US Championships - Round 8
Shulman and Krush nearly home
In the penultimate round in the US Championship in Tulsa, Yuri Shulman and Irina Krush are close to lifting the men's and women's titles respectively. Shulman hung on to draw against Perelshteyn and takes a full point lead into the final round, where he will play Josh Friedel with the Black pieces.
The crunch match in the women's event between Krush and Zatonskih (pictured) was a tense and exciting affair with both players running short of time. However, the end result was a draw which leaves Krush half a point ahead and in a strong position to succesfully defend her title.
Top men after round 8
Rank | Name | Title | Rating | FED | Pts |
| 1 | Shulman, Yury | GM | 2664 | USA | 6.5 |
| 2-3 | Kudrin, Sergey | GM | 2610 | USA | 5.5 |
| 2-3 | Onischuk, Alexander | GM | 2728 | USA | 5.5 |
| 4-6 | Friedel, Josh | IM | 2511 | USA | 5.0 |
| 4-6 | Perelshteyn, Eugene | GM | 2615 | USA | 5.0 |
| 4-6 | Akobian, Varuzhan | GM | 2666 | USA | 5.0 |
Women's standings after round 8
Rank | Name | Title | Rating | FED | Pts |
| 1 | Krush, Irina | IM | 2515 | USA | 7.0 |
| 2 | Zatonskih, Anna | IM | 2490 | USA | 6.5 |
| 3 | Abrahamyan, Tatev | WFM | 2280 | USA | 6.0 |
| 4 | Rohonyan, Katerine | WGM | 2318 | USA | 5.5 |
| 5-6 | Battsetseg, Tsagaan | WIM | 2251 | USA | 4.5 |
| 5-6 | Tuvshintugs, Batchimeg | WIM | 2289 | USA | 4.5 |
| 7 | Zenyuk, Iryna | WFM | 2205 | USA | 3.5 |
| 8 | Epstein, Esther | WM | 2194 | USA | 1.5 |
| 9 | Airapetian, Chouchanik | WFM | 2143 | USA | 1.0 |
| 10 | Jamison, Courtney |
| 2064 | USA | 0.0 |
