Wesley So Wins US Chess Championship 2017 Title

Wesley So and Alexander Onischuk were tied for first place at the end of the final Round 11. Two rapid tie-break games were all it took to decide the US Chess Champion for 2017 — no need for an Armageddon game.

US Chess Championship 2017 Tie-Break Results

[csvtable file=”http://chesshive.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/us-chess-2017-tie-break-results.csv”]

Wesley So won the first game after opting for complications in the middle game. Onischuk, being on time trouble from these complications, wasn’t able to hold on and succumbed to bad moves and lost.

In the second game, Onischuk with white was up two pawns leading to the end game, but time pressure caught up to him again and So forced a perpetual check, and thus a draw.

Wesley So and Alexander Onischuk Headed to the Playoff for the US Chess Championship 2017 Title

Wesley So settled for draw after a three-fold repetition against Daniel Naroditsky in the final Round 11 of US Chess Championship 2017 after just 14 moves. Wesley was so disappointed he was forced by Naroditsky to a draw, he hurriedly went out of the playing building and refused to give interviews.

Wesley later commented on Chessgames.com and explained:

I did not force the draw, Daniel did. I was set for a long fight today knowing he needs a full point to get into World Cup. Shocked me that he forced the draw.. In this interview he explains his decision (needs to write his terms papers for submission Monday morning and does not like Berlin).

Very upsetting but God will take care of me.

So and Akobian Lead US Chess Championship 2017 after Round 9, with 2 Rounds to go

In Round 9 action of the US Chess Championship 2017, Wesley So won against Jeffery Xiong, while Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana both lost to Alexander Onischuk and Varuzhan Akobian, respectively.

US Chess Championship 2017 Round 9 Results

#WhiteResultBlack
1Akobian, Varuzhan1-0Caruana, Fabiano
2Nakamura, Hikaru0-1Onischuk, Alexander
3Naroditsky, Daniel½-½Shabalov, Alexander
4Robson, Ray½-½Zherebukh, Yaroslav
5Kamsky, Gata½-½Shankland, Samuel L
6Xiong, Jeffery0-1So, Wesley

Replay all Round 9 games below:[replay]

Thus, at the end of Round 9, Wesley So and Varuzhan Akobian share the lead, with two more rounds to go.

Round 6 US Chess Championship 2017 – Caruana Wins

Fabiano Caruana clinched a win against Gata Kamsky in Round 6 of US Chess Championship 2017, to share the second place with 4 others at the end of the round. This is Caruana’s first win in the tournament.

Wesley So still leads with 4 points out of six games.

US Chess Championship 2017 Round 6 Results

[csvtable file=”http://chesshive.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/us-chess-2017-round-6-results.csv”]

Wesley So Retains Lead By the End of Round 5 – US Chess Championship 2017

Wesley So drew his game against Yaroslav Zherebukh in Round 5 of the US Chess Championship 2017, to retain his lead going into the break day.

Varuzhan Akobian and Ray Robson won their games in Round 5 to join the 3 others in second place. Gata Kamsky won too. Check out the results of Round 5 below:

US Chess Championship 2017 Round 5 Results

Gm.WhiteResultBlack
1Nakamura, Hikaru½-½Naroditsky, Daniel
2Zherebukh, Yaroslav½-½So, Wesley
3Akobian, Varuzhan1-0Shankland, Samuel L
4Robson, Ray1-0Shabalov, Alexander
5Onischuk, Alexander½-½Caruana, Fabiano
6Xiong, Jeffery0-1Kamsky, Gata

Replay all Round 5 games below:[replay]

5 rounds down, and 6 more rounds to go for the tournament. Today is rest day for the players. And here’s how the standings look so far: