Nakamura Wins "Ultimate Blitz Challenge"; So Second, Kasparov Third

This was a very exciting event, and there were many games worth discussing. For now, however, the bare results and some brief impressions. Hikaru Nakamura had a strong second day and won with a score of 11/18, a point ahead of Wesley So and a point and a half ahead of Garry Kasparov. All three finished with plus scores, and since it was a four player tournament it meant that the remaining player served as the piñata. On this occasion it fell to Fabiano Caruana, the new U.S. Champion and world #2 player to fill that role. His play on day two was completely unsuccessful, and he wound up with just 5.5/18.

Nakamura's victory was the product of doggedness on day 1, hanging in there while he wasn't playing well, and on day two he got into a good rhythm and was the dominant player on the day.

So had his moments, especially against Kasparov, but couldn't keep up with Nakamura's pace on the second day. (That said, if he had beaten him in the final round rather than drawing, they would have gone to a playoff.) So's biggest success came against Kasparov. He lost badly to him in round 1, and was close to losing two more game to him on the first day as well. Sadly for Kasparov, a couple of masterpieces in the making were completely ruined by his blundering a knight (on both occasions) and losing. The highlight of their contests came on day 2, however, in the first game of the day, when So won an absolute blowout. The commentators, and then Kasparov himself found the game reminiscent of Paul Morphy's "Opera Game", and Kasparov remarked that he found himself in the role of the "amateur" in that game.

Kasparov came close, and on the first day he could and should have scored far more heavily than he did. He repeatedly achieved the sorts of positions he wanted, and displayed not only good preparation but tremendous and energetic play in the middlegame. Only his rust and several outright blunders left him in third at the end of day 1, though only half a point behind Nakamura and So. On day two he was the one having to scramble to stay alive, and he did a remarkable job of saving some terrible positions against Nakamura in particular. Still, he finished strongly with wins over Nakamura and Caruana in the last two rounds (the latter game was especially nice), and his day 2 score was half a point better than what he achieved on day 1. Surprisingly - and impressively - Kasparov won his mini-matches with Caruana and Nakamura, but suffered badly against So.

Finally, for Caruana just about everything went wrong starting with round 7 on the first day. After that, his main highlight was a nice victory over Kasparov on the black side of a Scotch in the penultimate cycle (in round 15). For him, it will be an event to forget, except for the privilege of being able to say that he played Kasparov in a public event on even terms.

Reminder: St. Louis Blitz Event With Caruana, Nakamura, So, and Kasparov Starts in About Five Minutes

That's just before 1 p.m. local time in St. Louis, 2 p.m. ET in the U.S. The event will take place over two days, a double round-robin between the top three finishers in the U.S. Championship - Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura, and Wesley So - and Garry Kasparov. The games will be broadcast on all the usual websites (official site here), and I'll get in a quick prediction that Caruana will win, Nakamura will come in second, and Kasparov will take the bronze. (My hedge is that the top two might switch places, but I'm going to stick to Kasparov in third.)

Caruana, Paikidze Win U.S. Championships

Fabiano Caruana won the U.S. Championship with a fine score of 8.5/11, bouncing back from a disappointing finish at the Candidates to take first place, $50,000, and to regain the #2 spot in the world ratings. He defeated Akshat Chandra to seal the deal, finishing a full point ahead of Wesley So and Hikaru Nakamura, both of whom drew their final round games (against Aleks Lenderman and Ray Robson, respectively). A further boon for Caruana, and for So and Nakamura as well, is that they will play in a blitz event with Garry Kasparov on Thursday and Friday.

The women's championship finished dramatically. Going into the last round perennial bridesmaid Tatev Abrahamyan led Nazi Paikidze by a half a point, and had an easier pairing to boot. Abrahamyan had the black pieces against Ahritha Eswaran, while Paikidze had Black vs. Irina Krush. And yet...Abrahamyan was crushed by her much younger, much lower-rated opponent, while Paikidze completely outplayed Krush - enough to win the game twice. She was beating her brilliantly and beautifully early on, but missed several wins and lost almost all of her advantage. Nevertheless, Krush's position remained practically difficult, and soon Paikidze was winning again. Given another chance she finished strongly, and she was the deserving victor of the women's crown. Like Caruana, she finished with 8.5 points; Abrahamyan finished second with 8 and Anna Zatonskih took third with 7. Krush finished in a very disappointing 6th place after losing her last two games and scoring only a point and a half in the last five rounds.

U.S. Championship: Caruana Leads So and Nakamura by Half A Point Going Into the Last Round

It's not too surprising that the U.S. Championship is a race between the big three - Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura, and Wesley So - with Ray Robson (mentioned by Nakamura at the start of the tournament as a potential fourth musketeer) also in the hunt. After 10 rounds, Caruana leads with 7.5 points, half a point in front of So and Nakamura, with Robson another half a point behind. In case of a tie for first, there will be a playoff the next day (Tuesday) to determine the winner. Here are the relevant last round pairings:

• Akshat Chandra (1.5) - Fabiano Caruana (7.5)
• Aleks Lenderman (4) - Wesley So (7)
• Ray Robson (6.5) - Hikaru Nakamura (7) 

Caruana is certainly a favorite to win the title, both because he's starting out with the lead and also because he's playing the tournament's lowest-rated player and tailender. Still, one can't be too sure: he does have the black pieces, and Chandra did manage to draw with Nakamura earlier in the tournament - with Black.

In the women's championship, the terrible twosome of Irina Krush and Anna Zatonskih have both been eliminated from the race for first after losing in the penultimate round. (Zatonskih also lost in the antepenultimate round as well, thanks to an outright blunder.) Both losses were to kids: Zatonskih lost to 14-year-old Jennifer Yu, while Krush lost to 12-year-old(!) Carissa Yip, who finished the game in style. (Have a look.)

The tournament leader is Tatev Abrahamyan, who has been getting closer to winning this event every year. She has 8/10, half a point ahead of Paikidze. Both women will have Black in the last round, but Abrahamyan will be playing one of the lower seeds (Ashrithan Eswaran) while Paikidze will face Krush. Abrahamyan's situation looks even better than Caruana's, but - again - there are no guarantees.

Finally, returning to the main event, the top three - which is at the moment the big three - qualify for a four-player blitz event running Thursday and Friday. The fourth player? Garry Kasparov.

U.S. Championship, Round 5: So Joins Caruana in First

Round 5 was another bloodthirsty day, with four decisive games out of six - and it should have been five out of six.

Wesley So won with great ease against Varuzhan Akobian on the white side of a Rubinstein French. Black played too passively, and while his position was already unpleasant Akobian's 15...Bc6 followed by 16...Bd5 and 17...Bxg2 was suicidal. The finish was brutal: So sacrificed a knight and a rook to obtain an attack that would lead to mate or a full extra queen, so Akobian resigned on his 24th move.

If Fabiano Caruana had won with Black against Alexander Shabalov, he would have maintained his half-point lead over So. Shabalov hasn't had a good tournament so far, but he stayed solid in this game and kept out of trouble, achieving a draw. The day's other draw was also important for the leading standings. Ray Robson had the white pieces against Aleks Lenderman, and a win would have put him in a three-way tie for first. He should have won, too, but somehow Lenderman managed to save the game. Robson's error in the knight-up endgame was that he was unwilling to let his king do the defensive work against White's a-pawn, believing that Black's king would draw in that case by going after White's kingside pawns. This appears to be inaccurate, while the strategy chosen in the game proved inadequate for victory.

Robson is in clear third, half a point ahead of the day's other winners (in addition to So, that is): Hikaru Nakamura, Jeffery Xiong, and Alexander Onischuk. Nakamura bounced back nicely from yesterday's loss to Caruana, defeating Sam Shankland on the white side of a Two Knights Caro-Kann that morphed into something that resembled a Classical French. Nakamura went for a kingside attack with f4-f5, and while he didn't deliver mate he won material along the way and finally trapped Shankland's knight.

Xiong defeated an out of form Gata Kamsky after the latter blundered. The game had been mostly balanced, with Kamsky having the better chances at times. The decisive moment came when Kamsky played 35...Bxf3?? after thinking for three minutes - more than enough time for even a club player to spot the problem. But everyone has their bad days, and Kamsky somehow failed to see the refutation of his line: 38.Qb2+. (It's possible that he missed that White could subsequently prevent Black from queening, after taking on d8, by playing Qc1 and Re8, but my suspicion is that he missed 38.Qb2+, which is where he resigned.)

Finally, Onischuk defeated Akshat Chandra fairly easily when the latter tried a provocative line against White's 4.Qc2 in the Nimzo-Indian. After the sad undeveloping move 17...Bc8 Chandra was lost, and Onischuk ground out the point without too much trouble.

Tuesday is a rest day, and on Wednesday comes round 6, with the following pairings:

• Akobian (1) - Lenderman (1.5)
• Kamsky (1.5) - Robson (3.5)
• Chandra (1) - Xiong (3)
• Caruana (4) - Onischuk (3)
• Shankland (2.5) - Shabalov (2)
• So (4) - Nakamura (3)

U.S. Championship, Round 2: Caruana, So, and Robson Lead with 2/2

A little stratification took place in round 2 of the U.S. Championship, but not much. Two of the Big Three won, and the honorary fourth won as well while the third member of the triumvirate drew comfortably with Black against a strong rival to keep within half a point. To elaborate...

Fabiano Caruana and Wesley So won again to stay perfect. Caruana may not have achieved much on the white side of a Winawer French against Sam Shankland, but when the latter opened the queenside with 22...b4 it turned out that Caruana benefited from the open lines. Eventually Black was tied hand and foot, and when the White knight and king sauntered to the queenside Black had to give up. So won with Black against Akshat Chandra, and while it was the logical result overall there was one gigantic "oops!" moment that could have turned everything around. So's 32...Rh1 worked out for him in the end, but it was a blunder. With 33.Rxe6+! fxe6 34.Qxe6+ Kf8 35.Rd3 White's attack would give him a winning material advantage - at least. Chandra missed his chance, and So finished him off in style.

The third winner, who is also at 2-0, is Ray Robson. Robson won with surprising ease and speed on the white side of a London System, an opening not generally associated with speedy knockouts. When asked after his round 1 victory if the Big Three were indeed the favorites, Hikaru Nakamura agreed, but made a proviso that an on-form Robson could contend as well. So far, he is on form and is contending.

As for Nakamura himself, he was also involved in a London System, but with the black pieces against Gata Kamsky. Nakamura was well-prepared (as he should be, given Kamsky frequent adoption of the LS), and the game was already a dead draw by the time the 30-move deadline was reached.

Varuzhan Akobian and Jeffery Xiong didn't even make it to move 30, having repeated moves enough to call it a day after just 27 moves. Finally, Aleks Lenderman and Alex Shabalov drew a wild game, with both sides missing wins along the way.

Here are the round 3 pairings:

• So (2) - Caruana (2) (The first meeting of the triumvirate)
• Xiong (1) - Robson (2)
• Nakamura (1.5) - Chandra (0)
• Shankland (1) - Akobian (.5)
• Shabalov (.5) - Kamsky (.5)
• Onischuk (.5) - Lenderman (.5)

U.S. Championships Start Today!

At 1 p.m. local time in St. Louis (= 2 p.m. ET) the U.S. Championships get underway in St. Louis. Both the Championship and the Women's event are 12 player round robins finishing April 25 - April 26 in case of a playoff, and don't forget that after the event, on the 28th and 29th, there will be a blitz event that might include the big three (Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura, and Wesley So) and definitely includes none other than Garry Kasparov. (I hope for his sake he has been training hard.)

The Championship is incredibly strong, with three players in the top 10 (the aforementioned Mssrs. Caruana, Nakamura, and So), and the second tier of Gata Kamsky, Alexander Onischuk, Ray Robson, and Sam Shankland isn't exactly chopped liver. On the Women's side, it looks likely to be another battle to the death between Irina Krush and Anna Zatonskih, who between them have won the last 10 women's championships. Krush has won the last four, but they've almost always come down to the wire and Zatonskih is the very slightly higher-rated player.

Here are the first round pairings for the main event: 

• Fabiano Caruana (2795) - Varuzhan Akobian (2615)
• Sam Shankland (2656) - Akshat Chandra (2477)
• Wesley So (2773) - Gata Kamsky (2678)
• Hikaru Nakamura (2787) - Aleksandr Lenderman (2618)
• Alexander Shabalov (2528) - Ray Robson (2663)
• Alexander Onischuk (2664) - Jeffery Xiong (2618) 

It's a good time to be a fan of U.S. chess! Tournament predictions? Nakamura is the defending champion, and he and Gata Kamsky have won the last seven between them. So only started playing in the U.S. Championship last year and Caruana is a rookie, so the Nakamura-Kamsky streak isn't as relevant as it would otherwise be. My prediction is that Nakamura will win.

Qatar Masters Open Starts Tomorrow (Sunday)

The second edition of the Qatar Masters, the strongest open tournament of the year (and probably ever) starts tomorrow - Sunday - and features a fantastically strong lineup. There are 18 players rated over 2700, including Magnus Carlsen, Vladimir Kramnik, Anish Giri, Wesley So, Sergey Karjakin and, skipping down several spots, the Chinese super-prodigy Wei Yi. The action begins at 3 p.m. local time (=7 a.m. ET).

Seeing as it's the holiday season, however, I'm going to take a little vacation from blogging until the new year, and will enjoy the tournament purely as a fan, just like the rest of you. It's not impossible that I'll jump on here between now and 2016 (as a heads-up for my next column, for instance), but that aside, this might be it until next year. So Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and best wishes for a blessed 2016!

So Wins Bilbao In A Playoff

It wasn't the most exciting super-tournament in history...or this year, or in the last couple of weeks, but it did at least go to a playoff, where Wesley So managed to defeat Anish Giri 1.5-.5 in the blitz tiebreaks. Giri was better, even winning in both games, but a howler in the first (42...Nf4??) turned what was already then headed for a draw into a loss, while a missed shot in the second (39.Bg8+!) let So fight on and eventually pull out a draw. Congratulations to Wesley So, who despite being #10 in the world was the bottom seed in the event!

This came only a pair of draws in the last classical round, which meant that So and Giri tied for first by winning one game and drawing the rest, while Viswanathan Anand and Ding Liren tied for last by losing just one game. (So much for the 3-1-0 system forcing fighting chess, a point I made repeatedly when this experiment started. That said, I was probably wrong in dismissing rules that forbid draw offers until move 30 or 40. Players can and do get around it whenever they want to, but in general it creates a general atmosphere of disapproval for such draws, and that rather than the rule itself seems to promote more fighting chess.)

The tournament site (which unfortunately wasn't very good, and their transmission of the games was poor even by 20th century standards) is here.

Bilbao Final Masters, Round 1: So Wins a Great Game

I'll send you to Chess24's report (and Jan Gustafsson's video, included therein) for the details, but will report that Wesley So won a very nice game against Ding Liren from the white side of a Classical King's Indian to take the lead in the Bilbao Final Masters. He has three points (Bilbao uses 3-1-0 scoring), Ding has zero, and Viswanathan Anand and Anish Giri have one point apiece after drawing with each other.