Against one of the most successful players in League history, GM Gelashvili’s creative effort landed him the first money spot in the GOTY Contest.
This is the sixteenth 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
————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-
5th Place: GM Tamaz Gelashvili (NY) vs GM Sam Shankland (NE) 1-0
Undeterred by the attack on his Rook, GM Gelashvili continued with the very strong 24. Bxh6!, leading to a decisive attack
FM Ron Young (1st Place, 20 Points): Having done this year-end judging bit a few times now, I am struck by how relatively difficult I tend to find commentary on my top pick. Maybe I’m intimidated. It seems that Black ought to have thrown back the Pawn with 18… f4 in order to unbottle, but he only had the one chance, and he did achieve the classic Caro strategic victory of the light Bishop swap just afterward. White’s multi-direction switching finishing combo was just like Alekhine, but without the anti Semitism.
GM Alejandro Ramirez (4th Place, 17 Points): An all out and beautifully executed attack by Gelashvili. The Pawn storm on the Kingside is very aesthetically executed, and the sacrifices to finish the game are no less interesting. It is even better that in the final positions Black has the choice to take so many pieces, and yet it all loses by force to the combined onslaught of the Knight, Rook, and Queen.
GM Alex Yermolinsky (6th Place, 15 Points): One wonders what made Shankland choose this horribly passive line of the Caro-Kann. Black ceded a lot of space on the Kingside and then castled short. Gelashvili craftily repositioned his pieces for the attack and moved in for the kill. Yet, Black had a chance to organize his defenses with the help of a counter sacrifice 18… f4, which Shankland missed. The final attack featured pretty sacrifices to win by giving the White Queen access to the critical c1-h6 diagonal.
IM David Pruess (8th Place, 13 Points): A really sweet game by Gelashvili. The unusual deployment of the King and Rook is cool, and it’s unclear how Black should enter the middlegame facing the threat of this f5-g5 breakthrough. The finishing a3, creating a square on the c1-h6 diagonal for the White Queen, is nifty, too.
GM Robert Hungaski (12th Place, 9 Points): As a former New England man this game (and this season for that matter) was hard to watch. In any case, this was a good show by Gelashvili who had already collected a few scalps with this curious variation of the Advance Caro-Kann. My coach William Lombardy usually chastises me when I castle by reflex with the quote “castle if you must; castle if you so desire; but don’t simply castle because you can!” Though the move 10. Rh2 is not new, it’s certainly in line with the new notion about the value of castling and the notion of development.
FM Alisa Melekhina (16th Place, 5 Points): Usually, Shankland is the one boasting a quick victory following a diligently prepared opening surprise. It is unusual to see the tables turned. Calmly reacting to Gelashvili’s unorthodox 10. Rh2, Shankland played a clever move order with 12… Bb4+ that prevented the Rook from reaching the c-file, in contrast to Navara (2708) vs Shimanov (2516), 2010, 1-0 where White was more successful in developing his rooks.
Probably too complacent that White’s position was tangled, Shankland proceeded to play by opening principles and piled up on the c-file, making the mistake of ignoring his own Kingside. Gelashvili quickly capitalized on Black’s oversight with the devastating 24. Bxh6. The game didn’t give Shankland a chance to demonstrate why he previously had a spotless USCL record. While the tactic was appealing and well-calculated, it certainly shouldn’t characterize the entire game for the purposes of a Game of the Year contest.
Total Score of Gelashvili vs Shankland: (5th Place, 79 Points)
————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-
Stay tuned for four 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 5: GM Vladimir Romanenko (MAN) vs GM Alex Stripunsky (NJ) 0-1 Article
Quarterfinals: SM Matt Herman (NY) vs IM Eli Vovsha (MAN) 1-0 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:
5th Place (79 Points): GM Tamaz Gelashvili (NY) vs GM Sam Shankland (NE) 1-0 Article Elimination Article
6th Place (77 Points): SM Robert Perez (MIA) vs GM Julio Sadorra (DAL) 0-1 Article Elimination Article
7th Place (77 Points): GM Mikheil Kekelidze (CON) vs FM Kassa Korley (CAR) 0-1 Article Elimination Article
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