Not a single draw has even been nominated as a finalist this season for GOTW, but the first one to do so managed to take the top honor in a close vote!
1st Place: GM Giorgi Margvelashvili (DAL) vs GM Ben Finegold (STL) 1/2-1/2
GM Finegold took the game for an interesting spin with 17… Nxh2!? resulting in a very exciting and interesting draw
IM Salvijus Bercys (1st Place, 3 Points): I was watching this game live, and I thought White had it in the bag for sure but Finegold just kept hitting back! I was trying to find a concrete way for White to break through and thought 29. Nc3 was it but 29… Rcb8 solves the conundrum. The complicated endgame attack by White seems like it could yield fruits at any point, but Black defended actively rather than passively, and I think that’s what saved him in the end.
IM Aleksandr Ostrovskiy (1st Place, 3 Points): The Qb3 Slav is not very famous for tactical melees but in this game we were treated to a very unusual position and funky knight excursions. GM Finegold’s knight traveled all the way to f1, picking up a Pawn and a Rook in the process. GM Margelashvili maintained equal footing by snatching a piece and obtaining some nice squares for his pieces (while his opponent’s pieces…were on f1). The combatants played rational moves and 21… Qe2 was unusual prophylaxis against Qf3. After the Queens were exchanged White had a powerful hold on the position and even refused a repetition despite his material deficit. However the players obliged to a draw which often happens in a well played game.
FM Alex Barnett (1st Place, 3 Points): I’m not going to pretend like I even understand what went on but it was definitely the most exciting/rich out of the three games. This game is chalk full of skeems and reskeems. And if I talk about all of them it would be a book and not a paragraph so I’m not going to do all that. This is usually a slow grind/torture opening, but Giorgi made the game tight. I’m not going to run Houdini and pretend like I understand the position when I don’t because that ruins the fun. Sorry not sorry. But yeah I mean both players were chilling until it started to hit the fan with 17… Nxh2. I guess the idea is that if the Bishop retreats then 18… Nxf1 Kxf1 and 19… Nb6 wins the Knight on c4? I don’t get why can’t White just go 18. Bc5 (so there’s no 19… Nb6) instead of what he did and say thanks for the material? The mystery is fascinating. Probably some deep GM knowledge. Then they just play a bunch of moves with Black’s Knight just chilling on f1 like that’s what’s supposed to happen lol. This whole game makes my head spin I understand probably about half of the moves played in it. My man Giorgi had to have been winning somewhere though… he let it slip, and then he was the one who took the perpetual after such a wild game… oh nah dude #AntiClimactic #StillAwesome
Chess.com (2nd Place, 2 Points): 28% of vote
IM Victor Shen (3rd Place, 1 Point): A close shave for White. Looked like Black had the upper hand for much of the time, but White had a bunch of annoying minor pieces that made it difficult for him to convert.
Total score of Margvelashvili vs Finegold: 12 Points
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2nd Place: GM Varuzhan Akobian (STL) vs GM Conrad Holt (DAL) 1-0
Capping off what seemed to be a very dry ending, GM Akobian won material with the nice tactic 39. Qf6+!
Chess.com (1st Place, 3 Points): 56% of vote
IM Salvijus Bercys (2nd Place, 2 Points): This game was a dead draw for so long but move 31… h5 by Black is so atrocious it makes me cry. White had no way to break through without committing the Queen to the Kingside, and then Black always has a5 to create an easy counter attack on the Queenside. Black felt too comfortable and that led to the careless mistake.
IM Aleksandr Ostrovskiy (2nd Place, 2 Points): This is the Exchange Slav at its finest. A nibble of an edge due to spacial considerations and enjoying the pleasure of “playing for two results.” By move 30 the players reached a Q+2B endgame where White had a clear plan of Kingside expansion. Black was feeling a bit cramped, and his counterplay was not as obvious. Suddenly after 33. g4 and 35. h5 the game was over! A steady display by GM Akobian to take out one of the most dangerous players in the league.
IM Victor Shen (2nd Place, 2 Points): Not sure what to make of this. Looked pretty equal, and then suddenly Black had a lost endgame.
FM Alex Barnett (3rd Place, 1 Point): The slow pain. That’s what this game was. Black was just playing normal moves and then found himself with less space and a crappy light squared Bishop. White’s knight was posted HARD on the juicy d4 outpost… from move 17 onward to quote the Russians, “White was playing for two results.” Early on, Black probably should have tried for Nc5 and gone after the Bishop on d3, but after b4 it was too late, and that Bishop became a monster. White maneuvered well and ran Black over. I think Black made it easy though. 31… h5 was a weakening move and gave White a target. He should have just chilled and done nothing and prayed for White to not be able to break through, but nobody likes to do that. After h5 the game played itself, and White cleaned up. GG
Total score of Akobian vs Holt: 10 Points
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3rd Place: FM Marcel Martinez (MIA) vs NM Diego Garcia (CAR) 1-0
Not content to only try the classic e5 break in the Sicillian, FM Martinez went the whole way with 15. f5!, resulting in a nice miniature
IM Victor Shen (1st Place, 3 Points): Maybe not completely sound, but very difficult to refute over the board. And at least it was exciting!
FM Alex Barnett (2nd Place, 2 Points): The poor Kan Sicilian gets boned again :( This is what happens when the Kan goes wrong. This game was just brutal. Every Kan player should die a little bit inside after seeing this game. If it weren’t so one sided, and if it weren’t my opening getting wrecked, I may have voted it the winner. I mean Black just played normal moves and got steam rolled. What else is there to say? e5! f5! e6! sac on f5! sac on e5! Then the icing on the cake… retreating the Bishop to it’s original square on c1 checkmating the King on h6. Jesus Christ that had to hurt
IM Salvijus Bercys (3rd Place, 1 Point): While the attack was brilliant in the inventive kind of way, black made huge mistakes on move 19 and 21 that make them hard to be unseen. Personally, if black didn’t want to open up the king, f6 instead of fxe6 would have prolonged the game quite a bit with no clear way to break through. Only Bishop on e7 is bad but a piece is still a piece…
IM Aleksandr Ostrovskiy (3rd Place, 1 Point): In this structure White normally relies on either his e5 or f5 break to makes things happen, but using brute force and determination FM Martinez managed to get both pushes in! White clawed his way to the Black king with a series of sacrifices starting with 15. f5! and then 17. Bxf5! 20. Qg4+! and 21. Rxe5! It looked like White blew Black off the board, and there wasn’t much to analyze until I realized that Black didn’t have to take on f1 and allow checkmate. Nevertheless after the stronger 21… dxe White replies 22. Rxf8 and the Rook is untouchable in view of probably 23. Nf3, 23. Nf1 or 23. Ne4. However Black has an interesting resource with 21… Qc5+ which aims to cover the h6-c1 diagonal with a timely Qe3. After 22. Kh1 the White’s rook is still untouchable due to 23. Nf1!! which opens up the c1-h6 diagonal and covers e3. These Knight jumps are constantly up in the air and with Black’s King on h6, it is probable that some of these tactical blows will prove decisive. It is surprising Black chose the path of least resistance since all he had to do was select a move which did not lead to mate immediately! A nice game, certainly somewhat of a model effort by FM Martinez.
Chess.com (3rd Place, 1 Point): 18% of vote
Total score of Martinez vs Garcia: 8 Points
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