BOTW:2015.7.4
As a nod to the 4th of July, here is a US-themed Best of the Web, with links to live games from the Biggest and (now) second-richest tournament in the US, as well as ten tips from US GM Sam Shankland on how he went from GM to world's top 100.
43rd World Open
June 30- July 5, 2015
For years the World Open was held in Philadelphia -- home of the First and Second Continental Congresses (where the Declaration of Independence was signed) -- and was the biggest and richest tournament in the United States. It's now moved to the no-less-historic Arlington, Virginia, but has slipped to second place in the prize pool behind the super-ambitious Millionaire Chess, which will see its second edition October 8-12 in Las Vegas.
This year's World Open has a guaranteed prize fund of $210,000 (US), which has attracted 211 players to the Open section, with 32 GMs. Luke McShane (2685) and Gata Kamsky (2672) are the top seeds.
Canadians: (after 5 rounds)
GM Anton Kovalyov is tied for the lead with five others at 4.5/5.
IM Razvan Preotu has 4..
IM Richard Wang has 3.5.
Tanraj Sohal has 3
FM Jason Cao, IM David Cummings, FM Yuanchen Zhang each have 2.5/5
FM Michael Song, and Diwen Shi have 2.
Notes:
Michael Song beat GM Ehsan Maghami (cowinner of the 2014 Canadian Open) in round 2, who seems to have flagged on move 64 in a dead equal Queen ending.
Anton Kovalyov won the "7-minute Championship" side event with 9.5/10, scoring 2/2 against GM Ehsan Maghami in the last double round.
You can follow some of the top boards live here:
http://chessevents.com/live-games/
and on the Monroi site here:
http://monroi.com/watch/?tnm_id=1832
Homepage:
http://www.worldopen.com/
Shankland on Breaking Through a Plateau
US Chess has a two-part article by GM Sam Shankland on his rise from GM to top 100. His article shows the losses (and wins!?) that showed him what he needed to work on, and shows what happens when he did.
"I started and ended 2013 with exactly the same live rating: 2602... and I was getting very frustrated with my inability to reach higher levels. A close examination of all of my games, regardless of the result, showed several weaknesses that I needed to address, and lessons that I needed to learn.... once I was able to effectively address them in 2014, I shot to 2660 like it was nothing. I'd like to share 10 of these lessons here..."
http://www.uschess.org/content/view/12944/798/
http://www.uschess.org/content/view/12954/798/