One of League MVP IM Kannappan’s fine efforts managed a strong finish in the GOTY Contest.
This is the thirteenth 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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8th Place: IM Priyadharshan Kannappan (STL) vs FM Kassa Korley (CAR) 1-0
The strong 28. Bxe5! gave White a strong bind, with his extra Pawns eventually proving decisive
IM David Pruess (4th Place, 17 Points): Fantastic play by Kannapan! I love how he made something of nothing, maneuvered and set problems for Black, and then calculated very nicely to finish Black off. The position with Pawns vs. Bishop was of course quite pleasing.
GM Robert Hungaski (6th Place, 15 Points): I’m still making up my mind on where I stand on this but for now I simply don’t think that just because a game is filled with mistakes that this automatically makes it a “bad” game. Chess is a competitive endeavour and as such its value (at least to me) comes from the attempts of one competitor trying to outwit the other. It has happened to me many times that my opponent and I are so concerned with our own ideas and trying to prevent the other’s ideas that we fail to recognize the new opportunities that arise with each move. Thus, every opportunity missed is a mistake. This is supposed to make the game bad? I don’t think so. It makes it entertaining. As long as the struggle is on, I’m game. I think both players started off pretty slowly, and the game didn’t seem to promise much. Then, after 28. Bxe5 (which I suspect was slightly intuitive) White was able to carry through a pretty long and elaborate idea for which I give him full credit.
FM Ron Young (6th Place, 15 Points): I confess that it never occurred to me to wonder whether Black could get away with undeveloping moves like … Ng8 in a Queenless middlegame, or such weakening as is brought about by moves like … g5 and … h5, because such things were simply never part of my world. But they are now, and I count myself a better person for it. Black tried to be cautious by corralling White’s loose Pawns in just the right order, but there are lots of monkey wrenches out there in the streets, and White revealed one with 28. Bxe5.
GM Alex Yermolinsky (7th Place, 14 Points): The runaway MVP winner had to win this game twice. Korley’s opening play rated bad enough for an opening disaster, but Kannapan didn’t appear interested in a quick kill. He played somewhat indifferently, but stayed ahead on the clock and patiently waited for his chance. It came after Korley somewhat carelessly pushed his f-pawn forward. It turned out Black had a hard time controlling White’s tactical threats in a seemingly quiet endgame position. 27… Rxf5 was a must, but Korley played a different move, allowing Kannapan to sacrifice his only remaining minor piece for a bunch of Pawns and some mating threats. While Korley managed to take care of the latter, the former was too much to overcome. One impressive aspect of this game was how quickly Kannapan made his moves.
FM Alisa Melekhina (9th Place, 12 Points): Who says you need Queens on the board to have an exciting game? Kannappan steadily applied pressure to the holes in Black’s position until inducing the hasty 24… f5. The better strategy for Black may have been to stay back and reposition the pieces with 24… Rb8, but Kannappan orchestrated a situation in which Black would have had to awkwardly maneuver without a straightforward plan, making f5 understandable.
Then came the best sacrifice of the season – the astounding 28. Bxe5. It takes a strong intuition and boldness to initiate a sacrifice with no forced continuation. Yet, even from move 25 onwards, White was always in control. Suddenly, all of Black’s pawns were snapped off one by one, and the extra piece became irrelevant.
It’s difficult to fault Black for permitting the forceful geometric sequence of White’s Rooks. But because the evaluation changed from = on move 23 to +/- by move 25, Black’s play with f5 and Rhf8 is more of an oversight. I’m therefore hesitant about ranking the game too highly based on a blunder. However, it was an inspiring showing by the Rookie of the Year that deserves to be in the top ten.
GM Alejandro Ramirez (19th Place, 2 Points): Why is this even here?
Total Score of Kannappan vs Korley: (8th Place, 75 Points)
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Stay tuned for seven 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 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 8: GM Tamaz Gelashvili (NY) vs GM Sam Shankland (NE) 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 #7: GM Alex Stripunsky (NJ) vs SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) 0-1 Article
Eliminated:
8th Place (75 Points): IM Priyadharshan Kannappan (STL) vs FM Kassa Korley (CAR) 1-0 Article Elimination Article
9th Place (72 Points): GM Tamaz Gelashvili (NY) vs SM William Fisher (PHI) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article
10th Place (71 Points): FM Kazim Gulamali (BOS) vs GM Larry Kaufman (BAL) 1-0 Article Elimination Article
11th Place (66 Points): FM Eric Rodriguez (MIA) vs IM Justin Sarkar (CON) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article
12th Place (59 Points): IM Mackenzie Molner (ARZ) vs IM Jonathan Schroer (CAR) 1-0 Article Elimination Article
13th Place (59 Points): GM Vladimir Romanenko (MAN) vs GM Tamaz Gelashvili (NY) 1-0 Article Elimination Article
14th Place (58 Points): IM Georgi Orlov (SEA) vs GM Conrad Holt (DAL) 1-0 Article Elimination Article
15th Place (57 Points): NM Jared Defibaugh (BAL) vs NM Justus Williams (NY) 1-0 Article Elimination Article
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