2011 Rookie of the Year and Most Improved Player

Each of these awards includes a $100 bonus to the winner.


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Rookie of the Year:








NM William Fisher (PHI)






For the Rookie of the Year, there were really only two people who could reasonably be considered for the award, Fisher and IM Conrad Holt (DAL). Both had amazing seasons which normally would have won this award running away, but unfortunately each chose to pull off their amazing feat at the same time as the other, leaving one of them to unluckily be left out. In the end, despite how impressive both were, given Fisher's slightly better record, especially when noting the questionable nature of one of Holt's victories which came about due to an accidental resignation, we felt the nod had to be given to Fisher. Again both players were more than worthy of winning this, but there being only one prize, we did have to choose one of the two.

While no other player was really in the league of either of these two, there were definitely some other rookies who had some great seasons, most notably NM Sam Schmakel (CHC), FM Jorge Pelaez (MIA), and several of the other young Board Four players who turned in very solid seasons. All were impressive, but again not anywhere near the level of the two main candidates.


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Most Improved Player:








IM Mackenzie Molner (ARZ)











This award had several players who seemed to be reasonable candidates - a choice that very much depended on what criterion among the many involved in picking this award one considered to be most important. After weighing all the factors, we felt IM Molner was the most deserving. This being his sixth season in the USCL, and having been very up and down through the years playing entirely on Boards Two and Three, to move to having such a strong performance playing nearly exclusively on Board One we felt to be the most notable improvement by a player in the League this season. His strong season included a nice tactical win over many time League MVP GM Becerra as well as a creative win against IM Naroditsky, with him and IM Altounian really keeping the Arizona team in serious playoff contention until the very end. Only a tough couple of losses to end the season prevented Molner from being both a serious MVP contender and All Star candidate.


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And so, the individual player awards are now complete! Congratulations to everyone who helped make this USCL season so exciting. Be sure to stay in tune with the USCL website to keep track of what is happening with the Game of the Year Contest as the Wildcard games will start being announced soon!