US Ch. Rd9: Everything wide open again

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 9: Logjam atop the leaderboards

By Brian Jerauld

There is a share for the lead atop the U.S. Championship, as time dwindles away with two rounds remaining. Varuzhan Akobian entered Saturday in clear first by a full point but never got comfortable in his eventual loss – his first of the tournament – to Sam Shankland.

Back in the lead after a miracle win: Aleksandr Lenderman

Akobian stays in first with 6.0/9, though now shares the position, after Aleksandr Lenderman caught pace by materializing a surprising win from a drawn-looking position against Daniel Naroditsky.

Reigning champion Gata Kamsky (above left) – unbeaten, yet only at +1 through 9 rounds – picked up another draw with Mackenzie Molner and now trails a half-point behind the leaders in third place (5.5/9).

Also in third place is 2013 U.S. Open winner Josh Friedel (above), the lowest-rated player in the field, who has quietly turned in 3.5 points across the last four rounds to enter the fray.

Men results of round nine

Sam Shankland may no longer be in the race for the national title, but it doesn’t leave him any less dangerous an opponent: tension has filled each one of his games this tournament, his adversaries holding their breath on what kind of opening-book potion he might have concocted just for them. The 22-year-old had already reached into his bag of tricks in round six to knock then-leader Aleksandr Lenderman from his pedestal, and on Saturday he did it again to another frontrunner in Varuzhan Akobian.

Varuzhan Akobian pondering where to put his bishop on move ten

Sam (what was his surname again?) thinking about how to exploit 10...Bc5

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The image of the day: Varuzhan Akobian mulling his defeat in front of a picture of his vanquisher

Men's standings after nine rounds

The final two rounds of the U.S. Championship promise a web of matchups between the four leaders, including Sunday’s headliner between Akobian and Kamsky.

Women's Championship round eight

Only one round remains in the 2014 U.S. Women’s Championship, though for a moment, it wasn’t entirely clear the extra day would be needed. The five-time reigning champion Irina Krush (above) skidded into the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis on Saturday afternoon, having just suffered three straight draws and falling a full point behind the leader’s pace.

Sobering the mood even more was the woman who sat in front of her – both in the standings and now across the board: Anna Zatonskih, Krush’s enemy No. 1 and a four-time champion herself, ready to call it halves on their decade-long rivalry. And like everyone else, Krush could do the math: Saturday was win or go home.

But she answered the call in Monday’s round eight, taking early advantage as White and spending the rest of the 75-move thriller slowly squeezing out any hope for a draw. The result knots the two in first place with 6.0/8, and also allowed Tatev Abrahamyan (5.5/8) into the fold after her win over Ashritha Eswaran.

Krush was certainly no stranger to pivotal matchups with Zatonskih, and Monday’s game left little doubt as to what hung in the balance. “Of course it was a must-win,” Krush said. “If you want to do anything in this championship, it’s a must-win. You can’t ask other people to do your work for you. I had sort of fallen asleep for a few rounds there, and woken up in this situation. The minimum I could do to get this tournament back on track is to win today, because otherwise I just wouldn’t deserve to be the champion.”

Though both players seemed lost early through the Catalan line, Krush was instantly the aggressor, skirting the early center fight and wrecking Black’s queenside in the opening. “I had a bad position out of the opening; I was surprised,” Zatonskih said. “I had this planned for White, I just forgot the lines. I just completely don’t remember them. Irina has improved her endgame dramatically recently. Before, it was worse, but now ...”

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The final moments: Anna Zatonskih has just played 74...Kg4,

... Irina Krush queens her h-pawn

And Anna resigns, making Irina a co-leader with one round to go

Women's standings after eight rounds

The U.S. Women’s Championship enters its final rest day on Sunday. Monday’s round nine will settle matters: Zatonskih takes white against Katerina Nemcova (4.5/8), Krush defends as Black against Viktorija Ni (3/8), as does Abrahamyan against Camilla Baginskaite (1.5/8). If necessary, a playoff is scheduled for Tuesday. The women’s tournament takes a scheduled rest day Sunday.

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.