
The 2010 US Chess Championship is taking place from May 13 (round one at 2:00
p.m. local time) to May 25 (possible tie breakers) at the Chess Club & Scholastic
Center of Saint Louis, which is hosting the event for the second year in a row.
The prize fund has risen to $170,000 – more than a 25 percent increase
from last year. The winner will take home $35,000.
First round
The first round of the 2010 U.S. Chess Championship produced an uncharacteristically
high number of decisive games, with eight out of twelve yielding a winner. Normally
at top levels of chess a draw rate of more than 50 percent would not be unusual.
IM Irina Krush of New York City, the only woman in the field, got off to a fast
start by beating GM Gregory Kaidanov. “My thinking process was not so
smooth,” Krush said. “There were definitely a lot of lines I was
scared of. Somehow, I kept control, even though I was doubting myself. I was
concerned about my position.” She finished off her opponent by sacrificing
a rook for a knight to force checkmate.
The other big upset came on board six as Melikset Khachiyan edged Aleksandr
Lenderman in a close rook-and-pawn endgame. Defending champion Hikaru Nakamura
survived a tactical melee against Alexander Stripunsky and used a nifty queen
sacrifice to finish off his opponent. The youngest player in the event, 15-year-old
GM Ray Robson, narrowly missed drawing former champion Gata Kamsky. Third-seeded
Alexander Onischuk played the longest game of the day at more than five hours,
beating Joel Benjamin in 64 moves. Full
report here...

Craig Caesar makes the ceremonial first move on board one between Alex Stripunksy
and Hikaru Nakamura. The latter won in 45 moves.

Round one under way in the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis

The experienced GM Kaidanov lost to the only female player in 41 moves

The two at the opening ceremony before the hostilities began

Ben Finegold drew Varuzhan Akobian in round one

Hikaru Nakamura won his first round game with a queen sac

Alexander Onischuk, with Nakamura and Kamsky one of three favourites in
the championship

Christiansen won this round one game in 38 moves

GM Jan Ehlvest kibitzes as Kraai draws Shabalov in 30 moves

GM Robert Hess beat fellow youngster IM Sam Shankland in 30 moves

Hess analyses with Jennifer Shahade and GM Maurice Ashley, while Shankland
looks on

A fisheye view of round one of the 2010 US Championship
Second round
Both Hikaru Nakamura and Gata Kamsky, the first and second seeds of the tournament,
won again in round two to push their totals to 2-0. The other encounters were
also well-fought – for the second day in a row, more than half of the
games produced a winner.

Top seed Hikaru Nakamura won this round two game in 41 moves
This time seven of the 12 games ended decisively. Alex Yermolinsky got his
first point of the event by defeating rising star Ray Robson, who has started
0-2. The round also featured a pair of throwback openings, as two Benonis and
two King’s Indian Defenses delighted any chess fans that relish hypermodern
opening systems and the 1990s. Kamsky’s victory was on the black side
of a King’s Indian, and Larry Christiansen also used the opening to hold
Alexander Onischuk to a draw.

Larry Christiansen used the King's Indian to hold Alexander Onischuk to
a draw
The Benoni did not fare as well. While Joel Benjamin drew Gregory Kaidanov
as Black, Varuzhan Akobian as White swiftly checkmated Jesse Kraai.

Jesse Kraai getting swiftly checkmated by Varuzhan Akobian in round two
Onischuk, Christiansen and Akobian, all with 1.5/2, were also joined by Jaan
Ehlvest and IM Irina Krush, who drew to equal the score. Two other players have
one win and one draw. Shabalov defeated Ben Finegold and GM Sergey Kudrin won
against GM Vinay Bhat. In other action, youngsters IM Sam Shankland and GM Aleksandr
Lenderman battled down to king versus king before agreeing to peace, while Alex
Stripunsky dispatched Dmitry Gurevich.

Greg Kaidanov and Joel Benjamin after their round two game (which was drawn)

GM strength: Irina Krush drew Jan Ehlvest with the black pieces in 30 moves
Full
report here...
Third round
Gata Kamsky and Hikaru Nakamura have met over the board three times, and all
three games failed to produce a winner. Onischuk, playing Black and beginning
the round one half point behind the leaders, caught up with an incredibly deep
idea that led to victory over Sergey Kudrin. Irina Krush let a winning position
slip away against Varuzhan Akobian and lost the six-hour 113-move marathon.

The youngest participant: GM Ray Robson (here in round two)
Fifteen-year-old Ray Robson dispatched Dmitry Gurevich in the shortest game
of the day, only 24 moves:
Gurevich,D (2488) - Robson,R (2569) [A13]
ch-USA Saint Louis USA (3), 16.05.2010
1.c4 e6 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.g3 d5 4.b3 c5 5.Bg2 Nc6 6.0-0 d4 7.e3 Bd6 8.exd4
cxd4 9.Bb2 e5 10.b4 Nxb4 11.Nxe5 Bxe5 12.Qa4+ Nc6 13.Bxc6+ bxc6 14.Re1 0-0 15.Rxe5
Rb8 16.Qc2 Ng4 17.Re1 Qf6 18.d3 c5 19.Re4 Bf5 20.Nd2 Nxf2 21.Rf1 Nxe4 22.Nxe4
Qe5 23.Rf4 Bh3 24.Rh4 f5 0-1.
The other youngster, Robert Hess, is now 2-1 after a wild win over Melikset
Khachiyan. Alexander Onischuk proved he is a top contender with a brilliant
win over Sergey Kudrin in round three. After this round there are four players
in the lead: Nakamura, Onischuk, Kamsky and Akobian – all have 2.5/3 points.
Full
report here...
Fourth round
With the top four players battling to draws on the top two boards, a trio of
other players used the fourth round of the 2010 U.S Championship to draw even.
On board one, Hikaru Nakamura and Alex Onischuk had the quickest game of the
day. There were a few brief fireworks out of the opening – Nakamura’s
Vienna was a bit of a shocker, and he curiously inverted his king and queen
in the first ten moves – but then Onischuk continued his usual solid ways
to earn the half point as Black. He has now extended his record U.S. Championship
unbeaten streak to 45 games. His only loss was in the 2004/5 event, and Onischuk
came in to the tournament with the third highest lifetime win percentage ever,
behind Bobby Fischer and Reuben Fine.

Unbeaten in 45 games: GM Alexander Onischuk
On board two, Varuzhan Akobian played a solid opening but soon found himself
under duress from Gata Kamsky’s extra space and eventual passed d-pawn.

Watching the game, GM Jesse Kraai thought Kamsky would squeeze out the point.
“Kamsky does this kind of garbage all the time,” Kraai joked. “You
think he’s worse, then he gets you.” But Akobian’s defense
held up and the two agreed to terms after 53 moves.

Joined the leaders with 3.0/4: GM Varuzhan Akobian
On boards 3-5, players playing Black went 3-0. Joining the leaders on three
points out of four was GM Yury Shulman, who snatched a loose pawn from GM Robert
Hess and lived to tell the tale. “I didn’t think it would be so
easy for Black to keep the pawn, but it turns out I don’t have anything,”
a despondent Hess said at the post-game press conference. “A pawn is a
pawn,” Shulman said. Hess did not offer any improvements and seemed dissatisfied
with his game.

“A pawn is a pawn” – fifth seed Yury Shulman
GM Alex Stripunsky also won as Black. Just after making the time control, GM
Jaan Ehlvest went in for a crowd-pleasing rook sacrifice. The audience at the
chess club initially thought it was forced checkmate, but Stripunsky jettisoned
a bishop and a rook to give his king space and rebuff the attack.

IM Irina Krush missed a win for the second game in a row. Coming off a disappointing
113-move loss in round three, she entered a rook-and-bishop versus rook endgame
against GM Ray Robson. She missed the zwischenzug 66…Ra7 67. Ke1 Rf7,
winning immediately.

Ben Finegold checking out the Robson-Krush game
She has now played 12 hours and 206 chess moves in the last two rounds. After
the game Krush reminisced about her missed chances and how a few different moves
could have allowed her to win all four games. “I still love chess,”
she said without any hint of insincerity.
Report by FM Mike Klein, photos by Betsy
Dynako
Standings after four rounds
# |
Player |
Pts |
Rtg |
Perf. |
1 |
GM Nakamura,
Hikaru |
3.0 |
2733 |
2833 |
2 |
GM Kamsky,
Gata |
3.0 |
2702 |
2803 |
3 |
GM Onischuk,
Alexander |
3.0 |
2699 |
2805 |
4 |
GM Shulman,
Yuri |
3.0 |
2613 |
2737 |
5 |
GM Akobian,
Varuzhan |
3.0 |
2599 |
2740 |
6 |
GM Christiansen,
Larry |
3.0 |
2578 |
2784 |
7 |
GM Stripunsky,
Alexander |
3.0 |
2570 |
2760 |
8 |
GM Yermolinsky,
Alex |
2.5 |
2528 |
2677 |
9 |
GM Kraai,
Jesse |
2.5 |
2492 |
2669 |
10 |
GM Ehlvest,
Jaan |
2.0 |
2591 |
2533 |
11 |
GM Hess,
Robert L |
2.0 |
2590 |
2598 |
12 |
IM Krush,
Irina |
2.0 |
2455 |
2584 |
13 |
IM Lenderman,
Alex |
1.5 |
2598 |
2441 |
14 |
GM Shabalov,
Alexander |
1.5 |
2585 |
2469 |
15 |
GM Kaidanov,
Gregory |
1.5 |
2577 |
2438 |
16 |
GM Kudrin,
Sergey |
1.5 |
2571 |
2470 |
17 |
GM Robson,
Ray |
1.5 |
2569 |
2456 |
18 |
GM Benjamin,
Joel |
1.5 |
2565 |
2482 |
19 |
GM Finegold,
Benjamin |
1.5 |
2539 |
2503 |
20 |
GM Khachiyan,
Melikset |
1.5 |
2539 |
2530 |
21 |
IM Altounian,
Levon |
1.5 |
2454 |
2488 |
22 |
GM Bhat,
Vinay S |
1.0 |
2547 |
2340 |
23 |
IM Shankland,
Samuel |
1.0 |
2507 |
2367 |
24 |
GM Gurevich,
Dmitry |
0.5 |
2488 |
2234 |
Video reports
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US Championship starts in Saint Louis today
14.05.2010 – The 2010 US Chess Championship
is taking place from May 13 (round one at 2:00 p.m. local time) to May
25 (possible tie breakers) at the Chess Club & Scholastic Center
of Saint Louis, which is hosting the event for the second year in a
row. The prize fund has risen to $170,000 – more than a 25 percent increase
from last year. The winner will take home $35,000. Live
coverage on Playchess. |
Links
The games are being broadcast live on the official
web site and with the kind cooperation of the organisers on Playchess.com.
If you are not a member you can download the free PGN reader ChessBase
Light, which gives you immediate access. You can also use the program
to read, replay and analyse PGN games. New and enhanced: CB Light 2009! |
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