Author: St Louis Chess and Scholastic Center signed
Year: 2010
Publisher: United States Chess Federation
Place: St Louis
Description:
21 pages with photographs. Octavo (8 1/2" x 5 1/2") bound in original publisher's wrappers. Program with all 24 of the contestants' photographs and bio-synopsis. The contestants with their USCF rating were GM Hikaru Nakamura (2817) signed; GM Gata Kamsky (2771) signed; GM Alexander Onischuk (2765); GM Varuzhan Akobian (2671) signed; GM Jaan Ehlvest (2669) signed; GM Yury Shulman (2669); GM Robert Hess (2657); GM Larry Christiansen (2657) signed; GM Aleksandr Lenderman (2640); GM Alexander Shabalov (2638); GM Gregory Kaidanov (2633); GM Joel Benjamin (2630) signed; GM Alexander Stripunsky (2621); GM Benjamin Finegold (2619) signed; GM Melikset Khachiyan (2613) signed;GM Vinay Bhat (2610);GM Ray Robson (2607) signedGM Sergey Kudrin (2586) signed; GM Alex Yermolinsky (2572) signed; IM Sam Shankland (2541) signed; IM Levon Altounian (2534); GM Jesse Kraai (2528); GM Dmitry Gurevich (2514); IM Irina Krush (2494) signed. First edition
The 2010 U.S. Championship, held May 13-26 at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis, was a feature with a new format, it included a 24-player, seven-round Swiss tournament followed by a four-player Championship final. The idea was designed to ensure drama in the final three days of play and to avoid the potentially less climactic pairings that are typical in a 24-player, nine-round Swiss. This innovative new format ensured an exciting finale for chess fans around the world. After seven rounds of play, the top four faced off in a round robin (also known as a quad). The scores from the Swiss tournament would also carry over into the final. Players who did not make it into the top four places after seven rounds would play two more rounds of the Swiss event. They would also had much to play for as fifth place would be awarded $10,000 and the total prize fund of the "Challenger's Swiss" would exceed $90,000. Tournament Chairperson WGM Jennifer Shahade provided live commentary of the tournament. The top four players from this stage (Hikaru Nakamura, Gata Kamsky, Yury Shulman, and Alex Onischuk -- the top four seeds) advanced to a round-robin against each other. Shulman demolished Hikaru Nakamura while Kamsky ground down Alexander Onischuk after the latter turned down a Kamsky draw offer. That led to a Kamsky Shulman contest. With only seconds remaining on his clock, GM Gata Kamsky simplified the endgame against GM Yury Shulman to clinch a draw and with it the title of 2010 U.S. Champion. Kamsky won with a draw because of the unique tiebreak format, which saw the players bid on a starting time for today’s rapid game. His secret bid of 25 minutes was lower than Shulman’s bid, so Kamsky got 25 minutes to his opponent’s 60, but with Black and draw odds. The program is also signed by Carol Jarecki, the chief arbiter.
Condition:
Center pages has become loose, light edge wear else a very good copy.
SOLD 2022