Sergei Kudrin and Boris Gulko took on tourney leaders Alexander Onischuk and Alexander Shabalov today.

by Jennifer Shahade

In the penultimate round of the 2007 Frank Berry U.S. Championship (May 15-23, Stillwater, Oklahoma) Alex Shabalov and Alexander Onischuk drew against Boris Gulko and Sergey Kudrin. The Alexes still lead the pack with 6/8 going into the final round. They will trade opponents in the final round as Shabalov plays Kudrin with White, and Onischuk takes on Boris Gulko, also with White. I asked both Onischuk and Shabalov about the interesting idea posted by Greg Shahade of allowing duplicate pairings in such a long Swiss. The top scorers too often face off in the middle, resulting in somewhat anti-climactic final rounds. Shabalov loved the idea, perhaps because he wanted revenge against Onischuk, this time holding the white pieces. Onischuk didn't seem to understand the question, though he did express general disatisfaction with Swisses. If they both win, we will see a tiebreak match. In the case of a large tie for first (i.e- draws on boards one and two), only the top two advance to the tiebreak-at this point, Onischuk, Shabalov and Kaidanov lead on tiebreaks. It is nearly certain that both Alexes will try to avoid tiebreaks and play very hard for the clear win so be sure to watch the games live tomorrow,which begin at 1 PM EST.

734

Shabalov played aggressively against Gulko, winning the exchange for a pawn on move 22. However, Boris had plenty of compensation. After the game, Shabalov was frustrated to miss a chance to win with a better move order: 27...d3+! instead of 27...Rac8. Now 28.Kg2 Rc8 29.Nc8 is impossible due to the hanging knight on b7. 29...Rc3 was a cute possibility, but doesn't lead to much after 30.Ne4. So Shabalov just took the perpetual.

Kaidanov won a pretty attacking game against Ivanov on board three, putting him in striking distance of first place with 5.5/8 (together with Yury Shulman and Sergey Kudrin.)

Gregory Kaidanov-Alexander Ivanov


White to Move

Black just played 25...f6 and Kaidanov uncorked 26.h6! Black can't take either piece. In the game, Ivanov did take on e5, but resigned after Be7 Ne7 Rg7+Kh8 Qg5. Black can't stop all the threats, like Qe7 or Rh7+ Kh7 Qg7#. If Nf5, Qg6 mates. If fxg5, White smothers Black with h7+ Kh8 Ng6#.


Position after Ng6#



Organizer and tournament namesake Frank Berry reads a local Stillwater paper's coverage of the U.S. Championship.

Standings after 8 rounds

1-2. 6.0/8- Alexander Onischuk and Alexander Shabalov
3-5-5.5/8 Gregory Kaidanov, Sergey Kudrin and Yury Shulman
6-10- 5/8- Hikaru Nakamura, Jaan Ehlvest, Julio Becerra and Boris Gulko.

View crosstable.

Fantasy chess is heating up! A full report will more stats than ever will follow shortly. Also be sure to read about the exciting best U.S. Championship game prizes on chessninja's daily dirt.

Round 9 pairings

Bd	White Player Name		Black Player Name
1	GM ALEX SHABALOV		GM SERGEY KUDRIN
2	GM ALEX ONISCHUK		GM BORIS GULKO
3	GM YURY SHULMAN		GM GREG KAIDANOV
4	GM HIKARU NAKAMURA		GM JULIO BECERRA
5	GM JAAN EHLVEST		GM ALEX STRIPUNSKY
6	GM ILDAR IBRAGIMOV		GM ALEX IVANOV
7	GM VARUZHAN AKOBIAN		IM ENRICO SEVILLANO
8	GM EUGENE PERELSHTEYN		GM MELIK KHACHIYAN
9	FM ROBERT HESS		GM ALEX YERMOLINSKY
10	FM MICHAEL LANGER		GM DMITRY GUREVICH
11	IM IRINA KRUSH		FM JOE BRADFORD
12	IM MICHAEL MULYAR		IM JOSHUA FRIEDEL
13	IM DAVID PRUESS		FM RAY ROBSON
14	IM JUSTIN SARKAR		IM BRYAN SMITH
15	WFM CHOUCH AIRAPETIAN		IM RON BURNETT
16	MICHAEL AIGNER		GM WALTER BROWNE
17	IM JAY BONIN		FM MOVSES MOVSISYAN
18	TOM BRAUNLICH		WFM IRYNA ZENYUK