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Ray-K saves the day

By on June 22, 2010 in

[imagefield_assist|fid=5549|preset=frontpage_200x200|title=|desc=|link=none|origsize=|align=left|width=200|height=200]The 2010 Super Team Championship concluded last Saturday, and a strong performance by the aptly named 2010 Super Team Champions netted them an overall team performance score of 3.5/4 and a share of first place. The 2010 Super Team Champions (Ben and Spencer Finegold and Ray Kurczynski) ended up in a tie for first with team TFD (Doug Eckert, Bob Holliman and Nick Karlow), but took overall first on tiebreaks.

Kurczynski helped his team finish at the top with a solid personal performance of 3.5/4, which helped offset Spencer Finegold's 1.5/4 performance and a surprising round-two draw by Ben Finegold against Joe Garnier.

2010 Las Vegas Chess Festival

By on June 16, 2010 in

The 2010 National Open is one of the big events each year on the chess calendar. I play every year, and this is the second consecutive year the tournament was held at the South Point Hotel. For many years, the tournament was held at the Riviera Hotel. The South Point is much nicer, but, unfortunately, it is not on “The Strip.”

As usual, the tournament had over 15 GMs, and there were over 700 players in the National Open. There was also a scholastic event which drew around 250 kids! The reason this is a “Chess Festival” is due to the myriad of events, not just the National Open. There were GM simuls, a blitz tournament, a quick tournament, free GM lectures, a chess camp, and free game analysis by GM Arthur Bisguier!

Chicago Open report by GM Finegold

By on June 01, 2010 in

The 2010 Chicago Open was my worst tournament in two years. I could not seem to get anything going in some games, and when I did get good positions, I would make errors and the game would become equal. The one bright spot was my round 6 versus veteran GM Anatoly Lein. I drew my last two rounds and had winning positions in both games! I withdrew after round 8, and was actually home by 9p.m. --- Not my tournament.

2010 Chicago Open Report -- Round 1

By on May 28, 2010 in

[imagefield_assist|fid=5430|preset=frontpage_200x200|lightbox=true|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=200|height=200]After the long arduous tournament that was the 2010 U.S. Championship, there is no rest for the Resident GM! Executive Director Tony Rich and I have gone to Wheeling, Ill., for the 2010 Chicago Open. The turnout is amazing, and I expect over 700 players this year. The Open section, which started Thursday, has over 140 players and is nine rounds this year to allow for norms! There are over 20 GMs, and I was #15 on the wallchart in the first round.

There are many foreign players this year, and leading the field by rating are GMs Michael Adams, Evgeny Najer, Daniel Fridman (husband of 2009 U.S. Women's Champ Anna Zatonskih), Loek van Wely, Victor Mikhalevsky, Timor Gareev, and Var Akobian.

Kamsky defeats Shulman to win U.S. Championship

By on May 25, 2010 in

SAINT LOUIS, MAY 25, 2010 – Within only seconds remaining on his clock, GM Gata Kamsky simplified the endgame against GM Yury Shulman to clinch a draw and with it the title of 2010 U.S. Champion. He last won the title in his teenage years in 1991.

Kamsky won with a draw because of the unique tiebreak format, which saw the players bid on a starting time for today’s rapid game. His secret bid of 25 minutes was lower than Shulman’s bid, so Kamsky got 25 minutes to his opponent’s 60, but with Black and draw odds.

Tie-breaker to decide 2010 Champion

By on May 25, 2010 in

Saint Louis – After a draw between GM Yury Shulman and GM Gata Kamsky today, the 2010 U.S. Championship will be decided by a tiebreaker. Shulman and Kamsky will play again toaday at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time. They have each earned $25,000 for being tied so far.

The game featured a battle of preparation. Both men were familiar with the variations arising from the Grunfeld Defense, but even so Kamsky played much more quickly. For the second game in a row, Shulman said he had studied the position, but struggled to remember his analysis. Shulman said he last looked at the variations from the game 15 years ago.

Long draws and a tie for third

By on May 24, 2010 in

[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.

Shulman, Kamsky battle for Championship

By on May 23, 2010 in

SAINT LOUIS, May 23, 2010 – Twenty-four players came to the 2010 U.S. Championship with a dream. After nine rounds, all but two players have woken up.

In the most dramatic and meaningful round so far, GM Yury Shulman upset defending champion GM Hikaru Nakamura on board one. On board two, GM Gata Kamsky dug out of a hole, and after his draw offer was refused, he delivered GM Alex Onischuk his first loss in nearly five years of U.S. Championship appearances.

Chess Fair at the Saint Louis Science Center

By on May 23, 2010 in

[imagefield_assist|fid=5022|preset=frontpage_200x200|lightbox=true|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=200|height=200]SAINT LOUIS, May 23, 2010 -- Twelve schools from the Saint Louis area will converge upon the Saint Louis Science Center for a Chess Fair, put on by the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis (CCSCSL). Competitors from the 2010 U.S. Chess Championship, including the soon-to-be-crowned 2010 U.S. Champion, will showcase their skills and host fun and informative booths and exhibits to raise the interest and awareness of chess in the area.

The event will take place on Tuesday, May 25, during the players' community outreach day from noon to 5 p.m., and is open to members of the public.

Top boards draw at 2010 U.S. Championship

By on May 22, 2010 in

SAINT LOUIS, May 22, 2010 – The top four players at the 2010 U.S. Championship have been battling for eight games, and for all practical purposes, they are right back where they started. After drawing amongst themselves today, the quad finals move on to round nine with the quartet all tied with 5.5/8. All are due one turn as White and one as Black in the final two games.

The top two seeds, GM Hikaru Nakamura and GM Gata Kamsky, met for the second round in the tournament, though with colors reversed this time. Nakamura had a promising initiative, but then Kamsky turned the tables on the attacking player by offering several pawns to gather a piece storm near Nakamura’s king.