2012 U.S. Championships News
SAINT LOUIS, MO (February 3, 2015) -- The recent and undeniable chess swell felt around the nation rises to serve one epic event: the fight for the American throne.
In April, the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis will bring together one of the strongest fields ever to compete for the national title, 12 of America's top Grandmasters who combine for a 2732 rating average. The 2015 U.S. Championship will be held in St. Louis from March 31 through April 14, simultaneously alongside 12 of the nation’s top females in the 2015 U.S. Women’s Championship.
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2015 U.S. Championship Field |
2015 U.S. Women’s Championship Field |
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GM Gata Kamsky (U.S. Champion) |
GM Irina Krush (U.S. Champion) |
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GM Hikaru Nakamura (Rating) |
WGM Anna Sharevich (Rating) |
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GM Wesley So (Rating) |
WGM Tatev Abrahamyan (Rating) |
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GM Ray Robson (Rating) |
WGM Sabina Foisor (Rating) |
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GM Alex Onischuk (Rating) |
WGM Katerina Nemcova (Rating) |
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GM Daniel Naroditsky (Rating) |
IM Nazi Paikidze (Rating) |
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GM Sam Shankland (Rating) |
FM Alisa Melekhina (Rating) |
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GM Varuzhan Akobian (Rating) |
IM Rusudan Goletiani (Rating) |
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GM Timur Gareev (Rating) |
WIM Viktorija Ni (Rating) |
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GM Kayden Troff (US Junior Champion) |
WIM Annie Wang (Wildcard) |
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GM Conrad Holt (US Open Champion) |
NM Apurva Virkud (Wildcard) |
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GM Sam Sevian (Wildcard) |
WFM Jennifer Yu (Wildcard) |
Half of this year’s championship field features players ranked among the top 100 in the world, including two in the top 10. The 2015 U.S. title fight will feature the first highly anticipated clash between world No. 10 and longtime U.S. No. 1 GM Hikaru Nakamura and GM Wesley So, the U.S. Chess Federation’s most-recent acquisition who is currently peaked as the world’s No. 7 player.
Neither globetrotter will be able to look past an incredible cross-section of American chess, beginning with five-time U.S. Champion GM Gata Kamsky, who seeks his third-straight national title and fifth in the past six years. Also representing the top players in the world is GM Sam Shankland, America’s star gold-medalist from the 2014 Chess Olympiad; two-time collegiate champion GM Ray Robson; and GM Alex Onischuk.
Six-time U.S. Women’s Champion GM Irina Krush seeks to maintain an iron grip over an up-and-coming field of American females, including the U.S. youngest master, 12-year-old WIM Annie Wang; and the reigning U12 World Junior Champion, WFM Jennifer Yu. Newly added to the U.S. Women’s Championship this year is the $64,000 Fischer Bonus, awarded to any player who can match Bobby Fischer’s legendary 11-0 score in the 1963-64 U.S. Championship.
The 2015 U.S. Championships will be streamed live on www.uschesschamps.com, again featuring play-by-play and analysis from the world-renowned commentary team of GM Yasser Seirawan, GM Maurice Ashley and WGM Jennifer Shahade. Live spectators may also take in the action in the upstairs tournament hall of the CCSCSL, which offers additional on-site GM-led commentary as well as food catering included with ticket purchase. Additional event, ticketing and hotel information may be found here.
GM Hikaru Nakamura upheld his reputation as one of the world's finest blitz players on Tuesday afternoon, scoring 9.5 times in 16 games with Levon Aronian on Tuesday afternoon. With the round victory, Nakamura wins the Showdown in Saint Louis.
American super Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura stood victorious in his nation’s centerpoint, using a furious blitz offensive in the final round of the Showdown in Saint Louis to earn its $60,000 winner’s purse.
Nakamura fell back on his instincts Tuesday afternoon, peppering Armenian heavyweight GM Levon Aronian with 9.5 points across 16 games of Blitz chess in the fifth round. The speed attack tipped the Showdown’s scorecard just before its last bell, after the match had entered Tuesday’s final round tied after four Classical games of chess. Nakamura and Aronian traded wins in the first two rounds, then fought to a pair of draws.
In his post-game interview, Aronian admitted the 3-minute, 2-second-increment time control had often served as kryptonite in his blitzing history, perhaps revealed by his clock falling tragically behind in nearly every game played at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis. The American, however, looked comfortable in his zone on Tuesday, upholding his reputation as one of the chess world’s fastest thinkers. The earth’s second highest-rated Blitz player perhaps showcased his talents best in the round’s opening game -- first hanging his queen, then stunning Aronian with a rook-and-two-knights checkmate. Nakamura eventually won the round with six wins, besting Aronian’s three. They drew seven times.
Aronian, ranked as the World No. 4 Blitz player, earned $40,000 for his efforts in the Showdown.
Watch the Showdown in Saint Louis' Tuesday Blitz, and each of the match's first four classical games with Grandmaster commentary, on the event's video replay page.
A second draw in Monday's fourth Classical game kept the Showdown in Saint Louis tied entering the final day of the match. Tuesday's fifth round will settle the score with 16 games of Blitz chess, with the winner claiming a king's share of the $100,000 prize purse.
Grandmasters Hikaru Nakamura and Levon Aronian have each landed an uppercut, and both world heavyweights have dodged another. Now it’s time for the flurry.
Monday’s fourth round of the Showdown in Saint Louis, the last game of the match in Classical time control, quickly fizzled into an opposite-colored bishop endgame and drew after just 30 moves. The quick result keeps the head-to-head match between two of the world’s top-ten tied up, with just Tuesday’s round remaining to settle the score.
This afternoon, 16 games of Blitz chess -- featuring a time control of 3 minutes, with 2-second increment per-move -- will decide the winner of the Showdown in Saint Louis. The round’s first jab will be thrown at 2:00 p.m. St. Louis time, and a new game will begin every 15 minutes. The winner will be awarded a 60-percent share of the Showdown’s $100,000 purse, and the exciting match conclusion can be watched live at www.uschesschamps.com.
Monday’s game featured the same line of the English that Aronian had used with the white pieces in Round 2 -- though this time, without the Nakamura misstep in the endgame. Round 4 featured a sharp, tightrope-walking middlegame, with Nakamura’s queen looking dangerously cramped in the middle of the board with 11... Qc5, though the American super Grandmaster would eventually find his way through to the half-point.
Nakamura vs. Aronian Round 4 Analysis by GM Yasser Seirawan
Armenian super GM Levon Aronian dodged Hikaru Nakamura's attack in Sunday's third round of the Showdown in Saint Louis, leaving the match tied with one Classical game remaining. Tuesday's final round will feature 16 games of Blitz.
We’ve passed the point of backing down in the Showdown in Saint Louis.
Super Grandmaster Levon Aronian came out in an admittedly playful mood in the third round of the Showdown in Saint Louis, the Armenian fleet with his moves and looking to dance through a lesser-known line of the Grunfeld on Sunday afternoon. But American No. 1 Hikaru Nakamura wasn’t looking for grace, shaking off any initial surprise from Aronian’s opening choice and charging forward with an aggressive 10. e5 and 11. h4 to spin the game into a sharp tactical fight.
But Aronian deftly parried all of Nakamura’s intentions, carefully handling the American’s initiative and dissolving the game into a lifeless rook-and-pawn endgame before the game’s 40-move time control.
The draw keeps the Showdown in Saint Louis knotted after three rounds, with one victory claimed by each heavyweight before Sunday’s draw. For scoring purposes, each classical game counts as four points, leaving the match tied at 6-6 with Monday’s fourth round bringing the final classical time control. Tuesday’s final round will feature 16 games of Blitz, each scoring one match point apiece.
Nakamura vs. Aronian Round 3 Analysis by GM Maurice Ashley
In the Showdown’s surrounding GM/IM norm invitational events at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis, GM-elect Sam Sevian -- who just crested FIDE 2500 on Saturday night as his final title requirement -- will apparently not be relinquishing headlines of the GM section. After winning his first four games, Sevian added 1.5/2 on Sunday -- including a win over GM Ben Finegold, Sevian’s third point collected from GMs in the event -- to take lethal control of the standings.
In the IM norm section, FIDE Master M. William Brown also turned in a 1.5/2 Sunday to distance himself in clear first and move closer to achieving an International Master norm.
Sam Sevian became the record-setting, youngest-ever American Grandmaster, a title once held by Bobby Fischer, during the CCSCSL Invitational on Saturday Night.
The 13-year-old Sam Sevian -- or, for history’s sake: 13 years, 10 months and 27 days-old Sam Sevian -- just dropped the bar on one of America’s highest records.
On Saturday night at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis, Sevian toppled International Master Andrei Gorovets in the fourth round of the Club’s invitational norm event -- for a win that proved far less-important than the moment. The rating boost he received from the victory, his fourth-consecutive win of the event, pushed Sevian past a FIDE 2500 rating, notching the last requirement needed to achieve chess’ most-elite title.
Sevian set the new record for the youngest American Grandmaster in history, besting the record previously set by Webster University star Ray Robson by nearly a full year. Sevian had already achieved all of his necessary Grandmaster norms, his third coming at the Washington International earlier this year, and needed only for his rating to crest FIDE’s necessary watermark to earn the elite title. The completion of all requirements immediately dubbed Sevian as “GM-elect,” with the official title to be approved at the next FIDE Congress.
Setting a special footnote to the moment was the presence of GM Hikaru Nakamura, also at the CCSCSL for a headlining match against World No. 4 GM Levon Aronian. Nakamura was a previous holder of the record Sevian now owns, lifting it from the legendary Bobby Fischer by three months.
Armenia's pride Grandmaster Levon Aronian evened the score for the Showdown in Saint Louis, taking advantage of an endgame misstep by Hikaru Nakamura on Saturday evening.
Hit me once, and I’ll hit you back.
The gloves have come off in Saint Louis, where Levon Aronian hit back hard in the second round to even the score against fellow super Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura. Aronian had stumbled with an awkward rook retreat in Friday's first round -- but on Saturday, it was the American’s turn to flinch.
Nakamura slipped with 38...a5 in a knight-versus-bishop endgame dripping in variations, allowing White a b-pawn passer that would never be defended. The misstep led to Aronian’s first knockout of the five-round Showdown in Saint Louis, with both players winning their first game as white.
Round 3 at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis will begin at 2:00 p.m. local on Sunday afternoon, one of only two Classical games left in the match. Tuesday’s fifth round will feature 16 games of Blitz, ultimately deciding the majority cut of the $100,000 purse.
Nakamura vs. Aronian Round 2 Analysis by WGM Jennifer Shahade