US Masters goes to Vladimir Belous

Grandmasters in North Carolina

We all know that chess is booming in the USA. If this 'fact' was in question few years ago, now it's beyond doubt: The US national team won the Chess Olympiad after 40 years and the top three American players are among top ten players in the world who are trying to earn a spot in the upcoming Candidates in order to earn the right to challenge World Champion Magnus Carlsen, for his coveted crown.

This advancement in top-level, thanks to the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis, is however, not the only story when it comes to the fast-growing chess movement in the United States. There are three factors underlying the growth of chess nationwide:

1. US junior players take part in every World Cadet Championship and they are all strong competitors and candidates for the podium
2. The existence of scholarships for chess players at various universities creates a great deal of competition among taleneted youngesters around the globe and attracts GM to come to study in the USA.
3. Thanks to growing number of GM, nine-round tournaments offer a great deal of chance for norm-seekers

One of the finest international open tournaments in the US takes place in Greensboro, North Carolina: the US Masters 2017. For six days, at Embassy Suites hotel in Greensboro, no less than twenty-four grandmasters competed over nine-rounds.

Hotel lobby | Photo: Davide Nastasio

After five rounds, the Berlin-based GM Niclas Huschenbeth was on fire with 5/5 including two back-to-back wins against dangerous young Russian GMs Dmitry Gordievsky and Andrey Stukopin.

Huschenbeth is a Masters student in industrial / organizational psychology at the Free University of Berlin, but says he has "[become] ambitious with chess again, so trying to play lots of strong tournaments."

After a draw in round six, it seemed that the Huschenbeth was on his way to a very good tournament with a full-point lead. However, his fairy-tale ended as he succumbed to a creative plan of another very aggressive Russian, Grandmaster Vladimir Belous:

After this nice victory, Belous and Huschenbeth went shoulder-to-shoulder to the final round after being caught by Alexander Shabalov. Huschenbeth drew with Sam Shankland in the penultimate round while Belous drew with Cuban GM Yuniesky Quesada Perez.

Sam Shankland (left) drew with Niclas Huschenbeth, as Vladimir Belous looks on | Photo: Davide Nastasio

In the ensuing final pairings, Huschenbeth fell at the hand of one of the top seeds, Yaroslav Zherebukh while Belous once again prevailed in a somewhat easy Queen's Gambit Accepted where Shabalov went astray as early as move 12:

The Queen's Gambit Accepted: A Repertoire for Black

In this DVD Sam Collins presents a repertoire for Black based on the Queen’s Gambit Accepted, 1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4. Rather than get involved in the heavy theory of the Classical Main Line, the lynchpin of the repertoire is the active development of the queen’s bishop. The resulting positions have close similarities to the Nimzo Indian and Slav Defences, and Collins explains the way for Black to approach the middlegame with confidence based on a blockade and light square strategy. The resulting repertoire is solid, reliable, and suitable as either a main weapon or an occasional surprise choice. Video running time: 3 hours 30 min

A GM norm denied

In other important final round games, top seed Sam Shankland put an end to Advait Patel's stellar performance and denied him GM norm, although Advait did succeed in earning the IM title right after this event. At 2434 and only 15 years of age, Advait is definitely in a hot pursuit for GM title.

Advait Patel seals the deal for his IM title by beating Paraguayan IM Guillermo Vazquez | Photo: Davide Nastasio

Shankland finished tied for second overall, but an Armageddon match with GM Yaroslav Zherebukh (right) was needed to clarify the top US player of the event. Zherebukh won that, but it was Belous who ran-away with big money for his efforts.

Walter High, the chief organizer of the event, has robust measures to ensure chances for norm-seekers: There were no players under 2000 (unless they were very young). Thus, no players ended up having a low-rating average, which made the tournament an excellent place for norms.

In addition to the high grandmaster turnout, numerous international masters and other titled players also participated. Thanks to the organization, every non-US IM and GM could enjoy accomodation (a shared room with breakfast), and the hotel provided players with shuttle service to and from the airport. The tournament had a skittles room where players could go over their games while enjoying a beer, soda or other complimentary beverages and snacks.

The tournament is part of the "Caronlinas Chess Initiative" tournaments along with the North Carolina Open and scholastic open.

A pair of junior players in the NC Open | Photo: Davide Nastasio

Final Standings (Top 20)

Links

• Official site