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Saint Louis, May 17 -- Hikaru Nakamura, 21, of White Plains, N.Y., won the the 2009 U.S. Chess Championship after winning in the ninth and final round at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis.

Second-seeded Nakamura, who also won the title in 2004, when he was just 16, won the venerable 164-year-old title and first prize of $40,000 ($35,000, plus a $5,000 outright winner's bonus) after beating Josh Friedel, of New York. Nakamura finished with seven points over nine games, and never lost a game.