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Young Guns Battle for U.S. Chess Championship Title

koneil — Sun, 17 May 2009 17:40:03 +0000

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.

The final round-nine of the championship concludes Sunday.

For a live update of tournament play on Twitter, go to www.twitter.com/ccscsl. Results of all matches are available at www.saintlouischessclub.org.

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The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis is a not-for-profit, 501(c)3 organization that opened in July 2008. Founded by retired investment fund manager Rex Sinquefield, it has more than 500 members. The club offers free classes, discounted tournament entry fees and discounted merchandise for club members. For more information, please visit www.saintlouischessclub.org, or call 314-361-CHESS.

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U.S. Chess Championship Updates in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

VIDEO: Round 8 Wrap-Up from the 2009 U.S. Chess Championship

koneil — Sun, 17 May 2009 17:36:18 +0000

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VIDEO WRAP-UP: Round 2 of 2009 U.S. Chess Championship

CCSCSL’s 2009 U.S. Championship in St. Louis Post-Dispatch

koneil — Sun, 17 May 2009 17:24:15 +0000

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

The chess is intense, but please don’t fidget

By Joe Holleman
05/17/2009

The crowd at the U.S. Chess Championship, being held this year in St. Louis, may be the quietest gathering of people this side of a cloistered religious order.

In fact, being quiet is the sport’s prime directive. This is outlined on a small etiquette card at the front desk of the St. Louis Chess Club and Scholastic Center, where the tourney is taking place:”

1. Most importantly, be very quiet! This includes talking, fidgeting, noise from wrappers, cell phones, watches, or anything else.”

Fidgeting?

That’s right. Fidgeting can get you tossed. Actually, your mere presence can get you in trouble.

Rule No. 3: ” … if a player complains that a particular spectator’s presence near his or her game is disturbing … it may be correct for the director to simply require the spectator to move away from that game.”

The action, 12 matches each day, began on May 8 at the club, in the city’s Central West End. It ends at 4 p.m. Sunday.

Like other sporting venues, the club has a gift shop. While you may not be able to buy a foam finger or cooler cup, you can get books such as “Dvoretsky’s Endgame” and “Guide to the Benko Gambit.” (Apparently, “Chess for Dummies” had sold out.)

The edgy player can pick up a T-shirt, the best bearing a picture of one king looming over a fallen king, with the caption “I’m Into Confrontation.”

Security has been tight. To keep unauthorized electronic devices out, every spectator gets the metal-detecting “wand” each time he or she ventures upstairs.

Once there, spectators — a dozen or so at a time — are allowed to stand and watch while the elite players sit and stare.

Chess players in action have three basic positions: arms crossed in front; chin in hand; and chin in both hands. When a critical point is reached in a match, players often adopt a fourth position: head in both hands. That’s when you know it’s “crunch time.”Most chess players at the tournament are conservative dressers. But not Hikaru Nakamura, who sported the Vancouver Canucks jersey of goalie Roberto Luongo on a recent day. And talk about fidgeting: Nakamura sat just long enough to make one move and then paced around the playing area.

Four teenagers qualified for the competition. The youngest was 14-year-old Ray Robson. Dressed in a light-blue polo shirt and navy-blue slacks, he looked like he was playing hooky from Our Lady of the Castled King.

On the same day, Gata Kamsky, the top-rated player in the U.S., was locked in a close match with another grandmaster, Josh Friedel. A number of their fellow tourney players stopped to loom over that board and to watch the action, apparently capable of seeing the fierce mental machinations going on.

Most spectators, lacking these mind-melding capabilities, converged in the center’s media room. There, chess fans, sometimes as many as 30, watched computer illustrations of each game (in real time, of course) and a play-by-play commentary from grandmaster Emil Sutovsky and former U.S. women’s champ Jennifer Shahade.

Here is where fans let down their hair, relatively speaking.

At one point, when the computer showed that Varuzhan Akobian had made a series of particularly aggressive moves against Julio Becerra, a few fans gave out a “woo-woo.”

Local chess fan Myron Souris conceded it is hard for the uninitiated to grasp the tension.

“While the beginner may see it as 30 minutes going by without anything happening, the better chess player knows each player is thinking about the hundreds of variations that could come up,” he said. “There’s not a lot of fighting in the stands, but there is a lot of passion.”

At one point, a heated discussion erupted over the “Sofia Anti-Draw Rule,” which does not allow for a match to end in a tie until each player makes 30 moves.

Sutovsky, who is against the rule, and Shahade, who favors it, almost came to blows over this issue. (Well, OK, maybe not blows. But some stern looks were definitely exchanged.)

A highlight was when grandmaster Boris Gulko, a two-time U.S. champion, came to the media room to talk about his win. To each question, the reserved Gulko responded with as few words as possible, and seemed quite uncomfortable being interviewed.

It was almost like watching a Tony La Russa press conference — except Gulko smiled once.

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

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U.S. Chess Championship Updates in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Hikaru Nakamura Wins 2009 U.S. Chess Championship

koneil — Sun, 17 May 2009 17:22:21 +0000

The 2009 U.S. Chess Championship has a winner: Hikaru Nakamura. Congratulations to Nakamura and all of the great players who competed at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center this week.

All of the players were incredible to work with and brought a very sportsmanlike spirit to a very prestigious event.

To see GM and 2009 U.S. Champion Hikaru Nakamura’s full biography, please visit the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis’ Website.

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Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis to Host 2009 U.S. Chess Championship Invitational

VIDEO: Round 6 of the U.S. Chess Championship Wrap-Up

koneil — Sat, 16 May 2009 20:49:29 +0000

Jennifer Shahade and Macauley Peterson review the sixth round of the US Chess Championship at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis.

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VIDEO WRAP-UP: Round 5 of the U.S. Chess Championship

Scholastic Players Fill the Tables during the U.S. Championship

koneil — Sat, 16 May 2009 17:45:09 +0000

While the championship chess players took Friday off to rest and relax, two local elementary schools’ 4th grade classes kept the competitive spirit going at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis.

Fourth-grade students from City Academy in north St. Louis squared off against fourth graders from King of Glory Lutheran School in south St. Louis from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis. The King of Glory team won and was awarded a trophy.

The children were given a tour of the facility by Matt Lodge of the Chess Club, who also instructed them about tournament etiquette and how to use tournament clocks. The students not only were able to play their games at the U.S. Chess Championship competition tables on the Central West End facility’s second floor, but were allowed to view the action on the closed-circuit televisions at the Chess Club. Each child also was given an official nameplate to use at the tables.

Teacher Anthony Lemons (filling in for teacher and chess tutor Matt Virgil) accompanied five students from City Academy, while six students from King of Glory Lutheran School were joined by teacher Joel Gilbert. Chess Club scholastic director Frank Van Bree filled out the City Academy team so that each child could participate.

All of the students participate in Classroom Chess, a fourth grade through sixth grade curriculum developed by the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis. The students participate in Classroom Chess for one hour each week for nine weeks.

“Chess can be an important tool in helping children grow academically, but it also can be a lot of fun,” said Van Bree. “It was pretty cool to watch these kids playing in their own tournament on the very site where the nation’s best players are competing for the U.S. Chess Championship, and to give them a flavor of that excitement.”

The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis wants to provide that a chess curriculum can improve academic performance of students.

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‘Americal Idol’ Finalist Aloha Mischeaux Preforms at U.S. Chess Championship Opening

VIDEO DIARY: Irina Krush on the 2009 U.S. Chess Championship

koneil — Thu, 14 May 2009 20:42:16 +0000

Irina Krush talks about her aggressive goals for this tournament and her thoughts about the tournament and playing at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis.

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VIDEO DIARY: Varzuhan Akobian on the U.S. Chess Championship

U.S. Chess Championship Updates in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

koneil — Thu, 14 May 2009 20:34:29 +0000

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

Chess elite check in for 7th round

By Joe Holleman

05/14/2009

After six of nine rounds in the U.S. Chess Championship, defending champion Yury Shulman of Chicago is tied for the lead with fellow grandmaster Varuzhan Akobian. Both players have 4.5 points. (One point is awarded for a win; one-half point for a draw.)

The seventh round begins at 2 p.m. today at the St. Louis Chess Club and Scholastic Center in the Central West End.

The top player from St. Louis, Charles Lawton, has yet to earn a point in the competition. He has lost his first six matches and chances appear slim for Lawton picking up a victory in the last three days of competition. Lawton is one of only three players in the competition not internationally ranked, and he has already lost to the other two, Doug Eckert of Quincy, Ill. and 17-year-old Tyler Hughes of Colorado, the national junior champion.

Michael Brooks of Kansas City, the top-rated player in Missouri, has made a strong showing in the tournament by notching two wins and two draws.

Behind leaders Shulman and Akobian is a group of six players tied with 4 points. That pack includes the top three seeds in the tourney, Gata Kamsky, Hikaru Nakamura and Alexander Onischuk, along with 17-year-old Robert Hess.

The youngest player in the tourney, 14-year-old Ray Robson of Florida, has earned 3.5 points — and has created a stir among chess fans by defeating three grandmasters, including former tournament champions Boris Gulko and Larry Christiansen.

For detailed standings and other tournament information, go to www.saintlouischessclub.org

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

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CCSCSL’s 2009 U.S. Championship in St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Missourian Brooks Continues to Shine at U.S. Chess Championahip

koneil — Wed, 13 May 2009 20:52:03 +0000

After five rounds of the U.S. Chess Championship, Michael Brooks of Kansas City, Mo., has an impressive three points, putting him just one point out of first place. Brooks, of Kansas City, has defeated two grandmasters with ratings higher than 2600, including the seventh- and 15th-ranked players in the country.

Brooks went into the tournament with a rating of 2423. In addition to the two wins, he also has two draws. His only loss came in the first round to Jaan Ehlvest of Baltimore, the 11th-ranked player in the country with a 2649 rating.

If Brooks continues to rack up points, his rating is sure to climb.

“If he finishes the tournament with a performance rating still over 2,600 he will get one of the three norms required to attain the grandmaster title,” said Jim Voelker, a board member of the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis, which is hosting the championship. “I don’t think there has ever been a grandmaster from Missouri.”

Round 6 of the nine-round championship is today. The tournament concludes Sunday.

For a live update of tournament play on Twitter, go to www.twitter.com/ccscsl. Results of all matches are available at www.saintlouischessclub.org.

The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis opened in July 2008, and has over 500 members. The club also will host the 2009 U.S. Women’s Chess Championship from October 3-13.

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Young Guns Battle for U.S. Chess Championship Title

VIDEO DIARY: GM Robert Hess on the U.S. Chess Championship

koneil — Wed, 13 May 2009 20:46:57 +0000

Robert Hess talks about his recent success in the U.S. Chess Championship drawing with top-seed Gata Kamsky, and the how playing sports and playing chess overlap in terms of strategy and stamina.

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VIDEO DIARY: GM Alexander Onischuk on the U.S. Chess Championship