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The 1997 Interplay U.S. Chess Championships:
Half-Time Report After Round 4

This report was posted by Chess Life Online Editor Duif Calvin just after round 4 in the Division Preliminaries. See the Features Section for later standing reports.

"Half-time" Round 4 Report by Duif Calvin

Division 1

• 3.0 Christiansen
• 2.5 Benjamin, Gulko, Fedorowicz, Browne
• 1.5 Yermolinsky
• 1.0 Zamora
• 0.5 A. Ivanov

At this point, all the players are pushing harder for wins, as each round brings them closer to the Semi-finals. Six-time US Champion Walter Browne finally converted one of those "slight edge" games today, to score his first full point against 1995 Champion Alexander Ivanov. On the other hand, GMs Yermolinsky and Gulko showed their strength on the weaker side of similar positions, managing to maintain draws. (The Christiansen-Gulko game is particularly interesting in that regard.) For the story of GM Joel Benjamin's disputed draw with Junior Champion Zamora, see Matt Guthrie's report from the site on the Games Page.

So, where are we in the standings in Division 1? Even though Gulko managed to hold a draw against him, GM Larry Christiansen kept a slight lead (half-point) on the pack, with 3 games yet to play in the round-robin format. Christiansen will still have to play Benjamin, Fedorowicz, and Browne, all players he's faced many times before, and very familiar with his style. Not only that, but Benjamin, Fedorowicz, and Browne are all in the group (joined by GM Gulko) that's just half a point back from Christiansen, so it's definitely "anything can happen" time in this Division.

With 5 players right at the top, that leaves 3 probably out of the running in this Division. One is 1996 Junior Champion Jorge Zamora Jr. He has a respectable 1.0 out of 4, given that he is rated about 200 points lower than the next lowest competitor. He has still to face Yermolinsky, Ivanov, and Fedorowicz, and will probably do well to finish with 1.5 or 2.0. Great experience for the 18 year old from Rhode Island.

GM Ivanov, a 1995 Champion, has had the most difficult tournament so far, losing to Benjamin, Fedorowicz, and Browne. Perhaps he can take some comfort in the fact that his wife, WIM Esther Epstein, is tied for first with WGM Anna Gulko at 3.5/4 in the 1997 Interplay US Womens Championship being held concurrently.

That brings us to 1997 Grandmaster of the Year, GM Alex Yermolinsky, who just won the 1997 US Open last week with a remarkable score of 10.5/12. The total number of games in the last month may have finally slowed down Yermolinsky, who now has 1.5, a point behind the group tied for second with 3 games left to play. He's not completely out yet, and would definitely be considered the favorite in his yet to play game against Zamora, and probably favored against Ivanov and Browne. But it will be a critical sequence for him. Note that he has lost only one game, to leader Larry Christiansen, but had an uncharacteristic 3 draws of the 4 games played. Thursday's game against Ivanov may be the turning point one way or the other, since he's in a must-win situation. Friday will be a rest day, which will undoubtedly help.

Division 2

• 3.0 Kaidanov, Shabalov
• 2.5 de Firmian
• 2.0 Dzindzichashvili
• 1.5 Kudrin, Schwartzman, Seirawan
• 1.0 D Gurevich

In Division 2, the players are spread out bit more. Kaidanov and Shabalov are tied at the top with 3.0, each having 2 wins and 2 draws of the four games played. They will meet each other in Round 6 on Saturday (Friday is a rest day), but first Kaidanov will face Kudrin and Shabalov must play de Firmian. Only half a point back from the leaders, de Firmian will also get a shot against Kaidanov in round 7. The Shabalov-de Firmian game thus becomes extremely important, as a decisive result here could knock either player out of the race.

GM Dzindzichashvili has had some difficult positions, but each time managed to produce a draw, and is only one point behind the first place leaders with three games left to go. His remaining three games are against players in the lower half of the standings: Schwartzman, Gurevich, and Kudrin. Schwartzman is bound to be on an emotional high after his exciting win over the favored Yasser Seirawan in Round 4, but whether that will work for or against the talented 20 year old from Florida is hard to say. Dzindzichashvili, one of the world's top trainers, has a reputation for "giving lessons" to young superstars, but of course Schwartzman has much more experience than most American players his age, and was the 1996 US Open Champion. Schwartzman has been playing some of the most creative and exciting chess of the event, and all his remaining games (against Dzindzichashvili, de Firmian, and Gurevich) should be fun to watch.

Kudrin and Seirawan are the two other players tied with Schwartzman at 1.5, and both have to be disappointed to be a full point and a half behind the winners with only 3 rounds left to go. They're not completely out of it yet, but it's going to be a very difficult and unlikely road to the top of the Division for them. They will face each other in round 6. Seirawan, who had to clearly be one of the favorites for Division 2 at the beginning, must be particularly frustrated--his Round 4 game against Schwartzman is one that many Master analysts thought would give him a full point, and of course if he had won he would have been tied with de Firmian and right in the running. But the loss to the junior puts him in a precarious position as far as the event goes.

As to Dimitry Gurevich, there's always one player in every event who's trying a little too hard, has a little too much bad luck, or is just a little too tired. In Gurevich's case, it appears to be a combination of trying too hard and bad luck, and with two losses and two draws, he's at the bottom of the standings. He's always a dangerous player, though, and with nothing left to lose he can decide on one of two strategies: go for "respectable" draws and try to avoid any more losses, or go for broke and regain reputation points. This makes him something of a wildcard for the last 3 rounds, when he will face Seirawan (who must win), Dzindzichashvili, and Schwartzman.

So that's where we stand. No runaway leaders, but a lot of pressure on the second tier to move up. There is no longer time for a typical round-robin "make haste slowly" strategy. The pressure is clearly on pre-event favorites Yermolinsky (in Division 1) and Seirawan (in Division 2) to produce some wins, quickly, and catch up with the leaders. Schwartzman had probably made his points, not necessary on the standings board, but in showing that he can play exciting and adventurous chess and yet still maintain his level of play throughout full-length games against the country's top Grandmasters.

The last three rounds should generate a lot of excitement, and some great chess. Full reports as always for each round are available including Crosstables, Games, and player bios. Our next standings report will be just before the last round.

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