US CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP RD 9

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Nakamura/Shulman (french)What a game…Nakamura(5.5/9) jumping into this game with high expectations was bewildered and dis-mayed by the Chicago GM.The soft spoken Shulman(6.5/9) spoke volumes over the board with a show stopping sac exchange. From the opening play Black chose a sharp defense 1e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4 e5 c5…(Winawer) putting pressure on the queen side.White played at times a bit unsound… pushing the “H” pawn.. sacking the “D” pawn.. moving his King to f1.. forcing moves that looked second best. The game had an uncertain element to it and Shulman sensed it. The tension broke when the champ misread the position on the King side thinking he was safe to make a recapture after the move 24(RxB on g5). Deep into enemy territory hoping to make a play with the(h) pawn looked in disbelief as it dawned on him that Black had a mating net … and there was no way out. The game ended on move 26.(0-1)……..
Shulman will play Kamsky for the Title..

Kamsky/Onischuk (Ruy Lopez) Going for the win Onischuk(5.5/9) came out swinging going toe-toe with Kamsky(6.5/9). The opening was slightly better for black, who traded Queens, and castled Queen side with a pawn majority.Kamsky played the middle game solid and found active play for his rooks. Attacking on the king side he broke through snagging the pawn on f5 .(move39)White was down a pawn but Black had double “C” pawns,plus now Kamsky was threatening to drive his “F” pawn for a promotion.The Game looked drawish ..and Kamsky did make an offer when only the rooks and pawns were left remaining.But to Onischuk’s credit for wanting a win declined and pressed too hard. Making a rushed move to d5 with his King after being checked..instead of Kc5(move45) Black’s game was soon to unravel white was on the march for a promotion with the ‘A’ pawn and the F pawn. Rb3 check(move60) promised Kamsky his new Queen…and Onischuk resigned(1-0)

Hess/Yermolinsky(sicilian) Its too bad that they cant award a full point to Yermolinsky(5/9) for his heroic effort.The 2 time US Champ making Hess (5/9) earn every bit of his money ~ The game lasted for 98 moves. White early on was attacking the King side, then moving his Rook on the “G” file along with an active center . This was met with a determined Bishop on b7 and a Rook on an open C file.On Move 21 Black exchanged His Rook off the c square for the Knight on d4.On the next move the Queens were off the table and this is where the “game”begins..White bringing the heat traded off his Knight for a Bishop on move 30. At this point white had 2 Rooks with 3 pawns on the Queen side.Black had a Rook and a Bishop with 5 pawns ..3 of them were on the King side.White made great strides removing the Rook and a pawn Leaving Black with a Bishop for its defense plus 4 pawns.Keeping the pressure on ,white put his rook to work and started pushing the queen side pawns luring the Black King away from the two connected pawns on the King side.{on move 40} from this point on to the next 58 moves was a beautiful display of minor piece end game tactics.Hess eventually capturing the pawns on the King side was now looking to promote his only pawn on the “A “file. Black with one pawn (a5) and a Bishop held the position keeping the pawn on a4 ….and frustrating one tired Rook..

Krush/Kraai The opening 1.c4 b6 2.d4 Bg7 3 a6 Nf3…was surprising considering Krush(4.5/9)was playing for her second GM norm.Many had hoped she would of played something more aggressive.White had a solid opening ,she managed to keep a pair of Bishops while being down a pawn . Kraai(4.5/9) Keeping his cool piled his rooks on the open “C” file and played around his doubled “D” pawns.
The game was shifting more into equal play after a rook exchange by Black on f1(move 21).White still in search of winning chances played out the match exchanging the Bishops (move 42} after winning a pawn, Leaving a Queen/pawn endgame.
{DRAW}