Anna Zatonskih is US Women's Chess Champion 2011 - videos and games
Gata Kamsky is US Chess Champion 2011 - videos plus games
US Chess Championships: Surprise commentary guest chess great Garry Kasparov
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011
Hi everyone,
The US Chess Championships are down to the finals. In the men's section we have Gata Kamsky taking on Yury Shulman. In the women's section we have Anna Zatonskih taking on Tatev Abrahamyan. Here is how they qualified via the semifinals:
US Championship Semifinal 1
Name | Rtg | G1 | G2 | Rpd1 | Rpd2 | Armg | Tot. |
Gata Kamsky | 2733 | ½. | 1 | - | - | - | 1.5 |
Sam Shankland | 2512 | ½. | 0 | - | - | - | 0.5 |
US Championship Semifinal 2
Name | Rtg | G1 | G2 | Rpd1 | Rpd2 | Armg | Tot. |
Robert Hess | 2565 | ½. | ½. | ½. | 0 | - | 1.5 |
Yury Shulman | 2622 | ½. | ½. | ½. | 1 | - | 2.5 |
US Women's Championship Semifinal 1
Name | Rtg | G1 | G2 | Rpd1 | Rpd2 | Armg | Tot. |
Anna Zatonskih | 2499 | 1. | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3.0 |
Irina Krush | 2472 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 |
US Women's Championship Semifinal 2
Name | Rtg | G1 | G2 | Rpd1 | Rpd2 | Armg | Tot. |
Tatev Abrahamyan | 2326 | 0. | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | 3.0 |
Camilla Baginskaite | 2342 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 1.0 |
Here are all the men's section semifinal games.
Here are all the women's section semifinal games.
Now guess who joined the live commentary team via skype?
You can access the official website here. And, another nice video with a surprise good news. Double congratulations to Yury Shulman.
The awards ceremony will be Thursday night.US$166,000 total divided as 1st $40,000, 2nd $30,000, 3rd $20,000, 4th $15,000. The runners-up of the round robin tourneys: 3rd $8,000, 4th $6,000, 5th $5,000, 6th $4,000, 7th $3,000, 8th $2,500. $2,000 to the winner of each round robin tourney. Additionally, $5,000 will be set aside to award Best Game Prizes throughout both the U.S. Championship and the U.S. Women's Championship.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's Also see her personal blog at Labels: 2011 US Chess Championship, chess blog
US Chess Championships: Kamsky through to final, others in playoffs
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011
Hi everyone,
Grandmaster Gata Kamsky has made it to the finals of the US Chess Championships 2011 by beating IM Samuel L Shankland in the two game match by winning the second game. The other semifinal between GM Robert L. Hess and GM Yuri Shulman ended in a draw so they will go into the playoffs now.
Grandmaster Gata Kamsky: Prescription for success
In the women's section we have IM Irina Krush and IM Anna Zatonskih drawing their semifinal match while WGM Camilla Baginskaite and WFM Tatev Abrahamyan also drew their semifinal match for the entire group to head to playoffs.
Here are the tiebreak rules:
Semifinals and finals tiebreaks will consist of a two-game rapid match (G/25+5 second increment). If the contest is still undecided, the match will go to a rapid Armageddon bidding game with a base time of 45 minutes for each Player. Black will have draw odds. Each Player shall bid an amount of time (minutes and seconds, a number equal to or less than 45:00) they are willing to play with in order to choose their colour. The Player who bids the lowest amount of time chooses his colour and begins with that amount of time; the other Player receives 45:00. If both Players bid exactly the same amount of time, the Chief Arbiter will flip a coin to determine who shall choose their colour.
You can access the official website at this link.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's Also see her personal blog at Labels: 2011 US Chess Championship, chess blog
US Chess Championships semifinals lined up
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011
Hi everyone,
Catching up with the ongoing US Chess Championships, here is the latest about the playoffs. The playoffs had to be conducted between GM Alex Onischuk and GM-elect Sam Shankland faced plus IM Anna Zatonskih and WGM Sabina Foisor.
Shankland vs Onischuk for the last semifinal slot.
Shankland first beat Onischuk with black and then with white. In the semifinals, Shankland will receive defending champion GM Gata Kamsky, who already qualified without the need for a tiebreak. The other semifinal is between GMs Robert Hess and Yury Shulman.
In the US Women’s Championship, Zatonskih won both her games against Foisor to qualify. Zatonskih will now play Krush in the semifinals, while WGM Camilla Baginskaite and WFM Tatev Abrahyam will play in the other semifinal. All semifinal matchups are two-game matches spread out over two days, with a possible tiebreak on the third day
.
You can access the official website here.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's Also see her personal blog at Labels: 2011 US Chess Championship, chess blog
US chess championships go into tie-breaks
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011
Hi everybody,
Two tie-break matches will decide the final list of semi-finalists at the US Chess Championships 2011 on Friday. Gata Kamsky, Yuri Shulman, Robert Hess, Irina Krush, Tatev Abrahamyan and Camilla Baginskaite have qualified for the next stage of the U.S. Championships. Today, in two-game rapid matches, Sam Shankland and Alexander Onischuk, and also Anna Zatonskih and Sabina Foisor, will fight for the last places.
The 2011 U.S. Championship and 2011 U.S. Women’s Championship are taking place from April 14-28 at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis. The games of the Championships can be followed live here. Like last year, there’s a daily live show with GM Maurice Ashley and WGM Jennifer Shahade, produced by Macauley Peterson, including trivia, polls, viewer questions and lots of prizes given away.
(Photo: Seirawan just missing qualification)
Earlier, in Round 7, GM Gata Kamsky and GM Yury Shulman, the reigning champion and the past champion, played a short draw to ensure that they both qualified for the next stage. The two players were the highest seeds in Group A. Kamsky’s half-point got him to 5/7 while Shulman scored an undefeated undefeated 4.5/7. Robson beat Ivanov to score 4/7 and qualify.
In the women's section Sabina Foisor despite a great start lost her way and is now in a tie-break with Anna Zatonskih for the last qualification spot.
Here are the final standings: Preliminary group A Round 7Kamsky 5, Shulman 4.5, Robson 4, Ivanov 3.5, Akobian , Ehlvest, 3, Naroditsky, Stripunsky 2.5 Preliminary group B Round 7 Hess 5.5, Shankland, Onishchuk 4, Seirawan, Finegold 3.5, Kaidanov 3, Christiansen 2.5, Shabalov 2 Women's group B Round 7 Krush 5.5, Abrahamyan, Baginskaite 4.5, Foisor, Zatonskih 4, Goletiani, Zenyuk, 2, melekhina 1.5
You can access the official website here. From Alexandra Kosteniuk's Also see her personal blog at Labels: 2011 US Chess Championship, chess blog
US Chess Championship R6: Kamsky, Hess, Shulman, Krush lead
US Chess Championship R5: Kamsky, Shulman, Hess lead in men's section, Krush in women's
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011
Hello everybody,
The US Chess Championships are at an interesting stage both in the men's and women's sections. Five rounds have been played. Defending champion Gata Kamsky and Yuri Shulman lead jointly in the A group while Robert Hess is in clear first in Group B. With four consecutive wins, Irina Krush has taken sole lead in the women's section just half a point ahead of Sabina Foisor.
Akobian-Shulman, with Seirawan also watching
The 2011 U.S. Championship and 2011 U.S. Women’s Championship is taking place from April 14-28 at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis. You can follow the games live here. Like last year, there’s a daily live show with GM Maurice Ashley and WGM Jennifer Shahade, produced by Macauley Peterson, including trivia, polls, viewer questions and lots of prizes given away.
You can access the official website here.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's Also see her personal blog at Labels: 2011 US Chess Championship, chess blog
US Chess Championship R4: Interesting games all around
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011
Hi everyone,
If you're following the official website and a host of other news websites covering the US Chess Championship 2011, then you would surely have run into FM Mike Klein's detailed reporting of the event. Rightfully, he says, "Youth Movement Continues at U.S. Chess Championships!"
GM Alexander Ivanov, 54, defeated 15-year-old Daniel Naroditsky in round three.
With four rounds gone, at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis, it is a Baltimore College student, WGM Sabina Foisor, having beaten WIM Iryna Zenyuk, to lead with 3.5/4. Following her, half point behind, is IM Irina Krush, who clocked her third straight win after a first round defeat. Krush beat IM Anna Zatonskih in Round 4. Also, WGM Camilla Baginskaite beat FM Alisa Melekhina and WFM Tatev Abrahamyan beat IM Rusudan Goletiani.
In the men's section, in Group B, GM Robert Hess beat GM Alexander Shabalov to tie for the lead with GM-elect Sam Shankland who drew with GM Yasser Seirawan. In Group A, GM Gata Kamsky and GM Yury Shulman lead jointly with three points each.
Group A Standings after Round 4
Gata Kamsky, Yuri Shulman 3; Ray Robson 2.5; Varuzhan Akobian, Alexander Ivanov 2; Daniel Naroditsky 1.5; Jaan Ehlvest, Alexander Stripunsky 1
Group B Standings after Round 4
Robert L Hess, Samuel L Shankland 3; Larry Christiansen 2.5; Alexander Onischuk, Benjamin Finegold 2; Yasser Seirawan 1.5; Alexander Shabalov, gregory S Kaidanov 1
Women's Section after Round 4
Sabina-Francesca Foisor 3.5; Irina Krush 3; Camilla Baginskaite, Tatev Abrahamyan 2.5; Anna Zatonskih 2; Iryna Zenyuk 1.5; Rusudan Goletiani, Alisa Melekhina 0.5
You can access the official website here for videos and games. And a video interview.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's Also see her personal blog at Labels: 2011 US Chess Championship, chess blog
US Chess Championships R3 video: Foisor leads in women's section
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011
Hi everyone,
Time for some news from the ongoing US Chess Championships - men and women. Three rounds have been played so far. In the men's section, in one group, we have Grandmasters Gata Kamsky, Yuri Shulman and Alexander Ivanov leading with two points each. In the other group, we have IM Samuel Shankland leading with 2.5 points. In the women's section we have WGM Sabina Foisor leading with 2.5 points. Here are the standings:
Group A Kamsky, Shulman, Ivanov 2 Akobian, Robson 1.5 Ehlvest, Stripunsky, Naroditsky 1 Group B Shankland 2.5 Christiansen, Hess 2.0 Onishchuk, Finegold 1.5 Seirawan, Shabalov 1.o Kaidanov 0.5
Women's section Foisor 2.5 Zatonskih, Krush 2.0 Baginskaite, Abrahamyan, Zenyuk 1.5 Labels: 2011 US Chess Championship, chess blog
US Chess Championship R2: Perfect scores for Sabina Foisor in women's, Larry Christiansen in men's sections
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011
Sabina Foisor defeated Alisa Melekhina in round two to maintain a perfect score at the 2011 U.S. Women's Championship. Hi everyone,
The news from the US Chess Championships is that women's defending champion Irina Krush went down fighting to Sabina Foisor in the first round. The tournaments are being held at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis. The championships involve preliminary round-robins and finals and conclude April 28. Tatev Abrahamyan also won a nice game against Camilla Baginskaite.
In the men's section, wins were notched up by Alexander Onischuk and three-time winner Grandmaster Larry Christiansen. After the first week of play, the two championships will advance their top players to the finals. The U.S. Championship is split into two groups of eight players each while the U.S. Women's Championship has one group of eight players. The top two players from each group of the U.S. Championship advance to the finals and the top four women will advance to a quad knockout to determine the U.S. Women's Champion.
Round 2 By the second round, in the women's section, it is only Sabina Foisor with a perfect score. In the men's section it is Grandmaster Larry Christiansen. He beat Grandmaster Yasser Seirawan. In the women's section, defending Champion IM Irina Krush recovered after her first round loss to beat Tatev Abrahamyan. Anna Zatonskih also scored her first win of the tournament and is the only player on 1.5 after her first round draw. Four women out of the eight will advance to the semifinals after round-robin play. WGM Camilla Baginskaite beat Rusudan Goletiani.
In the men's section, GM Gata Kamsky bubbled beat GM Varuzhan Akobian while all other games were a draw. Kamsky leads in the first group in the men's section while Christiansen in the second group.
You can access the official website here.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's Also see her personal blog at Labels: 2011 US Chess Championship, chess blog
Preview of US chess championships starting tomorrow
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011
Hi everyone,
Everyone is set for the 2011 US Chess Championship starting on Friday with a strong field and big prize pool of $166,000 in prizes!
The men's section competition will be divided into two round robin groups of eight players, as follows:
Group A
Gata Kamsky, Tury Shulman, Varuzhan Akobian, Jaan Ehlvest,
Alexander Stripunsky, Alexander Ivanov, Ray Robson, Daniel Naroditsky
Group B
Alexander Onischuk, Yasser Seirawan, Alexander Shabalov,
Larry Christiansen, Gregory Kaidanov, Robert Hess, Sam Shankland, Ben Finegold
From each round-robin group, the top two players will qualify for the semifinals. Semifinal and final matches will each consist of two games, with rapid tiebreaks in case of a tie. Should there still be a tie, a modified Armageddon system will be used, in which players bid for the right to choose which color they'd like to play; the player who is willing to take less time will get to choose their color, while the other side will have a full 45 minutes. White must win this game to advance; Black "wins" with either a win or a draw.
As for the prizes, the overall winner will take home $40,000, with the next three finishers taking $30,000, $20,000, and $15,000 respectively. Each round-robin winner will also take home a $2,000 bonus. All players will receive something; 3rd place in the round-robin group receives $8,000, down to $2,500 for last.
The 2011 US Women's Championship will also be taking place at the same time, with eight of the country's top female players competing in a round robin format, which will determine which four players reach the semifinal rounds (the final knockout rounds will be held in the same manner as the main Championship). The eventual winner will take home $18,000, with each player being guaranteed at least $2,000 for participating. The players are:
Anna Zatonskih, Irina Krush, Rusadan Goletiani, Camilla Baginskaite, Tatev Abrahamyan, Sabina Foisor, Alisa Melekhina,
Iryna Zenyuk
Labels: 2011 US Chess Championship, chess blog
Win a chess class with GM Hikaru Nakamura!
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011
Hello everybody,
Don't forget that the first round of the 2011 U.S. Championship and 2011 U.S. Women's Championship will begin in Saint Louis on Friday, April 15.
Before the start of the first round, fans of the U.S. Championships can log onto the new Fantasy Chess website to make their selections from the combined 24-player field and fill out a championship bracket to determine the winner of each event. Fantasy Chess is free to play, and event organisers are giving away some fantastic prizes to the winners including:
1. A 1-hour lesson with two-time U.S. Champion and World #8 Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura and a commemorative chess set from House of Staunton. This limited-edition set is made specifically for the 2011 U.S. Championship and U.S. Women's Championship and comes with a certificate of authenticity, signed by all competitors. 2. A three-pack of one-hour lessons with GM Ben Finegold and a rosewood set and board.
3. A 1-year subscription to New in Chess Magazine, 1-year membership to the Internet Chess Club and a signed chess board from the 2011 competitors.
4. More prizes TBD.
Check out fantasychess.saintlouischessclub.org to register.From Alexandra Kosteniuk's Also see her personal blog at Labels: 2011 US Chess Championship, chess blog
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