US Chess League Game of the Year Contest

The US Chess League Game of the Year Contest is going on right now, and lots of USCL fans are blogging their predictions and opinions about the games. Since I was an avid fan during the year myself, I figured why not make my own predictions!?!? If you want to take a look at all the games nominated, you can download the PGN file here

The main thing I look for in a game is how much drama/excitement the game contained for the fans watching on ICC. This means one sided battles or one move blunders won’t be rated very high, since they don’t contain much drama.

1) Vinay Bhat - Hikaru Nakamura 1-0

This was by far the most exciting game of the bunch, and the most exciting game I’ve witnessed other than the USCL tiebreaker in the finals. I really enjoyed the back and forth battle between 2 strong players. Nakamura was up a clear pawn and Bhat had little to no compensation and only had a few minutes left, but managed to outplay the highest rated player in the league.

2) Eugene Perelshteyn - Pascal Charbonneau 0-1

This was a great game where a strange material balance occured with Charbonneau having Rook+Bishop+Knight vs Rook+Bishop+pawn where the bishops were opposite colors.

At first I didn’t think it would be a win but Charbonneau made it clear that the opposite color bishops make it impossible for white to defend. This is just a great game from start to finish.

3) Larry Christiansen - Patrick Wolff 1-0

Although this is somewhat of a one sided affair, the game was just so great that I couldn’t resist ranking it highly. 20. g3! is particularly nice, not a typical attacking move. The ending is picturesque with 38. c4! and black can not stop c5-c6.

4) Vinay Bhat - John Bartholomew 1-0

It was a really exciting game for the fans of USCL, and the match situation made it even more dramatic since Bhat had to win to tie the match. The opposite color bishop ending with rooks was really instructive, and it definitely wasn’t a one sided battle since Bartholomew defended well.

5) Julio Becerra - Drasko Boskovic 0-1

The way Drasko defended a worse position for so long against league MVP Becerra is particularly impressive. This was a real good chess battle, and I know first hand it was exciting to watch. There may have been errors by both sides at different points, but it came down to an old fashioned street fight.

6) Jorge Sammour-Hasbun - Davorin Kuljasevic 1-0

This was a very important game in the USCL finals, and I might have rated it higher if Boston ended up winning since it would have been a pivotal game. Nevertheless, Jorge really showed off his tactical muscles in an unclear middlegame. 28. Qxe5! was just an awesome blow which Jorge must have seen many moves earlier.

7) Julio Becerra - Ron Burnett

I just LOVED the end of this game. 53. f6!! was awesome after which if black queens he gets mated.

The rest of the game was pretty interesting too, but this endgame was really awesome to watch live on ICC.

8 ) Lev Milman - Ron Burnett 0-1

The queen sacrfice to finish off this game was particularly nice, but in my opinion it’s not the best move of the game. The exchange sac after 12.Bc5 d4! really showed a great understanding of the position, and is the most instructive part of the entire game.

9) Slava Mikhaliuk - Jonathan Schroer 0-1

This was an excellent attacking display from IM Schroer. It would have been rated a little bit higher if Mikhaliuk put up more of a defense, but perhaps this wouldn’t have allowed all the interesting tactical motiffs Schroer came up with. I particularly liked the exchange sac with 25… Bg6!

10) Marcel Martinez - Dmitry Zilberstein 1-0

If this game hadn’t been all preparation, I would have ranked it in the top 3, but since it was prep it kind of detracts from the amazing moves played by Marcel. 22. Bh6 is just an awesome move, and the follow up with 28. Ng5+ and 29. Bxg7 is also amazing.

11) Josh Friedel - Gregory Serper 1-0

A nice game by ex New Hampshirite Josh Friedel. I particular like the fact that he recognized that the position on move 20 where black has rooks doubled on the d file, is one of those positions where black has all his pieces on good squares, but can’t improve further.

The opposite color bishop middlegame which eventually arose was also nice as Josh slowly maneuvered his pieces to better and better squares.

12) Bryan Smith - Eugene Perelstheyn 1-0

This game contained lots of excellent features, including slow shuffling of the pieces and nice tactical blows. Bryan Smith deserves to be commended for outplaying his stronger opponent in a game like this.

13) Julio Becerra - Alexander Stripunsky 1-0

This was a very nice game from USCL MVP Julio Becerra, but it was just too one sided for me to rate it very highly.

14) Mackenzie Molner - Marc Arnold 1-0

I honestly don’t remember seeing this game during the season, but the piece sac with 18. Nd5 is very interesting. The game itself contained a lot of different tactical themes.

15) Dmitry Zilberstein - John Bartholomew 1-0

Maybe I’m just a little biased here, as I hate seeing my precious caro-kann lose. This game was pretty nice overall. I don’t think the attack should have worked out as well as it did, but I’m not quite sure where John went wrong. 34. Qxc4 and 44. Qxb8 were both nice little tactics.

16) Mackenzie Molner - Larry Kaufman 1-0

I was particularly happy to see Mackenzie beat up on the French Defense, which I absoltuely despise. But the whole piece sac seemed somewhat flawed if Kaufman had defended correctly (25… f4!).

17) Jay Bonin - Mackenzie Molner 1-0

Jay calculated a nice line starting with 18. Nxf7, but other than that this game contained no outstanding features.

18) Eric Tangborn - Davorin Kuljasevic 0-1

I don’t remember this game during the season, and honestly it doesn’t seem very special to me. White didn’t seem to do much the entire game, and just allowed black a winning attack on the kingside. Although the way Kuljasevic finished him off was nice, I think almost anyone could finish off that attack if given the chance.

19) Jay Bonin - Denys Shmelov 1-0

This game really shouldn’t have been nominated, since the match situation made it totally meaningless. The only reason why I didn’t rate it dead last was the fact that Jay did play the endgame really well. I’m sure Shmelov could have played it much better if needed, but still that should not take away from Jay’s nice technique.

20) Josh Friedel - Lev Milman 0-1

I’m not sure why this game was nominated, as it was just a 1 move blunder by Josh. Instead of playing 39. Re5+ followed by Rxc5 which is just equal, he forgot to throw in Re5+ and just lost.