
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 |
Replay all games of this round
1.e4 | 1,185,008 | 54% | 2421 | --- |
1.d4 | 959,510 | 55% | 2434 | --- |
1.Nf3 | 286,503 | 56% | 2441 | --- |
1.c4 | 184,834 | 56% | 2442 | --- |
1.g3 | 19,892 | 56% | 2427 | --- |
1.b3 | 14,600 | 54% | 2428 | --- |
1.f4 | 5,954 | 48% | 2377 | --- |
1.Nc3 | 3,911 | 50% | 2384 | --- |
1.b4 | 1,791 | 48% | 2379 | --- |
1.a3 | 1,250 | 54% | 2406 | --- |
1.e3 | 1,081 | 49% | 2409 | --- |
1.d3 | 969 | 50% | 2378 | --- |
1.g4 | 670 | 46% | 2361 | --- |
1.h4 | 466 | 54% | 2382 | --- |
1.c3 | 439 | 51% | 2425 | --- |
1.h3 | 289 | 56% | 2420 | --- |
1.a4 | 118 | 60% | 2461 | --- |
1.f3 | 100 | 47% | 2427 | --- |
1.Nh3 | 93 | 66% | 2506 | --- |
1.Na3 | 47 | 62% | 2476 | --- |
Please, wait...
1.c4 Nf6 2.d4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Nb6 7.Ne2 c5 8.d5 0-0 9.0-0 e6 10.Nec3 Na6 11.Na3 11.Bf4 exd5 12.exd5 Bf5 13.g4 Bd7 14.Nd2 Re8 15.Nde4 Nc4 16.d6 Bc6 17.Qb3 Na5 18.Qd1 Nc4 19.b3 Ne5 20.Nd5 Bxd5 21.Qxd5 Nb4 22.Qxb7 Nxg4 23.d7 Rf8 24.Nxc5 Qa5 25.Rac1 Be5 26.Bd2 Rab8 27.Qe4 Bxh2+ 28.Kh1 Nf6 29.Qd4 Nxd7 30.Nxd7 11...exd5 12.exd5 Bf5 13.Be3 Qd7 14.Qb3 Rfe8N 14...Rac8 15.Nab5 Nb4 16.Bxc5 Rxc5 17.Qxb4 Rc4 18.Qa3 Ra8 19.d6 a6 20.Nc7 Rd8 21.Rad1 Bc2 22.Rc1 Bxc3 23.bxc3 Qxd6 24.Qxd6 Rxd6 25.Nb5 axb5 26.Rxc2 Na4 27.Rfc1 Rd7 28.Bf1 Rc5 29.c4 Rdc7 30.Bd3 bxc4 31.Rxc4 b6 32.Rxc5 Nxc5 33.Bb5 Ra7 34.Rc2 Ra5 35.Rb2 Na4 36.Bxa4 14...Bd3 15.Rfd1 Rxe3 16.fxe3 Nb4 17.Ne4 N4xd5? 17...Bxe4 18.Nxc5 Qe7 19.Bxd5 Qxc5 20.Bxf7+ Kh8 21.Nc4 Rf8 22.Rac1 Bg4 23.Rf1 Nd7 24.Qa3 Bh3 25.Rf2 b5 26.Qxc5 Nxc5 27.Ne5 Ne4 28.Rf4 Bf5 29.Nxg6+ hxg6 30.Rh4+ Bh6 31.Rc7 g5 32.Rxh6+ Kg7 33.g4 Kxh6 34.gxf5 Rd8 35.Rc6+ Kg7 36.Bb3 Rd2 37.Re6 Nf6 38.e4 Rxb2 39.e5 Ng4 40.Re7+ Kh6 41.f6 Ne3 42.f7 Rg2+ 43.Kh1 Rf2 44.h3 g4 45.hxg4 Kg6 46.e6 Rf1+ 47.Kh2 Nxg4+ 48.Kg3 Nh6 49.Re8 Kg7 50.Rg8+ 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.
- Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
- Create an account to access the games cloud.
Lenderman,A | 2693 | Robson,R | 2714 | 1–0 | 2014 | D72 | 2014 U.S. Championship | 4.1 |
Molner,M | 2634 | Gareev,T | 2751 | 0–1 | 2014 | C63 | 2014 U.S. Championship | 4.2 |
Kamsky,G | 2778 | Erenburg,S | 2717 | 1–0 | 2014 | D00 | 2014 U.S. Championship | 4.3 |
Onischuk,A | 2751 | Shankland,S | 2698 | 1–0 | 2014 | D19 | 2014 U.S. Championship | 4.4 |
Akobian,V | 2732 | Friedel,J | 2599 | ½–½ | 2014 | E11 | 2014 U.S. Championship | 4.5 |
Naroditsky,D | 2632 | Ramirez,A | 2679 | ½–½ | 2014 | C07 | 2014 U.S. Championship | 4.6 |
Please, wait...
Select games from the dropdown menu above the board
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
