US Champ R9: Forfeit?!

The 2015 U.S. Championship is an elite national championship event, featuring 12 of the strongest chess players in America. Over the course of eleven rounds, these competitors will battle for $175,000 in prize money, qualification into the World Championship cycle, and the coveted title of 2015 U.S. Champion.

U.S. Chess Championship - Round Nine

So, Wesley 0-1 Akobian, Varuzhan
An absolutely shocking development in the tournament. Wesley So, one of the pre-tournament favorites, has definitely had a rough going in his first U.S. Championship. However nothing prepared him or the audience for what happened.

Wesley So is a player that sometimes gives himself encouraging words or reminders by writing them down on his scoresheet. He had done this twice during this U.S. Championship and in both occasions the chief arbiter, Tony Rich, had warned him that this was against the FIDE rules of chess.

In today's round So wrote something on another piece of paper, not his scoresheet, but that arose suspicion from Akobian as this is again against FIDE rules. The arbiter decided to forfeit So, and the full point was given to Akobian. You can see our shocked reactions in the commentary room in the following video, starting at around minute 37. The arbiter, Tony Rich, explains his stance at minute 46:

The shortest decisive game in the history of this tournament

At being informed by Chief Arbiter Tony Rich, Wesley So pockets the source of controversy

Wesley So has appealed the decision of Tony Rich

Do you think the forfeiture was warranted? Send us your feedback!

Update:

Wesley So has posted the following on his Facebook fan page

It is reported that Tony Rich consulted Franc Guadalupe, Zonal President and one of the most experienced arbiters in the country, before reaching the decision of forfeiting So. With the decision appealed it will be up to the committee to determine if the ruling stands or if there will be some sort of solution reached for the game before the tournament is over. The appeals committee of this tournament is comprised of IM Rusudan Goletiani, GM Varuzhan Akobian and GM Benjamin Finegold. Since Varuzhan cannot be expected to make an unbiased decision, the decision will fall on the other two members. In case of a tie a third neutral party will be called in.

We will keep you updated with the decision of the committee as well as the reactions from grandmasters and players around the World.

Kamsky, Gata ½-½ Troff, Kayden

Naroditsky, Daniel 1-0 Holt, Conrad
Holt's favourite way of handling 1.e4 is his pet Winawer variation in the French, which leads to crazy sharp positions. Today's game against Naroditsky followed two of Holt's games into a deep theoretical line. Black's exchange sacrifice was not sufficient this time to stop the initiative, and White won an exchange. Despite missing a brilliant tactical win in time trouble, Naroditsky's position was good enough to slowly torture Black in an endgame. Holt made it easy for his opponent by putting the king on the wrong side of the board, and Naroditsky took a very important moral victory.

Shankland, Daniel ½-½ Onischuk, Alexander
Following a long game between Aronian and Grischuk from 2012, Onischuk uncorked a novelty late into the game. It was more than sufficient to equalize and Shankland simplified into a draw before anything bad happened.

Shankland was unable to breach Onischuk's defenses

Sevian, Sam ½-½ Robson, Ray

Nakamura, Hikaru ½-½ Gareev, Timur
A dubious pawn sacrifice from Nakamura, who obtained some compensation for it but no real hope for an advantage. The position was not easy for Black to make progress in, but he was definitely not worse. Gareev decided to take a second pawn, allowing Nakamura a repetition. The draw seemed like a fair result, but Nakamura admitted it would simply have been unpleasant had Gareev decided to play on.

Gareev was a fraction late to the game, not an immediate forfeiture by U.S. Championship rules

Tomorrow there will be a huge match-up in the Open section as the two leaders, Nakamura and Robson, will face each other in the potentially deciding game of the tournament.

The former Uzbek player notices something wrong... in the back Tony Rich starts talking to Wesley So

Daniel King analyses the game Nakamura vs Gareev

Pairings for Round Ten

Standings

Replay Round Nine Games

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U.S. Women's Championship - Round Nine

Foisor, Sabina 1-0 Virkud, Apurva
Foisor simply squashed Virkud. Black had no counterplay at any point of the game and her king position was way too weak to think she had a playable position.

Ni, Viktorija ½-½ Nemcova, Katerina
A typical English position in which White went on the queenside and Black went on the kingside. Neither side was able to prove any real superiority and the draw seemed like a fair result.

Nemcova finishes with two strong pairings in the last rounds: Paikidze and Krush

Paikidze, Nazi 1-0 Yu, Jennifer
Another incredibly one sided game. Yu decided to take a pawn on g3, which was a very risky decision. Her follow-up was nearly senseless as with every move Paikidze built a huge initiative while Black did nothing. It is not surprising that soon afterwards all of Yu's pieces were hanging and that was basically the end of the game.

Another easy game for Nazi Paikidze, who is now third

Krush, Irina 1-0 Abrahamyan, Tatev
An incredibly important result as now Krush is able to catch the leader, Nemcova, with two decisive games left in the tournament.

Goletiani, Rusudan ½-½ Melekhina, Alisa
Goletiani was definitely outplayed by Melekhina. Black obtained a powerful passed pawn on c3 that gave her a strong initiative as White was never able to do anything active without letting that pawn queen. In the final position Melekhina bizarrely allowed a three fold repetition, though she had a winning blow.

A big missed opportunity for Alisa Melekhina

Sharevich, Anna ½-½ Wang, Annie
An up and down game. Wang had the better of the opening and it seemed as if she was handily outplaying Sharevich, but she was unable to finish off her opponent and may even have been lucky to draw at the end.

Pairings for Round Ten

Standings

Replay Round Nine Games

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Commentary provided for the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis by Josh Friedel:

Joshua Friedel Josh was born in 1986 in New Hampshire, USA and is currently living in Wisconsin. He obtained his international master title in 2005 and his grandmaster in 2008. He has participated in six US Championships, including a tie for fourth in 2008. Major Open tournament victories include: the 2003 Eastern Open, 2005 Berkeley Masters, 2008 National Open, 2009 Edmonton International, 2009 North American Open, 2010 Saint Louis Open, 2010 American Open, 2013 Chicago Open. Josh will be annotating the games for the Saint Louis Chess Club.

Photos by Lennart Ootes

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