Judges' Contest Final Standings

As mentioned, the standings for this were basically finalized last week, but I'll list them for all of you who really care.


1st Place: Dennis Monokroussos (20, 13, 19, 18, 12, 17, 7, 11, 16, 14, 10, 9, 6, 3, 15, 2, 5, 1, 8, 4): 60 Points

2nd Place: Jennifer Shahade (18, 20, 8, 12, 17, 19, 5, 14, 16, 7, 10, 15, 11, 13, 9, 6, 4, 2, 1, 3): 64 Points

3rd Place: Alex Shabalov (20, 12, 16, 15, 17, 10, 18, 9, 13, 19, 4, 14, 11, 8, 3, 2, 7, 6, 1, 5): 66 Points

4th Place: Ron Young (20, 19, 13, 9, 7, 18, 14, 17, 11, 12, 15, 10, 1, 2, 8, 16, 6, 5, 3, 4): 70 Points

5th Place: Robby Adamson (20, 12, 19, 16, 17, 6, 18, 10, 5, 4, 14, 3, 15, 13, 1, 9, 7, 11, 8, 2): 90 Points


and the two non-judges,


Braden Bournival (19, 20, 9, 17, 7, 4, 18, 14, 15, 16, 12, 11, 8, 13, 2, 1, 3, 10, 5, 6): 79 Points

Arun Sharma (20, 19, 18, 11, 12, 15, 5, 9, 13, 17, 16, 4, 6, 3, 2, 10, 7, 1, 8, 14): 80 Points

Game of the Year 1st and 2nd Place Critique

Well I've already gone through the whole routine of explaining why I didn't especially feel either of these games deserved to be at the very top so no need to repeat myself in that regard (and I doubt the victors really want to hear it). I should however note, for posterity's sake, what the Top Five would have been had I been a judge (which I was going to be until a couple of days before the contest when I decided to be perfectly fair, that as a GOTW judge, I shouldn't really be doing GOTY). Nevertheless, here is how the Top Five would have turned out had I not stepped aside:


1st Place (100 Points): FM Marcel Martinez (MIA) vs IM Dmitry Zilberstein (SF) 1-0 Article

2nd Place (97 Points): GM Julio Becerra (MIA) vs IM Drasko Boskovic (DAL) 0-1

3rd Place (94 Points): SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) vs IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) 1-0

4th Place (90 Points): GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) vs GM Patrick Wolff (SF) 1-0

5th Place (88 Points): GM Eugene Perelshteyn (BOS) vs GM Pascal Charbonneau (NY) 0-1


The basic issue about both of these top two games was that the victor of each seemed to be worse for most of the game -- something which was a real detraction to me since obviously if that's what happened, the quality of such a game can only be so high and as such not really deserving of GOTY to me. The judges however, instead of viewing that as a detraction, viewed the stellar required defensive effort of a worse position by the two winners as more of an attraction. While that's certainly a valid viewpoint, I personally don't feel it's enough to make these games rise to the top level in a contest like this, but I obviously was outvoted in that regard. Let's examine what the judges actually said.


Robby Adamson: I think his comment on the Becerra vs Boskovic game is dead on: the fact that White was better for most of the game kept him from giving the game too high a ranking (which as I said made me feel this game did not deserve to be at the very top). Yet I also felt the Sammour vs Kuljasevic game had a similar detraction (which is why I ranked that game relatively low as well) so I'm not sure where he felt the distinction was between those two games in that regard.


Jennifer Shahade: Well, I feel her comments on the Boskovic game are basically right, but I really can't equate how those feelings would lead to a first place ranking especially when she acknowledges that Becerra made a large blunder with 57. Qd7?? right before the game's end. The Sammour game I think what she said is essentially correct also, but like I said above people seemed to be more in awe of the defensive effort he displayed especially the very unusual defense by his rooks.


Alex Shabalov: Strangely, despite having completely different rankings on these games than pretty much all the judges, I really can't poke any holes in their commentary (plus when you're definitely a far weaker player than the person you disagree with, common sense says you should shut up). I would have hoped that he would have given a bit more insight into the game he ranked as the top overall.


Ron Young: Once again, basically what I felt about both games too, just like most, he was more impressed by the defensive efforts involved along with Sammour's quite unique "rook lift".


Dennis Monokroussos: Basically what I felt about the Boskovic game (and the same ranking I would have given it!). Like most we disagree about how heavy an impact the impressive parts of the Sammour game should have made on the whole, but he and FM Adamson did comment on how "important" this game was, something that seems a tad debatable to me as even if it was from the Finals and ended up forcing the tiebreaker, Boston still did end up losing the match (this game certainly would have moved up several places on my list had the match result been different).


So at long last we've reached the end of the 2007 Game of the Year Contest. I want to thank everyone who took the time to follow this Contest at least a little bit, and I hope it kept you mildly entertained and makes you look forward to Season Four of the USCL which starts in a few months. Lastly, hearty thanks to all five judges who selflessly volunteered their time to judge this contest. As someone who watches every match in the League and as such is reasonably familiar with every game, it's easy for me to forget how much work it probably is to analyze twenty effectively new games and how tough that must be. Even though I critiqued (and insulted on occasion -- by order of the Commissioner!) them every week and happened to disagree with several of the decisions they made, there would have been no contest without their hard work. So thanks once again to them and the readers, and I'll see you in a few months for the start of Season Four!

Game of the Year -- 1st Place

This is the final part in a weekly series of articles which has been counting down to revealing what game was voted as the 2007 USCL Game of the Year. For more information on exactly how this process has worked and the prize information, please refer to: Game of the Year Preview.

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






















SM Sammour-Hasbun had been fighting an uphill, defensive battle for most of the game, but went on the offensive with the nice tactic 28. Qxe5!!, which forced liquidation into a winning endgame.



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 Robby Adamson (2nd Place, 19 points): This is the only time I took into consideration the particulars of a match in judging Game of the Year. However, it was critical in that this game was part of the the 2007 USCL Final between the Dallas Destiny and Boston Blitz. At the time this match was going on, the match was tied 1-1 with uncertainty on the remaining board. After playing a bad opening, Sammour overcame a fierce and thematic piece sacrifice on e5. After defending very well, Jorge attacked with his rooks on h2 and g2! As it turned out this victory was needed since the match went to a tiebreak. This game gets the extra credit it deserves because it was an exciting match from the final. I award this nineteen points.



WGM Jennifer Shahade (3rd Place, 18 points): What I love about this game is that after Ne5 I'd be thinking, how do I defend this, this is going to be so annoying, etc. Meanwhile, Jorge just goes straight for the kill and somehow creates a rook battery in the blink of an eye, his king just chilling on e1 like he thought he was castled. The final combination is also very aesthetic and having witnessed Jorge come up with longer combos in one-minute chess, I bet he saw the whole thing despite being in time pressure.



FM Ron Young (4th Place, 17 points): This seemed like a titanic struggle in the making before degenerating into a brilliancy. But cool touches such as doubled rooks on the second rank lift it above the run of banal sacrificial orgies.



FM Dennis Monokroussos (4th Place, 17 points): A very dramatic game, and well-played, too. Sammour-Hasbun got into all sorts of trouble in the opening, especially after the nice (but known) knight sac on e5. White's position after move 20 is almost preposterous, but Jorge managed to hold things together, whip up an attack of his own, and win in the ending. The win was incredibly important and extremely exciting (that's right, kids: always avoid alliteration), and it really wasn't badly played, either. (Except, perhaps, for 27... Bd5. But that's an easy error to make, especially in time trouble, and his position was already starting to crack.)



GM Alex Shabalov (5th Place, 16 points): Cool defense by Sammour-Hasbun, great middlegame tactics, and fine technique; solid top five performer.


Total Score of Sammour-Hasbun vs Kuljasevic: (1st Place, 87 Points)


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Final 2007 Game of the Year Standings:


1st Place (87 Points): SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) vs IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) 1-0 Article

2nd Place (84 Points): GM Julio Becerra (MIA) vs IM Drasko Boskovic (DAL) 0-1 Article

3rd Place (80 Points): FM Marcel Martinez (MIA) vs IM Dmitry Zilberstein (SF) 1-0 Article

4th Place (76 Points): GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) vs GM Patrick Wolff (SF) 1-0 Article

5th Place (70 Points): IM Vinay Bhat (SF) vs GM Hikaru Nakamura (NY) 1-0 Article

6th Place (69 Points): GM Eugene Perelshteyn (BOS) vs GM Pascal Charbonneau (NY) 0-1 Article

7th Place (66 Points): GM Julio Becerra (MIA) vs GM Alex Stripunsky (QNS) 1-0 Article

8th Place (61 Points): IM Lev Milman (CAR) vs IM Ron Burnett (TEN) 0-1 Article

9th Place (54 Points): IM Josh Friedel (SF) vs GM Gregory Serper (SEA) 1-0 Article

10th Place (52 Points): IM Bryan Smith (PHI) vs GM Eugene Perelshteyn (BOS) 1-0 Article

11th Place (49 Points): NM Mackenzie Molner (NJ) vs IM Larry Kaufman (BAL) 1-0 Article

12th Place (44 Points): IM Dmitry Zilberstein (SF) vs IM John Bartholomew (DAL) 1-0 Article

13th Place (44 Points): NM Mackenzie Molner (NJ) vs FM Marc Arnold (NY) 1-0 Article

14th Place (43 Points): IM Eric Tangborn (SEA) vs IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) 0-1 Article

15th Place (35 Points): IM Vinay Bhat (SF) vs IM John Bartholomew (DAL) 1-0 Article

16th Place (35 Points): GM Julio Becerra (MIA) vs IM Ron Burnett (TEN) 1-0 Article

17th Place (35 Points): IM Jay Bonin (NY) vs NM Mackenzie Molner (NJ) 1-0 Article

18th Place (30 Points): FM Slava Mikhailuk (SEA) vs IM Jonathan Schroer (CAR) 0-1 Article

19th Place (29 Points): IM Josh Friedel (SF) vs IM Lev Milman (CAR) 0-1 Article

20th Place (7 Points): IM Jay Bonin (NY) vs NM Denys Shmelov (BOS) 1-0 Article

Game of the Year -- 2nd Place

This is the final part in a weekly series of articles which has been counting down to revealing what game was voted as the 2007 USCL Game of the Year. For more information on exactly how this process has worked and the prize information, please refer to: Game of the Year Preview.

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2nd Place: GM Julio Becerra (MIA) vs IM Drasko Boskovic (DAL) 0-1






















IM Boskovic was forced to sac the exchange after 31. c5 which created a very unbalanced position where he was better able to sift through the complications than his opponent.



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.


WGM Jennifer Shahade (1st Place, 20 points): In a way, I wish that the Game of the Year Money was divided in a way so that the losing player gets some too - sort of like a bad beat jackpot in poker, where the "winner" gets 80%, the "loser" 10%, and the lucky bystanders share the rest. This game proves that artful chess games require two authors. Becerra went right into the fire with 32. Bc4, even though he knew that it was complicated. Boskovic used the principle of "playing on both sides of the board" (with 45... Bg4, 48... g5, 49... Kh5, etc.) in a position where it would not occur to most people to think that way. Finally when the tactics exploded in the mid 30s till the end of the game, there were countless opportunities for either sides to blunder. It's a testament to how serious both of them took the competition that they rose to the demands of the position and both found one good move after another. Until Becerra didn't that is, when he played 57. Qd7. I'm not sure how this will place in the final standings but congrats for being my number one USCL pick of 2007!



GM Alex Shabalov (1st Place, 20 points): Excellent defensive effort by Dallas #1. The forced exchange sac led to an extremely tense unbalanced middlegame, where Black just turned out to be more precise and showed more determination.



FM Ron Young (3rd Place, 18 points): A great fighting game, no question. Epic. But I want to avoid too touchy-feely an approach to the rankings and anyway, epics get plenty of respect elsewhere.



FM Dennis Monokroussos (8th Place, 13 points): A very exciting game. There's an old joke about marriage, that a man chases a woman until she catches him; that's a good description of this game. (I'm not calling Boskovic a woman, of course!) Becerra fought all over the board to generate play, and it was all Boskovic could do to stay afloat and generate some counterplay of his own. In a way 32. c5 was the decisive moment. Becerra won the exchange and maintained an advantage, but lost control as the position randomized. With 45. c6! he would have been safe and better, but after 45. a4 the tables started turning. 50... Qg4 let White off the hook, but the trend was going Black's way and after 56. Qe8+ and especially 57. Qd7? Black regained the advantage and brought home the point. A real thriller!



FM Robby Adamson (8th Place, 13 points): Oh man did I want to give this game higher marks. It was only after some analysis that I actually moved this game off my Top Three pedastal, and down to where I have it now. Julio played well throughout, but Boskovic hung in there and kept the game unbalanced. Although Julio missed several wins, I was impressed with Boskovic keeping the game goinge. I struggled with this game as I said before. If Boskovic had not been worse for much of the game, it would have ended up higher. I award this game thirteen points.


Total Score of Becerra vs Boskovic: (2nd Place, 84 Points)

Game of the Year Final Two Game Breakdown

Well I could delve into all the statistics of how wrong I was about where these games would wind up, but you've all had a large enough dosage of that to really be required to listen to more of it so I'll instead (for better or worse) try to give a bit of insight/guess which of the two remaining games will finally come out on top. For reference these are the games and their articles:


Semifinals: GM Julio Becerra (MIA) vs IM Drasko Boskovic (DAL) 0-1 Article

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


To try to figure out which game will actually win let's list a few pros and cons of each game.


Becerra vs Boskovic:

Pros:

1. Boskovic was obviously the underdog and provided an impressive defensive effort to fight back from a position which had seemed a bit worse for him for the majority of the game

2. Becerra doesn't lose very often in the league and even less often when he has White.

3. Being from the Semifinals, the game obviously was much more important than your average game, and the match seemed to be trending in Miami's favor early on.


Cons:

1. As mentioned, Boskovic was worse for most of the game so he obviously couldn't win this without some cooperation from his opponent.

2. Even though the match seemed close early on, by the time the truly exciting portions of this game started, Dallas had actually already clinched a match win.



Sammour-Hasbun vs Kuljasevic

Pros:

1. Very atypical game with some unique rook maneuvering by Sammour-Hasbun.

2. A reasonably deep, quite tricky, and aesthetically pleasing tactic in time pressure was the route to White's victory.

3. White's position seemed like such a mess for most of the game, and it clearly was a stellar defensive effort by Sammour-Hasbun to give himself any chance.

4. Without this win, Boston would have been unable to force the blitz tiebreaker.


Cons:

1. Like the above game, Sammour-Hasbun was worse for a good portion of the game and without some cooperation would obviously not have been able to pull off the win.

2. This win did force the blitz tiebreaker, but didn't wind up changing the match result.



In several aspects these games seem very similar (i.e. in both a nice defensive effort helped the winner fight back from a worse position). Although I hadn't anticipated either game getting a first place ranking, these two games did collectively manage to garner two of them, and I feel the Sammour-Hasbun game is much more likely to have gotten those than the Boskovic game as I simply don't get that first place vibe from the latter game. That, along with the fact that I think the Sammour game really was more interesting (albeit much shorter) due to the very unusual White piece configuration and opening, I think it's the more likely game to come out on top. As such I think Sammour-Hasbun vs Kuljasevic wins 65% of the time.

Tune in the next few days, to see if I can at least end this contest with a correct prediction (after all I certainly didn't get any predictions correct in the middle!).

Judges' Contest 3rd Place

So as I hinted, with a week left in the contest, pretty much everything is determined as FM Monokroussos is guaranteed to take the top spot, WGM Shahade and GM Shabalov are forced to take second and third (with Shahade almost certain to get second except for one circumstance where they will be tied), FM Young will take fourth, and FM Adamson will bring up the rear. Unfortunately, for myself not only did I not manage to win, I didn't even manage to beat out the other non-judge as FM Bournival is guaranteed to finish one point ahead of me. Here are the exact standings.


1st Place: Dennis Monokroussos (20, 13, 19, 18, 12, 17, 7, 11, 16, 14, 10, 9, 6, 3, 15, 2, 5, 1): 51 Points (Rankings Left: 4, 8; Guaranteed to finish with 60 Points)

2nd Place: Jennifer Shahade (18, 20, 8, 12, 17, 19, 5, 14, 16, 7, 10, 15, 11, 13, 9, 6, 4, 2): 61 Points (Rankings Left: 1, 3)

3rd Place: Alex Shabalov (20, 12, 16, 15, 17, 10, 18, 9, 13, 19, 4, 14, 11, 8, 3, 2, 7, 6): 61 Points (Rankings Left: 1, 5)

4th Place: Ron Young (20, 19, 13, 9, 7, 18, 14, 17, 11, 12, 15, 10, 1, 2, 8, 16, 6, 5): 66 Points (Rankings Left: 3, 4; Guaranteed to finish with 70 Points)

5th Place: Robby Adamson (20, 12, 19, 16, 17, 6, 18, 10, 5, 4, 14, 3, 15, 13, 1, 9, 7, 11): 83 Points (Rankings Left: 2, 8; Guaranteed to finish with 90 Points)


and the two non-judges,


Arun Sharma (20, 19, 18, 11, 12, 15, 5, 9, 13, 17, 16, 4, 6, 3, 2, 10, 7, 1): 61 Points (Rankings Left: 8, 14; Guaranteed to finish with 80 Points)

Braden Bournival (19, 20, 9, 17, 7, 4, 18, 14, 15, 16, 12, 11, 8, 13, 2, 1, 3, 10): 71 Points (Rankings Left: 5, 6; Guaranteed to finish with 79 Points)


Be sure not to miss the long awaited announcement of the Game of the Year winner!

Game of the Year 3rd Place Critique

Another big surprise to me as I'd really been anticipating (and hoping frankly, given that I felt it was clearly the most deserving) that this game was going to take the top spot. Even though I turned out to be wrong (I did cut my losses though by retiring from the predicting business in this contest a few weeks ago), this once again was basically what I had expected from this game all along -- that it would get some very high rankings but that some number of the judges would be turned off by the fact that this game was nearly all preparation and would give it a non-stellar ranking. While I disagree with the rational behind why they did so, it's clear that many others seem to share that basic opinion (which naturally severely hinders my ability to denounce it!) so it will have to fall into the category of agreeing to disagree. The main reason I disagree with that assessment is mainly due to something WGM Shahade basically stated below. That is, in the USCL with awards like Game of the Week, Game of the Year, All Stars, MVP, etc. which mostly seem to recognize players for individual efforts, we might often forget that the USCL is, at heart, a team event. As such, a game such as this which was really in some sense more of a "team effort" (and by transition the overall match), than any other USCL game that I know of (obviously preparation has likely paid off in several games, but I doubt it has to the degree it seemed to in this game) really epitomizes a large part of what the USCL really is (and should be) about. Add to the fact that this game was in the playoffs against the defending champions while being faced with draw odds and happened to be the key to the match victory, it only seems to point to a very high ranking for this game to me. In any case, let's examine what the judges actually said.


Dennis Monokroussos: Well I think the comment is basically dead on, and I agree with the ranking so not much to say here.


Jennifer Shahade: As I stated above, I really like her inference about how she felt the team aspect of this game could be viewed as a positive in many ways rather than as a negative like most seemed to, and I basically agree with her ranking also so not much to complain about here.


Ron Young: A very salient point that many prize-winning games are largely the result of preparation. Since he admits that, and infers that he "won't teach" Martinez to not reveal things of that nature, it surprises me that he didn't rank this game higher.


Alex Shabalov: Since everyone is gushing about how beautiful/strong the 22. Bh6 shot was, I'm surprised that he would use the word "unusual" for it. I'm also not really sure about his claim that 25... Re8 was the cause of Black's downfall as my thought had always been that Black was already busted after the Bh6 shot.


Robby Adamson: As I stated above, I don't really agree with his rational for giving this game a mediocre ranking, but again I certainly can understand it.


Be sure to tune in to the final article as the 2007 Game of the Year Contest finally reaches its conclusion!

Game of the Year -- 3rd Place

This is the eighteenth part in a weekly series of articles which will count down to revealing what game was voted as the 2007 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 Preview.

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3rd Place: FM Marcel Martinez (MIA) vs IM Dmitry Zilberstein (SF) 1-0






















FM Martinez released the stunning 22. Bh6!!, without a doubt one of the most exquisite moves seen in USCL History, which left his opponent reeling.



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 Dennis Monokroussos (1st Place, 20 points): The big winner! Opening prep or not, it's a fantastic performance by Marcel Martinez. In a deeply theoretical line of the Ruy Lopez, Martinez released a thunderbolt with 22. Bh6!!, and the subsequent hammer blows 23. Re7!, 28. Ng5+!!, and 29. Bxf6+! probably left Zilberstein asking about the Mack truck that ran him over. Give Martinez his check; he's earned it.



WGM Jennifer Shahade (2nd Place, 19 points): This game caused me to question my own perceptions of chess beauty. Does the beauty of a move change based on whether it was found at home? Marcel's gorgeous 22. Bh6 was obviously home preparation; he played the move in 15 seconds, and later Marcel stated that he found it while training with Miami Board One Julio Becerra. It would be too easy to discount the beauty of this move to home cooking, and I almost did just that and considered placing it somewhere between places five and ten. But then I asked myself louder: Why is it bad for a team to work hard together, analyze, and find a beautiful novelty? Isn't this the spirit of USCL in a lot of ways? Chessmasters and Straight A students that brag they never study don't get any credit from me. I refused to rank this lower because it was the product of labor off the board.



FM Ron Young (5th Place, 16 points): Very smooth and elegant. White admitted the game was nearly all preparation, but I'm sure that is true of many prize-winning games. Perhaps he should be punished for his candor, just to teach a lesson, but it isn't my job to teach.



GM Alex Shabalov (6th Place, 15 points): After some highly theoretical debate, White started quite an unusual attacking pattern with 22. Bh6, which turned out to be deadly after Black's relaxing 25... Re8.



FM Robby Adamson (11th Place, 10 points): This game, along with Molner's two wins and Becerra vs Boskovic was one of the toughest games to judge. On the surface, this is a very impressive victory by Marcel since Zilberstein is an expert in the Archangel Variation of the Ruy Lopez and because Dmitry played an absolute masterpiece in the 2004 US Champs against Alexander Ivanov, which helped shaped the theory of this line. The tactics by Marcel were also very nice. My biggest problem in not awarding this excellent game higher marks is that it was virtually all preparation. A Game of the Year has to have a little more creativity. This may not be a fair criticism, but the games ahead of this were more of an at the board struggle. I award this ten points.


Total Score of Martinez vs Zilberstein: (3rd Place, 80 Points)


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Stay tuned for the final article as at long last we will announce the 2007 Game of the Year!


Semifinals: GM Julio Becerra (MIA) vs IM Drasko Boskovic (DAL) 0-1 Article

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


Eliminated:


3rd Place (80 Points): FM Marcel Martinez (MIA) vs IM Dmitry Zilberstein (SF) 1-0 Article

4th Place (76 Points): GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) vs GM Patrick Wolff (SF) 1-0 Article

5th Place (70 Points): IM Vinay Bhat (SF) vs GM Hikaru Nakamura (NY) 1-0 Article

6th Place (69 Points): GM Eugene Perelshteyn (BOS) vs GM Pascal Charbonneau (NY) 0-1 Article

7th Place (66 Points): GM Julio Becerra (MIA) vs GM Alex Stripunsky (QNS) 1-0 Article

8th Place (61 Points): IM Lev Milman (CAR) vs IM Ron Burnett (TEN) 0-1 Article

9th Place (54 Points): IM Josh Friedel (SF) vs GM Gregory Serper (SEA) 1-0 Article

10th Place (52 Points): IM Bryan Smith (PHI) vs GM Eugene Perelshteyn (BOS) 1-0 Article

11th Place (49 Points): NM Mackenzie Molner (NJ) vs IM Larry Kaufman (BAL) 1-0 Article

12th Place (44 Points): IM Dmitry Zilberstein (SF) vs IM John Bartholomew (DAL) 1-0 Article

13th Place (44 Points): NM Mackenzie Molner (NJ) vs FM Marc Arnold (NY) 1-0 Article

14th Place (43 Points): IM Eric Tangborn (SEA) vs IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) 0-1 Article

15th Place (35 Points): IM Vinay Bhat (SF) vs IM John Bartholomew (DAL) 1-0 Article

16th Place (35 Points): GM Julio Becerra (MIA) vs IM Ron Burnett (TEN) 1-0 Article

17th Place (35 Points): IM Jay Bonin (NY) vs NM Mackenzie Molner (NJ) 1-0 Article

18th Place (30 Points): FM Slava Mikhailuk (SEA) vs IM Jonathan Schroer (CAR) 0-1 Article

19th Place (29 Points): IM Josh Friedel (SF) vs IM Lev Milman (CAR) 0-1 Article

20th Place (7 Points): IM Jay Bonin (NY) vs NM Denys Shmelov (BOS) 1-0 Article

Judges' Contest 4th Place

Well the basic group agreement on the most recent game really did little to change the standings of the Judges' Contest which obviously is not good for any who were hoping to have a miracle comeback to overtake FM Monokroussos as mathematically he's guaranteed to take a share of the top spot in the overall contest (only WGM Shahade has a chance to tie him if she gets the three remaining rankings exactly correct, and the game he ranked 1st winds up getting 3rd). Here's exactly how it looks.


1st Place: Dennis Monokroussos (20, 13, 19, 18, 12, 17, 7, 11, 16, 14, 10, 9, 6, 3, 15, 2, 5): 49 Points (Rankings Left: 1, 4, 8)

2nd Place: Alex Shabalov (20, 12, 16, 15, 17, 10, 18, 9, 13, 19, 4, 14, 11, 8, 3, 2, 7): 58 Points (Rankings Left: 1, 5, 6)

3rd Place: Jennifer Shahade (18, 20, 8, 12, 17, 19, 5, 14, 16, 7, 10, 15, 11, 13, 9, 6, 4): 60 Points (Rankings Left: 1, 2, 3)

4th Place: Ron Young (20, 19, 13, 9, 7, 18, 14, 17, 11, 12, 15, 10, 1, 2, 8, 16, 6): 64 Points (Rankings Left: 3, 4, 5)

5th Place: Robby Adamson (20, 12, 19, 16, 17, 6, 18, 10, 5, 4, 14, 3, 15, 13, 1, 9, 7): 75 Points (Rankings Left: 2, 8, 11)


and the two non-judges,


Arun Sharma (20, 19, 18, 11, 12, 15, 5, 9, 13, 17, 16, 4, 6, 3, 2, 10, 7): 59 Points (Rankings Left: 1, 8, 14)

Braden Bournival (19, 20, 9, 17, 7, 4, 18, 14, 15, 16, 12, 11, 8, 13, 2, 1, 3): 64 Points (Rankings Left: 5, 6, 10)


See if I can officially announce the winner next week!

Game of the Year 4th Place Critique

Well fortunately (or unfortunately depending on how you look at it), the judges finally had a game with a fair consensus. Not since the 20th Place Elimination were they as in tune with their rankings as they were with this game. While I personally would have ranked this game slightly lower than the overall ranking that it managed to get (and in some sense the judges would have too as despite finishing fourth, this game only got one ranking that high), and this was once again basically what I really expected for this game. That is, that it would get pretty high rankings due to White's elegant middle-game play, but Black's overly cooperative play in allowing it to happen would keep it out of the tip-top rankings. Luckily for the judges, the fact that they had such a degree of agreement about this game makes it difficult for me to insult any of the judges too much (given the group thinking, I'd have a hard time insulting one without insulting all of them). Nevertheless, let's examine what they said.


Jennifer Shahade: Basically what I felt about this game too, but I'd have to put myself on the fence as to whether this was a typical win or one to get excited about.


Dennis Monokroussos: Well call the newspapers, Dennis and I actually basically agree about something! I like the suggestion (just as GM Shabalov sort of alluded to himself) that taking on g3 against an attacker like Christiansen would probably be a bad idea even if the move in itself wasn't bad.


Ron Young: Another nice inference to the end position where one might have guessed that Black had castled queen-side in the game. The fact that Black actually castled on the other side and was forced to walk into what appeared to be the opposite seems to do a good job of describing what Black had to endure during the game.


Alex Shabalov: As mentioned, I like the way he mentions the repercussions behind playing a move like 20... Qxg3, and I also like his nicknames though I must confess to being somewhat confused by them in this context as I always thought Beowulf slayed Grendel which certainly is not what happened in this game.


Robby Adamson: Another comment which basically seems spot on to me.


Remember there is only one more article until we announce the elusive Game of the Year Winner!

Game of the Year -- 4th Place

This is the seventeenth part in a weekly series of articles which will count down to revealing what game was voted as the 2007 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 Preview.

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4th Place: GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) vs GM Patrick Wolff (SF) 1-0






















GM Christiansen delivered a strong blow with 27. Nd5! which soon forced a win of decisive material.



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.


WGM Jennifer Shahade (4th Place, 17 points): I remember arguing about this game with someone. He thought it was a typical win while I was excited by it. Obviously since I ranked it fourth, I went with myself :) Games like this convinced me to quit the c3 Sicilian and start playing the Open Sicilian. And thank goodness I did, as my chessplaying career would be much less joyous if I had hundreds of c3's and Bb5's jamming up "Jennifer's database"

Finally, how can you not love 20. g3 ? There's something standard and unusual about it at the same time, which sort of mirrors my thoughts about the game.



FM Dennis Monokroussos (5th Place, 16 points): Two strong grandmasters and an exciting opening get the game off to a good start, and then Wolff was kind enough to commit suicide by playing 20... Qxg3. I've seen enough of Larry's games over the years to know that even if 20... Qxg3 was good (it's not), it's bad against Christiansen. Needless to say, Wolff got hacked to pieces. A loss for his team, yes, but a gain for USCL fans everywhere. Thanks, Patrick!



FM Ron Young (6th Place, 15 points): Castling by hand is not so unusual, but here Black does it only after castling conventionally on the other side. Unfortunately, he castled into it by hand. Or to be more accurate, he castled with it. But it continued to pursue him, and finally it was all over the Black king. And that was it.



GM Alex Shabalov (7th Place, 14 points): Grendel vs Beowulf. 18... Qe5, very provocative move, and the patzer took it, WOW! He just had to play 20... Qc7. Someone should applaud Patrick for the sportsmanship of allowing Larry to attack.



FM Robby Adamson (7th Place, 14 points): In a battle between the "Old Dogs", the game went into a complex Richter Rauzer where Larry kept Wolff off balance tactically, and eventually Larry netted the full point. I award this game fourteen points.


Total Score of Christiansen vs Wolff: (4th Place, 76 Points)


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Stay tuned for two more such articles as the field shrinks by one game each week to see which of the following games will be the 2007 Game of the Year!


Wildcard Round: FM Marcel Martinez (MIA) vs IM Dmitry Zilberstein (SF) 1-0 Article

Semifinals: GM Julio Becerra (MIA) vs IM Drasko Boskovic (DAL) 0-1 Article

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


Eliminated:


4th Place (76 Points): GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) vs GM Patrick Wolff (SF) 1-0 Article

5th Place (70 Points): IM Vinay Bhat (SF) vs GM Hikaru Nakamura (NY) 1-0 Article

6th Place (69 Points): GM Eugene Perelshteyn (BOS) vs GM Pascal Charbonneau (NY) 0-1 Article

7th Place (66 Points): GM Julio Becerra (MIA) vs GM Alex Stripunsky (QNS) 1-0 Article

8th Place (61 Points): IM Lev Milman (CAR) vs IM Ron Burnett (TEN) 0-1 Article

9th Place (54 Points): IM Josh Friedel (SF) vs GM Gregory Serper (SEA) 1-0 Article

10th Place (52 Points): IM Bryan Smith (PHI) vs GM Eugene Perelshteyn (BOS) 1-0 Article

11th Place (49 Points): NM Mackenzie Molner (NJ) vs IM Larry Kaufman (BAL) 1-0 Article

12th Place (44 Points): IM Dmitry Zilberstein (SF) vs IM John Bartholomew (DAL) 1-0 Article

13th Place (44 Points): NM Mackenzie Molner (NJ) vs FM Marc Arnold (NY) 1-0 Article

14th Place (43 Points): IM Eric Tangborn (SEA) vs IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) 0-1 Article

15th Place (35 Points): IM Vinay Bhat (SF) vs IM John Bartholomew (DAL) 1-0 Article

16th Place (35 Points): GM Julio Becerra (MIA) vs IM Ron Burnett (TEN) 1-0 Article

17th Place (35 Points): IM Jay Bonin (NY) vs NM Mackenzie Molner (NJ) 1-0 Article

18th Place (30 Points): FM Slava Mikhailuk (SEA) vs IM Jonathan Schroer (CAR) 0-1 Article

19th Place (29 Points): IM Josh Friedel (SF) vs IM Lev Milman (CAR) 0-1 Article

20th Place (7 Points): IM Jay Bonin (NY) vs NM Denys Shmelov (BOS) 1-0 Article

Judges' Contest 5th Place

FM Monokroussos continues to hold a solid lead, and time is running out for everyone else. As mentioned last week, FM Young had an inevitable big hit coming to him when his 16th Place Game happened to be eliminated, and it didn't disappoint his competitors in knocking him from 2nd down to 4th. Given the rankings left (which I've noted below), it's very unlikely for anyone to catch Monokroussos at this stage though WGM Shahade who's been near the bottom for most of the contest might have the best chance given that she's the only one to rank the Top Four Games exactly as the Top Four actually are. This is how things look.


1st Place: Dennis Monokroussos (20, 13, 19, 18, 12, 17, 7, 11, 16, 14, 10, 9, 6, 3, 15, 2): 48 Points (Rankings Left: 1, 4, 5, 8)

2nd Place: Alex Shabalov (20, 12, 16, 15, 17, 10, 18, 9, 13, 19, 4, 14, 11, 8, 3, 2): 55 Points (Rankings Left: 1, 5, 6, 7)

3rd Place: Jennifer Shahade (18, 20, 8, 12, 17, 19, 5, 14, 16, 7, 10, 15, 11, 13, 9, 6): 60 Points (Rankings Left: 1, 2, 3, 4)

4th Place: Ron Young (20, 19, 13, 9, 7, 18, 14, 17, 11, 12, 15, 10, 1, 2, 8, 16): 62 Points (Rankings Left: 3, 4, 5, 6)

5th Place: Robby Adamson (20, 12, 19, 16, 17, 6, 18, 10, 5, 4, 14, 3, 15, 13, 1, 9): 72 Points (Rankings Left: 2, 7, 8, 11)


and the two non-judges,


Arun Sharma (20, 19, 18, 11, 12, 15, 5, 9, 13, 17, 16, 4, 6, 3, 2, 10): 56 Points (Rankings Left: 1, 7, 8, 14)

Braden Bournival (19, 20, 9, 17, 7, 4, 18, 14, 15, 16, 12, 11, 8, 13, 2, 1): 63 Points (Rankings Left: 3, 5, 6, 10)


There is a good chance this contest will be mathematically decided as of next week so tune in to see if that's true!

Game of the Year 5th Place Critique

So naturally when I finally get fed up with making wrong predictions, the game I'd anticipated to go for so long finally managed to do so (I suppose someone out there wanted to insure that I'd be mocked in some fashion even if I tried to avoid it by not making a prediction this week). Even though this game got a bit of a higher ranking than I expected, in most ways I'm not really surprised about how things turned out as its anomalous nature struck me as the sort of game which could get both very high and very low rankings (which it did). I am a bit surprised by which judges happened to give it the very high rankings as for the most part GM Shabalov and FM Monokroussos have seemed to be the two judges who have focused most highly on a games' quality factor -- the one thing which I felt this game was really lacking in. Let's examine what they actually said.


Alex Shabalov: Well I definitely like his nicknames, but claiming that the middle-game was at a "really high level" and that the two pawn sacrifice was "amazing" weren't exactly in line with the perspective that I'd developed about this game.

Dennis Monokroussos: For those not following, Dennis and I had a bit of a disagreement regarding the ranking of last week's game, and I suppose I have no choice but to set us up to have another one (it's my job after all!) as I must admit that this comment and this ranking were not what I would have expected from him at all. The first thing that surprised me was that he made mention of the time disadvantage as his judging in general and his comments about last week's game, I wouldn't have anticipated him to be the sort to be impressed by something of that nature. But the main things that I found interesting was how he noted (in the just mentioned comment) that the Perelshteyn vs Charbonneau game was something you needed "to be there" to appreciate, as the Bhat game actually struck me as something that would have had that quality far more than the other game (however, Nakamura being involved probably would change that in many people's view). Also, while this again might clearly be different to every person, saying that the ending was "technically difficult to win" rather surprised me as well since I felt the ending in the other game was a far more difficult one to win than this one (an ending which he didn't seem overly impressed by).


Jennifer Shahade: Basically what I felt about this game even though it seems to me that the seventy to one time disadvantage factor is causing this game to shoot up far more in the judges' rankings than I really think it ought to in a contest of this nature.


Robby Adamson: Every week there seems to be at least one judge who shares essentially my exact view and nearly exact ranking for a game. This week it happens to be Robby.


Ron Young: While I mentioned above that I felt this game was the sort which could get some low rankings, I still am surprised it got a ranking quite this low. Nevertheless, I feel overall this game did better than it probably should have so it's hard for me to find much fault here.


Keep tuning in as we inch closer and closer to the $1000 winner!

Game of the Year -- 5th Place

This is the sixteenth part in a weekly series of articles which will count down to revealing what game was voted as the 2007 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 Preview.

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5th Place: IM Vinay Bhat (SF) vs GM Hikaru Nakamura (NY) 1-0






















Down two pawns and trailing seventy to one minutes on the clock, IM Bhat boldly pressed forward with 52. f6! and managed to pull off an amazing victory.



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.


GM Alex Shabalov (2nd Place, 19 points): Blue Anand vs Meat Processor. This is how every USCL game should be: the middlegame was played at a very high level. The two pawn sacrifice by Blue Anand was amazing, and it's no wonder that Meat Processor missed a couple of good defenses.


FM Dennis Monokroussos (2nd Place, 19 points): An incredible battle! The game was complicated throughout, both players fought like crazy to win, the advantage went back and forth, Bhat overcame a seventy one to one minute time disadvantage, and then won a technically difficult ending to boot. Against Nakamura! A fantastic contest that would normally win Game of the Year honors.



WGM Jennifer Shahade (6th Place, 15 points): I chose this game because Bhat managed to defeat the mighty Nakamura in a pawn down game, playing on just his increment. Nakamura showed a crucial flaw in this game, overconfidence: he had seventy one minutes to Bhat's one on move forty. In terms of USCL drama, you couldn't beat this game: it was Nakamura's first game for the league, and it was a Monday night game. Hundreds were watching on ICC, including World Cup champ Gata Kamsky. An impressive display of nerves and fighting spirit by Bhat.



FM Robby Adamson (9th Place, 12 points): I am interested in what the other judges think of this game. This game gave me fits for a few reasons. First of all, defeating Nakamura is always an accomplishment. Second, doing so with a seventy to one minute disadvantage on the clock makes it even more remarkable. However, the main reason it doesn't rank higher in my book is that in a game where Hikaru played too fast throughout this game as well as during the USCL season, Hikaru outplayed Vinay and only due to a slip up did Vinay cash in. Balancing these factors, I award this game twelve points.



FM Ron Young (16th Place, 5 points): This game has had its influence on chess play, as Nigel Short could testify. In the future, chess hustlers will be forced to offer increment odds rather than time odds.


Total Score of Bhat vs Nakamura: (5th Place, 70 Points)


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Stay tuned for three more such articles as the field shrinks by one game each week to see which of the following games will be the 2007 Game of the Year!


Week 6: GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) vs GM Patrick Wolff (SF) 1-0 Article

Wildcard Round: FM Marcel Martinez (MIA) vs IM Dmitry Zilberstein (SF) 1-0 Article

Semifinals: GM Julio Becerra (MIA) vs IM Drasko Boskovic (DAL) 0-1 Article

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


Eliminated:


5th Place (70 Points): IM Vinay Bhat (SF) vs GM Hikaru Nakamura (NY) 1-0 Article

6th Place (69 Points): GM Eugene Perelshteyn (BOS) vs GM Pascal Charbonneau (NY) 0-1 Article

7th Place (66 Points): GM Julio Becerra (MIA) vs GM Alex Stripunsky (QNS) 1-0 Article

8th Place (61 Points): IM Lev Milman (CAR) vs IM Ron Burnett (TEN) 0-1 Article

9th Place (54 Points): IM Josh Friedel (SF) vs GM Gregory Serper (SEA) 1-0 Article

10th Place (52 Points): IM Bryan Smith (PHI) vs GM Eugene Perelshteyn (BOS) 1-0 Article

11th Place (49 Points): NM Mackenzie Molner (NJ) vs IM Larry Kaufman (BAL) 1-0 Article

12th Place (44 Points): IM Dmitry Zilberstein (SF) vs IM John Bartholomew (DAL) 1-0 Article

13th Place (44 Points): NM Mackenzie Molner (NJ) vs FM Marc Arnold (NY) 1-0 Article

14th Place (43 Points): IM Eric Tangborn (SEA) vs IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) 0-1 Article

15th Place (35 Points): IM Vinay Bhat (SF) vs IM John Bartholomew (DAL) 1-0 Article

16th Place (35 Points): GM Julio Becerra (MIA) vs IM Ron Burnett (TEN) 1-0 Article

17th Place (35 Points): IM Jay Bonin (NY) vs NM Mackenzie Molner (NJ) 1-0 Article

18th Place (30 Points): FM Slava Mikhailuk (SEA) vs IM Jonathan Schroer (CAR) 0-1 Article

19th Place (29 Points): IM Josh Friedel (SF) vs IM Lev Milman (CAR) 0-1 Article

20th Place (7 Points): IM Jay Bonin (NY) vs NM Denys Shmelov (BOS) 1-0 Article

Judges' Contest 6th Place

Despite how outraged I was personally at this game not being in the Top Five, it would be hard to deny that it has brought a shred of competitiveness back into the judging contest with FM Monokroussos's lead no longer seeming insurmountable. Unfortunately, his two closest competitors, myself and Ron Young both have little realistic chance to catch him with me having many low rankings still to be revealed (how shameful that I only cgise one of five games in my Top Five which actually wound up being in the Top Five) while Ron still has his 16th place game in the running. GM Shabalov seems be the only realistically likely person who could pull off that tough feat at this stage. Here is how things currently stand.



1st Place: Dennis Monokroussos (20, 13, 19, 18, 12, 17, 7, 11, 16, 14, 10, 9, 6, 3, 15): 45 Points

2nd Place: Ron Young (20, 19, 13, 9, 7, 18, 14, 17, 11, 12, 15, 10, 1, 2, 8): 51 Points

3rd Place: Alex Shabalov (20, 12, 16, 15, 17, 10, 18, 9, 13, 19, 4, 14, 11, 8, 3): 52 Points

4th Place: Jennifer Shahade (18, 20, 8, 12, 17, 19, 5, 14, 16, 7, 10, 15, 11, 13, 9): 59 Points

5th Place: Robby Adamson (20, 12, 19, 16, 17, 6, 18, 10, 5, 4, 14, 3, 15, 13, 1): 68 Points


and the two non-judges,


Arun Sharma (20, 19, 18, 11, 12, 15, 5, 9, 13, 17, 16, 4, 6, 3, 2): 51 Points

Braden Bournival (19, 20, 9, 17, 7, 4, 18, 14, 15, 16, 12, 11, 8, 13, 2): 59 Points


We'll see if we have any interesting further developments when the first money game goes next week!

Game of the Year 5th Place Prediction...or not

Well I've without a doubt reached the point which has to be considered the epitome of low. This might lead one to think I should have no qualms about continuing since I have no place to go but up, but after some serious thought I'm really not sure. I mean I even tried to utilize a cheap trick a couple of weeks ago to give myself a much better chance to break the drought, but judge FM Dennis Monokroussos pointed out how unethical that really was (though I can't lie, I did seriously think about pulling the trick he alluded to in the aforementioned comment this week). However, on the whole, a person can take only so much being wrong and mocked etc., and I've reached that point. So to avoid any further instances of it, my cheap trick to try to avoid it this week will be to simply not make a prediction! (plus all of you who are clamoring about how whatever game I predict is assured of not being eliminated -- this should put an end to that. After all I can't be accused of actually influencing the results even if it is after the fact)! So for those of you who came here expecting to see some percentages or anything of that nature, gotcha or something.


...


Well I was really prepared to end this post on that line, but unfortunately when my lovable employer read it (our esteemed commissioner), he didn't take a fancy to it after which the following was said to me

Greg: Dude, you have to do a prediction
Greg: PEOPLE WANT MORE WRONG PICKS
Greg: Plus I thought when we got to 5 was going to be one last big feature to congratulate the final 5 etc.


Now, one of the first rules of having a job (pay attention kids!) is you must listen to your employer even when you know he's wrong.


...


Well once again that might have been where I would have ended this article (after giving the obligatory percentages) had this all transpired a couple of weeks ago. But this is now and my inability to endure any more being wrong, as mentioned above, is overpowering the just mentioned truth so I guess I have to defy his order about making a prediction. On the other hand, the idea to congratulate the Top Five did seem like a reasonable one; however, given that I felt four of these five games didn't especially deserve to be in the Top Five, how could I really go about doing that properly? Determined for this to be one of the few things I wouldn't foul up (at least through fault of my own), I sought out the advice of former GOTY contender, IM Josh Friedel, who told me the following:


Arun: So what should I say to congratulate them?
Josh: I think you should just compliment them on playing a game of low enough quality that it managed to impress the judges; after all if they'd played a better game they would have been eliminated already like my game, Julio's game, and Pascal's game.


So it's quite apparent that the judges have managed to pull off a very impressive feat in impressing Josh Friedel with their picks. As such, congratulations to the Top Five, you've really managed to achieve something special today!

Game of the Year 6th Place Critique

Well I definitely never would have expected this. One might have been able to guess that based on the percentages I gave for this week's elimination, but it still has me in fair shock as everything inside me was convinced this game was almost assuredly going to be in the top couple spots (and sure for those of you who love to point out how often I'm wrong, not being in the top couple is still a long ways from not being in the Top Five). Let's see what judging calamity caused this travesty.


Robby Adamson: I definitely can't be faulting this judge for what happened; the only thing really of note is his saying that the piece sacrifice was "forced" while FM Monokroussos describes it as "panicky". Who's correct? Well I know better than to get in the middle of these judge fights so I'll move on.


Alex Shabalov: I like the double nickname and the ranking so not much to say here.


Ron Young: Saying that Black's only pressure in the ending was to avoid the fifty move rule and three-fold repetition seems a bit odd to me, since you know, winning the ending to begin with doesn't seem like the easiest of tasks (especially if you'd asked the spectators that night, including our esteemed commissioner, as to what they thought his chances to win that ending were).


Jennifer Shahade: Jenn doesn't seem to list any detraction for this game so I'm not sure why she only ranked it in the middle of the pack especially given the positives she noted.


Dennis Monokroussos: While I find this ranking quite shocking (especially since Dennis has been the most consistent judge in his choices, and this is the first one which he has completely differed from the rest of the pack). While it's difficult to argue with his assessments (given you know, he uses a computer to help himself make them), even if he felt this game's quality wasn't that high, I still find it hard to believe it could be lower than the majority of the other GOTY contenders, but his note about excitement is what really surprised me. Granted, as someone who watched all these games live, I have a different perspective, but given this game was from the biggest rivalry in the USCL (Boston vs New York), occurred on Monday night, was clearly going to determine the match outcome, and was an ending which had all the spectators declaring "dead draw" and things of that nature, I'm really not sure what else someone could want for excitement (as FM Adamson points out himself). Of course, as I alluded, someone not having watched this game live could have a completely different perspective on the game (and he seems to be aware that others will disagree with him based on his ending with "Sorry"), but in entirety given all the other games involved, 15th just seems like way too low a ranking to me.


Tune in next week to see which the first money game winner is!

Game of the Year -- 6th Place

This is the fifteenth part in a weekly series of articles which will count down to revealing what game was voted as the 2007 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 Preview.

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6th Place: GM Eugene Perelshteyn (BOS) vs GM Pascal Charbonneau (NY) 0-1






















This ending, dead drawn or not? The spectators sure all seemed to think so, but GM Charbonneau admirably proved them wrong.



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 Robby Adamson (1st Place, 20 points): And then there was one. In a GM Matchup, Pascal Charbonneau played a fantastic game against Perelshteyn, outplaying him in an English. After forcing Eugene to sacrifice a piece, Pascal had to win an ending with just minor pieces and no pawns, and all with little time on his clock. The length of the game and the players involved made this deserving. I know this didn't have any special sacrifices, but the excitement of the game was special. In all honesty, any of the top five games were deserving of the Game of the Year award. I award this twenty points.


GM Alex Shabalov (3rd Place, 18 points): Ragazzi Del Norte (both Eugene and Pascal) or Boston Chicken vs Loverboy. Ragazzi Del Norte treated us to a wonderful mix of subtle maneuvering, shocking sacrifices, and computer-like endgame technique. In the end, it was Loverboy who demonstrated better qualities, to withstand this crush test.



FM Ron Young (8th Place, 13 points): Rarely does one have to deal with KRBN vs. KRB without the assistance of 100 computers working parallel, but Charbonneau rose to the task. The reason I didn't rank it higher was that the only pressure Black faced in the ending was the 50-move rule and the triple-occurrence-of-position rule. Also, without pawns on the board, there was a shortage of soul.



WGM Jennifer Shahade (9th Place, 12 points): This game would not make it as high on the list if it was just the middle-game combination that led to an edge for Charbonneau. What sets it apart is the incredible fighting spirit that Charbonneau showed to squeeze out the win. Pascal wakes up at some ungodly or at least ungrandmasterly hour to go to work, making it all the more impressive to me.

Normally best game prizes favor flashy finishes, and obviously since I didn't rank this one #1 or 2, I'm not entirely immune to this type of thinking.



FM Dennis Monokroussos (15th Place, 6 points): This was a really tough game to rate. Two very strong players going at it in a game with competitive significance is normally a recipe for a high ranking, but the game's chess content, as opposed to its dramatic content, didn't fare so well. Perelshteyn was getting outplayed, but in a still tenable situation made a panicky piece sac that netted him a lost ending. Then Charbonneau erred and allowed Perelshteyn to equalize, before the latter in turn lost the drawn ending. The winner's technique in hunting down the enemy king was very good, but on the whole I didn't find the game in itself either especially well-played or entertaining. Sorry.


Total Score of Perelshteyn vs Charbonneau: (6th Place, 69 Points)


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Stay tuned for four more such articles as the field shrinks by one game each week to see which of the following games will be the 2007 Game of the Year!


Week 3: IM Vinay Bhat (SF) vs GM Hikaru Nakamura (NY) 1-0 Article

Week 6: GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) vs GM Patrick Wolff (SF) 1-0 Article

Wildcard Round: FM Marcel Martinez (MIA) vs IM Dmitry Zilberstein (SF) 1-0 Article

Semifinals: GM Julio Becerra (MIA) vs IM Drasko Boskovic (DAL) 0-1 Article

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


Eliminated:


6th Place (69 Points): GM Eugene Perelshteyn (BOS) vs GM Pascal Charbonneau (NY) 0-1 Article

7th Place (66 Points): GM Julio Becerra (MIA) vs GM Alex Stripunsky (QNS) 1-0 Article

8th Place (61 Points): IM Lev Milman (CAR) vs IM Ron Burnett (TEN) 0-1 Article

9th Place (54 Points): IM Josh Friedel (SF) vs GM Gregory Serper (SEA) 1-0 Article

10th Place (52 Points): IM Bryan Smith (PHI) vs GM Eugene Perelshteyn (BOS) 1-0 Article

11th Place (49 Points): NM Mackenzie Molner (NJ) vs IM Larry Kaufman (BAL) 1-0 Article

12th Place (44 Points): IM Dmitry Zilberstein (SF) vs IM John Bartholomew (DAL) 1-0 Article

13th Place (44 Points): NM Mackenzie Molner (NJ) vs FM Marc Arnold (NY) 1-0 Article

14th Place (43 Points): IM Eric Tangborn (SEA) vs IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) 0-1 Article

15th Place (35 Points): IM Vinay Bhat (SF) vs IM John Bartholomew (DAL) 1-0 Article

16th Place (35 Points): GM Julio Becerra (MIA) vs IM Ron Burnett (TEN) 1-0 Article

17th Place (35 Points): IM Jay Bonin (NY) vs NM Mackenzie Molner (NJ) 1-0 Article

18th Place (30 Points): FM Slava Mikhailuk (SEA) vs IM Jonathan Schroer (CAR) 0-1 Article

19th Place (29 Points): IM Josh Friedel (SF) vs IM Lev Milman (CAR) 0-1 Article

20th Place (7 Points): IM Jay Bonin (NY) vs NM Denys Shmelov (BOS) 1-0 Article