USCL Week 2: Bodek vs. Salimbagat

Alright, Week 2 of the USCL, and my annotated game of the week! Just in time before the final games of Week 3 kick off. Here in the UK I only follow the Eastern games live for a couple of hours every week - they usually kick off at midnight, whereas the Western games kick off at 2am! Ah well.

The game I picked is another exciting and quite short one, FM Michael Bodek of the NY Knights played White against FM Rico Salimbagat of the Manhattan Applesauce, on board 3 of the cross-island rivalry. I'm trying to pick games of exciting players, and Bodek certainly has that reputation from what I've heard - a dangerous and strong tactician, whereas Salimbagat is also reputed to have an interesting dynamic style.

Here's the game:

I thought this was a stunningly strong and simple game from FM Bodek - what's striking is that so many of his opening moves are completely natural and an great attacking position is quickly reached. The move of the match is undoubtedly 14.g4!, an aggressive thrust with such a simple idea, but how to stop it? A pawn up, White didn't rush, relocated his bad pieces, and the end was pleasing.

Thanks for reading!