US Chess League Game of the Year
Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (pictured) of the Boston Blitz has won an award for the best game of the US Chess League, for his win against IM Davorin Kuljsevic.
Here are the judges comments followed by the game:
FM Robby Adamson (2nd Place, 19 points): This is the only time I took into consideration the particulars of a match in judging Game of the Year. However, it was critical in that this game was part of the the 2007 USCL Final between the Dallas Destiny and Boston Blitz. At the time this match was going on, the match was tied 1-1 with uncertainty on the remaining board. After playing a bad opening, Sammour overcame a fierce and thematic piece sacrifice on e5. After defending very well, Jorge attacked with his rooks on h2 and g2! As it turned out this victory was needed since the match went to a tiebreak. This game gets the extra credit it deserves because it was an exciting match from the final. I award this nineteen points.WGM Jennifer Shahade (3rd Place, 18 points): What I love about this game is that after Ne5 I'd be thinking, how do I defend this, this is going to be so annoying, etc. Meanwhile, Jorge just goes straight for the kill and somehow creates a rook battery in the blink of an eye, his king just chilling on e1 like he thought he was castled. The final combination is also very aesthetic and having witnessed Jorge come up with longer combos in one-minute chess, I bet he saw the whole thing despite being in time pressure.
FM Ron Young (4th Place, 17 points): This seemed like a titanic struggle in the making before degenerating into a brilliancy. But cool touches such as doubled rooks on the second rank lift it above the run of banal sacrificial orgies.
FM Dennis Monokroussos (4th Place, 17 points): A very dramatic game, and well-played, too. Sammour-Hasbun got into all sorts of trouble in the opening, especially after the nice (but known) knight sac on e5. White's position after move 20 is almost preposterous, but Jorge managed to hold things together, whip up an attack of his own, and win in the ending. The win was incredibly important and extremely exciting (that's right, kids: always avoid alliteration), and it really wasn't badly played, either. (Except, perhaps, for 27... Bd5. But that's an easy error to make, especially in time trouble, and his position was already starting to
crack.)
GM Alex Shabalov (5th Place, 16 points): Cool defense by Sammour-Hasbun, great middlegame tactics, and fine technique; solid top five performer.
