People and Places

Games and Theory

New! Live Webcast with Commentary by Grandmaster Michael Rohde

Our feature articles

People and Places

• New! Photo features with more than a dozen photos and text by USCF President Don Schultz
• One page wrap-up of the complete event.
• Chess Buzz: People are Talking
  "I hear that Deeper Blue chip Benjamin had implanted is working well..." These and other informal comments, both serious and lighthearted, from analysts following the Championship.
• Fun Fact: Where She Stops, Nobody Knows...
  What is the fairest way to handle a tie score in a chess match? The Fun Fact this week looks at some past attempts to address the issue.

• Interviews with the winners from the Round 1 SemiFinal games. "Larry and I play two kind of games..." Interviews by NM Matt Guthrie at the site.
• Carol Jarecki's fourth report "Just watching Yasser's games was worth everything." --Gabriel Schwartzman. Carol reports on the players' reactions as the Preliminaries and Women's events wind down, and we get ready for the Semifinals.
• Who bought the wrong plane tickets? For the full story on everything from midnight basketball to hospital emergency rooms, see TD Carol Jarecki's Site Report.
• Women's Chess Committee Chair Alexey Root presents background information on the USCF's Women's Chess Committee
• Standings Report Just Before the Last Round of the Preliminaries. With 6 rounds played out of 7, our Standings Report looks at where we are, where we're going, and the impact of the "Schwartzman Factor" on Division 2.
• Each week, the USCF's Chess Life Online covers the world chess scene, and includes Chess Buzz, a lighter look at the week's news. This week the Buzz is from National Master Matt Guthrie, onsite at the tournament, as he offers "Thoughts from Chandler" on everything from penmanship to the search for truth...

• Round 4 "half-time" report by Duif Calvin. Half-way through the stage one Division Preliminaries, this report looks at the standings and what's ahead for the individual players in the 1997 Interplay US Chess Championship
• Chess and the Press IA Carol Jarecki reports on how the local Arizona media are reacting to the presence of the country's top players
• International Arbiter Carol Jarecki's article describes the site, the playing conditions, and explains why she was outside spray-painting chess sets in the 103 degree heat...

• The Definitely Unofficial Fan's View of the 1997 Interplay US Championship Duif Calvin, Editor of Chess Life Online and a decidedly amateur chessplayer, gives us a fan's view of the event. Includes photos.
• Once a Champion, Always a Champion? This week's Fun Fact Chess Trivia looks at players that have won the national title multiple times--and in multiple decades!
• Countdown Coverage: Wildcards and Cinderella Players - posted one week before the event, this article takes a look at who the favorites might be for this year's championship.
• The history of the US Chess Championship

Annotated Games & Theory

Theoretical Articles

• In an intriguing article on which opening strategies do best in major tournaments, USCF Assistant Director Eric Johnson gives us a preFinals look at the 1997 Interplay US Women's Championship

Games

• Annotated Game from Round 2
  NM Irina Krush and NM Matt Guthrie annotate Krush' defeat of defending titleholder WGM Belakovskaia from Round 2 of this event. Note that Krush is only 13, the youngest competitor in either event.

• Analysis of the Game Christiansen-Yermolinsky (rd 2)by IM Jack Peters
• Analysis of the Game Zamora-Christiansen (Rd 3) by IM Jack Peters
  The game that moved Christiansen to the top of Division 1

• Jezierska-Krush (rd 4)
  This time Krush is on the losing side as NM Ivona Jezierska and NM Matt Guthrie provide player's notes for this game.

• Analysis of the Game Kaidanov-Gurevich (Rd 4) by IM Jeremy Silman
  "A beautiful and theoretically important game by Kaidanov."
• Analysis of the Game Gurevich-Seirawan (Rd 5) by IM Jeremy Silman
  Smoke and Mirrors? "As far as I can tell this [line] was first played by Jeremy Silman against D Gurevich in 1991..."

• Shahade-Epstein (Rd 6)
  Player's Notes by NM Jennifer Shahade and NM Matt Guthrie. Shahade, only 16, challenges WIM Epstein (one of the event's leaders) in an aggressive game with a lot of history

• Analysis of the Game de Firmian-Schwartzman (Rd 6) by IM Jack Peters
  "A desirable move, badly timed..."
• Analysis of the Game Shabalov-Seirawan (Rd 7) by IM Jeremy Silman
  "Yaz knew a do or die fight was in store--and that's exactly what he wanted."

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Title Sponsor

The 1997 Interplay U.S. Championship is made possible through the generosity of Interplay Productions, Inc., of Irvine, Calif. Interplay is the world's source for innovative gaming software, including "USCF Chess."

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