U.S. Junior Closed Begins with Upset
July 13, 2009
elliotliuslide.jpg
Elliott Liu, Photo Betsy Dynako 2008
The U.S. Junior Closed (Milwaukee, Wisconsin, July 13-16) began with a big upset, with FM Elliot Liu defeating GM-elect Alex Lenderman with Black in a wild King's Indian defense. Among the ICC spectators was GM Hikaru Nakamura, who had just finished drawing GM Ponomariov in San Sebastian, Spain. He lol-ed at Lenderman's final try, 35.Qa2 and called Bc2+ in the air. The other decisive result of the first round was Michael Lee defeating 2008 U.S. Junior Open Champion Maxx Coleman. 

Round 1 games


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U.S. Junior Closed Schedule

1. Alex Lenderman
2. Salvijus Bercys
3. Joel Banawa
4. Maxx Coleman
5. Michael Lee
6. Ray Robson
7. Sam Shankland
8. Elliott Liu
 
ROUNDS (g/90+30sec per move increment)
1. (Monday, July 13th at 12:00pm): 1-8, 2-7, 3-6, 4-5
2. (Monday, July 13th at 6:00pm): 1-2, 7-3, 6-4, 8-5
3. (Tuesday, July 14th at 12:00pm): 3-1, 2-8, 4-7, 5-6
4. (Tuesday, July 14th at 6:00pm): 1-4, 2-3, 8-6, 7-5
5. (Wed, July 15th at 12:00pm): 5-1, 4-2, 3-8, 6-7
6. (Wed, July 15th at 6:00pm): 1-6, 2-5, 3-4, 8-7
7. (Thursday, July 16th at 12:00pm): 7-1, 6-2, 5-3, 4-8

Watch games live on the Internet Chess Club (Liblist USJunior09) and look for CLO coverage including players bios and reports from Alex Betaneli. The 2009 U.S. Junior Open just concluded, and the champion, Eric Rosen will be seeded into next year's U.S. Junior Championship.