
US Championships: Krush crowned; playoff Kamsky vs Ramirez

In the final round of the U.S. Championship GM Gata Kamsky (above) nursed
a half-point margin but could not defeat GM Ray Robson. Three players could
win to catch Kamsky, but only GM Alejandro Ramirez got the full point. The
two will play tomorrow at noon in a two-game rapid playoff.

Kamsky had a chance to clinch clear first place, and it looked for a time
like a win as black would be possible. Robson, fighting for a top six finish
for a 2013 World Cup qualification, mixed it up early by jettisoning some
pawns to open lines. “He surprised me with b4, sacrificing two pawns
for an attack,” Kamsky said. “I thought I should be winning,
but somehow he had all these tactical resources.” Later, Robson kept
the fire burning by sacrificing an additional exchange to keep the initiative.
Robson said he would have played solidly if possible, but he took what
the position gave him. “There’s no way you can force a win against
Gata,” Robson said. “[Kamsky] can punish you if you go for a
win too much. Probably I just overestimated my position.”

The draw might still have been good enough for clear first, were it not
for the continued heroics of the much lower ranked GM
Alejandro Ramirez (above), this time against GM Larry Christiansen.
Ramirez first offered his a-pawn to tie down Black’s bishop and rook,
and then switched to probe the other side of the chessboard. Eventually
weaknesses were created, and a passed e-pawn sealed the deal. “His
queen is so badly placed on b6 that it is difficult to hold the kingside
together,” Ramirez explained. “I didn’t see a defense
for him.”
His game finished before Kamsky, so the only way he could be taken out
of contention would have been for Robson to blunder. “I haven’t
cheered for Ray this much ever,” Ramirez said about the waning moments
of the top board.
“I really didn’t ever expect to be in this position,”
Ramirez said of his impending playoff tomorrow. “It’s like a
dream. Wow! It’s actually happening.” The two will meet Monday
at noon in a pair of 25-minute rapid games, followed by an Armageddon bidding
match if the score is tied 1-1. “Tomorrow’s going to be very
stressful. I’ve never played a rapid playoff,” Ramirez said.
Kamsky has played several tiebreaks in the World Cup, and has been successful
twice in St. Louis at previous U.S. Championships.
Two other players could have stayed alive in the hunt, but neither GM Alex
Onischuk nor GM Conrad Holt could keep pace. Onischuk could not gain an
edge over IM Kayden Troff, who earned his first grandmaster norm with the
draw. Troff said it was his third final-round attempt to earn a norm. “This
time was scary,” he said. “Black against Onischuk. But I got
through it.”
Pairings of the final round (nine, on Sunday, 12 May 2013)
White |
Pts |
Rtng |
Black |
Pts |
Rtng |
Result |
GM Robson, Ray |
4.5 |
2620 |
GM Kamsky, Gata |
6.0 |
2741 |
½-½ |
GM Ramirez, Alejandro |
5.5 |
2551 |
GM Christiansen, Larry |
5.0 |
2579 |
1-0 |
GM Gareev, Timur |
5.0 |
2674 |
GM Holt, Conrad |
5.5 |
2513 |
1-0 |
GM Onischuk, Alexander |
5.5 |
2666 |
IM Troff, Kayden W |
4.5 |
2421 |
½-½ |
GM Benjamin, Joel |
4.5 |
2534 |
GM Shankland, Samuel |
4.0 |
2612 |
½-½ |
GM Akobian, Varuzhan |
4.0 |
2616 |
GM Kaidanov, Gregory |
4.0 |
2593 |
1-0 |
GM Finegold, Benjamin |
4.0 |
2505 |
GM Shabalov, Alexander |
4.0 |
2544 |
0-1 |
FM Sevian, Samuel |
3.5 |
2371 |
GM Hess, Robert L |
3.5 |
2595 |
½-½ |
FM Bryant, John Daniel |
3.5 |
2442 |
Norowitz, Yaacov |
3.5 |
2451 |
0-1 |
GM Shulman, Yury |
3.0 |
2570 |
FM Sammour-Hasbun, Jorge |
3.0 |
2463 |
1-0 |
GM Stripunsky, Alexander |
3.0 |
2570 |
GM Ivanov, Alexander |
2.0 |
2529 |
0-1 |
GM Khachiyan, Melikset |
2.5 |
2518 |
GM Arnold, Marc |
2.5 |
2538 |
½-½ |
WGM Jenifer Shahade and GM Yasser Seirawan with live commentary of
the final round
Final standings (after nine rounds)
Rnk |
Name |
Pts |
Rtng |
TPR |
W-We |
SB |
1 |
GM
Kamsky, Gata |
6.5 |
2741 |
2733 |
+0.01 |
34.75 |
2 |
GM
Ramirez, Alejandro |
6.5 |
2551 |
2737 |
+2.25 |
29.75 |
3 |
GM
Onischuk, Alexander |
6.0 |
2666 |
2670 |
+0.06 |
29.75 |
4 |
GM
Gareev, Timur |
6.0 |
2674 |
2690 |
+0.19 |
28.0 |
5 |
GM
Holt, Conrad |
5.5 |
2513 |
2679 |
+2.02 |
27.75 |
6 |
GM
Christiansen, Larry M |
5.0 |
2579 |
2623 |
+0.52 |
21.5 |
7 |
GM
Shabalov, Alexander |
5.0 |
2544 |
2626 |
+0.98 |
20.0 |
8 |
GM
Robson, Ray |
5.0 |
2620 |
2613 |
-0.10 |
19.75 |
9 |
IM
Troff, Kayden W |
5.0 |
2421 |
2614 |
+2.21 |
19.25 |
10 |
GM
Benjamin, Joel |
5.0 |
2534 |
2644 |
+1.30 |
24.0 |
11 |
GM
Akobian, Varuzhan |
5.0 |
2616 |
2554 |
-0.75 |
19.75 |
12 |
Norowitz, Yaacov |
4.5 |
2451 |
2543 |
+1.10 |
17.5 |
13 |
GM
Shankland, Samuel L |
4.5 |
2612 |
2521 |
-1.11 |
17.0 |
14 |
GM
Kaidanov, Gregory S |
4.0 |
2593 |
2457 |
-1.63 |
15.5 |
15 |
GM
Shulman, Yury |
4.0 |
2570 |
2484 |
-1.01 |
15.25 |
16 |
GM
Finegold, Benjamin |
4.0 |
2505 |
2522 |
+0.21 |
15.0 |
17 |
FM
Sevian, Samuel |
4.0 |
2371 |
2474 |
+1.24 |
15.5 |
18 |
GM
Hess, Robert L |
4.0 |
2595 |
2460 |
-1.59 |
13.75 |
19 |
FM
Bryant, John Daniel |
3.5 |
2442 |
2471 |
+0.28 |
16.75 |
20 |
GM
Ivanov, Alexander |
3.0 |
2529 |
2408 |
-1.46 |
11.5 |
21 |
GM
Arnold, Marc T |
3.0 |
2538 |
2425 |
-1.35 |
10.75 |
22 |
FM
Sammour-Hasbun, Jorge |
3.0 |
2463 |
2422 |
-0.47 |
10.0 |
23 |
GM
Khachiyan, Melikset |
3.0 |
2518 |
2431 |
-1.03 |
12.5 |
24 |
GM
Stripunsky, Alexander |
3.0 |
2570 |
2415 |
-1.87 |
12.25 |
Women's section

After four unsuccessful attempts, IM Irina Krush finally defended her U.S.
Women’s Championship title on Sunday. Her draw with WGM Camilla Baginskaite
made her score 8/9 and put the tournament out of reach for IM Anna Zatonskih,
who also won but finished a half-point behind Krush.
Interview with Irina Krush, conducted by GM
Maurice Ashley
“This has been my smoothest victory,” Krush said of her five
championships, before pausing to recall them all. “Well actually when
I won my first with 8½ out of nine, that also went well.” That
first title was in 1998, the only time she competed without Zatonskih in
the field. The two have mostly traded titles the last few years. “We
have to break this pattern,” Krush joked.
Ranking after round nine (Sunday, 12 May 2013)

All photos by Tony Rich, Saint Louis Chess Club