For the sixth consecutive year, the best chess players in the U.S. have gathered in Saint Louis to fight for the title of U.S. Champion and U.S. Women's Champion. GM Gata Kamsky is defending his title while recently anointed grandmaster Irina Krush is looking for her sixth title at the 2014 U.S. Women's Championship. The events are being held simultaneously from May 7 through May 20 at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis (CCSCSL). The games start each day at 1 p.m., with every move broadcast live and discussed by the powerful commentary team of GMs Yasser Seirawan, WGM Jennifer Shahade and Maurice Ashley on the official web site.
| White | Rtng |
Result
|
Black | Rtng |
| Akobian, Varuzhan | 2643 |
½-½
|
Onischuk, Alexander | 2668 |
| Friedel, Joshua E | 2505 |
½-½
|
Molner, Mackenzie | 2522 |
| Gareev, Timur | 2653 |
1-0
|
Naroditsky, Daniel | 2543 |
| Ramirez, Alejandro | 2595 |
0-1
|
Lenderman, Aleksandr | 2582 |
| Robson, Ray | 2631 |
½-½
|
Kamsky, Gata | 2713 |
| Erenburg, Sergey | 2633 |
½-½
|
Shankland, Samuel L | 2634 |
Despite his visible good cheer, Sam Shankland is among the several players
who have been unable to score a win. On the positive side, he has also not lost.
Josh Friedel, who has graciously contributed several great analyses to our readers,
split the point with US Championship newbie, Mac Molner
Ray Robson faced Gata Kamsky's Berlin, but was never in danger. As to the reigning champion,
and overwhelming Elo favorite, the lack of wins has to begin to worry him.
Daniel Naroditsky fell to the second-seed Timur Gareev after being outplayed positionally
and finding himself with a badly imprisoned bishop in a hopeless endgame.
Timur Gareev
Originally from Uzbekistan, Grandmaster Timur Gareev is a formidable opponent with unlimited potential. Coming off an undefeated, first-place performance at the 2012 North American Open, Gareev has proven that he has the ability to make a serious run at the U.S. Championship title. "My grandfather taught me how to play chess at the age of four," Gareev said. "I practiced the game regularly challenging my father, friends, and schoolmates. At the age of eight I played my first rated competition. I started succeeding in my improvement very fast winning most of the national events." At the age of 10, Timur said he was playing expert level strength, dedicating 4-6 hours every day mastering the game on his own and working with his coach Georgi Borisenko. At the age of 12, Timur went for his first serious international event and conquered the title of Asian Champion U-14 years old at Bikaner, India. In 2004 at the age of 16, he earned the distinction as the youngest-ever grandmaster from Asia. He traveled to the United States for school and joined the chess team at the University of Texas at Brownsville's from August 2005 to August 2006 where he helped the team win its first national championship. In 2007 he tied for 1st with Vladimir Egin and Anton Filippov in the Uzbekistani Chess Championship. Gareev studied Business & Accounting at the University of Texas at Brownsville, where he received his B.A. degree in 2011. He was awarded the Samford Fellowship in 2012, which awarded him a monetary stipend to assist his chess development. Timur is an exceptional blindfold player, and he recently conducted a 33-board blindfold simul in St. Louis. He is still training to conduct an even larger simul, and he has been quoted as saying that blindfold training has helped him improve his focus. [Source: Tournament site] |
Alexander Lenderman has been receiving effusive compliments for his
excellent opening preparation, and not for no reason as he defeated
Alejandro Ramirez, to take the early lead with 2.5/3.
Select games from the dropdown menu above the board
| White | Rtng |
Result
|
Black | Rtng |
| WIM Zenyuk, Iryna | 2249 |
½-½
|
GM Krush, Irina | 2489 |
| WGM Abrahamyan, Tatev | 2366 |
1-0
|
WGM Nemcova, Katerina | 2282 |
| WGM Foisor, Sabina-Francesca | 2238 |
0-1
|
IM Zatonskih, Anna | 2469 |
| WIM Ni, Viktorija | 2206 |
0-1
|
FM Melekhina, Alisa | 2151 |
| NM Eswaran, Ashritha | 1979 |
1-0
|
WGM Baginskaite, Camilla | 2267 |
IM Anna Zatonskih beat WGM Sabina-Francesca Foisor and is now tied with Irina Krush with 2.5/3
Veteran Camilla Baginskaite has had a rough start, but certainly hoped her experience
would carry her through over...
...13-year-old Ashritha Eswaran. However it was not to be as the young player showed
her chops once more with impressive play and fighting spirit. The diminutive teenager is
now right behind the leaders with 2.0/3, and has shown her first-round win was no fluke.
Select games from the dropdown menu above the board
Viktorija Ni
Viktorija Ni learned chess at the age of 7 from her mother, Polina, who is an expert. She earned the title of Woman FIDE Master (WFM) in 2007 and the Woman International Master (WIM) title in 2010, earning her final norm at the 19th Chicago Open. Viktorija represented Latvia twice at the Chess Olympiad (2008, 2010) on the women's team. She recently switched her federation from Latvia to the United States, and this will mark her third U.S. Women's Championship. Viktorija is the wife of GM Yury Shulman, and they both live just outside of Chicago with their son Gabriel. Their son was born during the 2010 U.S. Championship, in which Yury finished second. [Source: Tournament site] |
Photos by Lennart Ootes
LinksThe games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs. |
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