U.S. Championships, St. Louis 2017

[Wayne Komer]

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

U.S. Championships

April 2, 2017

Round Five (continued)

Women’s Championship

Anna Zatonskih is a funny interview. She has perpetual time-trouble and then has to explain why to Maurice in the interview afterward, then to her coach and then apologize to her father, who is watching the game, for raising his blood-pressure!

She is presently tied for the lead.

Sabina Foisor was surprised by the opening. The game that resulted was one that Maurice said that he would pay to see. Tomorrow is a free day and each participant can go to a school or take the time off. Sabina would like to go to the Arch if she isn’t teaching in a class-room.

The Gateway Arch is a 630-foot (192 m) monument in St. Louis. Clad in stainless steel and built in the form of an inverted, weighted catenary arch; it is the world's tallest arch. The Arch was designed by Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen in 1947; construction began on February 12, 1963, and was completed on October 28, 1965 for $13 million. It is located on the west bank of the Mississippi River. I always thought the river flowed between the two legs of the Arch. Live and learn.

From what I read, you take a tram to the top but you also have to climb steps!

The games:

Round 5, Apr. 2, 2017
Zatonskih, Anna – Virkud, Apurva
D37 QGD, Hastings variation

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Be7 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Bf4 O-O 6.e3 c5 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.cxd5 exd5 9.Be2 Nc6 10.O-O Be6 11.Nb5 Rc8 12.Rc1 Be7 13.h3 Qb6 14.Qa4 Bd7 15.Qd1 a6 16.Nc3 Qxb2 17.Na4 Qb4 18.Rb1 Qa5 19.Nb6 Qxa2 20.Nxc8 Bxc8 21.Ne5 Nxe5 22.Bxe5 Qa5 23.Qd4 b5 24.Rfc1 Qd8 25.Rc6 Qd7 26.Rbc1 Bb7 27.Rc7 Rc8 28.Qb6 Rxc7 29.Rxc7 1-0

Round 5, Apr. 2, 2017
Paikidze, Nazi – Yip, Carissa
E04 Catalan, open

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.g3 dxc4 5.Bg2 c5 6.O-O Nc6 7.dxc5 Qxd1 8.Rxd1 Bxc5 9.Nbd2 c3 10.bxc3 O-O 11.Nb3 Be7 12.Bb2 Nd7 13.Nfd2 Nb6 14.a4 a5 15.c4 Rd8 16.c5 Nd5 17.Nc4 Ndb4 18.Nb6 Rb8 19.Nxa5 Bxc5 20.Nxc6 Rxd1+ 21.Rxd1 Nxc6 22.a5 f6 23.Bxc6 Bxb6 24.axb6 bxc6 25.Rd8+ Kf7 26.Ba3 Ra8 27.Rxc8 Rxc8 28.Bd6 Rd8 29.b7 Rxd6 30.b8=Q Rd1+ 31.Kg2 Rc1 32.Qa7+ Kg8 33.Qe3 Rc2 34.Qxe6+ Kf8 35.Qe4 1-0

Round 5, Apr. 2, 2017
Abrahamyan, Tatev, - Feng, Maggie
B47 Sicilian, Taimanov (Bastrikov) variation

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 e6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Qc7 6.f4 Nxd4 7.Qxd4 a6 8.Be3 b5 9.O-O-O Bb7 10.Bd3 Rc8 11.Kb1 Nf6 12.e5 Nd5 13.Ne4 Nxe3 14.Qxe3 Bd5 15.Qg3 Qa5 16.b3 Bxe4 17.Bxe4 Rc7 18.Rhf1 g6 19.h4 Ba3 20.Rf3 h5 21.Rfd3 Qb4 22.Bxg6 Rg8 23.f5 fxg6 24.fxe6 Qg4 25.exd7+ Kd8 26.Qf2 Qe6 27.Qf3 Qc6 28.Qe2 Qe6 29.Qf3 Qc6 30.Qe2 Qe6 31.Qe1 Qc6 32.Qd2 Be7 33.e6 Rf8 34.Qe2 Qc5 35.Re3 Rc6 36.g3 Rf6 37.Re5 Qf2 38.Qd3 Rfxe6 39.Rxe6 Rxe6 40.Qc3 Qc5 41.Qh8+ Bf8 42.Rf1 Kxd7 43.Rxf8 Qg1+ 44.Kb2 Qxg3 45.Qg7+ Kc6 46.Rc8+ Kd5 47.Rc3 Qe5 48.Qb7+ Kd6 49.a3 Rf6 50.Qc8 Rf7 51.Ka2 Ke7 52.Rc7+ Kf6 53.Qh8+ Ke6 54.Qxe5+ Kxe5 55.Rxf7 Ke6 56.Ra7 Kf5 57.Rxa6 g5 58.hxg5 Kxg5 59.Ra5 Kg4 60.Rxb5 1-0

Round 5, Apr. 2, 2017
Yu, Jennifer – Sharevich, Anna
C00 Queen’s Pawn, Mason variation

1.d4 d5 2.Bf4 Nf6 3.e3 c5 4.c3 e6 5.Nd2 Nc6 6.Ngf3 cxd4 7.exd4 Nh5 8.Bg5 f6 9.Be3 Bd6 10.g3 O-O 11.Bg2 f5 12.Ne5 f4 13.Nxc6 bxc6 14.Qxh5 fxe3 15.fxe3 Rb8 16.O-O-O Qa5 17.Kb1 Qxc3 18.Nb3 Qxe3 19.Rhe1 Qh6 20.Qxh6 gxh6 21.Rc1 Bd7 22.Re2 Rf6 23.Na5 Rb6 24.Rec2 e5 25.Nxc6 e4 26.Ne5 Bxe5 27.dxe5 Rfc6 28.Rc5 Rxc5 29.Rxc5 Be6 30.Kc2 Rb7 31.Kc3 Kf7 32.a3 Ke8 33.b4 Rf7 34.Rc6 Kd7 35.Rd6+ Ke7 36.Kd4 Rf2 37.Bxe4 dxe4 38.Kxe4 Re2+ 39.Kf4 Rc2 40.Ra6 Rc4+ 41.Ke3 Rc7 42.Kf4 Kf7 43.b5 Re7 44.a4 Kg7 45.Rd6 Kf7 46.Ra6 Rb7 47.Rd6 Ke7 48.Ra6 Rc7 49.Ke3 h5 50.Kf4 Bf7 51.Kg5 Bg6 52.Kh6 Rb7 53.Kg5 Kf7 54.Kh6 Re7 55.h4 Bd3 56.Kxh5 Rxe5+ 57.Kg4 Re7 58.Kg5 Rb7 59.Rc6 Be4 60.Rc4 Bd5 61.Rc5 Ke6 62.Kh6 Be4 63.g4 Kd6 64.Rc1 Ke5 65.Kh5 Kf4 66.Rc4 Rb6 67.Rb4 a5 68.Rc4 Ke3 69.Rc7 Kf4 70.Rf7+ Kg3 71.Re7 Bc2 72.Rc7 Bxa4 73.Rc3+ Kf2 74.Ra3 Rxb5+ 75.Kh6 Bc2 76.Rc3 Bb1 77.g5 Rb6+ 78.Kg7 a4 79.Ra3 Ra6 80.h5 Ke2 81.Ra1 Be4 82.Ra3 Kd2 83.Kg8 Ra5 84.g6 Bxg6 85.hxg6 hxg6 86.Kg7 g5 87.Kf6 Kc2 88.Ra2+ Kb3 89.Rg2 a3 90.Rg3+ Kc4 91.Rg4+ 0-1

Black wins in 18 moves after 91…Kc3


Round 5, Apr. 2, 2017
Nguyen, Emily – Krush, Irina
D24 QGA

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.e3 a6 6.Bxc4 b5 7.Bb3 Bb7 8.O-O c5 9.Qe2 Nbd7 10.Rd1 Qc7 11.d5 exd5 12.Nxd5 Nxd5 13.Bxd5 Bxd5 14.Rxd5 Be7 15.b3 Nf6 16.Rd1 O-O 17.Bb2 Rfd8 18.Rac1 Rxd1+ 19.Qxd1 Rd8 20.Qc2 Qd6 21.h3 h6 22.Nh4 Bf8 23.Nf5 Qe6 24.Bxf6 Qxf6 25.Ng3 Qd6 26.Ne4 Qe5 27.Nd2 Rd5 28.Nf3 Qd6 29.e4 Rd3 30.Kf1 Qf4 31.Qxd3 Qxc1+ 32.Ne1 c4 33.Qc2 Qa1 34.Ke2 Bb4 35.Nf3 c3 36.Ne1 Bc5 37.Nd3 Bd4 38.b4 Qg1 39.Kf3 Qf1 40.e5 Kf8 41.Ke4 Bb6 42.Kf3 Qa1 43.Qc1 Qxc1 44.Nxc1 Ke7 45.Ke2 Ke6 46.Kd3 Bxf2 47.Kxc3 Kd5 48.Kd3 Kxe5 49.Ne2 f5 50.a3 g5 51.Nc1 h5 52.Nb3 g4 53.hxg4 fxg4 54.Na5 Kd5 55.Nb3 h4 56.Ke2 Bd4 57.Nd2 Bb2 58.Nb1 Kd4 59.Nd2 Bxa3 60.Nb3+ Kc4 61.Nc5 Bxb4 62.Nxa6 Bd6 0-1

Round 5, Apr. 2, 2017
Foisor, Sabina – Nemcova, Katerina
A84 Dutch Defence

1.d4 e6 2.c4 f5 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 b6 5.Bd3 Bb7 6.O-O Be7 7.Nc3 O-O 8.Qc2 Na6 9.a3 Bxf3 10.gxf3 c5 11.d5 Nc7 12.e4 Bd6 13.exf5 exd5 14.cxd5 Be5 15.Bg5 Qe8 16.Bh4 Qh5 17.Bg3 Bxc3 18.bxc3 Ncxd5 19.Be4 Nxe4 20.fxe4 Nf6 21.Rad1 Rae8 22.f3 Qg5 23.Qd2 Qxd2 24.Rxd2 g6 25.fxg6 hxg6 26.Bh4 Re6 27.Kg2 Rf7 28.Rfd1 Kg7 29.Bg3 Rfe7 30.e5 Nh5 31.f4 Nxg3 32.hxg3 b5 33.Rxd7 Kf8 34.R7d6 c4 35.Kf3 a5 36.Ke4 Kf7 37.Rxe6 Rxe6 38.Rd7+ 1-0

Standing after Round Five

1-3 Zatonskih, Krush, Paikidze 3.5
4-5 Abrahamyan, Foisor 3.0
6-8 Sharevich, Feng, Yu 2.5
9-10 Yip, Virkud 2.0
11 Nemcova 1.5
12 Nguyen 0.5

Pairings for Round Six (Tuesday, Apr. 4)

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

[Wayne Komer]

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

U.S. Championships

April 4, 2017

Round Six

A viewer from Turkey phones in to say that he is enjoying the show. Yasser says he enjoyed the two Olympiads he attended in Turkey. They took place in Istanbul in 2000 and 2012. The U.S. did not do very well in the former, standing 26th at the end. They were 5th in 2012.

The early discussion is of two games So-Akobian and Caruana-Kamsky. Gata moved his bishop and gave away a pawn (17.Nxa6). He was so upset that he went for a walk so that Fabiano would not see the turmoil he was in. Fabiano was playing the board, not the man, and made the moves to win the game.

Varuzhan seemed to have Wesley on the ropes but followed up incorrectly and let him off. Maurice uses the expression “Wesley is fighting on his back foot”. The term means fighting at a disadvantage. I thought it was from cricket but it appears to be from boxing and how your weight is distributed when you punch.

Maurice twice said that Akobian had a winning position. So defended calmly and then a perpetual ended the game.

The game turns against Shabalov as well. He gave a good scare to Nakamura but ended up drawing, so now there are five players just a half-point behind So.

US Championship
St. Louis
Round 6, Apr. 4, 2017
So, Wesley – Akobian, Varuzhan
D31 QGD, Charousek Exchange

1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4 Be7 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bf4 c6 6.e3 Bf5 7.g4 Be6 8.h4 Nd7 9.g5 h6 10.g6 fxg6 11.Bd3 Nf8 12.Nf3 Bg4 13.Rg1 Nf6 14.Rg3 g5 15.hxg5 hxg5 16.Bxg5 Rh1+ 17.Bf1 Qc8 18.Qb3 N8h7 19.Bxf6 gxf6 20.O-O-O Bd6 21.Rxg4 Qxg4 22.Qxb7 Rc8 23.Qa6 Rc7 24.Be2 Rxd1+ 25.Kxd1 Qf5 26.Nd2 Ng5 27.f4 Nh3 28.Bf3 Bb4 29.Nxd5 cxd5 30.Qb5+ Kf7 31.Qxb4 Qd3 32.Bxd5+ Kg7 33.Qb3 Nf2+ 34.Ke1 Rc1+ 35.Kxf2 Qxd2+ 36.Kf3 Re1 37.Bc4 Qh2 38.Qb7+ Kh6 39.Qe7 Qh1+ 40.Kf2 Qh4+ 41.Kf3 Qh1+ 42.Kf2 Qh4+ 43.Kf3 Qh3+ 44.Kf2 Qh4+ 45.Kf3 Qh3+ 1/2-1/2

Round 6, Apr. 4, 2017
Shabalov, Alexander – Nakamura, Hikaru
B30 Sicilian Defence

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 e5 4.Bc4 d6 5.d3 Be7 6.Nd2 Nf6 7.Nf1 Bg4 8.f3 Be6 9.Ne3 O-O 10.O-O Nd7 11.Ncd5 Bg5 12.c3 Na5 13.a3 Nxc4 14.dxc4 g6 15.Qe2 Bh6 16.Bd2 Bg7 17.Rad1 Rc8 18.Be1 Kh8 19.Bg3 Qe8 20.Bh4 f6 21.Rd3 Bg8 22.Rfd1 Rc6 23.b4 cxb4 24.axb4 a6 25.R3d2 Rc8 26.Bf2 Bh6 27.Rb2 f5 28.c5 fxe4 29.fxe4 dxc5 30.Nc4 Rc6 31.bxc5 Nxc5 32.Na5 Na4 33.Nxc6 Nxb2 34.Qxb2 bxc6 35.Nb6 Qe6 36.h3 Bg5 37.c4 h5 38.c5 Rd8 39.Rxd8 Bxd8 40.Qa1 Bg5 41.Qxa6 Qb3 42.Qa1 1/2-1/2

Round 6, Apr. 4, 2017
Caruana, Fabiano – Kamsky, Gata
B33 Sicilian, Pelikan, Chelyabinsk variation

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Bxf6 gxf6 10.Nd5 Bg7 11.Bd3 Ne7 12.Nxe7 Qxe7 13.c3 f5 14.Nc2 f4 15.Qh5 h6 16.Nb4 Be6 17.Nxa6 O-O 18.Nb4 f5 19.O-O fxe4 20.Bxe4 Rac8 21.Rad1 Rc4 22.Qg6 Rxe4 23.Qxe4 f3 24.Nd5 Qg5 25.g3 Rf7 26.Kh1 Bh3 27.Rfe1 Bf5 28.Qb4 Bf8 29.Qxb5 h5 30.Ne3 Bh3 31.Qc4 Qg6 32.a4 Kh8 33.Qh4 Be6 34.a5 e4 35.Qd8 Kh7 36.a6 Bh6 37.Qb6 h4 38.g4 Bxg4 39.Rg1 Bxe3 40.Qxe3 1-0

Round 6, Apr. 4, 2017
Onischuk, Alexander – Zherebukh, Yaroslav
B85 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.Bd3 b6 13.Qxa5 Nxa5 14.O-O Bb7 15.Bd2 Nc6 16.d5 Ne5 17.Nxe5 Bxe5 18.Bb4 Bf6 19.f4 Rfc8 20.e5 Bg7 21.Rfd1 Bxd5 22.Ba6 Rd8 23.Bxe7 Bxa2 24.Rxd8+ Rxd8 25.Rc1 Ra8 26.Rc7 Bf8 27.Bxf8 Kxf8 28.Kf2 Be6 29.Ke3 h5 30.g3 Kg7 31.Ke2 h4 32.Ke3 h3 33.g4 Rb8 34.Rxa7 b5 35.Kf3 b4 36.Bd3 b3 37.f5 Bd5+ 38.Kf4 Rb4+ 39.Kg5 Bf3 40.f6+ Kf8 41.Rd7 Rxg4+ 1/2-1/2

Round 6, Apr. 4, 2017
Naroditsky, Daniel – Xiong, Jeffery
D20 QGA

1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e4 Nf6 4.e5 Nd5 5.Bxc4 Nb6 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.Ne2 Bg4 8.f3 Be6 9.Nbc3 Qd7 10.Ne4 Bd5 11.Nc5 Qc8 12.Bd2 e6 13.Rc1 Bxc5 14.Rxc5 Qd7 15.a4 Qe7 16.Be3 Nb4 17.a5 Nd7 18.Rxc7 Qd8 19.Rc3 Nxd3+ 20.Qxd3 Qxa5 21.O-O O-O 22.Nf4 Bc6 23.Rfc1 Rfd8 24.Qe2 Nf8 25.Rc5 Qa4 26.Qd2 Ng6 27.Ra5 Qb3 28.Nd3 Rd5 29.Ra3 Qb5 30.Nc5 Qb6 31.Rb3 Qd8 32.Nxb7 Bxb7 33.Rxb7 Nxe5 34.Rcc7 Rd7 35.Rxd7 Nxd7 36.d5 Qc8 37.Rxa7 Rxa7 38.Bxa7 1/2-1/2

Round 6, Apr. 4, 2017
Shankland, Samuel – Robson, Ray
D45 QGD, Semi-Slav

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Be2 b6 7.O-O Bb7 8.Qc2 Bd6 9.Rd1 O-O 10.e4 dxe4 11.Nxe4 Nxe4 12.Qxe4 Qe7 13.Bf4 Rfd8 14.Bxd6 Qxd6 15.Rd2 Nf6 16.Qe3 c5 17.Rad1 Qc6 18.dxc5 Rxd2 19.Rxd2 bxc5 20.Bf1 h6 21.Ne5 Qc7 22.h3 a5 23.f4 a4 24.Be2 Rd8 25.Bd1 a3 26.bxa3 Qa5 27.Rxd8+ Qxd8 28.Bc2 h5 29.g4 hxg4 30.hxg4 Qc7 31.g5 Nd7 32.Kf2 f6 33.gxf6 Nxf6 34.a4 Qa5 35.Ke2 Ba6 36.Qh3 Qb6 37.a5 Qd6 38.Bd3 Bb7 39.Ng6 Nh7 40.Ne5 Nf8 41.Qh8+ Kxh8 42.Nf7+ Kg8 43.Nxd6 Ba6 44.Be4 Nd7 45.Bc6 Nb8 46.Bb5 Kf8 47.Ne4 1-0

Standing after Round Six

1 So 4.0
2-6 Naroditsky, Nakamura, Caruana, Zherebukh, Akobian 3.5
7-9 Shankland, Onischuk, Robson 3.0
10 Xiong 2.5
11 Kamsky 2.0
12 Shabalov 1.0

Round Seven Pairings

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

Online Comments

- Wesley is getting that Magnus effect. He seems able to get "lucky" way more than his fair share but it's not luck, it's a consequence of his style. Even when he is losing according to the computer there is enough left in the position to make the finishing path one or two moves out of reach for his opponents.

- Somebody Up There Likes So.
Wesley was about to get mated but somehow Akobian missed the winning line.

[Wayne Komer]

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

U.S. Championships

April 4, 2017

Round Six (continued)

Women’s Championship

(Mike Klein at chess.com) - All six games produced winners, none more important for the standings than defending champion IM Nazi Paikidze's win as Black against seven-time champion GM Irina Krush. Paikidze's been on a tear since losing a seven-hour marathon in heartbreaking fashion.

Her secret weapon for a possible repeat? The salubrious Paikidze now has a Whole Foods within walking distance of the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis. She's there nearly daily, but it wasn't just kale that helped today. Things were cruising for Krush when another many-times champion forgot about the a-pawn.

Paikidze played 37…Nxa2, taking the pawn and the game.

Last year's early sensation NM Carissa Yip got back to even in a most unlikely way. She demolished IM Anna Zatonskih by having all the trumps: better attacking prospects, the bishop pair, and mountains more time.

https://www.chess.com/news/view/caru...y-falters-4417

The games:

Round 6, Apr. 4, 2017
Krush, Irina – Paikidze, Nazi
E15 Queen’s Indian

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Bxd2+ 6.Qxd2 Ba6 7.Qc2 Bb7 8.Bg2 O-O 9.O-O c5 10.dxc5 bxc5 11.Nc3 d6 12.Rfd1 Qe7 13.Qd3 Rd8 14.Ne5 Na6 15.Bxb7 Qxb7 16.Qf3 Qxf3 17.Nxf3 Nb4 18.Rd2 Kf8 19.Rad1 Ke7 20.e3 h6 21.Kf1 Nc6 22.Ke2 Rab8 23.b3 Rb7 24.h3 Rbd7 25.Ne1 g5 26.f4 Rg8 27.Kf2 h5 28.Nf3 g4 29.hxg4 hxg4 30.Ng5 Rgd8 31.Rh1 d5 32.cxd5 Nxd5 33.Nce4 Nf6 34.Rxd7+ Nxd7 35.Ke2 Nb4 36.Nc3 Nf6 37.Nge4 Nxa2 38.Ra1 Nxc3+ 39.Nxc3 Rd7 40.Ra5 Rb7 41.Rxc5 Rxb3 42.Rc7+ Kf8 43.Kd1 Ra3 44.Kc2 Ra1 45.Kd3 Rg1 46.Rxa7 Rxg3 47.Ne4 Nxe4 48.Kxe4 Rf3 49.Ra5 f5+ 50.Ke5 Kf7 51.e4 Re3 52.Ra7+ Kg6 53.Ra4 Rxe4+ 0-1

Round 6, Apr. 4, 2017
Yip, Carissa – Zatonskih, Anna
C10 French, Fort Knox variation

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bd7 5.Nf3 Bc6 6.Bd3 Nd7 7.Be3 Ngf6 8.Nxf6+ Qxf6 9.c3 h6 10.Qc2 Bxf3 11.gxf3 c6 12.f4 Bd6 13.f5 e5 14.O-O-O O-O 15.Kb1 Qh4 16.Rdg1 Nf6 17.f3 Rfe8 18.Qg2 Bf8 19.dxe5 Rxe5 20.Bf2 Qg5 21.Qf1 Qh5 22.Bd4 Rxf5 23.Bxf5 Qxf5+ 24.Ka1 Re8 25.Qb1 Qf4 26.Qc1 Qf5 27.Re1 Rxe1 28.Qxe1 b6 29.Rg1 Nh5 30.Qe4 Qxe4 31.fxe4 f6 32.Be3 Kf7 33.Rd1 Ke8 34.b4 g5 35.a4 Ng7 36.a5 bxa5 37.bxa5 a6 38.Rb1 Bd6 39.h3 Bc7 40.Rb7 Ne6 41.Bb6 Kd8 42.Rb8+ Kd7 43.Ra8 Bxb6 44.axb6 Nc5 45.Rh8 h5 46.e5 fxe5 47.Rxh5 Ne6 48.Rh8 Nd8 49.Rg8 1-0

Round 6, Apr. 4, 2017
Foisor, Sabina – Abrahamyan, Tatev
A17 English, Nimzo-Indian Opening

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 b6 5.a3 Bxc3 6.Qxc3 Bb7 7.b4 d6 8.Bb2 Nbd7 9.g3 O-O 10.Bg2 Ne5 11.O-O Nxf3+ 12.exf3 Qe7 13.Rfe1 Rfd8 14.d4 d5 15.c5 Ba6 16.a4 Bc4 17.Bf1 Bxf1 18.Kxf1 a6 19.Qd3 Rdb8 20.Bc3 Ne8 21.Bd2 Qd7 22.Rec1 bxc5 23.bxc5 Qc6 24.Rcb1 Nf6 25.Bf4 Nd7 26.Qc3 f6 27.Re1 Rb7 28.Ra2 a5 29.Rae2 Nf8 30.Rb2 Kf7 31.Reb1 Rxb2 32.Qxb2 g5 33.Bd2 Qxa4 34.Qb7 Qxd4 35.Qxc7+ Kg6 36.Rb7 f5 37.Qf7+ Kh6 38.Be3 1-0

Round 6, Apr. 4, 2017
Feng, Maggie – Yu, Jennifer
A07 Reti, King’s Indian Attack, Keres variation

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Bg4 3.Bg2 Nd7 4.c4 c6 5.cxd5 cxd5 6.Qa4 Nf6 7.Nc3 Bxf3 8.Bxf3 e6 9.O-O Bd6 10.d3 O-O 11.Bg2 a6 12.Qd1 b5 13.e4 d4 14.Ne2 e5 15.f4 Rc8 16.h3 Qb6 17.f5 Nc5 18.g4 Nfd7 19.g5 b4 20.f6 g6 21.h4 b3 22.a4 Rc7 23.h5 Rb8 24.hxg6 hxg6 25.Rf3 Kf8 26.Ng3 Ke8 27.Bh3 Kd8 28.Nf1 Nb7 29.Nh2 Rc5 30.Ng4 Kc7 31.Nh6 Rf8 32.Bd2 Nb8 33.Nxf7 Rxf7 34.Be6 Rf8 35.Bxb3 Nc6 36.Rb1 Kb8 37.Rh3 Nb4 38.Bxb4 Qxb4 39.Rh6 Na5 40.Be6 Rc7 41.Rxg6 Rh7 42.Rg8 Rxg8 43.Bxg8 Rh8 44.Bd5 Bf8 45.Rc1 Nb7 46.Qc2 Nc5 47.g6 Rh6 48.Bf7 Rh4 49.Kg2 Bh6 50.Kg3 Bxc1 51.Qxc1 Nxd3 52.g7 Nxc1 53.g8=Q+ Ka7 54.Kxh4 Qe1+ 55.Kg5 Qxe4 56.Bd5 Qf4+ 57.Kg6 Qg4+ 58.Kf7 Qd7+ 59.Kf8 Qf5 60.Qf7+ Kb6 61.Qb7+ Ka5 62.Qc7+ Kxa4 63.f7 d3 64.Qc4+ Ka5 65.Qc5+ Ka4 66.Qxc1 Qg4 1-0

Round 6, Apr. 4, 2017
Sharevich, A. – Nguyen, Emily
D02 Queen’s Pawn game

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.g3 c6 4.Bg2 Bf5 5.O-O e6 6.c4 Nbd7 7.Nc3 h6 8.Qb3 Qb6 9.c5 Qxb3 10.axb3 a6 11.b4 Rc8 12.Bf4 Be7 13.h3 g5 14.Be5 O-O 15.g4 Bg6 16.Bh2 Ne4 17.Nxe4 dxe4 18.Nd2 f5 19.e3 Nf6 20.Nc4 Rcd8 21.Ne5 Bh7 22.b5 cxb5 23.c6 Nd5 24.cxb7 Nb4 25.b8=Q Rxb8 26.Nd7 Rb7 27.Nxf8 Kxf8 28.Rfc1 Bg6 29.Rc8+ Kf7 30.f3 exf3 31.Bxf3 Rd7 32.gxf5 Bxf5 33.Rf1 Bf6 34.Bg4 Bxg4 35.hxg4 Kg7 36.Re8 Re7 37.Rxe7+ Bxe7 38.Be5+ Kg6 39.Rc1 Nd3 40.Rc6 Kf7 41.Rxa6 Nxe5 42.dxe5 b4 43.Kf2 Bf8 44.Kf3 Bc5 45.Rc6 Bf8 46.Rc7+ Be7 47.Ke4 Ke8 48.Kd4 Kf8 49.Kc4 Kf7 50.Kb5 Kf8 51.Kc6 Kf7 52.Kd7 Bf8 53.Rc6 1-0

Round 6, Apr. 4, 2017
Nemcova, Katerina – Virkud, Apurva
B90 Sicilian, Najdorf

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Nb3 e6 7.g4 Be7 8.g5 Nfd7 9.h4 b5 10.Bg2 Bb7 11.f4 Qc7 12.Be3 Nc5 13.Qd4 Bf8 14.O-O-O Nbd7 15.Kb1 Rc8 16.Rhe1 Na4 17.Bd2 Ndb6 18.Nxa4 Nxa4 19.Rc1 Ba8 20.Ba5 Qc6 21.Bf1 Nc5 22.c4 b4 23.Bxb4 Nxe4 24.Bg2 Qa4 25.Ba3 Nc5 26.Bxa8 Rxa8 27.Nxc5 dxc5 28.Bxc5 Rd8 29.Qe3 Bd6 30.Bxd6 Rxd6 31.Qe5 Rd2 32.Qxg7 Rf8 33.f5 Qa5 34.c5 1-0

Standing after Round Six

1 Paikidze 4.5
2 Foisor 4.0
3-6 Feng, Krush, Sharevich, Zatonskih 3.5
7-8 Abrahamyan, Yip 3.0
9-10 Yu, Nemcova 2.5
11 Virkud 2.0
12 Nguyen 0.5

Round Seven Pairings

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

Online Comments

- Considering the streak she's on, Nazi must favor red Russian kale. Fabiano's favorite is obvious: lacinato (Tuscan, dinosaur, black) kale. Gotta love those phase II enzymes!

- I seriously do not know what to say when you lose in the fort knox. sure, black may have minimal chances of winning, but that setup should never have been flattened so one-sidedly as shown in the game Yip-Zatonskih.

[Wayne Komer]

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

U.S. Championships

April 5, 2017

Round Seven

Mike Klein describes the two premier games of this round in chess.com:

https://www.chess.com/news/view/upse...s-round-7-5388

Today at the 2017 U.S. Championship, GM Alex Shabalov only needed four moves to beat a different reigning world champion! GM Jeffery Xiong, last year's winner at the World Junior Championship, went down in flames.

There's a bit of an asterisk of course.

Technically the game lasted 26 moves, but the first 22 took negative time for Shabalov. At one point, the clock differential was four minutes to one hour, 27 minutes. By Shabalov's own admission, he really only played four moves today, and by that point, he was completely winning.

So what went wrong for the promising American junior? Two things, one macro and one micro. First, he entered a game stylistically suited to his opponent, and didn't sense he was entering preparation. Secondly, he just didn't see Black's amazing rejoinder to his 21st move.

At home, neither did Shabalov, without some help. He recalled that the machine insisted taking with the bishop was better on move 20, but he couldn't for the life of him figure out why. After all, his rook on a8 was hanging.

"The computer showed this," Shabalov said, pointing to the b6-square. "And I was like, 'Whoah!'"

Despite being 33 years older, GM Alex Shabalov (49) explained to Chess.com that he uses computers much more in preparation than GM Jeffery Xiong (16). Today, it showed.

That helps explain things to on-site commentator GM Eric Hansen, who said, "Shabalov spent only one minute on Qb6! He sees everything. When you have this position after move 20 against the world junior champion, you've got to be pretty excited."
With a rook en prise the only winning move is a short retreat? Yeah, that's the cold-blooded computer for you

U.S. Championship
St. Louis
Round 7, Apr. 5, 2017
Robson, Ray – So, Wesley
A14 English, Neo-Catalan, with b3

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 e6 4.O-O Be7 5.b3 O-O 6.Bb2 c5 7.c4 Nc6 8.e3 d4 9.exd4 cxd4 10.Re1 Re8 11.d3 Bc5 12.Ba3 Nd7 13.Nfd2 Nb4 14.Ne4 a5 15.f4 Be7 16.Bb2 Nc6 17.a3 b6 18.Nd6 Bxd6 19.Bxc6 Ra7 20.Bxd4 e5 21.fxe5 Nxe5 22.Bxe5 Rxe5 23.Rxe5 Bxe5 24.Ra2 Re7 25.Kg2 Qd6 26.Bf3 Qe6 27.Re2 Qh3+ 28.Kg1 h5 29.Qe1 Qf5 30.Nd2 Qxd3 31.Kh1 Qf5 32.Bd5 Qf6 33.Nf3 Bg4 34.Kg2 g6 35.Re3 Bd6 36.Rxe7 Bxf3+ 37.Bxf3 Bxe7 38.a4 Kg7 39.Bd5 Bc5 40.h4 Qb2+ 41.Kh3 Bd4 42.Qf1 f6 43.Qe1 Be5 44.Qe3 Qb1 45.Kg2 Qc2+ 46.Kh3 Qf5+ 47.Kg2 Qg4 48.Qf2 Qd1 49.Qe3 Qb1 50.Bf3 Qc2+ 51.Kh3 Qf5+ 52.Kg2 Qc2+ 53.Kh3 Qf5+ 54.Kg2 Qc2+ 1/2-1/2

Round 7, Apr. 5, 2017
Zherebukh, Yaroslav – Caruana, Fabiano
C95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer, Borisenko variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 O-O 9.h3 Nb8 10.d4 Nbd7 11.Nbd2 Bb7 12.Bc2 Re8 13.Nf1 Bf8 14.Ng3 g6 15.a4 c5 16.d5 c4 17.Bg5 h6 18.Be3 Nc5 19.Qd2 h5 20.Bg5 Bg7 21.Rf1 Qc7 22.Bh6 Bh8 23.Ng5 Nh7 24.Nxh7 Kxh7 25.Be3 Qe7 26.f4 exf4 27.Bxf4 Kg8 28.Rf3 Bg7 29.Raf1 Nd7 30.Bh6 Bxh6 31.Qxh6 Qf8 32.Qd2 Ne5 33.Rf6 Rad8 34.Qg5 Qg7 35.Bd1 Bc8 36.Qh4 Kf8 37.Qf4 Qg8 38.Kh1 Re7 39.Bxh5 bxa4 40.Bd1 Qg7 41.Bxa4 Qh7 42.Qg5 a5 43.Kg1 Qh8 44.R1f4 Qg7 45.Rh4 Nd3 46.Rh6 Ne5 47.Rf4 Bd7 48.Qh4 Kg8 49.Qxe7 Re8 50.Qg5 Bxa4 51.Rf6 1-0

GM Fabiano Caruana got pummeled by the tournament's only rookie, GM Yaroslav Zherebukh.

Caruana's pieces became so impotent that Zherebukh's rooks had time to make Tetris moves all over the kingside.

"I've never seen such helplessness on the part of an opponent like this," GM Yasser Seirawan said. "You don't do this to a 2800 player unless you're a 2700 player yourself."

Zherebukh is "just" 2619, although not after this tournament. GM Hikaru Nakamura said that he thought Zherebukh was certainly underrated.

"I really didn't like my position out of the opening," Caruana said. "I'm not really sure where it went wrong."

Zherebukh thought Caruana should have traded dark-squared bishops. Caruana didn't like his position after instead retreating, but he also showed a myriad of lines with various sacrifices that all led to defeat if he had invited the enemy queen to h6.

Once he got in a better position, Zherebukh didn't take his foot off Caruana's neck.

"I didn't give him any single chance," Zherebukh said. "If I don't see a forced win that finishes the game immediately, I'm not going to go for it."

Round 7, Apr. 5, 2017
Nakamura, Hikaru – Shankland, Samuel
D16 QGD Slav, Soultanbeieff variation

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 e6 6.e3 c5 7.Bxc4 cxd4 8.exd4 Nc6 9.O-O Be7 10.Qe2 O-O 11.Rd1 Nb4 12.a5 Bd7 13.Ne5 Be8 14.Bg5 Nfd5 15.Bd2 a6 16.Nxd5 Nxd5 17.Bd3 Bg5 18.Ra3 Bxd2 19.Qxd2 f6 20.Nf3 Rc8 21.Be4 Bc6 22.Ne1 Ne7 23.Bb1 Qd6 24.Nc2 Rfd8 25.Ne3 Nd5 26.Ba2 Nxe3 27.fxe3 Bd5 28.Bxd5 Qxd5 29.Rc3 Rxc3 30.Qxc3 e5 31.b4 h5 32.h3 h4 33.Qc2 Qe6 34.Qc7 Qd7 35.Qc2 Qe6 36.Qc7 Qd7 37.Qc4+ Qd5 38.Rc1 exd4 39.exd4 Kf8 40.Qc5+ Qxc5 41.dxc5 Rd4 42.c6 bxc6 43.Rxc6 Rxb4 44.Rxa6 Kf7 45.Rb6 Ra4 46.a6 Kg6 47.Kf2 Ra3 48.Ke2 Rg3 49.Kf2 Ra3 50.Ke2 Rg3 51.Kf2 1/2-1/2

Round 7, Apr. 5, 2017
Akobian, Varuzhan – Onischuk, Alexander
D37 QGD, Hastings variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 O-O 6.e3 Nbd7 7.a3 c5 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.Nxd5 exd5 10.dxc5 Nxc5 11.Be5 Bf6 12.Bxf6 Qxf6 13.Qd4 Qd6 14.Bd3 Rd8 15.Bc2 b6 16.O-O Ba6 17.Rfe1 Rac8 18.Rac1 h6 19.Qg4 Qf6 20.Qf5 Qxf5 21.Bxf5 Ne6 22.Rxc8 Bxc8 23.Rc1 Bd7 24.h3 Ng5 25.Bxd7 Nxf3+ 26.gxf3 Rxd7 27.Kf1 d4 28.Rd1 d3 29.Ke1 Rd5 30.Kd2 Rf5 31.f4 g5 32.Rg1 Kf8 33.Rg4 f6 34.Kxd3 Rd5+ 35.Ke2 h5 36.Rg3 gxf4 37.exf4 Kf7 38.Rc3 Ke6 39.Rc7 Rb5 40.b4 a5 41.Rc4 axb4 42.a4 Rc5 43.Rxb4 Kf5 44.Rxb6 Rc2+ 45.Kf3 Rc3+ 46.Kg2 Rc4 47.Rb5+ Kg6 48.a5 Rxf4 49.Rb8 Ra4 50.Ra8 Kf5 51.a6 Kf4 52.a7 f5 53.h4 Ra1 54.Rh8 Rxa7 55.Rxh5 Kg4 56.Rg5+ Kxh4 57.Rxf5 Kg4 58.Rb5 1/2-1/2

Round 7, Apr. 5, 2017
Kamsky, Gata – Naroditsky, Daniel
C91 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Bogolyubov variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 O-O 9.d4 Bg4 10.d5 Na5 11.Bc2 c6 12.h3 Bc8 13.dxc6 Qc7 14.Nbd2 Qxc6 15.Nf1 Nc4 16.Ng3 Re8 17.a4 Bb7 18.Qe2 Nb6 19.axb5 axb5 20.Bg5 Qd7 21.Rad1 Bd8 22.Nf5 Nc8 23.Bxf6 Bxf6 24.Bb3 Ra6 25.Qd3 Rd8 26.Nh2 Ne7 27.Ng4 Nxf5 28.exf5 Qc6 29.Ne3 Qc5 30.Bd5 Bc8 31.Be4 b4 32.Nd5 bxc3 33.b4 Qa7 34.b5 Ra3 35.b6 Qa4 36.Rc1 Ba6 37.Qg3 Kf8 38.Rxc3 Ra1 39.Rxa1 Qxa1+ 40.Kh2 Qb2 41.Rc7 Qd4 42.Nxf6 gxf6 43.Qh4 Qxb6 44.Qh6+ Kg8 45.Rc3 1-0

Round 7, Apr. 5, 2017
Xiong, Jeffery – Shabalov, Alexander
B06 Robatsch Defence

1.e4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.Nc3 g6 4.d4 Bg7 5.h3 Nf6 6.e5 Ne4 7.Nxe4 dxe4 8.Ng5 c5 9.Bc4 O-O 10.c3 cxd4 11.cxd4 Nc6 12.Be3 Qa5+ 13.Kf1 h6 14.Nxe4 Rd8 15.f4 b5 16.Bb3 Nxd4 17.Bxd4 Qb4 18.Qf3 Rxd4 19.a3 Qa5 20.Nf6+ Bxf6 21.exf6 Qb6 22.f5 Bb7 23.Qg3 g5 24.fxe7 Re8 25.Re1 Rf4+ 26.Ke2 Qd4 0-1

Standing after Round Seven

1-2 So, Zherebukh 4.5
3-4 Nakamura, Akobian 4.0
5-9 Shankland, Onischuk, Naroditsky, Caruana, Robson 3.5
10 Kamsky 3.0
11 Xiong 2.5
12 Shabalov 2.0

Round Eight Pairings

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

[Wayne Komer]

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

U.S. Championships

April 5, 2017

Round Seven

Women’s Championship

Round 7, Apr. 5, 2017
Paikidze, Nazi – Sharevich, Anna
A09 Reti, Advance variation

1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 d4 3.g3 c5 4.e3 Nc6 5.exd4 cxd4 6.Bg2 Nf6 7.O-O g6 8.d3 Bg7 9.Re1 O-O 10.Na3 Nd7 11.Nc2 a5 12.b3 h6 13.Rb1 Nc5 14.Ba3 Na6 15.Qd2 Re8 16.h3 Bd7 17.Bb2 e5 18.a3 Rb8 19.b4 axb4 20.axb4 b5 21.Ba1 Nc7 22.Nh2 Na7 23.f4 f6 24.fxe5 fxe5 25.Be4 Rb6 26.h4 Rf8 27.Rf1 Bf5 28.Bg2 Ra6 29.Bb2 Ra2 30.Na3 bxc4 31.Nxc4 Nd5 32.Ra1 Rxa1 33.Rxa1 Nb5 34.Ra5 Ndc7 35.Na3 Nd6 36.Qc2 Kh7 37.Nc4 Ndb5 38.Nf1 1/2-1/2

Round 7, Apr. 5, 2017
Zatonskih, Anna – Krush, Irina
B22 Sicilian, Alapin’s variation

1.e4 c5 2.c3 Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.cxd4 d6 7.Bc4 Nb6 8.Bb5 dxe5 9.Nxe5 Bd7 10.Nxd7 Qxd7 11.O-O Rd8 12.Nc3 a6 13.Bxc6 Qxc6 14.Qg4 g6 15.Re1 Bg7 16.Bg5 O-O 17.Rad1 Nd5 18.Nxd5 Rxd5 19.Bxe7 Re8 20.h3 Qd7 21.Qxd7 Rxd7 22.Bc5 Rxe1+ 23.Rxe1 Bxd4 24.Bxd4 Rxd4 25.Re2 h5 26.g3 h4 27.gxh4 Rxh4 28.Re7 b5 29.Ra7 Ra4 30.a3 g5 31.Kg2 1/2-1/2

Round 7, Apr. 5, 2017
Yu, Jennifer – Foisor, Sabina
D35 QGD, Exchange, positional line

1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4 Nf6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 Be7 6.e3 Nbd7 7.Bd3 c6 8.Qc2 h6 9.Bh4 Nh5 10.Bxe7 Qxe7 11.Nge2 Nb6 12.h3 Bd7 13.g4 Nf6 14.Ng3 O-O-O 15.O-O-O Kb8 16.Kb1 Rc8 17.Rhe1 c5 18.Bf5 g6 19.Bxd7 Qxd7 20.e4 cxd4 21.Rxd4 Qc7 22.e5 Ne4 23.Ngxe4 Qxe5 24.Qd2 dxe4 25.Rexe4 Qc5 26.Qf4+ Ka8 27.Re5 Qc6 28.Qe4 Rhe8 29.Qxc6 bxc6 30.Rde4 Rxe5 31.Rxe5 Rd8 32.Re7 f5 33.gxf5 gxf5 34.Re6 Rd2 35.Rxh6 Rxf2 36.Rxc6 Kb7 37.Rc5 f4 38.Ne4 Re2 39.Nd6+ Kb8 40.Rf5 Rf2 41.b3 Kc7 42.Ne4 Re2 43.Ng5 Kd6 44.Rf6+ Kd5 45.Rxf4 Ke5 46.Rf8 Kd4 47.Rf4+ Kd3 48.Rf5 Kd4 49.Rf4+ Kd3 50.Rf3+ Kd4 51.Rf4+ 1/2-1/2

Round 7, Apr. 5, 2017
Nguyen, Emily – Feng, Maggie
A90 Dutch, stonewall

1.d4 e6 2.c4 f5 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.g3 d5 5.Bg2 c6 6.O-O Bd6 7.b3 Qe7 8.Bb2 b6 9.Qc1 Bb7 10.Ba3 Nbd7 11.Bxd6 Qxd6 12.Qb2 O-O 13.Nbd2 c5 14.e3 Ne4 15.Rad1 Qe7 16.Rfe1 g5 17.Ne5 Nxe5 18.dxe5 g4 19.f4 gxf3 20.Nxf3 Rad8 21.Qc2 Bc6 22.Bf1 Kh8 23.Bd3 dxc4 24.Bxc4 Nxg3 25.hxg3 Bxf3 26.Rxd8 Rxd8 27.Qf2 Bc6 28.Bf1 Qg7 29.Qf4 Be4 30.Kf2 Rd2+ 31.Re2 Rd5 32.Bg2 Bxg2 33.Kxg2 Qxe5 34.Qh6 Rd8 35.Qh4 Qe4+ 36.Qxe4 fxe4 37.Kh3 h5 38.g4 hxg4+ 39.Kxg4 Rf8 40.Rd2 Kg7 41.Kg5 Rf5+ 42.Kg4 Rf3 43.Rd7+ Rf7 44.Rd2 Kf8 45.Rc2 Rf3 46.Rc3 Ke7 47.a3 Kd6 48.b4 Kd5 49.bxc5 bxc5 50.Rb3 Kc4 51.Rb7 a5 52.Re7 Rxe3 53.Rxe6 Kd5 54.Ra6 Rxa3 0-1

Round 7, Apr. 5, 2017
Abrahamyan, Tatev – Nemcova, Katerina
B35 Sicilian, Accelerated Fianchetto, Uogele variation

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Bg7 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bc4 O-O 8.Bb3 Re8 9.Nxc6 dxc6 10.Qxd8 Rxd8 11.f3 b6 12.a4 Ba6 13.a5 Nd7 14.Kf2 Nc5 15.axb6 axb6 16.Rhd1 Rxd1 17.Rxd1 Kf8 18.Na4 Nxa4 19.Bxa4 b5 20.Bb3 Bxb2 21.Rd7 Be5 22.Bc5 Re8 23.g3 Bc8 24.Rd1 Bc7 25.Ke3 Kg7 26.Bd4+ e5 27.Bc5 f5 28.Ra1 Bb8 29.Rd1 Kf6 30.Bb6 Ke7 31.Bc5+ Kf6 32.Bb6 Ke7 33.Bc5+ Kf6 34.Bb6 1/2-1/2

The last time I saw the Uogele was in a Wei Yi game at Gibraltar 2015, Round 10. Anicetas Uogele is a player from Lithuania (b. 1933)

Round 7, Apr. 5, 2017
Virkud, Apurva – Yip, Carissa
E81 King’s Indian, Samisch-Benoni

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nc3 O-O 6.Bg5 c5 7.d5 a6 8.Qd2 e6 9.Nge2 exd5 10.cxd5 b5 11.Ng3 Nbd7 12.Be2 Qa5 13.O-O Re8 14.a4 b4 15.Nd1 Qc7 16.Bh6 Ne5 17.Kh1 a5 18.Qg5 Bh8 19.Ne3 Nfd7 20.Qh4 Nb6 21.Bg5 Ned7 22.Ng4 Bxb2 23.Nh6+ Kf8 24.Nhf5 gxf5 25.Qxh7 Nf6 26.Qh6+ Ke7 27.Bb5 Rg8 28.Rae1 Kd8 29.exf5 Nxd5 30.Ne4 Qe7 31.Nxf6 Bxf6 32.Rxe7 Kxe7 33.Re1+ Be6 34.Bxf6+ Nxf6 35.fxe6 1-0

Standing after Round Seven

1. Paikidze 5.0
2-3 Feng, Foisor 4.5
4-6 Krush, Zatonskih, Sharevich 4.0
7 Abrahamyan 3.5
8-11 Virkud, Nemcova, Yip, Yu 3.0
12 Nguyen 0.5

Round Eight Pairings

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

[Wayne Komer]

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

U.S. Championships

April 6, 2017

Round Eight

The passing of Arthur Bisguier is mentioned and Yasser tells this anecdote.

Arthur and Bobby Fischer were at a chess tournament in 1963. Bobby spent the whole previous night playing blitz for money.

Arthur noticed at one point that Bobby had fallen asleep at the board and not wanting to win that way, tapped Bobby on the shoulder. Bobby opened his eyes, yawned and played his move. And that game later appeared in My 60 Memorable Games.

Jennifer asked which one that was and Yasser went through his recollection and said the Two Knights.

That would make it Game 45, Fischer-Bisguier, New York State Open Ch 1963.

In Caruana-Naroditsky, Daniel dusted off an old variation of the Winawer. At move 14, Fabiano had just taken the pawn on h7, checked the king and was sitting quite comfortably, thank you very much.

Maurice commented, “But why is black still looking to see if he should exchange the rook for the knight?”

Near the end of a relatively short game the chessbomb kibitzers had these comments:

- One of these positions will wind up in a future equivalent of Lazlo Polgar's chess puzzles.

- Wow, the dude got trounced!

There was another French in Zherebukh-Akobian

Again, the chessbomb kibitzers:

- Yaro going down

- Akobian will win the championship

- This particular line seems to me to give Black few of the disadvantages one has in other French lines

- Yaro plays like a patzer today

- I don’t see a patzer here, I just see a good opening from black and a difficult position for white to play

U.S. Championship
St. Louis
Round 8, Apr. 6, 2017
So, Wesley – Nakamura, Hikaru
E00 Catalan Opening

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Be7 6.Bg2 O-O 7.O-O Nbd7 8.Qc2 Ne4 9.Bf4 c6 10.Nc3 g5 11.Bc1 f5 12.b3 b6 13.Bb2 Bb7 14.Rad1 Qe8 15.Nd2 Nd6 16.Ba3 Rc8 17.Rfe1 Nf7 18.Qb2 Nf6 19.Bxe7 Qxe7 20.b4 Rfd8 21.e3 g4 22.cxd5 cxd5 23.b5 Rc7 24.Rc1 Rdc8 25.Ne2 Nd6 26.Rxc7 Rxc7 27.Rc1 Rxc1+ 28.Nxc1 Nfe4 29.Bxe4 dxe4 30.Ne2 Bd5 1/2-1/2

Round 8, Apr. 6, 2017
Zherebukh, Yaroslav – Akobian, Varuzhan
C07 French, Tarrasch, open variation

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.dxc5 Nf6 6.Ngf3 Qxc5 7.Bd3 Nbd7 8.O-O Qc7 9.Qe2 Nc5 10.Bc4 Bd6 11.b3 a6 12.a4 b6 13.Bb2 Bb7 14.Rfd1 O-O 15.Bxf6 gxf6 16.Qe3 Bf4 17.Qc3 f5 18.Bf1 Rac8 19.b4 Ne4 20.Qxc7 Rxc7 21.Nc4 Rb8 22.Nxb6 Rxc2 23.Nd7 Rbc8 24.Bd3 Rb2 25.Bxe4 fxe4 26.Rd4 f5 27.Rad1 exf3 28.Rxf4 Rd2 0-1

Round 8, Apr. 6, 2017
Caruana, Fabiano – Naroditsky, Daniel
C18 French, Winawer, Advance variation

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Qa5 7.Bd2 Qa4 8.Qg4 Kf8 9.Nf3 b6 10.c4 Ne7 11.Bd3 dxc4 12.dxc5 bxc5 13.Ng5 h6 14.Nh7+ Rxh7 15.Bxh7 Bb7 16.O-O Nbc6 17.Rab1 Ba6 18.Be3 Qa5 19.Rfd1 Nxe5 20.Qg3 f6 21.Rd6 Bc8 22.Rbd1 Nd5 23.Bf4 Rb8 24.Bxe5 fxe5 25.Qxe5 Qd2 26.Rd8+ Kf7 27.Bg8+ Kg6 28.Qe4+ Kf6 29.Qf3+ 1-0

Round 8, Apr. 6, 2017
Onischuk, Alexander – Robson, Ray
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 O-O 10.Rc1 Nd7 11.Bd3 b6 12.O-O e6 13.Qe2 Bb7 14.Nd2 Qxa2 15.Ra1 Qb2 16.Rfb1 Qxc3 17.Nc4 Nf6 18.Ra3 Nxe4 19.Bxe4 Bxe4 20.Rxc3 Bxb1 21.Rc1 cxd4 22.Bg5 d3 23.Qd2 Rfc8 24.Rxb1 Rxc4 25.Qxd3 Rc5 26.h4 h5 27.Rd1 Rd5 28.Qf3 Rxd1+ 29.Qxd1 a5 30.Qf3 Ra7 31.Be3 Rc7 32.Bxb6 Rc1+ 33.Kh2 Rc4 34.g3 a4 35.Qa8+ Kh7 36.Qa7 Kg8 37.Qa6 Rb4 38.Bc5 Rb8 39.Qxa4 Bf6 40.Qf4 Rc8 41.Qxf6 Rxc5 42.Qd8+ Kh7 43.Qf8 Rf5 44.Kg2 Rf6 45.Kf1 Rf5 46.Ke2 e5 47.Kf1 Rf6 48.Kg2 Rf5 49.f3 Rf6 50.Qe7 Rf5 51.g4 hxg4 52.fxg4 Rf4 53.Kg3 Rf1 54.Qxe5 Rg1+ 55.Kf3 Rb1 56.Qd4 Rc1 57.Kf4 Re1 58.Qb4 Rf1+ 59.Ke5 Kg7 60.Kd6 Rf6+ 61.Kd7 Re6 62.Qc4 g5 63.h5 Re5 64.Qd4 f6 65.Kd6 1-0

Round 8, Apr. 6, 2017
Shankland, Samuel – Xiong, Jeffery
A06 Reti Opening

1.Nf3 d5 2.e3 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.b3 b6 5.Bb2 Bb7 6.Nc3 Nbd7 7.Qc2 a6 8.cxd5 exd5 9.d4 Bd6 10.g3 Ne4 11.Bg2 Nxc3 12.Qxc3 Nf6 13.O-O a5 14.a4 O-O 15.Ba3 c5 16.Rfd1 Rc8 17.dxc5 bxc5 18.Qd3 Qb6 19.Nd2 Rfd8 20.Rac1 Ba6 21.Qb1 Bf8 22.Bb2 d4 23.exd4 cxd4 24.Rxc8 Rxc8 25.Ne4 d3 26.Bxf6 gxf6 27.Rxd3 Bxd3 28.Qxd3 f5 29.Nd2 Qf6 30.Nc4 Rd8 31.Bd5 Bc5 32.Kg2 f4 33.Qf3 Qg5 34.Be4 fxg3 35.hxg3 h5 36.Bf5 Kg7 37.Kh3 Qf6 38.Kg2 Qg5 39.Kh3 Rd4 40.Kg2 h4 41.Kh3 hxg3 42.fxg3 Qc1 43.Be4 Qh6+ 44.Kg2 Qe6 45.Bc6 Qg6 46.Bb5 Rd3 47.Qf4 Rxb3 48.Qe5+ Kg8 49.Nxa5 Rb1 50.Nc4 Qc2+ 51.Kh3 Rh1+ 52.Kg4 Qd1+ 0-1

Round 8, Apr. 6, 2017
Shabalov, Alexander – Kamsky, Gata
C89 Ruy Lopez, Marshall Counter-Attack

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 O-O 8.c3 d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5 c6 12.d3 Bd6 13.Re1 Bf5 14.Qf3 Qf6 15.Bxd5 cxd5 16.Bf4 Bxf4 17.Qxf4 d4 18.cxd4 Rad8 19.Nc3 Rxd4 20.Ne4 Bxe4 21.Qxf6 gxf6 22.Rxe4 Rxd3 23.Re2 Rfd8 24.f3 Rd1+ 25.Rxd1 Rxd1+ 26.Kf2 Kg7 27.Rc2 h5 28.Ke3 Kg6 29.b3 a5 30.h4 Rh1 31.g3 Rg1 32.Kf4 Rd1 1/2-1/2

Standing after Round Eight

1-2 Akobian, So 5.0
3-6 Zherebukh, Caruana, Onischuk, Nakamura 4.5
7-11 Xiong, Kamsky, Robson, Naroditsky, Shankland 3.5
12 Shabalov 2.5

Round Nine Pairings

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

[Wayne Komer]

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

U.S. Championships

April 6, 2017

Round Eight (continued)

Women’s Championship

Round 8, Apr. 6, 2017
Feng, Maggie – Paikidze, Nazi
E05 Catalan, open, Classical line

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 e6 4.O-O Be7 5.d4 O-O 6.c4 dxc4 7.Ne5 Nc6 8.Nxc6 bxc6 9.Na3 Bxa3 10.bxa3 Ba6 11.Qd2 Rb8 12.Qa5 Qc8 13.a4 Rd8 14.Ba3 Rxd4 15.Rfb1 Rb6 16.Bc5 Rd7 17.Rd1 Rxd1+ 18.Rxd1 Rb8 19.Bxc6 Bb7 20.Bxb7 Qxb7 21.Qxa7 Qxa7 22.Bxa7 Ra8 23.Rb1 c3 24.Bd4 c2 25.Rc1 Rxa4 26.Bxf6 gxf6 27.Rxc2 f5 28.Rxc7 Rxa2 29.e3 Kg7 30.Kg2 Kg6 1/2-1/2

Round 8, Apr. 6, 2017
Foisor, Sabina – Nguyen, Emily
E09 Catalan, Closed, main line

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nbd2 e6 5.g3 Nbd7 6.Bg2 Be7 7.O-O O-O 8.Qc2 b6 9.e4 dxe4 10.Nxe4 Bb7 11.Rd1 Rc8 12.Nc3 c5 13.d5 exd5 14.cxd5 Bd6 15.Nh4 Ne5 16.Bg5 h6 17.Bxf6 Qxf6 18.Ne4 Qd8 19.Nf5 Be7 20.d6 Bxe4 21.Nxe7+ Qxe7 22.dxe7 Bxc2 23.exf8=Q+ Kxf8 24.Rd2 Bg6 25.f4 Nc4 26.Rf2 Bf5 27.Bf3 Ne3 28.Rc1 Be6 29.Rd2 Nf5 30.Bg4 Re8 31.Kf2 Nd6 32.Rxd6 Bxg4 33.Rc2 Be6 34.b3 Ke7 35.Rcd2 Rc8 36.R6d3 h5 37.Re3 Kf6 38.Kg2 g6 39.h3 Re8 40.g4 hxg4 41.hxg4 Rc8 42.Kg3 Rc6 43.Rd8 b5 44.Rb8 a6 45.g5+ Ke7 46.Rd3 c4 47.Rb7+ Ke8 48.bxc4 Bxc4 49.Re3+ Kd8 50.a3 Be6 51.Ra7 Kc8 52.Kf2 Kb8 53.Re7 Bc4 54.R3e5 Rc7 55.Ke3 Kb7 56.Kd4 Rxe7 57.Rxe7+ Kb6 58.Rd7 Kc6 59.Rd8 Be6 60.Kc3 a5 61.Ra8 Kb6 62.Kd4 Bb3 63.Ke5 b4 64.Kd4 Be6 65.axb4 axb4 66.Rb8+ Kc7 67.Rxb4 Kd6 68.Rb6+ Ke7 69.Ke5 Bc4 70.Rb7+ Kf8 71.Kf6 Ke8 72.Rb8+ Kd7 73.Rf8 1-0

Round 8, Apr. 6, 2017
Sharevich, Anna – Zatonskih, Anna
D02 Queen’s Pawn game

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.g3 e6 4.Bg2 b5 5.O-O Be7 6.Ne5 O-O 7.a4 b4 8.Nd2 c5 9.dxc5 Bxc5 10.Nd3 Be7 11.e4 Bb7 12.e5 Nfd7 13.b3 a5 14.Bb2 Na6 15.Qg4 Qc7 16.Rac1 Nac5 17.Rfe1 Nxd3 18.cxd3 Qb6 19.d4 Rac8 20.Nf1 Rxc1 21.Rxc1 Rc8 22.Rxc8+ Bxc8 23.Ne3 Qc7 24.f4 Nb6 25.Bf1 g6 26.Qd1 Nd7 27.Bd3 Nb8 28.h4 f5 29.exf6 Bxf6 30.Ng4 Bg7 31.Ne5 Nd7 32.h5 gxh5 33.Qxh5 Nf6 34.Qe2 Bb7 35.Ng4 Ne4 36.Bxe4 dxe4 37.Ne3 Qd6 38.Qg4 Kf8 39.Qd1 h5 40.Nc4 Qd5 41.Ne3 Qd6 42.Nc4 1/2-1/2

Round 8, Apr. 6, 2017
Krush, Irina – Virkud, Apurva
D37 QGD, Hastings variation, main line

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Be7 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Bf4 O-O 6.e3 c5 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.Qc2 Qa5 9.Nd2 Be7 10.Be2 Nc6 11.O-O dxc4 12.Nxc4 Qf5 13.Bd3 Qh5 14.a3 e5 15.Bg3 Be6 16.Be2 Bg4 17.Bxg4 Nxg4 18.Nd5 Bh4 19.h3 Bxg3 20.fxg3 Nh6 21.Qb3 Rab8 22.Rad1 Qg5 23.g4 Rfd8 24.Qb5 Kh8 25.Na5 a6 26.Qb6 Nxa5 27.Qxa5 Rd7 28.e4 Rbd8 29.Rc1 Qg6 30.Qb4 Qg5 31.Rc2 Ng8 32.Rf5 Qh4 33.Rcf2 Rc8 34.Rxf7 Rxf7 35.Rxf7 Qg3 36.Qd2 Rc4 37.Qg5 g6 38.Nf6 1-0

Round 8, Apr. 6, 2017
Abrahamyan, Tatev – Yu, Jennifer
C42 Petrov, Classical Attack

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.O-O Be7 8.Nc3 Nxc3 9.bxc3 O-O 10.Rb1 Rb8 11.h3 h6 12.Bf4 Bd6 13.Ne5 Be6 14.Qh5 Qf6 15.Bg3 Bxe5 16.dxe5 Qg5 17.Qe2 Bf5 18.Rb5 Ne7 19.e6 Bxe6 20.Bxc7 Rbe8 21.h4 Qxh4 22.Rb4 Qg5 23.Bf4 Qg4 24.Qxg4 Bxg4 25.Bd6 Bc8 26.Bb5 Nf5 27.Bxf8 Rxf8 28.Bd3 Nd6 29.Rd4 Be6 30.f4 g6 31.Rb1 Rc8 32.c4 dxc4 33.Bxg6 Rc6 34.Bh5 Ra6 35.c3 Kg7 36.Bf3 Nf5 37.Rd2 Ra3 38.Rc1 b5 39.g4 Nh4 40.Bd1 f5 41.gxf5 Nxf5 42.Bf3 b4 43.Bh5 bxc3 44.Rg2+ Kf8 45.Re1 Nd4 46.Rg6 c2 47.Rf6+ Ke7 48.Rxh6 Rc3 49.Rc1 Nb3 50.axb3 cxb3 51.Re1 c1=Q 52.Rxe6+ Kd7 53.Be8+ Kd8 54.Rxc1 Rxc1+ 55.Kf2 Rc2+ 56.Kf1 Rc4 57.Bg6 Rxf4+ 58.Ke2 a5 59.Kd2 a4 60.Kc3 Kd7 61.Ra6 Kc7 62.Bd3 Rh4 63.Rg6 Rh3 64.Rg2 a3 65.Kxb3 Rxd3+ 66.Ka2 Kb6 67.Rg5 Kc6 1/2-1/2

Round 8, Apr. 6, 2017
Nemcova, Katerina – Yip, Carissa
B70 Sicilian, Dragon variation

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be2 Bg7 7.O-O O-O 8.Bg5 Nc6 9.Nb3 Be6 10.Kh1 a6 11.f4 b5 12.a3 Rc8 13.Rb1 Re8 14.Bh4 Na5 15.e5 Nd7 16.exd6 Nf6 17.Nxa5 Qxa5 18.Bxf6 Bxf6 19.d7 Bxd7 20.Qxd7 Red8 21.Qg4 Bxc3 22.bxc3 Rxc3 23.Bd3 Rxa3 24.f5 Rd6 25.Rbe1 Qc7 26.fxg6 hxg6 27.Qf4 f5 28.Bxf5 gxf5 29.Qg5+ Kf7 30.Rxf5+ Rf6 31.Qh5+ 1-0

Standing after Round Eight

1-2 Paikidze, Foisor 5.5
3-4 Krush, Feng 5.0
5-6 Zatonskih, Sharevich 4.5
7-8 Nemcova, Abrahamyan 4.0
9 Yu 3.5
10-11 Virkud, Yip 3.0
12 Nguyen 0.5

Round Nine Pairings

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

[Wayne Komer]

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

U.S. Championships

April 7, 2017

Round Nine

With the tournament ending Sunday, crunch time has come.

Yasser looking at the game Xiong-So, said, “Edmar Mednis analyzed all of Bobby Fischer’s lost games for his book How to Beat Bobby Fischer and concluded that often Bobby was so engrossed in his own plans that he forgot what his opponent is thinking." Yasser says this about Jeffery Xiong around move 23. Wesley moved Qh5 and eventually won the game to stay ahead of the field in first place.

The book should be in everyone’s basic library. Peter Svidler once said that he grew up playing Mednis’s book (in Russian) over and over again until the pages were all tattered.

In Akobian-Caruana, after the first time control Fabiano had an extra two passed pawns and a won game. Akobian played on. He said he could have gone for a draw but Wesley So won his game, so he continued and then Fabiano played 76…f6? The ending is too horrible to describe.

41-year old Alex Onischuk outplayed Hikaru Nakamura in the ending to stay half a point back. Onischuk certainly still has the strength, but he admitted to Chess.com that he really doesn't work on his game much anymore now that he's the program director and coach of the Texas Tech chess team.

He added on the live broadcast: "I feel like Viktor Korchnoi. Towards the end I have more energy and thus my chances against the younger players is high."

Yasser had a fitting quote at the end, “Onischuk took advantage of his opponent’s youthful inexperience”. This is a twist to Reagan’s comment on Walter Mondale in 1984.

The games:

U.S. Championship
St. Louis
Round 9, Apr. 7, 2017
Xiong, Jeffery – So, Wesley
E05 Catalan, open, Classical line

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 Be7 5.Nf3 O-O 6.O-O dxc4 7.Qc2 a6 8.a4 Bd7 9.Rd1 Bc6 10.Nc3 Bxf3 11.Bxf3 Nc6 12.Bxc6 bxc6 13.Bg5 Rb8 14.e3 c5 15.dxc5 Qe8 16.Rd4 Nd7 17.Bxe7 Qxe7 18.c6 Ne5 19.Qe4 Qc5 20.Nd5 Nd3 21.Nxc7 Nxf2 22.Kxf2 Rxb2+ 23.Kf1 Qh5 24.Qg4 Qxh2 25.Qf3 c3 26.Rc1 e5 27.Rh4 Qd2 28.Rd1 Rd8 29.Nd5 Rxd5 30.Rd4 Rxd4 31.exd4 Qxd1+ 0-1

Round 9, Apr. 7, 2017
Akobian, Varuzhan – Caruana, Fabiano
A46 Queen’s Pawn

1.d4 d6 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 g6 4.Nc3 Bf5 5.e3 Bg7 6.Bd3 Bxd3 7.Qxd3 O-O 8.O-O Nbd7 9.b3 e5 10.dxe5 dxe5 11.Ba3 Re8 12.Ne4 Nxe4 13.Qxe4 Qc8 14.Rad1 Nf6 15.Qc2 e4 16.Nd4 Ng4 17.Bb2 Ne5 18.Ne2 Qg4 19.Nf4 Qf5 20.Rd2 c6 21.Rfd1 h5 22.h3 h4 23.Rd6 Bh8 24.c5 a5 25.a3 Kh7 26.Qe2 Bg7 27.Qc2 Bh8 28.Kf1 Re7 29.Rd8 Rxd8 30.Rxd8 Bf6 31.Qd2 a4 32.Qc2 axb3 33.Qxb3 Nd7 34.Qc2 Kg7 35.Ne2 Qxc5 36.Bxf6+ Kxf6 37.Nc3 Kg7 38.Kg1 Qxa3 39.Qd2 Nf6 40.Qd4 Qa1+ 41.Kh2 Qa5 42.Kg1 Qe5 43.Qb4 b6 44.Ne2 Qc7 45.Ra8 c5 46.Qb2 Rd7 47.Ra1 Rd6 48.Nc3 Qe7 49.Nb5 Rd3 50.Rb1 Qe6 51.Nc7 Qd7 52.Qxb6 c4 53.Nb5 Rd1+ 54.Rxd1 Qxd1+ 55.Kh2 Qd5 56.Nd4 Nd7 57.Qd8 Qd6+ 58.Kg1 c3 59.Kh1 Qd5 60.Kg1 Qb7 61.Qe7 Kg8 62.Qe8+ Nf8 63.Qa4 Qb1+ 64.Kh2 Qe1 65.Qc6 Qd2 66.Kg1 Nh7 67.Qc8+ Kg7 68.Qc7 Qe1+ 69.Kh2 Qxf2 70.Qxc3 Kh6 71.Nc6 Qg3+ 72.Kh1 Qc7 73.Qc5 Qc8 74.Qd6 Qf5 75.Ne5 Kg7 76.Qd4 f6 77.Qa7+ Kh6 78.Ng4+ Kg5 79.Qxh7 1-0

Round 9, Apr. 7, 2017
Nakamura, Hikaru – Onischuk, Alexander
D35 QGD, Exchange (Tartakower System)

1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4 Nf6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 c6 6.e3 Be7 7.Bd3 Nbd7 8.Qc2 Nh5 9.Bxe7 Qxe7 10.O-O-O Nb6 11.h3 g6 12.Nf3 Be6 13.Kb1 O-O-O 14.Nd2 Ng7 15.g4 Kb8 16.Nb3 h5 17.f3 Bc8 18.Qf2 hxg4 19.hxg4 Ne6 20.f4 Nc7 21.f5 Qg5 22.Rhg1 Rh3 23.e4 Rdh8 24.e5 Rh2 25.Qe1 Nc4 26.Bxc4 dxc4 27.Nd2 Qf4 28.e6 gxf5 29.exf7 Be6 30.Rf1 Qxg4 31.Nf3 Rg2 32.d5 cxd5 33.Nxd5 Qg7 34.Nc3 Qxf7 35.Qe5 Re8 36.Qd6 Qf8 37.Nb5 Qxd6 38.Nxd6 Rh8 39.Rh1 Rxh1 40.Rxh1 Rg8 41.Nd4 f4 42.Rh6 Bc8 43.Nxc4 Nd5 44.Kc2 Rd8 45.Rd6 Rxd6 46.Nxd6 Bh3 47.a3 Kc7 48.Ne4 a5 49.Nd2 b6 50.Kd3 Bg2 51.Nc2 Ne7 52.b4 a4 53.Nd4 Kd7 54.Ke2 Bd5 55.Nb5 Kc6 56.Nc3 b5 57.Kd3 Nf5 58.Nd1 Kd6 59.Nc3 Bc6 60.Nce4+ Ke7 61.Ng5 Kf6 62.Nge4+ Ke7 63.Ng5 Bg2 64.Nge4 Ke6 65.Nf2 Kd5 66.Nd1 Nd6 67.Nf2 Nc4 68.Nxc4 Bf1+ 69.Kc3 Bxc4 70.Nh3 Ke4 71.Kd2 Be6 72.Ng5+ Kd5 73.Nf3 Bg4 74.Nh4 Ke4 75.Ke1 Ke3 0-1

Round 9, Apr. 7, 2017
Robson, Ray – Zherebukh, Yaroslav
B90 Sicilian, Najdorf, Byrne Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e6 7.f3 b5 8.Qd2 Nbd7 9.g4 h6 10.a3 Bb7 11.O-O-O Rc8 12.h4 d5 13.Rg1 dxe4 14.g5 hxg5 15.hxg5 Nd5 16.Nxe4 g6 17.Kb1 b4 18.axb4 Bxb4 19.c3 Nxe3 20.Qxe3 Bxe4+ 21.Qxe4 Bxc3 22.Nxe6 Qb6 23.Nc5+ Be5 24.Nd3 O-O 25.Nxe5 Nxe5 26.Rh1 Qf2 27.Be2 Rfe8 28.Qf4 Re6 29.Rh2 Qc5 30.Rdh1 Kf8 31.Rh8+ Ke7 32.Rxc8 Qxc8 33.Qb4+ Rd6 34.Rd1 Qc6 35.Re1 Qb6 36.Qxb6 Rxb6 37.Bxa6 Re6 38.Bb7 Nc4 39.Rxe6+ Kxe6 40.Kc2 Kf5 41.b4 Kxg5 42.Kc3 Nd6 43.Bc6 Kf4 44.Kd4 g5 45.Kd5 Nc8 46.Kc5 Ke5 47.b5 Ke6 48.Bd5+ Ke7 49.Bc4 f6 50.Kc6 Na7+ 51.Kc5 Nc8 52.Bd3 Kd7 53.Bf5+ Kc7 54.Kd5 Nb6+ 55.Ke6 Nc4 56.Kxf6 Nd2 57.Bg4 Kb6 58.Kxg5 Nxf3+ 59.Bxf3 Kxb5 1/2-1/2

Round 9, Apr. 7, 2017
Kamsky, Gata – Shankland, Samuel
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.Rd1+ Ke8 10.Nc3 Ne7 11.h3 Ng6 12.b3 Bd7 13.Ne2 Be7 14.Bb2 Nf8 15.c4 Rd8 16.Nfd4 h5 17.f4 h4 18.Bc3 Rh5 19.Be1 a6 20.Bf2 Bc8 21.Be3 Rd7 22.Kf2 Rd8 23.Nc3 Ba3 24.Rab1 Be7 25.Rbc1 Ba3 26.Rb1 Be7 27.Kf3 Ng6 28.Nde2 Nf8 29.Rxd8+ Bxd8 30.Rd1 Be7 31.Ne4 Ne6 32.Nd4 Nf8 33.Kf2 Bd7 34.Nf3 Ne6 35.Nfg5 Nxg5 36.Nxg5 Bxg5 37.fxg5 c5 1/2-1/2

Round 9, Apr. 7, 2017
Naroditsky, Daniel – Shabalov, Alexander
B67 Sicilian, Richter-Rauzer, Rauzer Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bg5 e6 7.Qd2 a6 8.O-O-O Bd7 9.f4 b5 10.Bxf6 gxf6 11.Nxc6 Bxc6 12.Kb1 b4 13.Ne2 Bxe4 14.Ng3 Bc6 15.Qxb4 Be7 16.Nh5 a5 17.Qc3 Be4 18.f5 Rc8 19.Qe3 Bxc2+ 20.Ka1 Rc5 21.Rc1 Qc8 22.Be2 Rg8 23.fxe6 Qxe6 24.Qd2 Ba4 25.Bf3 Bd7 26.Rxc5 dxc5 27.Rd1 Bc8 28.Nf4 Qe5 29.Re1 Qd4 30.Qe2 Qd6 31.Qe4 Kf8 32.g3 f5 33.Qa8 Kg7 34.Qxa5 Kh8 35.Nh5 Bd8 36.Qc3+ Qd4 37.Qc1 Be6 38.Rd1 Qe5 39.Nf4 Bf6 40.Nd3 Qb8 41.Nf4 Rc8 42.Ne2 Rc7 43.Nc3 Kg7 44.Bd5 Bc8 45.Bc4 Rb7 46.Re1 Rb4 47.Bb3 Bb7 48.Qd2 Be4 49.g4 c4 50.gxf5 Bxf5 51.Nd5 Rxb3 52.Nxf6 c3 53.Nh5+ Kg8 54.Rg1+ Bg6 55.Rxg6+ hxg6 56.Nf6+ Kg7 57.Nh5+ Kg8 58.Nf6+ Kg7 59.Nh5+ 1/2-1/2

Standing after Round Nine

1-2 Akobian, So 6.0
3 Onischuk 5.5
4 Zherebukh 5.0
5-6 Caruana, Nakamura 4.5
7-10 Kamsky, Shankland, Robson, Naroditsky 4.0
11 Xiong 3.5
12 Shabalov 3.0

Round Ten Pairings

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

[Wayne Komer]

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

U.S. Championships

April 7, 2017

Round Nine (continued)

Women’s Championship

The game that garnered some attention from Maurice was Zatonskih-Feng because it followed the game Morozevich-Carlsen, World Blitz Championship, Linares 2009.

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1564230

Maurice said that since Carlsen lost in that game, the line has disappeared from topflight chess. If Maggie is playing it, then she must have some improvement. Whatever she had, it wasn’t enough and Anna won the game.

Irina Krush had connected passed pawns against Carissa Yip but couldn’t bring in a win.

If we have learned anything from Round Nine, it is that connected passed pawns are not an asset.

The games:

Women’s Championship
Round 9, Apr. 7, 2017
Paikidze, Nazi – Foisor, Sabina
E04 Catalan, open

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.g3 dxc4 5.Bg2 a6 6.O-O Nc6 7.e3 Bd7 8.Qe2 Bd6 9.Qxc4 O-O 10.Qe2 Qe7 11.Nc3 Rad8 12.Nd2 e5 13.d5 Na7 14.a4 c6 15.e4 Nc8 16.Nc4 Bc5 17.Ne3 Nd6 18.dxc6 Bxc6 19.Ned5 Nxd5 20.exd5 Bd7 21.Be3 Bxe3 22.Qxe3 Nc4 23.Qe2 Rc8 24.d6 Nxd6 25.Nd5 Qe6 26.Rfe1 e4 27.Nb6 Rcd8 28.Nxd7 Rxd7 29.Bxe4 Nxe4 30.Qxe4 Qxe4 1/2-1/2

Round 9, Apr. 7, 2017
Zatonskih, Anna – Feng, Maggie
D20 QGA, Linares variation

1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e4 c5 4.d5 Nf6 5.Nc3 b5 6.Bf4 Qa5 7.a4 Nxe4 8.Ne2 Nd6 9.axb5 Qb6 10.Ng3 Nd7 11.Bxd6 Qxd6 12.Bxc4 g6 13.Nge4 Qe5 14.O-O Bg7 15.Re1 O-O 16.Nxc5 Qd6 17.N3e4 Qb6 18.Nxd7 Bxd7 19.Ra6 Qd4 20.b3 Rfb8 21.Qxd4 Bxd4 22.d6 e6 23.Rd1 Bg7 24.Rc6 Rb6 25.Rc7 Rd8 26.Nc5 Bxb5 27.Nb7 Rf8 28.d7 Bf6 29.d8=Q Bxd8 30.Nxd8 Bxc4 31.bxc4 a5 32.c5 Ra6 33.Rdd7 a4 34.Nxf7 Rb8 35.Nh6+ Kf8 36.h3 a3 37.Rxh7 Ke8 38.Rh8# 1-0

Round 9, Apr. 7, 2017
Yip, Carissa – Krush, Irina
B48 Sicilian, Taimanov variation

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Be3 a6 7.Qf3 Bd6 8.O-O-O Be5 9.g3 b5 10.a3 Bb7 11.Qe2 Nge7 12.f4 Bxd4 13.Bxd4 Nxd4 14.Rxd4 Qc5 15.Qd2 Bc6 16.Bg2 O-O 17.Rd1 a5 18.e5 b4 19.Ne4 Qb6 20.Rd3 Rfb8 21.Qe3 Qd8 22.Qf2 bxa3 23.Rxa3 Rb4 24.Nc5 Qb6 25.Qg1 Bxg2 26.Qxg2 Nd5 27.Nd3 Rc4 28.Qg1 Qc7 29.Rd2 Rc8 30.Qf2 a4 31.Qe2 h6 32.Nf2 Qb6 33.c3 d6 34.exd6 Qxd6 35.Ng4 Qxa3 36.bxa3 Rxc3+ 37.Rc2 Rxc2+ 38.Qxc2 Rxc2+ 39.Kxc2 f5 40.Ne5 g5 41.Nd3 gxf4 42.gxf4 Kf7 43.Kd2 Ke7 44.Nb2 Nxf4 45.Nxa4 Kd6 46.Nb2 Kc5 47.a4 Nd5 48.Nd3+ Kc4 49.Ne5+ Kd4 50.Nc6+ Kc5 51.Ne5 h5 52.Nd3+ Kc4 53.Ne5+ Kc5 54.Nd3+ Kd6 55.a5 Kc6 56.Ke2 Kb5 57.a6 Kb6 58.Kf3 Nc7 59.Kf4 Nxa6 60.Ke5 Nc5 61.Nf4 Kc6 62.Nxh5 Kd7 63.Nf4 Ke7 64.Nxe6 Nxe6 65.Kxf5 1/2-1/2

Round 9, Apr. 7, 2017
Virkud, Apurva – Sharevich, Anna
D35 QGD, Exchange, positional line

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 Be7 6.e3 O-O 7.Bd3 c6 8.Nge2 Nbd7 9.O-O Re8 10.f3 Nf8 11.Bh4 Ne6 12.Bf2 c5 13.Rc1 cxd4 14.Nxd4 Nxd4 15.exd4 a6 16.Qb3 b5 17.Rfe1 Be6 18.Ne2 Bd6 19.Ng3 g6 20.Rc6 Bf4 21.Qa3 a5 22.Bxb5 Bd7 23.Rxf6 Rxe1+ 24.Bxe1 Bxg3 25.hxg3 Bxb5 26.Qd6 Qe8 27.Bf2 Ra6 28.Qf4 Rxf6 29.Qxf6 a4 30.g4 Qc6 31.Qd8+ Kg7 32.Kh2 Qd7 33.Qb8 Qe8 34.Qc7 Qd7 35.Qf4 h6 36.Bg3 f6 37.Qb8 Qe8 38.Qb6 Qc6 39.Qa5 Qd7 40.b3 axb3 41.axb3 g5 42.Qb6 Qc6 43.Qa7+ Qd7 44.Qc5 Bc6 45.Bd6 Qe8 46.b4 h5 47.Qa7+ Kg8 48.Be7 hxg4 49.Bxf6 Bd7 50.fxg4 Qe6 51.Qb8+ Kf7 52.Bxg5 Qxg4 53.Qf4+ Qxf4+ 54.Bxf4 Kg6 55.Kg3 Ba4 56.Bd6 Kf5 57.Kh4 Ke6 58.Be5 Kf5 59.g4+ Kg6 60.Kg3 Kg5 61.Bc7 Kf6 62.Kf4 Be8 63.Bd8+ Ke6 64.Kg5 Kd7 65.Bf6 Ke6 66.Be5 Kf7 67.Kh6 Bb5 68.g5 Bd3 69.Bc7 Bb5 70.g6+ Kg8 71.Kg5 Kg7 72.Be5+ Kf8 73.Kf6 Bd3 74.g7+ Kg8 75.Ke6 1-0

Round 9, Apr. 7, 2017
Yu, Jennifer – Nemcova, Katerina
A25 English, Troeger Defence

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 d6 3.g3 Nc6 4.Bg2 Be6 5.d3 Qd7 6.a3 g6 7.b3 Bg7 8.Bb2 Nge7 9.Nd5 O-O 10.e3 Nd8 11.Ne2 Nc8 12.O-O c6 13.Ndc3 Bh3 14.d4 Bxg2 15.Kxg2 Qe7 16.d5 f5 17.e4 Nb6 18.Qd3 Nd7 19.Rad1 c5 20.f3 f4 21.Bc1 g5 22.g4 a6 23.a4 b6 24.Rh1 Kf7 25.h3 Rh8 26.Rh2 Nb7 27.Bd2 Bf6 28.Rdh1 Nf8 29.Be1 Ng6 30.Nd1 Qd7 31.Nec3 h6 32.Nb2 Rh7 33.Qd1 Rah8 34.Nd3 Rc8 35.Kg1 Kg7 36.Bf2 Kf7 37.Be1 Qc7 38.Nc1 Rch8 39.Qe2 Be7 40.Nd3 Qc8 41.Bf2 Na5 42.Qd1 Nb7 43.Ne1 h5 1/2-1/2

(Dr. Paul Tröger was born in Augsburg. German sports journalist and one the prominent Germans Chess master of post-war Germany. He was West German Champion in 1957. He also wrote a number of chess books, many with humorous German titles such as Danke Partner – für Deinen Fehler!)

Round 9, Apr. 7, 2017
Nguyen, Emily – Abrahamyan, Tatev
E19 Queen’s Indian, old main line

1.d4 e6 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2 Be7 6.O-O O-O 7.Nc3 Ne4 8.Qc2 Nxc3 9.Qxc3 f5 10.b3 Bf6 11.Bb2 d6 12.Rfd1 Qe7 13.Rac1 Nd7 14.Qd2 Rad8 15.d5 Bxb2 16.Qxb2 e5 17.b4 Bc8 18.Nd2 Qf7 19.e3 f4 20.exf4 exf4 21.Qd4 Qh5 22.Bf3 Qh6 23.Rc3 Ne5 24.Bg2 fxg3 25.fxg3 Ng4 26.Nf3 Rde8 27.Qd2 Ne3 28.Re1 Nxg2 29.Rxe8 Rxe8 30.Qxg2 Bg4 31.Qd2 Qxd2 32.Nxd2 Re1+ 33.Nf1 Bh3 34.Rf3 h5 35.a3 g6 36.Rf6 Kg7 37.Rf3 g5 38.Rf2 Kg6 39.Rf3 g4 40.Rf4 Rxf1+ 41.Rxf1 Bxf1 42.Kxf1 Kf5 43.Ke2 Ke4 0-1

Standing After Round Nine

1-2 Paikidze, Foisor 6.0
3-4 Zatonskih, Krush 5.5
5-6 Abrahamyan, Feng 5.0
7-8 Nemcova, Sharevich 4.5
9-10 Virkud, Yu 4.0
11 Yip 3.5
12 Nguyen 0.5

Round Ten Pairings

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

[Wayne Komer]

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

U.S. Championships

April 8, 2017

Round Ten

A caller phones in to ask if there is a brilliancy prize awarded in the U.S. Championship. The answer is “no”. And how would you award it with three such good candidates so far in the tourney? These are the three that Jennifer and Yasser cite:

Zerebrukh-Caruana Round 7
Kamsky-Naroditsky Round 7
Xiong-So Round 9

A dominant victory by Nakamura over Zerebrukh, Yarolav used 40 minutes on move 10 and was always down on the clock after that. Hikaru is happy that Akobian is in the lead in the tournament. He recalls the 2003 US Championshipin Seattle where Akobian, Seirawan and Shabalov were all playing besides himself. Naka plays Var tomorrow.

It is interesting to look at the final standing of that 2003 championship – so many names from the past – Gulko, Benjamin, Fedorowicz, De Firmian, Fishbein, Browne, Ashley (!):

http://graeme.50webs.com/chesschamps/us/2003.htm

The headline story for that tournament is this:

With a stunning queen sacrifice, Latvian-born Grandmaster Alexander Shabalov of Pittsburgh defeated an up-and-coming rival to win the U.S. Chess Championship.

It took Shabalov 61 moves over almost six hours Saturday night to beat 19-year-old Varuzhan Akobian, an Armenian who lives in Glendale, Calif., for the $25,000 prize, the biggest in the tournament's history.
_________

Fabiano comes in to talk with Maurice. He is asked about his terrible loss yesterday. During time pressure he was feeling dizzy. He had two pawns up when he had passed the time control; he should have had something to eat but didn’t and then blundered repeatedly.

Today he mentioned that Shabalov was playing the Dragondorf – a hybrid between the Dragon and the Najdorf. It is probably not the best system and Fabi got a good game out of the opening.

Onischuk hasn’t won a championship since 2006. He won today but he has to play Gata tomorrow. He says that if he wants the Championship, he has to beat Gata but he is not sure how to do it. I suppose he will be poring over variations late into the night.

Akobian is sitting atop the leaderboard with one game to go. He drew with Ray Robson today and tomorrow he has Hikaru Nakamura. Jennifer says that Var seems to get more fan mail that any other player.

The games:

US Championship
St. Louis
Round 10, Apr. 8, 2017
So, Wesley – Kamsky, Gata
D10 QGD Slav Defence

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.Bf4 e6 6.e3 Bd6 7.Bxd6 Qxd6 8.Bd3 O-O 9.f4 b6 10.Qe2 a5 11.Nf3 Ba6 12.Bxa6 Nxa6 13.Rc1 Nc7 14.O-O Rfc8 15.Rc2 Nce8 16.Rfc1 Qd8 17.Nb5 Ne4 18.Rc6 N4d6 19.b3 Nxb5 20.Qxb5 Nd6 21.Qd3 f6 22.a4 Rxc6 23.Rxc6 Rc8 24.Qc2 Rxc6 25.Qxc6 Kf7 26.Nd2 h6 27.h3 g5 28.g4 Ke7 29.Kf2 Qb8 30.Kf3 f5 31.Kg2 gxf4 32.exf4 fxg4 33.hxg4 h5 34.Nf3 hxg4 35.Ne5 Qc8 36.Ng6+ Kf6 37.Qxd6 Qc2+ 38.Kg3 Qxb3+ 39.Kxg4 Qd1+ 40.Kh4 Qe1+ 41.Kg4 Qe2+ 42.Kg3 Kxg6 43.Qxb6 Kf5 44.Qxa5 Qg4+ 45.Kf2 Qxf4+ 46.Ke2 Qe4+ 47.Kf1 Qd3+ 48.Ke1 Qe3+ 49.Kf1 Ke4 50.Qb6 Qf3+ 51.Kg1 Qd1+ 52.Kg2 Qc2+ 53.Kg3 1/2-1/2

Round 10, Apr. 8, 2017
Akobian, Varuzhan – Robson, Ray
D46 QGD, Semi-Slav

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 c6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.Be2 O-O 8.O-O dxc4 9.Bxc4 b5 10.Be2 Bb7 11.Rd1 b4 12.Na4 Rc8 13.Nc5 Qb6 14.Nxb7 Qxb7 15.Qa4 c5 16.Ba6 Qc6 17.Qxc6 Rxc6 18.Bb5 Rb6 19.Be2 Rc8 20.dxc5 Nxc5 21.Nd2 Be7 22.Nc4 Rbc6 23.Na5 R6c7 24.f3 Na4 25.Bb5 Rc5 26.Bxa4 Rxa5 27.Bb3 Nd5 28.Bd2 Rb5 29.Rac1 Rxc1 30.Rxc1 Rc5 31.Rxc5 Bxc5 32.Kf2 Nb6 33.Ke2 Kf8 34.f4 a5 35.Kd3 Ke7 36.e4 Kd6 37.g4 Bg1 38.h4 Kc5 39.a3 Bd4 40.axb4+ axb4 41.Bxe6 fxe6 42.Bxb4+ Kxb4 43.Kxd4 Nd7 44.f5 exf5 45.gxf5 Kb5 46.Kd5 Nf6+ 47.Ke6 Nxe4 48.Kf7 Nd6+ 49.Kxg7 Nxf5+ 50.Kxh7 1/2-1/2

Round 10, Apr. 8, 2017
Onischuk, Alexander – 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 Bg4 9.Rc1 O-O 10.Be2 Qa5 11.Qd2 cxd4 12.cxd4 Nc6 13.Qxa5 Nxa5 14.h3 Bxf3 15.Bxf3 Rfc8 16.Ke2 e5 17.dxe5 Bxe5 18.Bg4 Rc4 19.f4 Bb2 20.Rxc4 Nxc4 21.Bf2 Re8 22.Bf3 Na3 23.Rd1 Rc8 24.e5 Bc1 25.Bxb7 Rc2+ 26.Kf3 Bd2 27.Bd5 Nb5 28.Bb3 Rb2 29.g3 Nc3 30.Ra1 a5 31.e6 fxe6 32.Bxe6+ Kf8 33.Bc5+ Kg7 34.Bd4+ Kf8 35.Bb3 Ke8 36.Rf1 a4 37.Bxc3 Bxc3 38.Bxa4+ Kf8 39.Bb3 Bd2 40.Rf2 Bc3 41.Rxb2 Bxb2 42.Ke4 Ba3 43.Ke5 Ke7 44.g4 Bd6+ 45.Ke4 Ba3 46.Bg8 h6 47.h4 Kf6 48.Bb3 Ke7 49.g5 hxg5 50.hxg5 Kf8 51.Kf3 Kg7 52.Kg4 1-0

Round 10, Apr. 8, 2017
Zherebukh, Yaroslav – Nakamura, Hikaru
B18 Caro-Kann, Classical, Flohr variation

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.Nh3 Nf6 7.Nf4 Nbd7 8.Bc4 Qc7 9.O-O e6 10.c3 Bd6 11.Qf3 c5 12.dxc5 Bxc5 13.Bb3 O-O-O 14.Nxg6 hxg6 15.Bf4 e5 16.Be3 e4 17.Qe2 Bxe3 18.Qxe3 Rxh2 19.Rfd1 Rdh8 20.Qxa7 e3 21.Qxe3 Ng4 0-1

Round 10, Apr. 8, 2017
Caruana, Fabiano – Shabalov, Alexander
B72 Sicilian, Dragon

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 a6 7.f3 b5 8.Qd2 Bb7 9.g4 h6 10.O-O-O Nbd7 11.h4 Rc8 12.Bd3 b4 13.Nce2 e5 14.Nb3 d5 15.exd5 Nxd5 16.h5 g5 17.Ng3 Qc7 18.Rhe1 Be7 19.Nf5 N7f6 20.Bf2 Kf8 21.Nxe7 Nxe7 22.Bg3 Nd7 23.Nd4 Qa5 24.Kb1 Qb6 25.Bf5 Rc4 26.Ne6+ fxe6 27.Qxd7 exf5 28.Bxe5 Rh7 29.Bd6 Bc8 30.Bxe7+ Kf7 31.Qd3 Rc3 32.Qd8 Qxd8 33.Rxd8 1-0

Round 10, Apr. 8, 2017
Shankland, Sam – Naroditsky, Daniel
E01 Catalan, Closed

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Bd6 6.Nf3 c6 7.Nc3 Nbd7 8.b3 dxc4 9.bxc4 e5 10.e3 exd4 11.exd4 Qe7+ 12.Qe2 O-O 13.Qxe7 Bxe7 14.O-O Nb6 15.c5 Nbd5 16.Nxd5 Nxd5 17.Rab1 f6 18.Rfc1 a5 19.a4 Rd8 20.Ne1 Ra7 21.Nc2 f5 22.Ne3 Nf6 23.Bc3 Be6 24.Ba1 Kf7 25.Bf1 Ne4 26.Rd1 Bg5 27.Nc4 Kf8 28.Kg2 Bxc4 29.Bxc4 Nd2 30.h4 Bh6 31.Rbc1 Nxc4 32.Rxc4 g6 33.Rc2 Bg7 34.Bc3 Rd7 35.Rb2 Kf7 36.Kf3 Bf6 37.Ke3 Ra8 38.Kd3 Re8 39.Kc4 Re4 40.Rbd2 Rd8 41.Rd3 Ra8 42.Rb1 Re7 43.Bd2 Rd7 44.Bf4 Re8 45.Rd2 Re4 46.Rbd1 Rd5 47.f3 Re7 48.Bd6 Rd7 49.Re2 h5 50.f4 Bg7 51.Rd3 Bf6 52.Red2 Be7 53.Be5 Bf8 54.Rd1 Be7 55.R1d2 1/2-1/2

Standing after Round Ten

1-3 So, Akobian, Onischuk 6.5
4-5 Nakamura, Caruana 5.5
6 Zherebukh 5.0
7-10 Shankland, Kamsky, Robson, Naroditsky 4.5
11 Xiong 3.5
12 Shabalov 3.0

Final Round Pairings

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

[Wayne Komer]

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

U.S. Championships

April 8, 2017

Round Ten (continued)

Women’s Championship

Yasser and Jennifer reminisce about an American master, Emory Tate (1958-2015). Tate earned a reputation as a creative and dangerous tactician on the U.S. chess circuit, where he won about 80 tournament games against Grandmasters.

There is a new book out as of March 1, called Triple Exclam!!! The life and times of Emory Tate, Chess Warrior by Daaim Shabazz. Hard cover and in colour, 285 pages.

The cover blurb:

In the annals of attacking chess players, International Master Emory Tate built up a collection of stunning gems. Tate also showed his passion in describing these exciting battles as if performing in a stage play. With his clear, accelerated speaking style, melodramatic portrayals, quick wit and creative word play, he intrigued audiences and showed unequivocally that chess is not merely a game to be played, but an art form to be expressed. This book details the life and 35 games of Tate over the course of his 56 years. His contribution to chess lies not merely in his level of play, nor even his sparkling victories, but in his creation of unique ideas and inspiring dreams. Somewhere on that chessboard was beauty to behold, a new story to be told and perhaps an idea that would touch the soul. Tate regaled his listeners with numerous stories, many of which reflected an adventurous, purposeful, yet troubled life. This is a story of beautiful games, hidden treasures, mind-boggling conflicts and unanswered questions.

See also:

http://forum.chesstalk.com/showthrea...ght=emory+tate


The games:

Round 10, Apr. 8, 2017
Abrahamyan, Tatev – Paikidze, Nazi
B06 Robatsch (Modern) Defence

1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.f4 a6 5.Nf3 b5 6.Bd3 Nd7 7.d5 Nc5 8.O-O b4 9.Ne2 Nf6 10.Ned4 Bb7 11.Qe2 O-O 12.a3 bxa3 13.Rxa3 a5 14.c4 Nxd3 15.Qxd3 Nd7 16.b3 Nc5 17.Qc2 e6 18.Bd2 exd5 19.exd5 Qf6 20.f5 h6 21.Rxa5 Rae8 22.Ra7 Bc8 23.Rxc7 Bxf5 24.Nxf5 gxf5 25.b4 Ne4 26.b5 Ng5 27.Nxg5 hxg5 28.Qd3 f4 29.h4 Qd4+ 30.Qxd4 Bxd4+ 31.Kh2 Re2 32.Bb4 Kg7 33.Rd1 Be5 34.Kg1 g4 35.Rc6 g3 36.b6 Ra8 37.Re1 Bd4+ 0-1

Round 10, Apr. 8, 2017
Foisor, Sabina – Zatonskih, Anna
C37 QGD, Hastings variation

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 Be7 5.Bf4 O-O 6.Rc1 c5 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.e3 Nc6 9.a3 a6 10.b4 Ba7 11.Bg3 h6 12.Qc2 Qe7 13.Be2 dxc4 14.Bxc4 b5 15.Ba2 Bb7 16.Bb1 Rfd8 17.Bh4 g5 18.Bg3 Rac8 19.O-O Nb8 20.Nd2 Nbd7 21.Qb2 Nh5 22.Qc2 f5 23.Ba2 Kg7 24.Qd1 Nxg3 25.hxg3 Ne5 26.Qe2 Nd3 27.Rc2 Qf6 28.Nd5 Rxc2 29.Nxf6 Rxa2 30.Qh5 Bc6 31.Nf3 Nxf2 32.Ne5 Kxf6 33.Nxc6 Rdd2 34.Qxh6+ Kf7 35.Qh7+ Kf8 36.Qe7+ Kg8 37.Qxe6+ Kh8 38.Qh6+ Kg8 39.Qxg5+ Kh8 40.Qf6+ Kh7 41.Qxf5+ 1-0

Round 10, Apr. 8, 2017
Nemcova, Katerina – Krush, Irina
A45 Queen’s Pawn game

1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 d6 3.e3 g6 4.Nf3 Nh5 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 g5 7.Nfd2 Ng7 8.Bg3 Nf5 9.Bd3 Bg7 10.c3 Nxg3 11.hxg3 Nd7 12.g4 Nf6 13.f3 d5 14.Nf1 Qd6 15.Nbd2 h5 16.gxh5 Rxh5 17.Rxh5 Nxh5 18.Qb3 b6 19.g4 Nf6 20.O-O-O c5 21.Qa3 Qc7 22.dxc5 bxc5 23.e4 d4 24.cxd4 cxd4+ 25.Kb1 Be6 26.Rc1 Qf4 27.Qa5 Nd7 28.Qxa7 Rd8 29.Qa5 Be5 30.Ba6 Rb8 31.Rc8+ Rxc8 32.Bxc8 Bb8 33.Qb5 Qc7 34.Bb7 Kf8 35.Bd5 Ne5 36.Bxe6 fxe6 37.Qb3 Kf7 38.a3 Ba7 39.Qc2 Qa5 40.Ka2 Qa6 41.Ng3 d3 42.Qc3 Qd6 43.Ngf1 Bf2 44.b4 Bd4 45.Qc1 Qb8 46.Nb3 Qa7 47.Qxg5 Nc4 48.Qc1 Bb2 49.Qxc4 Qxa3+ 50.Kb1 Be5 51.Nd4 Bxd4 52.Qxd4 Qb3+ 53.Qb2 Qd1+ 54.Qc1 Qb3+ 55.Qb2 Qd1+ 56.Qc1 Qb3+ 57.Qb2 1/2-1/2

Round 10, Apr. 8, 2017
Feng, Maggie – Virkud, Apurva
D37 QGD, Hastings variation

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 O-O 6.e3 c5 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.cxd5 exd5 9.Be2 Nc6 10.O-O Be6 11.Ne5 Nxe5 12.Bxe5 Ne4 13.Bf3 Qg5 14.Bd4 Nxc3 15.Bxc3 Rfd8 16.Rc1 b6 17.Bd4 Bd6 18.Qe2 Re8 19.g3 Rad8 20.Rfd1 Bb8 21.a4 Bf5 22.a5 bxa5 23.Qb5 Bg4 24.Bxg4 Qxg4 25.Qxa5 Rd7 26.Bc3 Qe6 27.Qb5 h5 28.Qa4 Qf5 29.Qd4 Qg6 30.Qd3 Qg4 31.Qb5 Qe6 32.Qa4 1/2-1/2

Round 10, Apr. 8, 2017
Sharevich, Anna - Yip, Carissa
D93 Grunfeld, Grunfeld Gambit, Casablanca variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bf4 Bg7 5.e3 O-O 6.Rc1 c6 7.Nf3 a6 8.c5 Nbd7 9.h3 Ne8 10.Be2 e6 11.O-O Qe7 12.e4 dxe4 13.Nxe4 e5 14.Bg5 f6 15.Bc4+ Kh8 16.Bh4 g5 17.Bg3 f5 18.Nexg5 e4 19.Re1 Qf6 20.Bh4 Qg6 21.Ne6 exf3 22.Qxf3 Nef6 23.Nxf8 Nxf8 24.Bxf6 Bxf6 25.d5 Bd7 26.dxc6 Bxc6 27.Bd5 Rc8 28.b4 Nd7 29.Bxc6 Rxc6 30.Qd5 Nf8 31.a4 Rc7 32.b5 axb5 33.axb5 Rd7 34.Qf3 Bg5 35.Rcd1 Rc7 36.Rd6 Qf7 37.Rd5 Re7 38.Rxe7 Qxe7 39.Rxf5 Ne6 40.Qc3+ Kg8 41.Qe5 h6 42.c6 bxc6 43.bxc6 Qe8 44.Qd5 Bd8 45.Re5 Kf7 46.Rxe6 Qxe6 47.Qxd8 Qxc6 48.Qd4 Kg6 49.Qg4+ Kh7 50.f4 Qe4 51.h4 1-0

Round 10, Apr. 8, 2017
Yu, Jennifer – Nguyen, Emily
D10 QGD Slav Defence, Exchange variation

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.cxd5 cxd5 4.Bf4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.e3 Bf5 7.Qb3 Na5 8.Bb5+ Bd7 9.Qd1 e6 10.Bd3 Rc8 11.Nf3 Bb4 12.O-O O-O 13.Ne5 h6 14.Rc1 Qe8 15.Qe2 a6 16.Rc2 Bxc3 17.Rxc3 Rxc3 18.bxc3 Bb5 19.c4 dxc4 20.Nxc4 Bxc4 21.Bxc4 Nxc4 22.Qxc4 Qc8 23.Rc1 Qxc4 24.Rxc4 Nd5 25.Bd6 Rd8 26.Ba3 Rd7 27.e4 Rc7 28.Rxc7 Nxc7 29.Bc5 f5 30.d5 exd5 31.exf5 Nb5 32.f3 Kf7 33.Kf2 Nc3 34.a3 b5 35.Ke3 a5 36.Kd3 b4 37.axb4 axb4 38.Bxb4 Nb5 39.g4 Kf6 40.h4 h5 41.Bd2 Ke5 42.Bg5 hxg4 43.fxg4 Nd6 44.Be3 d4 45.Bg1 Nxf5 46.Bh2+ Kf6 47.gxf5 Kxf5 48.Bd6 g5 49.h5 g4 50.h6 Kg6 51.Bf4 g3 52.Ke2 d3+ 53.Kf3 1-0

Standing after Round Ten

1-2 Paikidze, Foisor 7.0
3 Krush, Irina 6.0
4-6 Zatonskih, Sharevich, Feng 5.5
7-9 Nemcova, Yu, Abrahamyan 5.0
10 Virkud 4.5
11 Yip 3.5
12 Nguyen 0.5

Final Round Pairings

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

[Egidijus Zeromskis]

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

1-3 So, Akobian, Onischuk 6.5

In a case of a tie, what will happen with the title and monies?

[Wayne Komer]

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

U.S. Championships

April 8, 2017

1) Playoffs: A combination of rapid, blitz and armageddon games shall be used to break any tie for 1st place.

2) The playoff (if necessary) will take place on Monday, April, 10.

The 2014 Championship rules don’t mention the blitz games. Here they are for what they are worth:

Playoffs

For the purposes of pairing players in the following scenarios, the following mathematical tie-breaks will be used: 1. Direct Encounter (if applicable), 2. Most Blacks, 3. Koya System, 4. Sonneborn-Berger, 5. Won Games. If there is no need for a playoff, then these tie-breaks will also be used for the purposes of the crosstable and any special prizes or trophies.

An Armageddon Game is defined as a game with base time of 45 minutes for each Player. Black will have draw odds. Each Player shall bid an amount of time (minutes and seconds, a number equal to or less than 45:00) with which they are willing to play in order to choose their color. The Player who bids the lowest amount of time chooses their color and begins with that amount of time; the other Player receives 45:00. If both Players bid exactly the same amount of time, the Chief Arbiter will flip a coin to determine who shall choose their colour.

Two Players: The tie will be broken with a two-game rapid match (G/25+5). If the contest is still undecided, the match will be decided by an Armageddon Game.

Three players: If there are three Players tied for first, the two Players with the lowest tie-breaks will contest an Armageddon Game. The winner of this game will face the player with the highest tie-breaks as described above (“Two Players”).

Four Players: Tie-breaks will be used to determine pairing numbers: 1 plays 4 and 2 plays 3. Each Player will contest an Armageddon Game. The winner of each game will face one another as described above (“Two Players”).

More Than Four Players: If more than four players are tied for first place, a combination of math tie-breaks and playoffs will be used to find the top four players and the procedure described above (“Four Players”) shall be followed. The format if more than four players are tied for first will be determined by the Arbiter and the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis.

[Wayne Komer]

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

U.S. Championships

April 9, 2017

Round Eleven

After fifteen minutes, Daniel Naroditsky and Wesley So have a draw.

US Championship
St. Louis
Round 11, Apr. 9, 2017
Naroditsky, Daniel – So, Wesley
C67 Ruy Lopez, open Berlin Defence, l’Hermet variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.dxe5 Nxb5 7.a4 Nbd4 8.Nxd4 Nxd4 9.Qxd4 d5 10.exd6 Qxd6 11.Qe4+ Qe6 12.Qd4 Qd6 13.Qe4+ Qe6 14.Qd4 Qd6 1/2-1/2

At the post-game interview, Daniel said that he thought Wesley might play a Najdorf or a French against him but was surprised to see a Berlin. He said he was running out of gas at this time in the tournament and he has two problem sets due in his courses at Stanford in social psychology and the mathematical foundations of computing, which he will work all night on.

Under other circumstances he would have played on.

Mathematically, neither Caruana nor Nakamura can win the tournament now.

Wesley has already had some criticism for drawing

– drawing while losing 7 rating points and having a +3 score, he doesn’t deserve to win the title.

(to be continued)

[Wayne Komer]

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

U.S. Chess Championship

April 9, 2017

Final Round

Playoff Format

Jennifer has just described the playoff format for the 2017 Championship:

2-Way Tie for 1st

Tie will be broken with a two-game rapid match (G/25 + 5 delay). If still undecided, an Armageddon game will be played.

3+ Time for 1st

Players will contest a rapid round robin (G/10 + 5 delay). If undecided, players will contest a blitz round robin (G/3 + 2 delay). If still undecided, a series Armageddon games will be played

Schedule

If necessary, playoff will begin Monday, April 10th

________

Yasser emphasizes that there are no blitz games in the 2-way playoff, it goes straight to Armageddon after the rapid match.