US Ch. Rd7: Akobian, Zatonskih in front

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 7: Reigning champs trail on rest day

By Brian Jerauld

Varuzhan Akobian (5.0/7), the No. 4 seed seeking his first national crown, turned in his third quality win in a row, leaving him in sole possession of first place of the 2014 U.S. Championship, unbeaten through seven rounds. Also without defeat is reigning champion Gata Kamsky (4.5/7), who trails in clear second after knocking down previous tournament leader Aleksandr Lenderman. Four players share a tie for third with four points.

Disappointed: Ray Robson with two wins and three losses so far in this tournament

Akobian had treaded water with four straight draws through the U.S. Championship’s opening, leading some to question his long-term tournament strategy. The critics have been silenced after his third consecutive victory – two of them with the black pieces, including Wednesday’s impressive stand against Ray Robson.

“I had been trying, but sometimes you can try really hard and it just wasn’t working out,” Akobian said of his drawing start. “In those openings I was just not getting the positions I like to play. But winning as black is very important in this kind of field. You think maybe a draw is a good result, but whenever you have the opportunity, you have to play for a win.”

Aleksandr Lenderman (above) was looking strong as tournament leader, collecting three wins through the first four rounds, but has since gone ice cold with just a draw over the last three. Not favorable is the schedule: He drew the black pieces against reigning champ Gata Kamsky, and is slated as black again against Alex Onischuck after the rest day. The two are tied in third with 4.0/6.

On Wednesday, Kamsky knocked Lenderman out of preparation early in a King’s Indian Attack, setting up a positional battle early to take the 22-year-old on in the middlegame, later stating: “Once you feel that a guy is in great form, you take a cautious approach," said Kamsky. "You don’t go in swinging right from the opening. Alex has been a hard-working guy, slowly improving over the last four or five years. “I remember that all of my games with him were really tough, and the way he played here, the way he just took off in the start like that, was no surprise to me. I’m sure he is still going to leave his mark, as long as he doesn’t take these two losses badly. He just has to forget about these games and just start the tournament anew.”

Men results of round seven

Daniel Naroditsky defeated Sam Shankland in a 29-move classical King's Indian

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Men's standings after seven rounds

Women's Championship round six

In the women’s competition, Anna Zatonskih (above) now leads with 5.0/6 after waiting out Camilla Baginskaite, who hung herself in a 102-move rook-and-knight vs. rook endgame late Wednesday evening. Reigning champion Irina Krush (4.5/6), who had entered the day tied with Zatonskih, lost pace with a draw against Alisa Melekhina after barely making time control for the second day in a row. Krush sits alone in second place, with Iryna Zenyuk (4.0/6) in clear third.

Irina Krush was setting up familiar storylines as leader with 3.5 points through four rounds, but she has struggled to collect draws out of the last two. Just after the now-former leader was forced to race through a complex endgame against Tatev Abrahamyan in round five, playing the last ten moves on her clock’s 30-second per-move increment, she found herself in even warmer waters at time control against Alisa Melekhina in round six.

Melekhina’s Blumenfeld Gambit earned her fantastic play in the opening and complicated matters early, quickly challenging the development – and the clock – of the reigning champion. Krush was late arriving to her castle on move 19, and when she got there, the black army had it well surrounded. 19...g5 threw the kitchen sink.

Both players’ clocks had fallen below ten minutes with fifteen moves until time control, though Krush was under duress. Melekhina’s 26.Rxa4 was the first of two exchange sacrifices – this one admittedly unsound – which proved to be fantastic plays against Krush’s clock: one of her moves was made with just one second remaining.

“I couldn’t see any concrete wins, and I took a big risk with the exchange sacrifice in time trouble,” Melekhina said. “That probably shouldn’t have worked, but I was playing on her time, and in the end I managed to get an advantage. I sacked again, right at the time control.” Indeed, Black’s second sacrifice at 40...Rxh3+ was a bit more sound and left Krush staring at a losing position for the first portion of her bonus time control. Melekhina didn’t have quite enough resources to close in the endgame, however, taking a well-earned half-point by perpetual check.

Women's standings after six rounds

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Both tournaments enjoy a rest day on Thursday. Round eight of the U.S. Championship and round seven of the U.S. Women’s Championship will take place on Friday, May 16, at 1 p.m. CT, 2 p.m. ET, 8 p.m. CEST.

Report: Brian Jerauld + ChessBase, photos by Lennart Ootes

Links Official tournament site All men's games in PGN All women's games in PGN The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.