Photo Jacob Okada
The USCF Executive Board has approved a bid by Frank K. Berry to hold the Frank K. Berry US Championship May 15-23, 2007 as a 9-round Swiss at the Holiday Inn in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The vote was 3-1 with Sloan opposed and Channing and Marinello abstaining.
At least $65,000 will be available for prizes and/or player expenses; it has not yet been determined whether money towards expenses will be paid separately, or in the form of prizes to all players. Frank K. Berry has contributed $50,000 and may raise or donate more, and USCF has committed to raising or donating $15,000.
If enough money is available, it is possible that the top two players in the Swiss will qualify for a match to be played in Stillwater several months later to decide the US Champion. Whether or not this format will be used has not yet been decided.
It is expected that at least 34 players will compete in this event, the 31 who qualified according to procedures previously announced by America's Foundation for Chess when that group planned to be the sponsor and three "wildcard" players, probably local, to be named by the organizing committee. Additional "wildcard" spots will be offered to any player willing to pay a very high entry fee (probably in five figures) to compete. Read details on these "patron entry fees."
The Tournament Directors will be Frank K. Berry, Jim Berry, and Alex Relyea, all of whom are donating their services. The organizing committee consists of Frank K. Berry, Jim Berry, John Donaldson, Bill Goichberg, Bill Hall, and Jerry Hanken.
The players qualified so far are:
Defending US champion: Alexander Onischuk, Maryland US Women's champion: Anna Zatonskih, New York US Senior champion: Joe Bradford, Texas US Junior champion: Robert Hess, New York Grand Prix champion: Jaan Ehlvest, New York Top three rated players from 12/06 list: Gata Kamsky, New York Hikaru Nakamura, New York Gregory Kaidanov, Kentucky Top two rated women from 12/06 list: Susan Polgar, New York Irina Krush, New York US Masters: Bryan Smith Pennsylvania Ron Burnett Tennessee Foxwoods Open: Eugene Perelshteyn, Massachusetts Alex Stripunsky, New York Alex Ivanov, Massachusetts Alex Shabalov, Pennsylvania National Open Varuzhan Akobian, California Nick De Firmian, New York World Open: Joel Benjamin, New Jersey Ildar Ibragimov, Connecticut US Open: Yury Shulman, Illinois Michael Aigner, California Western States Open: Sergey Kudrin, Connecticut Enrico Sevillano, California American Open: Melikset Khachiyan, Califronia David Pruess, Califronia National Chess Congress: Justin Sarkar, New York Ray Robson, Florida North American Open: Dmitry Gurevich, Illinois Michael Mulyar, Colorado Online State Champions Tournament: Julio Becerra
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