
Chess Champions in America
By GM Lubomir Kavalek
Many past and present chess champions were attracted to America, mostly to New York. William Steinitz won the first official world championship match in 1886 in the United States and spent his last days there. The world champions Emanuel Lasker and Jose Raul Capablanca, both died in New York in the early 1940s. Alexander Alekhine made several trips to the New World and married an American lady. Garry Kasparov now lives in New York where he played two world championship matches: in 1990 against Anatoly Karpov and in 1995 against Vishy Anand. The current world champion Magnus Carlsen loves to teach children chess in New York. The best American, Hikaru Nakamura, who also holds the number one spot in the world in Rapid and Blitz chess ratings, spent most of his youth in the Big Apple.
Today, however, the center of professional chess in America is Saint Louis, Missouri. For the last six years the U.S. championship was held at the local Chess Club and Scholastic Center. With Nakamura absent this year, all eyes were on Gata Kamsky, the defending champion and the oldest participant. Could he still defend the title at the age of 39?

Although Kamsky was the top rated player, he was not among the early leaders, almost conceding the title at one point. While squeezing out the last round victory, he needed help. Only a draw between his main rivals, Varuzhan Akobian and Aleksandr Lenderman, kept Kamsky's chances alive. When the desired result came through, Kamsky won his fifth U.S. title in the playoffs. Irina Krush prevailed at the Women's championship, claiming her sixth title.

The U.S. title was literally hanging on the following game:
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22.f3 22.Nxc4 Bxe4 23.Bxe4 Rxd1+ 24.Rxd1 Nxe4 25.Qd3 g4 22...g4! 23.Be3 gxf3 23...Rd3!? 24.Re1 24.Nxc4?! Rxe3! 25.Nxe3 Bxe4 24...gxf3 25.Bxf3 Rcd8 26.Nxc4 26.Bxh6? Bb4!-+ 26...Bxe4 27.Bxe4 Qxe4 24.Bxf3 h5 24...Rd3 25.Nxc4 Rxd1+ 26.Rxd1 Bxe4 27.Bxe4 Nxe4 28.b3 25.Rac1 Bb7 26.Nxc4 Rxd1+ 27.Rxd1 Bxe4 28.Bxe4 Qxe4 29.Qxe4 Nxe4 30.b3 Bc5 31.Bxc5 Rxc5 32.Rd8+ Kg7 33.Ra8 Rc6 34.Ra7 Nd6 35.Nxd6 Rxd6 ½–½
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Lenderman,A | 2582 | Akobian,V | 2643 | ½–½ | 2014 | A13 | U.S. Championship, | |
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GM Seirawan mentioned the following game in his comments:
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19.f3! Qd7 19...d5 20.e5 20.Nc4 Qb5 21.Rc3 Bc8 22.Be3 Kh7 23.Qc1 c6 24.Ng4 Ng8 25.Bxh6!+- Bxh6 26.Nxh6 Nxh6 27.Nxd6 Qb6 28.Nxe8 Qxd4+ 29.Kh1 Qd8 30.Rd1 Qxe8 31.Qg5 Ra7 32.Rd8 Qe6 33.f4 Ba6 34.f5 Qe7 35.Qd2 Qe5 36.Qf2 Qe7 37.Qd4 Ng8 38.e5 Nd5 39.fxg6+ fxg6 40.Rxc6 Qxd8 41.Qxa7+ Nde7 42.Rxa6 Qd1+ 43.Qg1 Qd2 44.Qf1 1–0
- Start an analysis engine:
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Kasparov,G | 2800 | Karpov,A | 2730 | 1–0 | 1990 | C92 | World championship match, New York | |
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The move f2-f3, played in the following game, prevented Black from his usual action in the center. Surprising moment came on move 20.
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.h3 Nb8 10.d4 Nbd7 11.Nh4 Bb7 11...Nxe4 12.Nf5 12.Nf5 Re8 13.Nxe7+ 13.Bg5 Bf8 14.Nd2 13...Rxe7 14.f3 c5 14...d5 15.f4!? 14...h6 15.Nd2 d5 16.f4!? exd4 17.e5 dxc3 18.bxc3 Ne4 19.Nxe4 dxe4 20.Qg4 20.Be3 Nb6 21.Qg4 20...Nc5 21.Ba3 Nd3 15.d5 h6 16.Nd2 c4 17.Bc2 Qb6+ 18.Kh2 Nh5 19.Nf1 g5 20.f4! Nxf4 21.Ng3 Nf6 21...Qf2 22.Rg1 Nf6 23.Nf5 Rd7 24.Bxf4 exf4 24...Qxf4+ 25.Ng3 Qe3 25...Qh4 26.Rf1 g4 27.Rxf6 Qxf6 28.Qxg4++- 26.Rf1 Ne8 27.Nf5+- 25.Rf1 Qc5 26.Nxh6+ Kg7 27.Nf5+ Kh8 28.h4+- 22.Nf5+- Ree8 23.Be3 Qd8 24.g3 N4h5 25.Nxh6+ Kf8 26.Rf1 Kg7 27.Bxg5 Kg6 28.Nf5 Rh8 29.Nh4+ Kg7 29...Kg7 30.Qd2+- 1–0
- Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
- Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
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Kavalek,L | - | Martinez,F | - | 1–0 | 1969 | C95 | San Juan | |
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