Photo Elizabeth Vicary

by Jennifer Shahade

In round 3 of the U.S. Championship, Shabalov defeated Ildar Ibragimov on board one and leads the tourney with 3-0.

On board two Hikaru Nakamura knocked off the other perfect score, Alexander Stripunsky, with a surprise. Hikaru played the Dragon for the first time in his life! In explaining his decision, Hikaru said: " I've played Stripunsky a million times, so I wanted to play an opening where I'd have attacking chances."


714

Hikaru called the game a "typical dragon. I'm down material but somehow it's complicated." Complications are always good for Hikaru, who says: "I play enough like a computer that I expect to outcalculate my opponents." Nakamura agrees with spectators who pinpointed 27. Rc7 as a bad move, leaving the rook loose. Rc5 was better.

On board one, Shabalov defeated Ibragimov in a wild game. Spectators can look forward to a slugfest tomorrow between Shabalov and Nakamura.

718

Today was a good day to be called Irina (or Iryna!), as both Iryna Zenyuk and Irina Krush reeled in full points.

Krush defeated Michael Mulyar in a nice game:

717

Meanwhile, Zenyuk won against Movsisyan:

716

The two youngest players in the tournament, Robert Hess and Ray Robson also faced off this round:

719

Standings after 4 rounds:

1-Alexander Shabalov
2-5- Hikaru Nakamura, Alexander Onischuk, Jaan Ehlvest and Gregory Kaidanov

Click here for complete Standings

Round 4 Pairings

Bd	White Player Name		Black Player Name
1	GM HIKARU NAKAMURA		GM ALEXANDER SHABALOV
2	GM GREGORY KAIDANOV		GM ALEXANDER ONISCHUK
3	GM ILDAR IBRAGIMOV		GM JAAN EHLVEST
4	GM VARUZHAN AKOBIAN		GM YURY SHULMAN
5	GM ALEX YERMOLINSKY		GM ALEXANDER STRIPUNSKY
6	GM BORIS GULKO		GM JULIO BECERRA
7	GM ALEXANDER IVANOV		GM MELIKSET KHACHIYAN
8	IM IRINA KRUSH		GM SERGEY KUDRIN
9	GM EUGENE PERELSHTEYN		FM ROBERT L HESS
10	GM DMITRY GUREVICH		IM RONALD W BURNETT
11	IM ENRICO M SEVILLANO		IM JAY BONIN
12	GM WALTER S BROWNE		IM BRYAN SMITH
13	WFM IRYNA ZENYUK		IM JOSHUA E FRIEDEL
14	FM JOSEPH MARK BRADFORD		IM DAVID PRUESS
15	IM JUSTIN SARKAR		FM MICHAEL LANGER
16	IM MICHAEL MULYAR		MICHAEL AIGNER
17	WFM CHOUCHANIK AIRAPETIAN		FM RAY S ROBSON
18	FM MOVSES MOVSISYAN		TOM BRAUNLICH

Fantasy Update by NM Arun Sharma

How the mighty have fallen. Greg Shahade after leading the competition after Day 2 is now an astounding 3.5 points behind our leaders. If anything can be an indication of just how no lead is either insurmountable or safe in this competition, let that be it (or you can view this as me using this space to celebrate the fact that he's taken such a tumble, whichever you prefer).

Fantasy Standings by Points:

13.5 pts: 1st - 3rd
13 pts: 4th - 5th
12.5 pts: 6th - 18th
12 pts: 19th - 35th
11.5 pts: 36th - 67th
11 pts: 68th - 129th
10.5 pts: 130th - 193rd
10 pts: 194th - 264th
9.5 pts: 265th - 321st
9 pts: 322th - 368th
8.5 pts: 369th - 382nd
8 pts: 383rd - 387th

Top Ten Teams (as we get later in the competition we will likely list more of the top teams, like soon the Top 20, and after Round 8, all teams which are still in prize contention).

1st - 3rd Joe Blidy, Patrick Adamek, Ryan Miller (2509.1429) - 13.5 Points

We have a dead heat at the top with Joe and Patrick using the team:

Hikaru Nakamura 2.5
Alex Onischuk 2.5
Gregory Kaidanov 2.5
Alexander Shabalov 3
Jay Bonin 1.5
Chouchanik Airapetian 0.5
Irina Zenyuk 1

and Ryan the team:

Alex Onischuk 2.5
Gregory Kaidanov 2.5
Alexander Shabalov 3
Irina Krush 1.5
Robert Hess 1.5
Ron Burnett 1.5
Irina Zenyuk 1

4. Nicholas Polanco (2505.8571) - 13 points

Hikaru Nakamura 2.5
Alex Onischuk 2.5
Gregory Kaidanov 2.5
Alexander Shabalov 3
Ron Burnett 1.5
Chouchanik Airapetian 0.5
Tom Braunlich 0.5

5. Daniel Ellis (2506.1429) - 13 points

Hikaru Nakamura 2.5
Alex Onischuk 2.5
Gregory Kaidanov 2.5
Jaan Ehlvest 2.5
Jay Bonin 1.5
Irina Zenyuk 1.0
Tom Braunlich 0.5

6. Angelica Berrios (2488.2857) - 12.5 points

Hikaru Nakamura 2.5
Alex Onischuk 2.5
Alexander Shabalov 3
Irina Krush 1.5
Bryan Smith 1.5
Chouchanik Airapetian 0.5
Irina Zenyuk 1

7. Vikas Kumar (2497) - 12.5 Points

Hikaru Nakamura 2.5
Alex Onischuk 2.5
Gregory Kaidanov 2.5
Alexander Shabalov 3
Michael Langer 1
Chouchanik Airapetian 0.5
Tom Braunlich 0.5

8. Mark Meibers (2499.2857) - 12.5 Points

Ildar Ibragimov 2
Jaan Ehlvest 2.5
Alexander Shabalov 3
Irina Krush 1.5
Justin Sarkar 1
Jay Bonin 1.5
Irina Zenyuk 1

9. Henry Li (2503.2857) - 12.5 Points

Hikaru Nakamura 2.5
Alex Onischuk 2.5
Jaan Ehlvest 2.5
Irina Krush 1.5
Jay Bonin 1.5
Michael Langer 1
Irina Zenyuk 1

10. Kevin Villarreal (2504.1429) - 12.5 Points

Hikaru Nakamura 2.5
Alex Onischuk 2.5
Alexander Shabalov 3
Irina Krush 1.5
Jay Bonin 1.5
Ray Robson 0.5
Irina Zenyuk 1

Keys to Success

Alex Onischuk 9
Hikaru Nakamura 8
Alex Shabalov 8
Irina Zenyuk 8
Gregory Kaidanov 6
Jay Bonin 6
Irina Krush 5
Chouchanik Airapetian 5
Tom Braunlich 3
Jaan Ehlvest 2
Ron Burnett 2
Michael Langer 2
Ildar Ibragimov 2
Robert Hess 1
Justin Sarkar 1
Bryan Smith 1
Ray Robson 1