Without question a game where the judges did not seem to see eye to eye almost anywhere, with this effort getting rankings from every part of the spectrum.
This is the seventh part in a series of articles which will count down to revealing what game was voted as the 2014 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: GM Varuzhan Akobian (STL) vs GM Renier Gonzalez (MIA) 1-0
With 29. h4!, GM Akobian continued with his final positional effort, knocking off a very strong player in seemingly simple fashion
IM Priyadharshan Kannappan (4th Place, 17 Points): It is never advisable to get a slightly positional worse and cramped position against Var! His positional technique is immaculate, and his play was amazing, though I would blame a lot of the loss on Black’s opening choice and passive play.
FM Ingvar Johannesson (9th Place, 12 Points): A nice clean positional grind from Akobian. He never seemed to let his opponent of the hook and timed very well his Bishop for Knight exchanges to wrap up a nice game.
FM Ron Young (14th Place, 7 Points): It seemed that Black tried to be unconventional without being shocking, and by the time he resorted to outrage, White was ready. Allowing Bxe5 left Black rather lifeless, and as it so often does, lifelessness led to death.
GM Alejandro Ramirez (17th Place, 4 Points): Nothing special here. White obtains a slight opening advantage, outplays and crushes his lower rated opponent…
FM Alisa Melekhina (20th Place, 1 Point): A mechanical smothering of the Czech Benoni. I remained uncomfortable watching the game unfold as Black seemingly trapped his own Rook on h7, where it solemnly remained until the end.
There was nothing that I could see for White to improve. Regrettably, for the purposes of the GOTY contest, the game was not as high-quality or well-fought when considered as a whole. It was a solid positional victory, but lacked the finesse present in the other positional entries.
Total Score of Akobian vs Gonzalez: (14th Place, 41 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 2014 Game of the Year!
Week 1: GM Anton Kovalyov (RIO) vs GM Daniel Naroditsky (SF) 1-0 Article
Week 4: GM Wesley So (STL) vs GM Alex Lenderman (CON) 1/2-1/2 Article
Week 5: GM Alex Lenderman (CON) vs GM Gata Kamsky (NY) 1-0 Article
Week 6: GM Niclas Huschenbeth (BAL) vs GM Wesley So (STL) 1/2-1/2 Article
Week 7: GM Joel Benjamin (NJ) vs GM Holden Hernandez (RIO) 1-0 Article
Week 8: GM Daniel Naroditsky (SF) vs GM Conrad Holt (DAL) 1/2-1/2 Article
Week 9: GM Julio Becerra (MIA) vs GM Julio Sadorra (DAL) 1-0 Article
Week 10: IM David Vigorito (NE) vs FM Andrew Shvartsman (MAN) 1/2-1/2 Article
Quarterfinals: GM Daniel Naroditsky (SF) vs GM Conrad Holt (DAL) 1-0 Article
Semifinals: GM Wesley So (STL) vs GM Julio Becerra (MIA) 1-0 Article
Championship: GM Wesley So (STL) vs GM Conrad Holt (DAL) 1-0 Article
Wildcard #1: GM Niclas Huschenbeth (BAL) vs GM Julio Becerra (MIA) 1/2-1/2 Article
Wildcard #4: GM Anton Kovalyov (RIO) vs GM Gata Kamsky (NY) 0-1 Article
Eliminated:
14th Place (41 Points): GM Varuzhan Akobian (STL) vs GM Renier Gonzalez (MIA) 1-0 Article Elimination Article
15th Place (38 Points): GM Mackenzie Molner (ARZ) vs GM Eugene Perelshteyn (BOS) 1-0 Article Elimination Article
16th Place (36 Points): IM Jeffery Xiong (DAL) vs GM Varuzhan Akobian (STL) 0-1 Article Elimination Article
17th Place (36 Points): GM Pascal Charbonneau (NY) vs IM Jeffery Xiong (DAL) 0-1 Article Elimination Article
18th Place (32 Points): GM Pascal Charbonneau (NY) vs GM Conrad Holt (DAL) 0-1 Article Elimination Article
19th Place (20 Points): IM Georgi Orlov (SEA) vs GM Alex Stripunsky (NJ) 1-0 Article Elimination Article
20th Place (19 Points): IM Kassa Korley (CAR) vs GM Julio Becerra (MIA) 0-1 Article Elimination Article