Nakamura wins US Championship for the 3rd Time

[TexAg06]

I didn't see a thread on this yet, probably because of the Anand-Gelfand match going on. If this has been discussed already, I apologize.

But Nakamura won the US title this past week, winning with a score of 8.5/11 (+6 =5 -0), which was a full point over Kamsky who Nakamura beat in their encounter.

I watched some of the games live and replayed over most of them, and he played some pretty darn good chess. Certainly interesting chess, to say the least. Here is a link to a Chessbase article with some games and positions.

http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=8176

I really like watching him play. He played the Evans Gambit against Robert Hess and played a nice attacking game, but then played a slow game, probing for weaknesses, against Kaidanov and won. To grind down Kaidanov like he did is not easy.

The field wasn't strong compared to most of the European nation championships, but Nakamura did finish with a 2833 rating performance. He did what he was supposed to do.

Probably the biggest disappointment of the event was Yasser Seirawan. He has tried to make somewhat of a comeback lately, but had an awful event, finishing 3.5/11 with a 2501 performance (current FIDE rating is 2643).

I really wish Sam Shankland would have gotten an invite to the event. I'm not sure what the selection criteria were, but in my opinion Shankland deserved to be there. His FIDE rating is higher than that of Stripunsky, who played, and Sam has been on a steady incline the past couple of years. He plays exciting, dynamic chess and would have been a good addition. I'm sure he'll be there next year, though.

[mightytiny]

It was Kamsky's tourney to lose. Losing with White first against Gelfand and then against Naka in this tourney. White to play for a draw should not be beyond the ability of most world class GMs.

I am not a fan of Naka since that twitter rant against Fabino for playing a weak event. The n a few weeks later, Naka plays some Canadian event against a weaker field. I am glad he got called out for it.

[Vempele]

Originally Posted by TexAg06

The field wasn't strong compared to most of the European nation championships,

Average rating: 2633. There are only 6 other countries in the world that could theoretically hold a stronger 12-player national championship using only active players, and one of them isn't even in Europe at all!

Do you think there are less than 10 countries in Europe or something?

[mightytiny]

I am thinking that OP meant the European Championships as a whole but I could be reading/inferrring wrong.

[TexAg06]

Originally Posted by Vempele

Average rating: 2633. There are only 6 other countries in the world that could theoretically hold a stronger 12-player national championship using only active players, and one of them isn't even in Europe at all!

Do you think there are less than 10 countries in Europe or something?

Mistake on my part. I overestimated the strength of individual European nations apparently. Nothing to read into.

[plastic]

Fantastic tournament I really enjoyed.

I'm really excited for Nakamura's prospects, he has just entered the world top 5 on the live rating list. The only two players whom he has repeatedly struggled against in classical games during the past 18 months are predictably Carlsen and Aronain. He does fine against Anand and Kramnik and I think has shown that he has a really realistic chance to become a WC challenger eventually.