played too cautiously in their game. “He was probably giving too much respect,” Kamsky said. “[Trading queens] was the first psychological mistake. It showed me he was playing for a draw. He decided to play safe, but sometimes safe is bad.” In the resulting rook-and-pawn
endgame, Kamsky exhibited the style that won him several games in St. Louis and hundreds in his career.
Pressure and time IM Daniel Naroditsky GM Gata Kamsky
U.S. Championship (6), 04.20.2011 Alexander Shabalov Gregory Kaidanov
-+r+-mk-+ +-+-+pzp- -+-+p+-zp zpptrpzP-+P -+-+-zP-+ zP-zPK+-tR- -zP-+-+P+ tR-+-+-+-
After 27. ... Rxc5 Kamsky has his usual small plus. His
more coordinated rooks and focus on the c-file may not seem like enough, but he excels in these positions. As Morgan Freeman said in The Shawshank Redemption, “That's all it takes, really— pressure and time.”
28. Rf1 According to Kamsky, 28. f5 would
Larry Christiansen Hess got black again but ended with
the same result, beating Shabalov. He fol- lowed with consecutive wins against Kaidanov and Christiansen, and his four straight wins tallied the longest winning streak of the championship. “Sam (Shankland) and I have been playing in the U.S. championship for a while,” Hess said. “We have the necessary experience.” In 2009, Hess finished a surprise second. He said his winning streak was more of a novelty and was less important than winning the championship itself. “I’ve
uschess.org Benjamin Finegold
been playing much better with black than with white,” he said. “My coach (GM Miron Sher) told me that I should just ask for seven blacks.” Kamsky drew in round five and faced
the tournament’s youngest player, 15- year-old IM Daniel Naroditsky, the following day. Naroditsky began the event with two solid draws and was just coming off his first win, against GM Ray Robson. He spoke with reverence to his competi- tors and humorous self-deprecation to his own play, but Kamsky said Naroditsky
hold, as it would require him to capture 28. ... exf5 29. Rf3. This rook is a slightly better choice, as now there are no 3rd- rank skewer motifs, and the queen’s rook stays put in case of an open a-file 29. ... Ke7 30. Rxf5 Ke6 31. Raf1 b4 32. axb4 axb4 33. Rxf7 bxc3 34. Rxg7 cxb2 35. Rg6+ Kxe5 (White is in control with 35. ... Kd7? 36. Rf7+ Ke8 37. Rb7) 36. Re1+ with a horizontal repetition 36. ... Kf4 37. Rf1+ Ke5 38. Re1+.
28. ... b4 29. axb4 Now, 29. f5 loses by a single tempo to
29. ... bxc3 30. fxe6 cxb2 (30. ... Ke7 would allow the vertical repetition 31. Rxg7 cxb2 32. Rgxf7+ Kxe6 33. R1f6+ Kxe5 34. Rf5+ Kd6 35. R5f6) 31. Rxf7+ Ke8 32. Rgxg7 b1=Q+.
29. ... axb4 30. Kd2 d4 31. Rc1 White admits that his f-file counter-
play is too slow, but the wasted 28th move is costly.
31. ... Rc4 32. Rf3 dxc3+ 33. bxc3 Rd8+ 34. Ke2
Chess Life — July 2011 21
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