GM Huschenbeth (BAL) vs IM Zierk (BOS) 0-1 takes 19th Place in the GOTY Contest

The final game to join the contest is unfortunately also one of the first to leave. Judges were impressed by the tenacity shown in turning what seemed to be a bad position around, but the inaccuracies that occurred also dragged it down in the rankings.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

This is the second part in a series of articles which will count down to revealing what game was voted as the 2013 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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19th Place: GM Niclas Huschenbeth (BAL) vs IM Steven Zierk (BOS) 0-1

 

The unusual game had yet another interesting moment with Black having five consecutive Pawns on the fifth rank

 
 

FM Alisa Melekhina (9th Place, 12 Points): This game stood out for its tenacity and fighting spirit. Let’s say the opening doesn’t go as planned (either go 13… Be6 or step back to Bh6 after h4), and you end up a piece down for two pawns against a GM. Do you throw in the towel? No way.

Unfazed, Zierk played as if he were the one with the advantage. This attitude reminded me of the stonewall Chinese team we faced in the USA-China match in July. No matter whether they were down material or suffered from a positional disadvantage, they would stoically play challenging move after move, posing problems for the opponent until the advantage eventually fizzled out. I had never seen anything like it, and I rank this game highly for embodying that fortitude.

It’s never easy to convert advantages, especially when your opponent puts up this much resistance. Eventually Huschenbeth couldn’t keep up and let Black’s Pawns steamroll down the Kingside. Especially aesthetic was the pawn formation after move 31 when 6/7 of Black’s pawns were all on the fifth rank, just waiting to spring alive. Overall, a nice upset.

 

FM Ron Young (11th Place, 10 Points): A lot of these blurbs fall into the “why I rank it this low” type while many others are “why I rank it this high”. Neither means “I realize this is a stupid ranking” (it may be, but I don’t know it). Anyway, this is an example of the latter type. The weirder the position, the more inaccuracy is likely to seep in, and this game is much weirder than it is inaccurate. Every move makes a kind of sense, even when the position does not.

 

GM Alejandro Ramirez (13th Place, 8 Points): Honestly I would have given this game higher marks of Huschenbeth had continued playing as precisely as he did, but his blunder simply threw away an advantage, and Zierk had to play all the obvious moves to collect the full point.

 

FM Ingvar Johannesson (14th Place, 7 Points): An interesting Sveshnikov game where Black parts with a piece in a complicated opening position and ends up with compensation in form of a very strong Pawn chain. The five pawns on the fifth rank make a very strong impression indeed! In the end White was too slow in creating any play for himself on the Queenside and had to succumb to the Pawn marching down the h-file. A nice game but a nagging feeling remains that White should have done better.

 

GM Alex Yermolinsky (19th Place, 2 Points): White badly misplays a piece up endgame.

 

IM Jake Kleiman (20th Place, 1 Point): I was surprised this game got in. I get that the five pawns on the fifth is cool looking, but White was winning.

 
 

Total Score of Huschenbeth vs Zierk: (19th Place, 40 Points)

 

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Stay tuned for eighteen more such articles as the field shrinks by one game almost every day to see which of the following games will be the 2013 Game of the Year!

 

Week 1: GM Joel Benjamin (NJ) vs GM Pascal Charbonneau (NY) 1-0   Article

Week 2: GM Pascal Charbonneau (NY) vs GM Robert Hungaski (MAN) 1-0   Article

Week 3: IM Andranik Matikozyan (LA) vs GM Julio Becerra (MIA) 0-1   Article

Week 4: GM Emil Anka (SEA) vs FM Tom Bartell (PHI) 0-1   Article

Week 5: IM Dmitry Schneider (MAN) vs GM Joel Benjamin (NJ) 0-1   Article

Week 6: IM Marc Esserman (BOS) vs GM Tamaz Gelashvili (NY) 0-1   Article

Week 7: FM Eric Rodriguez (MIA) vs IM Irina Krush (NY) 1-0   Article

Week 8: GM Conrad Holt (DAL) vs IM Jonathan Schroer (CAR) 1-0   Article

Week 9: GM Giorgi Margvelashvili (DAL) vs GM Ben Finegold (STL) 1/2-1/2   Article

Week 10: John Michael Burke (NJ) vs NM Ryan Goldenberg (MAN) 0-1   Article

Quarterfinals: GM Conrad Holt (DAL) vs GM Julio Becerra (MIA) 0-1   Article

Semifinals: GM Sam Shankland (NE) vs GM Tamaz Gelashvili (NY) 1-0   Article

Championship: GM Julio Becerra (MIA) vs GM Tamaz Gelashvili (NY) 1-0   Article

Wildcard #1: GM Pascal Charbonneau (NY) vs FM Steven Winer (NE) 1-0   Article

Wildcard #2: IM Vitaly Neimer (STL) vs FM Eric Rodriguez (MIA) 0-1   Article

Wildcard #3: IM Justin Sarkar (CON) vs IM Levon Altounian (ARZ) 0-1   Article

Wildcard #4: GM Zviad Izoria (MAN) vs GM Tamaz Gelashvili (NY) 1-0   Article

Wildcard #5: GM Alex Stripunsky (NJ) vs GM Melikset Khachiyan (LA) 1-0   Article

 
 

Eliminated:

 
 

19th Place (40 Points): GM Niclas Huschenbeth (BAL) vs IM Steven Zierk (BOS) 0-1   Article       Elimination Article

20th Place (40 Points): GM Tamaz Gelashvili (NY) vs GM Julio Becerra (MIA) 1-0   Article       Elimination Article