2012 U.S. Championships News
GM Hikaru Nakamura will lead the U.S. team into battle against the World at the 40th World Chess Olympiad in Istanbul, Turkey.
SAINT LOUIS (July 11, 2012) -- With two players ranked in the top 15 in the world, the United States will be well represented for the upcoming 2012 World Chess Olympiad, scheduled to be held in Istanbul, Turkey, August 27 through September 10.
The City of Saint Louis also will be well represented this year as two of the five players selected for this prestigious honor, and one of the coaches, will all call Saint Louis home this fall.
Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura, currently ranked No. 7 in the world, is the reigning U.S. Champion and a Saint Louis resident. He will lead one of the strongest teams the U.S. has ever assembled alongside Grandmaster Gata Kamsky, a three-time U.S. Champion who is currently ranked No. 14 in the world.
Grandmasters Alexander Onischuk and Varuzhan Akobian will hold down boards three and four, respectively.
Grandmaster Ray Robson, 17, is moving to Saint Louis in the fall to join Susan Polgar’s national champion collegiate chess team at Webster University. He will fill in as the alternate for the other four players and will help them prepare each day for their upcoming competition.
The players will be coached by Grandmaster Ben Finegold, the resident grandmaster at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis, and Grandmaster Yury Shulman.
The World Chess Olympiad is a biennial event organized by FIDE, the World Chess Organization, that pits countries from all over the world against one another in a team competition. Teams of four compete against one another, all vying to earn a gold, silver or bronze medal for their respective countries. The 2012 World Chess Olympiad in Istanbul marks the 40th installment of this event, and 166 different countries will be competing.
SAINT LOUIS (July 16, 2012) – In the closing ceremony last night, the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis (CCSCSL) crowned International Master Marc Arnold, 19, of New York City, the 2012 U.S. Junior Chess Champion.
The Junior Closed Championship is an invitation-only tournament that features the top chess players in the nation under the age of 21. Alongside the U.S. Championship and U.S. Women’s Championship, the Junior Closed Championship completes the “Triple Crown” of the three most prestigious chess tournaments in the country.
“I’m honored to have won this tournament because the competition was really tough,” said Arnold. “I’m looking forward to getting a chance to come back to Saint Louis to compete with the nation’s best at the U.S. Championship next year.”
Arnold beat out 16 other players in a split round-robin tournament with a playoff final to clinch the title and the first-place prize of $4,000. As the winner of the U.S. Junior Closed Championship, Arnold will also receive an invitation to the 2013 U.S. Chess Championship, which is scheduled to be held in Saint Louis next year.
“Marc did an amazing job and fought hard throughout the entire tournament,” said Tony Rich, executive director of the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis. “Our hope is that his passion for the game and the amazing sportsmanship he has demonstrated will encourage and inspire other young chess players across the country to become more active.”
According to the USCF’s current rating supplement, Arnold was ranked first by rating out of the 16 competitors and was considered one of the favorites coming into the tournament. The 16 players were split into two groups of eight, and the winner of each section squared off in a head-to-head playoff for the title. Arnold went undefeated in his round-robin section, scoring five points out of seven games, to secure his spot in the playoff finals.
Arnold defeated Alec Getz of New York City, who was the winner of the other round-robin section, in a two-game playoff final. Getz, who received $3,000 for second place, entered the tournament ranked ninth out of the 16 players and exceeded expectations by winning his section over a number of higher-rated players.
The junior tournament’s winnings for first through last place totaled $18,000.
The championship match between Getz and Arnold began shortly after round seven. Getz drew for colors and secured white in the first game. He employed the sharp Keres Attack in a Sicilian Scheveningen. The players followed a rapid game between Vassily Ivanchuk and Alexander Morozevich from the Melody Amber tournament in 2008 until Getz played the relatively unknown 9. Qf3. A tense position was reached just before move 14, where it appeared a typically swashbuckling attack would ensue; however, Getz released the tension on the kingside with 14. Bxg5, and after a few trades, he reached an equal endgame that was drawn by move 41.
Getz played the King’s Indian in the second game, and Arnold responded with the popular Petrosian system. He punished Getz swiftly for the provocative 10…h5, picking up material with 14. Rxh5 and mounting an attack to boot. Queens came off the board with Arnold up a pawn in a dominant position. When Arnold played 23.Bh5, skewering Getz's rooks, it looked like he had many paths to victory. He eschewed all complications with simplifying moves like 26.Rxg7 and the solid 27.f3 (instead of 27.bxc4). When the smoke cleared, Arnold was a full three pawns ahead, and Getz resigned after 37 moves.
Arnold has had an incredibly successful summer so far—our new U.S. Junior Champion also earned a GM norm a couple weeks ago at the World Open in Philadelphia. He will return to Saint Louis next year to compete in the 2013 U.S. Championship.
CCSCSL Executive Director Tony Rich and WGM Jennifer Shahade contributed to this report.
The 2012 U.S. Junior Closed Championship field has narrowed to just two as the Round Robins ended with some excitement.
Despite his half point lead heading into the final round, Victor Shen was unable to get much from the opening against Atulya Shetty’s a6 Slav. In fact, Shetty was able to surprise everyone with the sacrifice 14… Bxh3! As Bobby Fischer would call it, “a bolt from the blue”. Clearly Shen was feeling the pressure and missed a chance to equalize around move 20 after some inaccurate play by Shetty. Victor’s 22. Nxd5 was a big mistake and Atulya went on to win quickly.
Shen’s only hope would be for both Conrad Holt and Alec Getz to draw or lose, but neither was feeling particularly accommodating. Each went on to win against their opponents – Will Fisher and Jeffrey Xiong respectively. Adding insult to injury, it turns out that Shen would have won the spot in the championship matchs over both Getz and Holt had he tied for first.
As it turns out, it was FM Alec Getz whose tiebreaks were best; he advanced into the championship match as the winner of the A group. Missing out by the narrowest of margins, Conrad Holt was equal on the first two tiebreaks (direct encounter and most blacks), losing out only on his Koya System score. The fateful result was Getz’s victory over FM Jeffrey Xiong in round four, whereas Holt was only able to draw him.
Joining Getz in the championship match was IM Marc Arnold. His victory in the B group was smooth sailing as he maintained his first-place position from round one. Marc drew with Kayden Troff quickly in the last round to clench first and to rest before round one of the match.
Even with first place out of reach for the remainder of the field, the games continued to be exciting and uncompromising. Justus Williams scored again – this time with the black pieces against Eric Rosen. Williams broke Rosen’s Maroczy Bind, and with his superb activity, was able to drum up unstoppable threats against Eric’s king.
Saint Louis’ own Kevin Cao also won the longest game of the round against Raven Sturt. True to style, Kevin played tactically and was rewarded on move 51 when Sturt cracked under the pressure. Kevin wove his pieces around the black king until the mating net was tight and Sturt resigned on move 56. This victory left Kevin with 3.5 points from 7 games and tied for 4th.
The championship match between Alec Getz and Marc Arnold began shortly after round seven. Getz drew for colors and secured white in the first game and employed the sharp Keres Attack in a Sicilian Scheveningen. The players followed a rapid game between Ivanchuk and Morozevich from the Melody Amber tournament in 2008 until Getz played the relatively unknown 9. Qf3. A tense position was reached just before move 14, where it appeared a typically swashbuckling attack would ensue; however, Alec released the tension on the kingside with 14. Bxg5, and after a few trades, he reached an equal endgame that was drawn by move 41.
Tune in tomorrow morning at 11am CST to see the exciting finale of the 2012 U.S. Junior Closed Championship at uschesschamps.com.
As the 2012 U.S. Junior Closed Championship winds down, the action is heating up; the competitors are feeding off the pressure as the race to first draws near to create some amazing games! As expected, the tournament has produced very few draws – just 14 in total.
Victor Shen continues to play well and leads the field in the A group. A victory in round seven against Atulya Shetty will guarantee him a spot in the playoffs against the winner of the B group. In round five, Shen dispatched Matthew Michalides from the white side of a Ragozin Queen’s Gambit Declined. Using a pretty tactic based around forking Matthew’s king and queen with Ne7+, Victor was able to win a pawn in the opening. His continued pressure and blacks weak pawns ensured victory.
In an exciting round six game, Shen was paired against top seed (and point leader) IM Conrad Holt. Shen fought tenaciously but found himself in a difficult position. He continued to defend patiently, and despite the pressure, Holt was unable to find a breakthrough. After sacrificing the exchange on move 26, things started going wrong for Conrad, who was left without compensation for the material deficit at time control. Shen pressed a victory from the exchange-up endgame, leaving him half a point ahead of his nearest rival after six rounds.
IM Alec Getz stumbled against Darwin Yang in the penultimate round yet remains in the hunt, tied with Conrad Holt at four points and just half a point behind Victor Shen. Getz, who started the event ranked fourth in the A group, demonstrated some clear talent throughout the event.
Will Fisher inched off the baseboard with a solid draw in round five against Alec Getz. Fisher, who has fared poorly in the tournament, seemed to play for the draw from move one. He repeated the position around move 19, tacitly offering the draw. In a fighting spirit, Getz varied his play and was able to win the bishop pair; however, the weaknesses on the light squares around his king kept the position balanced and they drew at the time control.
Jeffrey Xiong split the day with one win and one loss. His victory came in round five against Darwin Yang, who seems to be struggling this tournament. Xiong employed the sharp Albin Counter Gambit, and with a temporary queen sacrifice on move 15, won a piece and the game.
Despite two back-to-back losses against the top seeds, Atulya Shetty rebounded with a victory over Jeffrey Xiong in round six. Jeffrey sacrificed a pawn in the opening, but was unable to drum up any real initiative. Finding himself in a worse position, Xiong went all-in with 21… b5, which simply hastened the end.
In the B group, IM Marc Arnold continues to be in good form, despite his shaky draw in round five against NM Justus Williams. Arnold rebounded in the sixth round and quickly dispatched FM Eric Rosen, leaving him in clear first in the B group. He heads into the last round a full point ahead of his nearest rivals – Robert Perez and Daniel Naroditsky.
Justus Williams continues to earn his keep, drawing the top two seeds in the past two rounds. Williams missed the win against Marc Arnold in the fifth round, but played solidly in the sixth to hold Daniel Naroditsky to a draw.
In a heartbreaking defeat, Kayden Troff’s hopes at first were dashed in round six against Raven Sturt. In a balanced endgame, Troff blundered with 40. Rb6, allowing a rook sacrifice and mate in two.
Will tournament leaders Marc Arnold and Victor Shen be able to maintain their perch atop the field and enter the playoffs this evening? Tune in to www.uschesschamps.com to follow the action live and find out!
The action heated up today in the 2012 U.S. Junior Closed Championship as players once again demonstrated their fighting spirit. Pre-tournament favorites Conrad Holt, Darwin Yang and Marc Arnold hover near the top of the field.
Round three saw decisive action in half of the games, while the other half were hard fought draws. Matthew Michaelides chalked up his first half-point against NM Atulya Shetty. After the game, IM Marc Arnold commented that Michaelides should have been winning at some point. He won a pawn on move 28, and black’s pawn on g2 seemed doomed to fall, which it finally did just before the time control. Despite the two-pawn advantage, the game remained level thanks to Shetty’s pressure on the queenside. Michaelides real chance came when black played 44. h6?, when 45. Kd6, followed by maneuvering the knight to attack c6 should be decisive.
IM Conrad Holt squared off against FM Alec Getz, and the game seemed destined for a relatively placid draw. However, Holt tried to spice things up on the queenside, but found his kingside pawns threadbare and reached a critical position by move 36. After developing a beautiful kingside initiative, Getz misstepped just before time control and his advantage evaporated.
Will Fisher versus Darwin Yang was a fairly balanced Classical French until Fisher blundered terribly on move 38, allowing a mating attack against his exposed king. Fisher, who was on fire in the U.S. Chess League with an amazing 9.5 points out of 10 in the 2011 season, has not fared well in this tournament, losing all four rounds thus far. In chatting with him, Will mentioned being under the weather, which will hopefully turn around as he goes into the fifth round tomorrow.
Wildcard Justus Williams raked in his first point in round three with a relatively one-sided battle against NM Raven Sturt. Williams has received a great deal of attention as he quickly climbs the chess rankings. He has been featured in a documentary entitled "Brooklyn Castle" and was a star on "Xtreme Chess" – the miniseries covering top scholastic chess players throughout the country. Justus has even made MSNBC's "Top 100 Black Celebrities" list (Number 40); expect many great things from this young phenom.
In round three, Eric Rosen upset second-seed Daniel Naroditsky, who was clearly shaken after the game. Rosen sacrificed everything he could find and at one point was down a rook for a pawn. Eric kept up the pressure, and when the dust settled on move 50, he found himself up a pawn in a rook endgame, which he converted handily.
The action continued unabated in round four, with young Jeffrey Xiong defeating Will Fisher. Xiong repeated his Panov Attack in the Caro Kann from round three, but this time had something to bite on. Fisher weakened his kingside prematurely and Jeffrey’s kingside attack broke through.
The point leaders in the A-group squared off, as Alec Getz surveyed an offbeat line against Victor Shen’s Sicilian. White appeared to be in a lot of trouble, but as the tactics flew, Getz came out on top. Getz was seeded in the middle of the pack by rating, yet sits a half point ahead of his nearest rival, IM Conrad Holt as the players go into round 5 tomorrow.
Atulya Shetty versus Darwin Yang was wild from move one, with both players clearly aiming for the jugular. However, it was Yang’s attack that broke through first as he clinched the full point. This was a much-needed win for Yang, bringing him closer to the coveted first-place.
Eric Rosen scored an impressive victory over Robert Perez in the fourth round. With his perfect 2-0 score for the day, Eric jumps to equal second with Kayden Troff and Kevin Cao. Having clearly found his form, Eric will be looking to polish off Raven Sturt and Marc Arnold tomorrow.
Saint Louisan Kevin Cao routed Justus Williams on the black side of a Catalan. His 1.5/2 today was good enough to launch him into shared second in the B-group.
As the finish line draws near, the hunt for first races on. Tune in to uschesschamps.com to follow the games and enjoy the live commentary by GM Ben Finegold and FM Aviv Friedman, starting at 11am.
The 2012 U.S. Junior Closed Championship began yesterday with exciting games, excellent analysis by the commentators and a spectacular will to win amongst all competitors. After two rounds, FM Alec Getz leads group A, and there is a four-way tie for first in group B. Round one began promptly at 11 a.m. with an exciting matchup between the top-two seeds in the A-group, IM Conrad Holt and IM Darwin Yang.
The Classical Nimzo Indian was on the menu, and the players quickly reached a blocked position that seemed destined for a draw. However, after careful maneuvering and patient play, Holt traded to an endgame with two bishops versus two corralled knights. Demonstrating his excellent technique, Holt pressured the kingside, leaving Yang in zugzwang – unable to move a single piece without conceding more ground. Yang capitulated after 79 moves.
It was obvious from the start that each player had the focused determination necessary to win such a strong tournament, demonstrated by the fact that all games but one were decisive. Even the draw between Eric Rosen of Chicago and Kayden Troff of West Jordan, Utah was a nail-biting affair; Troff reached a pawn-up endgame after 25 moves but went astray just before time control, sacrificing a bishop to open lines against Rosen’s king. Sharing the pressure of the clock, Rosen failed to capitalize on his advantage and the game was drawn after 66 moves.
Round two saw similar excitement. At 11 years old, FM Jeffrey Xiong is the youngest competitor in the tournament, but was able to show some real chess maturity in his game versus top-seed IM Conrad Holt. Xiong, playing with the white pieces, transposed into a Caro Kann - Panov Attack and cruised to an easy draw. Perhaps one of the most useful themes to study in chess is how to play either side of an Isolated Queen Pawn position, and it was clear that Xiong is well-learned in such positions.
The longest game in round two was National Master Robert Perez of Texas against fellow NM Raven Sturt of New York. It was a back-and-forth battle with winning chances for both sides. After the game Sturt said he was in big trouble at some point, but fought hard to hold the draw. In fact, Perez had a winning advantage around move 82, but queen endgames are notoriously difficult, and with little time, he was unable to see the winning line. With 90. a7, Perez was no longer able to stop the perpetual check and the game ended in a draw after 112 moves.
Local master Kevin Cao racked a point on the scoreboard by defeating Eric Rosen in round two. After a sharp Taimanov Sicilian, white’s initiative had all but disappeared until Rosen blundered with 27. e5. Despite a sizeable advantage, Cao seemed to go astray and the position was roughly equal just before time control. However, Rosen made the final mistake on move 40 and Kevin coast to victory on move 71.
Round two also saw a matchup between the highest-rated players in the B-group, IM Daniel Naroditsky and IM Marc Arnold. After an irregular opening, the players reached an unclear position at move 31 and agreed to a draw. After the game, Arnold commented that he was lucky to have 30. Ne4, or else his position would be dreadful.
As always, GM Ben Finegold, who won the Junior Closed Championship in 1989, and FM Aviv Friedman, coach to many top juniors at international events, did an excellent job with commentary. Their clear analysis and witty repartee elated spectators in the club and around the world via the internet. Finegold agreed that the number of decisive games is testament to the fighting spirit and youthful energy within the field. Tune in every day, starting at 11am to follow the action live at uschesschamps.com.