World Championship analysis by GM Hikaru Nakamura
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Nakamura to relocate to Saint Louis
[imagefield_assist|fid=3633|preset=frontpage_200x200|lightbox=true|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=200|height=200]Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura, the reigning U.S. Champion and the highest-rated American player, announced today he will be moving to Saint Louis following the U.S. Championship, which is scheduled for May 13-25.
The two-time U.S. Champion is relocating to Saint Louis from Seattle because of the support the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis has provided for American chess, particularly at the top level. The Chess Club's creation of a burgeoning chess scene in Saint Louis also factored into Nakamura's decision.
Anand Equalizes
[imagefield_assist|fid=3629|preset=frontpage_200x200|lightbox=true|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=200|height=200]Anand equalized the match score today with a nice positional win in a complicated Catalan. One could easily have mistaken this game for a typical Kramnik win on the white side of his favorite opening.
The players followed theory for quite a while, when Anand deviated from a Gulko-Shulman game with 15.Qa3!? This reminds me of the Kramnik method of beating Kasparov, which is to make the game dull/equalish in a boring endgame, and force your opponent to play positions they do not like.
Topalov on Top
[imagefield_assist|fid=3627|preset=frontpage_200x200|lightbox=true|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=200|height=200]Topalov gave Anand the beatdown and the smackdown, as game one of the World Championship match was no contest. Anand played the Gruenfeld Defense, and the position was about equal through the first 20 moves.
Then, Anand weakened his kingside with f6, g5, and h6, and Topalov struck with great vengeance and furious anger, as Anand's king went on a journey to d8, where Topalov's brilliant play easily crushed Anand's weak defense.
Field finalized for 2010 U.S. Championship
[imagefield_assist|fid=3617|preset=frontpage_200x200|lightbox=true|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=200|height=200]SAINT LOUIS, April 20, 2010--The final four spots have been filled for the 2010 U.S. Championship, which is set for May 13-25 at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis (CCSCSL).
The 24-player field was finalized today with the four, official wildcard selections: GM Alexander Stripunsky (NJ), GM Vinay Bhat (CA) and IMs Irina Krush (NY) and Sam Shankland (CA). This year's championship will feature a purse of more than $170,000, the largest per-capita prize fund in the tournament's history.
Podcast with Samford Fellowship recipient GM Robert Hess
[imagefield_assist|fid=3496|preset=frontpage_200x200|lightbox=true|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=200|height=200]Grandmaster Robert Hess took a four-way split of the first-place prize last weekend at the Bill Wright Saint louis Open. The event, which brought out seven grandmasters, was the largest ever held at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis.
After his round five game, Hess tok the time to sit down for a brief interview to discuss his accomplishments over the past year and his preparation for the future, both the 2010 U.S. Championship and beyond.
Ben's Blog: Ale-Ale-Jandro!
[imagefield_assist|fid=3574|preset=frontpage_200x200|lightbox=true|title=Tatev Abrahamyan|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=200|height=200]"Don't call my name, Alejandro".....And thus ends the greatest
tournament of all time.
Oops, I guess I should start at the
beginning....2 score and 7 months ago a young whippersnapper, named Ben Finegold was
born in Detroit, MI.... oh wait, that is too far back. As Rosanne
Rosana Dana would say, "Nevermind!"
The Bill Wright Saint Louis
Open was the shizzle, as the CCSCSL was proud to entertain the locals
with seven (!!!) GMs and five women coming back to Saint Louis from the
2009 U.S. Women's Championship!
Altounian wins U.S. Championship spot on ICC
[imagefield_assist|fid=3572|preset=frontpage_200x200|lightbox=true|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=200|height=200]Congratulations to IM Levon Altounian (Arizona), who beat Damir Studen (Georgia), 1.5-0.5, to win the 2010 U.S. State Champion of Champions title hosted live on the Internet Chess Club.
Altounian now goes forward to claim a spot in next month's U.S. Championship sponsored by the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis.
In his youth, Altounian was an incredibly strong Armenian junior player in the early 1990s. He was the U.S.S.R Junior Team Champion in 1991 and the Armenian Junior Champion from 1992-1993 and, as his country's representative, ...
The Bill Wright Saint Louis Open: Final recap, games and standings
[imagefield_assist|fid=3571|preset=frontpage_200x200|lightbox=true|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=200|height=200]The Bill Wright Saint Louis Open, the strongest open tournament in the history of Missouri, has finally wrapped up here at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis. After a quick, round five draw between co-leaders GM Robert Hess and GM Alejandro Ramirez, the opportunity opened up for four others with 3.5.
GM Hikaru Nakamura defeated WIM Alisa Melekhina to make it a three-way tie, and the final match between GMs Josh Friedel and Mesgen Amanov proved pivotal as the winner would make it a four-way split. Friedel's solid play wore Amanov down, and once he got into time trouble, Friedel was able to secure the victory.
Saint Louis Open: round four recap and round five preview
[imagefield_assist|fid=3570|preset=frontpage_200x200|lightbox=true|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=200|height=200]
Round four brought more excitement as GM Robert Hess managed to outlast GM Dmitry Gurevich to hang on to first place. GM Alejandro Ramirez defeated IM Irina Krush, which created a two-way tie atop the leaderboard between Hess and Ramirez.
A quick draw between the two early on in round one opened the door for a multiple-way tie to take place. GMs Hikaru Nakamura, Josh Friedel and Mesgen Amanov all have 3.5/4 heading into the final round as does WIM Alisa Melekhina. Melekhina, who upset GM Ben Finegold in round four, takes on Nakamura.
