14 year old Irina Krush wins the 1998 Interplay US Women's Championship!
Overall Championship: The SemiFinals begin Tuesday with de Firmian - Shaked and Benjamin - Gurevich as the two pairs.
Group A
In Group A, GM de Firmian took clear first, and GM D. Gurevich took clear 2nd. These two players will advance to the SemiFinals for the US Championship. Kudrin won the play-offs to take third in the section and qualify for the WCT.
Play-off format: The Third place was a tie between GM Dzindzichashvili, GM Kudrin, and GM Seirawan. These three players had a play-off for the WCT opening. Playoffs for Group A began at 3 pm local time (GMT - 7, or 5 pm New York time). The format will be a Double RR at G/25 +10 seconds per move; players do not have to keep score. Lots were drawn: A plays B, B plays C, C plays A; colors reversed and play again. The top player in this three-player event earned the WCT spot.
Group B
Benjamin advanced out of the round robin with 3.5 points. Shaked and Gulko were tied at 3, and Fedorowicz was eliminated with 2.5. Shaked then defeated Gulko for the remaining SemiFinals spot. Benjamin, Shaked, and Gulko all qualify for the World Championship Tournament.
Playoff Format: In Group B, GM Benjamin, GM Fedorowicz, GM Gulko, and GM Shaked all tied with 4.0. That means four players tied for the two Semi-Final positions, as well as four players tied for the three WCT spots.
Play-offs for this group began at 2 pm local time (GMT - 7, or 4 pm New York time). This will also be a Double RR at G/15 + 10 seconds per move. Lots will be drawn: Play one round, reverse colors and play again.
At the end of the double round robin (6 games each), if there are a clear first and second those two progress to the SemiFinals and qualify to the WCT. If there is a clear third that player qualifies to WCT. Fourth place will be the first alternate to the WCT.
If after the first six games there is a tie for first and second those two progress to the SemiFinals and qualify to the WCT, and do not need to play any further play-off games. If there is a tie for second/third after the first six games there will be another tiebreak for progression and WCT. If there is a tie after the first six games for third/fourth there will be another tiebreak match for the remaining WCT spot.
Women's Championship
14 year old Irina Krush is the new US Women's Champion. Anna Khan takes second. Both Krush and Khan will qualify for spots in the 1999 FIDE Women's World Championship.
One additional scheduling note: the Women's Championship will be played as scheduled at 3 pm local time (5 pm New York time), with one exception. The game between Sagalchik and Frenklakh will begin at 10 a.m. MST (Noon New York time) due to pre-arranged travel arrangements. The other women play at 3 p.m.
