U.S. Championships, St. Louis 2017

**Wayne Komer** · Saturday, 11th March, 2017, 12:57 PM

Re: U.S. Championships, St. Louis 2017

U.S. Championships, St. Louis 2017

March 11, 2017

The Championships are 12-player round robins, taking place from March 27 to April 10, 2017

http://uschesschamps.com/2017-us-championship/overview

The fields:

Men’s

1. Fabiano Caruana
2. Wesley So
3. Hikaru Nakamura
4. Ray Robson
5. Sam Shankland
6. Jeffery Xiong
7. Gata Kamsky
8. Alex Onischuk
9. Daniel Naroditsky
10. Var Akobian
11. Yaroslav Zherebukh
12. Alex Shabalov

Women’s

1. Anna Zatonskih
2. Irina Krush
3. Nazi Paikidze
4. Tatev Abrahamyan
5. Katerina Nemocova
6. Sabina-Francesca Foisor
7. Apurva Virkud
8. Anna Sharevich
9. Carissa Yip
10. Jennifer Yu
11. Emily Nguyen
12. Maggie Feng

The Commentators

1. Yasser Seirawan
2. Jennifer Shahade
3. Maurice Ashley
4. Ben Finegold
5. Alejandro Ramirez

Tournament Arbiter

1. Rudy Abate

**Wayne Komer** · Saturday, 18th March, 2017, 11:01 PM

Re: U.S. Championships, St. Louis 2017

US Championships, St. Louis 2017

March 18, 2017

Bios of Players New to the Championship in 2017

1) Anna Sharevich, 2297, 31 years old

Chess Highlights:
Anna Sharevich made her first attempt at securing the national title in the 2015 U.S. Women’s Chess Championship, where she ultimately placed 5th. A native of Brest, Belarus and a prolific champion of the Ladies’ Belarusian Chess Championship (2002, 2005, 2007, 2011), Sharevich has long-established herself as a fierce competitor on elite levels of chess competition. Receiving her WGM title in 2006 at 21 years old, Sharevich has continued to improve her play after immigrating to the U.S. and grown accustomed to living far from home.
Bio:
Now living in Saint Louis, MO, Sharevich has played for both the Lindenwood and Webster University Chess teams, and recently put together an impressive showing in December’s 2014 Pan American Intercollegiate Championship. This past year also saw Anna selected for her first Chess Olympiad -- for team U.S.A. -- already boasting a great deal of experience in Olympiad play, having contributed to the Belarusian team in 2002, 2005, 2007 and 2011. Sharevich also was a member of the Saint Louis Arch Bishops, the 2014 champions of the U.S. Chess League.

2) Apurva Virkud, 2268, 18 years of age

Chess Highlights:
When Apurva Virkud learned the game from her first-grade teacher, she was hooked. She took a few classes, joined chess clubs and became Michigan’s Individual Children’s Champion for 4th and 5th Grade by age 11. Virkud placed 9th at the 2015 U.S. Women’s Chess Championship at 16 years old. From Troy, MI, Virkud holds a FIDE rating of 2127 and already has many championship wins under her belt, including the 2011 Susan Polgar Girls’ Invitational Chess Tournament in Lubbock, Texas with a perfect 6-0 score. She also tied for first place at the first National Girls’ Invitational in Madison, Wisconsin in 2013, and last July tied for first in the U.S. Girls Junior Invitational. "I like the problem-solving aspect of chess. It opened up so many opportunities for me, and I've traveled to many countries and met some great friends through chess," said Virkud, who has traveled as far as Turkey and Brazil for international competitions.
Bio:
For fun, Virkud enjoys playing the violin and piano, reading and spending time with friends. She is planning to go to college to study engineering, but will keep professional chess-playing in mind. Her practice schedule is made up of one hour per day during the school year, and four hours per day over the summer. She currently lives in Michigan.

3) Maggie Feng, 2258, 16 years old

Chess Highlights:
NM Maggie Feng finished the tournament with a score of 6.5/7 and became the first girl in history to win the K-9 U.S. Junior High School Championship. She now finds herself in company of other previous winners of the K-9 Championship, including Fabiano Caurana and Hikaru Nakamura.
Bio:
Maggie Feng lives in Ohio with her family.

4. Emily Nguyen, 2250, 14 years old

Chess Highlights:
Nguyen placed 1st in the 2016 U.S. Junior Girls Championship with 6.5/9. Emily is currently ranked 12th in the world in the female 16 and under active player category.
Bio:
Emily Nguyen currently resides in Texas with her family.
________

5) Daniel Naroditsky, 2690, 21 years old

Chess Highlights:
Daniel is currently rated 2646 FIDE (2623 URS), and is the ninth highest rated player in the U.S..
Bio:
Grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky first learned the rules of chess at six years old, and it was not long before he was paving his professional future -- eventually becoming a three-time U.S. Scholastic champion, earning a gold medal at the World U12 championship in 2007 and winning the U.S. Junior championship in 2013. Naroditsky is the youngest published chess author in history -- now with two titles to his name.

GM Naroditsky is an active ambassador for scholastic chess in the United States; giving simuls in schools, activity centers and chess clubs around the country. Aside from chess, Naroditsky maintains many other interests, including history, music, foreign languages, art and mathematics. He graduated from Crystal Springs Uplands School in Hillsboro, CA in 2014 and currently studies at Stanford University.

Naroditsky received the prestigious Frank P. Samford Jr. Chess Fellowship, which provides access to top level coaching, study material and competition. Through 2014, Naroditsky traveled and competed in several elite tournaments around the world, including the London Chess Classic and the Qatar Masters, and turned in an impressive performance at the 2015 Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival.

6) Yaroslav Zherebukh, 2657, 23 years old

Chess Highlights:
Yaroslav won the Cappelle la Grande tournament in 2010. He is currently rated 2605 FIDE (URS 2580), making him the twelfth highest rated player in the U.S..
Bio:
The Ukrainian born American Grandmaster earned his title at the age of 15. “My biggest success so far was the advancement to the 4th round (1/8 of the final) at the World Cup 2011 in Russia. I won or shared 1st place in numerous US and European tournaments, the most memorable being Cappelle la Grande in France, 2010 (650+ players, over 80 GMs) and US Masters 2015 in Greensboro,NC.” The young GM has been mostly focused on pursuing academic degrees in the past 4 years, but now has the time to devote to “rediscovering a passion for working on and playing chess again.”

In May of 2015 Zherebukh switched his affiliation from the Ukrainian Chess Federation to the U.S. Federation, making him eligible to be the unpredictable wildcard in this year’s U.S. Championship.

http://uschesschamps.com/2017-us-cha...er-bios?page=1
http://uschesschamps.com/2017-us-cha...ps/player-bios

**Wayne Komer** · Tuesday, 21st March, 2017, 10:50 PM

Re: U.S. Championships, St. Louis 2017

U.S. Championships. St. Louis 2017

March 21, 2017

There is a nice article about Emily Nguyen, the 14-year-old, who is competing in the US Women’s Championship next week.

http://parenting.blog.austin360.com/...und-the-world/

An excerpt:

Chess has taken Emily and her family to seven countries and four continents, including all over North America. She loved Brazil and Slovenia and Greece. She’s heading to Italy in October.

After St. Louis, she’ll come home and then head to Nashville to compete in the national tournament with her high school. Her middle school, Canyon Vista, was national champions when she was in sixth grade and her brother was in eighth grade and they both played for the team.

For each tournament, she brings her travel set, which includes a thin plastic board that rolls up and large plastic pieces. “It’s been on the plane, on the car, to all my tournaments,” she says. She recommends starting with a portable chess set that is lightweight rather than investing in a heavier, more beautiful one, so you can bring it with you.

She recommends first learning the moves and then playing in local tournaments before moving up to ones around the state, then national and international.

Her portable chess set isn’t her lucky charm, though. If anything, it would be the mints. She and her father started a tradition. She gives him an Altoid mint before each round, and she has one, too.

“This is really cool that I get to play,” she says of each tournament, but when she comes home, “I die a little from homework.”

**Wayne Komer** · Tuesday, 28th March, 2017, 11:42 PM

Re: U.S. Championships, St. Louis 2017

U.S. Championships, St. Louis 2017

March 28, 2017

First Three Rounds

Pairings Women’s Championship

Round 1, March 29
1. Sharevich, Anna – Nemcova, Katerina
2. Feng, Maggie – Krush, Irina
3. Foisor, Sabina-Francesca – Yip, Carissa
4. Abrahamyan, Tatev – Virkud, Apurva
5. Yu, Jennifer – Zatonskih, Anna
6. Nguyen, Emily – Paikidze, Nazi

Round 2, March 30
1. Nemcova, Katerina – Paikidze, Nazi
2. Zatonskih, Anna – Nguyen, Emily
3. Virkud, Apurva – Yu, Jennifer
4. Yip, Carissa – Abrahamyan, Tatev
5. Krush, Irina – Foisor, Sabina-Francesca
6. Sharevich, Anna – Feng Maggie

Round 3, March 31
1. Feng, Maggie – Nemcova, Katerina
2. Foisor, Sabina-Francesca – Sharevich, Anna
3. Abrahamyan, Tatev – Krush, Irina
4. Yu, Jennifer – Yip, Carissa
5. Nguyen, Emily – Virkud, Apurva
6. Paikidze, Nazi – Zatonskih, Anna

Pairings U.S. Championship

Round 1, March 29
1. Shankland, Samuel – Caruana, Fabiano
2. So, Wesley – Shabalov, Alexander
3. Onischuk, Alexander – Naroditsky, Daniel
4. Zherebukh, Yaroslav – Kamsky, Gata
5. Akobian, Varuzhan – Xiong, Jeffery
6. Robson, Ray – Nakamura, Hikaru

Round 2, March 30
1. Caruana, Fabiano – Nakamura, Hikaru
2. Xiong, Jeffery – Robson, Ray
3. Kamsky, Gata – Akobian, Varuzhan
4. Naroditsky, Daniel – Zherebukh, Yaroslav
5. Shabalov, Alexander – Onischuk, Alexander
6. Shankland, Samuel – So, Wesley

Round 3 March 31
1. So, Wesley – Caruana, Fabiano
2. Onischuk, Alexander – Shankland, Samuel
3. Zherebukh, Yaroslav – Shabalov, Alexander
4. Akobian, Varuzhan – Naroditsky, Daniel
5. Robson, Ray – Kamsky, Gata
6. Nakamura, Hikaru – Xiong, Jeffery

http://uschesschamps.com/tags/2017-us-championship

**Hans Jung** · Wednesday, 29th March, 2017, 10:35 AM

Re: U.S. Championships, St. Louis 2017

The long awaited first round is today but not for 4 more hours. I cant wait.

**Wayne Komer** · Wednesday, 29th March, 2017, 11:04 PM

Re: U.S. Championships, St. Louis 2017

U.S. Championships, St. Louis 2017

March 29, 2017

Round One

The commentators are Yasser Seirawan, Jennifer Shahade and Maurice Ashley. In the commentator bios, Eric Hansen’s is also given.

Alejandro Ramirez is doing a Spanish commentary on another channel.

Jennifer had her baby about Jan. 1, 2017, first name Fabian. I actually found her baby gift registry on-line. There is a photo of Fabian in the coverage of the opening ceremonies:

http://en.chessbase.com/post/2017_us...ionship_starts

In the game Zherebukh vs Kamsky, Yaroslav played 1. e4 instead of the expected 1. d4. This caused a 4-minute think by Gata, who, on the second move, went to the a6 Sicilian. Yasser compared this with Bronstein thinking for almost an hour on his first move in a game in one of his matches.

When I was first learning chess, I had read about this and when a friend asked how long you had to make a move in chess, I said, “50 minutes”. The move was made in the second game of Bronstein’s match against Boleslavsky in 1950. The latter played 1. e4 and David, after 50 minutes replied 1…Nf6.
See:

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1033790

What else is happening in U.S. chess at the moment?

The second issue of the new American Chess Magazine has just come out.

Also, Maxim Dlugy has just had published a 400-page memoir entitled Grandmaster Insides. It talks about his World Junior Championship and winning a string of open tournaments.

And, finally, Daniel Naroditsky has delivered a video series entitled the Naroditsky Method, which tells how to add 400 ELO rating points in 18 months. The blurb reminds us of Naroditsky’s record authorship:

Daniel is a rare talent. The former World Junior Champion hit 2646 before his 21st birthday. He speaks English and Russian natively and is now in his 3rd year at the prestigious Stanford University studying an exclusive course combining programming with artificial intelligence. He is also the youngest published chess author in history, having his first book published at just 14.

Three tweets about today’s action:

Kamsky: "I look at these guys and I see my old self in these guys. There’s no way with my current preparation and energy I can do that"

Shankland draws the defending champion. He's not entirely thrilled about it.

Wesley So finished Shabalov after a brutal massacre. Once again he makes it look easy, will this become a trademark of the Championships?

U.S. Championships 2017
St. Louis
Round 1, Mar. 29, 2017
So, Wesley – Shabalov, Alexander
D11 QGD Slav

1.c4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.e3 Nf6 4.d4 Bg4 5.h3 Bf5 6.Nc3 e6 7.g4 Bg6 8.Ne5 Nbd7 9.Nxg6 hxg6 10.g5 Ng8 11.h4 Ne7 12.Bd2 Nf5 13.Qg4 a6 14.O-O-O dxc4 15.Bxc4 c5 16.dxc5 Bxc5 17.Be2 Be7 18.Kb1 Qb6 19.Na4 Qc7 20.Rc1 Qd6 21.Ba5 Ne5 22.Qe4 Nc6 23.Rhd1 Rxh4 24.f4 Qb8 25.Nb6 Nd6 26.Qa4 Ra7 27.Bf3 Nb5 28.Qc2 Qc7 29.Rd7 1-0

Round 1, Mar. 29, 2017
Shankland, Samuel – Caruana, Fabiano
E32 Nimzo-Indian, Classical Variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 O-O 5.Nf3 d6 6.g3 b6 7.Bg2 Bb7 8.O-O Nbd7 9.b3 Qe7 10.Bb2 Bxc3 11.Qxc3 Ne4 12.Qc2 f5 13.Rad1 Rae8 14.d5 exd5 15.cxd5 Ndf6 16.Bxf6 Rxf6 17.Rd4 Rf7 18.e3 a5 19.a3 Ba6 20.Rc1 g5 21.Rdd1 Bb7 22.Rd4 h5 23.Rc4 Bxd5 24.Rxc7 Qxc7 25.Qxc7 Rxc7 26.Rxc7 Bxb3 27.Nd4 Be6 28.Bf1 Kf8 29.Rb7 f4 30.exf4 gxf4 31.f3 Nd2 32.Bb5 Bd5 33.Rxb6 Re3 34.Rxd6 Nxf3+ 35.Kf2 Nxd4 36.Rxd5 Nxb5 37.Rxb5 1/2-1/2

23….Bxd5 was an iffy move, better to protect the pawn on c7 with the rook.

Maurice Ashley after the game, was more interested in Sam’s appearance on the reality show Kicking and Screaming than in what happened in the game

http://forum.chesstalk.com/showthrea...612#post111612

Sam and his partner, Caleb, survived the first challenge in the jungle. The second week they had to rappel down a cliff while collecting ropes, diving near a waterfall for a key and use ropes to construct a ladder to a chest. Sam forgot to take the key at the bottom of the waterfall and they were eliminated. Sam said that these were a set of challenges he had never experienced before but he made some lasting friendships among the competitors and was glad to have the experience.

Round 1, Mar. 29, 2017
Robson, Ray – Nakamura, Hikaru
C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.Nbd2 Be6 7.O-O Bd6 8.d4 Nd7 9.dxe5 Nxe5 10.Nxe5 Bxe5 11.f4 Bd4+ 12.Kh1 f5 13.Qe2 O-O 14.Rd1 Qe7 15.Nf3 Bc5 16.Re1 Rae8 17.exf5 Bd5 18.Ne5 Rxf5 19.c4 Be6 20.Bd2 Bd6 21.Rf1 Ref8 22.b3 Bxe5 23.fxe5 Qc5 24.Bc3 b5 25.Rxf5 Rxf5 26.Rd1 Qf2 27.Qd3 bxc4 28.bxc4 h6 29.Bd4 Qxa2 30.Ra1 Qxc4 31.Qxc4 Bxc4 32.Bxa7 Rxe5 33.Kg1 Bd5 34.Rc1 Re2 35.Bf2 Kf7 36.h3 Ra2 37.Rc3 g5 38.Rc1 h5 39.Rc3 Kg6 40.Rc1 Kf5 41.Rc3 g4 42.hxg4+ hxg4 43.Bg3 Rxg2+ 44.Kf1 Rxg3 45.Rxg3 c5 46.Kf2 Kf4 47.Rd3 c6 48.Ra3 c4 49.Rc3 Be6 50.Ra3 Bf5 51.Rg3 Bd3 52.Re3 Be4 53.Ra3 Bd3 54.Ra5 g3+ 55.Kg1 Be4 56.Ra3 Bd5 57.Kf1 g2+ 58.Kf2 Ke5 59.Rg3 Kd4 60.Ke2 c3 61.Kd1 Be4 62.Ke2 c2 63.Kd2 Ke5 64.Rg4 Kf5 65.Rg8 Kf4 0-1

(Tim Harding) - Nakamura looks to have realistic winning chances but he took his time about grabbing on g2. Now he's done it so he has passed pawns on either wing.

Now we see why Hikaru took so long. He has followed up with Rg2xBg3 to have B+3P v R instead of R, B, 2P v R and opp colour B.

Round 1, Mar. 29, 2017
Zherebukh, Yaroslav – Kamsky, Gata
B28 Sicilian, O’Kelly variation

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 a6 3.Be2 e6 4.O-O b5 5.a4 b4 6.c3 Bb7 7.cxb4 cxb4 8.d3 Nf6 9.Be3 Nc6 10.Nbd2 Be7 11.d4 O-O 12.Bd3 Na5 13.Ng5 h6 14.Nh3 d6 15.f4 e5 16.d5 exf4 17.Nxf4 Nd7 18.Nf3 Rc8 19.Nh5 Ne5 20.Kh1 Nac4 21.Bd4 g6 22.Bxc4 Rxc4 23.Ng3 Nxf3 24.Rxf3 Bg5 25.Qd3 Qc8 26.a5 Rc1+ 27.Rxc1 Qxc1+ 28.Rf1 Qd2 29.Qxd2 Bxd2 30.Rf6 Rd8 1/2-1/2

And two more draws:

Round 1, Mar. 29, 2017
Akobian, Varuzhan – Xiong, Jeffery
D85 Grunfeld, Modern Exchange variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Nf3 c5 8.Be3 Qa5 9.Qd2 Nc6 10.Rb1 cxd4 11.cxd4 O-O 12.Qxa5 Nxa5 13.Bd3 Rd8 14.O-O b6 15.Rfd1 Bb7 16.Bd2 Nc6 17.d5 Ne5 18.Nxe5 Bxe5 19.Bg5 f6 20.Be3 Rac8 21.a4 e6 22.f4 Bc7 23.dxe6 Rxd3 24.Rxd3 Bxe4 25.Rbd1 Bxd3 26.Rxd3 Rd8 27.Rc3 Bd6 28.g4 f5 29.gxf5 gxf5 30.Rc6 Kf8 31.a5 bxa5 32.Ra6 Bb4 33.Rxa7 Rd6 34.Rxh7 Rxe6 35.Kf2 a4 36.Rh8+ Kf7 37.Ra8 a3 38.Bd4 Re4 39.Be5 Bc5+ 40.Kg3 Re3+ 41.Kg2 Be7 42.Ra6 Rd3 43.Kf2 Ke8 44.Kg2 Kd7 45.Kf2 Rh3 46.Kg2 Rb3 47.Kf2 Bc5+ 48.Kg2 Rb6 49.Ra5 Kc6 50.h4 Rb2+ 51.Kh3 Rb5 52.Ra6+ Rb6 53.Ra5 Rb1 54.Kg2 Rg1+ 55.Kh2 Rg4 56.Bf6 Bd6 57.h5 Bxf4+ 58.Kh1 Bc1 59.Be7 Kb6 60.Bd8+ Kb7 61.Be7 Kb6 62.Bd8+ Kc6 63.Be7 Rg3 64.h6 Kb6 65.Bd8+ Kb7 66.Be7 Bxh6 67.Rxa3 Rg7 68.Bf8 Rg6 1/2-1/2

Round 1, Mar. 29, 2017
Onischuk, Alexander – Naroditsky, Daniel
E20 Nimzo-Indian, Romanishin-Kasparov System

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.g3 O-O 5.Bg2 d5 6.Nf3 dxc4 7.O-O Nc6 8.Qa4 Nd5 9.Qc2 Be7 10.Rd1 Rb8 11.e4 Ncb4 12.Qb1 Nxc3 13.bxc3 Nd3 14.Qb5 c5 15.Qxc4 Nxc1 16.Raxc1 b5 17.Qe2 Qb6 18.Ne5 f6 19.Ng4 b4 20.Ne3 bxc3 21.d5 Ba6 22.Qg4 f5 23.exf5 exf5 24.Nxf5 Bf6 25.d6 Kh8 26.Ne7 Bd4 27.Ng6+ hxg6 28.Qh4+ Kg8 29.Bd5+ Rf7 30.Bxf7+ Kxf7 31.Qe7+ Kg8 32.Qe6+ Kh7 33.Qh3+ Kg8 34.Qe6+ 1/2-1/2

Standing after Round One

So, Nakamura 1

Onischuk, Naroditsky, Shankland, Zherebukh, Caruana, Kamsky, Akobian, Xiong all with 0.5

Shabalov, Robson 0

**Wayne Komer** · Wednesday, 29th March, 2017, 11:41 PM

Re: U.S. Championships, St. Louis 2017

U.S. Championships, St. Louis 2017

March 29, 2017

(continued)

Women’s Championship

Round One

U.S. Women’s Championship 2017
St. Louis
Round 1 Mar. 29
Yu, Jennifer – Zatonskih, Anna
D35 QGD, Exchange, positional line

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 c6 6.e3 h6 7.Bh4 Be6 8.Bd3 Nbd7 9.Nge2 g5 10.Bg3 Nh5 11.Qc2 Nxg3 12.Nxg3 h5 13.a3 h4 14.Nf5 Qf6 15.h3 Nb6 16.Ne2 O-O-O 17.g4 hxg3 18.Nexg3 Kb8 19.b4 Nc8 20.O-O-O Bd6 21.Kb2 Bxg3 22.fxg3 Bxf5 23.Bxf5 Nd6 24.Bd3 Qe6 25.Qf2 Rde8 26.Rde1 Rh6 27.h4 Rf6 28.Qe2 gxh4 29.gxh4 Rh6 30.Qf2 Reh8 31.Qg3 a6 32.Rh3 Ka7 33.Reh1 Rh5 34.R1h2 Qf6 35.Rf2 Qe7 36.Rf4 f5 37.Qf2 R5h6 38.Kb3 Rh5 39.Bxf5 Nxf5 40.Rxf5 Rxh4 41.Rxh4 Rxh4 42.Re5 Qh7 43.Qc2 Qxc2+ 44.Kxc2 Kb6 45.Kb3 a5 46.a4 Rh1 47.bxa5+ Kxa5 48.e4 Rh3+ 49.Kc2 Kxa4 50.exd5 cxd5 51.Rxd5 b5 52.Rd8 Rh2+ 53.Kd3 b4 54.Ra8+ Kb3 55.d5 Rh1 56.Rb8 Ka3 57.d6 Rd1+ 58.Kc2 1-0

White wins in 7 moves after 58…Ka4

Round 1, Mar. 29, 2017
Feng, Maggie – Krush, Irina
A05 Reti, King’s Indian Attack

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 b5 3.Bg2 Bb7 4.O-O e6 5.d3 d6 6.a4 b4 7.e4 Nbd7 8.Nbd2 a5 9.Re1 Be7 10.Nc4 O-O 11.e5 Nd5 12.Nfd2 Ra6 13.d4 Qa8 14.Bf1 N5b6 15.Qg4 Ra7 16.Nxb6 cxb6 17.Ne4 Re8 18.Nxd6 Bxd6 19.exd6 Nf6 20.Qh4 Qd8 21.Bb5 Qxd6 22.Re5 Rc8 23.Bh6 Be4 24.Bg5 Bg6 25.Bxf6 gxf6 26.Qxf6 Qxd4 27.Bd3 Rd7 28.Rae1 Rc5 29.Bxg6 hxg6 30.R1e4 Qd1+ 31.Kg2 Rxe5 32.Qxe5 Qd5 33.Qxd5 Rxd5 34.Rc4 Rd6 35.h4 Kg7 36.Kf3 f5 37.Ke3 Kf6 38.b3 e5 39.f3 Ke6 40.c3 bxc3 41.Rxc3 Ke7 1/2-1/2

Round 1, Mar. 29, 2017
Nguyen, Emily – Paikidze, Nazi
E17 Queen’s Indian

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 b6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2 Be7 6.O-O d5 7.Nc3 c6 8.Ne5 Nfd7 9.Nxd7 Nxd7 10.cxd5 cxd5 11.Bf4 O-O 12.Rc1 Rc8 13.Nb5 Rxc1 14.Qxc1 a6 15.Bc7 Qa8 16.Nd6 Bc6 17.Qc3 Bxd6 18.Bxd6 Rc8 19.Rc1 a5 20.e3 Nf6 21.Be5 Ne8 22.h4 Bd7 23.Qd2 f6 24.Bf4 Rxc1+ 25.Qxc1 Qc6 26.Qxc6 Bxc6 27.Bf1 Kf7 28.Bd3 h6 29.Kf1 Ke7 30.Bg6 Nd6 1/2-1/2

In an interview with Maurice after the game Nazi said that as a result of her refusing to go and play in Tehran, she has been under constant scrutiny for six months and she is not used to it.

See:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.99f163bb233a

Round 1, Mar. 29, 2017
Abrahamyan, Tatev – Virkud, Apurva
B90 Sicilian, Najdorf

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.f3 e6 7.Be3 b5 8.Qd2 Nbd7 9.g4 Nb6 10.a4 Nc4 11.Bxc4 bxc4 12.a5 Bb7 13.Na4 Qc7 14.Nb6 Rb8 15.Ra4 d5 16.g5 Nd7 17.exd5 Nxb6 18.axb6 Qd7 19.Rxc4 Qxd5 20.Rc7 Bd6 21.c4 Qe5 22.Rxb7 Rxb7 23.Nc6 Qf5 24.Qxd6 f6 25.O-O Rf8 26.Nd4 Qd3 27.Qxe6+ Re7 28.Qc6+ Kf7 29.Qd5+ Kg6 30.Bf4 Rff7 31.gxf6 gxf6 32.Nc6 Rd7 33.Qxd3+ Rxd3 34.Na5 1-0

Round 1, Mar. 29, 2017
Sharevich, Anna – Nemcova, Katerina
E00 Catalan Opening

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Bxd2+ 6.Nbxd2 O-O 7.Bg2 Nbd7 8.O-O c5 9.cxd5 exd5 10.dxc5 Nxc5 11.Nb3 Nce4 12.Qd4 b6 13.Nfd2 Ba6 14.Rfe1 Qe7 15.Rac1 Rfe8 16.e3 h5 17.f3 Nxd2 18.Qxd2 Rac8 19.Nd4 Rxc1 20.Qxc1 Rc8 21.Qd2 Qc5 22.Bh3 Rc7 23.Bf5 Nd7 24.Bxd7 Rxd7 25.b4 Qd6 26.b5 Bb7 27.Rc1 Rc7 28.Rxc7 Qxc7 29.Kf2 h4 30.Qb2 hxg3+ 31.hxg3 Qd7 32.Kg2 Bc8 33.g4 Qd6 34.Qc3 Bd7 35.a4 f6 36.a5 bxa5 37.Qxa5 Qb6 38.Qa2 Qc5 39.Qa5 Qb6 40.Qa2 1/2-1/2

Round 1, Mar. 29, 2017
Foisor, Sabina – Yip, Carissa
E60 King’s Indian

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.e3 O-O 5.Be2 d5 6.cxd5 Nxd5 7.e4 Nb6 8.O-O Bg4 9.Nbd2 e6 10.h3 Bxf3 11.Nxf3 Nc6 12.Be3 Qd7 13.a4 a5 14.Bb5 Qd6 15.Rc1 Nb4 16.Qb3 c6 17.Be2 Nd7 18.Rfd1 Rfc8 19.Bd2 Bf8 20.Ng5 Nb6 21.Be3 h6 22.Nf3 Bg7 23.Ne5 Nd7 24.Nc4 Qc7 25.g3 g5 26.Bf3 Nf6 27.Bg2 Re8 28.d5 exd5 29.Nb6 dxe4 30.Nxa8 Rxa8 31.Bd4 Re8 32.Bf1 Nbd5 33.Bc4 Qe7 34.Re1 h5 35.Bxd5 Nxd5 36.Bxg7 Kxg7 37.Qd1 h4 38.Qd4+ Kh7 39.Rc4 f5 40.g4 fxg4 41.hxg4 Nf6 42.Qe3 Qe6 43.Qxg5 Qxc4 44.Qxf6 Qd5 45.Qxh4+ Kg7 46.Re3 Qd1+ 47.Kg2 Qd5 48.b3 b5 49.axb5 cxb5 50.Qg3 Re7 51.Qf4 a4 52.bxa4 bxa4 53.Kg3 Qd1 54.Kg2 Qd5 55.Kg3 Qd1 56.Qg5+ Kf7 57.Kg2 Qd6 58.Rh3 Qg6 59.Qf4+ Kg7 60.Rh5 Rf7 61.Qe5+ Qf6 62.Rg5+ Kh8 63.Qb8+ Rf8 64.Qh2+ 1-0

(Tim Harding) - Zatonskih (with a 250 point rating advantage and several more minutes on the clock) thought for 3 minutes in a R+P v R+P position and came up with a help-mate (Rd1+). The reply was so obvious she immediately resigned before the opponent could play it

Carissa Yip also walked into a mate a few minutes later, so there were three round 1 winners.

Two really horrific blunders.

Standing after Round One

Abrahamyan, Foisor, Yu all 1

Krush, Paikidze, Nemcova, Sharevich, Nguyen, Feng all 0.5

Zatonskih, Virkud, Yip all 0

**Wayne Komer** · Thursday, 30th March, 2017, 08:01 PM

Re: U.S. Championships, St. Louis 2017

U.S. Championships, St. Louis 2017

March 30, 2017

Round Two

The game between the two top dogs is of course, Caruana-Nakamura. Their history in classical games is 4 wins, 6 losses for Fabiano and 23 draws.

The other top matches are:

Shankland-So 0-2 and 1 draw for Shankland

Wesley has played 57 consecutive classical games without a loss.

Krush-Foisor is 4-1, 3 draws

Nemcova-Paikidze 4-1, 3

Getting back to the subject of classical games played in competition without a loss, there is a chart in New in Chess, 2017#2 (page 14) entitled Streaks of Invincibility. These are the present records:

1. Mikhail Tal, 95 games, Oct. 1973 – Oct. 1974
2. Mikhail Tal, 86 games Jul. 1972 – Apr. 1973
3. Milan Drasko, 84 games Oct. 2006 – Sept. 2007
4. Vladimir Kramnik, 82 games Jan. 1999 – Jul. 2000
5. Wang Yue, 82 games Mar. 2008 – Dec. 2008
6. Jose Raul Capablanca, 63 games 1916 – 1924
7. Wesley So, 56 games Jul. 2016 to present
8. Magnus Carlsen, 42 games Nov. 2015 – Apr. 2016

Milan Drasko is the least likely name on this list. Drasko, a Montenegro grandmaster did not play against top gandmasters during his streak, but by the end, he had raised his raising to 2557, a career best.

The magazine came out about two weeks ago and got an immediate reply in the form of this tweet from Sergey Tiviakov:

The facts are not true. I am the official world record holder, with 110 games without a loss in the period 2004-2005

Sergey is the rather opinionated Russian-born grandmaster, who now lives in the Netherlands.
_________

So is about 15 ELO points behind Magnus Carlsen at the moment. This tweet today from Tarjel J. Svensen:

So needs to score 9,5 out of 11 to overtake Carlsen as the World #1. If he starts with 5/5 they will be tied on Sunday.

US Championship 2017
St. Louis
Round 2, Mar. 30, 2017
Caruana, Fabiano – Nakamura, Hikaru
B31 Sicilian, Nimzowitsch-Rossolimo Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.Bxc6 bxc6 5.O-O Bg7 6.Re1 Nh6 7.c3 O-O 8.h3 f5 9.e5 Nf7 10.d3 Ba6 11.c4 d6 12.e6 Ne5 13.Nc3 Nxf3+ 14.Qxf3 Rb8 15.Re2 Bc8 16.Bf4 Rxb2 17.Rxb2 Bxc3 18.Rab1 Bxb2 19.Rxb2 Qc7 20.Bg5 Bxe6 21.Re2 Qd7 22.Qe3 Bf7 23.Qxe7 Qxe7 24.Rxe7 Ra8 25.Rc7 d5 26.Rxc6 dxc4 27.dxc4 Bxc4 28.a3 Bf7 29.Rxc5 Kg7 30.Rc7 a6 31.h4 Re8 32.Ra7 Re6 33.f3 h6 34.Bd2 Rc6 35.Kh2 g5 36.hxg5 hxg5 37.Bxg5 Kg6 38.Be3 Bc4 39.a4 Kf6 40.Rb7 Bd3 41.Rd7 Bc4 42.Kg3 Ke6 43.Rd4 a5 44.Bd2 Bb3 45.Bxa5 Rc4 46.Rd8 Rxa4 47.Bc7 Ra2 48.Rd6+ Ke7 49.Rb6 Bc4 50.Be5 Rc2 51.Rb1 Ke6 52.Bb8 Kf6 53.Re1 Kf7 54.Rg1 Kg6 55.Kf4 Ba2 56.Ba7 Rb2 57.Bd4 Rb1 58.Rxb1 1/2-1/2

Round 2, Mar. 30, 2017
Shankland, Samuel – So, Wesley
C67 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence, Open variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.Re1 Nd6 6.Nxe5 Be7 7.Bf1 Nf5 8.Nf3 O-O 9.d4 d5 10.c3 Bd6 11.Bd3 Re8 12.Rxe8+ Qxe8 13.Qc2 Nce7 14.Nbd2 f6 15.Nf1 g6 16.Bd2 Be6 17.Re1 Qd7 18.Ng3 Ng7 19.Nh4 c6 20.Bh6 Re8 21.Re3 Kf7 22.Kf1 Bxg3 23.hxg3 Ngf5 24.Nxf5 Nxf5 25.Bxf5 Bxf5 26.Qe2 Rg8 27.f3 g5 28.g4 Bb1 29.Qd1 Bxa2 30.Kf2 Rg6 31.Qh1 Qd6 32.g3 Qd7 33.Bxg5 Rxg5 34.Qxh7+ Rg7 35.Qh5+ Rg6 36.Qh7+ Rg7 37.Qh5+ 1/2-1/2

Round 2, Mar. 30, 2017
Kamsky, Gata – Akobian, Varuzhan
C07 French, Tarrasch, Open variation

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.Ngf3 cxd4 5.exd5 Qxd5 6.Bc4 Qd6 7.O-O Nc6 8.Re1 Nf6 9.Nb3 a6 10.a4 Be7 11.Nbxd4 Nxd4 12.Nxd4 O-O 13.b3 Rd8 14.Bb2 Qc5 15.Qd3 h6 16.h3 Qc7 17.Qe2 Bb4 18.Red1 Bd7 19.Rd3 e5 20.Nf3 e4 21.Bxf6 exd3 22.Bxd8 Qxc4 0-1

Gata played 22. Bxd8?, realized that that was a dead loss, could not look at the board and resigned shortly thereafter.

Round 2, Mar. 30, 2017
Naroditsky, Daniel – Zherebukh, Yaroslav
B90 Sicilian, Najdorf

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.h4 e5 7.Nb3 Be6 8.f4 Nc6 9.f5 Bxb3 10.axb3 d5 11.exd5 Nd4 12.Bd3 Nxd5 13.Bb5+ Nxb5 14.Nxd5 Nc7 15.Ra5 b5 16.Nxc7+ Qxc7 17.Qf3 Bb4+ 18.c3 O-O 19.Ra1 e4 20.Qe3 Bd6 21.Rh3 Rfe8 22.Qf2 Be5 23.Kf1 a5 24.Bd2 Qd7 25.Re1 Qd5 26.Rhe3 Bc7 27.R3e2 h5 28.c4 Qd3 29.Qe3 Qd7 30.Rf2 Be5 31.Bc3 Bxc3 32.Qxc3 Ra6 33.Kg1 b4 34.Qd2 Rd6 35.Qg5 Rd1 36.Rxd1 Qxd1+ 37.Kh2 f6 38.Qe3 Qd6+ 39.g3 Qe5 40.Qf4 Qc5 41.Re2 Re5 42.Kg2 e3 43.Qf3 Qd4 44.Qxh5 Qd3 45.c5 Qxb3 46.c6 Qd5+ 47.Qf3 Qc5 48.g4 a4 49.Kh3 Kf8 50.c7 Qxc7 51.Rxe3 Rxe3 52.Qxe3 Qc2 53.Qe6 Qd3+ 54.Kg2 b3 55.Qc8+ Ke7 56.Qe6+ Kf8 57.Qc8+ Ke7 58.Qe6+ Kd8 59.Qg8+ Kc7 60.Qxg7+ Qd7 61.Qf8 Qd2+ 62.Kf3 Qd3+ 63.Kf2 Qd4+ 64.Kf3 Kb7 65.h5 Qd3+ 66.Kf2 Qd2+ 1/2-1/2

Daniel’s 6.h4 got lots of comment. Yaroslav’s advantage dissipated in the endgame.

Round 2, Mar. 30, 2017
Xiong, Jeffery – Robson, Ray
B90 Sicilian, Najdorf, Adams Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.h3 e5 7.Nde2 h5 8.g3 Be6 9.Bg2 b5 10.a4 b4 11.Nd5 Nxd5 12.exd5 Bf5 13.c3 bxc3 14.Nxc3 Be7 15.O-O h4 16.g4 Bg6 17.Be4 Bxe4 18.Nxe4 Nd7 19.b4 O-O 20.Be3 Nf6 21.Nxf6+ Bxf6 22.b5 axb5 23.axb5 Rb8 24.Qe2 Bg5 25.Bxg5 Qxg5 26.Ra6 f5 27.Rxd6 fxg4 28.Qxg4 Qxg4+ 29.hxg4 Rxb5 30.Kg2 Rf4 1/2-1/2

Round 2, Mar. 30, 2017
Shabalov, Alexander – Onischuk, Alex
E05 Catalan, open, Classical line

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Nf3 Be7 5.Bg2 O-O 6.O-O dxc4 7.Ne5 Nc6 8.Nxc6 bxc6 9.Na3 Bxa3 10.bxa3 Ba6 11.Qd2 Rb8 12.Qa5 Qc8 13.a4 Rd8 14.Ba3 Qb7 15.Bc5 c3 16.Rfe1 Nd5 17.e4 Nb6 18.Rac1 e5 19.dxe5 Rd3 20.Be7 Nc4 21.Qc5 Qb6 22.e6 Qxc5 23.exf7+ Kxf7 24.Bxc5 Rb2 25.e5 Ke6 26.Bxa7 Nd2 27.Bh3+ Ke7 28.Bc5+ Ke8 29.Kg2 g6 30.Be6 Bc4 31.Bxc4 Nxc4 32.Re4 Nb6 33.a5 Nd7 34.Be3 Rxa2 35.Kh3 Rxa5 36.e6 Nb6 37.Bxb6 cxb6 38.Rc4 Rc5 39.Rxc5 bxc5 40.Kg4 Ke7 41.Kg5 Kxe6 42.Kh6 Kd5 43.f4 Kc4 44.Kxh7 Kb3 0-1

Standing after Round Two

Nakamura, Akobian, So, Onischuk 1.5
Caruana, Naroditsky, Zherebukh, Shankland, Xiong all 1.0
Robson, Kamsky 0.5
Shabalov 0

**Wayne Komer** · Thursday, 30th March, 2017, 08:26 PM

Re: U.S. Championships, St. Louis 2017

U.S. Championships, St. Louis 2017

March 30, 2017

Round Two (continued)

US Women’s Championship

The games:

U.S. Women’s Championship 2017
St. Louis
Round 2, Mar. 30, 2017
Krush, Irina Foisor, Sabina
D35 QGD, Exchange variation

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 Nbd7 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Qc2 c6 7.Bf4 Be7 8.h3 Nf8 9.e3 Bd6 10.Bxd6 Qxd6 11.Bd3 Ng6 12.O-O-O Bd7 13.Kb1 O-O 14.g4 Rfc8 15.g5 Ne8 16.h4 Bg4 17.Be2 Bh5 18.Ng1 Bxe2 19.Qxe2 Qe6 20.Nf3 Nd6 21.h5 Ne7 22.Ka1 Ne4 23.Nxe4 dxe4 24.Nd2 Nf5 25.Rc1 Rd8 26.Nb3 Rd5 27.Nc5 Qe7 28.Qg4 Nd6 29.Rhg1 Rd8 30.Na4 Qe6 31.Rc5 Qxg4 32.Rxg4 Rxc5 33.Nxc5 Re8 34.Kb1 Re7 35.Kc2 Kf8 36.Kd1 f5 37.Rg1 b6 38.Na4 g6 39.h6 Kf7 40.Nc3 Ke6 41.Ke2 c5 42.dxc5 bxc5 43.f4 exf3+ 44.Kxf3 Nc4 45.b3 Ne5+ 46.Ke2 c4 47.bxc4 Rc7 48.Nb5 Rxc4 49.Nd4+ Kd5 50.Rd1 Ke4 51.Ne6 Nf3 52.Rd7 Rc2+ 53.Kd1 Rxa2 54.Rxh7 Kxe3 55.Rg7 Ne5 56.Nf8 Kd3 57.Kc1 f4 58.Nxg6 Nxg6 59.Rxg6 f3 60.Rd6+ Ke4 61.h7 Rh2 62.g6 Ke5 63.Rd8 f2 64.Rf8 1-0

Round 2, Mar. 30, 2017
Yip, Carissa – Abrahamyan, Tatev
C03 French, Tarrasch

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 a6 4.Ngf3 c5 5.dxc5 Bxc5 6.Bd3 Ne7 7.O-O O-O 8.a3 Nbc6 9.b4 Bb6 10.Bb2 Ng6 11.g3 Qc7 12.c4 Nce5 13.Nxe5 Nxe5 14.Qh5 Nxd3 15.Bxg7 Kxg7 16.Qg5+ Kh8 17.Qf6+ Kg8 18.Qg5+ Kh8 19.Qf6+ Kg8 20.Qg5+ Kh8 21.Qf6+ 1/2-1/2

Round 2, Mar. 30, 2017
Virkud, Apurva – Yu, Jennifer
D16 QGD Slav Accepted, Alapin variation

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 dxc4 5.a4 Na6 6.e3 Be6 7.Ne5 Nb4 8.Bxc4 Bxc4 9.Nxc4 e6 10.O-O Be7 11.e4 Qc7 12.Be3 O-O-O 13.Qe2 h5 14.Ne5 Ng4 15.Nb5 Qb6 16.Nxf7 cxb5 17.Rfc1+ Kb8 18.Bf4+ e5 19.Bg3 bxa4 20.Nxh8 Rxh8 21.h3 h4 22.Qxg4 hxg3 23.Qxg3 Bf6 24.dxe5 Bh4 25.Qxg7 Bxf2+ 26.Kh1 Rd8 27.e6 Nd3 28.e7 Bd4 29.Qg3+ Be5 30.Qxd3 Rh8 31.Qd7 Qg6 32.Qd8+ 1-0

Round 2, Mar. 30, 2017
Nemcova, Katerina – Paikidze, Nazi
B50 Sicilian

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.c3 Nf6 4.Be2 g6 5.O-O Bg7 6.Re1 O-O 7.d3 Nc6 8.h3 a6 9.Be3 e5 10.Qd2 b5 11.Na3 Rb8 12.Bf1 Qc7 13.Nc2 Ne7 14.Bg5 Bb7 15.Rad1 Rbd8 16.Qe2 Nh5 17.g4 Nf4 18.Bxf4 exf4 19.d4 Rde8 20.Bg2 Nc8 21.Nh2 f5 22.gxf5 gxf5 23.f3 Qf7 24.b3 b4 25.cxb4 d5 26.e5 cxd4 27.e6 Qc7 28.Nxd4 Ne7 29.Kh1 Nc6 30.Nxc6 Qxc6 31.Rc1 Qd6 32.b5 Re7 33.Bf1 axb5 34.Qxb5 Bd4 35.Rcd1 Bf2 36.Re2 Ba6 37.Rxd5 Bxb5 38.Rxd6 Bxe2 39.Bxe2 Rg7 40.Rd1 Kh8 41.e7 Rfg8 42.e8=Q Rxe8 43.Bc4 h5 44.a4 Ree7 45.a5 h4 46.a6 Rg5 47.b4 Rd7 48.Rf1 Be3 49.b5 Rdg7 50.Ng4 fxg4 51.hxg4 Rc7 52.Bd3 Rd5 0-1

Round 2, Mar. 30, 2017
Sharevich, Anna – Feng, Maggie
A85 Dutch

1.d4 e6 2.c4 f5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 Bb4 5.Bg5 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 O-O 7.g3 b6 8.Bg2 Bb7 9.O-O Qe8 10.Bxf6 Rxf6 11.Nd2 Bxg2 12.Kxg2 d6 13.Kg1 Nd7 14.Qa4 Nf8 15.Qxe8 Rxe8 16.a4 e5 17.e3 a5 18.Rab1 Nd7 19.Rfe1 Kf8 20.f3 Ke7 21.Nb3 Ra8 22.Kg2 Kf7 23.Red1 Ke7 24.Rd2 g5 25.Rbd1 e4 26.fxe4 fxe4 27.Re2 Raf8 28.Nd2 Re6 29.h3 Nf6 30.Rf1 g4 31.h4 Nh5 32.Rxf8 Kxf8 33.Rf2+ Kg7 34.Rf5 Nf6 35.Rb5 h6 36.Kf2 Kg6 37.Kg2 1/2-1/2

Round 2, Mar. 30, 2017
Zatonskih, Anna – Nguyen, Emily
B22 Sicilian, Alapin

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.c3 d5 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.d4 Nf6 6.Na3 Nc6 7.Be3 cxd4 8.Nb5 Qd8 9.Nbxd4 Nxd4 10.Bxd4 Be7 11.Bd3 O-O 12.Qc2 g6 13.O-O-O Qa5 14.Kb1 b5 15.h4 Rd8 16.h5 Nxh5 17.Rxh5 gxh5 18.Qd2 Kf8 19.Qh6+ Ke8 20.Qxh7 e5 21.Qg8+ Kd7 22.Nxe5+ Kc7 23.Qxf7 1-0

Standing after Round Two

Paikidze, Krush, Abrahamyan 1.5
Virkud, Yu, Feng, Sharevich, Zatonskih, Foisor all 1.0
Yip, Nguyen, Nemcova 0.5

**Wayne Komer** · Friday, 31st March, 2017, 10:53 PM

Re: U.S. Championships, St. Louis 2017

U.S. Championships, St. Louis 2017

March 31, 2017

Round Three

The key matchup today is So vs Caruana. Their record in classical chess is 2-2 with 9 draws. I would expect Wesley to tend toward a draw and then beat up on the rest of the field in the remaining rounds.

U.S. Championship
St. Louis
Round 3, Mar. 31, 2017
So, Wesley – Caruana, Fabiano
C67 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence, open variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.h3 Ke8 10.Nc3 h5 11.Bg5 Be6 12.Rad1 Be7 13.b3 h4 14.Rfe1 a5 15.Rd3 Rd8 16.Rxd8+ Kxd8 17.Ne2 Bd5 18.Bxe7+ Kxe7 19.Ned4 Nxd4 20.Nxd4 Be6 21.c4 a4 22.c5 axb3 23.axb3 g6 24.Re4 Bd5 25.Rg4 Rh5 26.f4 Rh8 27.f5 gxf5 28.Rf4 Kd7 29.Rxf5 Rg8 30.Rf2 Rg5 31.Kh2 Rxe5 32.Rf4 Rg5 33.Rg4 Rxg4 34.hxg4 Ke7 35.g3 Kf6 36.gxh4 Ke5 37.Nf5 Bxb3 38.h5 Kf6 39.Kg3 Kg5 40.h6 Kg6 41.g5 Bc2 42.Nd4 Bb1 43.Kf4 f6 44.gxf6 Kxf6 45.Nb3 b6 46.Nd4 bxc5 47.Nxc6 Kg6 48.Ke5 Kxh6 49.Kd5 c4 1/2-1/2

Round 3, Mar. 31, 2017
Nakamura, Hikaru – Xiong, Jeffery
C50 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.c3 h6 7.b4 Bb6 8.a4 a5 9.b5 Ne7 10.Nbd2 O-O 11.Re1 Ng6 12.Bb3 Re8 13.Nc4 Bc5 14.h3 c6 15.Bd2 Be6 16.bxc6 bxc6 17.d4 Ba7 18.dxe5 dxe5 19.Ba2 Qc7 20.Qc2 Red8 21.Be3 Bxe3 22.Nxe3 Bxa2 23.Rxa2 Nd7 24.Nd2 Nc5 25.Nb3 Nxb3 26.Qxb3 Nf4 27.Raa1 Rab8 28.Qc2 Qd6 29.Red1 Qc5 30.Kh2 Ne6 31.h4 1/2-1/2

Round 3, Mar. 31, 2017
Onischuk, Alexander – Shankland, Samuel
D45 QGD, Semi Slav

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.b3 O-O 8.Be2 b6 9.Bb2 Bb7 10.O-O Rc8 11.Rad1 Qe7 12.e4 dxe4 13.Nxe4 Nxe4 14.Qxe4 Nf6 15.Qc2 c5 16.d5 exd5 17.cxd5 Ne4 18.Rfe1 f5 19.Bc4 Kh8 20.g3 Rce8 21.Nd2 Qf7 22.Nxe4 fxe4 23.Rd2 Qg6 24.Rde2 Bc8 25.Rxe4 Bf5 26.Bd3 Bxe4 27.Rxe4 Rxe4 28.Bxe4 Qh5 29.Kg2 Be5 30.Bxe5 Qxe5 31.Bxh7 Qxd5+ 32.Be4 Qd4 33.Qe2 Rxf2+ 34.Qxf2 Qxe4+ 1/2-1/2

Round 3, Mar. 31, 2017
Akobian, Varuzhzn – Naroditsky, Daniel
D30 QGD, Vienna variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Bg5 Bb4+ 5.Nbd2 dxc4 6.a3 Bxd2+ 7.Qxd2 Nbd7 8.a4 c5 9.e3 cxd4 10.Nxd4 h6 11.Bxf6 Nxf6 12.Bxc4 O-O 13.Qb4 Nd5 14.Qc5 b6 15.Qc6 Bd7 16.Qd6 Nf6 17.b3 Rc8 18.Bb5 Bxb5 19.Qxd8 Rfxd8 20.axb5 Rd5 21.O-O Rc7 22.Rfc1 Rxc1+ 23.Rxc1 e5 24.Nc6 Rxb5 25.Nxa7 Rxb3 26.Nc6 Rb5 27.h3 Ne4 28.f3 Nd6 29.e4 Kh7 30.h4 h5 31.Kh2 f6 32.Ne7 Rc5 33.Rd1 Nc8 34.Nd5 b5 35.Ne3 b4 36.Rb1 Rb5 37.Rb3 Ne7 38.Kg3 Nc6 39.Nd5 Rc5 40.Rb2 Rb5 41.Rb3 f5 42.Kf2 fxe4 43.fxe4 Rb7 44.g4 hxg4 45.Kg3 Kg6 46.Kxg4 Kf7 47.h5 Ke6 48.Kg5 Kd6 49.Kg6 Kc5 50.Kh7 Kd4 51.Nxb4 Nxb4 52.Rg3 Kxe4 53.Rxg7 Rb6 54.Rg6 Rb8 55.h6 Nd5 56.Kg7 Rb7+ 57.Kf8 Kf5 58.Rg1 Nf6 0-1

Round 3, Mar. 31, 2017
Zherebukh, Yaroslav – Shabalov, Alexander
A07 Reti, King’s Indian Attack

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Bg4 3.Bg2 Nd7 4.O-O e6 5.c4 c6 6.d3 Bd6 7.Nc3 Ne7 8.cxd5 exd5 9.Qa4 Bh5 10.e4 O-O 11.Be3 Nc5 12.Qc2 Ne6 13.exd5 cxd5 14.d4 Qb6 15.Ng5 Bg6 16.Qd2 Nc7 17.Nh3 Rfd8 18.Nf4 Bxf4 19.Bxf4 Ne6 20.Be3 Rac8 21.Rac1 Rc6 22.Rfe1 h6 23.Na4 Qc7 24.Nc5 Nxc5 25.dxc5 Nf5 26.Bf4 Qc8 27.b4 b6 28.Re5 d4 29.Bxc6 Qxc6 30.cxb6 Qxb6 31.Rxf5 Bxf5 32.Bc7 Qf6 33.Bxd8 Qxd8 34.Qf4 Bg6 35.Rc4 d3 36.Rd4 Qc8 37.h4 h5 38.b5 Kh7 39.a4 Qc3 40.Kh2 Qe1 41.Qe3 Qd1 42.a5 Qb3 43.Rd8 Qxb5 44.Qe8 Qxe8 45.Rxe8 f6 46.Rd8 Be4 47.Kg1 Kg6 48.Kf1 Bc6 49.Ke1 1-0

Round 3, Mar. 31, 2017
Robson, Ray – Kamsky, Gata
B32 Sicilian Defence

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Qb6 5.Nb3 Nf6 6.Nc3 e6 7.Bd3 a6 8.f4 d5 9.e5 Nd7 10.Qg4 Nc5 11.Nxc5 Qxc5 12.a3 g6 13.Nd1 Nd4 14.Ne3 Bd7 15.O-O Bb5 16.Qd1 Nf5 17.Bxb5+ Qxb5 18.Nxf5 gxf5 19.Kh1 Rc8 20.a4 Qc4 21.c3 Bc5 22.Rf3 Rg8 23.b3 Qe4 24.Ra2 b5 25.axb5 axb5 26.Rd3 d4 27.cxd4 Bb4 28.Be3 Qd5 29.h3 Kf8 30.Kh2 Rg6 31.Qf3 Qxf3 32.gxf3 Rc3 33.Rxc3 Bxc3 34.Rc2 b4 35.Bd2 Bxd4 36.Bxb4+ Ke8 37.Bc5 Bxc5 38.Rxc5 Kd7 39.b4 Rg8 40.b5 h5 41.b6 Rb8 42.Rc7+ Kd8 43.Rxf7 Rxb6 44.Kg3 Rb4 45.Rh7 Ra4 46.Rxh5 Ke7 47.Rh7+ Kf8 48.Rb7 Rc4 49.h4 Rc1 50.h5 Rh1 51.Rh7 Ke8 52.h6 Kf8 53.Rh8+ Kf7 54.h7 Rh6 55.Ra8 Rxh7 56.Ra7+ Kg6 57.Rxh7 Kxh7 58.Kf2 1-0

Ray had never beaten Gata before. In fact Kamsky had a good position with no risk of losing. Ray said that Gata’s queen got trapped in the middle of the board and he took over the game.

In any case, Gata has lost two games in a row and he takes the losses very hard. After the game this appeared as a tweet from chess24:

BREAKING NEWS! After two tough losses Gata Kamsky announces his retirement from chess, telling Maurice cryptically, “the goat ate the wolf”

Kamsky is scheduled to play white against Nakamura tomorrow. Tomorrow is also April Fool’s Day. Is this just a joke?

Standing after Round Three

Naroditsky, Onischuk, Zherebukh, Nakamura, So all with 2

Xiong, Caruana, Shankland, Robson, Akobian all with 1.5

Kamsky 0.5

Shabalov 0

Round Four Pairings

1. So – Onischuk
2. Kamsky – Nakamura
3. Naroditsky – Robson
4. Shankland – Zherebukh
5. Caruana – Xiong
6. Shabalov - Akobian

**Wayne Komer** · Friday, 31st March, 2017, 11:23 PM

Re: U.S. Championships, St. Louis 2017

U.S. Championships, St. Louis 2017

March 31, 2017

Women’s Championship

Round Three (continued)

The game that got the most attention was that between Nazi Paikidze and Anna Zatonskih. In length, it was the equivalent of three games.

It was the ending of K,R,B vs K,R.

An article online says this: For players under 2100, Rook vs Bishop is won 40% of the time. The drawing technique is counter-intuitive, so if your opponent doesn't know it, you have chances to win.

https://www.chess.com/blog/likesfore...rook-vs-bishop

There is a nice analysis there of Tal vs Zhidkov, 40th USSR Championship, Round 18, Baku, 14 Dec. 1972 if you have time to look at it.

Nazi erred with 122. Ra8 and resigned on move 129. Both then had to face Maurice’s interviews. Anna said to him later, “Don’t ask all these questions because my coach will ask me the same things!”

She said that she was exhausted, so exhausted, that she had trouble writing down her moves on the scoresheet.

U.S. Women’s Championship
St. Louis
Round 3, Mar. 31, 2017
Abrahamyan, Tatev – Krush, Irina
B15 Caro-Kann, Tartakower variation

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nf6 5.Nxf6+ exf6 6.c3 Bd6 7.Bd3 O-O 8.Qc2 Re8+ 9.Ne2 h5 10.Be3 Nd7 11.O-O-O Nf8 12.Kb1 Be6 13.Nf4 Bxf4 14.Bxf4 b5 15.Be4 Bd5 16.Rhe1 Bxe4 17.Rxe4 Ne6 18.Rde1 a5 19.Bc1 a4 20.f4 Qd5 21.R4e2 Nc7 22.f5 Qd7 23.Rxe8+ Rxe8 24.Rxe8+ Qxe8 25.b3 axb3 26.axb3 Nd5 27.Kb2 Qe1 28.Bd2 Qh4 29.Qd3 Qxh2 30.Qe4 Qb8 31.Qh4 g6 32.Qe4 g5 33.Kc2 Qa8 34.Kb2 h4 35.Qf3 Ne7 36.c4 bxc4 37.bxc4 Qc8 38.Bb4 Nxf5 39.Bc3 Kg7 40.d5 cxd5 41.cxd5 Kg6 42.Qe4 Qb8+ 43.Kc2 Qg3 44.Kb3 Qf4 45.Qe8 Nd6 46.Qg8+ Kf5 47.Qh7+ Kg4 48.Qd3 Qe4 49.Qd1+ Kf5 50.Qf1+ Qf4 51.Qd3+ Ne4 52.Ka3 Qg3 0-1

Round 3, Mar. 31, 2017
Paikidze, Nazi – Zatonskih, Anna
D78 Neo-Grunfeld

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.d4 Nf6 5.O-O O-O 6.c4 c6 7.Nc3 e6 8.Qc2 Nbd7 9.e4 dxc4 10.a4 c5 11.Rd1 cxd4 12.Nxd4 Qe7 13.b3 e5 14.Ndb5 cxb3 15.Qxb3 Nc5 16.Qa3 b6 17.Bg5 Bb7 18.Nd5 Bxd5 19.exd5 Qd7 20.Be3 Rac8 21.d6 Rfd8 22.Rac1 Ne8 23.Bxc5 bxc5 24.Rxc5 Bf8 25.Rxc8 Rxc8 26.Qe3 Nxd6 27.Nxa7 Qxa4 28.Rxd6 Qa1+ 29.Bf1 Rc1 30.Rd8 Rxf1+ 31.Kg2 Rg1+ 32.Kh3 Kg7 33.Re8 Re1 34.Qb6 Qd1 35.Qb7 Qh5+ 36.Kg2 Qe2 37.Qb5 Qe4+ 38.Kh3 Qe2 39.Qxe2 Rxe2 40.Nc6 Rc2 41.Nd8 Rxf2 42.Rxe5 h5 43.Rd5 Be7 44.Nc6 Bf6 45.Nd4 g5 46.g4 hxg4+ 47.Kg3 Ra2 48.Nf5+ Kg6 49.Kxg4 Rxh2 50.Rd6 Re2 51.Kf3 Re8 52.Ne3 Re5 53.Nd5 Rf5+ 54.Kg4 Rf1 55.Ne7+ Kh7 56.Nd5 Be5 57.Rd7 Kh6 58.Re7 f6 59.Re6 Kg6 60.Ra6 Rg1+ 61.Kf3 Rf1+ 62.Kg4 Rg1+ 63.Kf3 g4+ 64.Ke4 Re1+ 65.Ne3 Kg5 66.Kd3 Ra1 67.Rc6 Ra3+ 68.Ke4 Ra4+ 69.Nc4 Kh4 70.Rc8 Kg3 71.Kf5 Kf3 72.Nd2+ Ke3 73.Nc4+ Kf3 74.Nd2+ Kg2 75.Ne4 g3 76.Rc2+ Kf3 77.Nd2+ Ke2 78.Ne4+ Ke3 79.Nxg3 Bxg3 80.Rc3+ Kf2 81.Kxf6 Bf4 82.Kf5 Be3 83.Rd3 Kf3 84.Rd5 Rh4 85.Ke5 Rh5+ 86.Ke6 Rh8 87.Kf5 Rf8+ 88.Ke5 Bf4+ 89.Kd4 Ra8 90.Kd3 Ra4 91.Rf5 Ra3+ 92.Kd4 Ra7 93.Rd5 Ra1 94.Kd3 Kg4 95.Ke4 Re1+ 96.Kd3 Be3 97.Ra5 Kf4 98.Ra8 Rd1+ 99.Kc3 Bc5 100.Kc4 Bd6 101.Ra2 Ke3 102.Rc2 Bf4 103.Ra2 Ke4 104.Ra4 Bd6 105.Kc3+ Kd5 106.Kc2 Rh1 107.Kd3 Bc5 108.Rg4 Rh3+ 109.Ke2 Be3 110.Rg8 Bf4 111.Ra8 Be5 112.Kd2 Ke4 113.Kc2 Rh2+ 114.Kb3 Rb2+ 115.Kc4 Rc2+ 116.Kb3 Rc7 117.Kb4 Bd6+ 118.Kb5 Kd5 119.Kb6 Rc1 120.Ra5+ Bc5+ 121.Kb7 Rh1 122.Ra8 Rh7+ 123.Ka6 Kc4 124.Ka5 Rh6 125.Rc8 Rh1 126.Ka6 Rh7 127.Ra8 Kb4 128.Rb8+ Ka4 129.Ra8 Rg7 0-1

Round 3, Mar. 31, 2017
Foisor, Sabina – Sharevich, Anna
B37 QGD, Hastings variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 O-O 6.Rc1 c5 7.dxc5 Na6 8.e3 Nxc5 9.Qc2 dxc4 10.Bxc4 a6 11.b4 Ncd7 12.b5 Qa5 13.O-O Nc5 14.Ne5 Nfd7 15.Nxd7 Nxd7 16.Bd3 h6 17.bxa6 e5 18.Bg3 bxa6 19.Nd5 Ba3 20.Rb1 Ra7 21.Bc4 Bb7 22.Rfd1 Bc6 23.Bb3 Ba8 24.Qf5 g6 25.Qg4 Kg7 26.h4 h5 27.Bxe5+ Nxe5 28.Qd4 Re7 29.Nxe7 Bxe7 30.f4 Bf6 31.fxe5 Bxe5 32.Qa7 Bb8 33.Qe7 Bc6 34.Rf1 Be8 35.Bc2 Be5 36.Bxg6 Qc3 37.Rb3 Qc7 38.Qxc7 Bxc7 39.Bxh5 Bb5 40.Rf5 f6 41.a4 Bd7 42.Rc5 Be5 43.Rb7 Kh6 44.Rxd7 Kxh5 45.g3 Kg4 46.Kg2 1-0

Round 3, Mar. 31, 2017-03-31
Feng, Maggie – Nemcova, Katerina
A37 English, symmetrical variation

1.Nf3 c5 2.g3 Nc6 3.c4 g6 4.Nc3 Bg7 5.Bg2 e5 6.O-O Nge7 7.d3 d6 8.a3 O-O 9.Rb1 a5 10.Bd2 h6 11.Ne1 Rb8 12.Nc2 Be6 13.Ne3 f5 14.Ned5 Kh7 15.e3 g5 16.Nb5 Ng6 17.b4 axb4 18.axb4 f4 19.Be4 cxb4 20.Qh5 Bf5 21.Bxf5 Rxf5 22.Qg4 Rf7 23.Qe6 Qd7 24.Qxd7 Rxd7 25.Bxb4 Nxb4 26.Rxb4 Kg8 27.Rfb1 Kf7 28.Nbc7 Ne7 29.Na6 Rbd8 30.Rxb7 Nxd5 31.cxd5 fxe3 32.fxe3 g4 33.Nc7 Re7 34.Ne6 Rdd7 35.R7b4 h5 36.Kg2 Kg6 37.Rf1 Rf7 38.Rxf7 Kxf7 39.h3 gxh3+ 40.Kxh3 Bf6 41.g4 hxg4+ 42.Kxg4 Ra7 43.Kf5 Ra1 44.Rb7+ Be7 45.Ng5+ Ke8 46.Ne4 Rh1 47.Nf6+ Bxf6 48.Kxf6 Rh6+ 49.Kf5 Rh5+ 50.Kg4 Rh1 51.Kf3 Rh3+ 52.Ke2 Rh2+ 53.Kd1 Ra2 54.e4 Kd8 55.Kc1 Rh2 56.Rb2 Rh1+ 57.Kc2 Kc7 58.Kb3 Rd1 59.Kc3 Rc1+ 60.Rc2 Rd1 61.Kc4 Kd7 62.Rc3 Rd2 63.Rb3 Rc2+ 64.Kb5 Rc1 65.Kb6 Rc2 66.Ka7 Rc1 67.Rb7+ Kc8 68.Rb8+ Kc7 69.Rb7+ Kc8 70.Rb8+ 1/2-1/2

Round 3, Mar. 31, 2017
Nguyen, Emily – Virkud, Apurva
D36 QGD, Exchange, Modern line

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Be7 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bg5 c6 7.Qc2 Nbd7 8.e3 O-O 9.Bd3 Re8 10.O-O Nf8 11.Rab1 g6 12.b4 Ne6 13.Bh4 a5 14.b5 c5 15.dxc5 Nxc5 16.Rbd1 Nxd3 17.Qxd3 Bf5 18.Qd2 Ne4 19.Bxe7 Rxe7 20.Qxd5 Rd7 21.Qxd7 Bxd7 22.Nxe4 Qe7 23.Rxd7 Qxe4 24.Rd4 Qc2 25.a4 Rc8 26.Ng5 h6 27.Ne4 Rc4 28.Rd8+ Kg7 29.Nd6 Rxa4 30.Rd7 Rb4 31.Rc7 Qa2 32.Nxb7 Rb1 33.Rcc1 Rxc1 34.Rxc1 Qb2 35.Rf1 a4 36.Nc5 a3 37.Nd3 Qxb5 38.Nc1 Qb1 39.f3 Qc2 40.Re1 Qc3 41.Kf1 Qc4+ 42.Kf2 Qh4+ 43.Kf1 Qxh2 44.e4 h5 45.Na2 h4 46.Re2 Qf4 47.Kf2 g5 48.Re3 Qg3+ 49.Kf1 g4 0-1

Round 3, Mar. 31, 2017
Yu, Jennifer – Yip, Carissa
D02 Queen’s Pawn game

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 d5 3.d4 e6 4.Bg2 c5 5.b3 cxd4 6.Bb2 Bb4+ 7.Kf1 O-O 8.a3 Be7 9.Bxd4 Nc6 10.Bb2 Ne4 11.Nd4 f5 12.e3 Bf6 13.Nd2 e5 14.Nxc6 bxc6 15.Nxe4 fxe4 16.Kg1 Qb6 17.h3 Bb7 18.Kh2 c5 19.Re1 Rfe8 20.Rb1 d4 21.Qg4 Qc6 22.Rbd1 g6 23.Rd2 Re7 24.Qd1 Rd8 25.Qe2 Kg7 26.Qf1 Qb6 27.Red1 Rf8 28.Qh1 Qc6 29.c3 Bg5 30.Re1 h5 31.c4 Kh7 32.Rde2 Ref7 33.Kg1 dxe3 34.fxe3 Qf6 35.Rd2 Kg8 36.h4 Bh6 37.Kh2 Qb6 38.Bxe5 Qxb3 39.Bd6 Rd8 40.Rb1 Qxe3 41.Bf4 Qxd2 42.Bxd2 Rxd2 43.Rd1 e3 44.Rxd2 exd2 45.Bxb7 Rxb7 46.Qd5+ Kh8 47.Kh3 1/2-1/2

Standing at the end of Round Three

Krush 2.5

Zatonskih, Virkud, Foisor all with 2.0

Paikidze, Abrahamyan, Yu, Feng 1.5

Nemcova, Sharevich, Yip 1.0

Nguyen 0.5

Round Four Pairings

1. Krush – Yu
2. Nemcova – Zatonskih
3. Virkud – Paikidze
4. Feng – Foisor
5. Sharevich – Abrahamyan
6. Yip - Nguyen

**Wayne Komer** · Saturday, 1st April, 2017, 10:12 PM

Re: U.S. Championships, St. Louis 2017

U.S. Championships

April 1, 2017

Round Four

Wesley So is the only one to win in this round and now stands first, just ahead of Naroditsky, Zherebukh and Nakamura. The story about Gata Kamsky resigning was April Fake News. He drew with Hikaru Nakamura today. Ray Robson had a winning ending but, desperately short of time, agreed to a draw. Fabi is still looking for his first victory.

US Championships 2017
St. Louis
Round 4, Apr. 1, 2017
So, Wesley – Onischuk, Alexander
A14 English, symmetrical, hedgehog

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 e6 4.O-O Be7 5.c4 O-O 6.b3 b6 7.Bb2 Bb7 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.d4 Nd7 10.Re1 c5 11.e4 N5f6 12.Nc3 cxd4 13.Nxd4 Ne5 14.Qe2 Bc5 15.Red1 Qe7 16.Na4 Bxd4 17.Bxd4 Nc6 18.Be3 Rfd8 19.Nc3 Qb4 20.Qb2 Ng4 21.Bf4 Nce5 22.a3 Qc5 23.Na4 Qb5 24.Nc3 Qc5 25.Na4 Qb5 26.h3 Nd3 27.Rxd3 Rxd3 28.hxg4 Qxb3 29.Bf1 Qxb2 30.Nxb2 Rb3 31.Nc4 Rd8 32.Nd6 Ba8 33.g5 Rc3 34.a4 Rc5 35.e5 Rd7 36.Be3 Rxe5 37.Rc1 Rd8 38.Rc7 Rd5 39.Nxf7 Rf8 40.g6 hxg6 41.Ng5 Rd1 42.Nxe6 Re8 43.Rxg7+ Kh8 44.Rxg6 Be4 45.Bd4+ 1-0

Round 4, Apr. 1, 2017
Kamsky, Gata – Nakamura, Hikaru
D02 Queen’s Bishop game

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.Bf4 d5 4.e3 c5 5.c3 Nc6 6.Nbd2 cxd4 7.exd4 Nh5 8.Be3 Bd6 9.Ne5 g6 10.g4 Ng7 11.h4 Nxe5 12.dxe5 Bxe5 13.Nf3 Bf6 14.h5 O-O 15.Qd2 d4 16.cxd4 b6 17.hxg6 fxg6 18.Ne5 Bb7 19.Rh3 Rc8 20.Be2 Bg2 21.Rg3 Bd5 22.Rh3 Bg2 23.Rg3 Be4 24.Rc1 Qd6 25.a3 Rxc1+ 26.Qxc1 Bxe5 27.dxe5 Qxe5 28.Qd2 Bd5 29.Bd4 Qe4 30.f3 Qf4 1/2-1/2

Round 4, Apr. 1, 2017
Naroditsky, Daniel – Robson, Ray
B90 Sicilian, Najdorf

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Nb3 Nc6 7.Be3 e6 8.g4 b5 9.Bg2 Ne5 10.g5 Nfd7 11.Nd2 Nb6 12.f4 Nec4 13.Nxc4 Nxc4 14.Bc1 Be7 15.b3 Nb6 16.O-O O-O 17.Bb2 Bb7 18.Qh5 Re8 19.Nd1 Nd7 20.Nf2 Rc8 21.Rac1 Qb6 22.Kh1 f5 23.gxf6 Bxf6 24.c3 b4 25.Ng4 Rf8 26.Nxf6+ Nxf6 27.Qe2 d5 28.exd5 Nxd5 29.Qf2 Qxf2 30.Rxf2 bxc3 1/2-1/2

Round 4, Apr. 1, 2017
Shankland, Samuel – Zherebukh, Yaroslav
A16 English

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.h4 Bg7 6.h5 Nc6 7.g3 Bf5 8.Bg2 Ncb4 9.O-O Nxc3 10.bxc3 Bc2 11.Qe1 Be4 12.Qd1 Bc2 13.Qe1 Be4 14.Qd1 Bc2 15.Qe1 Be4 16.Qd1 1/2-1/2

Round 4, Apr. 1, 2017
Caruana, Fabiano – Xiong, Jeffery
C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.c3 d5 6.exd5 Qxd5 7.Bc4 Qd6 8.b4 Bb6 9.a4 e4 10.dxe4 Qxd1+ 11.Kxd1 Nxe4 12.Kc2 Nd6 13.Re1+ Ne7 14.Bb3 Bf5+ 15.Kb2 a5 16.Bf4 Bxf2 17.Re2 Bb6 18.Na3 Be6 19.Bxe6 fxe6 20.Bxd6 cxd6 21.Rxe6 Kd7 22.Rae1 Rhe8 23.Nc4 Bc7 24.Kb3 axb4 25.cxb4 Nf5 26.R6e2 Rxe2 27.Rxe2 Re8 28.Rd2 Re4 29.a5 Kc6 30.b5+ Kd7 31.b6 Bb8 32.Nce5+ Kd8 33.h3 Ne7 34.Nc4 d5 35.Na3 Bd6 36.Nc2 Kd7 37.Rd3 h6 38.g4 Bc5 39.Nfd4 Nc6 40.Nxc6 Kxc6 41.Rd1 Rf4 42.Rd3 g5 43.Kc3 Ra4 44.Rf3 Kb5 45.Rf7 Kxa5 46.Rxb7 Rf4 47.Rd7 Rf3+ 48.Kd2 Kxb6 49.Rxd5 Rxh3 50.Nd4 Rg3 51.Nf5 Rg2+ 52.Kd3 Kc6 53.Re5 Rxg4 54.Nxh6 Rg1 55.Re4 Rg3+ 56.Kc4 Rf3 57.Re6+ Bd6 58.Rg6 Rf4+ 1/2-1/2

Round 4, Apr. 1, 2017
Shabalov, Alexander – Akobian, Varuzhan
A13 English, Neo-Catalan

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 dxc4 5.Qa4+ Bd7 6.Qxc4 c5 7.O-O Bc6 8.b3 Nbd7 9.Bb2 Be7 10.Qc2 O-O 11.Nc3 Rc8 12.Rac1 b5 13.d3 Qb6 14.e4 Rfd8 15.Qe2 a6 16.h3 Bb7 17.Kh2 Nb8 18.e5 Nd5 19.Ne4 Nc6 20.Nfg5 h6 21.f4 Nd4 22.Bxd4 cxd4 23.Qh5 Rf8 24.Rxc8 Bxc8 25.f5 exf5 26.Nxf7 Qe6 27.Nc5 Bxc5 28.Bxd5 Qxd5 29.Nxh6+ gxh6 30.Qg6+ Kh8 31.Qxh6+ Kg8 32.Qg6+ Kh8 33.Qh6+ 1/2-1/2

Standing after Round Four

So 3.0

Naroditsky, Zherebukh, Nakamura 2.5

Xiong, Caruana, Shankland, Robson, Onischuk, Akobian all 2.0

Kamsky 1.0

Shabalov 0.5

Pairings for Round Five

1. Onischuk – Caruana
2. Zherebukh – So
3. Akobian – Shankland
4. Robson – Shabalov
5. Nakamura – Naroditsky
6. Xiong - Kamsky

**Wayne Komer** · Saturday, 1st April, 2017, 10:15 PM

Re: U.S. Championships, St. Louis 2017

U.S. Championships

April 1, 2017

Round Four (continued)

Women’s Championship

Irina Krush went down to Jennifer Yu, who is tied for first with four others. There was a possibility of a three-fold repetition of position after move 38, but even at the post mortem the commentators were not sure if there was or not. Maggie Feng is still unbeaten.

U.S. Women’s Championship
Round 4, Apr. 1, 2017
Krush, Irina – Yu, Jennifer
D11 QGD Slav

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 g6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Bd3 O-O 7.O-O b6 8.h3 Bb7 9.Qe2 Nbd7 10.Rd1 Qc7 11.b3 Rfe8 12.Bb2 Rac8 13.Rac1 Qb8 14.b4 c5 15.Nxd5 Nxd5 16.cxd5 cxb4 17.Bb5 Red8 18.e4 Bh6 19.Rc4 Qd6 20.Ne5 Rxc4 21.Qxc4 Nxe5 22.dxe5 Qc5 23.Bd4 Qxc4 24.Bxc4 Kf8 25.Bd3 Rc8 26.Rb1 Rc1+ 27.Rxc1 Bxc1 28.Kf1 e6 29.Bc4 Bg5 30.dxe6 fxe6 31.Bxe6 Bxe4 32.f3 Bd3+ 33.Kf2 Be7 34.f4 Bc5 35.Ke3 Bf1 36.Bd5 a5 37.h4 a4 38.g3 Bh3 39.Kd3 Bf1+ 40.Ke3 Bh3 41.Kd3 Bf1+ 42.Ke3 h5 43.Be6 Ke7 44.Bd5 Bh3 45.Kd3 Bf5+ 46.Be4 Bxd4 47.Bxf5 b3 48.axb3 a3 0-1

Round 4, Apr. 1, 2017
Nemcova, Katerina – Zatonskih, Anna
A40 Queen’s Pawn game

1.d4 e6 2.Bf4 d5 3.e3 Bd6 4.Bg3 Nf6 5.Nf3 b6 6.Nbd2 Bb7 7.Bb5+ Nbd7 8.Ne5 O-O 9.c3 a6 10.Ba4 b5 11.Bc2 Ne4 12.Nxd7 Qxd7 13.Bxd6 cxd6 14.f3 Nxd2 15.Qxd2 f5 16.O-O Bc6 17.Rae1 Qb7 18.Bb3 Rae8 19.Ra1 Qd7 20.Rae1 Qb7 21.Ra1 Qd7 22.Rae1 Qb7 1/2-1/2

Round 4, Apr. 1, 2017
Virkud, Apurva – Paikidze, Nazi
E01 Catalan, Closed

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Nf3 Be7 5.Bg2 O-O 6.O-O c6 7.Qc2 Nbd7 8.Rd1 Ne4 9.Nbd2 f5 10.Ne5 Nxe5 11.dxe5 Qe8 12.Nf3 Bd7 13.Be3 g5 14.Nd4 g4 15.Bh6 Rf7 16.Qc1 Qd8 17.f3 Bg5 18.Bxg5 Nxg5 19.f4 Nh3+ 20.Bxh3 gxh3 21.Nf3 b6 22.Ng5 Rg7 23.c5 bxc5 24.Qxc5 Rb8 25.b4 Rb5 26.Qd4 a5 27.a3 Qb8 28.bxa5 c5 29.Qf2 h6 30.Nxh3 Bc6 31.Qf3 Qe8 32.Rab1 d4 33.Qf1 Qd7 34.Rxb5 Bxb5 35.Rb1 c4 36.a4 Bc6 37.Rb8+ Kf7 38.e4 d3 39.Qd1 Qd4+ 40.Nf2 Kg6 41.Rb6 Qc5 42.Qf3 Bxe4 43.Rxe6+ Kf7 44.Rf6+ Ke7 45.Qh5 Qe3 46.Kf1 Bf3 47.Re6+ Kxe6 48.Qe8+ Kd5 49.Qd8+ Kc6 50.Qf6+ Kb7 51.Qxg7+ Ka6 52.Qf6+ Kxa5 53.Qd8+ Kb4 54.Qd6+ Kb3 55.Qb8+ Kc2 56.Qb4 Qc1+ 57.Qe1 Be2+ 0-1

Round 4, Apr. 1, 2017
Feng, Maggie – Foisor, Sabina
A07 Reti, King’s Indian Attack

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 e6 4.O-O c5 5.c4 d4 6.d3 Nc6 7.e3 Bd6 8.exd4 cxd4 9.Bg5 h6 10.Bxf6 Qxf6 11.Nfd2 Qg6 12.Ne4 Be7 13.f4 O-O 14.Bf3 e5 15.Bh5 Qh7 16.Nbd2 Bh3 17.Re1 exf4 18.gxf4 Bh4 19.Qf3 Bxe1 20.Rxe1 Bf5 21.Qg3 Kh8 22.Nd6 Bxd3 23.Nxf7+ Kg8 24.Nd6 Bc2 25.N2e4 Bxe4 26.Rxe4 Rf6 27.Ne8 Kh8 28.Nxf6 gxf6 29.Bg6 Qg8 30.f5 Ne5 31.Rh4 Kg7 32.Rxd4 Qf8 33.Qg2 Qb4 34.Rd1 Rc8 35.b3 a5 36.Kh1 Qb6 37.Be8+ Kf8 38.Rg1 Qxg1+ 39.Kxg1 Kxe8 40.Qg8+ Kd7 41.Qg7+ Ke8 42.Qxf6 Nc6 43.Qe6+ Kd8 44.f6 Kc7 45.f7 Rf8 46.Qe8 1-0

Round 4, Apr. 1, 2017
Sharevich, Anna – Abrahamyan, Tatev
C18 Queen’s Indian, old main line

1.d4 e6 2.c4 b6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2 Be7 6.O-O O-O 7.Nc3 Ne4 8.Bd2 Bf6 9.Rc1 d6 10.Qc2 Nxd2 11.Qxd2 Nd7 12.d5 Qe7 13.Nd4 Bxd4 14.Qxd4 e5 15.Qd2 f5 16.b4 Nf6 17.Qc2 Bc8 18.c5 f4 19.cxd6 cxd6 20.Nb5 Ne8 21.Be4 Bh3 22.Bg2 Bd7 23.Nc3 Rc8 24.Qd2 Nf6 25.e3 fxg3 26.hxg3 Bf5 27.e4 Bd7 28.Qd3 Qf7 29.f3 Qg6 30.Ne2 Qg5 31.Rxc8 Rxc8 32.b5 Qh6 33.a4 g6 34.Rd1 Bh3 35.Qd2 Qxd2 36.Rxd2 Bxg2 37.Kxg2 Rc4 38.Ra2 Rb4 39.Ra3 Rb2 40.Kf2 h5 41.Rc3 g5 42.Rc8+ Kg7 43.Rc7+ Kg6 44.Rxa7 g4 45.Rc7 gxf3 46.Kxf3 Nxe4 47.Kxe4 Rxe2+ 48.Kf3 Ra2 49.Rc6 Rxa4 50.Rxd6+ Kf5 51.Rxb6 e4+ 52.Kf2 Ke5 53.d6 Ra2+ 54.Ke1 Ke6 55.d7+ Kxd7 56.Rh6 Rg2 57.Rxh5 Rxg3 58.Re5 1/2-1/2

Round 4, Apr. 1, 2017
Yip, Carissa – Nguyen, Emily
B48 Sicilian, Taimanov variation

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Be3 Nc6 7.Qf3 Nf6 8.O-O-O Bb4 9.Nde2 O-O 10.g4 d6 11.g5 Nd7 12.Qg3 Nce5 13.Kb1 Nc4 14.Bc1 b5 15.h4 Bb7 16.f3 Rfc8 17.g6 fxg6 18.Bh3 Nf8 19.Nd4 Nxb2 20.Bxb2 Bxc3 21.Nxe6 Qc4 22.Nxf8 Rxf8 23.Qxd6 Rae8 24.Bd7 Bxb2 25.Bxe8 Rxe8 26.Kxb2 Rc8 27.Qd3 Qc7 28.Rd2 Bc6 29.Qd6 Qf7 30.e5 h5 31.Rg1 Kh7 32.Rdg2 Be8 33.Rxg6 Qxg6 34.Rxg6 Bxg6 35.c3 a5 36.e6 Re8 37.Qe5 b4 38.cxb4 axb4 39.f4 1-0

Standing after Round Four

Yu, Zatonskih, Krush, Feng, Paikidze all 2.5

Abrahamyan, Foisor, Yip, Virkud 2.0

Nemcova, Sharevich 1.5

Nguyen 0.5

Pairings for Round Five

1. Foisor – Nemcova
2. Abrahamyan – Feng
3. Yu – Sharevich
4. Nguyen – Krush
5. Paikidze - Yip
6. Zatonskih - Virkud

**Wayne Komer** · Sunday, 2nd April, 2017, 08:50 PM

Re: U.S. Championships, St. Louis 2017

U.S. Championships

April 2, 2017

Round Five

Yasser Seirawan and Jennifer Shahade are the prime commentators as usual.

Yasser defines initiative in chess as “the ability to generate threats”.

A telephone caller says that he just watched an interview from 1999 with Charlie Rose asking questions of Maurice Ashley, and even though, critical of Charlie Rose, says that it is worth watching:

https://charlierose.com/episodes/21367?autoplay=true

Maurice with hair! It is the third of the four interviews on the video.

His bio on the official site says that he is a two-time author, ESPN commentator, iPhone app designer, puzzle inventor and motivational speaker. Ashley now works as a Research Affiliate at MIT’s Media Lab to bring the benefits of chess and other classic games to a wider educational audience through the innovative use of technology.

At the top, both Wesley So and Hikaru Nakamura draw their games. Just before the time-control Caruana is standing worse in his game against Onischuk but Alexander plays 36.Kf4 and Fabiano then stands better but in the end, the game is drawn.

Does Alexander have trouble with rook endings? One chessbomb kibitzer quotes this game from the 2012 Olympiad (Ding Liren vs Alexander Onischuk):

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1689243

- Onischuk must be sick over this loss from a drawn position, which cost his team a shot at the gold medal.

Kamsky smashes Xiong.
_______

The games:

U.S. Championship
St. Louis
Round 5, Apr. 2, 2017
Zherebukh, Yaroslav – So, Wesley
C07 French, Tarrasch, open variation

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.dxc5 Bxc5 6.Ngf3 Nf6 7.Bc4 Qc6 8.O-O Nbd7 9.Qe2 a6 10.a4 b6 11.Nb3 Bb7 12.Nxc5 Nxc5 13.b4 Ncd7 14.Rd1 O-O 15.b5 Qc8 16.Nd4 Nc5 17.bxa6 Bxa6 18.Nb5 Bxb5 19.Bxb5 Nce4 20.Bb2 Nc3 21.Bxc3 Qxc3 22.Rab1 Rac8 23.Bd3 Qc6 24.Qe1 Ra8 25.Rb4 Qc7 26.Rc4 Qa7 27.Rb1 Rfc8 28.Rcb4 Nd5 29.Rh4 h6 30.Qe4 Nf6 31.Qe3 1/2-1/2

Round 5, Apr. 2, 2017
Nakamura, Hikaru – Naroditsky, Daniel
A20 English Opening

1.c4 e5 2.g3 Nc6 3.Bg2 f5 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.a3 g6 6.e3 e4 7.d3 exd3 8.Nf3 Bg7 9.Qxd3 d6 10.O-O O-O 11.Rd1 Qe7 12.Nd5 Qd8 13.Rb1 Ne5 14.Qc2 c6 15.Nxf6+ Qxf6 16.Bd2 Qe7 17.Bb4 c5 18.Bc3 f4 19.Nxe5 dxe5 20.exf4 Bf5 21.Be4 exf4 22.Re1 Qc7 23.Bxg7 Qxg7 24.gxf4 Rad8 25.Rbd1 Bxe4 26.Rxe4 Rxd1+ 27.Qxd1 Qxb2 28.Qd5+ Rf7 29.Kg2 b6 30.Re7 Qf6 31.Rxa7 1/2-1/2

Round 5, Apr. 2, 2017
Onischuk, Alexander – Caruana, Fabiano
A46 Queen’s Pawn

1.d4 d6 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 g6 4.Nc3 Bf5 5.g3 Ne4 6.Bd2 Bg7 7.Bg2 Nxd2 8.Qxd2 O-O 9.O-O Nc6 10.d5 Na5 11.b3 c5 12.e4 Bd7 13.Rae1 Qc7 14.Qe3 a6 15.e5 b5 16.e6 fxe6 17.dxe6 Bc6 18.Nd5 Qb7 19.Qg5 Rae8 20.Qh4 bxc4 21.bxc4 Bxd5 22.cxd5 Bf6 23.Ng5 Bxg5 24.Qxg5 Qb2 25.Qh4 c4 26.Re4 Qg7 27.Rf4 Rxf4 28.Qxf4 Rc8 29.Rc1 Rc5 30.Be4 c3 31.h4 Qf6 32.Qxf6 exf6 33.g4 Kf8 34.Kg2 Ke7 35.Kg3 Nc4 36.Kf4 Nb6 37.g5 fxg5+ 38.hxg5 Nxd5+ 39.Bxd5 Rxd5 40.Rxc3 Rf5+ 41.Ke3 Kxe6 42.Rc7 Rxg5 43.Rxh7 Re5+ 44.Kf3 a5 45.Rg7 Kf6 46.Rd7 Rf5+ 47.Ke3 Ke6 48.Ra7 Rc5 49.Rg7 g5 50.Rg6+ Kd7 51.Rf6 Rc2 52.Rf5 Rc5 53.Rf6 Kc6 54.Kd3 Rd5+ 55.Kc3 Re5 56.Kd3 Kc5 57.f4 gxf4 58.Rxf4 Rh5 59.Rc4+ Kb5 60.a4+ Kb6 61.Rg4 Kc5 62.Rc4+ Kd5 63.Rd4+ Kc6 64.Rc4+ Rc5 65.Rh4 Rc1 66.Rh5 Rc5 67.Rh8 Rg5 68.Rc8+ Kb7 69.Rd8 Kc7 70.Ra8 Rh5 71.Ra6 Rd5+ 72.Kc4 Rc5+ 73.Kd4 Rh5 74.Kc4 Kd7 75.Ra8 Kc7 76.Ra6 Rh4+ 77.Kb5 Rb4+ 78.Kxa5 Rb8 79.Ra7+ Kc6 80.Rh7 d5 81.Rh1 d4 82.Rc1+ Kd5 83.Ka6 d3 84.Rd1 Kc4 85.a5 Rb2 86.Ka7 d2 87.a6 Kc3 88.Ka8 Kc2 89.Rxd2+ Kxd2 90.a7 Rb1 1/2-1/2

Round 5, Apr. 2, 2017
Akobian, Varuzhan – Shankland, Samuel
D43 QGD, Semi-Slav, Hastings variation

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 c6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bxf6 Qxf6 7.Qb3 dxc4 8.Qxc4 Nd7 9.Rd1 Rb8 10.g3 Qd8 11.Bg2 Be7 12.O-O b5 13.Qd3 O-O 14.Ne4 Qa5 15.Nc5 Nxc5 16.dxc5 Bf6 17.Qd6 Ba6 18.Ne5 Bxe5 19.Qxe5 b4 20.Bxc6 Rbc8 21.Rd6 Bxe2 22.Rc1 Bb5 23.Bb7 Rc7 24.c6 Qb6 25.Qc5 Qxc5 26.Rxc5 a6 27.Rd4 Rb8 28.Rxb5 axb5 29.Rxb4 Rbxb7 30.cxb7 Rxb7 31.a4 Ra7 32.axb5 Kf8 33.b6 Rb7 34.Kg2 Ke7 35.Kf3 Kd6 36.Ke4 Kc5 37.Rb3 f6 38.Kd3 e5 39.g4 g6 40.h4 f5 41.h5 gxh5 42.gxf5 h4 43.Ke4 Kd6 44.f6 h3 45.Kf5 e4 46.Rxh3 Rxb6 47.b3 Rb5+ 48.Kxe4 h5 49.Rf3 Ke6 50.Kd4 Kf7 51.Kc4 Rb8 52.b4 h4 53.b5 Rh8 54.Rh3 Kxf6 55.b6 Ke7 56.Kb5 Kd7 57.Ka6 Kc6 58.b7 1-0

Round 5, Apr. 2, 2017
Xiong, Jeffery – Kamsky, Gata
B06 Pirc-Robatsch

1.d4 g6 2.e4 Bg7 3.Nf3 d6 4.Bd3 Nf6 5.O-O O-O 6.Re1 Nc6 7.c3 e5 8.Na3 Bg4 9.Nc2 Nd7 10.Be2 Kh8 11.Bg5 f6 12.Bh4 Nb6 13.Ne3 Bd7 14.b4 Qe8 15.b5 Nd8 16.a4 a5 17.c4 Ne6 18.c5 dxc5 19.dxe5 fxe5 20.Qb3 Rf4 21.Qb1 Nd4 22.Bg3 Rf8 23.Nd2 Be6 24.Qc1 Nd7 25.Bc4 b6 26.Rb1 h5 27.Bxe6 Qxe6 28.Nd5 Rac8 29.Nc4 Kh7 30.Qd1 Bh6 31.Rb2 Rf7 32.Qd3 Bf4 33.Qc3 g5 34.h3 h4 35.Bh2 Nf6 36.Nxf6+ Rxf6 37.Ne3 Bxh2+ 38.Kxh2 Rf4 39.Nd5 Rf7 40.f3 Rd8 41.Qe3 Qg6 42.Qc3 Rd6 43.Rf2 Kg8 44.Ne3 Kf8 45.Kh1 Ke8 46.Kh2 Kd8 47.Kh1 Kc8 48.Kh2 Kb8 49.Kh1 Qf6 50.Kg1 Rd8 51.Qc1 Rfd7 52.Nd5 Qg7 53.Qc4 Rd6 54.Ne3 Qf8 55.Qc3 Qf7 56.Nc4 Re6 57.Rd2 Re7 58.Rb1 Qf4 59.Re1 Red7 60.Rf2 Kb7 61.Qb2 Qg3 62.Ref1 Ne6 63.Qxe5 Nf4 64.Qf5 Rd1 65.Ne3 R1d3 66.Nd5 Rxf3 67.Qg4 Rxf2 68.Rxf2 Qxg4 69.hxg4 Nxd5 70.exd5 Rxd5 71.Kh2 Rd4 72.Kh3 Rd3+ 0-1

(72...Rd3+ 73.Kh2 Rd4 74.Ra2 Rxg4 75.Ra3 Rg3 76.Ra2 c4)

Round 5, Apr. 2, 2017
Robson, Ray – Shabalov, Alexander
B06 Robatsch Defence, Gurgenidze variation

1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 c6 4.f4 d5 5.e5 Nh6 6.Nf3 f6 7.Be3 O-O 8.h3 Qb6 9.Qd2 Qxb2 10.Rb1 Qa3 11.g4 Nf7 12.Bd3 fxe5 13.dxe5 Na6 14.Rb3 Qa5 15.O-O e6 16.h4 Nc5 17.h5 Nxd3 18.cxd3 gxh5 19.g5 Nh8 20.Qh2 Ng6 21.Qxh5 Nxf4 22.Bxf4 Rxf4 23.Ne2 Rf8 24.Ng3 Qc5+ 25.Kh1 Qe7 26.Rb2 Qf7 27.Qh3 b6 28.Rh2 Qg6 29.Nh5 Ba6 30.Nf6+ Kf7 31.Nd4 1-0

Standing after Round Five

1 So 3.5
2-6 Naroditsky, Nakamura, Zherebukh, Robson, Akobian 3.0
7-8 Caruana, Onischuk 2.5
9-11 Kamsky Xiong, Shankland 2.0
12 Shabalov 0.5

Pairings for Round Six (Tuesday, Apr. 4)

1. Caruana – Kamsky
2. Naroditsky – Xiong
3. Shabalov – Nakamura
4. Shankland – Robson
5. So – Akobian
6. Onischuk - Zherebukh