The first of two eligible entries between these two players falls just short of the middle, another game which got a fair variety of rankings.
This is the eighth 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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13th Place: GM Daniel Naroditsky (SF) vs GM Conrad Holt (DAL) 1-0
GM Naroditsky continued a very strong effort with 32. Ng4!, utilizing his pressure to force a win of material
FM Ingvar Johannesson (3rd Place, 18 Points): I always find it impressive when it’s not immediately clear where the loser of the game goes wrong. (Captain Hindsight thinks it’s 20… Bd5 though). It seemed like Holt shouldn’t have any big problems out of the opening, but into the middlegame Naroditsky just seemed to slowly but surely completely overwhelm his opponent. Holt sacked the exchange and tried to leave Naroditsky with some work to do, but Daniel proved well up to the task and finished in style.
FM Alisa Melekhina (10th Place, 11 Points): Danya gets his revenge! This victory must have been sweet after Holt escaped from the jaws of defeat in their Week 8 encounter. Naroditsky displayed great command of the isolated-Pawn structure. He finished off his strong opponent with a steamroll of an attack.
No doubt, the young GM is living up to his title. At this rate, he has the potential to make his mark on American chess. Let’s hope he finds the time when beginning Stanford next year.
IM Priyadharshan Kannappan (15th Place, 6 Points): Black’s moves from 19-23 were highly dubious. Had he played accurately, he would have had a comfortable position.
FM Ron Young (17th Place, 4 Points): Irving Chernev once wrote: “White has the infamous ‘hanging Pawn’ pair. Strangely, they do not look weak. Is it because Botvinnik is watching over them?” Substitute Naroditsky for Botvinnik, and “Typically” for “Strangely”, and you have my impression about 22 moves into this game. But then, the Cold War era was a time for worrying. In any case, a nice attack though Black was able to kick for some time. In fact, the hanging Pawn pair even bit the dust. I’ll worry next time.
GM Alejandro Ramirez (18th Place, 3 Points): Holt got thrashed, and after playing a nice game Naroditsky’s technique was quite bad.
Total Score of Naroditsky vs Holt: (13th Place, 42 Points)
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Stay tuned for twelve 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
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:
13th Place (42 Points): GM Daniel Naroditsky (SF) vs GM Conrad Holt (DAL) 1-0 Article Elimination Article
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