by NM Arun Sharma

With only one round to go the battle to see who comes out on top of the fantasy competition seems just as stiff as the battle to become US Champion. After leading the competition for three straight days, Gilbert Luna II's team faltered a bit only managing to snare two out of seven points allowing second place Jeremy Madison to tie him in the points race (though Luna does hold the edge in the tiebreaker if it comes down to these two). There are however many, many others not far behind nearly any of whom could emerge on top tomorrow should the results fall their way.

Keep in mind that the prizes are as follows:

1st: 80 GB Video Ipod (new)

2nd: 1 Hour Phone/Internet Lesson with Samford winner IM Josh Friedel

3rd: 1 Year Extension of USCF Membership

4th: Signed copy of IM Josh Waitzkin's new book "The Art of Learning"

5th: Signed copy of WGM Jennifer Shahade's book "Chess Bitch"

But who at this point would comprise the optimal team right now?No one has picked it, but Greg Shahade (without using any computer assistance) believes this to be it:

"Perfect Team" (2503.5714) - 32.5 Points

Alex Onischuk 2712 6
Yury Shulman 2662 5.5
Alexander Shabalov 2660 6
Sergey Kudrin 2612 5.5
Ray Robson 2359 3.5
Michael Langer 2334 4
Irina Zenyuk 2186 2

Although this reporter has not investigated this himself, Greg is convinced that this is the optimal team and is offering a $20 prize to the first person to post a better team in the comments section (either higher score or same score with lower rating). Keep in
mind that Greg has stated he's sure there can't be a better team so there may well be no solution, but I would personally love it if someone out there would debunk him so hunt away (be sure if you do to use the player ratings which were pertinent to this contest from the USCF site, not the ratings on Monroi, which are different)

These are the Top Fifty teams of the Fantasy Competition.

Standings by Points:

31.5 Points: 1st - 2nd
31 Points: 3rd
30.5 Points: 4th - 8th
30 Points: 9th - 21st
29.5 Points: 22nd - 47th
29 Points: 48th - 93rd
28.5 Points: 94th - 149th
28 Points: 150th - 227th
27.5 Points: 228th - 294th
27 Points: 295th - 333rd
26.5 Points: 334th - 362nd
26 Points: 363rd - 374th
25.5 Points: 375th - 379th
25 Points: 380th - 384th
24.5 Points: 385th
23.5 Points: 386th
23 Points: 387th

1st: Gilberto Luna II (2504.2857) - 31.5 Points

Alex Onischuk 6
Jaan Ehlvest 5
Alexander Shabalov 6
Julio Becerra 5
Ray Robson 3.5
Michael Langer 4
Irina Zenyuk 2

Tiebreaker 1: 35.5 Points
Tiebreaker 2: 119 Moves

2nd: Jeremy Madison (2508.2857) - 31.5 Points

Jaan Ehlvest 5
Alexander Shabalov 6
Sergey Kudrin 5.5
Irina Krush 4
Justin Sarkar 3.5
Ray Robson 3.5
Michael Langer 4

Tiebreaker 1: 42 Points
Tiebreaker 2: 128 Moves

3rd: Ryan Miller (2509.1429) - 31 Points

Alex Onischuk 6
Gregory Kaidanov 5.5
Alexander Shabalov 6
Irina Krush 4
Robert Hess 4
Ron Burnett 3.5
Irina Zenyuk 2

Tiebreaker 1: 45 Points
Tiebreaker 2: 95 Moves

4th: Olufemi Oyekan (2482.7143) - 30.5 Points

Alex Onischuk 6
Alexander Shabalov 6
Irina Krush 4
Justin Sarkar 3.5
Ron Burnett 3.5
Ray Robson 3.5
Michael Langer 4

Tiebreaker 1: 38.5 Points
Tiebreaker 2: 155 Moves

5th - 6th: Ramie Jimenez (2508.2857) - 30.5 Points

Jaan Ehlvest 5
Yury Shulman 5.5
Julio Becerra 5
Irina Krush 4
Michael Mulyar 3.5
Ray Robson 3.5
Michael Langer 4

Tiebreaker 1: 46 Points
Tiebreaker 2: 72 Moves

5th - 6th: Jan Olderdissen (2508.2857) - 30.5 Points

Alex Onischuk 6
Alexander Shabalov 6
Irina Krush 4
David Pruess 3.5
Robert Hess 4
Justin Sarkar 3.5
Ray Robson 3.5

Tiebreaker 1: 40.5 Points
Tiebreaker 2: 89 Moves

7th: Benjamin Katz (2509.5714) - 30.5 Points

Alex Onischuk 6
Yury Shulman 5.5
Alexander Shabalov 6
Josh Friedel 3.5
Robert Hess 4
Ray Robson 3.5
Irina Zenyuk 2

Tiebreaker 1: 48 Points
Tiebreaker 2: 105 Moves

8th: Asher Gabara (2510) - 30.5 Points

Alex Onischuk 6
Alexander Shabalov 6
Joseph Bradford 4
Robert Hess 4
Justin Sarkar 3.5
Bryan Smith 3.5
Ron Burnett 3.5

Tiebreaker 1: 37 Points
Tiebreaker 2: 58 Moves

9th: Makalo Krienko (2492) - 30 Points

Hikaru Nakamura 5
Alex Onischuk 6
Alexander Shabalov 6
Justin Sarkar 3.5
Ray Robson 3.5
Michael Langer 4
Irina Zenyuk 2

Tiebreaker 1: 40 Points
Tiebreaker 2: 120 Moves

10th: Irina Krush (2504.1429) - 30 Points

Alex Onischuk 6
Jaan Ehlvest 5
Alexander Shabalov 6
Irina Krush 4
David Pruess 3.5
Ray Robson 3.5
Irina Zenyuk 2

Tiebreaker 1: 37 Points
Tiebreaker 2: 89 Moves

11th: Robert Grove (2505.5714) - 30 Points

Alex Onischuk 6
Jaan Ehlvest 5
Boris Gulko 5
Irina Krush 4
Ron Burnett 3.5
Michael Langer 4
Michael Aigner 2.5

Tiebreaker 1: 28 Points
Tiebreaker 2: 89 Moves

12th: Adam Goldberg (2507.8571) - 30 Points

Alex Onischuk 6
Yury Shulman 5.5
Eugene Perelshteyn 4.5
Irina Krush 4
Robert Hess 4
Ray Robson 3.5
Michael Aigner 2.5

Tiebreaker 1: 41.5 Points
Tiebreaker 2: 91 Moves

13th: Filip Podlecki (2508.5714) - 30 Points

Alex Onischuk 6
Alexander Shabalov 6
Julio Becerra 5
Irina Krush 4
Bryan Smith 3.5
Jay Bonin 3
Michael Aigner 2.5

Tiebreaker 1: 33 Points
Tiebreaker 2: 111 Moves

14th: James Dickson (2508.7143) - 30 Points

Alex Onischuk 6
Jaan Ehlvest 5
Alexander Shabalov 6
Irina Krush 4
Robert Hess 4
Justin Sarkar 3.5
Tom Braunlich 1.5

Tiebreaker 1: 39 Points
Tiebreaker 2: 113 Moves

15th: Dwight Spitzer (2509) - 30 Points

Alex Onischuk 6
Boris Gulko 5
Alex Stripunsky 4.5
Irina Krush 4
Robert Hess 4
Michael Langer 4
Michael Aigner 2.5

Tiebreaker 1: 35.5 Points
Tiebreaker 2: 88 Moves

16th - 17th: Stanislav Kriventsov / Christopher Heung (2509.1429) - 30 Points

Alex Onischuk 6
Yury Shulman 5.5
Irina Krush 4
David Pruess 3.5
Robert Hess 4
Justin Sarkar 3.5
Ray Robson 3.5

Stanislav's Tiebreakers:

Tiebreaker 1: 32.5 Points
Tiebreaker 2: 112 Moves

Christopher's Tiebreakers:

Tiebreaker 1: 35 Points
Tiebreaker 2: 128 Moves

18th: Aleck Johnsen (2509.7143) - 30 Points

Hikaru Nakamura 5
Alexander Shabalov 6
Enrico Sevillano 4.5
Irina Krush 4
Ron Burnett 3.5
Jay Bonin 3
Michael Langer 4

Tiebreaker 1: 33 Points
Tiebreaker 2: 71 Moves

19th: Daniel Naroditsky (2509.8571) - 30 Points

Alex Onischuk 6
Yury Shulman 5.5
Alex Ivanov 4.5
Irina Krush 4
Robert Hess 4
Ray Robson 3.5
Michael Aigner 2.5

Tiebreaker 1: 39 Points
Tiebreaker 2: 95 Moves

20th - 21st: Michael Peguero (2510) - 30 Points

Alex Onischuk 6
Yury Shulman 5.5
Josh Friedel 3.5
Irina Krush 4
Justin Sarkar 3.5
Ron Burnett 3.5
Michael Langer 4

Tiebreaker 1: 34 Points
Tiebreaker 2: 96 Moves

20th - 21st: Charles Hughes (2510) - 30 Points

Alexander Shabalov 6
Alex Stripunsky 4.5
Melikset Khachiyan 4.5
Irina Krush 4
David Pruess 3.5
Justin Sarkar 3.5
Michael Langer 4

Tiebreaker 1: 26.5 Points
Tiebreaker 2: 94 Moves

22nd: Elmer Karczewski (2486.4286) - 29.5 Points

Jaan Ehlvest 5
Yury Shulman 5.5
Alexander Shabalov 6
Julio Becerra 5
Michael Langer 4
Michael Aigner 2.5
Chouchanik Airapetian 1.5

Tiebreaker 1: 40 Points
Tiebreaker 2: 82 Moves

23rd: Vikas Kumar (2497) - 29.5 Points

Hikaru Nakamura 5
Alex Onischuk 6
Gregory Kaidanov 5.5
Alexander Shabalov 6
Michael Langer 4
Chouchanik Airapetian 1.5
Tom Braunlich 1.5

Tiebreaker 1: 41.5 Points
Tiebreaker 2: 102 Moves

24th: Daniel Yeager (2501.5714) - 29.5 Points

Hikaru Nakamura 5
Alex Onischuk 6
David Pruess 3.5
Robert Hess 4
Justin Sarkar 3.5
Ray Robson 3.5
Michael Langer 4

Tiebreaker 1: 39.5 Points
Tiebreaker 2: 78 Moves

25th: Zachary Haskin (2502.4286) - 29.5 Points

Yury Shulman 5.5
Alexander Shabalov 6
Enrico Sevillano 4.5
Josh Friedel 3.5
Robert Hess 4
Ray Robson 3.5
Michael Aigner 2.5

Tiebreaker 1: 42.5 Points
Tiebreaker 2: 112 Moves

26th: Norbert Albera (2502.5714) - 29.5 Points

Hikaru Nakamura 5
Alex Onischuk 6
Yury Shulman 5.5
Alexander Shabalov 6
Ray Robson 3.5
Chouchanik Airapetian 1.5
Irina Zenyuk 2

Tiebreaker 1: 35 Points
Tiebreaker 2: 120 Moves

27th: Kevin Villarreal (2504.1429) - 29.5 points

Hikaru Nakamura 5
Alex Onischuk 6
Alexander Shabalov 6
Irina Krush 4
Jay Bonin 3
Ray Robson 3.5
Irina Zenyuk 2

Tiebreaker 1: 33 Points
Tiebreaker 2: 120 Moves

28th: Richard Reich (2505.4286) - 29.5 Points

Hikaru Nakamura 5
Eugene Perelshteyn 4.5
Melikset Khachiyan 4.5
Irina Krush 4
Robert Hess 4
Ray Robson 3.5
Michael Langer 4

Tiebreaker 1: 35.5 Points
Tiebreaker 2: 124 Moves

29th: Darrian Robinson (2506) - 29.5 Points

Alexander Shabalov 6
Eugene Perelshteyn 4.5
Julio Becerra 5
Alex Yermolinsky 4
Melikset Khachiyan 4.5
Ray Robson 3.5
Irina Zenyuk 2

Tiebreaker 1: 35.5 Points
Tiebreaker 2: 115 Moves

30th: Alex Chang (2506.2857) - 29.5 Points

Yury Shulman 5.5
Alexander Shabalov 6
Eugene Perelshteyn 4.5
Melikset Khachiyan 4.5
Irina Krush 4
Ron Burnett 3.5
Chouchanik Airapetian 1.5

Tiebreaker 1: 41 Points
Tiebreaker 2: 126 Moves

31st: Andre Harding (2506.4286) - 29.5 Points

Alex Onischuk 6
Yury Shulman 5.5
Sergey Kudrin 5.5
Josh Friedel 3.5
Robert Hess 4
Jay Bonin 3
Irina Zenyuk 2

Tiebreaker 1: 45 Points
Tiebreaker 2: 97 Moves

32nd: Paul Smith (2506.5714) - 29.5 Points

Hikaru Nakamura 5
Alex Onischuk 6
Alexander Shabalov 6
Irina Krush 4
Ron Burnett 3.5
Ray Robson 3.5
Chouchanik Airapetian 1.5

Tiebreaker 1: 45 Points
Tiebreaker 2: 128 Moves

33nd: Chris Falter (2506.8571) - 29.5 Points

Hikaru Nakamura 5
Alex Onischuk 6
Varuzhan Akobian 4.5
Melikset Khachiyan 4.5
Ray Robson 3.5
Michael Langer 4
Irina Zenyuk 2

Tiebreaker 1: 37.5 Points
Tiebreaker 2: 81 Moves

34rd: Jose Morrero (2507.1429) - 29.5 Points

Hikaru Nakamura 5
Alex Onischuk 6
Irina Krush 4
Robert Hess 4
Michael Mulyar 3.5
Jay Bonin 3
Michael Langer 4

Tiebreaker 1: 35.5 Points
Tiebreaker 2: 111 Moves

35th: Andrew Tichenor (2507.4286) - 23.5 Points

Hikaru Nakamura 5
Alex Onischuk 6
Alexander Shabalov 6
Irina Krush 4
Justin Sarkar 3.5
Ray Robson 3.5
Tom Braunlich 1.5

Tiebreaker 1: 33 Points
Tiebreaker 2: 98 Moves

36th - 37th: Daniel Macieg (2508) - 29.5 Points

Alex Ivanov 4.5
Sergey Kudrin 5.5
Julio Becerra 5
David Pruess 3.5
Robert Hess 4
Justin Sarkar 3.5
Ray Robson 3.5

Tiebreaker 1: 36 Points
Tiebreaker 2: 120 Moves

36th - 37th: Laurence Mota (2508) - 26.5 Points

Alexander Shabalov 6
Julio Becerra 5
Josh Friedel 3.5
Irina Krush 4
David Pruess 3.5
Robert Hess 4
Ray Robson 3.5

Tiebreaker 1: 46.5 Points
Tiebreaker 2: 93 Moves

38th - 39th: Valicio Pahla (2508.4286) - 29.5 Points

Hikaru Nakamura 5
Jaan Ehlvest 5
Alexander Shabalov 6
Irina Krush 4
Robert Hess 4
Ray Robson 3.5
Irina Zenyuk 2

Tiebreaker 1: 37 Points
Tiebreaker 2: 105 Moves

38th - 39th: Ed Scimia (2508.4286) - 29.5 Points

Varuzhan Akobian 4.5
Sergey Kudrin 5.5
Eugene Perelshteyn 4.5
Irina Krush 4
Robert Hess 4
Ron Burnett 3.5
Ray Robson 3.5

Tiebreaker 1: 32.5 Points
Tiebreaker 2: 93 Moves

40th: Joseph Thuemler (2509) - 29.5 Points

Alex Onischuk 6
Yury Shulman 5.5
Josh Friedel 3.5
Robert Hess 4
Justin Sarkar 3.5
Ron Burnett 3.5
Ray Robson 3.5

Tiebreaker 1: 39 Points
Tiebreaker 2: 78 Moves

41st - 43nd: Peter Hess / Brad Jackson (2509.1429) - 29.5 Points

Hikaru Nakamura 5
Alex Onischuk 6
Yury Shulman 5.5
Robert Hess 4
Justin Sarkar 3.5
Ray Robson 3.5
Irina Zenyuk 2

Peter's Tiebreakers:

Tiebreaker 1: 39 Points
Tiebreaker 2: 98 Moves

Brad's Tiebreakers:

Tiebreaker 1: 40.5 Points
Tiebreaker 2: 107 Moves

41st - 43nd: Tim McEntee (2509.1429) - 29.5 Points

Alex Onischuk 6
Alexander Shabalov 6
Josh Friedel 3.5
Irina Krush 4
Robert Hess 4
Justin Sarkar 3.5
Michael Aigner 2.5

Tiebreaker 1: 35 Points
Tiebreaker 2: 66 Moves

44th - 45th: Jason Qian (2509.4286) - 29.5 Points

Alex Onischuk 6
Alexander Shabalov 6
Josh Friedel 3.5
Walter Browne 3
Bryan Smith 3.5
Ray Robson 3.5
Michael Langer 4

Tiebreaker 1: 45 Points
Tiebreaker 2: 96 Moves

44th - 45th: Joel Sokoloff (2509.4286) - 29.5 Points

Yury Shulman 5.5
Sergey Kudrin 5.5
Josh Friedel 3.5
Irina Krush 4
David Pruess 3.5
Robert Hess 4
Ray Robson 3.5

Tiebreaker 1: 29 Points
Tiebreaker 2: 75 Moves

46th: Mikhail Sher (2509.7143) - 29.5 Points

Ildar Ibragimov 4.5
Yury Shulman 5.5
Alexander Shabalov 6
Irina Krush 4
David Pruess 3.5
Robert Hess 4
Irina Zenyuk 2

Tiebreaker 1: 37 Points
Tiebreaker 2: 112 Moves

47th: Matt Harrington (2510) - 29.5 Points

Alex Onischuk 6
Alexander Shabalov 6
Josh Friedel 3.5
David Pruess 3.5
Justin Sarkar 3.5
Ron Burnett 3.5
Ray Robson 3.5

Tiebreaker 1: 43.5 Points
Tiebreaker 2: 107 Moves

48th: John Mancuso (2490) - 29 Points

Hikaru Nakamura 5
Alex Onischuk 6
Alexander Shabalov 6
Irina Krush 4
Ray Robson 3.5
Michael Aigner 2.5
Irina Zenyuk 2

Tiebreaker 1: 45.5 Points
Tiebreaker 2: 107 Moves

49th - 50th: Glenn Buyo (2496.1429) - 29 Points

Alexander Shabalov 6
Varuzhan Akobian 4.5
Julio Becerra 5
Joseph Bradford 4
Bryan Smith 3.5
Ray Robson 3.5
Michael Aigner 2.5

Tiebreaker 1: 45.5 Points
Tiebreaker 2: 107 Moves

49th - 50th: Alex Velasquez (2496.1429) - 29 Points

Hikaru Nakamura 5
Alexander Shabalov 6
Julio Becerra 5
David Pruess 3.5
Robert Hess 4
Ray Robson 3.5
Irina Zenyuk 2

Tiebreaker 1: 36.5 Points
Tiebreaker 2: 85 Moves

Keys to Success (the number of times each player appears in the top fifty
teams):

Ray Robson 32
Alex Onischuk 31
Alexander Shabalov 31
Irina Krush 29
Robert Hess 25
Michael Langer 17
Justin Sarkar 16
Hikaru Nakamura 15
Yury Shulman 15
Irina Zenyuk 15
David Pruess 11
Ron Burnett 11
Josh Friedel 10
Michael Aigner 10
Julio Becerra 9
Jaan Ehlvest 8
Sergey Kudrin 5
Eugene Perelshteyn 5
Melikset Khachiyan 5
Jay Bonin 5
Chouchanik Airapetian 5
Bryan Smith 4
Varuzhan Akobian 3
Tom Braunlich 3
Gregory Kaidanov 2
Boris Gulko 2
Alex Stripunsky 2
Alex Ivanov 2
Enrico Sevillano 2
Joe Bradford 2
Michael Mulyar 2
Ildar Ibragimov 1
Alex Yermolinsky 1
Walter Browne 1
Dmitry Gurevich 0
Movses Movsisyan 0