2012 U.S. Championships News
GM Conrad Holt, the surprise of the tourney, has a shot at the title in the final round.
By FM Mike Klein
SAINT LOUIS (May 12, 2013) -- In a day in which both leaders could have at least guaranteed themselves a spot in a first-place tiebreak, only one built a safety net. Round eight of the 2013 U.S. Championship and U.S. Women’s Championship saw GM Gata Kamsky slip with a complicated position but dwindling clock, while IM Irina Krush snatched a pawn and squashed the limited compensation to maintain her one-point lead.
Both events will need the final round, and perhaps more, to decide a champion.
Due to the complicated FIDE pairing system, Kamsky got white for the second round in a row. GM Timur Gareev lined up for the black pieces. Luckily, he did not assume the pairings and checked them this morning. “I was a little surprised, but you still have to play,” Gareev said. IA Franc Guadalupe confirmed the colors were accurate according to the FIDE rules, which prioritize color history and equalization more than which player is due a certain color.
Once again, Kamsky got nothing special from his preparation. “Obviously I was very happy with the opening,” Gareev said. He knew his chances would only come from active play before the game opened up. “I was looking for something concrete. Strategically white’s position is better with the two bishops. Two of my knights jumping into the center squares; I felt I should be better.”
But a few moves later, Kamsky began to think that his sluggish start would be completely flipped into a win. “Considering the way I misplayed the opening, I feel a little lucky,” Kamsky explained. “Once I got the two extra pawns, I got really excited, but I was low on time.”
The game turned when Kamsky’s queen invaded the seventh rank. “After Qe7 I knew I am in trouble,” Gareev said. He decided to burn his bridges, sacrifice all of his queenside pawns, and hunt down an otherwise safely-guarded white king. “Going into the endgame is the least desirable result. I just had to go for it, come what may.”
Kamsky got a promotion to a second queen, but Gareev forced a draw by repetition. After opening with four straight wins, Kamsky has come back to the pack by drawing the last four games.
The draw left the door ajar for a pair of players on board two to gain equal footing with Kamsky. GMs Alejandro Ramirez and Alex Onischuk each stood a half-point back going into the round, but a lifeless two-hour draw kept them both nipping at Kamsky’s heels. “Against this guy, you can’t get anything,” Ramirez said of his opponent. “Of course I didn’t want a draw with white.” Ramirez is seeking his first ever U.S. Championship (this is only his second appearance), while Onischuk is trying for his first title since 2006.
“I’m really looking forward to trying to get into the top six; that would be really exciting,” Ramirez said. He was referencing the automatic qualification spots to the 2013 World Cup, a tournament he has not played in since 2004 when he represented Costa Rica.
Joining Ramirez and Onischuk on 5.5/8 is the biggest surprise of the event. GM Conrad Holt, who is now done with all of his college course work, won again today over the fading GM Joel Benjamin. Like the other members of the chase group, Holt is very much alive unless Kamsky wins as black tomorrow.
“If only one round has to go right, it’s a real possibility,” Holt, a tournament rookie, said about his chances to win the title. “I’m having reasonably good form and not blundering too much.” He said his biggest mistake of the day was waking up too late, leaving him in time pressure before his first move. He arose at noon, leaving him only one hour to prepare and eat. “I didn’t go for lunch until 12:40 so I went to Qdoba because they’re the masters at blitz food preparation.” He walked up the tournament steps shortly after the opening bell.
Kamsky now has 6/8 and has played all of the people who are within striking distance of him, so he will get Olympiad teammate GM Ray Robson in the final round. Robson won his fourth game today, putting him on 4.5/8 after an abysmal .5/3 start to the tournament. Like Ramirez, he said he is eyeing a spot in the World Cup. By his calculation, a win tomorrow would get him one. “Everyone’s beatable,” he said on his impending matchup with the top seed. “You have chances to get a slight edge in the opening against Gata. The problem is that he defends so well, it’s really hard to break him. But you have to try.”
The pairings are not conventional in the final round since so many players have already faced one another. Ramirez and GM Larry Christiansen will set off some fireworks on board two. Christiansen is still alive for his quest for his fourth title, though so many results have to go his way, that he evaluated his chances at 1,000-1. Gareev gets white in round nine and must win against Holt to have any chance. Of the four players who have 5.5 or six, none is playing each other.
2013 U.S. Championship Pairings: Final Round
| Table | White | Score | Rating | Black | Score | Rating | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GM Robson, Ray | 4.5 | 2620 | GM Kamsky, Gata | 6.0 | 2741 | |
| 2 | GM Ramirez, Alejandro | 5.5 | 2551 | GM Christiansen, Larry M | 5.0 | 2579 | |
| 3 | GM Gareev, Timur | 5.0 | 2674 | GM Holt, Conrad | 5.5 | 2513 | |
| 4 | GM Onischuk, Alexander | 5.5 | 2666 | IM Troff, Kayden W | 4.5 | 2421 | |
| 5 | GM Benjamin, Joel | 4.5 | 2534 | GM Shankland, Samuel L | 4.0 | 2612 | |
| 6 | GM Akobian, Varuzhan | 4.0 | 2616 | GM Kaidanov, Gregory S | 4.0 | 2593 | |
| 7 | GM Finegold, Benjamin | 4.0 | 2505 | GM Shabalov, Alexander | 4.0 | 2544 | |
| 8 | FM Sevian, Samuel | 3.5 | 2371 | GM Hess, Robert L | 3.5 | 2595 | |
| 9 | FM Bryant, John Daniel | 3.5 | 2442 | Norowitz, Yaacov | 3.5 | 2451 | |
| 10 | GM Shulman, Yury | 3.0 | 2570 | FM Sammour-Hasbun, Jorge E. | 3.0 | 2463 | |
| 11 | GM Stripunsky, Alexander | 3.0 | 2570 | GM Ivanov, Alexander | 2.0 | 2529 | |
| 12 | GM Khachiyan, Melikset | 2.5 | 2518 | GM Arnold, Marc T | 2.5 | 2538 |
Besides Ramirez and Robson, many other players will be vying for the handful of World Cup tickets. Kamsky has already qualified based on his rating. IM Kayden Troff said that he will be attempting to win to see if a score of 5.5/9 will be good enough for a GM norm. Unfortunately for his chances, he has the brutal pairing of black against Onischuk. FM John Bryant will likely get his first IM norm (curiously he already had two GM norms) with a win. Another quirk of the tournament – neither GM Alex Shabalov nor Christiansen, both of whom are known as swashbuckling attackers, have yet to draw a game.
In the women’s championship, almost everything hinged on today’s game between numbers one and three. WGM Tatev Abrahamyan, who has a tournament performance rating about 300 points above her expectation, had a chance to throw the women’s tournament into complete chaos today. Starting only one point behind Krush, whom she played, she took the white pieces of an Open Sicilian. Krush equalized without issue and later won, although Abrahamyan missed an important rejoinder late in the game. “I was surprised by Tatev’s decision to sacrifice the g-pawn,” Krush said. “I didn’t see the compensation. I guess we just evaluated it differently.”
Abrahamyan missed a chance to get back in the game. If 44. Qd5, after the queens trade the e-pawn and possibility of a c5 break make the position volatile. “I think it would have cost me a few years of my life if I’d seen it,” Krush said.
Afterward, Krush would not accept any congratulatory remarks. “Clearly a tie for first doesn’t make me happy in any way. That’s the minimum maximum.”
The win, coupled with IM Anna Zatonskih’s win, means the new second-place chaser is Zatonskih. Abrahamyan is mathematically eliminated from winning her first U.S. Women’s Championship. The only way Krush could not defend her 2012 title would be to lose in round nine and Zatonskih wins, and then also lose to her in a tiebreak on Monday. One of these two women will be the champion for the eighth year in a row.
In round nine, Krush will take white with a strong tailwind. She only needs a draw and she will face WGM Camilla Baginskaite, who is 200 points lower-rated. “There is one factor that is not going my way,” Krush said. “I’m playing someone who has nothing to lose.” Krush said this is the only situation in which she might make result-based decisions on the chess board.
Zatonskih will get white against WGM Sabina Foisor. Abrahamyan is ensured third place unless she wins and Zatonskih loses, in which case both would finish equal second.
2013 U.S. Women's Championship: Final Round
| Table | White | Score | Rating | Black | Score | Rating | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | IM Zatonskih, Anna | 6.5 | 2466 | WGM Foisor, Sabina | 3.5 | 2300 | |
| 2 | WGM Belakovskaia, Anjelina | 2.5 | 2263 | WIM Zenyuk, Iryna | 4.0 | 2243 | |
| 3 | WFM Chiang, Sarah | 1.5 | 2098 | WFM Kats, Alena | 3.0 | 2144 | |
| 4 | IM Krush, Irina | 7.5 | 2470 | WGM Baginskaite, Camilla | 4.0 | 2278 | |
| 5 | WIM Ni, Viktorija | 2.0 | 2262 | WGM Abrahamyan, Tatev | 5.5 | 2280 |
WGM Tatev Abrahamyan has a crucial matchup agaisnt tourney leadier IM Irina Krush in round 8 of the U.S. Women's Championship. Abrahamyan trails Krush by a full point.
By FM Mike Klein
SAINT LOUIS (May 10, 2013) -- Despite missing a startling tactic, a shaken GM Gata Kamsky collected himself to hold a draw against the much lower-rated GM Alejandro Ramirez in round seven of the 2013 U.S. Championship. The oversight cost him any chance to expand his central majority to fight for the win, but since GM Alex Onischuk could also only draw, Kamsky retained his half-point lead over both Ramirez and Onischuk.
“I had a lot of problems preparing for this game because all of the lines I play, Kamsky plays as black,” Ramirez explained. His work with former teammate GM Cristian Chirila convinced him that 1…e5 “is the best chance to equalize.” Ramirez said in his last game against Kamsky, he was “massacred” when he played the Sicilian Defense. “There’s the French, but I saw what he did against (GM Alex) Shabalov in round one,” Ramirez said. A double king-pawn opening was all that was left. “We’re old people. We need to start playing the Spanish before we die,” the 23-year-old said.
After facing the prospect of defending a worse ending, Ramirez found a stunning shot that immediately turned the initiative. “My position’s crumbling but he missed this …Bh3 move,” an ebullient Ramirez said. “I was just trying not to get crushed.”
“Bh3 – wow! That’s not okay,” Kamsky said. “After that I was just trying not to lose. It was not a very pleasant moment.” After initially shaking his head and closing his eyes for a few minutes, Kamsky returned to the task at hand, and found a line that equalized. “He’s not this expressive usually,” Ramirez said.
In the 2013 U.S. Women’s Championship, leader IM Irina Krush also found herself in difficulties, at least that was her perception of the game. In mutual time pressure with WIM Viktorija Ni, Krush pulled out her sixth win in seven games to protect her lead. “I was kind of outplayed,” Krush said, despite analysis showing she was never glaringly worse. “I was just trying to keep my position together. I only allow one game per tournament like this.” Krush’s biggest oversight was the one-two punch 29. Bxe5! Dxe5 30. Qxa7!, undermining black’s back rank.
“Sometimes it’s harder for me to play the lower-rated players, the people that aren’t in the running to win the tournament,” Krush said. “I have everything to lose. It makes me nervous – you know you need to win today. It’s part of the script.”
The leaders of both events will have their biggest matches of the event tomorrow. Kamsky will take black against second-seeded GM Timur Gareev, who can attack with the best of them (his blistering formation today ended GM Ray Robson’s three-game winning streak in round seven). Krush will also take black. She gets WGM Tatev Abrahamyan, and a win would clinch the tournament with one round to go.
Onischuk had his hands full with collegiate GM Conrad Holt, who continues to outperform his rating expectations. “So far it was my toughest game,” Onischuk said. He was impressed at how calm Holt remains at the board. “I thought I was just losing. If I don’t have 26…Qh4 I think I am just lost.” Later, he nearly panicked when he saw the possible variation 30…b4 31. gxh6 bxc3 32. h7+! When black is basically mated. “Once I saw h7+, I realized I had to sacrifice the exchange.”
“I feel good,” the occasional triathlete Onischuk said. “I am in good shape. These last two games will decide who will be the winner. Everybody is a little bit tired now.”
Chess fans have been waiting for Gareev to make his move in the tournament, and he finally did today. Playing in his first U.S. Championship, Gareev said today he used the analysis of a “very strong computer” to assist in beating the streaky Robson. The first 11 moves were in his preparation. Gareev said if 11…e6, “I was planning on Rxh7, which I prepared, and I don’t think he has very good chances to resolve his issues. The computer shows advantage for black but it’s really complicated.”
The victory inches Gareev closer; he is now within one game of Kamsky. The two will meet tomorrow, and Gareev gets white again. “I’ve got to win some games to get to the top,” Gareev said. “I didn’t pursue that dream of winning but now maybe I will. We’re going to have a nice long game. He won’t be all that ecstatic about pursuing a quick draw either.” No matter the results tomorrow, there is no possible calculation for Kamsky to clinch first place in round eight.
Ramirez gets white against Onischuk on board two. Should either of them win, and Kamsky draws, they will be tied with the top-seed going into the last round. Also very much alive are GMs Joel Benjamin and Holt. Benjamin dampened the heroism of FM John Bryant today by winning despite ceding the bishop pair. Players with four points – GMs Larry Christiansen, Sam Shankland and Alex Shabalov (all of whom won today) – are just barely still in the hunt, if only mathematically. Neither Christiansen nor Shabalov have yet to draw a game in the 2013 Championship.
2013 U.S. Championship Pairings: Round 8
| Table | White | Score | Rating | Black | Score | Rating | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GM Kamsky, Gata | 5.5 | 2741 | GM Gareev, Timur | 4.5 | 2674 | |
| 2 | GM Ramirez, Alejandro | 5.0 | 2551 | GM Onischuk, Alexander | 5.0 | 2666 | |
| 3 | GM Holt, Conrad | 4.5 | 2513 | GM Benjamin, Joel | 4.5 | 2534 | |
| 4 | GM Christiansen, Larry M | 4.0 | 2579 | GM Shankland, Samuel L | 4.0 | 2612 | |
| 5 | GM Shabalov, Alexander | 4.0 | 2544 | GM Robson, Ray | 3.5 | 2620 | |
| 6 | GM Kaidanov, Gregory S | 3.5 | 2593 | GM Finegold, Benjamin | 3.5 | 2505 | |
| 7 | IM Troff, Kayden W | 3.5 | 2421 | FM Bryant, John Daniel | 3.5 | 2442 | |
| 8 | FM Sammour-Hasbun, Jorge E. | 3.0 | 2463 | GM Akobian, Varuzhan | 3.0 | 2616 | |
| 9 | Norowitz, Yaacov | 3.0 | 2451 | FM Sevian, Samuel | 3.0 | 2371 | |
| 10 | GM Hess, Robert L | 2.5 | 2595 | GM Stripunsky, Alexander | 3.0 | 2570 | |
| 11 | GM Arnold, Marc T | 2.0 | 2538 | GM Shulman, Yury | 2.5 | 2570 | |
| 12 | GM Khachiyan, Melikset | 2.0 | 2518 | GM Ivanov, Alexander | 1.5 | 2529 |
Krush’s lead (6.5/7) increased today since WGM Tatev Abrahamyan (5.5/7) could not keep pace. She was up a pawn but only managed to draw her endgame against lowest-rated WFM Sarah Chiang, who has recovered from a poor start. IM Anna Zatonskih managed to beat WFM Alena Kats to join Abrahamyan on 5.5/7. She will likely need to win both of her final games and get some help to overtake Abrahamyan and Krush. All other women are officially eliminated from title contention, but some are vying for personal bests.
WIM Iryna Zenyuk is +2 thanks to a gamely queen sacrifice against the struggling WGM Sabina Foisor.
2013 U.S. Women's Championship Pairings: Round 8
| Table | White | Score | Rating | Black | Score | Rating | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | WGM Foisor, Sabina | 2.5 | 2300 | WIM Ni, Viktorija | 2.0 | 2262 | |
| 2 | WGM Abrahamyan, Tatev | 5.5 | 2280 | IM Krush, Irina | 6.5 | 2470 | |
| 3 | WGM Baginskaite, Camilla | 3.0 | 2278 | WFM Chiang, Sarah | 1.5 | 2098 | |
| 4 | WFM Kats, Alena | 2.0 | 2144 | WGM Belakovskaia, Anjelina | 2.5 | 2263 | |
| 5 | WIM Zenyuk, Iryna | 4.0 | 2243 | IM Zatonskih, Anna | 5.5 | 2466 |
Log on to www.uschesschamps.com at 1:00 Central, 2:00 p.m. Eastern for live grandmaster commentary of round eight.
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.