In one of the few games the judges seemed to be in fair consensus on, most ranking it right near the middle, unsurprisingly this game wound up finishing exactly there, the first game to crack the Top Ten.
This is the eleventh 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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10th Place: GM Julio Becerra (MIA) vs GM Julio Sadorra (DAL) 1-0
GM Becerra nicely crashed through with 29. Rxe6+!, the effective culmination of a brutal attack against a strong GM
FM Ingvar Johannesson (6th Place, 15 Points): The thing with some of these McCutheon positions is that the computer is like “ok … we are cool here with Black, even better” … then some normal looking moves, and Black all of a sudden looks horrible. That’s exactly what happened here. White just strengthened his position slowly but surely, and Black was left in the dust almost without drumming up any counterplay. Extra points for the clinical finish!
FM Ron Young (8th Place, 13 Points): When White breaks through Black’s McCutcheon, it’s all too easy to say “what do you expect when you give up your dark squares, play …Kf8, give yourself the world’s worst Bishop, and don’t establish counterplay on the Queenside”. But sometimes, you say the easy thing, to set up the deep stuff later. I’m sure it wasn’t easy as it looked, but then, it looked so easy.
FM Alisa Melekhina (11th Place, 10 Points): Becerra is back! One slip-up against the dangerous GM, and it’s lights out. Here, the mistake may have been as minor as going Qa5 instead of a6-a5, b5-b4. In the McCutcheon, Black needs to force his way into the Queenside as quickly as possible or else … well we saw the worst of it.
After some major help from Black in stalling the Queenside breakthrough, the rest was a textbook ravaging of the Kingside by White. The French is not faring well this season…
GM Alejandro Ramirez (12th Place, 9 Points): The duel of the Julios was extremely one sided. White’s attack on the Kingside simply unfolded by itself. The game might have had a higher rating if this 28. Bg4 idea was the only way to win, but it was one of a handful of moves that won.
IM Priyadharshan Kannappan (13th Place, 8 Points): I was quite surprised by how Black started playing passively at the 18th move. He should have focused on the b4 break and trying to create counter chances instead of trying to fortify his King, which was not the right thing to do.
Total Score of Becerra vs Sadorra: (10th Place, 55 Points)
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Stay tuned for nine 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 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
Eliminated:
10th Place (55 Points): GM Julio Becerra (MIA) vs GM Julio Sadorra (DAL) 1-0 Article Elimination Article
11th Place (48 Points): GM Anton Kovalyov (RIO) vs GM Gata Kamsky (NY) 0-1 Article Elimination Article
12th Place (48 Points): GM Niclas Huschenbeth (BAL) vs GM Julio Becerra (MIA) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article
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