The Chess Mind

The U.S. Chess League's 2007 season is over (appropriately enough, since it's 2008), but the countdown to its Game of the Year has barely begun. Last week they released the identity of the 20th place winning game (Bonin-Shmelov), and last night it was the turn of #19. That game was a battle between Josh Friedel and Lev Milman, a Marshall Gambit where Black played a little better than White, but a draw was the seemingly inevitable result before Friedel first imbalanced the position and then blundered in a drawn rook ending.

You can see the game and read the judges' comments here, and if you check back in a day or two you can watch my video presentation of the game on ChessVideos.tv.