US Chess Championship starts

[Hans Jung]

Re: US Chess Championship starts

Maurice Ashleyism for rd 4: those funky opening choices

[Hans Jung]

Re: US Chess Championship starts

referring to above Yasser asks Maurice what do you think of GM Gareevs opening choice today Maurice: I think GM Gareev is going to beam himself into outer space to play those aliens - no seriously hes using psychology on his individual opponents but although Gata Kamsky doesn't like wild openings hes seen it all before and something like that is not going to phase him (referring to Gareevs choice of the Wing gambit of the Sicilian defence) Yasser says: I admire GM Gareevs courage in playing the Wings Gambit at the highest level.

[Hans Jung]

Re: US Chess Championship starts

Maurice talks further on funky opening choices. Apparently in Sharevich - Ni Victoria Ni chose to play the Czech Benoni and at move 11 after answering Bb5+ with Kf8 and reaching a position where no pieces are developed Maurice points out that Anna Sharevich says to herself so you want to play that way and 0-0 and plays f4 opening the F-file directly at the king. At this point White has 5 pieces developed attacking and Black has no pieces developed. White should play Morphy style. Yasser adds (calmly and rationally explaining): I used to play these openings my self (referring to blacks defence) - it looks awful but if black can find something against the e5 push and d6 then black should be ok.

[Wayne Komer]

Re: US Chess Championship starts

U.S. Chess Championship 2015
St. Louis, MO
Round Four, April 4, 2015
Gareev, Timur – Kamsky, Gata
B20 Sicilian, Wing Gambit

1. e4 c5 2. b4 cxb4 3. Nf3 d6 4. d4 Nf6 5. Bd3 g6 6. a3 bxa3 7. O-O Bg7 8. h3 O-O 9. Bg5 Nc6 10. Nc3 Nd7 11. Nd5 h6 12. Bh4 Nb6 13. c3 Bd7 14. Rxa3 Re8 15. Re1 Rc8 16. Re3 Nxd5 17. exd5 Na5 18. Nd2 Bf6 19. Bg3 b6 20. Qf3 Rc7 21. Bf4 Bg7 22. c4 e5 23. dxe6 Rxe6 24. d5 Rxe3 25. Qxe3 Qf8 26. Rxa5 bxa5 27. Ne4 a4 28. Bxd6 Qd8 29. c5 a3 30. Bc4 Bf5 31. Ng3 Rd7 32. Nxf5 gxf5 33. Qxa3 Rxd6 34. cxd6 Be5 35. Qxa7 Qxd6 36. Qe3 Kg7 37. Qf3 f4 38. Bd3 Qf6 39. Qe4 Bd6 40. Kf1 Qa1+ 41. Bb1 Qf6 42. Qh7+ Kf8 43. Qd3 Kg7 44. Qe4 Kf8 ½-½

Why not 31. Bxc7 Qxc7 32.d6 Qb7 33.Ng3 Kh7 34. Qxa3 Bd7 35.Bxf7?

Round 4, April 4, 2015
Nakamura, Hikaru – So, Wesley
D58 QGD, Tartakower (Makagonov-Bondarevsky) System

1. c4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Be7 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 O-O 7. e3 b6 8. Bd3 Bb7 9. O-O Nbd7 10. Bg3 c5 11. cxd5 Nxd5 12. Nxd5 Bxd5 13. Qe2 cxd4 14. Nxd4 Bf6 15. Rfd1 Bxd4 16. exd4 Nb8 17. Rac1 Nc6 18. Bb5 Rc8 19. Rc3 Ne7 20. Ba6 Rxc3 21. bxc3 Nf5 22. Bf4 Qh4 23. Bc1 Rd8 24. f3 Rd7 25. Bd3 Rc7 26. Bd2 Qd8 27. Rc1 Qf6 28. a4 g5 29. f4 gxf4 30. Qf2 Nh4 31. Bxf4 Nf3+ 32. gxf3 Qxf4 33. Qg3+ Qxg3+ 34. hxg3 Bxf3 35. Kf2 Bc6 36. Ra1 f6 37. a5 b5 38. c4 bxc4 39. Bxc4 Kf7 40. Ke3 Ke7 41. Rb1 Rc8 42. g4 Kd6 43. Ba6 Rg8 44. Rf1 Rxg4 45. Rxf6 Re4+ 46. Kd3 Rh4 47. Bc4 Bd5 48. Bxd5 Kxd5 49. Rf7 Rxd4+ 50. Ke3 Ra4 51. Rxa7 Ra3+ 52. Kf2 Ke4 53. Rh7 Ra2+ 54. Kf1 Kf3 55. Rf7+ Ke3 56. Re7 ½-½

When So played 30…Nh4, Nakamura could have played the strong 31. Qxf4 but instead took with the bishop, Bxf4 and then shook his head until the end of the game, with regret. Still, he was happy enough to give an interview at the end.

The rest of the games in the men’s section were also drawn.

Shankland said in an interview he keeps starting off tournaments with Black. In the first four rounds he has been on the Black side here three times!

Standing After Round Four (Men)

Nakamura 3.0
Robson 3.0
So 2.5
Akobian 2.0
Kamsky 2.0
Onischuk 2.0
Sevian 2.0
Troff 2.0
Gareev 1.5
Shankland 1.5
Holt 1.5
Naroditsky 1.0

The Round 5 Pairings are:

Naroditsky-Nakamura
Kamsky-Robson
So-Gareev
Akobian-Onischuk
Shankland-Sevian
Holt-Troff

Standing After Round Four (Women)

Nemcova 3.5
Goletiani 3.0
Paikidze 2.5
Krush 2.5
Foisor 2.5
Abrahamyan 2.0
Virkud 1.5
Sharevich 1.5
Melekhina 1.5
Yu 1.5
Wang 1.0
Ni 1.0

The names of most of the women players are unfamiliar to me. I had heard that two ladies were from Georgia. Looking at their bios, I found these as their birth countries:

Krush (Ukraine), Abrahamyan (Armenia), Sharevich (Belarus), Foisor (Romania), Nemcova (Czech Republic), Paikidze (Georgia), Melekhina (Ukraine), Goletiani (Georgia), Ni (Latvia), Wang (U.S.A.), Virkud (U.S.A.), Yu (U.S.A.)

Round Five Pairings (Women)

Krush-Goletiani
Nemcova-Abrahamyan
Paikidze-Sharevich
Foisor-Melekhina
Yu-Virkud
Ni-Wang

Round 5 takes place tomorrow, Sunday April 5

Monday is a Rest Day and Round 6 commences on Tuesday, April 7.

[Hans Jung]

Re: US Chess Championship starts

In the note to the Wing Gambit by Gareev against Kamsky above. Why not indeed? Seems fairly simple for a 2600 grandmaster to find. However Gareev in applying psychology to his opponents seems to have been messing with his own mind. His funky opening choices should have led to success but its mixed success because he hasnt been able to finish.

[Hans Jung]

Re: US Chess Championship starts

Speaking of funky it seems to have become the watch word of the US Championships. Even GM Josh Friedel is using it in his annotations of US Championship games on chessbase.

[Hans Jung]

Re: US Chess Championship starts

Maurice talks further on funky opening choices. Apparently in Sharevich - Ni Victoria Ni chose to play the Czech Benoni and at move 11 after answering Bb5+ with Kf8 and reaching a position where no pieces are developed Maurice points out that Anna Sharevich says to herself so you want to play that way and 0-0 and plays f4 opening the F-file directly at the king. At this point White has 5 pieces developed attacking and Black has no pieces developed. White should play Morphy style. Yasser adds (calmly and rationally explaining): I used to play these openings my self (referring to blacks defence) - it looks awful but if black can find something against the e5 push and d6 then black should be ok.

If you want entertainment watch the US Championship! This game featured further eye popping maneuvers throughout. After obtaining a position with 5 developed pieces vs 0 White allowed a strong black knight on e5 and it seemed to be keeping at bay the entire white army. But black was not content to leave it on e5 and further she allowed white to obtain a strong knight outpost on f5. However white in turn was not content to keep her knight there. This game could be labelled in and out of the outpost. At some point both sides seemed to be refusing to win.

[Hans Jung]

Re: US Chess Championship starts

GM Fabio Caruana has been following the US Championships online and has tweeted several times. When I heard that I thought at first get a life but then it occurred to me that what would a chessplayer do (even number two in the world!) if he loves the game? If he cant be playing then he's watching an exciting event!

[Hans Jung]

Re: US Chess Championship starts

Sometimes in chess tournaments the draw factor raises its ugly head. And in round 4 thats what happened - all draws! Mostly not planned - Wesley So was pressing against Hikaru Nakamura but Hikaru held, Timur Gareev missed a rather simple win against Gata Kamsky. Gata was lucky. Luck you say it doesnt exist in chess. Well imo if your opponent misses a simple win you are lucky. End of story.

[Hans Jung]

Re: US Chess Championship starts

According to Yasser Ray Robson had the ideal position against V Akobian and should have played on - everything to play for and nothing to lose. Alex Onischuk has been off form - I have seen him convert similar positions in the past but he couldnt convert against Conrad Holt.

[Hans Jung]

Re: US Chess Championship starts

Gata Kamsky has also been off form but has been extremely resourceful when needed to survive and also with some luck. Net result 4 draws in four games but still in the race with an outside chance to win depending on further upsets.

[Hans Jung]

Re: US Chess Championship starts

The youngsters Sam Sevian, Kayden Troff, and Conrad Holt are all bottom rated within one point of each other (FIDE rating). You could label them under dogs or black horses. After 4 rounds they are doing very well. None of them is in last place. Sam has the sensational upset of Wesley So to his credit and an equal score. Kayden also is equal and Conrad has come back after his sensational loss to Nakamura in round 1 and is sitting at minus one.

[Hans Jung]

Re: US Chess Championship starts

Daniel Naroditsky in last place isnt playing particularly bad. His rating at 2633 is very respectable and he has been the victim of some very nice play. He started with two losses and his last two games have been draws. Maybe he can follow up with two consecutive wins.

[Hans Jung]

Re: US Chess Championship starts

Speaking of Daniel Naroditsky even tho he is still only a teenager he has already made quite a name for himself in the chess world and not in the usual way. Youngest author of a serious book on chess he has already authored several books and seems to have an unique formula. Whatever he is currently learning from in chess he writes about. His endgame book was so well received he has taken over from the legendary Pal Benko with an endgame column at US Chess Life!

[Jack Maguire]

Re: US Chess Championship starts

Daniel Naroditsky in last place isnt playing particularly bad. His rating at 2633 is very respectable and he has been the victim of some very nice play. He started with two losses and his last two games have been draws. Maybe he can follow up with two consecutive wins.

Daniel is 71/10 today against Naka (with 8/5 draw odds), if you think he can notch the 1st of those 2 wins, Hans (:

https://www.marathonbet.com/en/betting/Chess/