by National Life Master Loal Davis
|
|
 |
 |
|
Wesley So |
Alexander Onischuk |
Varuzhan Akobian |
It is now a three way tie for first place going into the last round of the U.S. Championship for 2017. Varuzhan Akobian, Alexander Onischuk, and Wesley So are all tied at 6.5. Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura are tied a point behind at 5.5.
[Event “U.S. Championship 2017”]
[Site “?”]
[Date “2017.04.08”]
[Round “10”]
[White “Zherebukh, Yaroslav”]
[Black “Nakamura, Hikaru”]
[Result “0-1”]
[PlyCount “42”]
[EventDate “2017.03.29”]
[SourceDate “2017.04.08”]
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. Nh3 Nf6 7. Nf4 Nbd7 8. Bc4 Qc7 9. O-O e6 10. c3 Bd6 11. Qf3 c5 12. dxc5 Bxc5 13. Bb3 O-O-O 14. Nxg6 hxg6 15. Bf4 e5 16. Be3 e4 17. Qe2 Bxe3 18. Qxe3
Black (Nakamura) To Play
Rxh2 19. Rfd1 Rdh8 20. Qxa7
Black (Nakamura) To Play (Interference Theme)
e3 21. Qxe3 Ng4 0-1
Final Position
Rh1+ and Rh1+ followed by Qh2+ is mate. Very Pretty.
[Event “U.S. Championship 2017”]
[Site “?”]
[Date “2017.04.08”]
[Round “10”]
[White “Caruana, Fabiano”]
[Black “Shabalov, Alexander”]
[Result “1-0”]
[PlyCount “65”]
[EventDate “2017.03.29”]
[SourceDate “2017.04.08”]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 a6 7. f3 b5 8. Qd2 Bb7 9. g4 h6 10. O-O-O Nbd7 11. h4 Rc8 12. Bd3 b4 13. Nce2 e5 14. Nb3 d5 15. exd5 Nxd5 16. h5 g5
Gaping White Holes That Cannot Be Repaired
17. Ng3 Qc7 18. Rhe1 Be7 19. Nf5 N7f6 20. Bf2 Kf8 21. Nxe7 Nxe7 22. Bg3 Nd7
White (Caruana) To Play
23. Nd4 Qa5 24. Kb1 Qb6 25. Bf5 Rc4
White (Caruana) To Play
26. Ne6+ fxe6 27. Qxd7 exf5 28. Bxe5 Rh7 29. Bd6 Bc8 30. Bxe7+ Kf7 31. Qd3 Rc3 32. Qd8 Qxd8 33. Rxd8 1-0
Final Position
[Event “U.S. Championship 2017”]
[Site “?”]
[Date “2017.04.08”]
[Round “10”]
[White “Onischuk, Alexander”]
[Black “Xiong, Jeffery”]
[Result “1-0”]
[PlyCount “103”]
[EventDate “2017.03.29”]
[SourceDate “2017.04.08”]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Nf3 c5 8. Be3 Bg4 9. Rc1 O-O 10. Be2 Qa5 11. Qd2 cxd4 12. cxd4 Nc6 13. Qxa5 Nxa5 14. h3 Bxf3 15. Bxf3 Rfc8 16. Ke2 e5 17. dxe5 Bxe5 18. Bg4 Rc4 19. f4 Bb2 20. Rxc4 Nxc4 21. Bf2 Re8 22. Bf3 Na3 23. Rd1 Rc8 24. e5 Bc1 25. Bxb7 Rc2+ 26. Kf3 Bd2 27. Bd5 Nb5 28. Bb3 Rb2 29. g3 Nc3 30. Ra1 a5 31. e6 fxe6 32. Bxe6+ Kf8 33. Bc5+ Kg7 34. Bd4+ Kf8 35. Bb3 Ke8 36. Rf1 a4 37. Bxc3 Bxc3 38. Bxa4+ Kf8 39. Bb3 Bd2 40. Rf2 Bc3 41. Rxb2 Bxb2
Opposite Colored Bishops – Alas – Two extra Pawns
42. Ke4 Ba3 43. Ke5 Ke7 44. g4 Bd6+ 45. Ke4 Ba3 46. Bg8 h6 47. h4 Kf6 48. Bb3 Ke7 49. g5 hxg5 50. hxg5 Kf8 51. Kf3 Kg7 52. Kg4 1-0
Final Position
The following images are courtesy of Derrick Bartotto.
| # | Name | Pts | SB |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Akobian, Varuzhan | 6.5 | 31.5 |
| So, Wesley | 6.5 | 31 | |
| Onischuk, Alexander | 6.5 | 29.5 | |
| 4 | Nakamura, Hikaru | 5.5 | 25.5 |
| Caruana, Fabiano | 5.5 | 25.25 | |
| 6 | Zherebukh, Yaroslav | 5 | 24 |
| 7 | Shankland, Samuel L | 4.5 | 23.5 |
| Naroditsky, Daniel | 4.5 | 22.75 | |
| Robson, Ray | 4.5 | 20.5 | |
| Kamsky, Gata | 4.5 | 20.25 | |
| 11 | Xiong, Jeffery | 3.5 | 17.75 |
| 12 | Shabalov, Alexander | 3 | 14 |