day or two.
This is a highway robbery, Vigorito went from .5/3 to 3.5/4 and he doesn't even get considered for most improved ??? That's going from 16.66 % to 87.5%. What do u people have against Fluffy ?
ReplyDeleteYour selection is totally subjective and biased. IM Felecan played on Board 2 in 2009. In 2010, he played (down) on Board 3 four times and Board 2 five times. If you adjust for board number, his score improvement was somewhat expected and not outstanding. His performance rating went from 2369 in 2009 to 2522 in 2010, solid but not spectacular. His stats pale compared to many of your All Star players, especially those who played up one board and performed well this year.
ReplyDeletei agree this is a terrible call. vigorito's jump was much bigger than that of Pelican. He performed at 2700+ in 2010, whereas in his previous season his performance was about 1900, is there any justice in uscl??I'll tell you folks--no! All you Vigorito haters just go away or something, and give the man the hardware and cash he truly deserves.
ReplyDeleteWhile everything Just saying said was totally irrelevant. It was also factually incorrect. 2009 Florin Played bd1 once bd3 once and bd2 6 times which is completely comparable to bd2 5 times and bd3 4 times. Also board comparisons are stupid because lineups change year to year. Performance rating is the only thing that matters here to take into account the differences. Because in 2009 there was no such thing as a GM like Finegold being on board 3. Florin's stats are actually on par with almost all the all star players and certainly far exceed Rensch's stats.
ReplyDeletewhat about Michael Lee's jump from 2200 to 2600?
ReplyDeletewhat about Julius G's thoughts?
ReplyDeleteCertainly the Most Improved Player award is lacking quantifiable justification. Felecan's performance rating improvement over last season (153 points) is strong, but not significant compared to many other players (not only Rensch(242 pts)) who deserve at the minimum mention in the article. I would like to know why players such as Sergey Erenbug (230 pts to 2800+), Marc Esserman(351 pts), and Michael Lee(387 pts) were not considered. Many of these players also improved upon their pre-2009 seasons as well.
ReplyDeleteIt would be useful to add 'Other' to the polling choices, given the other players who could have potentially qualified for this award.
ReplyDeleteAnon@11:28AM - you must be a Felecan fan!
ReplyDeleteIn any case, USCL should use a quantifiable system to select the most improved player, as it does for MVP. There has been no complaint on the eventual MVP winner. The method used may not be “perfect” but at least it is public and scientific.
I suggest that for next year, you use a system such as the following to determine the most improved player -
- Rating performance improvement -
.5 pt for every point gained below 2200;
1 pt for every point gained between 2200-2399;
1.5 pt for every point gained above 2400.
- Scale the above pt by the following -
.95 for 4 games played
1.00 for 5 games played
1.05 for 6 games played
etc
It may not be the perfect system but you won't be accused of favoritism!
Again, your selection for this year is lame!
Such a pity Vigorito didn't win any awards this year. He could've won "Manager of the Year" award if there is one. I'm sure Boston Blitz will never win it given that they use same members over and over and yet haven't won any championships. Any possibility of Nor'easters and Blitz merging next year so that members of NE can concentrate on chess and Blitz members can focus on their creative writing? That would be great because you guys have more chances of winning awards! Specialization is key to efficiency...gotta do what you're good at.
ReplyDeletei miss the monkey business, julius g you said just say your name and youd come you let us down
ReplyDeleteTickets went for $100 a pop, but to see a monkey performing Hamlet’s “To be or not to be” soliloquy would make it all worth it. Right? Now here comes the weird part. I go to the show, and when the curtain came up there were three, maybe four, monkeys in the actual cast and they were mostly playing bit parts, walk-ons. Yes, yes, the part of Hamlet was played by a chimpanzee and brilliantly, I might add. What was so compelling about his interpretation of Hamlet was that you could see that Hamlet wasn’t insane at all. He knew exactly what he was doing throughout the play. He was merely acting “insane”. His choices were specific and bold. Every poetic line that spilled from his monkey lips was moving and breathtaking. But the rest of the cast weren’t even monkeys!!! They were local summer stock actors, and if I’m going to fork out $100 a seat and the actors aren’t even going to be monkeys, they better at least have played a bit role on Cagney and Lacey, for the love of Noah and all his paired up furry animals. Sure, the monkey who was the lighting designer truly captured an ominous Denmark, and the monkeys who showed me to my seat were extremely polite. But it wasn’t an all-monkey cast!!! Yes, I know that the programs had inserts saying that a number of the monkeys were stricken with some sort of rare monkey flu and that their understudies had to perform for them that night, and maybe I’m being a little bit of a prima donna about this, but when I slap down one hundred, I expect to be informed that the monkey understudies are not monkeys at all. And if there is a monkey flu floating around, I would like to know before you rip my freakin' ticket and say enjoy the show!
ReplyDeleteVigorito Vigorito Vigorito Vigorito Vigorito. We are not worthy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! VIGORITO VIGORITO VIGORITO
ReplyDeleteSorry I got carried away, but I dont take back what I said, vigorito got screwed, cheated out of a prize mr Arun Sharma and Greg Shahade.
I really wasn't intending to respond to this since I long ago stopped caring what some anonymous-es think, but I might as well point something out:
ReplyDeleteThe rule for Most Improved Player is: the award is intended for someone who had drastic improvement from previous seasons, mostly centered on LAST season.
For who might not be aware, Vigorito did not even play in the League in 2009 and thus by definition was not even eligible to receive this award (and don't think we didn't know about this, if this had been allowed, FM Aleksandr Ostrovskiy who scored 0.5 / 3 in 2007 and moved to 5.5 / 7 this year would have almost certainly gotten the award anyway).
In regards to moderating the blog - posts which are personally insulting to anyone are not going to be published, and Julius G's posts, while unusual, don't fall into that category. Furthermore, a number of people have told me personally (not like the anonymous-es who just hide behind their computer) how much they enjoy his posts. So if it's entertaining to many and isn't really offensive to anyone in particular, why not?
I got my award. it's right here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.uschessleague.com/NewEngland.html
and here:
http://www.chesscafe.com/text/boxing14.pdf
I don't even get Julius G's posts. But I support your decision to ban anonymous posting.
ReplyDeleteDavid, whatever your award you gotta send miami a "thank you" postcard and "merry christmas" too for gift, sometimes our gifts arrive early heh.
ReplyDelete