Blog

[imagefield_assist|fid=1753|preset=frontpage_200x200|lightbox=true|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=200|height=200]Grandmaster Ben Finegold will begin his series of weekly lectures tonight, Thursday, January 14, at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis. The lecture will start at 7 p.m. each Thursday and is free to all club members.

Don't miss this fantastic opportunity to pick the brain of one of the country's top players as he offers masterful insight and analysis. GM Finegold will cover a new topic each week, so come on out and improve your game with one of the best!

If you can't make the lecture, never fear. The staff at the CCSCSL ...

[imagefield_assist|fid=1776|preset=frontpage_200x200|lightbox=true|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=200|height=200]The U.S. Team won the silver medals today at the World Team Championships in Bursa, Turkey, by drawing their match with Azerbaijan in the last round, as all four boards were drawn.

This is an amazing result for the U.S. team, especially with the absence of Gata Kamsky from the team.

Russia won the gold, and the surprising late entry India won the bronze after a devastating 3.5-0.5 victory over hapless Brazil. I will post the individual scores of our team below:

[imagefield_assist|fid=1773|preset=frontpage_200x200|lightbox=true|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=200|height=200]BURSA, TURKEY -- The United States stands in clear first after round seven of the World Team Championship.

On a crucial must-win day, the Americans demonstrated true grit in their path to victory over Greece. The Greek team, with surprise victories over Russia and Armenia, are dangerous rivals capable of upsetting any team. The victory was by the smallest margin at 2.5-1.5 and was not decided until the last moment. On board two, the game between Alexander Onischuk and Ioannis Papaioannou was the first to finish and resulted in a draw.

[imagefield_assist|fid=1770|preset=frontpage_200x200|lightbox=true|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=200|height=200]The U.S. team kept up its winning ways with a decisive 3-1 win over hapless Brazil. Once again, Hikaru Nakamura beat a strong GM, and, our board four, Varuzhan Akobian was able to win with black, in a style that reminded me of Alexander Onischuk's best wins.

Solid draws on boards two and three meant a nice victory for the U.S. team, and now we can look seriously at fighting for gold! Russia squeaked by India by the smallest of margins, 2.5-1.5, whilst Armenia got crushed by giant killers Greece 3-1!