2013 Board Four All Stars Announced

The choice of the three candidates was quite easy, but as often is the case, deciding on the order was anything but. After due deliberation though, choices were eventually made, and read on to find out what they were!

 
 

If you are wondering what criteria was used to determine these All Stars, please refer to the first post on this subject.

 

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1st Team: NM Ryan Goldenberg (MAN)

 
 

As mentioned, while he was a lock to be an All Star, whether or not he should be the top one was a tough question as the other candidates did have some factors in their favor. But in the end, considering the number of games he played (every single game for his team!) along with a few games on Board Three, we ended up giving him the nod for the top spot.

While this might not have been an easy choice, this was only the case due to the fact that there were so many super impressive performances on Board Four, making the competition extremely stiff, without question Goldenberg’s activity and record more than made him a worthy top All Star.

With his rating being a bit higher than he counted for in 2013, likely he will become a mainstay on Board Three should the Applesauce be lucky enough to get him back in 2014. But as he showed in his games there this year, he’s more than ready to take on that responsibility, and it should be interesting to see how he can perform there in the future and beyond.

 

Record: 8.5 / 11 (77%)
Performance Rating: 2459

 
 

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2nd Team: Siddharth Banik (SF)

 
 

This was another tough choice. As if often the case, arguments could have been made to have him take the top spot (based on the low rating he counted for, his win %, and his performance rating) while others might have said that not having been as active as his two main rivals that he perhaps should have been placed third. As usual, this was not an easy overall decision, but we eventually decided on the second spot for him.

As always, whatever his proper spot might have been, there can be no doubt how huge he was for the Mechanics, his performance likely being the most key thing to the Mechanics capturing the division title.

Like a few of his predecessors on Board Four for the Mechanics, now GM Shankland and FM Liou, it should be interesting to see what the future, particularly what 2014 has in store for him. His predecessors have moved on to great heights, definitely giving him high expectations to live up to, but if he can do so, with him and his All Star Teammates, GMs Bhat and Naroditsky, the future looks very bright for San Francisco.

 

Record: 5.5 / 6 (92%)
Performance Rating: 2530

 
 

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3rd Team: NM Lawyer Times (NE)

 
 

Again a very difficult choice as him rattling off six wins in a row to start the season, he seemed well on his way to locking up top All Star honors which would not have been at all an unreasonable spot for him to wind up in at the end given his great record. Though the incredible competition on this board unfortunately for him meant he wound up getting third in a very close decision, he really was huge for the New England team, no doubt the biggest reason why the Nor’easters returned to the postseason after two years of being left out.

Being one of the few Board Fours in the League who is not a fairly young player whose rating is a lock to be much higher in future seasons, it’s likely that he may well be able to return in future seasons on Board Four at a similar rating for his team which should make the future bright for New England for sure.

 

Record: 6.5 / 8 (81%)
Performance Rating: 2450

 
 

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Other Candidates:

 

While the choice of the three All Stars was very clear, there were others who, had the competition not been so stiff for these spots, would have made very worthy All Stars based on their stats. The closest was WFM Amanda Mateer (ARZ) (4.5 / 5, 2457 Performance), and another close but not quite competitor was NM Madiyar Amerkeshev (LA) (3.5 / 4, 2557 Performance). Both certainly performed well enough to have All Star credentials, but with the others generally performing a little bit better and generally being more active, we felt that the three spots had to be delegated as such. Nevertheless, both had very strong seasons, a very positive sign for both their teams should they return to be part of their teams in the years to come. And a few others who also had very solid performances, though not enough to merit serious consideration given the number of outstanding candidates were NM Andrew Liu (NE) (4.0 / 6, 2394 Performance), Jason Shi (CON) (3.5 / 5, 2361 Performance), and NM Craig Jones (CAR) (4.5 / 7, 2341 Performance).

 
 

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And so those are the All Star Teams! Congratulations again to all those who made it:

 
 

First Team:

1. GM Zviad Izoria (MAN) (2624)
2. FM Jeffery Xiong (DAL) (2485)
3. IM Akshat Chandra (NY) (2395)
4. NM Ryan Goldenberg (MAN) (2348)

Average Rating: 2463

 

Second Team:

1. GM Julio Becerra (MIA) (2619)
2. GM Renier Gonzalez (MIA) (2510)
3. FM Eric Rodriguez (MIA) (2348)
4. Siddharth Banik (SF) (2192)

Average Rating: 2417

 

Third Team:

1. GM Vinay Bhat (SF) (2555)
2. GM Daniel Naroditsky (SF) (2570)
3. NM Vadim Martirosov (BOS) (2349)
4. NM Lawyer Times (NE) (2261)

Average Rating: 2434

 
 

Stay tuned as we announce the 2013 Rookie of the Year and Most Improved Player awards before the always entertaining Game of the Year Contest kicks off!