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.
Round 4: Did someone just wake a sleeping bear?
Four-time U.S. Champion Gata Kamsky, seemingly idle with three ho-hum
draws through the first three rounds, suddenly sprang to life on Sunday
afternoon and made his mother proud. The reigning king rang the bell in
the fourth round, waking up a 2014 U.S. Championship that had seen just
four decisions across 18 games. Kamsky’s solid win with white over
Sergey Erenberg set a rousing theme to Sunday, with four of the day’s
six fighting games finishing with full points.
The dark-blue eminence: top seed Gata Kamsky
won his first game in round four
“I decided on the Trompowsky probably a half an hour before the game,”
Kamsky said. “I looked at some lines and realized there’s nothing
much going on – but its middlegame position, you can exchange a lot
of pieces, so there’s a lot of play.”
Kamsky,Gata (2778) - Erenburg,Sergey (2717) [D00]
2014 U.S. Championship Saint Louis, MO, USA (4.3), 11.05.2014
Position after 29.Red1. Erenburg played 29...f4?
and was quickly dispatched with 30.Qc4 Kc8 31.gxf4 gxf4 32.R1d5
Qf7 33.Rxc5+ Kb8 34.Rc7 1-0.
Also winning was Alex Onischuck, who has collected 2.5 points in a tie
for third with Kamsky; as well as Timur Gareev (3/4), who turned in his
second consecutive win to hold clear second. And Aleksandr Lenderman (3.5/4)
continued to set pace as tournament frontrunner with his third win of the
tournament, after capitalizing on a Ray Robson middlegame mistake.
Third seed Alexander Onischuk defeated Sam
Shankland in 35 moves for equal 3-4 (with Kamsky)
Second seed Timur Gareev put together his second solid win on Sunday by
waiting out Mac Molner in a 68-move marathon. Gareev responded to Molner’s
1.e4 with the Schliemann Gambit in the Ruy Lopez, a successful choice that
earned him several open lanes and good mobility. The game hung forever in
balance, with a long-winded middlegame that featured much probing by the
knights and a slow build-up toward a pawn break – 14 of them still
remained on the board after 60 moves. The climactic breakthrough finally
came after more than sixty moves.
Molner,Mackenzie (2634) - Gareev,Timur (2751) [C63]
2014 U.S. Championship Saint Louis, MO, USA (4.2), 11.05.2014
Position after 68.Kg3? This move allowed Black to play
68...Nxc3 and cause White's instant resignation, because
of after 69.Rxd7 (or 69.bxc3 Rxd1–+) 69...Nxe2+ 70.Nxe2 Kxd7 the game
is over for White. 0-1.
Aleksandr Lenderman may have received a few gifts from his opponents to
earn the lead in the tournament’s earlygoing, but to the 24-year-old’s
credit he has fully capitalized on each opportunity handed to him. Sunday’s
match against Ray Robson was no exception.
Alex Lenderman scored a nice win against Ray
Robson (see replay board below) to maintain
his lead in this tournament. With 3.5/4 points we calculate a rating performance
of 2934.
Men results
| White |
Rtng |
Result |
Black |
Rtng |
| Onischuk,
Alexander |
2668 |
1-0 |
Shankland,
Samuel L |
2634 |
| Kamsky,
Gata |
2713 |
1-0 |
Erenburg,
Sergey |
2633 |
| Lenderman,
Aleksandr |
2582 |
1-0 |
Robson,
Ray |
2631 |
| Naroditsky,
Daniel |
2543 |
½-½ |
Ramirez,
Alejandro |
2595 |
| Molner,
Mackenzie |
2522 |
0-1 |
Gareev,
Timur |
2653 |
| Akobian,
Varuzhan |
2643 |
½-½ |
Friedel,
Joshua E |
2505 |
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Aleksandr Lenderman
Alex Lenderman first started playing chess with his grandfather
when he was 9. From 2004-2007, he attended Edward R. Murrow High
School in Brooklyn, N.Y., and was a member of the super-team that
won four straight, national high-school titles. The journey of this
high-school chess dream team was documented in the 2007 book The
Kings of New York, by Michael Weinreb.
Since that time, Alex has been a formidable force in the chess
world and has solidified himself as a young rising star. In 2008,
he managed to barely edge GM Sergey Kudrin to win the USCF's Grand
Prix, and in 2009, he ran away with the competition.
Lenderman is an active member of the renowned Marshall Chess Club
in New York City and was crowned the Marshall Chess Club Champion
in December 2013, beating Kudrin and IM Aleksandr Ostrovskiy in the
process. He has played in more than 20 rated events since the start
of 2014 and will be a formidable contender in this year's championship.
[Source: Tournament
site] |
Report: Brian
Jerauld + ChessBase, photos by Lennart Ootes
Men's standings after four rounds
Women results
The U.S. Women’s Championship field enjoyed its first of three rest
days on Mother’s Day, set to resume Monday for a potential day of
separation: tournament leaders Irina Krush and Anna Zatonskih, with 2.5
points across 3 rounds, match up against Camilla Baginskaite and Viktoria
Ni, who lag with just a half-point each.
Women's standings after three rounds
