For only the second time in ten seasons, a drawn effort has been voted the best game of the season as this impressive effort between two of America’s younger GMs seemed to contain it all, and the judges’ votes validated that.
This is the final part in a series of articles which has counted down to revealing what game was voted as the 2014 USCL Game of the Year. For more information on exactly how this process worked and the prize information, please refer to: Game of the Year Contest
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1st Place: GM Daniel Naroditsky (SF) vs GM Conrad Holt (DAL) 1/2-1/2
A remarkably exciting, yet also quite well played, game really got started with 19. Nf5!, leading to an amazing bout of back and forth play
GM Alejandro Ramirez (1st Place, 20 Points): What a fantastic game by Danya! With his powerful attack he broke through Conrad’s defenses and he emerged up material. And yet, the Dallas player remained resilient and composed, he somehow tricked his opponent into thinking that the Pawn endgame was winning - and yet it surprisingly was not! A sign of a resourceful GM is when they can set up psychological traps such as this one, hoping his opponent will go for the “simple” route. A nice effort from both players.
FM Ron Young (1st Place, 20 Points): Not to make myself out such a rebel (though I admit there is that risk), I know it is not popular to pick draws number one. Some liken it to “everyone’s a winner” and co-MVP’s, but I don’t think it’s so. For one thing, I am voting for the game, not the players, and honestly I didn’t see one among this year’s nominees that struck me like that Bh6 game by Martinez, or the one where Christiansen sacs all his pieces (never mind that I didn’t vote for either of those games). But this game does feature warm attack, cool defense, and though White certainly let it get away (somewhere), it was quite an entertaining endgame, and shows that Wild7 can’t teach you everything you need to know about Pawn endings.
IM Priyadharshan Kannappan (2nd Place, 19 Points): A game gets really interesting only when two equally strong contenders give out their best. This game was a treat to watch, it had every ingredient possible to make it a perfect game! There were sacrifices, tricky endings, and then a stalemate to split the honors.
FM Alisa Melekhina (3rd Place, 18 Points): I’m a big believer in the Advanced-French Pawn structure, whether it arises from the c3 Sicilian, Advanced French directly, or the French Tarrasch. White gains a generous space advantage. When coupled with the pieces aimed at the Kingside, it paves the way for creative sacs. These qualities are only magnified when Black plugs the center with c4. I was surprised that Holt chose this plan to counter Naroditsky’s set up.
Naroditsky took it in stride and played in the spirit of the opening. Just when you thought Black had consolidated, White found a breaking point in the structure. You know the game is exciting when there are so many sacs that you give up on keeping up with the exact material count.
Danya had to make a wearying amount of decisions throughout the game. Only when it came down to the most critical decision – whether to exchange down into a King + Pawn endgame − he let his guard down. I can relate to the feeling of doing everything right only to let the advantage slip due to a miscalculation. Still, Holt should be credited with putting up tremendous resistance.
It made for a thrilling battle, and we all got an endgame lesson as a bonus!
FM Ingvar Johannesson (14th Place, 7 Points): 26. Rxd5 was an impressive move in a fighting game and after that White stood better and was completely winning at several points. Can’t rate this game higher since White failed to capitalize on his advantage. A fighting draw, but White should have won and then this would have for sure been rated higher.
Total Score of Naroditsky vs Holt: (1st Place, 84 Points)
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Final 2014 Game of the Year Standings:
1st Place (84 Points): GM Daniel Naroditsky (SF) vs GM Conrad Holt (DAL) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article
2nd Place (82 Points): GM Joel Benjamin (NJ) vs GM Holden Hernandez (RIO) 1-0 Article Elimination Article
3rd Place (80 Points): GM Wesley So (STL) vs GM Julio Becerra (MIA) 1-0 Article Elimination Article
4th Place (74 Points): GM Wesley So (STL) vs GM Conrad Holt (DAL) 1-0 Article Elimination Article
5th Place (72 Points): GM Niclas Huschenbeth (BAL) vs GM Wesley So (STL) 1/2-1/2 Article Elimination Article
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