In yet another game with fairly different opinions, the second of five draws in the contest ended up taking its leave, but not before managing a very strong finish, not far from the Top Five.
This is the thirteenth 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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8th Place: IM David Vigorito (NE) vs FM Andrew Shvartsman (MAN) 1/2-1/2
In a fairly standard King’s Indian structure, FM Shvartsman came up with the unique plan of 22… Be7-h4-g3, and after several fireworks, the game ended in an interesting perpetual
GM Alejandro Ramirez (2nd Place, 19 Points): The Classical KID always promises interesting and entertaining games. This one was far from perfect, as they usually are, but it was back and forth and with interesting resources. The final perpetual with the long range Queen checks was a nice touch.
FM Ingvar Johannesson (7th Place, 14 Points): One of the most entertaining games in the bunch for sure. Having said that I had no clue what was going on for most of it. Computers tend to be of little use in these KID type blow for blow attacks as they just tend to show +1 all the time. The balance didn’t shift very far either way and probably both sides missed some chances. The long range perpetual was a nice finish.
IM Priyadharshan Kannappan (11th Place, 10 Points): KID always produces fighting chess, and this game was more proof. There were mistakes near the end, if those had not happened, this game had the potential to finish in the Top 5.
FM Ron Young (11th Place, 10 Points): “Well-played” is usually a bare minimum in a best-game contest, but in the King’s Indian, I think it rates bonus points. It seems that 36. Nc7!? (punctuated for English meaning, not chess) might have led somewhere but maybe not without a heart attack on the way, and too many people already have died during games.
FM Alisa Melekhina (14th Place, 7 Points): I’m slightly biased because I always root for a King’s Indian − one of my old pet openings − to succeed. The Race Variation of the Classical King’s Indian is becoming rare at higher levels. There’s only so much you can do to the tried-and-true plans of Black trying to breakthrough on the Kingside with f5 and White holding his nose high and wreaking havoc on the Queenside.
Shvartsman squeezes a novel plan out of the old opening with the Be7-h4-g3 maneuver. The dark-squared Bishop is usually dead in these closed structures, but Andrew revitalizes it. This was enough to distract White from his Queenside ambitions.
If a KID ends in a counter-intuitive draw, then both players gave it everything. There’s also something to be learned theoretically whenever a Classical KID is played. Like snowflakes, they all resemble each other but each one is unique.
Total Score of Vigorito vs Shvartsman: (8th Place, 60 Points)
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Stay tuned for seven 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 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
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:
8th Place (60 Points): IM David Vigorito (NE) vs FM Andrew Shvartsman (MAN) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article
9th Place (55 Points): GM Anton Kovalyov (RIO) vs GM Daniel Naroditsky (SF) 1-0 Article Elimination Article
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