2012 U.S. Championships News

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 38^th 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

2013 U.S. Women's Championship Standings after Round 5

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.

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 31^st 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 15^th 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

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

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.