There is always one unfortunate game which finishes right outside of the $ spots, and this year it unluckily fell to GM Lenderman two-fold as his two entries were eliminated in 6th + 7th.
This is the fifteenth 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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6th Place: GM Alex Lenderman (CON) vs GM Gata Kamsky (NY) 1-0
Fearing Black’s inevitable Queenside superiority, GM Lenderman boldly went forward with 34. g4!?, his aggressiveness eventually proving successful, knocking off the current US Champion
FM Alisa Melekhina (2nd Place, 19 Points): Lenderman made his mark in the 2014 US Championships. He continues making a statement by unseating the US Champion himself. Possibly, Lenderman out-Kamskyed Kamsky!
The game was extremely tense and filled with thematic manuevering until Lenderman decided to change tack with 34. g4!? It wasn’t precise, but it was bold. I place very high value on the ability to go after your opponents, especially if they are higher-rated. Kamsky could have stolen the advantage by taking on h6, but only a computer would fearlessly take such a dangerous Pawn. This goes to show, even the greats falter.
It’s difficult not to consider the names of the players in ranking this game. If the headers were removed, I may not have been as impressed with the game on its own. I’m ranking this one highly because of Lenderman’s ability to keep up (if not surpass) with Kamsky in a complicated game and sensing the right moment to strike.
FM Ron Young (5th Place, 16 Points): There’s something about watching a heavyweight duel that makes you say “what this games needs are round card girls”. Though Black seemed to be calling the tune, it seems that White was better able to dance to the music. At the risk of seeming a masher, maybe Black should have grabbed that White pawn on h6. Better a thorn in your mouth than in your side, as the dodo bird and the woolly mammoth used to say.
IM Priyadharshan Kannappan (6th Place, 15 Points): The game was equally poised till move 30, and I feel at that point Black was more hungry for a win than White, and he started creating chances on the Queenside. To counter that White tried to create chances on the Kingside, which was not accurate, and Black didn’t punish that mistake by playing 36… ba3 37. ba3 Rb6.
FM Ingvar Johannesson (10th Place, 11 Points): Beating Kamsky is no easy feat, but Lenderman proved up to the task after some late game trickery. Kamsky appeared quite ok for most of the game and was probably better at several points in the game. After 36… g5 things started going south for Kamsky, and 43. Be6! was a nice touch by Lenderman which started a nice sequence to wrap up the point.
GM Alejandro Ramirez (15th Place, 6 Points): Had you crossed out the name of the players I would have had no idea why this is in GOTY contention. Kamsky clearly outplayed his opponent and then positionally blundered with 36… g5?, after which his game simply collapsed. Not much to see.
Total Score of Lenderman vs Kamsky: (6th Place, 67 Points)
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Stay tuned for five 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 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:
6th Place (67 Points): GM Alex Lenderman (CON) vs GM Gata Kamsky (NY) 1-0 Article Elimination Article
7th Place (61 Points): GM Wesley So (STL) vs GM Alex Lenderman (CON) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article
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