Wildcard Game #7

Wildcard #7: IM Robert Hungaski (NE) vs IM Jonathan Schroer (CAR) 1-0


Greg Shahade: This game seemed to be overlooked by the judges, in what I suspect was largely due to the fact that Black seemed to have great compensation for his material deficit, but it eventually fizzled out. In reality, after an intense series of moves and wild exchanges, White was actually always doing ok, which was my feeling at the time and also backed up by computer analysis. A fine piece of calculation and courage from the Rookie of the Year.


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So the twenty games in the GOTY Contest are officially set! They are:



Week 1: GM Yury Shulman (STL) vs GM Melikset Khachiyan (LA) 1-0 Article

Week 2: GM Yury Shulman (STL) vs IM Florin Felecan (CHC) 0-1 Article

Week 3: IM Daniel Rensch (ARZ) vs WFM Tatev Abrahamyan (LA) 1-0 Article

Week 4: GM Josh Friedel (SF) vs GM Varuzhan Akobian (SEA) 1-0 Article

Week 5: FM Charles Galofre (MIA) vs FM Marcel Milat (SEA) 1-0 Article

Week 6: GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) vs GM Jesse Kraai (SF) 1-0 Article

Week 7: IM Jonathan Schroer (CAR) vs GM Giorgi Kacheishvili (NY) 1-0 Article

Week 8: IM Jonathan Schroer (CAR) vs GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) 0-1 Article

Week 9: GM Varuzhan Akobian (SEA) vs GM Josh Friedel (SF) 1-0 Article

Week 10: SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) vs GM Giorgi Kacheishvili (NY) 1-0 Article

Quarterfinals: NM Ilya Krasik (BOS) vs NM Adithya Balasubramanian (BAL) 1-0 Article

Semifinals: Nicholas Rosenthal (MIA) vs NM Nick Thompson (ARZ) 1-0 Article

Championship: IM Sam Shankland (NE) vs GM Julio Becerra (MIA) 1-0 Article

Wildcard #1: NM Eric Rosen (CHC) vs Alex Guo (SEA) 0-1 Article

Wildcard #2: GM Varuzhan Akobian (SEA) vs GM Yury Shulman (STL) 1-0 Article

Wildcard #3: GM Giorgi Kacheishvili (NY) vs IM Sam Shankland (NE) 0-1 Article

Wildcard #4: GM Alex Stripunsky (MAN) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 0-1 Article

Wildcard #5: SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) vs IM Sasha Kaplan (BAL) 1-0 Article

Wildcard #6: GM Dmitry Gurevich (CHC) vs IM Rogelio Barcenilla (ARZ) 1-0 Article

Wildcard #7: IM Robert Hungaski (NE) vs IM Jonathan Schroer (CAR) 1-0 Article



And so the Game of the Year Contest is ready to begin and so all that is left is for that to actually happen. That will occur in the next few days with the first elimination so be certain to keep checking the USCL site so you don't miss any of the action!

Wildcard Game #6

Wildcard #6: GM Dmitry Gurevich (CHC) vs IM Rogelio Barcenilla (ARZ) 1-0


Arun Sharma: This was a very nice, exciting game - an encounter which I was very unsure of whether it should be my top or second pick for that week. As it turned out, that close decision also wound up being the difference in this game taking second overall that week rather than first - something which I do not enjoy when it was such a tough decision. Fortunately, by picking this for a Wildcard, I have the opportunity for those who are more qualified in such matters to tell me whether my original decision was correct or not!

Wildcard Game #5

Wildcard #5: SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) vs IM Sasha Kaplan (BAL) 1-0


Jim Dean: This game followed Marshall theory for quite some time, and when the game left theory, it seemed that White continued to play flawlessly. It felt like Black didn't have to go terribly wrong for things to go downhill thanks to Sammour-Hasbun's great understanding of the position.

Wildcard Game #4

Wildcard #4: GM Alex Stripunsky (MAN) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 0-1


Jeff Ashton: For those who do not know, I did not vote for this game originally. Using my Wildcard pick for this may appear inconsistent and ironic to some. It may appear to be a sign of "admitting I was wrong". All I can say is that it is definitely awkward for me!

I still think very fondly of the other games that I voted for, and I do not regret voting for them. But I also feel that the level of skill displayed by Erenburg should have been more appreciated by me, even if I wasn't incredibly entertained.

After the game was played (and after voting was complete) I saw game analysis from players that I admire, including the winner of the game; Erenburg. After I learned more about this game from different perspectives and reexamining it several times, I can say I appreciate it more than I originally did. I can even say that it is a lot more "interesting" than I originally thought it to be.

I try very hard to volunteer my time into making good, fair picks every week. Ranking anything fairly is tough, especially when you are encouraged to be subjective. Every single judge has grown accustomed to experiencing harsh criticism. The fact that this harsh criticism is the only feedback we get makes me admire my colleagues more.

I do not know why others do this job, but my biggest motivation for taking the job and "getting it right" is so I don't deprive a great player of receiving admiration for a well played game. I also do this because I believe that these extra "USCL contests" make the League more exciting, and this is just great for chess. And who wants a low-quality Game of the Week contest?

I know that mistakes inevitably happen. I'm not sure if I made an error, a major blunder, or if I just made solid picks based on what I liked that happened to be in the minority among a small group of five judges.

It's also possible that if there wasn't a strong player and fan reaction after this game finished second place, then I wouldn't be thinking about the game at the moment. But if someone interviewed me right now and asked:

"If you made a mistake this season, what was it?"

This is the only game that comes to mind.

To me this is an "obvious" candidate for GOTY Wildcard, and I am surprised that no one suggested it already. It would definitely be less awkward for me, and I wouldn't feel the need to spend all this time rambling! But I guess in a way, this might be the greatest form of justice at this point.

With the interest of moving forward and concluding this season on a good note, I choose this game for my Wildcard pick. I won't be surprised if it finishes very high in the GOTY rankings.

Until next season,

Jeffrey "Defender of Justice" Ashton

Wildcard Game #3

Wildcard #3: GM Giorgi Kacheishvili (NY) vs IM Sam Shankland (NE) 0-1


Jim Dean: This was among my favorite games of the year as Shankland seemed to be extremely well prepared in the opening, and his handling of the endgame was perhaps even more impressive. Beating a strong GM with the Black pieces in this fashion makes this game, in my opinion, a strong GOTY candidate.

Wildcard Game #2

Wildcard #2: GM Varuzhan Akobian (SEA) vs GM Yury Shulman (STL) 1-0


Arun Sharma: This was a pretty well played and exciting game between two of the top players in the League that was narrowly edged out for winning GOTW in Week 10. Considering the importance of the game (Seattle may well have not made it to the postseason without it), the quality of the game, and the exciting play in it, it seemed like a very natural and good choice for a Wildcard spot - a game I would not be at all surprised to see finish highly in the GOTY Contest.

Wildcard Game #1

Wildcard #1: NM Eric Rosen (CHC) vs Alex Guo (SEA) 0-1


Greg Shahade: It was very close between this and another game for me, and I suspect my other pick may finish higher in the GOTY rankings - assuming someone else doesn't steal it from me in the next five selections! But something about this game was really special to me though. First of all, you have two guys playing on Board Four, and one of them makes this extremely mature and unforced Petrosian-esque exchange sacrifice with 19... Rd5. Then the final combination with sacrificing on h3 was quite beautiful and required a full ten moves before Black put the finishing touch on the combination, and all of it was played with Black having not very much time left on his clock. I don't know if Black's position was objectively great after Rd5, but it certainly caused some very real practical problems. Together with the nice combination to finish the game off, and this being between the two lowest rated players in the match, meant that I personally prefer this game to most every other game that failed to win Game of the Week in 2010.