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This year we have five 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 $150 bonus prize, second place $75, and third place $50. Our five judges are: IM Greg Shahade, FM Jim Dean, NM Michael Aigner, NM Jeff Ashton, and NM Arun Sharma. Click here for more details.
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1st Place: IM Sam Shankland (NE) vs GM Julio Becerra (MIA) 1-0
IM Shankland played the strong 16. d5! forcing a favorable endgame which he eventually converted, a huge key to New England's Championship victory.
Jeff Ashton (1st place: 1 point): A very tough game. It seems that White carried a small advantage from the opening until the endgame. The opposite colored Bishop ending was instructive. Sam Shankland's games don't excite me to be honest, but I know they are played with a high level of skill very few can truly appreciate. He just consistently figures out ways to win. In my opinion he is "Player of the Year" and one of the most underrated (under-appreciated is a better word as I have no idea what his Elo Ratings are) players in US Chess.
On another note, I am so disappointed to see a forfeit in this match. I don't know what happened, but this is such an anti-climatic way to end a season.
Jim Dean (1st place: 1 point): Honestly, I really liked both games on the top two boards so it was a difficult decision despite having few games to choose from. In the end, I felt this game was more complete, and I really enjoyed Shankland's persistence and technique in the opposite colored Bishop endgame.
Arun Sharma (1st place: 1 point): Like the other judges, I also had difficulty deciding between this game and the Hungaski game as both seemed quite salient but in different ways. Shankland's game contained a very instructive ending while Hungaski's included a very rich tactical sequence. I honestly am not sure which was the correct pick, but I went with this game since the endgame was so interesting - the sort that one would really have to analyze deeply for a long time at many junctures to really understand fully. Naturally this likely means there were mistakes made along the way, but considering the overall situation, it seemed that both players conducted it quite well.
Greg Shahade (NR: 0 points): It was very close for me between this game and Hungaski's, and I think both are very deserving. A very interesting and rich Bishops of opposite color endgame occurred here, and while Black can probably draw with best play near the end, it's very hard to play all the best moves while defending. It was a good effort not just by Shankland, who showed great practical skill in this game, but also Becerra who had a tough job in defending a difficult position but got very, very close to securing the draw.
Total Score of Shankland vs Becerra: 3 points
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Other Considered Games (judges' scores in parenthesis)
1 point (Greg 1): FM Marcel Martinez (MIA) vs IM Robert Hungaski (NE) 0-1
This year we have five 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 $200 bonus prize ($150 going to the winner of the game, $50 to the loser), second place $75, and third place $50 (both second and third going entirely to the winner). Our five judges are: IM Greg Shahade, FM Jim Dean, NM Michael Aigner, NM Jeff Ashton, and NM Arun Sharma. Click here for more details.
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1st Place: Nicholas Rosenthal (MIA) vs NM Nick Thompson (ARZ) 1-0
Having been building up a strong attack for many moves, Rosenthal essentially ended the game with 24. Qd1!, after which the vulnerability of the h5 weakness left Black defenseless against the mating attack.
Arun Sharma (1st place: 2 points): This encounter obviously caught my eye, being such a decisive early victory - the game that really set the tone for the match and paved the way for Miami to advance despite facing draw odds. Add to that that White found some nice tactics at the end and that this was a fair upset rating wise, and I was compelled to make this my top choice for the week even though Black really should have put up much sterner resistance.
Greg Shahade (2nd place: 1 point): While I preferred the other Board Four game, this was still my second place for the week and a nice attacking effort by Rosenthal, who has been on fire since starting his USCL career quite poorly. Fortunately for the Sharks, his wins have come at the most important times, and he is one of the key reasons they are now in the Championship Match. As he is such a young player, he will probably be a key fixture for the Miami Sharks not just this season but in years to come.
Jeff Ashton (2nd place, 1 point): This reminds me of some other King's Indian Attack games I've seen, and sure a computer might be able to defend better, but it was still an enjoyable game to watch.
Michael Aigner (2nd place: 1 point): For much of the season, the most exciting and creative games were played on the top two boards. Starting with Week 10, apparently the pressure mounted and every GM and IM seems to be imitating Vladimir Kramnik. Maybe the quality of play is higher, but I miss the entertainment.
The lower rated players, however, have continued to fight, even if their games are imperfect. I considered both Board Four games this week, but Nicholas Rosenthal's upset of Nick Thompson was more entertaining. The 2... e6 closed Sicilian resulted in a French-like pawn structure but with motifs typical of the Ruy Lopez (Nb1-d2-f1-h2-g4-h6).
The resulting Kingside play was pretty, even if my pet fish recommends a few improvements for both sides after Black's inaccuracy 22... Qc7 (better was f7-f6 with counterplay). The final blow was the subtle 24. Qd1, preparing to invade on h5 three moves later. By 26. Ng5, the proverbial fat lady was singing on South Beach. Bonus points for the elegant checkmate after 29. Rxf5 and 30. Bg7!
I picked this game in second place because of the inaccuracies by both players. I don't expect Experts to see everything, but there were too many mistakes. Nonetheless, kudos to teenager Rosenthal (2027) for three big wins in a row starting in Week 10, facing two 2300s and one 2200 (Yian Liou, Gauri Shankar, and Nick Thompson).
Instead, my top choice for the semifinal Game of the Week was Hungaski's imperfect victory over Sammour-Hasbun. Yes, Black missed a clear win by changing move order with 23... Rxa1 24. Rxa1 cxb2 and now 25. Rb1 Bxb5+ 26. Kf3 Bc6 (preparing f7-f5); or 25. Rb1 Bxb5+ 26. Kd2 Rd8+ 27. Kc3 Bd3 (promoting the Pawn); or 25. Rg1 Bxb5 26. Kd2 Rd8+ 27. Kc3 Bd3.
I chose this game for the sheer determination shown by White to fight on in the drawn endgame when the team needed the full point. The checkmate after 48... fxe4 especially caught my eye because I have lost enough blitz games (and two slow games) in exactly the same way. If Hungaski had not found this swindle, then Boston would be playing in their third league Championship Match.
Jim Dean (NR: 0 points): Congratulations to Rosenthal as he has proven that he is not a "weak link" on the Miami squad despite often being largely out rated by his opponents. I picked a couple games in front of this one mainly because I thought Black made things a bit too easy and missed opportunities to put up resistance. Still, it set the table for Miami to advance and put Barcenilla and Adamson under loads of pressure to win their games so I can see why this game earned top honors this week.
Total Score of Rosenthal vs Thompson: 5 points
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Other Considered Games (judges' scores in parenthesis)
4 points (Greg 2, Jim 2): NM Alex Cherniack (NE) vs Grant Xu (BOS) 1-0
3 point (Jeff 2, Jim 1): IM Marc Esserman (BOS) vs FM Christopher Chase (NE) 1-0
2 points (Michael 2): IM Robert Hungaski (NE) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 1-0
1 point (Arun 1): GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) vs IM Sam Shankland (NE) 1-0
This year we have five 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 $200 bonus prize ($150 going to the winner of the game, $50 to the loser), second place $75, and third place $50 (both second and third going entirely to the winner). Our five judges are: IM Greg Shahade, FM Jim Dean, NM Michael Aigner, NM Jeff Ashton, and NM Arun Sharma. Click here for more details.
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*Due to the lower number of games played, in the Quarterfinals only the prizes for the first and second place games mentioned above will be given out, and in the Semifinals and Championship only the prizes for the first place game will be.
1st Place: NM Ilya Krasik (BOS) vs NM Adithya Balasubramanian (BAL) 1-0
NM Krasik played the very unusual looking piece sacrifice 14. Bf2, but eventually regained the sacrificed material and ground his opponent down in an ending, securing Boston a trip to the Semifinals.
Michael Aigner (1st place: 3 points): I am sure that I am violating some league rule with this pick, but I truly enjoyed the game. The game was a close match to Rybka 4, showing that it was played at a much higher level than the typical Board Four game. For one week, the bottom boards proved far more exciting than the top boards.
White sacrificed a piece around move seventeen, hoping to trap the Black King in the center with 18. Rd1, 19. Bxc5+, 20. Rhe1+ and 21. Rd4 (threatening Re5+ and Rg5+ if the Knight on c5 moves). The Black King did survive, but White picked up a pair of pawns, giving him three connected passers on the Queenside. White's pawns proved to be just too fast. Well done!
Greg Shahade (1st place: 3 points): Krasik's best game of the year and to me a clear winner of GOTW. The opening, while it was prepared, was theoretically very important, and the crowd was really excited about the game. Sure Black's 25... Bd5 was a big mistake, but it was still the most rich and interesting game of the week and also took place on Board Four, making it the first time a Board Four game has won GOTW since we have introduced the multiple judge format.
Jim Dean (2nd place, 2 points): This game had an interesting opening variation, which Krasik seemed to handle well. 40. Bd6 and 41. Ba3 may have induced a quicker resignation, but the way White played it never put the win in jeopardy in any case. Overall, it seemed like a well played game and a deserving winner when there were fewer games to choose from this week.
Jeff Ashton (NR: 0 points): Interesting game. White found a lot of great moves.
Arun Sharma (NR: 0 points): The opening stage of this game, preparation or not, was obviously very interesting so I strongly considered voting for this game, especially since White seemed to play the ending well. But what really soured me was that Black's play in the ending, particularly 25... Bd5 which didn't really make sense along with the fact that Black somehow never managed to take on h2 to at least attempt to make the ending competitive.
Tiebreaker Judge, GM Vinay Bhat: I was asked to decide between Krasik's win and Cozianu's win, and since I'm supposed to make a decision, I'll go with Krasik's game. I can't say I thought either game was particularly good for Game of the Week, but beggars can't be choosers I suppose.
Cozianu's win was a nice result, but to me, the game was dull for a long, long time. Both sides shuffled their pieces around forever, and then Barcenilla lost the thread. After that, he was just much worse (if not lost). He pretty much pulled a mini-McShane in winning this game. The small redeeming factor was that the King and Pawn endgame featured a simple, but nice, motif to break through.
Krasik's win featured some very nice opening/endgame play to start things off, but then Krasik had to go and say it was all preparation. However, it was all Erenburg's preparation! With Erenburg manning Board One for the opposing team, this takes on a nice ironic tone. Krasik also did have to think along the way, and given a myriad of options to go wrong, he consistently found the correct path. Not even Anand could manage the same in Game One against Topalov this year. Black's endgame play was definitely poor, but when your opponent puts some pressure on you, that's a more normal result than when you just push the pieces around and hope your opponent falls asleep.
Total Score of Krasik vs Balasubramanian: 8 points
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2nd Place: FM Costin Cozianu (SEA) vs IM Rogelio Barcenilla (ARZ) 1-0
FM Cozianu played the likely long before well calculated, 76. g6!, managing to win the seemingly looking drawn ending.
Jim Dean (1st place: 3 points): There were really not any games that blew me away this week, but I did like how Cozianu made slight improvements to his position before finally converting into a winning King and Pawn ending. It made for an instructive example of how valuable an outside passer can be.
Jeff Ashton (1st place, 3 points): Tough game, but instructive.
Arun Sharma (2nd place, 2 points): Not the most exciting of games, but nice build up and eventual finish by Cozianu. The liquidating sequence, beginning with 66. Qf8+!, which lead to the winning King and Pawn ending was nice, especially since it's not immediately clear that that ending is winning so to have calculated it that far in advance, with both players low on the clock, seemed quite impressive.
Greg Shahade (NR, 0 points): This was my fourth place game. Cozianu played well, but it was certainly not the most exciting game ever, and even though Cozianu won his team still lost (while Krasik winning was potentially the difference between Boston reaching the Semifinals or being eliminated). Just like in major sports, if you have a great NBA Championship Final for example, but your team loses the series, you aren't going to be winning the NBA Championship MVP award. We just had so many dramatic and exciting games this week, it felt strange to give votes to a game, that compared to the other games I gave votes to, got very few kibitzes or relative interest from fans while it was in progress, yet the other games inspired the fans enormously. To me, that should be an important factor in GOTW. A memorable game should generally be the winner.
Michael Aigner (NR, 0 points): This was actually the top pick for Week 11 based on my fancy spreadsheet. However, we're in the playoffs now, and I simply could not justify rewarding a player on a team that was eliminated. Instead, my second pick went to another Board Four game: Michael Wang vs Nick Thompson 0-1.
Total Score of Cozianu vs Barcenilla: 8 points
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Other Considered Games (judges' scores in parenthesis)
4 points (Jeff 2, Jim 1, Arun 1): GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) vs GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) 1-0
3 points (Arun 3): IM Sam Shankland (NE) vs GM Alex Lenderman (NY) 1-0
3 points (Greg 2, Michael 1): GM Julio Becerra (MIA) vs GM Dmitry Gurevich (CHC) 1/2-1/2
2 points (Michael 2): Michael Wang (SEA) vs NM Nick Thompson (ARZ) 0-1
1 point (Greg 1): FM Robby Adamson (ARZ) vs FM Slava Mikhailuk (SEA) 1/2-1/2
1 point (Jeff 1): IM Marc Esserman (BOS) vs IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat (BAL) 1-0
This year we have five 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 $200 bonus prize ($150 going to the winner of the game, $50 to the loser), second place $75, and third place $50 (both second and third going entirely to the winner). Our five judges are: IM Greg Shahade, FM Jim Dean, NM Michael Aigner, NM Jeff Ashton, and NM Arun Sharma. Click here for more details.
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1st Place: SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) vs GM Giorgi Kacheishvili (NY) 1-0
SM Sammour-Hasbun threw a wrench in the normally sedate opening with 13. e4?! and eventually used his tactical prowess to get the best of the complications, knocking New York back to the fourth seed.
Jim Dean (1st place, 5 points): For the second week in a row I found myself really enjoying Sammour-Hasbun's play. The double pawn sacrifice is not a novelty, but it was handled beautifully by White and definitely makes the Exchange Slav more spectator-friendly. The final position is a real show of dominance by the White pieces.
Michael Aigner (1st place, 5 points): This week was another wild game that has been Sammour-Hasbun's trademark. Quite a few moves simply shocked me... is this even legal!? I doubt very many mortals would have come up with 13. e4 and 15. d5. Rybka doesn't predict all of these moves, but the program understands most of them given a little time. Simply amazing, and worthy of Game of the Week!
Arun Sharma (2nd place, 4 points): For a game which started with an opening so tame in nature, it's quite amazing what ended up transpiring, but it doesn't surprise me that the victor of such a game would be someone with the tactical prowess of Sammour-Hasbun. Starting with the Pawn sac with 13. e4 until the end of the game, it was essentially interesting at every moment, with Jorge throwing tactic after tactic at Kacheishvili until the latter eventually succumbed. A great game and definitely a worthy winner even if I happened to like one game more than this one.
Jeff Ashton (2nd place, 4 points): Creative play out of the opening with a nice finish at the end.
Greg Shahade (2nd place, 4 points): Normally this would be an easy choice for Game of the Week, although this week I preferred another game (Akobian vs Shulman). Honestly to me this game and the other were very close in value, but the fact that Akobian's win sent Seattle to the playoffs, while Boston's playoff position was already cemented and so the win had a lot less value (although it did mean that New York gets the fourth seed instead of the third).
Total Score of Sammour-Hasbun vs Kacheishvili: 22 points
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2nd Place: GM Varuzhan Akobian (SEA) vs GM Yury Shulman (STL) 1-0
GM Akobian broke the game open with 21. Nxf6+! and eventually overwhelmed GM Shulman's defenses, leading Seattle into the postseason.
Arun Sharma (1st place, 5 points): Very complete game by Akobian from the opening stage to the middlegame tactics and the finishing touch 38. Red5! that effectively ended things. Beating such a strong player in such convincing fashion is always an impressive accomplishment. I too am curious how this game might fare in the Game of the Year Contest in particular in comparison to this week's winner.
Greg Shahade (1st place, 5 points): A great game by Akobian against a great opponent. As stated already, the importance of this game for the Sluggers in a win or go home match, led me to choose it over the Sammour-Hasbun vs Kacheishvili game. I think both games have a great chance for success in the Game of the Year contest however.
Jeff Ashton (1st place, 5 points): Interesting middlegame with an annoying initiative finished with some tactical precision.
Jim Dean (3rd place, 3 points): Certainly not a surprise for this game with two very high level players to get a lot of votes. Akobian got the White pieces for the second time in a row and seemed to be in control from the early middlegame until the finish. This game didn't excite me quite as much as the first place winner, but it seemed comparable in terms of quality.
Michael Aigner (4th place, 2 points): I ranked this game a bit further down at fourth place. Apparently Black's novelty 14... O-O seems inferior to the old move 14... Nc5.
Total Score of Akobian vs Shulman: 20 points
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3rd Place: IM Lev Milman (MAN) vs IM Sam Shankland (NE) 0-1
A IM Shankland sacrificed his Queen for two Rooks with 19. Nxf2! and eventually got the better of the complications, leading New England to achieving an unprecedented 9.5 - 0.5 record.
Michael Aigner (2nd place, 4 points): This wild Caro Kann game (not an oxymoron!) features a quasi Queen sacrifice where Black eventually gets two Rooks for the Lady. What impressed me the most was the depth of the h-pawn concept, from 30... h5 to 40... Rh7. Maybe the game was imperfect (24... Nf6 was superior to Nf8), but few humans can match the machine in a game like this.
Arun Sharma (4th place, 2 points): Interesting game. I really wasn't sure of the objective merits of the position during the sacrificial stage started by White with 15. g4?!, but it seemed like Shankland handled it really well, in particular his choice to liquidate into the Queen vs two Rooks position and in the way he handled the ending, winning seemingly effortlessly.
Jim Dean (4th place, 2 points): I'm starting to think Shankland is pretty good at handling material imbalances. In this game, I really liked how the side with the Queen seemed to be the "slower" side and didn't have much else to do but Pawn grab while Black's passer zoomed up the board. Congrats to Shankland on another big victory with Black in the USCL.
Jeff Ashton (NR, 0 points): Barely missed my top five. Interesting game, but I liked others more.
Greg Shahade (NR, 0 points): A strong game by Shankland, as Sam has really picked up steam in the second half of the season. He made it look easy as New England rolled to a new league record of 9.5 - 0.5 in the regular season. This game made my lists of finalists but didn't quite make my top five.
Total Score of Milman vs Shankland: 8 points
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Other Considered Games (judges' scores in parenthesis)
6 points (Arun 3, Greg 3): IM Julio Sadorra (DAL) vs GM Mesgen Amanov (CHC) 1-0
5 points (Jeff 3, Greg 1, Jim 1): GM Pascal Charbonneau (NY) vs SM Denys Shmelov (BOS) 1-0
4 points (Jim 4): IM Jay Bonin (PHI) vs FM Ron Simpson (CAR) 1-0
4 points (Michael 3, Jeff 1): FM Warren Harper (ARZ) vs WFM Tatev Abrahamyan (LA) 0-1
2 points (Jeff 2): FM Charles Riordan (NE) vs IM Eli Vovsha (MAN) 0-1
2 points (Greg 2): Nicholas Rosenthal (MIA) vs NM Yian Liou (SF) 1-0
2 points (Arun 1, Michael 1): IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat (BAL) vs IM Mackenzie Molner (NJ) 1-0
This year we have five 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 $200 bonus prize ($150 going to the winner of the game, $50 to the loser), second place $75, and third place $50 (both second and third going entirely to the winner). Our five judges are: IM Greg Shahade, FM Jim Dean, NM Michael Aigner, NM Jeff Ashton, and NM Arun Sharma. Click here for more details.
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1st Place: GM Varuzhan Akobian (SEA) vs GM Josh Friedel (SF) 1-0
GM Akobian found the strong 25. e4!, freeing his previously entombed Knight and eventually capitalized on Black's weakened Kingside.
Arun Sharma (1st place, 5 points): It's quite possible that I ranked this game higher than the other judges due to a personal agenda I have both with this line that Black played and the person who happened to be employing it (see this if you're really desperate to know why). But even so, I think this game was definitely a worthy winner as Akobian played very well, in particular his 25. e4! idea along with the way he conducted the ending, especially the 36. Qb1 - Qa1+ idea which simultaneously defended Black's threats while creating threats of his own.
Jim Dean (2nd place, 4 points): Another nice win from Akobian after some ambitious opening play by Black. It seemed like Friedel had a reasonable position until 25. e4!, which seemed to give white both the initiative and the easier position to play. Some good technique followed as Akobian made it look fairly easy in closing out the game.
Greg Shahade (2nd place, 4 points): A very nice and smooth game by Akobian. Friedel seemed to play a very tricky opening, but Akobian navigated his way through the complications and grabbed the initiative with the cute 25. e4
Michael Aigner (4th place, 2 points): Two of America's 20-something GMs renewed their rivalry, and the higher rated Akobian won to make up too many over-the-board losses. It was a fun game, unless of course, you're a San Francisco team member or fan. After gaining a tempo with 20... Rfc8, Black seemed comfortable. Just a few moves later, 24... Qf5 returned that tempo with interest. White's combination starting with 25. e4 and continuing through 31. b5 which crippled Black's position, costing him a Pawn and the game.
This week, four games ended up lumped together at the top of my infallible spreadsheet for GOTW rankings. I needed to find some small quibbles to differentiate the games. In this game, I thought Black equalized without much trouble; plus it is one of two of my candidates from blowout matches. Those two factors caused me to rank three other games higher.
Jeff Ashton (4th place, 2 points): Great game, straight forward, and I can see why some might like it as their favorite or rank it higher than I did.
Total Score of Akobian vs Friedel: 17 points
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2nd Place: SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) vs IM Sasha Kaplan (BAL) 1-0
Having been under typical Marshall pressure for the majority of the game, SM Sammour-Hasbun struck back with 24. Bxg5! and eventually got the better of the complications, steering the game into a winning endgame.
Jim Dean (1st place, 5 points): This was my top choice of the week as it seemed like Sammour-Hasbun was extremely accurate during the most critical stages of the game. They went pretty deep into Marshall theory (is twenty moves even deep for the Marshall?), but once the originality began White seemed to find all the right moves and soon Black was in a lost ending that was converted nicely.
Michael Aigner (1st place, 5 points): Kaplan dares to challenge the magician Sammour-Hasbun in a Marshall Attack and goes down in a hail of tactics. The exchange sacrifice on e4 with 17. Nd2 is standard theory for this gambit, yet it set the tone for a wild game. When is the last time you saw three consecutive bishop sacrifices? (24. Bxg5, 24... Bxg3 and 25. Bxf7+) Amazingly, Black throws everything at the White monarch and runs out of pieces. The endgame on move thirty two is a win, but Black's elegant rook maneuver Ra7-g7-g5-c5 was the icing on the cake. The game had all three phases: a highly theoretical opening, a crazy middlegame (with multiple sacrifices), and a technical ending.
There's still little doubt in my mind that this game was the best among my four candidates and should have been GOTW.
Jeff Ashton (2nd place, 4 points): Sammour-Hasbun played like a computer. This is a compliment not an accusation! I know that he is incredibly gifted but inconsistent. I was more inspired by Gonzalez vs Amanav but I can understand if I get bombarded with negative comments for not voting this first.
Greg Shahade (4th place, 2 points): A very short but nice tactical sequence led to a Pawn up endgame for Sammour-Hasbun, and he did a great job to erase the specter of last week's surprising loss.
Arun Sharma (NR, 0 points): I did strongly consider ranking this game since obviously the tactics involved near the end of the middlegame were very interesting and well played by White. But it also seemed like that was the only really interesting part of the game - as others have pointed out the early game was nearly all theory, and the ending, once it came about, seemed fairly easy. Nice tactical flurry again, but I didn't find that, by itself, enough to warrant ranking this game.
Total Score of Sammour-Hasbun vs Kaplan: 16 points
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3rd Place: IM Robert Hungaski (NE) vs IM Jonathan Schroer (CAR) 1-0
A parade of captures began with 13. Nxd5?!, resulting in a very messy position which IM Hungaski eventually got the better of.
Greg Shahade (1st place, 5 points): My pick for Game of the Week, Hungaski played really wild and imaginative chess, with a maddening series of captures and desperados by both sides. Most of the fans watching online felt his position was always bad due to his drafty King position, but I didn't see why, and computer analysis seems to confirm that White was always doing fine.
Michael Aigner (2nd place, 4 points): These players combined for one of the wilder games this week and, indeed, the entire season. The fancy trades beginning with 13... Bxh2+ were merely a matter of calculation, but would you have dared play 21. f3, weakening your King and exposing your Queen to a discovered attack? I would not. Clearly Mr. Hungaski is more man than I am, hence his "I am a Man" title. What I didn't understand at the time was that the point behind 21. f3 was to follow up with 24. Kf2. Insanity!
Although my little fish thinks White could have done better, the position after move 28. Qxg5 looks quite hopeless (the dark squares). White ends the game as a model of efficiency, attacking with all four (!) of his pieces, including the King. Someone please grab the fire extinguisher.
Jim Dean (4th place, 2 points): It seems like Schroer has been involved in a lot of interesting games this season and this was another fun one for the spectators. Things fell apart in a hurry for Black towards the end, but it looked like a highly unpleasant position to defend anyway, especially with low time. In any case, a really well played game by Hungaski.
Jeff Ashton (NR, 0 points): This game would have done better on my list previously, but it missed my top list barely.
Arun Sharma (NR, 0 points): This game I almost certainly made an error in not ranking. I obviously found it (just like the second place game) to be interesting, but the main thing that turned me off was that I thought Black was doing very well after all of the captures and yet was in a lost position within a few moves. It's possible that I was in error of my assessment of the original position (if so then White's play was really impressive) in which case I would have definitely given this game a high ranking. But with it seeming that Black had actually gotten the better of the tactical complications and then blundered it away, this game didn't seem to warrant a vote.
Total Score of Hungaski vs Schroer: 11 points
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Other Considered Games (judges' scores in parenthesis)
11 points (Jeff 5, Michael 3, Arun 2, Jim 1): GM Renier Gonzalez (MIA) vs GM Mesgen Amanov (CHC) 0-1
4 points (Arun 4): WFM Tatev Abrahamayan (LA) vs IM Julio Sadorra (DAL) 1-0
4 points (Jeff 3, Arun 1): IM Daniel Rensch (ARZ) vs GM Ben Finegold (STL) 0-1
4 points (Arun 3, Greg 1): IM David Pruess (SF) vs FM Slava Mikhailuk (SEA) 0-1
3 points (Jim 3): IM Salvijus Bercys (DAL) vs FM Alexandre Kretchetov (LA) 1-0
3 points (Greg 3): FM Keaton Kiewra (DAL) vs NM Christian Tanaka (LA) 0-1
1 point (Michael 1): IM Mackenzie Molner (NJ) vs IM Irina Krush (NY) 1-0
1 point (Jeff 1): GM Dmitry Gurevich (CHC) vs GM Julio Becerra (MIA) 0-1
This year we have five 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 $200 bonus prize ($150 going to the winner of the game, $50 to the loser), second place $75, and third place $50 (both second and third going entirely to the winner). Our five judges are: IM Greg Shahade, FM Jim Dean, NM Michael Aigner, NM Jeff Ashton, and NM Arun Sharma. Click here for more details.
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1st Place: IM Jonathan Schroer (CAR) vs GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) 0-1
GM Christiansen continued the tactical melee with 29... Nh3!, forcing IM Schroer to immediately return the sacrificed exchange after which Black eventually capitalized on White's shattered Pawn structure.
Jeff Ashton (1st place, 5 points): Interesting opening, exciting tactical/attacking play, and instructive opposite colored Bishops ending.
Jim Dean (2nd place, 4 points): Christiansen once again was absolutely relentless in this crowd-pleasing game. I felt like Schroer handled the position well for quite some time himself, but eventually cracked a bit and found himself in a very difficult ending with hardly any time on the clock. Congrats to Larry on his second GOTW victory in three weeks!
Greg Shahade (2nd place, 4 points): A beautiful middlegame had its aesthetic qualities marred slightly by a long and arduous Bishops of opposite color endgame, which may or may not have been played so well by the winning side. However I liked this game for a few reasons:
1. LarryC played some very creative sacrificial chess in the middlegame.
2. Schroer defended extremely well. While most people would wilt very quickly to one of Larry's vicious attacks, Schroer hung in there until the bitter end and made Larry work extremely hard to get the win and give his team the tie.
Michael Aigner (2nd place, 4 points): Unlike other candidates for GOTW, this game has it all: a sharp Benoni opening, middlegame tactics (back-to-back Knight sacrifices), and a technical endgame.
LarryC is known as a creative attacker, and this week he did it once again. He sacrifices his f-pawn for an open file and sets up the surprise sacrifice 28... Nxf2 ripping open White's King position. Three moves later, Black offers the other Knight on h3 to undermine the defense of White's center. At the end, he converts a technical opposite colored Bishop endgame with a pair of extra passed Pawns separated by two empty files.
I picked Aldama's win over Angelo Young as my top game this week for many of the same reasons as LarryC's win. I enjoyed watching Black shatter the White pawn structure with 27... e3, allowing all of his pieces to invade. There was little difference in my mind between my top two choices so I wanted to recognize the less experienced player.
Arun Sharma (NR, 0 points): This game obviously caught my eye due to the entertaining tactics in the middlegame. Considering that I also have a liking for Black's opening choice, it's somewhat unusual that I ended up not ranking this game. Just the end of the game fairly soured me on it, seemed like Black could have won without even allowing White to enter an endgame, and the endgame also seemed a bit shaky itself so I eventually wound up leaving this game off my list. But even so, given the attractiveness of the early part of the game and the fighting spirit displayed, I can definitely see the appeal of this game so I don't really have a problem with it winning (in contrast to last week).
Total Score of Schroer vs Christiansen: 17 points
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2nd Place: GM Giorgi Kacheishvili (NY) vs IM Sam Shankland (NE) 0-1
IM Shankland effectively ended the game with the unusual looking 40... Kd4!, forcing a favorable trade of Knights after which his central Pawn array quickly proved decisive.
Jim Dean (1st place, 5 points): In this game it seemed like Shankland was not only well prepared in the opening, but it looked like he was no stranger to playing the ending that ensued, as well. Black's play seemed accurate, and it didn't take a gigantic slip for White's side of the ending to look uncomfortable. An impressive win that I feel was worthy of the top prize this week.
Arun Sharma (2nd place, 4 points): Not the most exciting of games perhaps, but it seemed to be of very high quality and certainly was quite interesting, with Black sacrificing a piece early (albeit in a fairly well known way). As said, I think the best part of this game was definitely Black's endgame play, seeming to win with ease against such a strong player in an ending that appeared very unclear at first glance.
Jeff Ashton (3rd place, 3 points): When Black wins in this line it is difficult to figure out where White went wrong. I've seen some other games like this, but I always find this stuff to be interesting.
Michael Aigner (3rd place, 3 poins): Both combatants seem to be prepared for a theoretical battle in a piece sacrifice line of the Slav. White has the extra minor piece, but Black boasts connected central pawns. Normally the player with the extra piece needs to attack which suggests White shouldn't have traded Queens. As the game progresses, White never generates any counterplay to cope with Black's rolling central pawns.
I probably would have given this game my top vote if it featured some sort of a middlegame. Alas, the players too quickly traded into an endgame after the sharp opening.
Greg Shahade (4th place, 2 points): A very strong effort from Shankland. Shankland played great chess, and used his three central pawns very nicely to bring New England closer to the USCL record for best regular season record ever.
Total Score of Kacheishvili vs Shankland: 17 points
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3rd Place: IM Eli Vovsha (MAN) vs IM Mackenzie Molner (NJ) 1-0
IM Vovsha finished the game with 41. Rxd8+!, compelling resignation due to his h-pawn being unstoppable after the exchanges.
Greg Shahade (1st place, 5 points): This was my pick for Game of the Week. Vovsha played inspired attacking chess, eventually transitioned into a Pawn up endgame, and then played a very cute Queening tactic to finish things off.
Arun Sharma (1st place, 5 points): All around very well played game by Vovsha. Starting with the 18. Nd5 fireworks, which eventually won him a Pawn to the ending tactic which forced resignation, he just seemed to play a very complete game. The nice tactical tricks combined with the general high level of play by him compelled me to give this game my top vote for this week.
Jim Dean (3rd place, 3 points): I'm glad to see Vovsha get some mention here as I felt he played a nice game last week as well, even if it wasn't super flashy. This game had a somewhat typical Nd5 sacrifice in an Open Sicilian, which may not have been shocking, but was strong nonetheless. After acquiring a large advantage White continued his strong play and easily converted with a nice exchange "sacrifice" to ice it.
Michael Aigner (NR, 0 points): This looks like a fun game with a few tactics and even an endgame. I didn't vote for it because I felt Black just begged to be attacked (e.g. 19... Bg5+ 20. Kb1 Qc6 makes the pesky Knight on d5 go home).
Jeff Ashton (NR, 0 points): Jeff did not provide a comment on this game.
Total Score of Vovsha vs Molner: 13 points
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Other Considered Games (judges' scores in parenthesis)
5 points (Michael 5): IM Angelo Young (CHC) vs IM Dionisio Aldama (ARZ) 0-1
5 points (Greg 3, Michael 2): GM Hikaru Nakamura (STL) vs GM Josh Friedel (SF) 1-0
4 points (Jeff 4): GM Ben Finegold (STL) vs FM Steven Zierk (SF) 1-0
3 points (Arun 3): Alex Guo (SEA) vs WFM Bayaraa Zorigt (DAL) 0-1
3 points (Jim 2, Greg 1): SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) vs NM Carlito Agner (CAR) 0-1
3 points (Arun 2, Jim 1): IM Salvijus Bercys (DAL) vs FM Costin Cozianu (SEA) 1-0
2 points (Jeff 2): IM Levon Altounian (ARZ) vs GM Mesgen Amanov (CHC) 1-0
1 point (Michael 1): FM Charles Riordan (NE) vs GM Pascal Charbonneau (NY) 0-1
1 point (Jeff 1): GM Joel Benjamin (NJ) vs IM Lev Milman (MAN) 1-0
1 point (Arun 1): GM Julio Becerra (MIA) vs GM Melikset Khachiyan (LA) 1-0
This year we have five 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 $200 bonus prize ($150 going to the winner of the game, $50 to the loser), second place $75, and third place $50 (both second and third going entirely to the winner). Our five judges are: IM Greg Shahade, FM Jim Dean, NM Michael Aigner, NM Jeff Ashton, and NM Arun Sharma. Click here for more details.
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1st Place: IM Jonathan Schroer (CAR) vs GM Giorgi Kacheishvili (NY) 1-0
IM Schroer played the strong 15. Bxe6! With the tactics making the Bishop taboo, soon f7 fell also, and White comfortably converted his two Pawn edge, pulling off a surprising upset.
Michael Aigner (1st place, 5 points): White offers a pair of minor pieces on consecutive moves (fifteen and sixteen) to cripple Black's position and earn a huge upset. This game was shockingly short and sweet because White immediately trades into an endgame up two pawns. Black never had a chance. Students, this is what happens when you don't develop all of your pieces in time!
Greg Shahade (2nd place, 4 points): A strong and brutal performance by Schroer although admittedly despite his opponent's high rating, the resistance shown was not as high as one would have expected. I expect there will be some flack for the judges being hyper focused on upsets, especially this week.
Jeff Ashton (2nd place, 4 points): Maybe Kacheishvili made some errors, but Schroer’s play was precise and enjoyable. It’s nice to see Schroer have a good week since I thought he was due for one.
Jim Dean (2nd place, 4 points):
Arun Sharma (NR, 0 points): Yet again we have another game with a fair "upset disparity" (one of many from this season). I honestly really didn't give this game much consideration when making my picks as I felt Black got himself into trouble very quickly without White really doing anything remarkable to cause it. Schroer did play well, and his tactical exploitation of Kacheisvhili's errors (15. Bxe6 and 16. Nd6) was very good, but none of the moves were at all surprising, and the game on the whole just seemed to be a case of one player playing solidly and then pouncing when the other side went very astray. Congratulations to Schroer and the Carolina team on their surprising upset, but I'm sorry, I still have to strongly disagree with this being Game of the Week, big upset or not.
Total Score of Schroer vs Kacheishvili: 17 points
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2nd Place: GM Alex Stripunsky (MAN) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 0-1
GM Erenburg played the very creative 32... f6!, paying no heed to his threatened Knight and preparing to double Rooks on the h-file. Eventually White succumbed to the pressure, giving Black a creative victory.
Greg Shahade (1st place, 5 points): I felt this was the top game of the week, as to outplay such a strong player with the Black pieces is always something to be proud of. Ideas such as 32... f6 with the idea of Rh7 were instructive.
Arun Sharma (1st place, 5 points): An easy top pick for me, as this game was interesting from the very beginning with a slightly offbeat opening, White fianchetto'ing a Knight by move twelve, and the middlegame where Black seemed to play exceptionally well. I especially liked the way Erenburg seemed to preparing to break through on the Queenside, yet cleverly switched back to attacking White's King when the opportunity arose (in particular the idea of leaving his Knight en-prise while preparing to double Rooks on the h-file with 32... f6!). The only minor blot on this game was that it seemed like Black probably could have won it at an earlier stage. But in all, I thought it was definitely the best game from the week, outplaying such a strong player with the Black pieces together with using many creative ideas to do so.
Michael Aigner (2nd place, 4 points): Black quietly outplays his opponent, neutralizing the opening advantage by placing his minor pieces on active squares (Bishop on a8 and Knight on f5). Then he instructively opens a pair of lines (c and h files) for his Rooks to attack. White never manages any counterplay and, given enough time, Black's activity proves too much.
Jim Dean (5th place, 1 point):
Jeff Ashton (NR, 0 points): I considered voting this higher. Great play by Black in a unique opening. I found other games more interesting, but the quality of play was impressive.
Total Score of Stripunsky vs Erenburg: 15 points
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3rd Place: GM Alex Lenderman (NY) vs FM Ron Simpson (CAR) 1-0
GM Lenderman played the well calculated 21. Be4!, achieving a massive Pawn array to compensate for the piece, which he utilized to good effect.
Jeff Ashton (1st place, 5 points): A typical attack out of the opening, with a creative, sacrificial finish.
Arun Sharma (2nd place, 4 points): Nice game by Lenderman. Simpson's opening play seemed a bit suspect, and Lenderman took advantage quite well, especially the eventual piece sacrifice which resulted in the massive Pawn center that won him the game. I also appreciated the 26. f6! idea which recovered the sacrificed material with interest and ended the game shortly. The thing that might have kept this game from being ranked a bit higher by everyone was that it just seemed a bit too easy as it's quite clear after the piece sacrifice that White has more than enough for it, and it also seemed like White had many ways to finish the game off after that stage with such a dominating position.
Jim Dean (3rd place, 3 points):
Michael Aigner (4th place, 2 points): White executes an efficient victory against the Dutch Defense. However, I didn't rank this game higher than fourth because Black's hyper aggressive Queenside Pawn play (b7 - b5 - b4) left his King with nowhere to hide. With the enemy monarch in trouble, White simply calculates a few tactics to dominate the center (see the Pawn chain d4 - e5 - f5 - g6).
Greg Shahade (NR, 0 points): This one made my shortlist for the top five, but in the end I went with other games. I certainly understand a high ranking for this game, as Lenderman did a great job of breaking through in the center and storming the Black King.
Total Score of Lenderman vs Simpson: 14 points
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Other Considered Games (judges' scores in parenthesis)
6 points (Jim 5, Jeff 1): IM Eli Vovsha (MAN) vs FM Ralph Zimmer (BAL) 1-0
6 points (Arun 3, Jeff 3): FM Slava Mikhailuk (SEA) vs FM Joel Banawa (LA) 1-0
5 points (Michael 3, Greg 2): NM Alex Cherniack (NE) vs NM Elvin Wilson (PHI) 1-0
4 points (Arun 2, Jeff 2): GM Larry Kaufman (BAL) vs IM Lev Milman (MAN) 0-1
4 points (Jim 2, Michael 1, Greg 1): IM Jan van de Mortel (NE) vs FM Karl Dehmelt (PHI) 1-0
3 points (Greg 3): NM Joshua Sinanan (SEA) vs NM Ankit Gupta (LA) 0-1
1 points (Arun 1): GM Jesse Kraai (SF) vs IM Rogelio Barcenilla (ARZ) 1-0
This year we have five 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 $200 bonus prize ($150 going to the winner of the game, $50 to the loser), second place $75, and third place $50 (both second and third going entirely to the winner). Our five judges are: IM Greg Shahade, FM Jim Dean, NM Michael Aigner, NM Jeff Ashton, and NM Arun Sharma. Click here for more details.
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1st Place: GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) vs GM Jesse Kraai (SF) 1-0
With several pieces hanging, GM Christiansen got the best of the complications with 25. Nxh5! Qxh5 26. Rhg1, eventually breaking down GM Kraai's defenses and helping Boston win a very important match.
Arun Sharma (1st place, 5 points): A very natural pick as this game was quite interesting from the beginning and stayed that way until the end. It's impressive the way Christiansen always seems to manage to create such a fearsome attack from a position where it previously seemed very tough to create attacking chances due to the closed nature of the position, even with the Kings on opposite sides of the board.
Jeff Ashton (1st place, 5 points): Interesting opening, unusual position, and creative attacking play.
Greg Shahade (1st place, 5 points): A fun attacking game by Christiansen, with a unique opening and some interesting defensive attempts by Kraai. Christiansen seems incapable of going a season without winning a Game of the Week prize. Maybe we should institute a bonus for future seasons for unanimous Game of the Week choices?!
Michael Aigner (1st place, 5 points): The provocative 2. b3 variation versus the French leads to attacking chances against Black's King position. Aggressive Pawn play by 13. h4, 20. g4, and 29. f4 break down the defenses. After White loads Alekhine's Gun** on the g-file, the f-pawn wreaks havoc with 33. f5 and 35. f6. The final move 39.Qh6 - forcing checkmate - simply was the cherry on top. I bet we'll be reading about this game in a future book.
**To be precise, Alekhine's Gun is R-R-Q with the Queen in the back.
Jim Dean (1st place, 5 points): This was a really tough week as there were several games that I evaluated similarly in GOTW value. This game felt like the most obvious choice though since it was well played and had plenty of action with the players castling on opposite wings. Congrats to GM Christiansen on the first unanimous GOTW victory in a long time!
Total Score of Christiansen vs Kraai: 25 points
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2nd Place: GM Larry Kaufman (BAL) vs IM Daniel Rensch (ARZ) 1-0
GM Kaufman effectively ended the game with the strong 28. R1h5!, after which the mating attack quickly netted White a decisive material advantage, giving Baltimore a narrow but very important victory.
Arun Sharma (2nd place, 4 points): Simply a very strong game by Kaufman, building up a brutal Kingside attack while simultaneously easily defusing Rensch's attempts to create similar threats on the opposite side. Winning in such a clean and convincing fashion against such a strong opponent is always impressive.
Jeff Ashton (2nd place, 4 points): Not the most interesting opening, not the most unusual position, and simple, straight forward attacking play. I must say that I enjoy Larry Kaufman's games very much.
Greg Shahade (5th place, 1 point): Very clean play from Kaufman. Rensch has performed quite well so far in 2010, but Kaufman made it look easy with a very thematic Kingside attack.
Michael Aigner (NR, 0 points): White executes a simple yet effective attack by creating twin threats: doubling Rooks on the h-file and penetrating with the Queen on the a1-h8 long diagonal. I considered this game but didn't give it a vote because the knockout seemed a bit too easy, especially after 23... f5.
Jim Dean (NR, 0 points): This game was one of about ten or so that I considered strongly for my top five. GM Kaufman played very well, and I can see how my fellow judges would include this performance in their list. In the end, I simply found a handful of other games more attractive.
Total Score of Kaufman vs Rensch: 9 points
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3rd Place: GM Alex Lenderman (NY) vs GM Julio Becerra (MIA) 0-1
GM Becerra finally put an end to GM Lenderman's incredible undefeated streak with the nice positional blow, 37... Ba2!, giving him a very favorable endgame which he converted cleanly, keeping Miami in the thick of the playoff race after a very tough start.
Michael Aigner (2nd place, 4 points): This game represents a big change of pace from most games under consideration for GOTW. Black gained sufficient space with his Pawns, which allowed his minor pieces to dominate the center of the board. At the end, White's bad Bishop was helpless against Black's strong Knight. I enjoyed watching such a straightforward and instructive positional squeeze.
Greg Shahade (3rd place, 3 points): A strong display by Becerra. A slow positional buildup and breakthrough against the previously undefeated Lenderman.
Arun Sharma (5th place, 1 point): This game obviously caught my eye due to Lenderman's incredible league record, but the game itself also definitely imo was very impressive also. Although there might not have been much in the way of excitement, it's always impressive to see such positional play in a game, slowly but surely creating a very dominating game against a strong GM from a position which only a bit earlier looked very drawish.
Jeff Ashton (NR, 0 points): Nice game and almost voted for it. Well played.
Jim Dean (NR, 0 points): GM Becerra was very persistent in this game and played well to get a favorable Q+N vs. Q+B endgame. I probably marked this game down slightly since 45... g3 looks like it would induce an immediate resignation, but even so this game seemed very well played on the whole.
Total Score of Lenderman vs Becerra: 8 points
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Other Considered Games (judges' scores in parenthesis)
6 points (Greg 4, Arun 2): FM Ralph Zimmer (BAL) vs NM David Adelberg (ARZ) 1-0
6 points (Jim 4, Jeff 2): IM Dmitry Zilberstein (SF) vs IM Marc Esserman (BOS) 0-1
6 points (Jeff 3, Jim 3): IM Salvijus Bercys (DAL) vs IM Jonathan Schroer (CAR) 1-0
5 points (Michael 3, Greg 2): IM Andranik Matikozyan (LA) vs GM Alex Stripunsky (MAN) 0-1
4 points (Arun 3, Jeff 1): FM Ron Simpson (CAR) vs IM Julio Sadorra (DAL) 0-1
2 points (Michael 2): FM Michael Lee (SEA) vs IM Albert Kapengut (NJ) 1-0
2 points (Jim 2): IM Michael Brooks (STL) vs IM David Vigorito (NE) 0-1
1 point (Michael 1): IM Rogelio Barcenilla (ARZ) vs GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) 1/2-1/2
1 point (Jim 1): Sean Finn (NJ) vs Alex Guo (SEA) 0-1
