2012 U.S. Championships News
As the 2016 Saint Louis Invitational winds to a close, the players with hopes of gaining their norms found difficulty in Round 8. Three players still had a chance to earn GM norms going into the round. IM Steven Zierk had the Black pieces against IM Ruifeng Li and needed to win to keep his chances alive.
IM Li's final move 21. Qa3 forked two of Zierk's pieces and ended the game on the spot.
GM Ben Finegold dashed IM Irine Sukandar's hopes for a norm with a dominating performance of positional chess. IM Sukandar also needed to win but was unable to find the right plans against GM Finegold's tricky move order.
U.S. Junior Champion and International Master Akshat Chandra had a chances to push for a win against Canadian IM Aman Hambleton. Chandra had the white pieces and an early advantage with an extra pawn. Even with the slight pull, Chandra was not able to convert the win in the endgame. The game ended in a draw.
FM Gauri Shankar continues to do well in the IM tournament. He won in round 8 against NM Carissa Yip playing a comfortable Marozcy position.
The 2016 Saint Louis Invitational, featuring both a GM and IM norm 10-player round robin, is more than halfway finished. Norm seekers in both sections have traded blows with their opponents and resulted in a very tight standings list. Each field’s norm requirement sits at 6.5 total points and still a few have the chance, if they finish well, to earn their norm.
In the GM norm field, IM Steven Zierk and IM Akshat Chandra have 3.5 points after 5 rounds and are undefeated co-leaders. IM Chandra has survived the gauntlet of grandmasters in the first half of the tournament and now needs to convert against his peers. The co-leaders find themselves needing 3 more points out of the last 4 games to earn their final GM norms—a tough task in this strong field. IM Irine Sukandar still needs 3.5 more points for a norm which will prove difficult. Finally, IM Aman Hambleton will have to play perfect chess to capture a norm as he needs to win his last four games.
In the IM section, those looking for norms have been met by a field intend on making each half-point hard to come by. IM Angelo Young has dominated the tournament so far with 4/5 points. His grinding play against FM Seth Homa in round 4 resulted in a long endgame win. IM Michael Brooks has also done well with 3/5 points. While a few still have very long shots to earn their norms, FM Gauri Shankar has 3.5 points after 5 rounds, and he will need to play extremely well to finish with enough points for his norm.
Here are some key pairings in the upcoming round:
GM Round 6 – IM Zierk vs IM Hambleton
IM Round 6 – FM Shankar vs IM Brooks
After round seven of the 2016 Saint Louis Invitational, three players are still in contention to earn a GM norm. IM Irene Sukandar, IM Akshat Chandra, and IM Steven Zierk all stand at 4.5 points with two rounds to go. That means each needs to win their final two games to achieve the norm. Round 7 saw IM Sukandar play against IM Zierk in a tactical battle. Sukandar with the white pieces was able to covert an exchange French after Zierk overestimated the strength of an advanced d-pawn.
It was a critical win for IM Sukandar of Webster University. If she had not been able to win, she would have lost her chance to earn a norm in this tournament. Additionally it sets up the possibility in the last round of a critical game between her and IM Chandra. That all depends on the results of round 8 starting at 5 p.m. on Sunday, June 12th.
Also in round seven, IM Awonder Liang secured a draw against IM Akshat Chandra in a Queen’s Gambit Accepted. While earning a half-point, IM Chandra now has a tough road to the norm as he will need to win out to secure it.
The final two days of the 2016 Saint Louis Invitational will prove to be an exciting affair with three players still able to gain a norm. View game results and the standings all at http://www.uschesschamps.com/information-2016-saint-louis-invitational/r....
Final Results
Round Two Summary
Nakamura and So were leading the Ultimate Blitz Challenge going into the 2nd and final day of the event. The legendary Kasparov was trailing behind one point and seemed like he could pose some serious problems for the leaders if he could brush off the rustiness and avoid the blunders that plagued him all throughout the first day. Both Nakamura and So had a terrible start of the tournament but quickly picked their pace up and ranked up some important victories in order to regain the control.
The second day started with a full on revenge from So, who took the lead after he completely demolished Kasparov in a game that reminded the former world champion of the style of Paul Morphy.
In the press conference after the tournament, Kasparov stated that due to a very long night overwhelmed with negative thoughts due to his losses the previous days, he was extremely tired and could not fight effectively against the young titans.
The decisive moment came in the 15th round. So was facing Nakamura in the battle between the leaders, the crowd was ecstatic, Kasparov was slowly seeing his title chances evaporating…The players repeated a topical line of the Queen’s Gambit Decline and soon the position petered into an almost draw. But Nakamura had a different mindset, with a relaxed attitude and poised confidence he continued to play natural moves and slowly improve his position. Suddenly So started to err, he chose to march his king towards the center and completely missed a nice tactic that allowed Nakamura to collect an important pawn and swerve the game in his direction. So was forced to accept the defeat and Nakamura emerged as the sole leader. Despite So’s pressure, who kept his chances all the way until last round, it was Nakamura who cemented his victory with a composed performance in the last round against his main rival.
Who would have thought these players would be so energetic and full of intense chess stamina after such a long and exhausting U.S. Championship? Not many. Despite that, these chess warriors managed to bring their A game to the table and with it smash absolutely any viewership records. More than a hundred thousand people were watching this eventful masterpiece each day. The players, the production crew, the organization and everybody else involved in it, they knew a secondhand effort would not cut it, they had to offer the best chess event broadcasted live! And they did. The numbers don’t lie! The comeback of a legend…the battles of the current American kings…it was all there, and everybody around the world witnessed it!
Congratulations to Nakamura, So, Kasparov, and Caruana. Chapeau!
By GM Cristian Chirila
The 2016 U.S. Championship has ended but the chess festival in Saint Louis has one more surprise for the fans all over the world, the Ultimate Blitz Challenge! In what could easily be considered the most anticipated blitz event in the world, Garry Kasparov was summoned by the patriarch of modern chess, Rex Sinquefield, to take on the best players in American chess and arguably in the world. It was an exciting return from someone who many be considered the best chess player that ever played the game.
The event is a two-day, six rounds, round-robin with Kasparov facing the three titans of the U.S. Championship—Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura and Wesley So— in an attempt to prove he is still one of the best players in the world, more than a decade since his official retirement.
The event had an electrifying start, with Kasparov proving his tenacity and scoring 2 points in the first round section. He beat So and drew Nakamura and Caruana.
The players trailing by half point after the first round were Caruana and Nakamura with 1.5p. Round two saw Kasparov have a fulminant start but failed to continue his winning streak after he blundered a couple of winning positions successively. The “gift” recipients were So and Nakamura.
Caruana scored +1 in the second round and caught Kasparov at the top of the table, while Nakamura and So seemed to be struggling with their form and were trailing by a full point. The third round saw the resurgence of the trailing pack, as both Nakamura and So destroyed their competition and ended the day on +1.
Kasparov and Caruana were both facing back-to-back losses going into the last round, and it was Kasparov that immediately started his offense when he chose the offbeat Vienna game. Caruana could not handle the complications and finished the last round on a disappointing 0-3.
The first day was a thrilling affair in which the chess world has been reminded once again what Kasparov can do with the chess pieces. Despite the fact that he is not leading, his impressive opening repertoire, middlegame understanding, and flawless technique can rival the best players in the world even after such a long period of inactivity. The rustiness is present, but the unmatched feeling for the game will always stay. The world is anxiously waiting to see if the big K will manage to add another title to his impressive resume. Games will resume Friday, April 29, at 1 PM Central Time. See you all tomorrow for another day of exciting blitz battles in the chess capital of the world, St. Louis.
SAINT LOUIS, April 27, 2016—Saint Louis is not only the U.S. Chess Capital—it’s home to the 2016 U.S. Chess Champion. The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis (CCSCSL) crowned Saint Louis resident, Grandmaster Fabiano Caruana, the 2016 Champion in his U.S. Chess Championship debut. Caruana was not the only fresh face to take the title; International Master Nazi Paikidze of Baltimore won the U.S. Women’s Championship in only her second year competing in the tournament. After nearly two weeks of fierce competition, the winners celebrated their success at the Championships’ closing ceremony April 26.
Together, Caruana, 23, and Paikidze, 22, are among the youngest pair of U.S. Champions in the tournament’s history. Both players transferred to the U.S. Federation within the past two years, allowing them to compete in the U.S. and U.S. Women’s Championships and adding to the nation’s top chess talent.
“Fabiano and Nazi are examples of how strong the U.S. chess scene has become” said Tony Rich, executive director of the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis. “We are beginning to see an insurgence of young chess players competing at the highest level and that bodes well for the sport across the country. We join the hundreds of thousands of fans that followed the event in congratulating our new Champions.”
The prestigious tournaments are part of the “Triple Crown” of chess championships held in the United States each year. The third event is the 2016 U.S. Junior Closed Championship, a tournament for players under the age of 21, which will take place at the CCSCSL July 7-18, 2016.
“If there is one tournament I wanted to win, it was the U.S. Championship,” said Fabiano Caruana as he accepted his champion’s ring at the closing ceremonies. “It was a great tournament with great competition. I look forward to returning to Saint Louis to defend my title next year.”
Caruana is currently ranked the No. 2 chess player in the world. He finished ahead of reigning U.S. Champion and world No. 5 ranked player, GM Hikaru Nakamura, as well as world No. 10 ranked player, GM Wesley So to take this year’s title and $50,000 grand prize. So received the second place prize of $35,000.
Paikidze proved to be an unprecedented talent this year, beating the seven-time and reigning Women’s Champion Irina Krush to take the title and $25,000 grand prize. Women’s Grandmaster Tatev Abrahamyan received the second place prize of $18,000.
Historic 2016 U.S. Championships
The victors were not the only noteworthy features of this year’s U.S. Championships. GM Maurice Ashley became the first African American inducted into the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame at the tournament’s opening ceremony April 13, 2016. Also inducted into the Hall of Fame this year was Grandmaster Gata Kamsky, a four-time U.S. Chess Champion.
Ashley is not only the first African American player to enter the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame, but one of the greatest ambassadors and promoters the game has ever known. Ashley is a world-class commentator who has covered many major competitions including the 1995 Kasparov-Anand World Championship match carried on ESPN, as well as the 2013-2016 Sinquefield Cups.
“I am honored and deeply moved to receive this award,” said Ashley. “It’s a wonderful and special recognition of the work I have dedicated myself to all my life.” Ashley joined 55 past players bestowed with the honor of being a U.S. Hall of Fame inductee.
Ultimate Blitz Challenge with Garry Kasparov
Additionally, world chess legend GM Garry Kasparov is making a special appearance in Saint Louis to take on the top three finishers from the U.S. Championship in a series of blitz matches April 28-29, 2016.
Kasparov came to international fame as the youngest world chess champion in history in 1985 at the age of 22. He retired from professional chess in 2005 after a record 20 years as the world’s top-ranked player. Additional event information, including live streaming of the blitz matches at 12:50 p.m. CT daily, may be found at www.uschesschamps.com.
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About The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis
The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization that is committed to making chess an important part of our community. In addition to providing a forum for the community to play tournaments and casual games, the club also offers chess improvement classes, beginner lessons and special lectures.
Recognizing the cognitive and behavioral benefits of chess, the Chess Club and Scholastic Center is committed to supporting those chess programs that already exist in area schools while encouraging the development of new in-school and after-school programs.
For more information, visit www.saintlouischessclub.org.
About the World Chess Hall of Fame
The World Chess Hall of Fame is a nonprofit organization committed to building awareness for the cultural and artistic significance of chess. It opened on September 9, 2011, in the Central West End after moving from previous locations in New York and Miami. The World Chess Hall of Fame is located at 4652 Maryland Avenue, housed in an historic 15,900 square foot residence turned business, and features the U.S. and World Chess Halls of Fame, displays of artifacts from the permanent collection and exhibitions highlighting the great players, historic games and rich cultural history of chess. The World Chess Hall of Fame partners with the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis to provide innovative programming and outreach to local, national and international audiences.
For more information, please visit the World Chess Hall of Fame online at www.worldchesshof.org.
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