In the most important of matches, the oft “draw-maligned” Berlin was proven to not always be so as GM Akobian’s fine endgame play scored a huge win for his team, without which they would not be USCL Champions.
Wildcard #6: IM Jeffery Xiong (DAL) vs GM Varuzhan Akobian (STL) 0-1
This game was somewhat overshadowed by GM So’s fine preparation and nice tactics, but I think this game really was not given enough credit both in regards to its importance and how well Black played in an endgame many might have written off as drawn or failed to convert, in a situation where his team had no margin for error. It is no doubt different than most of the other games in the contest in regards to style, but I feel it is a very worthy addition still and will be curious to see how the judges view it.
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And with that the twenty games in the Game of the Year Contest are set! Be sure to keep an eye on the website as the contest itself shall get underway shortly as we count down to see which game was voted the best of 2014!