[lang_nl]Shulman & Zatonskih kampioenen VS[/lang_nl][lang_en]Shulman & Zatonskih new US Champs[/lang_en]
22 May 2008, 20.00 CET | Last modified: 12:22 | By Peter Doggers | Filed under: Reports | Tags:
[lang_nl]Yuri Shulman en Anna Zatonski zijn gisteren kampioen van de Verenigde Staten geworden. Shulman kon met een korte remise zijn title veiligstellen; Zatonskih had er een tiebreak voor nodig – video hiervan toegevoegd.[/lang_nl][lang_en]Yesterday, Yuri Shulman and Anna Zatonskih won the US Champship. A very quick draw was enough for Shulman to clinch his first title, but Zatonskih needed a tiebreak – video added![/lang_en]
[lang_nl]Het kampioenschap werd gehouden in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Bij de heren werd een negenrondig Zwitsers met 24 players afgewerkt (iets voor in Nederland?) en de dames speelden in een klassieke gesloten groep van tien speelsters.
Het speeltempo was veertig zetten in honderd minuten (plus dertig seconden per zet) plus een half uur om de partij te be?ɬ´indigen (ook weer met dertig seconden per zet).
De eerste prijs was $13,000 en ook een cruise over de Cara?ɬØben. Yury Shulman was de gelukkige en won zijn eerste kampioenschap met een score van 7 uit 9.
US Championship 2008 Final Standings
| Place | Name | Title | Rtg | Pts | Tpr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Shulman, Yuri | g | 2606 | 7 | 2760 |
| 2. | Onischuk, Alexander | g | 2664 | 6½ | 2707 |
| 3. | Kudrin, Sergey | g | 2549 | 6 | 2672 |
| 4. | Friedel, Joshua E | m | 2484 | 5½ | 2614 |
| 5. | Akobian, Varuzhan | g | 2601 | 5½ | 2596 |
| 6. | Perelshteyn, Eugene | g | 2552 | 5½ | 2559 |
| 7. | Becerra Rivero, Julio | g | 2575 | 5 | 2597 |
| 8. | Ivanov, Alexander | g | 2560 | 5 | 2517 |
| 9. | Finegold, Benjamin | m | 2539 | 5 | 2508 |
| 10. | Gulko, Boris F | g | 2559 | 5 | 2501 |
| 11. | Kaidanov, Gregory S | g | 2596 | 4½ | 2545 |
| 12. | Fedorowicz, John P | g | 2459 | 4½ | 2543 |
| 13. | Shabalov, Alexander | g | 2633 | 4½ | 2487 |
| 14. | Gurevich, Dmitry | g | 2513 | 4½ | 2429 |
| 15. | Yermolinsky, Alex | g | 2518 | 4 | 2514 |
| 16. | Kraai, Jesse | g | 2509 | 4 | 2465 |
| 17. | Pruess, David | m | 2425 | 4 | 2455 |
| 18. | Ludwig, Daniel | 2357 | 4 | 2423 | |
| 19. | Vigorito, David | m | 2405 | 3½ | 2351 |
| 20. | Langer, Michael | f | 2254 | 3½ | 2352 |
| 21. | Ippolito, Dean | m | 2425 | 3½ | 2342 |
| 22. | Kaufman, Larry C | m | 2365 | 3½ | 2353 |
| 23. | Shankland, Samuel L | 2296 | 2½ | 2237 | |
| 24. | Galant, Sergey | 2235 | 1½ | 2135 |
Het onderwerp blijft actueel: in de laatste ronde eindigde bord 1, Friedel-Shulman, na elf zetten in remise. Lichtelijk begrijpelijk als de witspeler daarmee zijn derde GM-norm scoort en de zwartspeler kampioen van zijn land wordt…
Hoewel hij natuurlijk blij was met zijn titel sprak hij ook zijn teleurstelling uit over het wegblijven van sterke spelers, en dan vooral Kamsky. “Hij speelt om het wereldkampioenschap dus we moeten er alles aan doen om hem ook bij het kampioenschap van de VS te laten meedoen,” zei Yury tegenover Chess Life Online. Klinkt bekend, niet?
Hier twee indrukwekkende overwinningen van Shulman:
Bij de dames eindigden Irina Krush en Anna Zatonskih gelijk bovenaan en dus was een playoff nodig om de winnaar te bepalen.
US Women Championship 2008 Final Standings
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 | ||||||
| 1. | Krush, Irina | m | 2479 | * | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7½ | 2498 |
| 2. | Zatonskih, Anna | m | 2458 | ½ | * | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7½ | 2500 |
| 3. | Rohonyan, Katerina | wg | 2309 | ½ | 0 | * | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 2369 |
| 4. | Abrahamyan, Tatev | wf | 2239 | 0 | 0 | 1 | * | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 2376 |
| 5. | Tuvshintugs, Batchimeg | wm | 2278 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | * | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5½ | 2327 |
| 6. | Battsetseg, Tsagaan | wm | 2254 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | * | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 4½ | 2250 |
| 7. | Zenyuk, Iryna | wf | 2233 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | * | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3½ | 2172 |
| 8. | Epstein, Esther | wm | 2184 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | * | 1 | ½ | 2 | 2037 |
| 9. | Airapetian, Chouchanik | wf | 2092 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | * | 1 | 2 | 2048 |
| 10. | Jamison, Courtney | 1979 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | * | ½ | 1836 |
Hieronder vind je alle vijf de partijen uit de spannende playoff – uiteindelijk was een suddendeathpartij nodig:

Yuri Shulman
Links:
- Offici?ɬ´le toernooisite, van Monroi
- Verslaggeving bij Chess Life Online
- Partijen in PGN: heren, dames, playoff dames
[/lang_nl][lang_en]The championships were sponsored by IA Frank K. Berry and were held in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The men’s event was a 9-round Swiss with 24 players, and the women's championship was a 10-player round robin.
The rate of play was 40 moves in one hour and fourty minutes (+30 seconds per move) plus half an hour to finish the game (also with 30 seconds per move added).
The first prize was $13,000 but also included a Caribbean cruise deal. Yury Shulman was the lucky one, winning his first U.S. Championship title with a 7 /9 score.
US Championship 2008 Final Standings
| Place | Name | Title | Rtg | Pts | Tpr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Shulman, Yuri | g | 2606 | 7 | 2760 |
| 2. | Onischuk, Alexander | g | 2664 | 6½ | 2707 |
| 3. | Kudrin, Sergey | g | 2549 | 6 | 2672 |
| 4. | Friedel, Joshua E | m | 2484 | 5½ | 2614 |
| 5. | Akobian, Varuzhan | g | 2601 | 5½ | 2596 |
| 6. | Perelshteyn, Eugene | g | 2552 | 5½ | 2559 |
| 7. | Becerra Rivero, Julio | g | 2575 | 5 | 2597 |
| 8. | Ivanov, Alexander | g | 2560 | 5 | 2517 |
| 9. | Finegold, Benjamin | m | 2539 | 5 | 2508 |
| 10. | Gulko, Boris F | g | 2559 | 5 | 2501 |
| 11. | Kaidanov, Gregory S | g | 2596 | 4½ | 2545 |
| 12. | Fedorowicz, John P | g | 2459 | 4½ | 2543 |
| 13. | Shabalov, Alexander | g | 2633 | 4½ | 2487 |
| 14. | Gurevich, Dmitry | g | 2513 | 4½ | 2429 |
| 15. | Yermolinsky, Alex | g | 2518 | 4 | 2514 |
| 16. | Kraai, Jesse | g | 2509 | 4 | 2465 |
| 17. | Pruess, David | m | 2425 | 4 | 2455 |
| 18. | Ludwig, Daniel | 2357 | 4 | 2423 | |
| 19. | Vigorito, David | m | 2405 | 3½ | 2351 |
| 20. | Langer, Michael | f | 2254 | 3½ | 2352 |
| 21. | Ippolito, Dean | m | 2425 | 3½ | 2342 |
| 22. | Kaufman, Larry C | m | 2365 | 3½ | 2353 |
| 23. | Shankland, Samuel L | 2296 | 2½ | 2237 | |
| 24. | Galant, Sergey | 2235 | 1½ | 2135 |
The subject remains topical: in the last round, the game played on board 1, Friedel-Shulman, ended in a draw after eleven moves. Quite understandable since Friedel needed half a point to score his third and last GM norm, while Shulman needed a draw to become the champion…
Although he was happy with his first title of course, Shulman also regretted that some of the top players are not participating in the U.S. Championships, especially Kamsky. “He is playing for the World Championship, so we should do everything we can to get him in the U.S. Championship,” Yury told Chess Life Online.
Here are two impressive wins by Shulman:
In the women’s championship, Irina Krush and Anna Zatonskih finished on shared first, and so a tiebreak was needed to decide the winner.
US Women Championship 2008 Final Standings
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 | ||||||
| 1. | Krush, Irina | m | 2479 | * | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7½ | 2498 |
| 2. | Zatonskih, Anna | m | 2458 | ½ | * | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7½ | 2500 |
| 3. | Rohonyan, Katerina | wg | 2309 | ½ | 0 | * | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 2369 |
| 4. | Abrahamyan, Tatev | wf | 2239 | 0 | 0 | 1 | * | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 2376 |
| 5. | Tuvshintugs, Batchimeg | wm | 2278 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | * | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5½ | 2327 |
| 6. | Battsetseg, Tsagaan | wm | 2254 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | * | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 4½ | 2250 |
| 7. | Zenyuk, Iryna | wf | 2233 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | * | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3½ | 2172 |
| 8. | Epstein, Esther | wm | 2184 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | * | 1 | ½ | 2 | 2037 |
| 9. | Airapetian, Chouchanik | wf | 2092 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | * | 1 | 2 | 2048 |
| 10. | Jamison, Courtney | 1979 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | * | ½ | 1836 |
Here are all five games of the truly thrilling tiebreak – it finally came down to an Armageddon game:

Yuri Shulman
Links:
- Official coverage by Monroi
- Coverage by Chess Life Online
- Games in PGN: men, women, tiebreak women
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It’s worth mentioning that the Armageddon game between Krush and Zatonskih was decided by Krush’s flag falling while Zatonskih had one second remaining on her clock. No closer finish is possible! That also explains the very sloppy ending of the fifth game, such as 31. Qf3?? (Qxe7 wins easily).
Completely inunderstandable that the players can mismanage the time so much! With that less time left it doesn’t at all matter how the position on the board is. Starting from move 30 or even earlier the best moves are only the quickest ones, maybe something like Qxh7+.
Running away from the board when you lost tightly is a bit childish…Irinia Krush is an experienced player, that lacks a bit of style… I do understand her frustration of course, it’s an important titel for her, but I think it doesn’t look good/fair game just to run away without congratulating your opponent…she could have shook hands and then left the room right away, but like that?
Don’t want to start the handshake topic again
and I suppose she was overwhelmed and came back later to congratulate, I just found this scene a bit strange, that was the behaviour of an amateur player, not of a pro…
A better video where you can see how Irina throws his king with a slap at the end.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNQjXHjRkNQ
A little bit of an unsports(wo)man like way how Irina walks away from the board…
well zatonskih was blatently cheating. she had moved the piece way before krush had pressed her clock
@ kk
Well, I it’s to fast on the video for me to recognize, but I suppose you see it better than me. Nevertheless, I find it funny to call it “blatently cheating”. Yeah, right, in about 0.3 seconds Zatonshkih was thinking “Oh, I could move my piece before Irina presses the clock! Great, let’s cheat!”. Actually, I think that was all a strategy worked out before…
Excuse me my irony, but it is impossible to “blatantly cheat” when the game gets that fast, I don’t think it is possible to think at all. So if Zatonskih moved he piece before Irina Krush did it is of course against the rules (so obviously I am not doubting the very essence of what you are saying), but “blatantly cheating”? Come on.
Besides, if there was something gone wrong, Irina Krush should have just complained. There is a video, so things can be proved.
But actually I don’t care: No matter if Zatonskih moved her piece to early, to throw away your queen and running away from the board without congratulating your opponent is about the niveau of a elementary school kid (and if I would have kids I hope they’d have better manners than that). So no matter if Zatonskih moved her piece 0.2 seconds before Irina Krush did, Krush’s behaviour is just sh*t- seeing that I feel an immoral happiness inside of me that she didn’t win
If she felt something was against the rules, she could speak out. But this?
Ridiculous behaviour.
Although I might add that Armageddon is a stupid way to decide a championship that big, so I can a bit understand Irina’s anger. She should have controlled herself, but the system is quite irritating.
that was funny to watch, Irina was really overwhelmed and could not control her emotions. But I agree with the others, it was rude.
Yes, it does look as if Krush needs to work on character development. Her reaction to the loss reminded me of an adolescent response and was far from professional. She certainly is experienced enough not to do the “Garry thing” after losing. Although it did give me a clearer perspective into her nature, as opposed to the always demure and smiling face that we see of her in various pictures.
@ Michel
I’m not for a minute justifying the way Krush behaved, but yes I do think you can be aware you are cheating at blitz. I’ve played loads of blitz, and am well aware of how to play fair, and how to bend the rules. All I’m saying is it is Zatonskih is very annoying as she brags about moving peces close to the clock as the reason she won, but the real reason is that she moved them well before Krush pressed her clock. One time Krush could not even press it down!!
Irrelevant to this case, but about the rules:
Geurt Gijssen has suggested in his Chesscafe column (”An Arbiter’s Notebook”) that it is perfectly ok to move before the opponent has pressed the clock, as long as you still let him/her press the clock.
How unprofessional of the organisers to have the winner decided in an Armaggedon game, without providing for a sensory board to relay the moves made real time to the clock, as to auto-exact punishment of, say, 1 second bonus time for the opponent for every move executed within the opponent’s “thinking” time. A disgrace!