DGCC Chess tournament

The tournament on this Saturday at Downers Grove was a great success! 27 Players showed up for a rating average of 1664 with 7 A players, 2 experts in attendance. It was won by Chris Wood with 3.5/4 (half pt bye for rd1). 6 Players tied for second with 3. The full crosstable can be seen at: http://main.uschess.org/component/option,com_wrapper/Itemid,181/

A few photos:

Waste of time?

During a game do you waste a lot of time? pacing? watching other games? thinking about other things to clear your mind... you do this natural during the course of your day whether you notice it or not. How often do you find yourself in a slightly worse position though and just completely lose concentration? You think "it is over" or "there is next game." These are signs of lack of concentration. How to build concentration? But more important do you stare at your rating or your results and say "I've made no progress." Sure you do. We all do. Whether our ego is too big to admit it or not. We have all done that. The way around it is by believing in yourself. There is no "stall." There is simply psychological barriers we have created within our own mind. There is no super secret: practice makes perfect. You get around these confidence and concentration issues by coming back to fight again. There is next game, next tournament and next study session. Anyone can attain their goals if they put forth enough time and effort!

Support the Chicago Blaze!!

The Chicago Blaze, Illinois’s very own chess team, is about to begin its second season in the U.S. Chess League. Our first game of 2009 takes place tonight, and I would like to invite all chess fans in Chicago and Illinois to follow the team, root for it, enjoy it, and support it.

Chess at the Ballpark
Also part of the season opening will be a scholastic tournament to raise funds for the team on Saturday, September 12, at U.S. Cellular Field. Here is a flyer with the details that you can tack up on the fridge. Please help spread the word about this tournament to kids and the parents of kids in grades K-12 who play chess. We need a good turnout, and it should be a lot of fun. Every kid who plays in the rated tournament will get a spiffy, new Chicago Blaze t-shirt.

Here’s how you can follow the Blaze.

* First, go to our main Web site to find out more about the team. In particular, take a look at the season schedule. The regular season runs through early November, and since we hope to make the playoffs this year, we expect to be playing beyond that. (Please bear with us if portions of the site aren’t entirely up to date; the Blaze is a volunteer effort, and we’re doing our best.)
* Come back regularly to this blog as we post news.
* Follow us on Twitter. We’ll be posting news about the team and the league, and if we can manage it we’ll be doing some live tweeting during the matches.
* Become a fan of the Blaze on Facebook.
* Attend the matches at the Holiday Inn Skokie, 5300 West Touhy. Fans are welcome to attend the games at no charge.
* If you can’t make it to the games, follow them live on the Internet Chess Club.

IM Ray Robson scores second GM norm!

http://www.nachess.org/:

"orm Updates

Well the week is finally drawing to a close and the following hunters either have their trophies or will be fighting for the last point.

IM Ray Robson has clinched his 2nd GM norm by having a monstrous first 8 rounds and going 6.5/8. He plays IM Mulyar in the morning and regardless of win, lose, or draw, Ray will have his second GM norm. He is going to be at the SPICE Cup next month going for his final GM norm. His rating will already be over the 2500 mark!

Mac Molner of NY has also had a great event. He has 4.5/8 and is paired with IM Shankland. Win, lose, or draw Mac has secured his IM norm.

Finally we have another young New Yorker, Michael Thaler, who needs to win his final round for his first IM norm. Michael is paired against FM Kleiman and must fight to the bitter end for his norm.

The final round starts at 10am Chicago time.

Good Chess to All,

Sevan A. Muradian
FIDE Arbiter and International Organizer
North American Chess Association"


I'll add some photos I took of the event later but for now... enjoy the few uscf articles!
http://main.uschess.org/content/view/9662/544/
and
http://main.uschess.org/content/view/9661/544

Mate in 32!

White to move!

A US Open Pictoral Photos Report!

Congrats to the 6 winners (GM Alex Lenderman, GM Alex Yermolinsky, IM Jacek Stopa, GM Jesse Kraai, GM Sergey Kudrin, GM Dimitry Gurevich) who all tied for first and additional congratulations to the 5 who will be at the 2010 US Championship in St. Louis. While the politicians were playing their dirty game during the day, 453 players came to play chess during the night! A fantastic event even if the host city was quite barren of things to do. A bit of irony, Lenderman might have set a record by winning a tournament 7.5/9 and STILL losing rating points. Usually those two things do not go hand in hand!

And now it is time for the 110th US Open Photo Report:

In the game 15 side event, GM Alex Lenderman won 4.5/5.

In rd3, WIM Alisa Melekhina- GM Alex Lenderman



Lenderman is already slightly better, play continued with: 1... Rxh3 2. Rxf7 Rh2+ 3. Ke3 Na5 4. Kd3 b6 where Alisa blunders with 5. Rb1?? and Lenderman tactically finishes the game Nc4 6. a3 e5 7. Rf6+ Ke7 8. Rxf5 e4+ 9. fxe4 dxe4+ 10. Kxe4 Nd6+ 11. Kf4 Rf2+ resigns 0-1

In rd4, GM Alex Lenderman vs GM Kaufman:


It can be seen that Kaufman has 7 seconds left, the following moves are played
1. Bd3 Qc2 2. Qd5 d2 which creates the following position:



Play continued 3. b5 Bc5 and Lenderman blunders with 4. Qc6?? (and the amazing 4. Be2 keeps equality!) and ... d1=Q 5. Bxd1 Qxf2+ 6. Kh3 Qf1+ 7. Qg2 Qxd1 8. Qa8+ Bf8 9. b6 Qh5+ and Kaufman manages to draw by perpetual check with 2 seconds on his clock!

Co Winners GM Sergey Kudrin and GM Alex Lenderman battling out their 9th round draw:


GM Alexander Shabalov





2009 US Champion, San Sebastion 2009 Winner, GM Hikaru Nakamura at the beginning of his 25 person simul (which he won 25-0).






Local Hero Fide Master Jim Dean vs Official winner GM Dimitry Gurevich:






A trendmendous event for the young Eric Rosen who finished on 6.5/9 by defeating GM John Fedorwicz in the final round (and drawing Co-winner GM Jesse Kraii in rd3!) to become Illinois' newest National Master. Congratulations to Eric Rosen! Here is a photo of Eric and two of his games:

[Event "US Open"]
[Site "Indianapolis"]
[Date "2009.08.09"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Fedorowicz, John P"]
[Black "Rosen, Eric"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2531"]
[BlackElo "2184"]
[PlyCount "38"]
[EventDate "2009.??.??"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 c6 6. e3 Bf5 7. g4 Be6 8. h3
Nbd7 9. f4 Nb6 10. Bd3 Be7 11. Nf3

Pictured left to right are IM Emory Tate, GM Mesgen Amanov, NM! Eric Rosen making his 11th move.



... Qd6 12. f5 Qg3+ 13. Kd2 Ne4+ 14. Nxe4 dxe4
15. Bxe4 Qf2+ 16. Kc3 Bb4+ {resigns in light of} 17. Kxb4 Qxb2+ 18. Qb3 (18. Kc5 Qa3#) (18.
Ka5 Qc3#) 18... c5+ 19. Kxc5 Bxb3 0-1

[Event "US Open"]
[Site "Indianapolis"]
[Date "2009.08.05"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Kraai, Jesse"]
[Black "Rosen, Eric"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteELO "2584"]
[BlackELO "2184"]
1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qc2 a6 8. a4 Bd7 9. Qxc4 Bc6 10. Bf4 Nd5 11. Nc3 Nxf4 12. gxf4 Bd6 13. e3 Nd7 14. Kh1 Nf6 15. Rg1 Ne4 16. Nxe4 Bxe4 17. Ng5 Bxg2 18. Rxg2 Be7 19. Rag1 Bxg5 20. Rxg5 g6 21. Rc1 c6 22. a5 Qe7 23. Qc5 Qxc5 24. Rgxc5 Rfd8 25. Kg2 Rd5 26. b4 Rad8 27. h4 h5 28. Kf3 Kg7 29. Ke4 Kf6 30. Kd3 Ke7 31. Kc4 Ke8 32. Rg1 Ke7 33. Rb1 Ke8 34. Rxd5 Rxd5 35. e4 Rb5 36. Rg1 Kd7 37. Rg5 Kd6 38. f3 b6 39. axb6 Rxb6 40. Ra5 Kd7 41. f5 exf5 42. exf5 Rb5 43. fxg6 fxg6 44. Rxa6 Rf5 45. Ra7 Kd6 46. Rg7 Rf6 47. Rg8 Kc7 48. Kc5 Rf5 49. Kc4 Rf6 50. b5 cxb5 51. Kxb5 Rxf3 52. Rxg6 Rf4 53. Kc5 Rxh4 54. Rg7 Kd8 55. Rh7 Rg4 56. Rxh5 Rg6 57. Rh8 Kc7 58. Rh7 Kd8 59. Ra7 Rh6 60. Rb7 Rg6 61. Rh7 Rf6 62. d5 Rg6 63. Rh5 Rf6 64. d6 Rf1 65. Kc6 Rc1 66. Rc5 Rxc5 67. Kxc5 Kd7 68. Kd5 Kd8 69. Kc6 Kc8 70. d7 Kd8 71. Kd6

1/2-1/2

A picture of the playing hall:

US Open Starts!

Blogging has been light because I've been out of town alot but in two days I shall join the fun at the US OPEN which is already under way! Check back later for stories, updates and PHOTOS!!!

Crazy chess stories!

I have related my one of my own crazy chess stories/bad experiences (see Cheating in the World Open?

But i've heard many more! I would like to start collecting some of these stories/bad experiences. I encourage my readership to send in their own experiences! It is important for us all to know the quality of the product we consume!

Dream Organization?

Everyone complains about FIDE and USCF for breaking just common sense laws and contracts. (World Championship cycle anyone?) But what do you really desire most out of your organization?

I feel as though membership dues are collected that then head to a blackhole never to be seen again (in USCF's case: lawyers and Goichberg's pockets).

I feel as the consuming membership we need to gather our voice and demands together if we ever want to be heard.

I feel the core duties of the organization are to... ORGANIZE.
1)We shouldn't have 3 adult tournaments conflicting in the same day when the other three weekends of the month are vacant!
2) We should be supporting our GMs and IMs with better conditions and true NON swiss competitions in this country.
3) We should support our life members instead of acting as though their membership was meaningless or solely for the purpose of entering tournaments.
4) It should not just be about the kids and scholastics... after all when the kids grow up where do you expect them to play? The adults matter too!

This list is just a beginning! Send in your additions!

Rules

I would like to ask what little readership I have what they would do in the scenario I had at the World Open.

When your opponent cheats and the TD knowingly allows it... what do you do? Do you quit chess? Boycott that TD and tournament organizer?

For 5 years I ran TD/organized for a prominent gaming website in which any cheating infraction resulted in a YEAR ban from all hosted games. I fielded regular complaints every month that this year ban punishment was too light. I constantly heard people repeat "A cheating infraction should result in being banned forever." I always retorted that many of the cheaters are young people who do not know better. In a few years, they will come to regret what they did to the people and integrity of the game those people love.

However, now I am on the other side of the coin. I am calling a 2 minute addition to the clock too light. Most would say 2 minutes can be a lot of time... but lets put it into percentage format for perspective's sake. A 6 hour game is 360 minutes so 2min/360min is only a .5% time advantage in a game where your opponent tried to win by BREAKING the agreed rules. Is this truly a fair penalty? I would say no. I would hope most would agree with me. If you cheat in the real world, you usually face massive fines, jail time and certainly bans of certain types. In school... you get a 0 for the assignment and the class. In chess? 2 minutes? I should think the person would be forfeited, removed from the tournament and membership from USCF revoked for at least a year (as was done in my website!). What kind of punishment is two minutes? It in fact encourages people to try cheating! If they fail... so what?

My biggest worry is once cheating becomes rampant... what is to stop it from happening again and again? I mean my thing is I love this game cause we all play by the same rules and start with the same position. If this changes and there aren't any rules what is the point of this game at all?

GM Joel Benjamin scoffs at FMs

Fellow blogger TCG has already mentioend this on his blog over at
TCG
But still his point needs to be reenforced.
A junior player announced his goal to be FM and asked for advice on how to obtain it from prestigous GM Joel Benjamin. Not only did he have no advice to offer... he had this to say of FMs "I have to say, I have never heard a developing player define FIDE Master as a career goal. Master yes, grandmaster and international master of course, but an ill-respected title invented by FIDE to squeeze more money from title applications? Well, to each his own."
USCF


I know several experts and masters whose sole goal is to make FM. So I find his claim not only unbelievable but quite rude to those who are FMs. While ratings flucuate, for one to claim one title has no meaning is to indicate all titles have no meaning. While this claim has certain logic to it (and appeals to such prestigous figures' opinions like that of Nigel Short)... it is an opinion best epoused as a polite opinion not stated as "ill-respected title." Respecting a person's talent not their title is a commendable statement and a more appropiate prompt than the 'ill' chosen words of GM JB.

World Open Photos

Some photos I am posting late from the World Open (better late than never no?)





How many of these masters can you identify?


A view of one of the three playing halls.

Cheating in the World Open?

As I mentioned in my last post, I heard of all the famous cheating stories on the way up to the World Open. I heard all about their famous anti-sandbagging and cheating measures... so I was led to believe that they took cheating occurrences very seriously these days. The last thing I expected was to be cheated against in this very tournament! Not only, did my opponent cheat - the td helped him do it by bad ruling! Further, my incident was far from the only poor td assisted cheating incident during this tournament!

In round 6 with a 3/5 score, I played a guy the following game (which is only important to relate the error of td judgement):
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. Bg5 c6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Nc3 Qa5 7. Nd2 dxc4 8. Bxf6 Nxf6 9. Bxc4 Be7 10. 0-0 0-0 11. e4 e5 12. d5 b5 13. Be2 Bb7 14. d6 Bxd6 15. Nc4? bxc4 16. Qxd6 Rfd8 17. Qa3 Qxa3 18. bxa3 Rd4 19. f3 Nd7 20. Na4 Kf8 21. Rab1 Ba6 22. Rfc1 Ke7 23. Rb4 c5 24. Rb2 Kd6 25. Rc2 Nb6 26. Nc3 Rab8 27. a4 Nd7 28. Nd5 Nb6 29. Nc3 Nd7 30. Nd5 Nb6 31. Nc3 three repetition draw claim. At this point my opponent decides to refuse the claim and not write down 30... Nb6 31. Nc3 the position on the board. There were two spectators watching the whole thing from 27. a4 to 31. Nc3 that could verify it. The first was my friend watching the end of my game and the second was the guy who had just lost on the board next to me. My opponent was most likely repeating moves because he had only 9 minutes left to make timecontrol but still he was losing his cpawn and back into an equal position. While I go to get the TD, my opponent destroys the position on the board! And while he is creating a new position I come back with the TD who sees my opponent messing with the board! The td plays through my scoresheet to see I have a correct 3 rep draw. Then he decides since my opponent doesn't have the same score sheet and my opponent destroyed the position on the board... he can't give a draw to me! He wanted me to agree to play the game from an earlier point in the scoresheet. He refused to look at the clock move counter or ask any of the spectators. I was being forced to play a new position entirely in which I was losing! In disgust I said I withdraw from the tournament. I went to Goichberg to appeal with the witnesses. The witnesses were told they had no involvement in the dispute! I was essentially told to go away! Rule 21F1 Page 90 of the USCF Rule book states "a delayed claim may still be in order if it is based on evidence not previously available, such as the testimony of a witness" yet the witnesses were told not to speak!

I am proud to say I will not vote for Goichberg!

World Open 2009

Congratulations to Hikaru Nakamura and Najer for being the lucky lottery winners of 2009. During my 1st (and consequently only) trip to the World Open, I was discussing with my friends whether the probability of being A) Hit by Lightning, B) Winning the World Open or C) Winning the Lottery was more a likely proposition. I think option A wins out but I would love to hear others opinions.

As I rode along in the passage seat on the great American highway... I heard all the stories of the world opens past. From near success stories, to cheating attempts, to dreamers of big money. Unfortunately, the World Open is never going to be a profit making prospect for your average chess player so why does the big money draw have the big crowd draw?

My own personal experience at the world open was awful. I had to withdraw after a TD witnessed my opponent cheat and refused to do anything about it. Still, Philadelphia's cheesesteaks and the all day bughouse extravaganza combined with watching a last round swindle over IM Angelo Young over IM Timothy Taylor... almost made the trip worth while! Until you consider it cost me $350 entry fee, $250 hotel fee and that doesn't even cover: Gas, tolls and food! It was a good experience though that I shall never repeat.

A special congratulations to IM Alex Lenderman who scored his 3rd and final GM norm!!

Short run vs Long Run Goals

It is often hard to break down one's own motives into a temporal schemata that gives priority to your decision (both real world decisions and those made over the boards). One is often left at the chessboard searching first for ANY plan and then only secondarily evaluating if the plan is performable. It is a vexing question to try to apply such techniques at the chess board but even harder when tries to apply them broadly to their own life. It is important to keep your goals spread out over time... in chess as in life.

I find it easier to break this argument into three parts. 1) Defining and clarifying your own short term goals. 2) Defining and clarifying your own long term goals. 3) Find the cohesive that runs them together.

Your short run goals should always include things like happiness, fun, enjoyment and satisfaction cause you never know if you will live to see your long run goals completed. I see all too often players that join a tournament, lose their first game and withdraw. If their only goal was to go undefeated then both their short run and long run goals have been lost with this victory. Otherwise, this withdrawal makes no sense. If you long run goal is improvement and your short run goal enjoyment... first the tournament, enjoy the games and study the loses! This method is the only one to achieve your aims.

But your long run goals should contain a more oriented, rhythmic logic such as concrete ways you achieve your short run goals. If you derive satisfaction from wins then you must learn how to improve your practical winning chances. Some are just happy to show up and play the game.

What I am talking about here is chess terms can be clarified in the short term as more wins, more rating points, more money but in the long run... overall improvement. The difference between the chessboard and your life is your might translate rating, wins to simply money and fame. Job Title, promotion, something to hold over a highschool classmate, a family member a friend. As Ayn Rand stated succinctly in the Fountainhead, it is okay to desire such things if they are the means leading towards an end. It is natural to want money if it leads to certain luxuries... it is not natural to want money just because other think it desirable. I feel in this ground most of us become lost. It is the same in studying chess openings where one will endless copy and memorize GM moves and games without understanding their plan and their short run goals. You copy because you know their long run goal is to win the game. But if their short run goal was just not to lose? You can never know the circumstances under which the artist creates so it is better to understand the lesson then to follow blindly. Goals are something that should be achievable, identifiable and desirable.

Dream team?

I was recently pondering for fun what the most interesting exciting supertournament participant list might be of active players.

I came to the conclusion (not because these are my favorite players) that it would be 1. Magnus Carlsen 2. Vassily Ivanchuk 3. Alexander Morozevich 4. Alexei Shirov 5. Hikaru Nakamura 6. Nigel Short because of the innovative and sharp way they all play the opening. It would seem to me these players versatile repertoire makes them almost impossible to prepare for (all super GMs admit as much about Ivanchuk). I thought it was a fun albeit pointless topic to think about though.

However, in MTEL 09 we see 3 of these 6 together! Although Ivanchuk is clearly out of form in this tournament for whatever reason!

Congrats to the Champion!

Congratulations to the 2009 US Champion: Hikaru Nakamura!

He had a beautiful win over GM Joshua Friedel in the Two Knights. It was strange to see the two knights played so poorly by a GM! In the after interview, Nakamura mentioned of the mainline 8. Bd3 "Morozevich plays it so it must be good!" It was strange to see Friedel respond with the dubious 8... Be7 instead of engaging the mainline!

Still a great tourney with some great chess! Minus the horrible on site spectating conditions and a few hiccups with online relays... the St. Louis Chess Club delivered a fantastic performance in prize fund, player conditions, good chess and enthusiasm! A thank you to all the players and volunteers that made it possible.... and congratulations again to Nakamura!

Nakamura also said one other thing after his round9 victory... his intentions are to shoot for a world championship match! Talk about work! Good luck to him in that endeavor!

Prediction: US Champion 2009 Hikaru Nakamura

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

these are the pairings and my prediction is in... Nakamura eats the enchilada (the same prediction I made at round 1 outset). Whether its by blitz' playoffs or outright he will be our titled champion.

US Championship (with round2 photos) Trip

590 miles traveled on the great American interstate all with one thought in mind: viewing great chess games from the 2009 US Championship.

It turned out there was only one problem with that thought... "viewing." The very enthusiastic organizers of the St. Louis chess club must be applauded for their heart and effort... but condemned on their results. They created the most non friendly spectator environment I could ever have imagined. I could complain all day on the errors of these first time organizers... but I will chalk it all up to as a learning experience. I will say though that I finally understand the sentiment of just spectating from home. Nothing prevents the organizers from creating these non-spectator friendly environments. I will never again wonder about why chess is not a spectator friendly sport for I will always remember the setup of the 2009 US Championships. My friend and I decided to leave late on Saturday night after round 2 instead of staying for round 3 as originally planned as a result of the poor spectating conditions.


Even though the club staff did their best to prevent photos by taking away your camera and cellphone at the door... and constantly wanding you and patting you down like an airport security checkin point. I did manage to steal some illegal photos!

I hope that at least some people will enjoy my photos as I went to great lengths to dupe the stupid security guards. I would have videos as well but it seemed too risky.




A young future GM plays skittles prior to round2's start outside the club with a prestigious on looker: IM Michael Brooks!


Wall of photos of the 24 participants taken by Betsy Dynako.


GM Alexander Onischuk in deep thought against NM Tyler Hughes.



GM Melikset Khachiyan ponders his position in the winawer french against defending 2008 US Champion GM Yury Shulman of Chicago, IL!


Local NM Charles Lawton in deep thought against IM Enrico Sevillano.


The most interesting game of the round to participants... GM Joshua Friedel vs GM Gregory Kaidanov with GM Robert Hess, GM Alexander Onischuk and GM Alexander Shabalov spectating.



My favorite photo: IM Anna Zatonskih ponders her position in a very cat like posture... as the picture of IM Michael Brooks from the wall of photos stares on with her.

I have learned my lesson. No need to spectate live unless its your home town or a side event for you to play in.... because the last thing organizers think about is spectators.

US Championship round 1!

I will be driving down to St. Louis to watch round1&2&3. Round 1 pairings are posted here

Pairings
Round 1, Friday, May 8, 2:00 pm

Bd White Black
1. GM Ibragimov, Ildar (0.0) 2628 - GM Kamsky, Gata (0.0) 2798
2. GM Nakamura, Hikaru (0.0) 2757 - GM Shabalov, Alexander (0.0) 2620
3. GM Friedel, Joshua (0.0) 2568 - GM Onischuk, Alexander (0.0) 2736
4. GM Shulman, Yury (0.0) 2697 - IM Sevillano, Enrico (0.0) 2549
5. IM Hess, Robert (0.0) 2545 - GM Christiansen, Larry (0.0) 2681
6. GM Becerra, Julio (0.0) 2672 - IM Robson, Ray (0.0) 2542
7. IM Zatonskih, Anna (0.0) 2503 - GM Akobian, Varuzhan (0.0) 2664
8. GM Kaidanov, Gregory (0.0) 2662 - IM Krush, Irina (0.0) 2496
9. IM Shankland, Samuel (0.0) 2464 - GM Benjamin, Joel (0.0) 2650
10. GM Ehlvest, Jaan (0.0) 2649 - IM Brooks, Michael (0.0) 2419
11. Lawton, Charles (0.0) 2350 - GM Khachiyan, Melikset (0.0) 2632
12. GM Gulko, Boris (0.0) 2631 - Hughes, Tyler (0.0) 2293

I have bolded the round 1 matches I consider extremely interesting (as in results not totally predictable and obvious!). I am rooting for Shulman and Christiansen but I predict Nakamura will eat the whole enchilada. I don't doubt strong guns like Onsichuk and Kamsky... but my true desire would be to see Robson score his first GM norm!

This field is the strongest US championship ever with 8 former US Champions participating!

Check back later for pictures!