Orlando Gonzalez, Photo Elizabeth Vicary
The five prizes are (which will be picked by the five winners, in order of their finish):
(a) Monroi Personal Chess Manager + Board Signed by US Championship Participants
(b) Kasparov vs. Karpov signed by Gary Kasparov to "A Good Guesser" + one year USCF membership or extension
(c) Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis cuff links + one year USCF membership or extension
(d) Marcel Duchamp: The Art of Chess signed by authors, Francis M.Naumann, Bradley Bailey and Jennifer Shahade + one year USCF membership or extension
(e) Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis mousepad + one year USCF membership or extension
1st Place: Orlando Gonzalez 66.0 Points
GM Gata Kamsky (2798, 2720) < GM Hikaru Nakamura (2757, 2701) 11
GM Alex Onischuk (2736, 2684) > GM Yury Shulman (2697, 2632) 6
GM Varuzhan Akobian (2664, 2612) < GM Julio Becerra (2672, 2609) 8
GM Larry Christiansen (2681, 2588) > GM Alex Shabalov (2620, 2569) 12
GM Joel Benjamin (2650, 2583) > GM Gregory Kaidanov (2662, 2595) 5
GM Jaan Ehlvest (2649, 2606) > GM Ildar Ibragimov (2628, 2586) 2
GM Boris Gulko (2631, 2561) > GM Melikset Khachiyan (2632, 2546) 7
GM Josh Friedel (2568, 2516) > GM-elect Robert Hess (2545, 2485) 3
IM Irina Krush (2496, 2452) > IM Anna Zatonskih (2503, 2461) 1
IM Ray Robson (2542, 2465) > IM Sam Shankland (2464, 2446) 9
IM Michael Brooks (2419, 2463) * > IM Enrico Sevillano (2549, 2520) 4
NM Tyler Hughes (2293, 2230) > NM Charles Lawton (2350, None) 10
Orlando Gonzalez has selected GM Hikaru Nakamura to be the 2009 U.S. Champion.
2nd Place: Richard Judy 65.5 Points
GM Gata Kamsky (2798, 2720) < GM Hikaru Nakamura (2757, 2701) 12
GM Alex Onischuk (2736, 2684) > GM Yury Shulman (2697, 2632) 8
GM Varuzhan Akobian (2664, 2612) > GM Julio Becerra (2672, 2609) 6
GM Larry Christiansen (2681, 2588) < GM Alex Shabalov (2620, 2569) 11
GM Joel Benjamin (2650, 2583) = GM Gregory Kaidanov (2662, 2595) 5
GM Jaan Ehlvest (2649, 2606) > GM Ildar Ibragimov (2628, 2586) 4
GM Boris Gulko (2631, 2561) < GM Melikset Khachiyan (2632, 2546) 7
GM Josh Friedel (2568, 2516) < GM-elect Robert Hess (2545, 2485) 9
IM Irina Krush (2496, 2452) = IM Anna Zatonskih (2503, 2461) 2
IM Ray Robson (2542, 2465) > IM Sam Shankland (2464, 2446) 10
IM Michael Brooks (2419, 2463) * > IM Enrico Sevillano (2549, 2520) 3
NM Tyler Hughes (2293, 2230) < NM Charles Lawton (2350, None) 1
Richard Judy has selected GM Hikaru Nakamura to be the 2009 U.S. Champion.
3rd Place: Eddie Chang 62.0 Points
GM Gata Kamsky (2798, 2720) < GM Hikaru Nakamura (2757, 2701) 9
GM Alex Onischuk (2736, 2684) < GM Yury Shulman (2697, 2632) 3
GM Varuzhan Akobian (2664, 2612) < GM Julio Becerra (2672, 2609) 2
GM Larry Christiansen (2681, 2588) > GM Alex Shabalov (2620, 2569) 10
GM Joel Benjamin (2650, 2583) > GM Gregory Kaidanov (2662, 2595) 6
GM Jaan Ehlvest (2649, 2606) < GM Ildar Ibragimov (2628, 2586) 7
GM Boris Gulko (2631, 2561) > GM Melikset Khachiyan (2632, 2546) 5
GM Josh Friedel (2568, 2516) < GM-elect Robert Hess (2545, 2485) 12
IM Irina Krush (2496, 2452) > IM Anna Zatonskih (2503, 2461) 4
IM Ray Robson (2542, 2465) > IM Sam Shankland (2464, 2446) 11
IM Michael Brooks (2419, 2463) * < IM Enrico Sevillano (2549, 2520) 8
NM Tyler Hughes (2293, 2230) > NM Charles Lawton (2350, None) 1
Eddie Chang has selected GM Hikaru Nakamura to be the 2009 U.S. Champion.
4th Place: Daniel Parmet 61.5 Points
GM Gata Kamsky (2798, 2720) < GM Hikaru Nakamura (2757, 2701) 6
GM Alex Onischuk (2736, 2684) < GM Yury Shulman (2697, 2632) 4
GM Varuzhan Akobian (2664, 2612) > GM Julio Becerra (2672, 2609) 5
GM Larry Christiansen (2681, 2588) > GM Alex Shabalov (2620, 2569) 7
GM Joel Benjamin (2650, 2583) = GM Gregory Kaidanov (2662, 2595) 3
GM Jaan Ehlvest (2649, 2606) > GM Ildar Ibragimov (2628, 2586) 2
GM Boris Gulko (2631, 2561) > GM Melikset Khachiyan (2632, 2546) 1
GM Josh Friedel (2568, 2516) < GM-elect Robert Hess (2545, 2485) 8
IM Irina Krush (2496, 2452) > IM Anna Zatonskih (2503, 2461) 9
IM Ray Robson (2542, 2465) > IM Sam Shankland (2464, 2446) 11
IM Michael Brooks (2419, 2463) * < IM Enrico Sevillano (2549, 2520) 10
NM Tyler Hughes (2293, 2230) > NM Charles Lawton (2350, None) 12
Daniel Parmet has selected GM Hikaru Nakamura to be the 2009 U.S. Champion.
5th Place: Abraham Kunin 59.0 Points
GM Gata Kamsky (2798, 2720) < GM Hikaru Nakamura (2757, 2701) 8
GM Alex Onischuk (2736, 2684) < GM Yury Shulman (2697, 2632) 9
GM Varuzhan Akobian (2664, 2612) > GM Julio Becerra (2672, 2609) 11
GM Larry Christiansen (2681, 2588) > GM Alex Shabalov (2620, 2569) 10
GM Joel Benjamin (2650, 2583) = GM Gregory Kaidanov (2662, 2595) 12
GM Jaan Ehlvest (2649, 2606) > GM Ildar Ibragimov (2628, 2586) 7
GM Boris Gulko (2631, 2561) = GM Melikset Khachiyan (2632, 2546) 6
GM Josh Friedel (2568, 2516) < GM-elect Robert Hess (2545, 2485) 5
IM Irina Krush (2496, 2452) > IM Anna Zatonskih (2503, 2461) 4
IM Ray Robson (2542, 2465) < IM Sam Shankland (2464, 2446) 3
IM Michael Brooks (2419, 2463) * = IM Enrico Sevillano (2549, 2520) 2
NM Tyler Hughes (2293, 2230) < NM Charles Lawton (2350, None) 1
Abraham Kunin has selected GM Hikaru Nakamura to be the 2009 U.S. Champion.
The Top Thirty finishers (in tiebreak order) are:
1. Orlando Gonzalez 66.0
2. Richard Judy 65.5
3. Eddie Chang 62.0
4. Daniel Parmet 61.5
5. Abraham Kunin 59.0
6. Elliot Strassman 57.0
7. Brian Goldstein 57.0
8. Dan Yeager 57.0
9. Richard Reich 56.5
10. Ezequiel Quinones 56.0
11. Edward Scimia 55.5
12. John Garcia 55.0
13. Chris Piekarski 54.0
14. Bob Lenning 54.0
15. Jakob Kobaljo 54.0
16. Carlos Alverez 53.0
17. Jaron Bernard 52.5
18. Allan Johnson 52.0
19. Carl Harmon-Vellotti 52.0
20. Chansomone Khotsyphom 52.0
21. Lovedeep Singh 51.0
22. Brian Chan 51.0
23. Barry Evans 51.0
24. Michael Reading 50.0
25. Bradley Denton 50.0
26. Larry Merriman 49.5
27. Jack Fulsom 49.0
28. Lester Leong 49.0
29. Jonathan Ingellis 49.0
30. Danny Aronsohn 49.0
Congratulations to all the winners, and thanks to everyone who took the time to participate in the contest. I hope you enjoyed both the tourney and the contest, and I look forward to doing this again next year