Game of the Week --------------------------------------------
by IM Greg Shahade, NM Arun Sharma and Jonathan Hilton
--------------------------------------------
This year for game of the week we
have three judges, all ranking their top five games. The games are then
given anywhere from one to five points, based on these rankings, and
whichever game receives the most points wins the award. Also note that
this year the winner each week will receive a $100 bonus prize. Our
three judges are:
Greg Shahade: I ranked this game at the top of my list but
actually expected it to be overlooked by the other judges, fortunately
at least one of our other judges understands when someone plays a
quality chess game. I felt that Milman clearly outplayed Friedel with
the
black pieces, which is quite an accomplishment as Friedel is very
strong with white. It's possible as Arun mentions below that Josh had
an "easy" draw, but there was really no question as to who controlled
the game
from the beginning until the end. Whenever you have a situation where
you are controlling your opponent and they are the one fighting for a
draw, they can always make a mistake. It's extremely difficult to find
any serious error that Milman made and because of all of these factors
I gave
him the nod. I do agree with Arun however, that this game would not
have won on a typical week, I simply wasn't inspired by any of the
other performances. (1st place: 5
points)
Jonathan Hilton: Congratulations
to Milman on a great game! I liked how even when Friedel looked as if
he were about to equalize and defend successfully, Milman took it into
a rook ending with a clear edge. (1st
place: 5 points)
Arun Sharma: I must say I really don't agree with
this game being Game of the Week
for several reasons. While I agree that Milman played very well
throughout
the game, this game isn't what I would describe as exciting (not like
the Friedel games which won Game of the Week last season), and it was
somewhat anticlimactic as it was the last game to finish, and Carolina
was down 3-0 already at that point. Also, it likely was decided
just
by one simple blunder from White as with 39. Re5+ instead of 39. Rxc5,
it seems like a draw is the most likely outcome. (Not Ranked: 0 points)
At this moment Josh played 39. Rxc5, but claimed
after the game that he forgot to play 39. Re5+ first
which he felt would lead to a draw, because black
could no longer easily capture the d7 pawn.
Arun
Sharma: This
choice might somewhat surprise readers since in retrospect this
game probably seemed a bit one-sided to be Game of the Week, but
overall I really feel it's the best choice. It was certainly
exciting
and definitely very well-played on the White side as it seemed White
got a nice edge in the opening due to the concessions had to make with
his Kingside pawns. But in the early middlegame, Black appeared
to
develop some reasonable compensation on the Queenside. With both
players in fairly severe time pressure, Benjamin calmly sifted through
the complications and liquidated into an exchange up ending and
finished with a pretty mate. This game was obviously quite
important
too as New Jersey seemed to be on the verge of
losing the match having lost early on Board 2 and seeming on the verge
of losing on Board 4. (1st
Place: 5 points)
Greg Shahade: Again I wasn't particularly inspired, but
I did give this game third place. Joel played a solid game, but it
seemed as if Stripunsky's opening was really strange and that Joel
ought to be able to achieve even more than he did in the game. At some
point it looked as if Stripunsky wrestled the advantage away, and then
started to go wrong with moves like 27....Rc4. This game did however
allow New Jersey to tie the match and it's always an accomplishment to
defeat someone of Stripunsky's caliber, especially as he is now ranked
#6 in the nation. (3rd Place: 3 points)
Jonathan Hilton: Solid play by Benjamin - he didn't get an
advantage out of the opening, but when Stripunsky made one mistake,
Benjamin walked all over the guy. (Not
Ranked: 0 points) * Jonathan awarded this game an
Honorable Mention
Greg Shahade: Okay
obviously this game wasn't the most perfectly played contest, however it
provided great drama for the viewers and gave Larry the chance to find
a few nice tricks to win a seemingly unwinnable endgame. For
more analysis on this game check out this article at the
USCF website or take a look at Paul
Hoffman's match report. I use many different criteria to rank my
games, and the excitement factor of the crowd is definitely one of
them. After a difficult 2006 season for IM Kaufman and the Kingfishers,
some luck finally went their way. (2nd
Place: 4 points)
Arun Sharma: I was fairly torn on
whether this game should get a higher ranking or
whether it should have even been in the top five to begin with.
Though
a spectator's delight (probably the biggest one of the week), the
mutual time pressure of both players' somewhat ruined the ending which
once again was certainly exciting and contained a nice swindle.
Again, I was very unsure where I should actually rank this
game so I asked Josh Friedel his opinion about it and he replied with
"Irina had the biggest choke job in USCL History yesterday." When
I
questioned him about his own game though he reluctantly admitted "Well
okay, my game was not far behind." Hopefully based
on his opinion, he agrees with my ranking! (3rd Place: 3 points)
Jonathan Hilton: Jonathan
didn't rank or comment on this game. (Not
Ranked: 0 points)
Total Score: 7 points Other
Considered Games: (judges' scores in parenthesis)
