Everything/Anything and…Chess…"Despite the documented evidence by chess historian HJR Murray, I've always thought that chess was invented by a goddess"–George Koltanowski: from the foreword to:"Women in chess, players of the Modern Age"
Images: Official site of London Classic/Ray Morris-Hill
Players left to r: Luke McShane, Hikaru Nakamura, Mickey Adams, Vladimir Kramnik, Viswanathan Anand, Malcolm Pein Tournament Director, Magnus Carlsen, Judit Polgar, Levon Aronian and Gawain Jones
Jason Kouchak – during the Opening Ceremony of the London Classic 2012
Jason Kouchak is a widely-acclaimed concert pianist who plays popular music and jazz as well as classical music. Jason was born in France and studied piano at the Royal College of Music in London, and at Edinburgh University. He has performed in major concert halls in London, Paris, St Petersburg and other venues in Europe and Asia. He has recorded five albums, including his own compositions, and appeared on BBC TV and the Japanese NHK channel. He has made regular guest appearances with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and recorded and performed with Julian Lloyd-Webber. Jason’s tastes and talents underline the long-established link between chess and music. He is a committed and enthusiastic competition chess player, and played in the 2011 London Classic Open and 2009 Gibraltar tournaments as well as in other domestic chess competitions. Visit his site: Jasonkouchak.com
It’s the London Chess Classic – again! It started today and I hope to attend it next Saturday, as my favourite – Anand is playing. The link of the official site is on the side bar – with the logo of the London Classic. Today’s games started with a small opening ceremony. There were a couple of musicians to entertain the group of spectators in the auditorium. Chess is free at the classics for children! On this LINK you can read my entry about the classics in 2009. You can see my photos of the 2009 event. For the 2011 classics I had tickets, but unfortunately fell ill and couldn’t go. How sad.
This is a ‘cento‘ which I wrote a little while ago, by using Shakespeare lines. A ‘cento’ is a poem written by using lines or passages of other authors in a new form or order. I used different plays of Shakespeare where he quoted something about the game of chess.
A Game of Chess Sweet lord, you play me false For a score of kingdoms you should wrangle and I would call it fair play How fares the king? His hour is almost past
A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse! And I have horse – will follow where the game makes way. I have his horse! Give me another horse! So, the good horse is mine. My day’s delight is past, my horse is gone. The rascal hath removed my horse.
Are the knights ready to begin their triumph? A wandering knight? I am undone! The knight is here! Great shouts within all cry ‘the mean knight!’ Great is the humour of this dreadful knight.
I dare thereupon pawn My life I never held but as a pawn I have not pawn’d to you my majesty? I pawn’d thee none! I’ll send some bishop to entreat The bishop will be overborne by thee Wat says my bully rook?
There stands my castle! His queen, it was his queen! Queen of queens, how far dost thou excel? Come hither, come! Come, come, and take a queen Sir your queen must overboard! Will take your queen Farewell sweet queen!
I’ll move the king. The skipping king, he ambles up and down This may gall him for some check No mates for you! We’ll draw! My lord, your son drew my master Where’s the master? Play the men! Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown
Enjoy a some classical music – Haydn’s symphony nr 101 in D – the clock part 3- one of many favourites and Villar Rides. Unfortunately, not the whole track, but at least 3/4 of the track.
This early drawing has a surreal quality created by the larger-than-life chess pieces and study of a face, surrounding the young man playing chess. In his later work Warhol would continue to play with scale, enlarging objects and people to increase their iconic status. The colour in this image was possibly completed at one of Warhol’s colouring parties, hosted at the fashionable Serendipity 3 café after it opened in 1954. He would encourage his friends – some of whom would have helped him create the original illustrations – to colour the works with an inventiveness that adds to their whimsical nature. This process looks forward to the production methods of Warhol’s legendary studio, the Factory, in the 1960s.
Art of Warhol here. The link will open in a new window.
David Howell
ENG
2613
The 8th Player in this tournament is David Howell
Cream of world chess to play in new London tournament.
London Chess Centre is proud to announce a world-class chess tournament to be held in London in December, 2009. The event will be an elite eight-player all-play-all in the most prestigious tournament in the capital since former world champion Anatoly Karpov won the Phillips and Drew Masters in 1984.
Since then, despite London hosting three world title contests, there has not been a tournament in which England’s leading players could lock horns with the world’s best on home soil. The December 09 tournament will be the first in a series of events designed to reinvigorate UK chess and promote the game and its undoubted educational benefits in schools and communities.
The tournament will be FIDE Category 19 with an average FIDE rating of 2700 and a minimum prize fund of €100,000. The eight players will comprise of three English and five world-class Grandmasters from abroad. Included in the prize fund will be a €10,000 Brilliant Game award along with separate prizes for each victory with the White and Black pieces. Matches will be covered live online where fans will be able to vote for Game of the Day.
The tournament has applied for membership of the prestigious annual Grand Slam of Chess which culminates in Bilbao and boasts a €400,000 prize fund.
The games will be under Classical Chess time control; 40 moves in two hours, 20 in the subsequent hour then an additional 15 minutes plus an increment of 30 seconds a move until the end of the game. The tournament will further benefit from the use of Sofia Rules which disallow early draws. Players will receive three points for a win and one for a draw.
Click on the image for a larger view for the Olympia Conference Centre at spot marked as A.
Contact Malcolm Pein (IM) Director London Chess Centre:
Chess Centre: 020 7388 2404 (London)
New London tournament to be in the Olympia Conference Centre.
I am delighted to announce that the London Chess Classic 2009 will be staged at one of London’s most prestigious venues; the Olympia Conference Centre. Olympia will provide excellent facilities including a 400 seat soundproof auditorium, two commentary rooms and multimedia presentation. There will be ample space for Open, weekend and Speed Chess tournaments plus junior training which will run alongside the main event from December 8th-15th inclusive.
The London Chess Classic 2009 will be the highest level tournament in London for 25 years and will be the first in a series of events designed to increase enthusiasm for chess in the UK and promote the game and its undoubted educational benefits in schools and communities. It is also our objective to bring the world championship to London in the Olympic year 2012.
England’s four leading Grandmasters; Michael Adams, Nigel Short, Luke McShane and David Howell will be pitched against a world class field that includes a former world champion Vladimir Kramnik and 18 year old Magnus Carlsen ranked world number three and widely seen a future holder of the world crown. One of China’s finest players; Ni Hua and the US Champion Hikaru Nakamura, complete the field.
Spectators will be treated to live commentary on the games from Grandmasters and will be able to play tournament or informal games all day. Ticket information will be available in September. For those who cannot attend there be will live coverage and commentary on the games on the internet.
Contact Malcolm Pein (IM) Director London Chess Centre:
Maybe, just maybe, I’ll get a chance to meet some of the Grandmasters in London – if I’m lucky! Meanwhile, the Scots want their Chessmen back! THE BRITISH Museum has put a set of elaborately carved chess figures at the heart of a new gallery despite demands that they be returned to Scotland.
The 82 Lewis Chessmen, which are between 800 and 900 years old and made from walrus and whale ivory, were seen in a Harry Potter film and inspired the children’s TV series Noggin The Nog.
Alex Salmond, First Minister of Scotland, wants them repatriated to Edinburgh to be reunited with the rest of the set discovered on the Outer Hebrides in the early 19th century.
Just as the Greek government wants the Elgin Marbles in London to be returned to Athens, Mr Salmond claims it is “unacceptable” for the British Museum to have 82 of the figures while the other 11 are in the National Museum of Scotland.
Kamsky, Nakamura and Onischuk – 3 of the players in this tournament. Click on images for a larger view. Please click hereto read more player-info.
Follow the tournament on Twitter http://twitter.com/ccscsl
Players confirmed for the US Chess Championship 2009 Please click herefor the official site of the US Chess Championship 2009 All links in this post will open in a new window.
I usually blog tournaments from Europe as I do know some of the GM’s and have played through a few games of some of them. Kamsky is one of my favourite players and I do hope that I will have time to follow his games in the US CC. As I’m busy with studies too, – an assignment due in two weeks! – I know I won’t be able to blog games intensively like I used to do, but let’s cross fingers! MTel is also coming up and hoping to do at least an entry about it. You can follow the first link on my sidebar with MTel’s logo for player information, etc.
The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of St. Louis is scheduled to host the U.S. Chess Championship May 7-17, less than a year after the center opened in a 112-year-old building in the city’s Central West End.
Competitors are to include the “Big Three” of chess in America – Gata Kamsky, Hikaru Nakamura and Alexander Onischuk, along with current U.S. champion Yury Shulman. The female medalists in the Chess Olympiad, Irina Krush and Anna Zatonskih, also are competing.Top players are gearing up, both mentally and physically. Shulman said exercise is helpful before or after play. He also regularly teaches chess, works with a chess database which stores millions of games, and reads chess books.
At the championship, live commentary will be provided on the lower level by grandmasters Jennifer Shahade and Emil Sutovsky Please click here to read the complete article.
Image: saintlouischessclub.org
FISCHER MEMORIAL PRIZE, JACKPOT BONUS ADDED TO PRIZES
FOR 2009 U.S. CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP BEING HELD IN ST. LOUIS
ST. LOUIS, February 19, 2009 — A $64,000 bonus in memory of late chess champion Bobby Fischer and a jackpot bonus for a “clear” first-place winner have been added to the prizes being awarded at the 2009 U.S. Chess Championship. The tournament, which will be held May 7-17, 2009 at the new Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis, will offer a purse of more than $130,000 in prize money.
Any player who scores a 9-0 sweep will be awarded the Fischer Memorial Prize, a $64,000 bonus in addition to the first-place award. The prize is in remembrance of the late American world champion Bobby Fischer, who died in 2008 at age 64. Fischer scored an 11-0 victory in the 1963-64 U.S. championship, the only perfect score in the event’s history.
Read complete article HERE US Chess facts Pairings: Round 1 Ibragimov vs Kamsky round 1 move 8 Friedel vs Onischuk round 1 move 8 Kamsky – round 1 move 15 Onischuk – End position – 1/2 Kamsky End position – 0-1
Saint Louis, May 9, 2009 — The second day of the U.S. Chess Championship was a repeat of the first, with big upsets and teenagers making the biggest buzz. While it’s hardly a surprise that No. 1 ranked Gata Kamsky of Brooklyn, N.Y., is undefeated after round two, it’s shocking that one of the two other undefeated players in the 24-competitor championship is Robert Hess, a 17-year-old from New York.
Hess came into the tournament ranked 37th in the United States. He has defeated grandmasters in both rounds: sixth-ranked Larry Christiansen, of Cambridge, Mass., on Friday, and seventh-ranked Julio Becerra of Miami, Fla., on Saturday.
Other Round 2 winners included Missourian Michael Brooks. The 91st-ranked Brooks, from Kansas City, beat 15th-ranked Alexander Shabalov, a grandmaster from Glendale, Calif. The youngest player in the tournament, Ray Robson, 14, of Largo, Fla., was victorious over the oldest player, 12th-ranked Boris Gulko, of Fairlawn, N.J., who is ranked 12th. Defending champion Yury Shulman, of Barrington, Ill., the fourth-ranked player, remained unbeaten. But the second-ranked player in the country, Hikaru Nakamura, lost his chance at an undefeated tournament, when he played to a draw with Jaan Ehlvest, of Baltimore, who is ranked 11th.
Any player going undefeated over nine rounds will receive a $64,000 prize named for Bobby Fischer, the only player to accomplish that feat. In all, there is nearly $200,000 of potential prize money available.
The nine-round tournament continues Sunday, May 10th from 2pm-8pm., and will conclude Sunday, May 17. The club also will host the 2009 U.S. Women’s Chess Championship from October 2-12 Click on this link of my blogger-blog and play through the game of Kamsky in Round 3. The link will open in a new window. http://chessaleeinlondon.blogspot.com/2009/05/us-chess-championship-2009.html
Standings after round 3 – first 10
1. GM Kamsky, Gata 2.5
2. GM Nakamura, Hikaru 2.5
3. GM Shulman, Yury 2.5
4. GM Friedel, Joshua 2.5
5. GM Onischuk, Alexander 2.0
6. GM Becerra, Julio 2.0
7. GM Akobian, Varuzhan 2.0
8. GM Ehlvest, Jaan 2.0
9. IM Hess, Robert 2.0
10. GM Kaidanov, Gregory 1.5 Pairings Round 4 – Monday, May 11, 2:00 pm 1. GM Gata Kamsky (2½) 2798 – GM Joshua Friedel (2½) 2568
2. GM Yury Shulman (2½) 2697 – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2½) 2757
3. GM Alexander Onischuk (2) 2736 – IM Robert Hess (2) 2545
4. GM Varuzhan Akobian (2) 2664 – GM Julio Becerra (2) 2672
5. GM Gregory Kaidanov (1½) 2662 – GM Jaan Ehlvest (2) 2649
6. IM Michael Brooks (1½) 2419 – GM Joel Benjamin (1½) 2650
7. GM Melikset Khachiyan (1½) 2632 – IM Irina Krush (1½) 2496
8. IM Enrico Sevillano (1½) 2549 – IM Samuel Shankland (1½) 2464
9. GM Larry Christiansen (1) 2681 – GM Alexander Shabalov (1) 2620
10. IM Ray Robson (1) 2542 – GM Ildar Ibragimov (1) 2628
11. Tyler Hughes (1) 2293 – Charles Lawton (0) 2350
12. GM Boris Gulko (0) 2631 – Doug Eckert (0) 2278 Please follow this link to follow Kamsky’s game live – Round 4 – or to play through it if you’re too late for the real time game. http://chessaleeinlondon.blogspot.com/2009/05/us-chess-championship-2009_10.html
News-update from Saint Louis:
Defending Champ Yury Shulman Clashes with Gata Kamsky At Round Three of U.S. Chess Championship
St. Louis, MO May 10, 2009: It’s the big clash of the contenders and rivals in round three of the 2009 U.S. Chess Championship at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis, with the early top board pairing of the defending champion, Yury Shulman from Illinois, and the #1 seed and favorite for the title, Gata Kamsky from Brooklyn.
The top two are on full points and leading the chase for bonus $64,000 Fischer Memorial Prize for any player with a perfect sweep of 9-0. The prize is in recognition of the phenomenal feat of the late American world champion Bobby Fischer, who won 11-0 to take the 1963/64 title – the only player in the long and distinguished history of the U.S. Championship to win with a sweep.
The only other player on full points and in contention for the Fischer Memorial Prize is the 17-year-old newly-minted American Grandmaster Robert Hess from New York, who in round three plays a grudge match against former U.S. champion and second seed Hikaru Nakamura, also from New York. Last month, the two met in the Foxwoods Open in Connecticut with Hess easily winning and the result counting for his third and final grandmaster norm. Nakamura, who broke every Fischer age group record in U.S. save for that of youngest U.S. Champion, will be going all out for revenge.
The U.S. Championship is being played in a spirit of sportsmanship and professionalism throughout, and this could be witnessed in the pairing between U.S. Women’s champion Woman’s Grandmaster Anna Zatonskia and Grandmaster Gregory Kaidanov from Kentucky, another of the top seeds.
Due to a minor ailment, WGM Zatonskih, the only mother in the 24-player field on Mother’s Day, had to attend St. Louis University Hospital for treatment for a minor ailment. Unfortunately this meant she was unable to play her round three game and would have had to automatically forfeit the loss to her opponent without a move being played – but, in a true act of sportsmanship, Kaidanov – who could easily have claimed a win by default – magnanimously offered to postpone their match-up until the official rest day on Friday, when they will both play catch-up on the day the rest of the field are on a break. In a footnote to yesterday’s round two, local player Charles Lawton discovered the hard way the difference between the standard of play at the U.S. Championship and local tournaments he’s more used to ruling the roost in. In a time scramble when he was down to his last 5 minutes, he opted to save valuable seconds by stopping to score his game, only to flagged for an infringement of the rules by chief arbiter Carol Jarecki as she warned him he had to continue to keep a score of the game.
But Lawton lost on time in the ensuing dispute with the arbiter as he tried to keep his score up to date as he fell foul of International FIDE rules (which govern all national championships) and local USCF rules. With FIDE (the French acronym of the governing body of world chess), if you have 5 minutes or less on your clock you still have to keep a score of the game, with USCF rules you do not have to do so. Standings after round 4-Top 6 1. GM Kamsky, Gata (1)……….. 3.0
2. GM Nakamura, Hikaru (2)……. 3.0
3. GM Shulman, Yury (4)………. 3.0
4. GM Akobian, Varuzhan (7)…… 3.0
5. GM Friedel, Joshua (15)……. 3.0
6. GM Onischuk, Alexander (3)…. 2.5 Pairings Round 5 – Tuesday, May 12, 2:00 pm
1. GM Hikaru Nakamura (3) 2757 – GM Gata Kamsky (3) 2798
2. GM Joshua Friedel (3) 2757 – GM Yury Shulman (3) 2697
3. GM Jaan Ehlvest (2½) 2649 – GM Varuzhan Akobian (3) 2664
4. IM Samuel Shankland (2½) 2464 – GM Alexander Onischuk (2½) 2736
5. IM Robert Hess (2½) 2545 – GM Melikset Khachiyan (2½) 2632
6. GM Julio Becerra (2) 2672 – IM Michael Brooks (2) 2419
7. IM Ray Robson (2) 2542 – GM Gregory Kaidanov (2) 2662
8. GM Joel Benjamin (2) 2650 – Tyler Hughes (2) 2293
9. IM Irina Krush (1½) 2496 – GM Larry Christiansen (1½) 2681
10. GM Alexander Shabalov (1½) 2620 – IM Enrico Sevillano (1½) 2549
11. GM Ildar Ibragimov (1) 2628 – GM Boris Gulko (1) 2631
12. FM Doug Eckert (0) 2278 – Charles Lawton (0) 2350 Round 5 – Results – top 5 1. GM Hikaru Nakamura (3) 2757 ½-½ GM Gata Kamsky (3) 2798
2. GM Joshua Friedel (3) 2568 0-1 GM Yury Shulman (3) 2697
3. GM Jaan Ehlvest (2½) 2649 0-1 GM Varuzhan Akobian (3) 2664
4. IM Samuel Shankland (2½) 2464 0-1 GM Alexander Onischuk (2½) 2736
5. IM Robert Hess (2½) 2545 1-0 GM Melikset Khachiyan (2½) 2632 Pairings – Round 6, Wednesday, May 13, 2:00 pm- top 5
1. GM Varuzhan Akobian (4) 2664 – GM Yury Shulman (4) 2697
2. GM Gata Kamsky (3½) 2798 – IM Robert Hess (3½) 2545
3. GM Alexander Onischuk (3½) 2736 – GM Hikaru Nakamura (3½) 2757
4. IM Michael Brooks (3) 2419 – GM Joshua Friedel (3) 2568
5. GM Melikset Khachiyan (2½) 2632 – GM Joel Benjamin (3) 2650
Photos of players by: Betsy Dynako, Official Event Photographer
Results: Round 6 (May 13, 2009) Lawton,Charles – Gulko, Boris F 0-1 36 B43 Sicilian Paulsen
Shabalov, Alexander – Eckert, Doug D 1-0 25 B80 Sicilian Scheveningen
Hughes, Tyler B – Ibragimov, Ildar 0-1 34 E20 Nimzo Indian
Krush, Irina – Becerra Rivero, Julio 1-0 40 D44 Anti-Meran Gambit
Christiansen, Larry M – Robson, Ray 0-1 36 D31 Semi-Slav Defence
Sevillano, Enrico – Ehlvest, Jaan ½-½ 69 C64 Ruy Lopez Classical
Kaidanov, Gregory S – Shankland, Samuel L 1-0 49 D45 Anti-Meran Variations
Khachiyan, Melikset – Benjamin, Joel 0-1 49 C50 Giuoco Piano
Brooks, Michael A – Friedel, Joshua E 0-1 40 C69 Ruy Lopez Exchange
Onischuk, Alexander – Nakamura, Hikaru ½-½ 43 E43 Nimzo Indian Rubinstein
Kamsky, Gata – Hess, Robert L ½-½ 35 B72 Sicilian Dragon
Akobian, Varuzhan – Shulman, Yuri ½-½ 33 D45 Anti-Meran Variations
Standings After Round 6 – Top 10
1. GM Shulman, Yury (4)……. IL 2697 4.5
2. GM Akobian, Varuzhan (7)… CA 2664 4.5
3. GM Kamsky, Gata (1)…….. NY 2798 4.0
4. GM Nakamura, Hikaru (2)…. NY 2757 4.0
5. GM Onischuk, Alexander (3). VA 2736 4.0
6. GM Benjamin, Joel (9)…… NJ 2650 4.0
7. GM Friedel, Joshua (15)…. NH 2568 4.0
8. IM Hess, Robert (17)……. NY 2545 4.0
9. GM Kaidanov, Gregory (8)… KY 2662 3.5
10. IM Robson, Ray (18)…….. FL 2542 3.5
Newsupdate from Saint Louis Chess Club
SHULMAN AND AKOBIAN HOLD LEAD AT U.S. CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP
St. Louis, Mo., May 13, 2009 — Defending champion Yury Shulman, of Barrington, Ill., and Varuzhan Akobian, of North Hollywood, Calif., continue to hold the lead of the 2009 U.S. Chess Championship at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis.
As overnight leaders, the two were matched up Wednesday in round six of the $135,000 championship. A win would have given the victor sole possession of first place, but Shulman and Akobian played to a draw. They share the top of the leader board with 4.5 points.
A pack of six players is a half-point back, including the top three ranked U.S. players coming into the tournament: New Yorkers Gata Kamsky and Hikaru Nakamura, and Alexander Onischuk, of Baltimore. Also in the group is 17-year-old Robert Hess, of New York, who played to a draw Wednesday in his match with Kamsky.
The youngest player in the field, 14-year-old Ray Robson, of Largo, Fla., beat three-time U.S. champion Larry Christiansen, of Cambridge, Mass., as the young phenom took a big step in his quest to becoming the country’s youngest chess grandmaster. Also breaking down the barriers in the game was another outstanding performance from Irina Krush, of Brooklyn, N.Y., the sole woman player in the championship after the illness-related withdrawal of Anna Zatonskih of Long Island, N.Y. Krush turned in the best performance of the day by beating Julio Becerra, a grandmaster from Miami, Fl.
Results: Round 7 1. GM Yury Shulman (4½) 2697 0-1 GM Alexander Onischuk (4) 2736
2. GM Hikaru Nakamura (4) 2757 1-0 GM Varuzhan Akobian (4½) 2664
3. GM Joel Benjamin (4) 2650 0-1 GM Gata Kamsky (4) 2798
4. GM Joshua Friedel (4) 2568 0-1 IM Robert Hess (4) 2545
5. IM Enrico Sevillano (3) 2549 1-0 GM Gregory Kaidanov (3½) 2662
6. IM Ray Robson (3½) 2542 0-1 IM Michael Brooks (3) 2419
7. GM Jaan Ehlvest (3) 2649 1-0 IM Irina Krush (3) 2496
8. GM Ildar Ibragimov (2½) 2628 1-0 GM Melikset Khachiyan (2½) 2632
9. GM Boris Gulko (2½) 2631 ½-½ GM Alexander Shabalov (2½) 2620
10. IM Samuel Shankland (2½) 2464 0-1 Tyler Hughes (2) 2293
11. FM Doug Eckert (1) 2278 0-1 GM Larry Christiansen (2) 2681
12. GM Julio Becerra (2) 2672 1-0 Charles Lawton (0) 2350 Pairings
Round 8, Saturday, May 16, 11:00 am
1. GM Gata Kamsky (5) 2798 – GM Alexander Onischuk (5) 2736
2. IM Robert Hess (5) 2545 – GM Yury Shulman (4½) 2697
3. IM Michael Brooks (4) 2419 – GM Hikaru Nakamura (5) 2757
4. GM Varuzhan Akobian (4½) 2664 – GM Joel Benjamin (4) 2650
5. GM Joshua Friedel (4) 2568 – GM Jaan Ehlvest (4) 2649
6. IM Ray Robson (3½) 2542 – IM Enrico Sevillano (4) 2549
7. GM Gregory Kaidanov (3½) 2662 – GM Ildar Ibragimov (3½) 2628
8. GM Larry Christiansen (3) 2681 – Tyler Hughes (3) 2293
9. GM Boris Gulko (3) 2631 – GM Julio Becerra (3) 2672
10. GM Alexander Shabalov (3) 2620 – IM Irina Krush (3) 2496
11. GM Melikset Khachiyan (2½) 2632 – FM Doug Eckert (1) 2278
12. Charles Lawton (0) 2350 – IM Samuel Shankland (2½) 2464
Standings: Top 10
1. GM Kamsky, Gata (1)…….. NY 2798 5.0
2. GM Nakamura, Hikaru (2)…. NY 2757 5.0
3. GM Onischuk, Alexander (3). VA 2736 5.0
4. IM Hess, Robert (17)……. NY 2545 5.0
5. GM Shulman, Yury (4)……. IL 2697 4.5
6. GM Akobian, Varuzhan (7)… CA 2664 4.5
7. GM Benjamin, Joel (9)…… NJ 2650 4.0
8. GM Ehlvest, Jaan (10)…… NY 2649 4.0
9. GM Friedel, Joshua (15)…. NH 2568 4.0
10. IM Sevillano, Enrico (16).. CA 2549 4.0
News-update from Saint Louis Chess Club:
TOP 3 SEEDS, RISING STAR, SIT ATOP U.S. CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
St. Louis, Mo., 15 May, 2009 — The leaderboard flipped Thursday in the seventh of nine rounds of the 2009 U.S. Chess Championship held at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis. At the end of the day, the three top seeds coming into the tournament, and a 17-year-old rising star, shared first place.
No. 1 seed Gata Kamsky, of Brooklyn, N.Y., No. 2 Hikaru Nakamura, of White Plains, N.Y., No. 3 Alexander Onsichuk, of Baltimore, and Robert Hess, 17, of Brooklyn, N.Y., have 5 points apiece. There is $135,000 in prize money at stake. Defending champion Yury Shulman, of Barrington, Ill., and Varuzhan Akobian, of North Hollywood, Calif., who shared the lead after the sixth routh, fell into second place with 4.5 points after losing to Onischuk and Nakamura, respectively. Kamsky defeated three-time U.S. champion Joel Benjamin, of New Jersey, and Hess defeated Josh Friedel, of New York.
Michael Brooks, of Kansas City, Mo., had a dramatic turnaround in his game, putting him closer to earning grandmaster status. Brooks, 47, beat the youngest player in the field, 14-year-old phenom Ray Robson, of Largo, Fla., to end the day with 4 points. Not only will his above-par performance raise his chess rating, but if he manages to score 1.5 points over his final two games, he will be on course for a grandmaster norm. No Missourian has become a grandmaster.
Friday is a rest day. Round eight of the nine-round championship will be on Saturday. The tournament concludes Sunday.
YOUNG GUNS BATTLE FOR U.S. CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE
Saint. Louis, May 16 — After eight rounds of tense competition at the 2009 U.S. Chess Championship, two young players enter the final round tied for the lead and the title.
Former champion and second seed Hikaru Nakamura, 21, of White Plains, N.Y., who in 2004 became the youngest player since Bobby Fischer to win the national title, was the first to take the lead in the penultimate round by beating Michael Brooks, of Kansas City, Mo. He has six points.Nakamura was followed later in the day at the top of the leader board by rising star and high school football linebacker Robert Hess, 17, of New York. Hess capitalized on an endgame error from defending champion Yury Shulman, of Barrington, Ill., to score a win when a draw seemed the more likely result.
Three players are a half point behind Nakamura and Hess: No. 1 seed Gata Kamsky, of Brooklyn, N.Y.; Alexander Onischuk, of Baltimore, (who drew with Kamsky); Varuzhan Akobian, of North Hollywood, Calif., who beat three-time U.S. champion Joel Benjamin, of New Jersey; and Josh Friedel, of New York, who beat Jaan Ehlvest, of Baltimore. In the final round, Nakamura will play Friedel and Hess will meet Akobian. If more than one player finishes with the same number of points at the top of the leader board, there will be a playoff for the title and prize money on Sunday evening.
Despite losing to Nakamura, Michael Brooks’ dream of achieving a grandmaster norm late in life at 47 still lives on. But to do so, he faces the tough task of having to win his last round game against Ildar Ilbragimov, of New Haven, Conn., to become the first Missourian to attain a grandmaster-level performance.
Meanwhile, the youngest player in the 24-player field, Ray Robson, 14, of Largo, Fla., needs only a draw against his coach, Alexander Onischuk, to also score his first grandmaster norm.
Standings after round 8 – Top 6 1. GM Nakamura, Hikaru (2)…. NY 2757…6.0
2. IM Hess, Robert (17)……. NY 2545…6.0
3. GM Kamsky, Gata (1)…….. NY 2798…5.5
4. GM Onischuk, Alexander (3). VA 2736…5.5
5. GM Akobian, Varuzhan (7)… CA 2664…5.5
6. GM Friedel, Joshua (15)…. NH 2568…5.0
Pairings: FINAL
Round 9, Sunday, May 17, 10:00 am Board White Rating Result Black Rating
1. IM Robert Hess (6) 2545 – GM Varuzhan Akobian (5½) 2664
2. GM Hikaru Nakamura (6) 2757 – GM Joshua Friedel (5) 2568
3. GM Alexander Onischuk (5½) 2736 – IM Ray Robson (4½) 2542
4. GM Jaan Ehlvest (4) 2649 – GM Gata Kamsky (5½) 2798
5. GM Yury Shulman (4½) 2697 – GM Gregory Kaidanov (4) 2662
6. IM Enrico Sevillano (4) 2549 – GM Larry Christiansen (4) 2681
7. GM Joel Benjamin (4) 2650 – GM Alexander Shabalov (4) 2620
8. GM Ildar Ibragimov (4) 2628 – IM Michael Brooks (4) 2419
9. IM Samuel Shankland (3) 2464 – GM Boris Gulko (3½) 2631
10. GM Julio Becerra (3½) 2672 – GM Melikset Khachiyan (2½) 2632
11. Tyler Hughes (3) 2293 – FM Doug Eckert (2) 2278
12. IM Irina Krush (3) 2496 – Charles Lawton (½) 2350
Round 9 – 17th May 2009
Round 9 Nakamura vs Friedel 1-0
A trapped Queen in this game if you ask me!
The winner of the US Chess Championships 2009....
NEWS-update from Saint Louis Chess Club
HIKARU NAKAMURA WINS 2009 US CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP
Saint Louis, May 17 — Hikaru Nakamura, 21, of White Plains, N.Y., won the the 2009 U.S. Chess Championship after winning in the ninth and final round at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis.
Second-seeded Nakamura, who also won the title in 2004, when he was just 16, won the venerable 164-year-old title and first prize of $40,000 ($35,000, plus a $5,000 outright winner’s bonus) after beating Josh Friedel, of New York. Nakamura finished with seven points over nine games, and never lost a game.
He was assured the title after 17-year-old Robert Hess, of New York, managed only a draw in his last round game with Varuzhan Akobian, of North Hollywood, Calif. Hess and Nakamura entered the final round tied with six points. Hess tied for second with Alexander Onischuk of Baltimore, who defeated the youngest player in the tournament, Ray Robson, 14, of Largo, Fla.
Akobian and Gata Kamsky, of Brooklyn, N.Y., who was the No. 1 seed coming into the tournament, tied for fourth. Nakamura, who as a junior broke every age-group record set by Bobby Fischer, except that of youngest U.S. champion (Fischer did this at age 14), played confident and assured over the 10 days of tense competition.
“I was very happy with my play throughout and relieved to have won the title again,” said Nakamura moments after being confirmed champion. “This is a title that means so much to me and the U.S. chess community — and I have to thank the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis for putting on such a memorable championship. Winning the second title feels better to me than the first.”
Nakamura will officially be crowned the 2009 U.S. chess champion Sunday evening by championship sponsor Rex Sinquefield — founder of the Chess Club and Scholastic Center — during a closing ceremony at the Zodiac Room of the Chase Park Hotel in St. Louis’ trendy Central West End.
Spoken by great men:"Give me 20 divisions of American soldiers and I will breach Europe. Give me 15 consisting of Englishmen and I will advance to the borders of Berlin. Give me two divisions of those marvellous fighting Boers and I will remove Germany from the face of the earth." - Field Marshal Bernard L. Montgomery, Commander of the Allied Forces during WW2.
"The Americans fight for a free world, the English mostly for honour, glory and medals, the French and Canadians decide too late that they have to participate. The Italians are too scared to fight, the Russians have no choice. The Germans for their Fatherland. The Boers? Those sons of Bitches fight for the hell of it." American General, George 'Guts and Glory' Patton.
Chessalee 
