Advanced League Brilliancy Prize 2025 Spring

The 2025 Spring season of the Great Lakes Chess League has come to an end. Out of the many games played between the best K-8 players from around Northwest Ohio , one game clearly stood out.

Nodirbek on his way to win his game in the Championship match

This game, which was won by Nodirbek Aminov with the black pieces, illustrates Nodirbek’s desire to win along with his tactical vision and careful endgame technique. Nodirbek played very aggressively by avoiding trades. Then, he started to pressure white’s position which resulted in a brilliant combination to secure an endgame advantage. Below is the game along with my analysis.

Congratulations to Nodirbek for creating and then spotting his opportunity from an equal position. The aggressiveness and accuracy of his play has earned him this season’s brilliancy prize.

Also congratulations to Dhruv Chawla for winning this season’s Top Performance prize finishing with 5 wins in 5 games! Lastly, we have our most improved player award for Jackson Frail, gaining 110 rating points in a short season!

Dhruv fighting back from a tough position

Jackson after a pleasant opening phase of the game