2012 U.S. Championships News
GM Alejandro Ramirez has pulled into a two-way tie for second place with GM Alex Onischuk. Both players are just a half point behind tourney leader GM Gata Kamsky.
By FM Mike Klein
SAINT LOUIS (May10, 2013) -- A pair of largely uneventful draws by the two leaders protected their respective leads, but a host of other players jockeyed for position just beneath them in round six of the 2013 U.S. Championship and U.S. Women’s Championship. Many crucial games were decided into the sixth hour of play.
The marquee matchup so far of the men’s tournament, GM Gata Kamsky and GM Alex Onischuk, played a relatively short two-hour draw on the top board. The split point allowed three-time champion Kamsky (5/6) to retain his half-point lead over Onischuk (4.5/6), who is seeking his first title since 2006. “The result is okay,” Onischuk said. “Gata was better prepared. He knew this line better than I did. I didn’t expect …f5. I was out of my book.” Kamsky played the first dozen moves in negative time thanks to the increment.
“I think it’s still not over,” Onischuk said about the chances to finish atop the standings. “One game can change everything.”
Since no one won, GM Alejandro Ramirez’s win over GM Joel Benjamin makes him joint second with Onischuk. After a poor 2012 Championship in which he scored only 4/11, Ramirez now has surpassed that mark in only six games. Benjamin’s unlikely run for his first title in more than a dozen years took a major setback when he missed the clever 62…h5+ in severe time pressure. Instead, if the king is less brave and walks backward, white has some chances to hold. “We were really tired by that point,” Ramirez said. “It still looks really bad for white.” Ramirez had about four minutes while Benjamin was under one minute. “I haven’t played on increment yet in this tournament, and I think it has really helped my chess.”
“If somebody told me before this tournament, ‘You’re going to win four games,’ I would have told them, ‘You’re joking,’” Ramirez said.
Boards 3-5 all contained their own interesting story lines as well. FM John Bryant held second-seeded GM Timur Gareev to a solid draw, prompting another grandmaster to comment, “I guess the U.S. Open wasn’t a fluke.” Bryant won the 2013 automatic qualification from the 2012 event. “I had a good position out of the opening,” Bryant said. “I let him trade his dark-squared bishop. That might have been where I let the advantage slip away.” Opponents are starting to appreciate Bryant’s talent."He told me one day I could be like him, if I'm lucky," Bryant said Gareev told him after the game.
Like Benjamin, another tournament veteran faltered in round six. GM Larry Christiansen, who combined with Benjamin has more than 50 U.S. Championship appearances, stated previously that he worried about his energy in the later rounds. Christiansen lost his second game in a row, though GM Conrad Holt admitted that he benefitted from some good fortune.
“I was afraid I was doing very badly, but then I liked my position,” Holt said. “I wasn’t calculating that well and missing all of his ideas, but I was lucky and kept having a resource. I didn’t see Ra7, but he didn’t see Bc5, so it worked perfectly.” The paradoxical 44th move both attacks the rook on a7 and gives the black king a necessary flight square to threaten 45…Rg4+. Holt said he does not expect to keep getting by this way. “I’m sure I’ll continue to make lots of blunders going forward.”
On board five, one lengthy streak ended, while another one continued. After drawing 13 consecutive games dating back to last year, GM Shulman finally cracked today against GM Ray Robson, who has now won three straight. After barely scraping by with a draw in round five, Shulman was behind very early in round six. The computer showed a whopping +2 for Robson after only nine moves, easily the biggest opening advantage any player has had in the event. His king meekly moved to f8 shortly thereafter. With both competitors playing almost exclusively on the 30-second increment, Shulman defended tenaciously before falling prey to a defenseless pin. After being hoodwinked, Shulman shook his head and let his time run out.
In the women’s championship, Krush equalized as black without issue, though she insisted she still preferred to make a more dynamic game. She chastised her decision not to play 9…Qg5 to take advantage of 9. Bd3, which weakened g2.
WGM Tatev Abrahamyan pounced on the opportunity to close the gap, winning against three-time champion WGM Anjelina Belakovskaia. After being surprised out of the opening, she decided to play the safe Nf3 variation against the Alekhine’s Defense.
“I was not expecting it,” Abrahamyan said of the black’s opening move. “I looked up a lot of lines but not this one. This tournament it seems like [Belakovskaia] is doing specific preparation.” Belakovskaia has not played competitively in several years, making her database of historic games too outdated to matter. After everything developed from the back row for white, black’s rooks were not yet connected, and Abrahamyan won a piece with a simple tactic. Although the game dragged on, it was essentially a miniature. “It seems like it’s coming down to the finish line, so it’s really nerve-racking,” she said.
Still lurking is IM Anna Zatonskih, who won the longest game in either tournament, beating WGM Camilla Baginskaite in a complicated rook and minor piece ending. WFM Sarah Chiang got her first point today, beating WIM Vikorija Ni as black. She said her coach, GM Gregory Kaidanov, who is playing in the U.S. Championship, gave her a useful perspective. “He said when he has a streak of bad games, like if you go 0-9, at the end of the day, your family still loves you. Everything is okay. You have to focus on other things. That really helped me a lot. But it’s still a relief finally winning a game. In the long run, I’m going to play in hundreds of tournaments, and this is just one.”
2013 U.S. Championships Pairings: Round 7
| Table | White | Score | Rating | Black | Score | Rating | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GM Kamsky, Gata | 5.0 | 2741 | GM Ramirez, Alejandro | 4.5 | 2551 | |
| 2 | GM Holt, Conrad | 4.0 | 2513 | GM Onischuk, Alexander | 4.5 | 2666 | |
| 3 | GM Gareev, Timur | 3.5 | 2674 | GM Robson, Ray | 3.5 | 2620 | |
| 4 | GM Benjamin, Joel | 3.5 | 2534 | FM Bryant, John Daniel | 3.5 | 2442 | |
| 5 | GM Akobian, Varuzhan | 3.0 | 2616 | GM Shabalov, Alexander | 3.0 | 2544 | |
| 6 | GM Shankland, Samuel L | 3.0 | 2612 | Norowitz, Yaacov | 3.0 | 2451 | |
| 7 | IM Troff, Kayden W | 3.0 | 2421 | GM Kaidanov, Gregory S | 3.0 | 2593 | |
| 8 | GM Stripunsky, Alexander | 3.0 | 2570 | GM Christiansen, Larry M | 3.0 | 2579 | |
| 9 | GM Shulman, Yury | 2.5 | 2570 | GM Finegold, Benjamin | 2.5 | 2505 | |
| 10 | GM Hess, Robert L | 2.0 | 2595 | FM Sammour-Hasbun, Jorge E. | 2.5 | 2463 | |
| 11 | FM Sevian, Samuel | 2.0 | 2371 | GM Khachiyan, Melikset | 2.0 | 2518 | |
| 12 | GM Ivanov, Alexander | 1.5 | 2529 | GM Arnold, Marc T | 1.0 | 2538 |
Just before the pairings for round seven were posted, Ramirez assumed he would get black against Kamsky, a situation he previously called a “nightmare” and which he said in the previous iteration, he was “massacred”. Asked if he now felt any different about the impending matchup, Ramirez quickly responded, “No.”
2013 U.S. Women's Championship Pairings: Round 7
| Table | White | Score | Rating | Black | Score | Rating | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | IM Zatonskih, Anna | 4.5 | 2466 | WGM Foisor, Sabina | 2.5 | 2300 | |
| 2 | WGM Belakovskaia, Anjelina | 2.0 | 2263 | WIM Zenyuk, Iryna | 3.0 | 2243 | |
| 3 | WFM Chiang, Sarah | 1.0 | 2098 | WFM Kats, Alena | 2.0 | 2144 | |
| 4 | IM Krush, Irina | 5.5 | 2470 | WGM Baginskaite, Camilla | 2.5 | 2278 | |
| 5 | WIM Ni, Viktorija | 2.0 | 2262 | WGM Abrahamyan, Tatev | 5.0 | 2280 |
For round seven action, which promises to clarify the situation greatly in both events, log on to www.uschesschamps.com at 1:00 p.m. Central, 2:00 p.m. Eastern.
GM Joel Benjamin is in fine form, sporting a 2807 performance rating with a score of 3.5/5, just a point behind tourney leader GM Gata Kamsky.
By FM Mike Klein
The push and pull of the 2013 U.S. Championship and U.S. Women’s Championship continued yesterday in round five, but this time the men pulled closer to the leader, while the leading lady began to push away from the field.
GM Gata Kamsky again did not get any advantage in the beginning moves. This time it was GM Joel Benjamin who equalized and even had the slightly better chances. After simplifying into a bishop endgame, an impasse was reached and the game was agreed drawn. Afterward, Kamsky chastised himself for forgetting that Benjamin played a solid variation against the London System. “That’s kind of amazing to me,” Benjamin said about the memory lapse. “It’s the only game I ever won against him! Maybe it was a more important game to me.” The game in reference was played at the 1991 U.S. Championship. Despite the loss, Kamsky went on to win the first of his three U.S. Championships.
Benjamin now sits tied for third with 3.5/5. “I wasn’t expecting to have a 2800+ performance rating. I thought I would need a few games to warm up. I didn’t think I could have such good form; I haven’t played serious chess in so long.” His last tournament game was curiously also against Kamsky at the Washington International in August 2012. Benjamin also pointed out that he has now played the top three seeds at the U.S. Championship. The win also ends the chances of anyone winning the Fischer Prize for a perfect score. “I saved the pot, I should get a share of that money,” Benjamin joked.
Next up for Kamsky in round six will be the black pieces against the red-hot GM Alex Onischuk, who won his third game in a row by besting GM Larry Christiansen. This is Onischuk’s first three-game winning streak at the U.S. Championship since 2006, went he went on to win his first and only title. Normally reserved in demeanor, Onischuk was buoyant after his game, partially because of the manner in which he is winning. After using a rook and four passed pawns to overcome GM Alex Shabalov’s queen yesterday, he switched to an Open Sicilian pawn formation today. Onischuk is almost exclusively a 1.d4 player. “Yesterday was a crazy game,” he said. “I guess I was inspired by that. We pretty much got a Sicilian. I didn’t know it of course.” Onischuk also liked that Kamsky no longer had a perfect score. “I’m glad he drew today so he’s not hunting for this $64,000 prize. That would be truly scary.”
Besides Kamsky, Onischuk and Benjamin, the only other player that is at least +2 is the most surprising of the bunch – GM Alejandro Ramirez. After a poor showing in 2012, he said he did not have that much time to prepare for this year’s iteration. Paradoxically, that did not stop him from winning again today over the well-studied GM Sam Shankland. “Shankland is known as a very booked-up player,” Ramirez said. “So I wanted to get him out of theory as soon as possible.” Ramirez said he knew the plan was working when they were both spending five minutes on every move.
Ramirez will take black against Benjamin in round six. Unlike his opponent, Ramirez has not played the same level of competition. “I still haven’t played the big dogs yet,” he said. “Ideally I would want to play [Kamsky] because it would mean I’m having a really good tournament. But playing black would be a nightmare. Last time I played him was a massacre.” He said it was vital to get a good result in round five because Wednesday is the only day off in the competition. “There’s an aura around you that everything is wrong when you lose before the rest day.”
The last perfect score in Saint Louis is now IM Irina Krush, who won her fifth straight game and increased her lead in the women’s tournament to a full point over WGM Tatev Abrahamyan, who drew IM Anna Zatonskih today. There is no Fischer Prize for the ladies, but the manner in which she won today was reminiscent of a game Fischer won during his famed 20-game winning streak leading up to his world championship match. In their 1971 Candidates Match, GM Mark Taimanov could have ended the streak but inexplicably hung a rook in an equal position; today WFM Sarah Chiang, still winless, hung a piece to a similar two-move fork. Krush said the position was still “unpleasant” for white, even without the blunder. “I’m clearly playing for a win. The b-pawn doesn’t play,” she said.
In a game that both players desperately wanted to win, Abrahamyan had a chance to keep pace but instead drew Zatonskih. Even with pawns all on one side of the board, white’s king was in the crossfire and could have been pressured more. Instead a series of trades on d3 made the game dead equal, thus pushing Krush’s lead to one point. “The fact that I missed something, it’s disappointing,” Abrahamyan said. She still controls her own destiny, which she said is critical. “It’s very important because you have to worry about your game and the results of other games. [Staying within one point] greatly increases your chances.” Looking ahead, Abrahamyan gets white against Krush in round eight.
In other games, GM Yury Shulman just barely extended his somewhat ignominious drawing streak to 13 draws, which dates back to last year. The run is the third longest in U.S. Championship history. Today GM Varuzhan Akobian had him on the ropes. With all the chances in the middlegame, and transferring to a pawn-up endgame, Akobian was frustrated he did not earn the point. The king and pawn ending is fascinatingly complex, with Black often surviving by a mere tempo. After the game Akobian speculated that advancing the lagging e-pawn to e4 cost him the win. “I don’t know why I play it,” he said. “It was the 38th move (two moves before time control). I could have just played anything and thought more.”
GM Ray Robson won his second game in a row by beating GM Melik Khachiyan. Robson has now won all four games they have played. “Sometimes after you lose to somebody a few times, you get nervous,” Robson said. After a sluggish start with .5/3, Robson has won two in a row. He has chosen to play tennis the last two mornings instead of prepare. “Some players, I don’t know why, maybe because of how they look, I don’t do well against. Why does Federer always beat Nadal?” In this regard, Robson’s selective memory and prejudice toward the Swiss star showed. Rafael Nadal is actually 19-10 lifetime against Roger Federer.
2013 U.S. Championship Standings after Round 5
| Rank | Name | Score | M/F | Rating | TPR | W-We | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GM Kamsky, Gata | 4.5 | M | 2741 | 2884 | +0.61 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ |
| 2 | GM Onischuk, Alexander | 4.0 | M | 2666 | 2776 | +0.62 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 3 | GM Ramirez, Alejandro | 3.5 | M | 2551 | 2673 | +0.82 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | GM Benjamin, Joel | 3.5 | M | 2534 | 2807 | +1.83 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ |
| 5 | GM Gareev, Timur | 3.0 | M | 2674 | 2625 | -0.32 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 |
| 6 | GM Christiansen, Larry M | 3.0 | M | 2579 | 2667 | +0.61 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 7 | GM Holt, Conrad | 3.0 | M | 2513 | 2660 | +0.99 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ |
| 8 | FM Bryant, John Daniel | 3.0 | M | 2442 | 2647 | +1.38 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ |
| 9 | GM Robson, Ray | 2.5 | M | 2620 | 2519 | -0.67 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 10 | GM Akobian, Varuzhan | 2.5 | M | 2616 | 2510 | -0.70 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ |
| 11 | GM Shankland, Samuel L | 2.5 | M | 2612 | 2540 | -0.49 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 12 | GM Kaidanov, Gregory S | 2.5 | M | 2593 | 2477 | -0.78 | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ |
| 13 | GM Shulman, Yury | 2.5 | M | 2570 | 2524 | -0.30 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ |
| 14 | GM Stripunsky, Alexander | 2.5 | M | 2570 | 2513 | -0.38 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 15 | Norowitz, Yaacov | 2.5 | M | 2451 | 2568 | +0.79 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ |
| 16 | IM Troff, Kayden W | 2.5 | M | 2421 | 2565 | +0.90 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 |
| 17 | GM Hess, Robert L | 2.0 | M | 2595 | 2444 | -1.03 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 |
| 18 | GM Shabalov, Alexander | 2.0 | M | 2544 | 2511 | -0.24 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | GM Khachiyan, Melikset | 2.0 | M | 2518 | 2541 | +0.14 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 |
| 20 | GM Ivanov, Alexander | 1.5 | M | 2529 | 2393 | -0.92 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ |
| 21 | GM Finegold, Benjamin | 1.5 | M | 2505 | 2422 | -0.57 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ |
| 22 | FM Sammour-Hasbun, Jorge E. | 1.5 | M | 2463 | 2374 | -0.59 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 |
| 23 | FM Sevian, Samuel | 1.5 | M | 2371 | 2361 | -0.07 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 |
| 24 | GM Arnold, Marc T | 0.5 | M | 2538 | 2227 | -1.63 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2013 U.S. Women's Championship Standings after Round 5
| Rank | Name | Score | M/F | Rating | TPR | W-We | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | IM Krush, Irina | 5.0 | F | 2470 | 2982 | +1.17 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | WGM Abrahamyan, Tatev | 4.0 | F | 2280 | 2526 | +1.54 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ |
| 3 | IM Zatonskih, Anna | 3.5 | F | 2466 | 2427 | -0.14 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ |
| 4 | WGM Baginskaite, Camilla | 2.5 | F | 2278 | 2246 | -0.22 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ |
| 5 | WIM Zenyuk, Iryna | 2.5 | F | 2243 | 2278 | +0.23 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ |
| 6 | WGM Foisor, Sabina | 2.0 | F | 2300 | 2141 | -1.08 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 7 | WGM Belakovskaia, Anjelina | 2.0 | F | 2263 | 2247 | -0.14 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | WIM Ni, Viktorija | 2.0 | F | 2262 | 2207 | -0.41 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | WFM Kats, Alena | 1.5 | F | 2144 | 2169 | +0.10 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 |
| 10 | WFM Chiang, Sarah | 0.0 | F | 2098 | 1605 | -1.05 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Wednesday is the one and only rest day for all players. Some planned to walk, swim or simply sleep. Round six resumes Thursday at 1:00 p.m. Central, 2:00 p.m. Eastern. Tune in to www.uschesschamps.com for live grandmaster commentary of all the games.
GM Yury Shulman, off to 2.5/5 start, is hoping to secure his second U.S. Championship title.
By Brian Jerauld
How would you say that having a degree in business has influenced your strategies in chess, or vice versa?
I would say that being a GM helped me to get my MBA. I realized how to solve problems in the school projects by simply applying logic to it. The MBA helped me to understand that I should only do the things I am good at - playing and teaching chess, organizing chess events and never invest in anything else - like stocks and bonds!
You were already a Grandmaster before moving to the U.S. in 1999. How is championship chess different from Europe to North America?
I would say the chess playing level is similar in both parts of the world. I would just mention that I see the main difference in organization. Apart of the U.S. Championship and some other great tournaments, the level of chess tournament organization in general is incomparably higher in Europe rather than in the U.S. One round a day, opening and closing ceremony, equipment, friendliness of organizers, desire to make players feel welcome - those are just a few points which make European tournaments more desirable. Of course at the U.S. Championship we have all of it and more :)
You’ve also been involved in the Olympiad, both as a player and coach. Could you tell us about those experiences? And is the Olympiad like any other chess tournament, or was there a different approach?
The main difference between being a coach and a player is the point that when I am a coach of the U.S. team - we always beat Russia and when I am a player, we always score otherwise! Of course the Olympiad is an amazing opportunity for young players to play against the strongest players in the World. It is a great event and a very nice social experience since one can meet so many of his old and new friends.
Tell us about your Chess Without Borders program. What would you like to happen with chess in education in the future?
Chess Without Borders combines chess and philanthropy. We helped people around the World through chess, by donating chess sets and teaching kids and adults how to play. In addition to it we helped people who are even not so much involved in chess. One can find more information on www.shulmanchess.com I think the idea of involving chess as a part of curriculum in schools is a great idea. Chess after all is gymnastics for the brain.
How much longer do you plan to play competitively? Do you have chess plans in your future, after competition? Do you think you will write more books on chess.
I would like to play chess at least for enjoyment and to keep my mind exercised. I am not sure when I will retire or if I'll retire at all, but as long as I enjoy playing, I will be participating in tournaments. As for the book. Book... Hmmm... A great idea! So far I completed only one book "Chess! Lessons from a Grandmaster." But it is also available in ibook version on https://itunes.apple.com/us/
I am planning to work on a second part of it where we would teach 1000-1300 rated students.
With four wins in the first four rounds, GM Gata Kamsky is still in the running for the "$64K Fischer Prize" if he can win his final five games.
By FM Mike Klein
SAINT LOUIS (May 6, 2013) -- A pair of runaway trains kept up their furious pace in round four of the 2013 U.S. Championship and U.S. Women’s Championship, held at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis. Both tournament leaders, GM Gata Kamsky and IM Irina Krush, won their fourth consecutive games to maintain their respective leads.
Kamsky took black against the fearless upstart GM Conrad Holt, who kept up his usual stoicism despite his first-ever game against the three-time champion. Kamsky said after some opening troubles in his first three matches, he wanted to get back to his comfort zone. “I decided to play something I know,” Kamsky said. “In the opening white posed me no problems.”
The game swung and became more dynamic after white’s e-pawn lurched forward. “When he played e4 and I saw I could open my bishops, I thought, ‘Let’s have some fun.’” The top-rated player eventually decided upon a series of moves that actuated a landmine, but even without Holt's complicity, a draw was attainable. “I was really liking that he took my a-pawn,” he said about Holt’s bravado. “There are some traps. I had a feeling my opponent was playing for a win. I got lucky.” Kamsky explained that white’s 31st move was not losing per se, but it forced white to find 32. Qe2 Bxg2! 33. Kxg2 Rxa6 34. Qxa6 Nf4+ 35. exf4 Qe4+. Black, who has sacrificed the majority of his army, then forces a repetition.
This win puts Kamsky at 4-0, and still eligible for the $64,000 “Fischer Prize” for a perfect score. He is the only player to remain unblemished for this many rounds since the prize was first introduced in 2009. For his part, Kamsky insisted the award is so far-fetched, he did not even read the amount. “I heard something about if you go 9-0, you get something super-duper? But I don’t think it’s possible this day in age. Back in Fischer’s time it was possible.”
In the women’s tournament, pre-round leader Krush kept up her own streak. She dispatched three-time champion WGM Anjelina Belakovskaia in what Krush called an “interesting, strategic game.” The finish was worthy of an endgame study – Krush transitioned her favorable rook-and-pawn ending into a pawn race. While both pawns reach the finish line, Krush gets the move, and plays the simple tactic …Qh8+ and …Qg8+, skewering black’s final two pieces. Her veteran opponent saw the idea and resigned.
Unlike Kamsky, who increased his lead by a half-point, Krush could not pull any further away from the field thanks to WGM Tatev Abrahamyan’s continued sparkling play. She beat WIM Iryna Zenyuk in a tactical melee to move to 3.5/4. The Sicilian Dragon was all theory for about 20 moves. Abrahamyan said her preparation has been paying off in Saint Louis, but, she said, “It’s so easy to overanalyze something, hallucinate something.” The attack down the h-file was typical but brutal.
The game was the first of the day to finish in the women’s section. “Having a short game always helps you,” Abrahamyan said. “You have time to rest.” She will need it as she faces her toughest test so far in round five. Abrahamyan lines up with black against IM Anna Zatonskih. Historically, that is not such a bad offer. “I only beat her as black. I never beat her with white. The pressure is always on the higher-rated player.”
After losing a crucial game versus Krush yesterday, Zatonskih bounced back by besting WIM Viktorija Ni to get to 3/4. “It was difficult to win because she is such a solid chess player,” Zatonskih said. “Against someone who is lower-rated, you need to take some chances, and I know she is not feeling well.”
In the U.S. Championship, only FM John Bryant could have stayed within a half-point, but he never got in the game against GM Larry Christiansen. An early …Nc6 was summarily punished by the advance of white’s center pawns, and the passed d-pawn decided the game without issue. At two hours and 20 minutes, Christiansen’s win was the shortest game of the championship so far. “The game was in the bag pretty early,” he said. After the grueling defeat yesterday at the hands of Kamsky, Christiansen said today’s win was “just what the doctor ordered.” Previously he stated concern for his level of energy as the event progressed.
Christiansen’s win puts him on 3/4, but since he has already played the leader, he has to hope for a Kamsky misstep. Also tied for second standing are GMs Alex Onischuk and Joel Benjamin.
Onischuk won a wild middlegame against GM Alex Shabalov that featured seven passed pawns, the only pawns remaining on the board. Thinking it to be a notable achievement, Onischuk said it actually happened less than a month ago, to none other than Kamsky (against GM Alexander Morozevich). Like his Olympiad teammate, Onischuk scored the win, but only after a circuitous king walk that the disapproving computer alternated between winning and drawing for black. “We were both concerned,” Onischuk said, with the smile of a man who just got back from an adventure. “He played very creative. He finds so many amazing moves. Everyone knows that Shabba can only play this way, so I had expected this. When he’s in good form with the white pieces, he can just crush you.”
Benjamin’s win over GM Varuzhan Akobian was more restrained, and the win was a much more traditional endgame. His win nets him a date with black on the top board, as he becomes the next player to try to unseat Kamsky. Onischuk gets white against Christiansen on board two.
Neither GM Yury Shulman nor second-seeded GM Timur Gareev could muster a win, but Shulman’s method of securing a draw was visually appealing. He simply left his queen en prise, whilst simultaneously moving his knight to a square threatened by a pawn. Picturesque, yes, but not best. Instead, a simple trade of rooks and subsequent knight improvement would have given black problems. Strangely Gareev did not take the queen and repetition right away, leaving the door ajar for an even better variation for Shulman. After 26…Kh7? 27. Rxd4 cxd4 28. Ne7 Rf3 29. Kg2 would have given white a plus since 29…c5+ is met easily by 30. Ncd5. “If I had seen Kg2, I would have played it,” Shulman said. Instead, he only saw 29. Qe2, and was justifiably scared by 29…Rxf2+! “Intuition should have told me to play it.” The draw extends Shulman’s U.S. Championship unbeaten streak to 16 games, although he is not proud of the series since 15 of the games were drawn.
Also lurking are GMs Alejandro Ramirez and Sam Shankland, who both won in round four to get to 2.5/4. They will play each other in round five. Bryant and Holt get a brief respite from playing the veterans as they face each other next round.
Other interesting matchups include IM Sam Sevian against IM Kayden Troff, the two youngest players in the tournament (today was Troff’s 15th birthday and the release of a James Bond themed music video that he appears in). GM Ray Robson and Yaacov Norowitz both got their first wins today, while college students and good friends GM Robert Hess and GM Marc Arnold will play one another from the bottom of the tables.
2013 U.S. Championship Pairings: Round 5
| Table | White | Score | Rating | Black | Score | Rating | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GM Kamsky, Gata | 4.0 | 2741 | GM Benjamin, Joel | 3.0 | 2534 | |
| 2 | GM Onischuk, Alexander | 3.0 | 2666 | GM Christiansen, Larry M | 3.0 | 2579 | |
| 3 | GM Ramirez, Alejandro | 2.5 | 2551 | GM Shankland, Samuel L | 2.5 | 2612 | |
| 4 | FM Bryant, John Daniel | 2.5 | 2442 | GM Holt, Conrad | 2.5 | 2513 | |
| 5 | GM Gareev, Timur | 2.0 | 2674 | GM Shabalov, Alexander | 2.0 | 2544 | |
| 6 | GM Akobian, Varuzhan | 2.0 | 2616 | GM Shulman, Yury | 2.0 | 2570 | |
| 7 | Norowitz, Yaacov | 2.0 | 2451 | GM Kaidanov, Gregory S | 2.0 | 2593 | |
| 8 | GM Khachiyan, Melikset | 2.0 | 2518 | GM Robson, Ray | 1.5 | 2620 | |
| 9 | GM Stripunsky, Alexander | 1.5 | 2570 | FM Sammour-Hasbun, Jorge E. | 1.5 | 2463 | |
| 10 | FM Sevian, Samuel | 1.5 | 2371 | IM Troff, Kayden W | 1.5 | 2421 | |
| 11 | GM Ivanov, Alexander | 1.0 | 2529 | GM Finegold, Benjamin | 1.0 | 2505 | |
| 12 | GM Hess, Robert L | 1.0 | 2595 | GM Arnold, Marc T | 0.5 | 2538 |
Next up for Krush is black against winless WFM Sarah Chiang. Krush said that with Abrahamyan so close, she will not necessarily be playing for a draw as black. “I’m hungry. Every game you play to win.” With their looming matchup in round eight, Krush was asked if she was excited by the possibility of the two being separated by only a half-point going into that round. “Any person wants to see their lead increasing,” she said.
2013 U.S. Women's Championship Pairings: Round 5
| Table | White | Score | Rating | Black | Score | Rating | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | WFM Kats, Alena | 1.5 | 2144 | WGM Foisor, Sabina | 1.0 | 2300 | |
| 2 | WIM Zenyuk, Iryna | 2.0 | 2243 | WGM Baginskaite, Camilla | 2.0 | 2278 | |
| 3 | IM Zatonskih, Anna | 3.0 | 2466 | WGM Abrahamyan, Tatev | 3.5 | 2280 | |
| 4 | WGM Belakovskaia, Anjelina | 2.0 | 2263 | WIM Ni, Viktorija | 1.0 | 2262 | |
| 5 | WFM Chiang, Sarah | 0.0 | 2098 | IM Krush, Irina | 4.0 | 2470 |
Tune in tomorrow for round five, where the two chase packs will continue to try to reel in the leaders. Live grandmaster commentary can be found at www.uschesschamps.com at 1:00 p.m. Central, 2:00 p.m. Eastern.
GM Robert Hess is balancing chess with a full courseload at Yale and helping spearhead a new sports website: The Sports Quotient.
By Brian Jerauld
In the 2009 U.S. Championship, you came in as a wildcard and almost shocked the nation by taking second place, losing only to winner Hikaru Nakamura. You had another fantastic showing in 2011, but your performance was strangled by the tournament format. This year, the format is similar to the one used in 2009. Do you feel this is to your advantage? Tell us your thoughts and preferences on tournament formats.
My performance in 2009 was simply that: my performance in 2009. While I was very pleasantly surprised back then, I see no point in looking at that event as anything but one of my fondest memories. I honestly just enjoy playing at the CCSCSL – the atmosphere is amazing, the players are treated so well, and it’s an honor to have people rooting for me in the live audience (and my friends watching on live stream). The tournament format is secondary, as people will complain (and cheer) whether the event is nine rounds, 24 players or 12-person round robin. Objectively, I think the 12-player round-robin format was a good one, though it is disadvantageous to me (being a full-time student who can’t prepare, and doesn’t like to anyway).
You recently played in the March Masters at the Marshall Chess Club, but before that, your last tournament was over six months ago in August. How did you feel at Marshall? And what have you been doing during that hiatus? Yale can’t be keeping you that busy ...
The Marshall event was just to see if I remembered that knights move in L-shapes. Chess has not been a focal point of mine for a long while now, as school is my main priority. Yale keeps me incredibly busy, as do my extracurricular activities (I help with and play the many Yale intramural sports, I attend many Public Health Coalition events, and lounge around on my bed). Besides being what I’d consider a typical college student (well, minus the alcohol – I’m a thinker, not a drinker), i.e. doing tons of homework and hanging out with friends, I put many hours into TheSportsQuotient.com, the sports journalism site I help run.
I also spend a lot of time with my girlfriend, Sophie.
You were the 2010 recipient of the Samford Fellowship, an award that is well-represented in the player pool of the 2013 U.S. Championship. How did you use the benefits of that fellowship, and what has it done for your chess career?
I took a gap year between high school and college. I focused strictly on chess, competing in many international events. I took more lessons with my longtime coach, Grandmaster Miron Sher. I can’t stress enough how much Miron has influenced and helped me throughout my career, both before, during, and after I received the Fellowship
The Fellowship allowed me to become a stronger chess player, and at the beginning of last summer I had hit my peak rating (2639 FIDE). I was fortunate enough to qualify as a member of the U.S. team three times, and without the award and my subsequent year off from school, I never would have been able to play in these prestigious events. The Samford Fellowship allowed me the opportunity to achieve great success, and I would once again like to thank the committee, the Samford family, Barbara DeMaro. I’d also like to give a quick shout-out to my parents and siblings for all their love and support. Without them, I never would have been in contention for the award to begin with. And without my mom’s blessing to take a year off before starting at Yale, I never would have been able to optimally utilize the Fellowship.
Tell us about TheSportsQuotient.com ... and: Is chess a sport?
The Sports Quotient was molded to fill a void in the sports media space: smart young fans writing about sports. We wanted to read stuff by people like us, so we created a place where people could do so. And I think as we've come along, we've realized there are more people like us out there than we initially thought. Now the challenge is finding them.
To quote Zack Weiner, founder and CEO (and one of my best friends): “Why did we choose the internet as the space? We really had no other choice. If we had tried this 25 years ago, it wouldn't work. But this is what the internet ultimately does--connect people and ideas. And that's what we're all about. Really the SQ is a product of our era (technology) and our passion (sports).”
While all of our founders were chess players (myself, Zack Weiner, my brother, Leo Ernst), we don’t actually cover chess. The “is chess a sport” question is always asked. Do I think it is? It’s hard for me to consider it a sport, because when practicing you do nothing physical. Sure, the game itself takes a tremendous amount of endurance and mental strength, but it breaks down at the level of practice. It’s not a sport. Maybe a mental sport – I’ve heard it commonly referred to as the most extreme intellectual sport.
But why are we so eager to make it a sport? We just invite comparisons and naysayers. Why can’t chess just be chess? A beautiful game, in no need of being labeled a sport. That’s how I see it, at least. I enjoy playing the game, and don’t need it to be “validated” by being called a sport.
How does it feel to know you were drafted onto Fantasy Chess teams for this tournament? Did you draft yourself, or should that be considered faux pas?
I do not create fantasy chess teams, though I may this time around (a nice signed board sounds cool – it will make signing all of them until my hand is about to fall off seem even more worth it). Still probably won’t make one, but I think the concept is awesome. Even my friends who don’t play chess have made teams. The 2700 points you can use makes the system all the more interesting.
IM Irina Krush got the full point against her toughtest opponent, IM Anna Zatonskih, in round 3 of the U.S. Women's Championship.
By FM Mike Klein
SAINT LOUIS (May 6, 2013) -- Two premium matchups were the top layer on a chess cake that featured 13 winners in 17 games in round three of the 2013 U.S. Championship and U.S. Women’s Championship. The only two men with perfect scores, GMs Gata Kamsky and Larry Christiansen, took center stage for the main championship. The ladies enacted their yearly fan-favorite ritual of numbers one versus two – IMs Anna Zatonskih and Irina Krush.
Both games went into the sixth hour before two winners emerged. Both Krush and Zatonskih drained their clocks down to less than one minute before Zatonskih’s king was caught in a mating net and she resigned. The final dozen moves of the game, she could do nothing but shuttle her pieces aimlessly, waiting for Krush to find a plan to break through. “You can’t blame her,” Krush said. “She didn’t have much to do in that position.”
Prior to the passivity, Krush surprised Zatonskih out of the opening, playing the King’s Indian Defense as black for the first time since 2009. The two have played so many times in recent years; including tiebreaks, they have now logged ten games head-to-head in the last three championships. In recent years, Krush has trotted out a variety of defenses to Zatonskih’s 1. d4, including a Queen’s Gambit Accepted, Catalan, Pirc, Benoni, and another King’s Indian in 2008. “It’s actually pretty difficult to prepare for me because you don’t know what I’m going to do,” Krush said after listing her previous battles.
Whatever experience was needed to play her position, Krush said she found from her numerous games on the opposite side. “You might need to know 20 or 25 moves out of the opening. But you also need experience as white. Today we were both uncomfortable, but she mixed up two lines that I both play as white, so I knew the ideas.”
At some point, I’ve got five pieces on the g-file. And hey! I’ve still got a rook on the queenside! That’s a good sign when you haven’t lost anything over there.”
Finishing just minutes before was Kamsky-Christiansen. The underdog Christiansen promised to bring the fight to top-rated Kamsky, but after 75 moves of creative play, Kamsky liquidated the last of black’s drawing chances. “I missed some of his strong moves and I was thinking, ‘Damn, this is going to be a really, really hard game,’” Kamsky said. Still just days after flying back from a super-tournament in Switzerland, Kamsky said he chose to rest more than study. “I was sleeping all day and not really preparing. Against Larry, I knew we were going to play a long game.”
The win makes Kamsky the only player on 3-0 and thus the last contender for the $64,000 Fischer Prize for an unblemished 9-0 score.
Falling off the pace but still controlling her own destiny in the women’s tournament was WGM Tatev Abrahamyan. She managed to draw as black against WFM Alena Kats, who is playing more cogent chess in her second go-round in St. Louis. Abrahamyan now sits alone in second place with 2.5/3.
She will face WIM Iryna Zenyuk in round four, who won today over WIM Viktorija Ni to get to 2/3. She is starting well as she did last year (in 2012 she had 2.5/3). In the first three contests, Zenyuk said her opening preparation has been paying off, “but it seems my opponents know [the openings] too.” Today she liked her position but struggled to decide when and how to open the pawn structure on the kingside. “I thought I had a comfortable edge the whole game, but then we got into a time scramble and it got crazy.” Both kings looked perilously close to being mated before the dust settled and Zenyuk’s extra pawns decided the issue for good.
WGM Anjelina Belakovskaia was the final player to retain a plus score today, as she got by WFM Sarah Chiang to also move to 2-1. Belakovskaia has arguably the toughest tournament beginning of anyone. Having already played Zatonskih as black in round one, her next big test comes tomorrow as she again gets black against front-runner Krush. WGM Sabina Foisor and Chiang will both try to get their first points of the event as they square off in round four.
The other big story coming from the U.S. Championship is undoubtedly the performance of two unheralded players. Collegiate GM Conrad Holt and FM John Bryant, both playing in their first championship, both scored their second upset wins to move to 2.5/3. The reward? In round four Holt will get white against Kamsky on board one, while Bryant “escapes” but still will be challenged mightily with black against Christiansen. To put the experience gap in perspective, together Kamsky and Christiansen have 34 appearances and six titles against Holt and Bryant’s three days in St. Louis. The total all-time games count is 359-6.
Today Holt dispatched GM Alejandro Ramirez in a Benko Gambit. Holt said he was surprised at the opening choice, precisely because Ramirez is such an aficionado. “He’s played tons of Benko Gambits,” Holt said. “He’s made a DVD about it. I thought he would want to surprise me.” At the end, both players are about to promote, but according to Holt “his king is completely toast.”
The galloping start has also surprised the newly-minted grandmaster. “All the time I start bad in tournaments,” he said. Like the other college students, who are mostly scuffling, Holt has plenty of school work due these next few weeks. His three finals and timed exam, to be taken on the tournaments only rest day, are not getting in the way for now.
Bryant, who miraculously escaped against one GM in round two, outplayed the veteran GM Gregory Kaidanov today. Though the Marshall Gambit has the potential to inflict pain on white’s king, Bryant said he never feared his position and welcomed the opening. He had only played against it once before (against fellow U.S. Championship player IM Sam Sevian) but declined the pawn offer that time. Since then, he has studied how to play the main lines. “Before this tournament I went back and looked at it,” he said. “I just thought I was never in trouble. I just think that white must have some advantage in any case.” Asked if he thought first place, his lofty pre-tournament goal, was becoming more attainable, Bryant replied, “I’m a moody player and the mood is really good right now.”
His exchange sacrifice 25. Rxd6 wrested the initiative away from black, while the pretty 30. f5! highlighted the coordination of white’s forces. Black resigned without waiting for tactics on the c-file to come to fruition.
Besides Christiansen, four other top GMs got themselves to 2-1 with positive results today. GM Alex Shabalov won his second in a row, with much less luck needed. After finding a tactic in an otherwise losing position yesterday, and spoiling his game in round one against Kamsky, Shabalov won today against Sevian without as much seesawing. Still, it did require two queens, but that is “typical Shabalov” Zenyuk said. “The loss against Gata was a bitter pill to swallow,” Shabalov said of the start to his tournament. He then was outplayed in the opening by FM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun yesterday, so he was not about to overlook his 12-year-old opponent today. “He’s a sensation this tournament,” Shabalov said. “Believe me, I was dead serious this game.” After narrowly avoiding a 0-2 start, Shabalov is back in the chase pack.
Two other pre-tournament favorites getting back into the hunt were third-seeded GMs Alex Onischuk and sixth-seeded Varuzhan Akobian. Onischuk had an equal game but broke through with his queen and bishop against GM Ben Finegold. In the final position, every piece of Onischuk’s occupied a dark square while all of Finegold’s army languished on the light squares.
Akobian handed IM Kayden Troff his second loss in a row. In other action, GM Joel Benjamin held second-seeded GM Timur Gareev to a solid draw. Past winner GM Yury Shulman proved his French Defense was once again impregnable, as GM Melik Khachiyan spend several hours preparing but said he could not find any way to combat it; the two played a static draw.
The only other winner was Sammour-Hasbun, who took the full point after losing his two opening games. “I was thinking how much talent I have at losing good positions,” he said. “It’s just a tough tournament. These guys don’t give anything for free. Today my goal was just to not lose. I said, ‘Please, not 0-3.’”
For round four live coverage and grandmaster commentary, tune in to www.uschesschamps.com at 1:00 Central, 2:00 p.m. Eastern.
2013 U.S. Championship Pairings: Round 4
| Table | White | Score | Rating | Black | Score | Rating | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GM Holt, Conrad | 2.5 | 2513 | GM Kamsky, Gata | 3.0 | 2741 | |
| 2 | GM Christiansen, Larry M | 2.0 | 2579 | FM Bryant, John Daniel | 2.5 | 2442 | |
| 3 | GM Shabalov, Alexander | 2.0 | 2544 | GM Onischuk, Alexander | 2.0 | 2666 | |
| 4 | GM Benjamin, Joel | 2.0 | 2534 | GM Akobian, Varuzhan | 2.0 | 2616 | |
| 5 | GM Shulman, Yury | 1.5 | 2570 | GM Gareev, Timur | 1.5 | 2674 | |
| 6 | GM Shankland, Samuel L | 1.5 | 2612 | GM Stripunsky, Alexander | 1.5 | 2570 | |
| 7 | GM Kaidanov, Gregory S | 1.5 | 2593 | GM Khachiyan, Melikset | 1.5 | 2518 | |
| 8 | GM Ramirez, Alejandro | 1.5 | 2551 | GM Hess, Robert L | 1.0 | 2595 | |
| 9 | GM Finegold, Benjamin | 1.0 | 2505 | Norowitz, Yaacov | 1.0 | 2451 | |
| 10 | FM Sammour-Hasbun, Jorge E. | 1.0 | 2463 | FM Sevian, Samuel | 1.0 | 2371 | |
| 11 | IM Troff, Kayden W | 1.0 | 2421 | GM Ivanov, Alexander | 0.5 | 2529 | |
| 12 | GM Robson, Ray | 0.5 | 2620 | GM Arnold, Marc T | 0.5 | 2538 |
2013 U.S. Women's Championship Pairings: Round 4
| Table | White | Score | Rating | Black | Score | Rating | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | WGM Foisor, Sabina | 0.0 | 2300 | WFM Chiang, Sarah | 0.0 | 2098 | |
| 2 | IM Krush, Irina | 3.0 | 2470 | WGM Belakovskaia, Anjelina | 2.0 | 2263 | |
| 3 | WIM Ni, Viktorija | 1.0 | 2262 | IM Zatonskih, Anna | 2.0 | 2466 | |
| 4 | WGM Abrahamyan, Tatev | 2.5 | 2280 | WIM Zenyuk, Iryna | 2.0 | 2243 | |
| 5 | WGM Baginskaite, Camilla | 1.5 | 2278 | WFM Kats, Alena | 1.0 | 2144 |