Wildcard Game #1

Wildcard #1: IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 1-0


Jonathan Hilton: I mentioned during this game's time that I would be surprised if it didn't make it into the you know what, and indeed it did! Of course all of the game's impressive attributes mentioned there still hold so that was a good reason to pick this for the first Wildcard.

Game of the Year Contest

Now that the season is over, it's once again time to put the main focus on the Game of the Year contest, so like last year, I'll give you readers the complete scoop on what exactly this contest will entail.

First off, there will again be twenty games in this contest with prizes going to the top five which are:


1st: $500
2nd: $300
3rd: $200
4th: $100
5th: $50


The scoring for this year's contest will be the same system as used last year; each judge will rank their choices from 1st - 20th with their 20th place getting one point, 19th getting two points, and so on to 1st getting twenty points, and then the games are ranked by highest total score. The games will be released from 20th to 1st as usual, but in much quicker fashion this year than last due to public demand: one game every day for the first ten games, then one game every two days for the next five, and finally the top five games every three days, making the contest last a bit over a month (again starting in early January).

The five judges for this year's contest will be (with only one being a veteran from last season!):


GM Jan Gustafsson
IM Ben Finegold
FM Daniel Ludwig
FM Ingvar Johannesson
FM Ron Young


And like last year, along with the thirteen Games of the Week are the Wildcard games picked by the three Game of the Week judges: Jonathan Hilton, myself, and Greg Shahade. This time, Jonathan had the first pick, myself the second, and Greg the third. Repeating this process twice and then collaborating on the last, we once again came to the seven Wildcard picks. So starting in the next day or so, we will announce what the seven Wildcards are (announcing one every day or two) and then will begin the Game of the Year contest in early January. So be sure to keep a close eye on this blog and the USCL website to keep tabs on which game will be voted the best USCL game of 2008. Hopefully with the sped up process of releasing these games, everyone will be able to keep a close eye on the entirety of this contest!

2008 Board Four All Stars

If you are wondering what criteria was used to determine these All Stars, please refer to the first post on the subject.






1st Team: WFM Bayaraa Zorigt (DAL)








This was not a very close decision. Bayaraa made the All Star team in 2007, but barely squeaked onto it, mainly due to overall weak performances from the majority of other Board Four's. In 2008 she exploded onto the scene, with a tremendous +6 record, including a 3 – 0 record in the playoffs (Quarterfinals, Semifinals, and Finals), all in must win situations for her team. Without her stellar performance, it's safe to say that the Destiny would have had no chance at repeating as Champions.

Zorigt has clearly established herself as a very clutch performer, winning two very critical games in both years of the Finals to give her a team a chance at the title which they of course made good use of. Destiny fans can only hope that she returns next year in the same form that she ended this season on to try to help Dallas achieve a three-peat.

Record: 8 / 10 (80%)

Performance Rating: 2461








2nd Team: NM Eric Rodriguez (MIA)







Rodriguez had one of the most unusual seasons of any All Star in USCL History. He seemed well on his way towards becoming the first team All Star, when suddenly Miami reverted to using a lineup that didn't include him. This was a very natural decision as the lineup they used continued to win match after match and lead Miami to the division title. Unfortunately, this also meant that Rodriguez shockingly never played again after Week 7, despite having amassed an amazing 5 – 1 result at that point. However, his impressive +4 score, with several match critical victories like this and this, was good enough to get him onto the second team even though he didn't end up competing in the most high pressure matches for his team.

In all, Rodriguez was easily Miami's best Board Four performer to date, a place where they'd definitely struggled in the first three seasons. Should he, along with first All Star Becerra and near All Star Perea all return to next year's campaign, look for Miami to be competing for the Western Division crown again.

Record: 5 / 6 (83%)

Performance Rating: 2516







3rd Team: NM Ilya Krasik (BOS)








This was an extremely difficult position to figure out. It basically came down to choosing a philosophy: Do we take a player who had a much higher win percentage along with a much higher performance rating (due in part to playing on Board Three several times), or a much lower rated player who played many more games and really caught fire at the most important part of the season? In the end we went with the latter, as Krasik got this spot instead of IM Angelo Young. Krasik won five consecutive games late in the season, and it's pretty clear that without those victories, we definitely would not have seen Boston in the USCL Finals. Also, although his performance rating might have seemed low at 2301 compared to Young's, it was still 170 points higher than his actual rating, an impressive stat to maintain through eleven games. Although this decision, like many, was very close, we felt that it had to be valued more to perform at such a level in comparison to one's rating over that many games, instead of just six like Young.

Despite the disappointing way the season ended for Krasik in the Finals, it still overall was a very impressive season from him, definitely demonstrating his mettle with his five consecutive victories at the most crucial part of the season and helping the Blitz overcome draw odds twice in the Playoffs with his Quarterfinal and Semifinal wins.

Record: 6.5 / 11 (59%)

Performance Rating: 2301



Other Candidates: As mentioned IM Angelo Young (CHC) (4.5 / 6) with a 2505 performance was very nearly an All Star, but unfortunately the close decision wound up going against him. He nevertheless had a very strong season, winning some key games which were huge in helping the Blaze stay in the thick of the playoff race until the very end. Solid showings were also turned in by NM Matt Herman (NY) (4 / 6) with a 2367 performance rating and NM Joel Johnson (ARZ) (2 / 2), 2590 performance, both of whom could well have been in the running, especially if they had played more games.


So there you have it! The All Star Teams are (using August 2008 USCF ratings):


First Team:

1. GM Julio Becerra (MIA) (2640)
2. IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) (2528)
3. IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) (2528)
4. WFM Bayaraa Zorigt (DAL) (2217)

Average Rating: 2478


Second Team:

1. GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) (2592)
2. FM Slava Mikhailuk (SEA) (2437)
3. SM Marc Esserman (BOS) (2315)
4. NM Eric Rodriguez (MIA) (2242)

Average Rating: 2397


Third Team:

1. GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) (2668)
2. FM Tom Bartell (PHI) (2386)
3. IM Sam Shankland (SF) (2364)
4. NM Ilya Krasik (BOS) (2144)

Average Rating: 2391


Congratulations as always to everyone who made the All Star Team this year, all of whom made the 2008 USCL Season very memorable for the spectators. Next up comes the Game of the Year Contest which will begin soon with the releasing of the seven "Wildcard" games and then the contest itself soon after. So everyone be sure to keep close tabs on the USCL site so you don't miss any of the GOTY announcements as the contest will be going by at a much quicker rate this year!

2008 Board Three All Stars

If you are wondering what criteria was used to determine these All Stars, please refer to the first post on the subject.






1st Team: IM Alex Lenderman (QNS)








Before we start to go into the Board Three All Stars, it's important to note that the competition for the spots on this board was simply ridiculous in 2008 (as it was for Board Two in 2007). There were a few players who had very strong seasons who were not really even on the radar for consideration, due to the incredibly strong play of those who did make the team. Despite winning League MVP and having an insane score of 7.5 / 8, Lenderman incredibly was not automatically going to make the first team. If either of the other third board All Stars had had a torrid postseason run, they likely would've overtaken Lenderman for this spot. In the end, neither of them did quite enough to push themselves above the League MVP, and so Alex remained in first place. Alex's fine season included wins over IM Dean Ippolito, IM Emory Tate, IM Richard Costigan, and FM Oleg Zaikov, two of which won GOTW.

Also, please note that Alex was also eligible to be an All Star on Board Two (having played four games on each board). We strongly hoped that we would be able to put him there, as the resumes of Board Three's this season were much more impressive than the Board Two's, making it natural to put someone who could be in either place in the less competitive spot. However, Kuljasevic performed so well in the postseason that we would have felt it necessary, even with a bit of a lower win percentage, to place him ahead of Lenderman if we'd put Alex on Board Two. Since it's against League policy to place a player on a board which they would finish in a lower place (second in this case) when they're also eligible for a board where they would finish higher (first), we had no choice but to leave Lenderman as the first team All Star for Board Three.

In all, it was a very memorable first season from Lenderman; there obviously can be no debate as to how instrumental he was to the Pioneers' overall success, and it should be interesting to see how well he can perform in his second season.

Record: 7.5 / 8 (94%)

Performance Rating: 2726








2nd Team: SM Marc Esserman (BOS)







We had a ridiculously difficult decision to make for the second team between Marc and Sam Shankland with both players having incredible +6 results. Usually this kind of score would automatically give someone first team honors, but as mentioned, due to the dominance of several Board Three's, they ended up having to battle it out for the second team, while FM Ron Simpson, who finished at +5, was unfortunately left out altogether.

When it all came down to it there was very little to distinguish between Esserman and Shankland. A couple factors that finally pushed us over the edge were:

1. Esserman drew Shankland in their individual matchup with Black, but was clearly dominating the game and possibly played it safe due to the match situation.

2. Esserman was part of a Boston team that had a very deep playoff run, and he won a crucial game in the Finals.

It really could have gone either way as both players had tremendous seasons.

In all, Esserman had an amazing season, and though the last match ended in disappointment for his team, he certainly did a huge part in making it so close with his impressive victory in the Finals.

Record: 8 / 10 (80%)

Performance Rating: 2603







3rd Team: IM Sam Shankland (SF)








Sam was very unlucky to finish on the third team with a +6 record. He was the main star for the Mechanics, helping them to finish second in the West, and doing all he could to push them further in the playoffs as he was the only team member to win his quarterfinal game.

Despite the somewhat disappointing placement the third team might be for him after his great season, there should be no doubt as to how valuable he was to his team, and how remarkable his improvement since the 2006 season has been, having gone all the way from being an expert to now being an IM, along with scoring an incredible 15 / 18 in his three seasons.

Record: 7.5 / 9 (83%)

Performance Rating: 2605



Other Candidates: As mentioned above, FM Ron Simpson (CAR) (7.5 / 10) with a 2506 performance was ridiculously unlucky not to be an All Star as his +5 performance would be worthy of an All Star spot (and perhaps in some cases the top All Star) in nearly every other circumstance. Although he unluckily missed out on being an All Star, he clearly was a tremendous part of Carolina's Cinderella run, winning many crucial games for them when it mattered most and helping them secure the division title. Another strong performer was FM Osmany Perea (MIA) (6.5 / 10) sporting a 2546 performance while playing on Board Two several times. Also, both NM Mackenzie Molner (NJ) (5 / 8), 2491 performance and FM Robby Adamson (ARZ) (4.5 / 7), 2450 performance had solid +2 seasons, likewise winning some very critical games for their team. In addition, despite not playing an excessive amount, NM Parker Zhao (QNS) (2.5 / 3), 2638 performance was also noteworthy given his relatively low rating amongst Board Three players. All of these players might, under different circumstances, have made the All Star team, but the competition was just too strong this season.

Stay tuned until tomorrow as we will announce the Board Four All Stars!

2008 Board Two All Stars

If you are wondering what criteria was used to determine these All Stars, please refer to the first post on the subject.






1st Team: IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL)







This was a no brainer, as if postseason play counted in the MVP contest, Kuljasevic likely would have been league MVP. Not only did Kuljasevic go 3 – 0 in postseason play, but he was also the only player to defeat GM Julio Becerra, won a must win game in the Finals to send the match to a tiebreaker, and also knocked out three Boston Blitz players in the blitz tiebreaker, to give Dallas their second straight USCL Championship.

It would have been difficult to script a better season this year for Kuljasevic from the start, and his two super impressive seasons have obviously been the key in giving the Destiny their back to back Championships. The Destiny can only hope that with his impending graduation from UTD that he will still remain in the area and continue to serve them well while other teams can hold out hope that his graduation might lead him elsewhere in the country into allowing some lucky team to pick up what would likely be the most valuable free agent in league history.

Record: 6.5 / 8 (81%)

Performance Rating: 2778







2nd Team: FM Slava Mikhailuk (SEA)








There was a large gap in between the first and second team for Board Two, and it was much more difficult for the League to determine the second and third team All Stars. Slava ended up making the second team because while his resume was similar to some other Board Two's, he won four matches in a row, including a do or die performance in the final week, at the end of the regular season to send Seattle into the playoffs. If he hadn't won even one of those four games, Seattle almost certainly would not have made the playoffs, and due to the clutch nature of his performances, he seemed like the best candidate for the second team.

In all it was a very strong season by Mikhailuk as Seattle, a team which mostly drew its strength from the top and bottom board in previous seasons, really needed this huge boost from him on the second board to put them in the playoff picture. If Seattle can achieve their normal first and fourth board success next year, with him holding down the second board, the Sluggers will definitely be a team to watch out for.

Record: 4.5 / 6 (75%)

Performance Rating: 2610








3rd Team: FM Tom Bartell (PHI)







When you look at the performances of Bartell and Mikhailuk, most things are similar on paper, except that Bartell's performance rating is 70 points higher. So one may wonder why Mikhailuk was on second team instead of the third, and as mentioned above, it was mainly because Mikhailuk's victories had such a monumental effect on his team's success along with being at the most important juncture of the season.

Despite the fact that Philadelphia finished with a 2 – 8 record, Bartell provided the lone spark for the Inventors in 2008. He had wins over IM John Barthlomew, FM Oleg Zaikov, IM David Vigorito, and GM Larry Kaufman. His only draw was to GM Eugene Perelshteyn, and his only loss to GM John Fedorowicz. Clearly his results were way above what one would expect for someone of his rating, and so he was a fairly natural addition to the All Star Team.

Although his team's performance was very disappointing, with such a strong underrated Board Two player available to them next year, if the Inventors, like the Sluggers, can return to the overall strength they've shown themselves capable of on the other boards next year, they will also definitely be a team to watch out for.

Record: 4.5 / 6 (75%)

Performance Rating: 2680



Other Candidates: The two strongest other candidates for the Board Two All Star Team were GM Josh Friedel (SF) (4 / 6) with a performance rating of 2629 and IM Dean Ippolito (NJ) (4.5 / 7) with a performance rating of 2565; both had solid +2 seasons, but very simply the two players that they were in contest with for those spots had slightly better scores along with lower ratings making the All Star decisions fairly easy. Although ineligible, the showing by GM Boris Gulko (NJ) (3 / 3), 2876 performance was also noteworthy, and he would very likely have been a strong contender had he played enough games to be considered.


Stay tuned as in the next few days we will be announcing the All Stars for the other two boards!

2008 Board One All Stars

Greg and I have determined the players on this year's All Star Teams, with there again being three All Star team members for each board. We again made our selections independently, compared our selections, and then conferred to determine the final choices.

There is a small bonus awarded to each All Star team member with those on the first team receiving $200, those on the second team receiving $100, and those on the third team getting $50. The criteria we used to determine these were the same as last year (recall also that these decisions do include playoff performances unlike the League MVP Award).


1. Win Percentage
2. Total Number of Games (with a five game minimum to be eligible)
3. Performance Rating
4. Rating; if a player is lower rated and does well, this leaves extra rating points for the team to use on the other boards and could be very important to a team's success.
5. Clutch Factor: Did this player come through in crucial situations?
6. Replacability Factor; do we think that the player's team would have greatly suffered if that player wasn't on the team?
7. Did the candidate take a draw for the team when they were likely to win? Did they lose a game they could have easily drawn because the team situation dictated it?
8. Head to Head results versus other candidates
9. Total Number of Blacks
10. Luck factor; did you win because you generally played well or because your opponent made some colossal blunders/oversights?

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1st Team: GM Julio Becerra (MIA)








For the third straight year (after being on the second team in the league's inaugural season), this spot had to go to GM Becerra. While Becerra is clearly a very strong player, his domination in league play has been above and beyond anyone's realistic expectations. This year, after an early season loss to IM Davorin Kuljasevic, it might have seemed that Becerra's USCL dominance might not be as prevalent this year, but he quickly shrugged off this defeat and followed it up with victories over GM Nikola Mitkov, GM Joel Benjamin, IM Marko Zivanic, and most importantly a playoff victory over GM Hikaru Nakamura, without losing another game.

As always, it was a great season by Becerra, and even though the Sharks once again fell just a bit short of their overall goal, with him always available to lead them along with the several other bright recruits who also performed strongly this season, the future looks very bright for Miami.

Record: 7.5 / 10 (75%)

Performance Rating: 2761







2nd Team: GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL)







While Baltimore as a team finished with a last place 1.5 – 8.5 record, this certainly was not due to a lack of performance by Erenburg. It was a very difficult choice as to whether he belonged on the second or the third team. In the end we decided to put him here mostly because he played eight games, which was more than his closest competitor. When you are such a strong performer, it's very important to play as much as possible, and we believe that when resumes are very similar, we should go with the more active player. Erenburg had some unbelievable performances, most notably his 2 – 0 score over the 2007 All Star who held this very All Star spot, GM Joel Benjamin, once with a very nice game in Week 6, and also had a GOTW winning performance in Week 8.

Although the rest of the team did not back up Erenburg's great season, Kingfisher fans can only hope that he might be able to come close to duplicating this next year as when the rest of the team performs up to par, with such a dangerous and strong player leading them, the inaugural champs may just return to prominence.

Record: 5.5 / 8 (69%)

Performance Rating: 2733







3rd Team: GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN)








Everyone felt that the addition of Jaan Ehlvest to the Tennessee roster would make them a much tougher team, and they were proven quite correct. With Jaan, the Tempo finished with their best record in league history, a solid 4 – 6 in the very tough Western Division. If Jaan had only played more games, the Tempo would likely have had very good chances to qualify for the postseason for the first time, and although he had a tremendous result in 2008, this is what pushed him slightly below Erenburg and into the third team. Ehlvest had three wins (vs GM Patrick Wolff, IM Rogelio Barcenilla, and FM Bruci Lopez), and in his individual battle with second teamer, GM Sergey Erenburg, they fought to an exciting draw, which netted them both Game of the Week honors. Ehlvest is also one of the only USCL players in history to play a pretty reasonable number of games without a single loss.

After nearly taking the Tempo to the playoffs despite barely playing more than half their matches, it's obvious that with him on the roster, the sky is the limit. Tempo fans have to like their future prospects if Ehlvest can continue to play for them (hopefully in nearly all matches) as with him holding down the fort, along with the rest of the team's continued improvement, we could well see the Tempo in the postseason for years to come.

Record: 4.5 / 6 (75%)

Performance Rating: 2768



Other Candidates: The most notable omission from the Board One All Star Team was GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) (5 / 8) who had a performance rating of 2652. Although his win percentage and performance rating were not quite as high as those picked as All Stars, his two big playoff wins were nearly enough to give him a position on the third team. However, we simply felt that the other candidates' performances were impressive enough that they had to get those spots still. Three other strong showings were turned in by GM Pascal Charbonneau (NY) (4.5 / 7) with a performance rating of 2721, GM Alex Stripunsky (QNS) (4 / 6) with a performance of 2694, and GM Hikaru Nakamura (SEA) (4 / 6), performance 2707, all of whom had nice improvements from their 2007 showings, each scoring +2, after being -3, -2, and =0, respectively in 2007. Once again though, the resumes of the All Stars were simply a bit better than each of them and as such were picked to be so.


Stay tuned as in the next few days we will be announcing the All Stars for the other three boards!

Prediction Contest -- Final Standings

Although this contest was decided well before the playoffs (which, on the bright side, made our collective ineptitude in picking the playoff results not quite as noticeable), I did manage to narrowly hang onto second place, and by virtue of being the only one to get any points in the whole Quarterfinal Round, Bioniclime manages to take third. Congrats to the winner for the second consecutive year, Ron Young, who may be starting a dynasty in this contest the same way the Dallas Destiny may be doing so in the league! But be that as it may, I'm sure the other predictors and I will be back to try to dethrone him next year.


Final Standings:


Ron Young: 100 Points (+3 Playoffs)
Arun Sharma: 86 Points (+5)
Bioniclime: 83 Points (+6)
Ed Scimia: 81 Points (+2)





BOS over QNS 2.5 – 1.5


BL: BOS 3 – 1 +2
ES: Tie +0
AS/RY: QNS 2.5 – 1.5 +0



CAR over NY 3.5 – 0.5


AS/RY: NY 2.5 – 1.5 +0
BL/ES: NY 3 – 1 +0



DAL over SF 2.5 – 1.5


BL/ES/RY: SF 2.5 – 1.5 +0
AS: SF 3 – 1 +0



MIA over SEA 2.5 – 1.5


BL: MIA 3 – 1 +2
AS/RY: Tie +0
ES: SEA 2.5 – 1.5 +0



BOS over CAR 2.5 – 1.5


AS/RY: Correct +3
BL/ES: Tie +0



DAL over MIA 3 – 1


BL: Tie +0
ES/AS/RY: MIA 2.5 – 1.5 +0



DAL over BOS 2 – 2


BL/AS/ES: DAL 2.5 – 1.5 +2
RY: BOS 2.5 – 1.5 +0

Championship Game of the Week

This year we have three judges for Game of the Week, each ranking their top five games. The games are then given from one to five points, based on these rankings, and whichever game receives the most total points wins the award. First place each week will receive a $100 bonus prize, second place $50, and third place $30. Our three judges are: IM Greg Shahade, NM Arun Sharma, and NM Jonathan Hilton. Click here for more details.

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1st Place: GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) vs IM Marko Zivanic (DAL) 1-0


Jonathan Hilton: The only thing going against this game is that it seemed just too easy! Christiansen, who is known the world over for his unremorseful attacks, punished Black's greedy 8... Nxd4 and 9... Qxf4 maneuver. Part of the genius was Christiansen's choice of opening line. 7. f4 is a rare move, but 8. Bd3 is even less common, giving the game a bit of a surprise element. Yet Zivanic continued to play quickly, as he usually does. Christiansen unleashed a few sacrifices, and, just like that, the game was over. The transition into the endgame was smooth, though White was definitely winning very early on. Overall, I liked the decisiveness of this game, which really put the onus on Kuljasevic to defeat Sammour-Hasbun early, the other game I strongly considered for this week’s GOTW choice. (1st place: 1 point)


Greg Shahade: This game was just too much fun not to win, sorry Davorin! Such a brutal attack with a lot of nice moves thrown in. This is what Game of the Week contests are for! I admit it's strange that for the second year in a row Boston wins the GOTW in the Championship Match, despite losing the match to Dallas, but both matches were incredibly tense with both sides fighting hard and playing interesting chess. I don't think there were any losers in the two Championship Matches between these teams. Of course I'm sure Boston would have liked to be the "official" winner at least one of the two years, but what can you do? (1st place: 1 point)


Arun Sharma: I strongly considered this game also, but I felt it was a bit too short and one-sided, with Black in a near resignable position before move twenty. I'm not surprised to see it win since it was probably the most crowd pleasing game with the numerous tactics, but I also really liked the game I picked, Kuljasevic vs Sammour-Hasbun, as it was a much tougher fight and like the other game was also very well played by the victor. Given that, along with the fact that Kuljasevic was in a must win situation for a good portion of the game due to the match situation and that his win ended up being a springboard for his team to win the Championship, I personally thought it was the best choice for the prize this week. (NR: 0 points)


Total Score of Christiansen vs Zivanic: 2 points


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Other Considered Games (judges' scores in parenthesis)


1 point (Arun 1): IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 1-0

Finals Prediction

I already outlined basically every statistic that seemed like it might be relevant here so there's little for me to add when trying to make a mathematical prediction. Plus with many other USCL players chiming in to give their view, there's plenty more to read and thus no need for me to make this anything but short and sweet. Dallas 2.5 – 1.5

Game of the Year Wildcards

As the end of the season (at least the truly relevant part!) is only a couple of days away, it's time again to think about the main off season attraction, the Game of the Year (GOTY) Contest. The contest will mostly function in the same fashion as last year: again there will be five different judges (none of us GOTW judges, which I'm sure will make the general masses very happy), and once again the prizes for GOTY will be much better than the general GOTW prizes, with $500 going to the top game.

The main difference will be, based on popular demand, the contest will take place much more speedily this year, not nearly the six months that it look last season as we will be cutting it down to between one and two months starting in early January. Hopefully that's short enough to keep everyone energized about the contest.

And once again, in addition to the thirteen GOTWs throughout the season, there will be seven Wildcard games chosen by the three GOTW judges which will be added to the GOTWs to have twenty games in the contest. We would like to hear all nominations/opinions about games that people feel are definitely worthy of being in the GOTY contest. Given all the ribbing we took during the season for making terrible picks basically every week, it can only stand to reason that many people must have plenty of better picks in mind which would be worthy GOTY entrants. So all of you out there (you know who you are!), please let us know how we can semi-rectify our mistakes by putting some good contenders into the GOTY contest!


*** Edit *** In response to Ilya Krasik's comment below, we have listed the links for all the GOTW articles for your convenience. This will help you take a quick look at all games that have received any votes in the GOTW contest.


Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Week 8

Week 9

Week 10

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Finals

Finals Matchup Breakdown

Board One:

GM Larry Christiansen (BOS)

VS.

IM Marko Zivanic (DAL)

December 2008 USCF Rating: Christiansen: 2680, Zivanic: 2527

Current FIDE Rating: Christiansen: 2588, Zivanic: 2465

2008 Record: Christiansen: 3 – 2 – 2 (+1, 57%), Zivanic: 1 – 1 – 6 (=0, 50%)

Overall Record: Christiansen: 12 – 5 – 11 (+7, 63%), Zivanic: 1 – 1 – 6 (=0, 50%)

2008 Performance Rating: Christiansen: 2609, Zivanic: 2619

Overall Performance Rating: Christiansen: 2658, Zivanic: 2619

2008 Record with color in upcoming game: Christiansen: 2 – 1 – 1 (+1, 63%), Zivanic: 0 – 1 – 5 (-1, 42%)

Overall Record with color in upcoming game: Christiansen: 7 – 4 – 4 (+3, 60%), Zivanic: 0 – 1 – 5 (-1, 42%)

2008 MVP Points: Christiansen: 2, Zivanic: 3

Overall MVP Points: Christiansen: 34, Zivanic: 3


General: League veteran Christiansen, the main face of Boston's top board in all four seasons of the league takes on rookie Zivanic. Christiansen obviously has nothing lacking in general or league experience, but I would definitely venture that there will be much more pressure on him to win this year in the Finals than last as the colors and rating matchups which lent credence to the fact that a swift draw might be all that was needed to win the Championship last year, don't seem to be available this time. Fortunately for Boston, there are few people that anyone would rather have in a necessary win situation than Christiansen, and he definitely demonstrated why in his crushing win in the Quarterfinals. On the other hand, Zivanic has held strong GM after strong GM to a standstill, including a strong draw against Ehlvest and one against Becerra, two near MVPs, without breaking a sweat, moving with Nakamura-esque speed in all of his games. It will be interesting to see if the legendary attacker can come through with a big win in this most important league encounter, or if the speedy, solid Dallas IM can hold his own once again and help spark his team to victory.

Board Two:

IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL)

VS.

SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS)

December 2008 USCF Rating: Kuljasevic: 2530, Sammour-Hasbun: 2563

Current FIDE Rating: Kuljasevic: 2521, Sammour-Hasbun: 2460

2008 Record: Kuljasevic: 4 – 0 – 3 (+4, 79%), Sammour-Hasbun: 2 – 2 – 2 (=0, 50%)

Overall Record: Kuljasevic: 12 – 2 – 5 (+10, 76%), Sammour-Hasbun: 8 – 2 – 3 (+6, 73%)

2008 Performance Rating: Kuljasevic: 2750, Sammour-Hasbun: 2533

Overall Performance Rating: Kuljasevic: 2681, Sammour-Hasbun: 2694

2008 Record with color in upcoming game: Kuljasevic: 4 – 0 – 1 (+4, 90%), Sammour-Hasbun: 1 – 1 – 1 (=0, 50%)

Overall Record with color in upcoming game: Kuljasevic: 10 – 0 – 2 (+10, 92%), Sammour-Hasbun: 3 – 1 – 1 (+2, 70%)

2008 MVP Points: Kuljasevic: 10, Sammour-Hasbun: 0

Overall MVP Points: Kuljasevic: 35, Sammour-Hasbun: 14


General: The only individual game rematch from last year's finals, and given last year's encounter won Game of the Year, it would be hard to ask for a better rematch when considering that along with the two players being last year's top Board Two All Stars. The two also met earlier in the season and fought to a standstill, but considering both player's histories along with Sammour-Hasbun's style, I think it's safe to say that we'll see some fireworks in this encounter, but who will come out on top is anyone's guess. Considering Sammour-Hasbun's amazing season last year, facing him clearly had to be a daunting task for anyone this season, but now the shoe may be on the other foot to an extent as he will have to rise to the occasion to overcome Kuljasevic's incredible 92% record in the league with the White pieces – an obviously daunting task.

Board Three:

SM Marc Esserman (BOS)

VS.

FM Igor Schneider (DAL)

December 2008 USCF Rating: Esserman: 2413, Schneider: 2439

Current FIDE Rating: Esserman: 2348, Schneider: 2397

2008 Record: Esserman: 5 – 0 – 4 (+5, 78%), Schneider: 2 – 2 – 5 (=0, 50%)

Overall Record: Esserman: 5 – 0 – 5 (+5, 75%), Schneider: 2 – 4 – 7 (-2, 42%)

2008 Performance Rating: Esserman: 2582, Schneider: 2399

Overall Performance Rating: Esserman: 2584, Schneider: 2329

2008 Record with color in upcoming game: Esserman: 2 – 0 – 3 (+2, 70%), Schneider: 0 – 2 – 3 (-2, 30%)

Overall Record with color in upcoming game: Esserman: 2 – 0 – 3 (+2, 70%), Schneider: 0 – 3 – 4 (-3, 29%)

2008 MVP Points: Esserman: 15.5, Schneider: 4.5

Overall MVP Points: Esserman: 16.5, Schneider: 3.5


General: Esserman's pivotal regular season performance was a big help to the Blitz in overcoming some adversity to aid them comfortably making the postseason, and now he is being called on again to provide another huge boost in a game that the Blitz have to be fervently be hoping to score the full point. Esserman can't be especially happy with some of his recent league games, seeming to get some very shaky positions out of the opening with the White pieces before utilizing some creative middlegame play to fight back and secure draws. Obviously he'll be looking to return to the crushing nature of some of his early season wins, such as this one; Schneider has been one of Dallas's main rocks this season, and although his record this season might not quite match up to some of the other players in the Finals, he has been very solid, and has had a few very nice performances like this. The key to this game will likely be the opening stages as given how well Esserman has been playing in the middlegame, even after some shaky openings, he will be very hard to stop if he can get a favorable position from the get-go; will he do so, or will Schneider be able to utilize the same techniques as Esserman's recent opponents to negate any such notion? How that facet of the game develops is likely to be crucial in determining the game's general rhythm and by transition the tone of the entire match.

Board Four:

WFM Bayaraa Zorigt (DAL)

VS.

NM Ilya Krasik (BOS)

December 2008 USCF Rating: Zorigt: 2244, Krasik: 2171

Current FIDE Rating: Zorigt: 2203, Krasik: NA

2008 Record: Zorigt: 5 – 0 – 4 (+5, 78%), Krasik: 6 – 3 – 1 (+3, 65%)

Overall Record: Zorigt: 7 – 1 – 7 (+6, 70%), Krasik: 12 – 12 – 5 (=0, 50%)

2008 Performance Rating: Zorigt: 2452, Krasik: 2349

Overall Performance Rating: Zorigt: 2367, Krasik: 2210

2008 Record with color in upcoming game: Zorigt: 3 – 0 – 2 (+3, 80%), Krasik: 3 – 3 – 0 (=0, 50%)

Overall Record with color in upcoming game: Zorigt: 4 – 1 – 2 (+3, 71%), Krasik: 6 – 9 – 2 (-3, 41%)

2008 MVP Points: Zorigt: 10, Krasik: 3

Overall MVP Points: Zorigt: 13, Krasik: 4


General: Both players are unquestionably hot right now, with Zorigt's undefeated +5 record this season going up against Krasik's five consecutive wins. Zorigt's victory in the Finals last year was obviously key in helping Dallas take the crown last year, and it's entirely possible that another such victory might accomplish the same thing; Krasik has certainly also had plenty of heroic performances himself in his career, but none probably more so than his recent dramatic Semfinal victory. With Zorigt being one of the keys in denying Boston the Championship they so craved last year and having gotten the better of Krasik, in their first meeting, it should be interesting to see if the obvious revenge motivation this will instill in Krasik will help him to continue his impressive winning streak and lead Boston to their first USCL Championship.

Semifinals Game of the Week

This year we have three judges for Game of the Week, each ranking their top five games. The games are then given from one to five points, based on these rankings, and whichever game receives the most total points wins the award. First place each week will receive a $100 bonus prize, second place $50, and third place $30. Our three judges are: IM Greg Shahade, NM Arun Sharma, and NM Jonathan Hilton. Click here for more details.

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**Since Jonathan Hilton is currently in Dresden, we again will only have two judges this week, Greg and myself.


1st Place: FM Oleg Zaikov (CAR) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 1/2-1/2


Arun Sharma: Not the cleanest of games perhaps, but a very exciting one for certain with a ton of tough moments for both players. Even though there were obviously some mistakes, considering the time situation (both players being under a minute for the majority of the latter part of the game), I felt both did a pretty impressive job in navigating those tough moments quite reasonably considering they only had a few seconds to make each decision (White's 23. Rxc5 and 24. Ne6 idea was quite impressive, and Black's 30... Rc8 was also a nice find). Considering the excitement level of this game along with the fact that the match result was hanging by a thread while it was occurring, it seemed like a natural choice for the top spot. (1st place: 2 points)


Greg Shahade: This was by far the most exciting game of the week. With only eight games to choose from instead of the usual twenty eight, it's going to be tougher to find games that are both well played and exciting. While there were a couple of games that were very well played by one side (Kuljasevic vs Lopez and Zorigt vs Prilleltensky come to mind), both were not very exciting along with being extremely one sided. This game was an action packed dogfight that had the viewers on the edge of their seats. Sure it wasn't a perfect game, but both sides played inspired and uncompromising chess with almost no time remaining on their clocks. (1st place: 2 points)


Total Score of Zaikov vs Sammour-Hasbun: 4 points


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Other Considered Games (judges' scores in parenthesis)


2 points (Arun 1, Greg 1): IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) vs FM Bruci Lopez (MIA) 1-0

Semifinal Predictions

I continue to be terrible at predicting as going from being in a battle for first in the contest, I'm now in a fight for my life to even get second or perhaps even third. Nevertheless I trudge on.


Carolina vs Boston: Once again I predict Carolina wrong every week with my only saving grace being that most people seem to join me in that errand of futility. Well I've been doing it all season so I sure can't change now. Boston 2.5 – 1.5



Miami vs Dallas: Miami has draw odds in this Semifinals compared to last year, and they really took it to Dallas the last time these teams met, with this very lineup. I have a feeling they'll have a tougher go of it this time at least on the scoreboard, but they should still prevail. Miami 2.5 – 1.5

Quarterfinals Game of the Week

This year we have three judges for Game of the Week, each ranking their top five games. The games are then given from one to five points, based on these rankings, and whichever game receives the most total points wins the award. First place each week will receive a $100 bonus prize, second place $50, and third place $30. Our three judges are: IM Greg Shahade, NM Arun Sharma, and NM Jonathan Hilton. Click here for more details.

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**Due to the lower number of games played, in the Quarterfinals only the first and second place prizes mentioned above will be given out, and in the Semifinals and Finals, only the first place prize will be awarded.


1st Place: IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) vs GM Vinay Bhat (SF) 1-0


Arun Sharma: Very dramatic, high quality game by both players with the latest stages of the game being for all the marbles with the match tied 1.5 – 1.5. It really seemed that both sides, especially considering the time pressure, did quite a good job in navigating a tough position and several tough moments. Kuljasevic in particular really seemed to play the end part of the game very precisely, overwhelming Black's defenses despite a tenacious defensive effort by Bhat. Considering the quality of the game along with the huge drama behind the result, this seemed like an easy choice for the top spot. (1st place: 3 points)


Greg Shahade: While this game wasn't super flashy, it was definitely the most dramatic of the evening. The score was tied 1.5 – 1.5, and Kuljasevic had to win to send Dallas to the SemiFinals. The position was not so clear in that the crowd had very mixed opinions as to what the result would be. It was simply a tough and dramatic fight, with good play from both sides. I'm sure Bhat wasn't happy with his play near the end of the game, but given the time trouble, it wasn't as if he did anything obviously dreadful. Anyway, given the importance of the game, and the fact that both players seemed to put up a good struggle, I ranked it first. (1st place: 3 points)


Jonathan Hilton: This seemed to be the most logical pick for GOTW, but at the time of judging, I found the ending (the last five moves or so) to be rather uninspiring. On closer examination it's actually surprisingly hard to find a significant improvement for Black — the Queen’s eventual migration from the Kingside to the Queenside, leaving Black open to attack, seems nearly unavoidable! Actually, Black's mistake probably had to do with trading rooks. I felt Black should have been fine in the late middle game, when he had both Rooks on the c-file. Still, a nice game by Kuljasevic, and not at all undeserving of the GOTW award considering how precisely White played the last ten moves or so to score the point. (NR: 0 points)


Total Score of Kuljasevic vs Bhat: 6 points

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2nd Place: IM Dmitry Schneider (QNS) vs GM Eugene Perelshteyn (BOS) 1-0


Jonathan Hilton: I felt like this was quite easily this week's hardest fought game. For a long time, I couldn't tell whether Black would have full compensation for the exchange or not; I believe he very well may have, but made a mistake later on, particularly in the transition to the endgame. I think Perelshteyn may have needed to stick a Knight on e4 at some point to block White's Rooks from dominating the seventh rank. An interesting game; I voted the Becerra vs Nakamura game ahead of this one only because Queens eventually lost the match, thus making Schneider's win less critical. (2nd place: 2 points)


Arun Sharma: Very interesting game and another high quality effort by both sides. I too wasn't really sure if Black ever established full compensation for the exchange, but it was still a very interesting idea and definitely a hard fought encounter. Although the end of the game was a bit anticlimactic due to the match situation already having been decided, I still think the game's overall appeal warranted it being ranked. (3rd Place: 1 point)


Greg Shahade: A nice game by Schneider; I'd perhaps have ranked it second if Queens advanced instead of Boston. Again, there was nothing too exciting going on, but Schneider kept pushing and pushing until eventually he broke Perelshteyn's defenses, and I always appreciate it when the defending side makes the opponent work very hard for victory, instead of collapsing quickly under the pressure. (3rd place: 1 point)


Total Score of Schneider vs Perelshteyn: 4 points


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Other Considered Games (judges' scores in parenthesis)


3 points (Jon 3): GM Julio Becerra (MIA) vs GM Hikaru Nakamura (SEA) 1-0

2 points (Arun 2): WFM Bayaraa Zorigt (DAL) vs FM Daniel Naroditsky (SF) 1-0

2 points (Greg 2): SM Marc Esserman (BOS) vs IM Eli Vovsha (QNS) 1/2-1/2

1 point (Jon 1): IM Sam Shankland (SF) vs FM Igor Schneider (DAL) 1-0

Quarterfinal Predictions

Although the battle that is the prediction contest may only be for second at this point, there's still plenty of pride left in that so I shall trudge on.



Boston vs Queens: Most people seem to be favoring Boston after their crushing victory over the Pioneers in Week 10. However, we've seen too many times how a lopsided match result can have a completely different outcome when the rematch takes place, and I think Queens will definitely have revenge on their mind. Queens 2.5 – 1.5



New York vs Carolina: I've had basically no success at predicting Carolina matches correctly this year so perhaps picking what the general masses tend to believe will ensure I don't fall further behind in the contest. Plus when you add that in New York's four match winning streak and the Knights having overcome a draw odds match in the playoffs each of the last two years, the choice seems obvious. New York 2.5 – 1.5



San Francisco vs Dallas: The defending champions haven't made it back to the Semifinals the last two years, and this year should be no exception. While the Dallas players can cling to the hope that today might be the day that Sam Shankland leaves society to enter a monastery, too many of us have been holding on to the hope that that day will come for many years with no success. San Francisco 3 – 1



Miami vs Seattle: A fairly tricky match to call, much closer I feel than most seem to think. It largely depends on which version of Nakamura shows up to play this week. Since I can't really make an educated conjecture about that, I'll go down the middle for the overall match. Miami ties Seattle 2 – 2

Prediction Results -- Week 10

Well other than me horrendously sucking this week, little to report. Barring a bunch of 4 – 0 correct predictions (in the playoffs, no less!), it seems like Ron Young has all but sewn up his second straight victory in this contest. On the bright side, my blazing ineptitude this week has definitely rendered the battle for second and third place quite interesting so we shall see how that ends up transpiring after the Playoffs.


Totals after Week 10:


Ron Young: 97 Points (+14 This Week)
Arun Sharma: 81 Points (+4)
Ed Scimia: 79 Points (+12)
Bioniclime: 77 Points (+10)




CAR over PHI 2.5 – 1.5


ES: CAR 2.5 – 1.5 +3
BL: Tie +0
AS/RY: PHI 2.5 – 1.5 +0


BOS over QNS 3.5 – 0.5


BL/RY: BOS 2.5 – 1.5 +2
ES/AS: Tie +0



NY over NJ 2.5 – 1.5


BL/RY: Correct +3
AS: NY 3 – 1 +2
ES: Tie +0



TEN over BAL 2.5 – 1.5


BL/ES/AS/RY: BAL 2.5 – 1.5 +0



MIA over SF 2.5 – 1.5


BL/ES/RY: Correct +3
AS: Tie +0



DAL over CHC 2.5 – 1.5


ES/RY: Correct +3
BL/AS: DAL 3 – 1 +2



ARZ over SEA 2.5 – 1.5


ES/RY: Correct +3
AS: Tie +0
BL: SEA 2.5 – 1.5 +0

Week 10 Game of the Week

This year we have three judges for Game of the Week, each ranking their top five games. The games are then given from one to five points, based on these rankings, and whichever game receives the most total points wins the award. First place each week will receive a $100 bonus prize, second place $50, and third place $30. Our three judges are: IM Greg Shahade, NM Arun Sharma, and NM Jonathan Hilton. Click here for more details.

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1st Place: GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 1/2-1/2


Arun Sharma: Very interesting, hard fought game with many interesting moments and tactics. Both sides seemed to navigate several tough positions and find some very good moves. I particularly liked Black's 27... Bf5!, 30... Bh7! A fairly easy pick to me as this game definitely appeared to be of high quality and was very exciting, a tough combination to achieve in the USCL's fast time control. (1st place: 5 points)


Greg Shahade: What's with the love all the draws are getting lately? Also surprised to see the judges are so sophisticated that we notice a draw from the only match that had zero playoff implications and realized that it was clearly deserving of the top prize. It was a wild game with lots of great moments, congrats Jaan and Sergey and also to the judges! (1st place: 5 points)


Jonathan Hilton: This is possibly the most exciting Petroff Defense of all time. Given the innocuous position after move six, one would think a draw was inevitable. Well, I suppose it was: thirty four moves later, a drawn Rook and Pawn endgame was reached. Along the way, at least half a dozen pieces were sacrificed, starting with the rather unoriginal 23. Rxf6, reaching its peak of creativity with 27... Bf5, and eventually petering out with the absurd-looking (yet forced) 34... Rh1. I just wish we could give each player $100! (1st place: 5 points)


Total Score of Ehlvest vs Erenburg: 15 points

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2nd Place: GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) vs IM Dmitry Schneider (QNS) 1-0


Arun Sharma: A bit of a one-sided game, but a very powerful effort by Christiansen really dominating the game completely from a fairly tame looking opening and ending the game with the very elegant finish 29. Rxg7+! (2nd place: 4 points)


Greg Shahade: Super one sided game by Christiansen. It was saved by the flashy finish, but also marred by the fact that Schneider resigned before letting Christiansen play it out to an obvious winning position. In a game like this, where it was very one-sided, you need to have a lot of beauty to win, and Schneider's slightly premature resignation probably dropped it from second to third place in my rankings. Also Schneider moved his queen a whole lot. I understand Arun's ranking and also Jonathan's hesitation to rank it at all, it's just one of those games that depends on what you value for a Game of the Week. (3rd Place: 3 points)


Jonathan Hilton: This game was a clean kill by Christiansen and was certainly flashy. I avoided ranking it because not only was it not an upset — a strong GM defeating an IM with the White pieces — but White never had to take any real risks in order to achieve the victory. Out of the thirty four moves, Black made ten moves with the Queen; White's pieces came out easily and naturally, but Black was clearly struggling from the beginning. Still, a nice kill all in all. (NR: 0 points)


Total Score of Christiansen vs Schneider: 7 points

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3rd Place: GM Julio Becerra (MIA) vs GM Vinay Bhat (SF) 1/2-1/2


Jonathan Hilton: The game petered out to a draw too soon to take the first place spot, but it was very interesting and almost perfectly played — at least, I haven’t been able to come up with any sizable improvements for either side. 23. Bxa6! secured the draw for White in a very original fashion — I haven't seen many tactics like this one before! If you ask me, I definitely think each player deserves the $15. If you have a small car, that might even fill your gas tank with today's bargain basement prices! (3rd place: 3 points)


Greg Shahade: Of course, as I am not as huge of a theoretician as Arun, I had no idea this had anything to do with theory or the US Champs. I just thought there were sort of cool tactics and no one seemed to make any big mistakes so I put it in fourth place, despite the fact that it was quite a short affair. (4th place: 2 points)


Arun Sharma: I briefly considered this game since it definitely did seem to be of high quality, but while it was going on, it reminded me so much of the Becerra vs Shulman game from the 2008 US Championship (positions identical after move seventeen), and I assumed Becerra had just prepared an improvement for this game. Perhaps that was an incorrect assessment (since White only drew this game after all, but maybe Black had to play perfectly or close to force a draw after White's improvement). While we had plenty of debates last year about whether a game which is nearly all preparation should be a detraction, for instance with Martinez vs Zilberstein, I didn't find the preparation in this game to be anything particularly special and as such I didn't rank it. (NR: 0 points)


Total Score of Becerra vs Bhat: 5 points


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Other Considered Games (judges' scores in parenthesis)


4 points (Greg 4): NM Michael Lee (SEA) vs NM Warren Harper (ARZ) 0-1

4 points (Jon 4): IM David Pruess (SF) vs FM Bruci Lopez (MIA) 1/2-1/2

4 points (Arun 3, Jon 1): IM Eli Vovsha (QNS) vs GM Eugene Perelshteyn (BOS) 0-1

2 points (Arun 2): FM Osmany Perea (MIA) vs IM Dmitry Zilberstein (SF) 1-0

2 points (Jon 2): GM Pascal Charbonneau (NY) vs GM Joel Benjamin (NJ) 1-0

1 point (Arun 1): IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) vs IM Emory Tate (CHC) 1-0

1 point (Greg 1): FM Tegshsuren Enkhbat (BAL) vs FM Todd Andrews (TEN) 1-0