ive been reading this part of thr forum a lot not really posting so i thought i would say i love the videos curtains, keep em up

also nakamura one time to win!

Well I was correct with my 1. c4 prediction.

Kamsky missed out on a serious edge (+1.5) by not playing 30.. Nxc3

Naka was correct imho to bail out for the draw.

wow todays games were awesome, cant wait for curtains' vid now

lol @ Shankland losing in 22 moves as WHITE.

That was hilarious. There was a lot of self-ownage today. Friedel, Shankland and Ehlvest all just sort of self destructed. Hess and Benjamin both won beautiful games so kudos to them. Brooks ground out a very solid win and showed good technique. And the replacement player demolished Lawton.

I'm going to rant for a minute so skip this if you don't care. Lawton should NOT have been allowed in this event. I totally understand wanting a local player to come and generate local media attention, blah blah blah, but he was a terrible choice. He's played TWO standard rated tournaments since 1991. He apparently built up a rating when he was young and then sat on it, just playing a handful of quick chess tournaments (poorly) over the last 5 years. Seriously, there should be some sort of minimum qualification for the wildcards chosen by the sponsor. I'd so much rather see Lenderman or Perelshtyn in there. /rant

missing c5 is something i would do.



the benjamin hughes game was pretty cool. also the hess-khachiyan.
both involved a typical knight sac in the sicilian (Nxe6, Nd5)

the shabalov-sevillano game seemed interesting too but I'm not really sure what was going on.
first shabalov took on f6, I guess he was hoping to open up black's king and attack, but after going g4 it's as though he was helping black, giving him a target and have an open file against his king. then when he allowed Qxd6-Qxd4 he was just down two pawns?

the final move was nice too, threatening Rxc3 followed by Rh1+, Rg1 Rxg1 Kg1 Ne2+ fork. if white goes Rg1 black just goes Rh-h3 attacking the knight, if the knight moves, Rd1 mate.

Hess is a beast

Michael Brooks is a cult favorite for people in this area, partly because he's played so good for so long, and partly because he's such a nice guy who's always willing to help people who aren't as good as he is. He is salt of the earth.

Extremely impressive that Brooks beat Becerra with the black pieces. He's lost with white only a few times in the last couple years, I think.

Personal connection: I myself have been on the wrong side of several Becerra 1. e4 squeezes in the Ruy Lopez.

I think Ehlvest was so punked out by Nakamura's Queen sac, that he tried one himself --- and failed miserably in the attempt.


I agree with you swingdoc. I would have much rather seen Lenderman and Perelshteyn in the event instead of Lawton and Hughes. Part of the solution with having a good host/sponsor of the US Champ. is the red tape involved with it. The organizer wanted a local player, so bingo bango there was Lawton. I didn't know he only played Two standard rated tournaments since 1991. That is just unacceptable. The US Championship is for active! and strong players. He seems to be neither.

and also Kudos to Brooks for a very nice win over Becerra!

Round 5 recap http://www.chessvideos.tv/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5309 by curtains

Round 6 Predictions: (First name is White)

Board 1: Akobian vs. Shulman

I predict Akobian to play 1. d4 and for the battle to become very interesting but eventually fizzle out into a drawn endgame.
Prediciton: 1/2-1/2

Board 2: Kamsky vs. Hess

I predict Kamsky to take the rating/experience edge and produce a nice victory. I also predict Kamsky to play 1. d4
Prediction: 1-0

Board 3: Onischuk vs. Nakamura

I predict 1. d4 from Onischuk with Nakamura choosing an unbalancing defense (Perhaps even his Bd7/Qc8 system if Onischuk opts for a kingside fianchetto) with a tough struggle arising and Nakamura being victorious.
Prediction: 0-1

curtains site down?

AllinMcLovin,

Onischuk-Naka being a draw is easily the most likely result. Your other predictions look reasonable.

Well obv most likely results are in order:

1/2-1/2
1-0
0-1,

but obviously any of the three results is possible and if you are just having fun can't hurt to predict 0-1. However if someone wants to actually bet real money, I'll take Onischuk and white, let me know by 3

hmm tempting lol, even odds and draw a push? naka might be trying TOO hard for a win though at this point

even odds yes. Onischuk is v strong, very few people in the world are favorites against him with black and Nakamura certainly isn't one of those people.

looks like hess might be headed for a quick disaster (at 12.qd2)

curtains, speaking of betting real money, would you really have taken naka over kamsky to win this thing at even odds?

wrong as usual i guess.

Nb6 Qxb4 Nxc4 Qxb7 Qc8!

Interesting prep by Hess/His Second/His Trainer

I've never seen a Dragon with a quick a6 like that.

yes jon Qc8! and bubkis for White.

it's actually called the dragondorf, got pretty popular in recent years
but people like shirov crush it

Hess has really prepared well for this tournament. He seems to have sharpened his repertoire and I think the sharper lines really suit him.

Also, Christiansen playing the Marshall gambit vs Robson was pretty funny. A young phenom is the last player I would choose to play a super sharp, prep-intensive opening against. That said, I love him for trying. It was a great game to watch.

Benjamin has had two great rounds in a row, moving into a bajillion way tie for 3rd. I love how aggressive these games are. Super tournaments are fun to watch with the top rated players and all, but seeing people going nuts to win and actually having reasonable chances to win due to the discrepancy in strength from top to bottom is fun.

lol I was about to say wtf that wasn't a marshall, but i went on ICC and went through the opening and typed eco and it is also called marshall gambit.

anyways it was a pretty sweet game