Below I will propose a few candidates for move of the year (for Manitoba tournaments).
Actually, I think there is only one candidate, but I leave that to the reader to decide.
Unless I see something better, my vote goes to
Lipic-Magnusson September 2009 TNT - Black to move
16...Nxc3 !Okay, two more from my games - only because I was there.
Dawa-Boron October 2009 TNT, White to move.
31.Rg5 !?(actually, not the best move, but great shock value)
Boron-Swift, July 2009 TNT
17. Ngxf7 (no exclam, I think it is all a bit stock, but I liked the sequence anyway) Rxf718. Bxg6 hxg6 19. Rh8+ (the point of the above)
Anyway, please send me your candidates for local move of the year.
Here is a submission from Steve deGroot:
23...Rc2!
Here is a submission from Steve deGroot:
Magnusson - deGroot, 2009 AY u1800
23...Rc2!Les Mundwiler suggests his move as Black against Lauritson from the March TNT.
29...Qc7(the engines are somewhat neutral on it, as 30. e4 protects the queen and hammers on Black's weak pawns -but you must read Les' comments for his reasoning)
Jim Green likes his son Aaron's move in Bince-Green, August TNT. (see comment section)
18...Rac8 19.Bxc8 Rxc8 20. Qxc8+ Bxc8 21. Rd8+ Kh7 22. Rxc8 Qe5,(but can Black win after 23. Bf2 ?)
9 comments:
Well I'll put up my best move of the year for consideration. From Magnusson - de Groot round 4 Yanofsky U1800. I had made a terrible blunder early on with 14.c5. The idea had been to play Ra7 first, but after considering the position that followed I forgot to play the preparation move. The game is far from perfect but seeing 23 ... Rc2 was a thing of beauty.
The game viewer does not seem to load the U1800 section FYI.
I cast my incredibly biased vote in favour of the knockout move Nxc3!
For a nice idea in a catastrophically bad opening, Saul Magnusson's ...Nxc3 can't be beat. But many players would define "best moves" differently. In my case I think it would best of the year would be 29...Qc7 in Lauritson-Mundwiler, March TNT '09, seizing upon the chance to enter an ending where Black has a somewhat hard-to-see superiority. And I base the choice on the fact that the move itself was hard to find (as a candidate move) and that the strategic idea was hard to evaluate.
Les Mundwiler
I gotta give it up to Saul. I'd give it 3 exclams
Aaron Green is quite taken with his 18th move against Bince in round 2 Aug TNT where Aaron exchanges 2 rooks and a bishop for a queen to take out one of Manitoba's best players a mere 3 moves after the dust has settled. Aaron claims it was one of his deepest thinks at the board ever...Jim green
Aaron's move certainly illustrates the problem with a "best move" competition, because over the board it had to be somewhat intuitive: the "chances" after the move strongly favoured Black, but the computer-assisted analysis of the possibilities can be quite elaborate. So, maybe instead of "best move," we should be looking for "best mating combination," "best positional sacrifice," "best endgame combination," "best intuitive attacking move." One of the most brilliant moves of the last twenty years was Kasparov's offer of a R in Topalov-Kasparov at Wijk: but Topalov could have refused the sacrifice and taken a draw. "It takes two to tango," Kasparov said afterward, and that is another thing that gives a brilliant setting to a "best move": both players contributing some magic.
Les Mundwiler
Ah, Les, you (and others)have hijacked the theme of the thread to "best move of the year", when I indicated just "move of the year".
What I meant was "most startling, unexpected, sound, decisive move of the year", and I must confess I had Saul's move in mind. And I hear he spent 40 minutes on it, so he had worked it out.
The others so far are various shades of obvious, unsound, not best, not decisive, etc.
But I am very happy with the level of interest in this thread.
Les,
I like your idea.
Perhaps we should start those categories in 2010 and start collecting them throughout the year.
Wow, I like the moves put forward. I remember a lot of these games but forgot them as the year wore on. I obviously remember the move by Saul since it was played against me.
Not to sound bitter (and really, I'm not because I've been one of its strongest backers) I have to say that all of the suggestions have their merit.
I personally agree with Les in that it is almost impossible to arbitrarily say "Best Move" with such a definitive stance in club play because the level of play varies from player to player and day to day.
But that's why we have a voting system (we are voting right?) and consequently this should allow the mob to choose the best move.
I really like Aaron's move against Bince because it really set the tone for his upcoming explosion into A Class.
Likewise Saul's victory over me lead to some serious beatdowns on Myron Kernetsky, Jim Lauritson and very nearly against Arwin Dawa! All of whom are much stronger players.
I also really loved the position that Degroot reached against Saul because it was so tactically complicated, and even if the follow-up wasn't best it still took a lot to find the idea.
And of course in Les' case finding a "must-move" in a devilishly tricky position that requires a lot of mean calculations is a very good candidate.
It's so hard to choose!!!
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