[imagefield_assist|fid=5037|preset=frontpage_200x200|title=|desc=|link=none|origsize=|align=left|width=200|height=200]The suffering has ended! No more preparation 24 hours a day! I feel relief as I finish with +1 in the strongest event I have ever played in my 35 years as a chess player. I was paired up seven times, and paired "down" to "Yermo" and Altounian. My score of +1 is my best result, performance rating wise, in any U.S. Championship, and earned me my first GM norm since becoming a GM last year! In the "B" group, I tied for third place, as Alex Shabalov was on fire at the end, and scored +3 to win our section.
Alex Stripunsky was clear second, as he showed his wild card selection was no fluke with a +2 score which included only 1 draw! After blowing two winning positions in rounds 7 and 8, it was my turn to be fortuitous ("that means lucky"...."yeah, I know what it means....") as Larry Christiansen had me on the ropes from moves 35-50, but missed the likely winning maneuver, Re8+ - Rf8 more than once.
The tournament was one of the most fun events I can remember, and was organized beautifully. Kudos to everyone at the CCSCSL for putting on a great event for everyone. I only lost one game (unless you count the Human Chess Game on the free day!). In the Quad Final, the winner of Shulman-Kamsky today will be crowned U.S. Champ, and a playoff will be needed (and eagerly expected!) in the case of a draw.
I get to watch chess today, and, tonight, I will be playing in the $10K Guaranteed blitz tournament, at the Chase Park Plaza Hotel, which will be the strongest blitz tournament ever held in the U.S., as 20+ GMs are expected to participate!
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