By A.E. Boy Espejo Jr.
Round 5 matches of the ongoing 2018 US Chess Championship all ended in draws, so we’re jumping to the results of Round 6 which has concluded as we write this.
Samuel Shankland emerged the solo leader after Round 6 of the tournament after beating co-leader Varuzhan Akobian from the black side of a Nimzo-Indian in 59 moves, even as another erstwhile co-leader, Wesley So, was held to a 30-move draw by a fighting Zviad Izoria. It was So’s fourth straight draw after winning two consecutive games.
Top seed Fabiano Caruana, who was beaten by Izoria in Round 4 and held by Shankland in Round 5, finally bounced back with a victory over the fading Ray Robson, Caruana used his pet Petroff in hacking out a 39-move win and caught up with So to share 2nd-3rd places with him.
The rest of the round’s matches were drawn. Hikaru Nakamura remained winless and marched to his sixth straight draw this time against Jeffery Xiong; Yaroslav Zherebukh and Alexander Lenderman halved the point in 30 moves of a Queen’s Gambit, while Alexander Onischuk and Awonder Liang smoked the peace pipe after 34 moves of a Semi-Tarrasch.
Standings after Round 6: 1. Shankland, 4½; 2-3.So, Caruana, 4; 4. Akobian, 3½; 5-6. Nakamura, Zherebukh, 3; 7-10. Lenderman, Izoria, Xiong, Liang, 2½; 11-12. Onischuk, Robson, 2.
Akobian,V (2647)-Shankland,S (2671) [E36]
Saint Louis (6) 2018
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 d5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.Qxc3 dxc4 7.Qxc4 b6 8.Nf3 Ba6 9.Qa4+ Qd7 10.Qc2 h6 11.g3 Bb7 12.Bg2 Be4 13.Qd1 Nc6 14.0-0 Rd8 15.Be3 0-0 16.Rc1 Qd5 17.Qa4 Ng4 18.Rc3 Nxe3 19.fxe3 Qd6 20.Nh4 Bxg2 21.Nxg2 Ne7 22.Qxa7 Nd5 23.Rc2 Ra8 24.Qb7 c5 25.dxc5 bxc5 26.Qb5 Rfb8 27.Qd3 Qe5 28.Rxc5 Qxb2 29.Rfc1 Rd8 30.Qe4 Qxe2 31.R5c2 Qb5 32.Nf4 Nf6 33.Qb4 Qe5 34.Qc5 Qxc5 35.Rxc5 g5 36.Ne2 Rxa3 37.Rc8 Rxc8 38.Rxc8+ Kg7 39.Rc3 Ra1+ 40.Kg2 Ra2 41.Kf1 Ne4 42.Rd3 g4 43.Rd4 f5 44.Rd3 Kf6 45.Rd8 Ng5 46.Rh8 Ra1+ 47.Kg2 Nh3 48.Rb8 Re1 49.Rb2 Ke5 50.Ra2 Ke4 51.Ra4+ Kxe3 52.Ra3+ Ke4 53.Ra2 Ke5 54.Rb2 Kf6 55.Ra2 e5 56.Ra6+ Kg5 57.Ra2 Kh5 58.Rb2 f4 59.gxf4 Rxe2+ 0-1
So,Wesley (2786)-Izoria,Z (2599) [D02]
Saint Louis (6) 2018
1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 e6 3.c4 a6 4.Nbd2 Nf6 5.g3 c5 6.Bg2 Nc6 7.0-0 cxd4 8.cxd5 Qxd5 9.Nb3 d3 10.e4 Qb5 11.Nbd4 Nxd4 12.Nxd4 Qd7 13.Be3 Bc5 14.Nf5 exf5 15.Bxc5 Nxe4 16.Re1 Qd5 17.Qa4+ b5 18.Bxe4 fxe4 19.Qxe4+ Qxe4 20.Rxe4+ Be6 21.Rd4 Rd8 22.Bd6 f6 23.Rxd3 Kf7 24.Rd2 Rd7 25.Bb4 Rxd2 26.Bxd2 Rd8 27.Bc3 Bg4 28.Re1 Rd1 29.Rxd1 Bxd1 30.f4 Ke6 ½-½
Robson,R (2660)-Caruana,F (2804) [C42]
Saint Louis (6) 2018
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Nc3 Nxc3 6.dxc3 Be7 7.Be3 0-0 8.Qd2 Nd7 9.0-0-0 c6 10.Kb1 d5 11.c4 Nb6 12.cxd5 Nxd5 13.Bc4 Bf5 14.Bxd5 cxd5 15.Qxd5 Qc8 16.Nd4 Bg6 17.Ka1 Re8 18.Rhe1 Bf6 19.c3 Re5 20.Qb3 a6 21.Bf4 Rxe1 22.Rxe1 Qd7 23.Be5 Re8 24.f4 Bd8 25.a4 h6 26.Rd1 Qg4 27.Rd2 b5 28.axb5 axb5 29.Qd1 Qd7 30.f5 Bg5 31.Rd3 Bxf5 32.Nxf5 Qxf5 33.Bg3 Ra8+ 34.Kb1 Rd8 35.Kc2 b4 36.cxb4 Rc8+ 37.Kb3 Qe6+ 38.Rd5 Rd8 39.Kc4 Qc6+ 0-1
