…Hikaru Nakamura! He defeated GM Friedel in the last round to clinch clear first. Robert Hess was pushing GM Akobian all the way until the end. But Akobian hung on for a draw in spite of being 2 pawns down.
Congratulations to GM Nakamura! A well deserved title!
[Event “US Championship”]
[Date “2009.05.17”]
[Round “9”]
[White “GM Nakamura”]
[Black “GM Friedel”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “C58”]
[WhiteElo “2757”]
[BlackElo “2568”]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Na5 6. Bb5+ c6 7. dxc6 bxc6 8. Bd3 Be7 9. Nc3 O-O 10. O-O Rb8 11. h3 c5 12. b3 Rb4 13. Re1 Bb7 14. Ba3 Rf4 15. g3 Rd4 16. Nf3 Rxd3 17. cxd3 Qxd3 18. Nxe5 Qf5 19. g4 Qf4 20. d4 Rd8 21. Qe2 Rxd4 22. Bc1 {White wins} 1-0
Click here to replay the game.
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Good job…crack him with 3.Bc4!
Strange, my computer wins this drawn position for white (Hess game) every time – did Hess draw a winning game? I know computers are not brilliant at endgames, but blunders are possible playing 2 pawns down…
Nakamura won the tournament but Hess stole the show.
Excellent distribution of the prize money. Everyone did very nicely. It was almost like a $2000 appearance fee. It is good to see top players get at least something.
In comparison with other tournaments this was most generous. Everyone can look to the positive side.
Hess was the star. He got $12,500. Not bad.
Naka took home $40,000 which is what more tournaments should have for first prize.
I think the world open gives $30,000 for first prize.
Sloppy game from Friedel gives an easy win to Nakamura.
I really thought Hess should have played on for a few more moves and that a possible win was still on the board for him.
All in all, one of the better US Championships in recent memory.
Nice coverage from Susan and wonderful coverage on the tournament site from the St. Louis Chess Club.
One might even suggest that Nakamura got a gift on this one. An atrocious game by black.
Where can I get Hess’ 9th round game?
I found the games at ChessGames.com.