As a great a season as GM Becerra and the Miami Sharks had, the GOTY Contest was not meant to be for him as his three entries very unusually were eliminated in succession.
This is the seventh 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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14th Place: IM Andranik Matikozyan (LA) vs GM Julio Becerra (MIA) 0-1
After a long stretch of manuevering, GM Becerra broke through with 44… e3!, an eventual decisive break through
GM Alex Yermolinsky (7th Place, 14 Points): This tense game turns in Black’s favor when White fails to take care of his King. The pattern of Black’s attack conducted on the dark squares is known to every Sicilian and King’s Indian player – it’s all about the e4-e3 push!
FM Ron Young (8th Place, 13 Points): Bobby Fischer once compared chess to basketball. In basketball, though, when everybody gets to play, we’re usually talking about a blowout while in chess it is the most competitive games where you see everybody playing. Black’s Queen, Rook, and Bishop played together very well indeed, and yet you had the impression each could manage quite nicely, were it forced to, alone.
IM Jake Kleiman (9th Place, 12 Points): This game was deceptive. I liked it because Julio managed to create initiative out of what appears thin air. Once he got a chance there was no coming back.
FM Alisa Melekhina (16th Place, 5 Points): Becerra transformed the calm d3 Ruy to a middlegame played on his terms. After a symmetrical center-Knight lockdown, he emerged victorious because his initiative happened to be aimed at White’s Kingside. The bounty on the King far exceeded the value of Black’s b7 pawn. A tense battle, but I’ve seen cleaner and more resounding victories from Becerra.
FM Ingvar Johannesson (17th Place, 4 Points): This game didn’t really leave a huge impression. Becerra played an early …g6 vs the d3 Spanish and soon we got more of a King’s Indian-esque type of position. I liked Black’s play which seemed really solid but still nothing really happened till after move 40 when some inaccuracies by White allowed Black to breakthrough with 44… e3 and from there Black found the way to win which shouldn’t have been too hard. Seemed overall well played without any big blunders but something was missing.
GM Alejandro Ramirez (18th Place, 3 Points): Black took advantage of White’s carelessness and won. Nothing too special.
Total Score of Matikozian vs Becerra: (14th Place, 51 Points)
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Stay tuned for thirteen 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 2: GM Pascal Charbonneau (NY) vs GM Robert Hungaski (MAN) 1-0 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
Semifinals: GM Sam Shankland (NE) 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:
14th Place (51 Points): IM Andranik Matikozyan (LA) vs GM Julio Becerra (MIA) 0-1 Article Elimination Article
15th Place (44 Points): GM Conrad Holt (DAL) vs GM Julio Becerra (MIA) 0-1 Article Elimination Article
16th Place (43 Points): GM Julio Becerra (MIA) vs GM Tamaz Gelashvili (NY) 1-0 Article Elimination Article
17th Place (43 Points): GM Joel Benjamin (NJ) vs GM Pascal Charbonneau (NY) 1-0 Article Elimination Article
18th Place (41 Points): John Michael Burke (NJ) vs NM Ryan Goldenberg (MAN) 0-1 Article Elimination Article
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
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