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US Chess Championship - Live Blogging Round 3 - Nakamura Defeats Hess!

strani
| 5 | Chess Event Coverage

Thanks for reading! With only two results left to play out I'm off for the night. See you tomorrow with round 4 which should be a lot more exciting.

UPDATE GM Elect Hess has fallen to GM Nakamura! Hess came out very strong in the first two rounds and facing a losing endgame just threw in the towel..


UPDATE: GM Imbraginov vs. GM Christiansen concludes in a draw...

UPDATE: GM Onishuk vs GM Ehlvest have ended their 3rd Round match in a draw.


UPDATE: Kamsky vs. Shulman = DRAW! Game posting shortly. Kamksy is in the media room.



UPDATE: 2008 Junior Champion Tyler Hughes has fallen to GM Becerra in the third round.












UPDATE: Now! Shankland and Kachiyana are in the room analyzing their draw in the final position! There are 4 Grandmasters in the room at the moment, this is really quite cool :) Again, you can listen live at the CCSCSTL site.

UPDATE: GM Shabalov and IM Lawton are in the media room analyzing their game, the first win of Round 3 and a game that will keep former US Champion Shabalov alive in the tournament. You can listen in live at the CCSCSTL website http://www.saintlouischessclub.org/US-Championship-2009-Live

"Charles played Ng5 I believe that was a mistake..."

This is pretty exciting, 3 GM's and an IM in the same room going over a recent tournament game right here in Saint Louis.
Sam Shankland vs. GM Khachiyan ends in a draw! 2 Cali players agree to a questionable draw. With two bishops would you let go of this one?

Today has been pretty slow in general, attendence is still up and many people are coming and going from the CCSCSTL. There hasn't been any more upsets and the games in general are taking a turn toward the uninspired. Robson and Hess played fantastic chess yesterday and the fire seems to have died a little today.

UPDATE: Charles Lawton has fallen in Round 3... :(













UPDATE: Namakurma vs Hess (Current Position)

Fischer Memorial Prize Update: $64,000 is still up for grabs with the possibility, (not so probable) of pulling off an undefeated win in the US Championship.
Shulman, Kamsky and Hess are the only players without a loss and that WILL change at the end of this round as Kamsky plays black against Shulman and Hess has black against Nakamura.

Update: The Game I'm Most Interested in update, I've met Charels Lawton many times and he is a true gentlemen and a big part of Saint Louis Chess, he's playing now into a very interesting attacking position after a tough loss yesterday.

UPDATE:

Big Upset for Charels Lawton last night as he lost due to time constraints and score sheet issues. "He's really capable to play these big players..." says Sutovksy. Shahade is speculating that his inexperience with the strict score keeping rules of FIDE may have played some aspect is his forced loss last night.

Question from the audience: "What are the chances of FIDE and USCF coming to an agreement on standard rules?"
Shahade: "About as likely as someone winning the Fischer Memorial Prize..."

The FIDE conversation is really interesting and touches on the political problems of the international chess community. Listen in now! What do you guys think? FIDE VS. USCF? Ask a question here and I'll ask it to the GMs.

 

 

UPDATE:GM Gregory Kaidanov seems to be hanging out in the commentary room for some reason with a half point awarded today vs. IM  Anna Zatonskih. He's got a big grin on his face listening to the commentary. The game will be counted as a draw for the purpose of the 4th Round pairings.

"Zatonskih has taken a personal day...and the game will most likely be made up on the off day.." says Shahade.

 

Young IM Robert Hess is up against GM Nakamura in a very exciting game. The Round has started, for live updates visit the CCSCSTL: http://www.saintlouischessclub.org/US-Championship-2009-Live. The club is also posting updates via twitter @ http://twitter.com/CCSCSL.

I'm here in the live commentary room with WGM Jennifer Shahade and GM Emil Sutovsky.

Nakamura and Hess are already into the 15th move and the board is getting complicated.

Other big games today Kamsky vs Shulman, with Kamsky playing black.

 

Board White Rating Result Black Rating
1. GM Yury Shulman (2) 2697 1/2-1/2 GM Gata Kamsky (2) 2798
2. GM Hikaru Nakamura (1½) 2757 - IM Robert Hess (2) 2545
3. GM Alexander Onischuk (1½) 2736 1/2-1/2 GM Jaan Ehlvest (1½) 2649
4. GM Joel Benjamin (1½) 2650 - GM Joshua Friedel (1½) 2568
5. GM Julio Becerra (1) 2672 1-0 Tyler Hughes (1) 2293
6. GM Varuzhan Akobian (1) 2664 - IM Ray Robson (1) 2542
7. IM Samuel Shankland (1) 2464 1/2-1/2 GM Melikset Khachiyan (1) 2632
8. IM Michael Brooks (1) 2419 - IM Enrico Sevillano (1) 2549
9. GM Ildar Ibragimov (½) 2628 1/2-1/2 GM Larry Christiansen (½) 2681
10. GM Gregory Kaidanov (½) 2662 PPD IM Anna Zatonskih (½) 2503
11. IM Irina Krush (½) 2496 - GM Boris Gulko (0) 2631
12. Charles Lawton (0) 2350 0-1 GM Alexander Shabalov (0) 2620

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