GM Varuzhan Akobian anchored board 2 for the U.S. and scored a more-than respectable 3/5.
By Mike Wilmering
The U.S. team drew its final round against Brazil (2-2) at the Pan-American Team Championship, which was held in Campinas, Brazil, over the past week. The U.S. team had already locked up the overall tournament victory, but Brazil was still competing with pre-tourney favorite Cuba for a second-place finish. Brazil’s draw with the U.S. left them just short of second place, however, as Cuba easily handled the lower-rated team from Uruguay.
| Round 6 on 2013/01/28 at 16:00 | ||||||||
| Bo. | 3 | USA | Rtg | – | 4 | BRA | Rtg | 2 : 2 |
| 1.1 | GM | Onischuk, Alexander | 2660 | – | GM | Milos, Gilberto | 2580 | ½ – ½ |
| 1.2 | GM | Akobian, Varuzhan | 2615 | – | GM | El Debs, Felipe De Cresce | 2525 | ½ – ½ |
| 1.3 | GM | Robson, Ray | 2615 | – | IM | Di Berardino, Diego Rafael | 2495 | 0 – 1 |
| 1.4 | GM | Lenderman, Aleksandr | 2619 | – | GM | Matsuura, Everaldo | 2475 | 1 – 0 |
| Bo. | 2 | CUB | Rtg | – | 1 | URU | Rtg | 3½: ½ |
| 2.1 | GM | Dominguez Perez, Leinier | 2723 | – | GM | Rodriguez Vila, Andres | 2508 | 1 – 0 |
| 2.2 | GM | Bruzon Batista, Lazaro | 2701 | – | IM | Roselli Mailhe, Bernardo | 2449 | 1 – 0 |
| 2.3 | GM | Quesada Perez, Yuniesky | 2595 | – | FM | Larrea, Manuel | 2261 | 1 – 0 |
| 2.4 | GM | Ortiz Suarez, Isan Reynaldo | 2595 | – | IM | Rivera, Daniel | 2336 | ½ – ½ |
With an average age of 25, this was one of the youngest teams the U.S. had ever sent to an international competition, and the young players rose to the occassion. GM Sam Shankland scored a tournament-best 87.5% with 3.5 points out of 4 games (3.5/4). Shankland was closely followed by GM Alex Lenderman’s 80% with 4/5. Each of the other three team members for the U.S., GMs Alex Onischuk, Varuzhan Akobian and Ray Robson, scored 60% with 3/5.
This first-place finish qualifies the U.S. for the World Team Championship, which will be held in Antalya, Turkey in December.