Impressive victories by Onischuk over Shulman, Nakamura over Akobian, Kamsky over Benjamin, and Hess or Friedel in round 7. Onischuk, Kamsky and Hess all scored with the Black pieces. These wins brought the four of them to the top of the leaderboard with 2 rounds to go. Tomorrow will be an off day.
Round 7 results:
| Board | White | Rating | Result | Black | Rating |
| 1. | GM Yury Shulman (4½) | 2697 | 0-1 | GM Alexander Onischuk (4) | 2736 |
| 2. | GM Hikaru Nakamura (4) | 2757 | 1-0 | GM Varuzhan Akobian (4½) | 2664 |
| 3. | GM Joel Benjamin (4) | 2650 | 0-1 | GM Gata Kamsky (4) | 2798 |
| 4. | GM Joshua Friedel (4) | 2568 | 0-1 | IM Robert Hess (4) | 2545 |
| 5. | IM Enrico Sevillano (3) | 2549 | 1-0 | GM Gregory Kaidanov (3½) | 2662 |
| 6. | IM Ray Robson (3½) | 2542 | 0-1 | IM Michael Brooks (3) | 2419 |
| 7. | GM Jaan Ehlvest (3) | 2649 | 1-0 | IM Irina Krush (3) | 2496 |
| 8. | GM Ildar Ibragimov (2½) | 2628 | 1-0 | GM Melikset Khachiyan (2½) | 2632 |
| 9. | GM Boris Gulko (2½) | 2631 | ½-½ | GM Alexander Shabalov (2½) | 2620 |
| 10. | IM Samuel Shankland (2½) | 2464 | 0-1 | Tyler Hughes (2) | 2293 |
| 11. | FM Doug Eckert (1) | 2278 | 0-1 | GM Larry Christiansen (2) | 2681 |
| 12. | GM Julio Becerra (2) | 2672 | 1-0 | Charles Lawton (0) | 2350 |
Official website: http://saintlouischessclub.org/US-Championship-2009-Round-7
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
3 former U.S. Champions, 1 SPICE Cup Co-Champion, and 1 SPICE Spring Invitational Champion!
Looking at the pairings for round 8, Nakamura gets a huge break by getting paired down to IM Brooks.
I enjoyed watching the games today. I miss your live commentary. Also don’t forget the games with Topalov, Carlsen, etc.