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Leaders draw, four-way tie at top

By on May 16, 2010 in

St. Louis, May 16, 2010 – GM Gata Kamsky and GM Hikaru Nakamura have met over the board three times, and all three games failed to produce a winner. They battled to a 37-move draw Sunday at the 2010 U.S. Championship, held at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis. Their draw last year at the same event was two fewer moves, but both games were hard fought.

Nakamura showed his willingness to fight as Black, playing the uncompromising King’s Indian Defense, which has seen a revival of sorts at the championship. For the second round in a row, two games featured the opening, the other being GM Yury Shulman against GM Alex Shabalov.

2010 U.S. Champs

By on May 16, 2010 in

[imagefield_assist|fid=5021|preset=frontpage_200x200|title=|desc=|link=none|origsize=|align=left|width=200|height=200]Hi everyone! I wish my first 2010 U.S. Champ blog post had better news, but, as I said after I drew round 1, "I have more points now than before the round started!" So far, I have 0.5 out of 2, drawing against Var Akobian in round 1 and losing to Alexander Shabalov in round 2. I have white against Gregory Kaidanov tomorrow.

The tournament has featured quite a few decisive results, and thus far, the two main favorites, Hikaru Nakamura and Gata Kamsky are the only players with 2 out of 2, and Gata will have white against Hikaru in round 3.

Second round whittles field of perfection down to two

By on May 15, 2010 in

[imagefield_assist|fid=4192|preset=frontpage_200x200|lightbox=true|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=200|height=200]St. Louis, May 15, 2010 – Chess fans will not have to wait much longer for the strongest matchup of the 2010 U.S. Championship, as the top two seeds will face each other in round three. Both GM Hikaru Nakamura and GM Gata Kamsky, the first and second seeds of the tournament, won again today to push their totals to 2-0. They are the only players with perfect scores, and tomorrow Kamsky will have White.

Nakamura began gaining a useful spatial advantage against recent high-school graduate GM Robert Hess, who was last year’s Cinderella story at the championship. Hess claimed he had no idea what opening to prepare for. In the middlegame, Hess said he felt he could not stand by and allow the White f-pawn to advance.

2010 Championship sees fighting chess, Krush victory

By on May 15, 2010 in

[imagefield_assist|fid=4165|preset=frontpage_200x200|lightbox=true|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=200|height=200]The first round of the 2010 U.S. Chess Championship, held at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis, produced an uncharacteristically high number of decisive games, with eight out of 12 games yielding a winner. Normally at top levels of chess a draw rate of more than 50 percent would not be abnormal.

As the tournament began, the Swiss system pairing format pitted the top players against the bottom players. But since the tournament only invites the top rated players and makes open qualification difficult, there are no easy opponents in the 24-player field.

Lavish ceremony kicks off 2010 U.S. Chess Championship

By on May 14, 2010 in

[imagefield_assist|fid=3699|preset=frontpage_200x200|lightbox=true|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=200|height=200]SAINT LOUIS, May 14, 2010 – Mayor Francis Slay and Board of Alderman President Lewis Reed helped kick off the opening ceremonies Thursday for the 2010 U.S. Chess Championship at the Old Post Office. For the second year in a row, the country’s chess elite will converge on St. Louis to compete at the Chess Club & Scholastic Center of Saint Louis to crown a champion.

“We have 24 of the strongest players in the country here,” announced Tony Rich, director of the chess club. “The next two weeks will truly be a battle.”

The tournament, which first took place in 1888, will have the strongest top players ever. Games will begin at 2:00 p.m. daily and will run for 10 days beginning Friday.

2010 U.S. Champs: Round One Pairings

By on May 13, 2010 in

[imagefield_assist|fid=3694|preset=frontpage_200x200|lightbox=true|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=200|height=200]The Opening Ceremony of the 2010 U.S. Championship went off without a hitch, and the most prestigious tournament in the country is about to begin. You can follow all of the action live here at www.saintlouischessclub.org, or visit uschesschamps.com to hit the 2010 U.S. Chess Championship home page directly.

We will be broadcasting all of the commentary live through the website. Visitors are welcome to attend all rounds of the championship here at the club, and commentary will be provided by GM Maurice Ashley and WGM Jennifer Shahade.

Anand wins with black to secure title

By on May 12, 2010 in

After getting an equal game, Topalov weakened his own kingside and tried too hard to make something out of the position, and was soon on the defensive. Topalov missed a key move and was losing by move 35.

Chess Talk podcast features GM Maurice Ashley and Tony Rich

By on May 11, 2010 in

Tony Rich is the executive director of the club and responsible for organizing the U.S. Championship. Joining Tony for a preview of this year's Championship will be the official onsite commentator, GM Maurice Ashley.

Come to watch, stay to play

By on May 09, 2010 in

The U.S. Championship Blitz Open will feature a $7,000 prize fund in the open section and a $3,000 prize fund in the reserve, U2000 section. The nine-round Swiss will begin at 8 p.m. and will feature a game-in-five-minute (G/5) format. Pre-register at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis until 6:30 p.m the day of the tournament. On-site registration is available at the Khorassan Ballroom from 6:30 p.m. to 7:45 p.m.

WGM Jen Shahade on ESPN

By on May 06, 2010 in

This is a big step for the U.S. Championship as we continue our push to get national recognition from the U.S. sports scene. Jennifer is an excellent ambassador for the sport, and she has worked hard to give this sport and its players the recognition they rightly deserve.