Can U.S. Champion Onischuk defend his title in 2007?

2007 US CHAMPIONSHIP DETAILS ANNOUNCED

The 2007 US Championship, organized by America's Foundation for Chess in cooperation with the US Chess Federation, will consist of 32 players who will play knockout matches. To maximize spectator interest, each match will be broadcast live on the internet and only one or two matches will be held per day. It is expected that most matches will be held in the home area of one of the players, though some may be held elsewhere, such as at major tournaments. Matches may be played online. The final match will be held in Las Vegas.

The first three rounds of KO matches will commence in March, and eachwill match will consist of two games. Each match will be conducted over two days; one game per day. Tie-breaks, if necessary, will also take place on day two.

The fourth and final preliminary round will involve four game matches, possibly played at the US Open. This final round will reduce the field to two players. These two finalists will play a match in Las Vegas in November for the US Championship title.

Twelve players have qualified so far from qualifying tournaments.
They will be joined by the following:

The Western States Open, American Open, National Chess Congress and
North American Open will each qualify two players.

The following will be seeded: the 2006 US Champion, 2006 Grand Prix
winner, the top 3 by rating on the December 2006 list, and the 2006
US Junior, US Senior, and US Women's champion.

Two more women will be seeded based on Dec 2006 rating, and another woman's spot will be offered to the winner of an online women's tournament for players rated 2100 or above. Note that the 2007 US Championship will not determine the US Women's Champion, however four
women are being invited in order to provide experience and publicity
for our top women.

The usual online tournament of state champions will again be held and will qualify one player.

Further details are expected to be available soon.