A strong crush by GM Finegold lead the Arch Bishops to a surprising sweep in their by far most successful season.
This is the fifth part in a series of articles which will count down to revealing what game was voted as the 2012 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 Contest
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16th Place: GM Ben Finegold (STL) vs GM Niclas Huschenbeth (BAL) 1-0
With 25. Rxf6!, GM Finegold finished off a crushing win, dealing GM Huschenbeth a rude welcome to the USCL
FM Ron Young (5th Place, 16 Points): First one is too young to remember, then one is old enough to remember, and finally one is too old to remember, and I am well into that latter stage, so I must report that I don’t recall whether it was the old Chess Review or the old Chess Life that said that short games were “the caviar of chess”, but in either case I found it an off-puttingly servile display of obeisance toward the Soviet chess machine that “caviar” be chosen over M&Ms. In this game, Black is already in big trouble after ten moves (it looks like 10… Re8 was a better try, but it’s a weird move to play so early). White’s attack, though rather easy (seemingly), was (dare I say it on a family site?) redolent of green M&Ms.
FM Alisa Melekhina (12th Place, 9 Points): Finegold’s games always serve as a reminder that sidelines are not to be taken lightly. The provocative 10. Ng5 unnerved Black into relinquishing the a1-h8 diagonal. Finegold then took advantage of Black’s unfamiliarity with the defensive plans of either staying calm and avoiding g6 or blocking with e5. (See Turov vs Riazantsev, 2006, 0-1 and Sarkar vs Kacheishvili, 2011, 0-1). In the blink of an eye, he pounced on the long diagonal by posting the Queen on d4.
Once Black was paralyzed, Finegold was unforgiving. The rest of the game was a dark-square nightmare that is sure to haunt Huschenbeth. If there were a prize for best miniature, this would definitely be a contender – the miniature was an elaborate positional vice rather than a sac-sac-mate. However, I have to rank it just outside of the top ten to make way for other games that featured more interaction and fight.
GM Alex Yermolinsky (13th Place, 8 Points): While the 9… b6 line is considered playable for Black, Huschenbeth wasn’t ready to handle the resulting complications. One thinks he would have been better off with the safe 9… Nce4. As the game went on 11… h6 was a grave error. White ended up with a full control over the important long diagonal, pinning the desperate Black Knight. Forceful play by Finegold (I’d particularly mention 15. h4!) saw him through to an easy victory.
IM David Pruess (13th Place, 8 Points): A clean kill, but Black’s play was weak, and White’s winning procedure was probably somewhat obvious to Finegold.
GM Alejandro Ramirez (17th Place, 4 Points): Huschenbeth’s USCL debut was nothing short of pathetic, and I can’t recommend such a one sided game to be considered for GOTY.
GM-elect Robert Hungaski (18th Place, 3 Points): A bad move in the opening (9… b6) leaves Black holding the bag for the rest of game as his dark squares become chronically weak. Certainly nicely handled by White but somewhat of a one-sided affair.
Total Score of Finegold vs Huschenbeth: (16th Place, 48 Points)
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Stay tuned for fifteen more such articles as the field shrinks by one game almost every day to see which of the following games will be the 2012 Game of the Year!
Week 1: GM Vladimir Romanenko (MAN) vs GM Tamaz Gelashvili (NY) 1-0 Article
Week 3: SM Robert Perez (MIA) vs GM Julio Sadorra (DAL) 0-1 Article
Week 5: GM Vladimir Romanenko (MAN) vs GM Alex Stripunsky (NJ) 0-1 Article
Week 6: FM Eric Rodriguez (MIA) vs IM Justin Sarkar (CON) 1/2-1/2 Article
Week 7: NM Jared Defibaugh (BAL) vs NM Justus Williams (NY) 1-0 Article
Week 8: GM Tamaz Gelashvili (NY) vs GM Sam Shankland (NE) 1-0 Article
Week 9: GM Tamaz Gelashvili (NY) vs SM William Fisher (PHI) 1/2-1/2 Article
Week 10: FM Kazim Gulamali (BOS) vs GM Larry Kaufman (BAL) 1-0 Article
Quarterfinals: SM Matt Herman (NY) vs IM Eli Vovsha (MAN) 1-0 Article
Wildcard #1: GM Mikheil Kekelidze (CON) vs FM Kassa Korley (CAR) 0-1 Article
Wildcard #2: GM Alex Stripunsky (NJ) vs GM Tamaz Gelashvili (NY) 0-1 Article
Wildcard #3: IM Mackenzie Molner (ARZ) vs IM Jonathan Schroer (CAR) 1-0 Article
Wildcard #4: IM Priyadharshan Kannappan (STL) vs FM Kassa Korley (CAR) 1-0 Article
Wildcard #5: IM Georgi Orlov (SEA) vs GM Conrad Holt (DAL) 1-0 Article
Wildcard #7: GM Alex Stripunsky (NJ) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 0-1 Article
Eliminated:
16th Place (48 Points): GM Ben Finegold (STL) vs GM Niclas Huschenbeth (BAL) 1-0 Article Elimination Article
17th Place (37 Points): NM Joshua Sinanan (SEA) vs IM Shahin Mohandesi (ARZ) 1-0 Article Elimination Article
18th Place (33 Points): SM Denys Shmelov (BOS) vs GM Conrad Holt (DAL) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article
19th Place (30 Points): FM Ralph Zimmer (BAL) vs NM Joshua Colas (CON) 1-0 Article Elimination Article
20th Place (17 Points): IM Georgi Orlov (SEA) vs SM William Fisher (PHI) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article