2012 U.S. Championship: Nakamura Defeats Kamsky, Leads With One Round To Go
The penultimate round of the 2012 U.S. Championship was dramatic. Gata Kamsky had seized the lead with an impressive win in the previous round, while Hikaru Nakamura, who had a long and probably somewhat disappointing draw, was half a point behind. They were paired and Kamsky had White, which would seem to put him in the catbird seat for his third championship title in a row.
So one would think, but Nakamura pulled out the win. Kamsky made some decisions that many spectators didn't grasp, but then spectators - even GMs - often find themselves confused by his play. By itself, that's not news, though it was interesting to hear Nakamura mention after the game that he generally failed to guess Kamsky's moves as well! Nakamura was better much of the way, but Kamsky's very active play kept things crazy, and he was in range of a draw despite a material deficit. What cost him was probably time trouble. Had Kamsky played 36.Nc5 the position would have remained equal; instead, he played 36.f3 and Nakamura took over again.
In other games, Seirawan-Kaidanov, Lenderman-Hess and Akobian-Onischuk were all pretty easygoing draws. Shulman-Robson was also drawn but wasn't perfunctory. Theirs was a complicated and eventful struggle, and at the end when it seemed as if Shulman would win with an extra piece, Robson fought on and somehow managed to survive. Shulman was out of the running for first in any case, but this must have been very disappointing for him. Finally, Stripunsky's attack to build a kingside attack in a Closed Sicilian against Ramirez failed, but the counterattack succeeded and Ramirez won.
Last Round Pairings:
Nakamura (7.5) - Seirawan (3.5)
Hess (4.5) - Kamsky (7)
Ramirez (4) - Lenderman (5)
Robson (5) - Stripunsky (3)
Onischuk (6) - Shulman (5.5)
Kaidanov (4) - Akobian (5)
The women had the day off, so that everyone will finish together tomorrow (Saturday). Zatonskih and Krush are tied for first there, while it's still possible that the Championship proper could also finish in a tie. If either event finishes with a tie for first, tiebreaks will take place on Sunday.
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