The Northern California International is an impressive open event (by U.S. standards) that's underway, primarily intended for titled players and norm seekers.
The early star of the show was IM Greg Shahade, who started out with a pair of wins over FMs and then continued with wins over GMs Alejandro Ramirez and Axel Bachmann. That put him in clear first, and he maintained his half-point edge over the field with a draw against top seed Georg Meier. That put him in excellent shape for a GM norm, and although he lost last night to Sam Shankland, who is now in clear first, he still has very good chances to achieve it.