US Open 2015 (St Louis) March 31 - April 14

[Mick Norris]

Round 6 (April 7, 2015)
Abrahamyan, Tatev - Foisor, Sabina-Francesca 1-0 64 C77 Ruy Lopez Anderssen
Sharevich, Anna - Krush, Irina ½-½ 49 A62 Benoni
Virkud, Apurva - Goletiani, Rusudan 0-1 29 E32 Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2
Melekhina, Alisa - Ni, Viktorija 0-1 33 B01 Centre Counter
Wang, Annie - Paikidze, Nazi ½-½ 103 A41 Modern Defence
Yu, Jennifer R - Nemcova, Katerina 0-1 35 A18 English Opening

Nemcova 5
Goletiani, Krush 4

[Mick Norris]

Pairings round 7

Table White Score Rating Black Score Rating Result
1 GM Akobian, Varuzhan 2.5 2622 GM Troff, Kayden W 3.0 2532
2 GM Kamsky, Gata 3.0 2683 GM Holt, Conrad 2.5 2530
3 GM So, Wesley 3.5 2788 GM Onischuk, Alexander 3.5 2665
4 GM Naroditsky, Daniel 1.5 2633 GM Robson, Ray 4.0 2656
5 GM Shankland, Samuel L 2.5 2661 GM Gareev, Timur 2.0 2604
6 GM Sevian, Samuel 3.5 2531 GM Nakamura, Hikaru 4.5 2798

[Mick Norris]

Pairings round 7

Table White Score Rating Black Score Rating Result
1 WGM Nemcova, Katerina 5.0 2279 WCM Virkud, Apurva 2.5 2132
2 WGM Foisor, Sabina-Francesca 3.0 2235 WFM Yu, Jennifer R 1.5 2180
3 WIM Ni, Viktorija 3.0 2188 WGM Abrahamyan, Tatev 3.5 2322
4 IM Paikidze, Nazi 3.5 2333 FM Melekhina, Alisa 2.0 2235
5 GM Krush, Irina 4.0 2477 WIM Wang, Annie 1.5 1901
6 IM Goletiani, Rusudan 4.0 2311 WGM Sharevich, Anna 2.5 2267

[Mick Norris]

Round 7 (March 8, 2015)
So, Wesley - Onischuk, Alexander 1-0 36 C89 Ruy Lopez Marshall
Sevian, Samuel - Nakamura, Hikaru ½-½ 40 C65 Ruy Lopez Berlin
Kamsky, Gata - Holt, Conrad 1-0 55 A07 Barcza System
Shankland, Samuel L - Gareev, Timur 1-0 41 C63 Ruy Lopez Schliemann
Akobian, Varuzhan - Troff, Kayden W 0-1 43 D85 Gruenfeld Defence
Naroditsky, Daniel - Robson, Ray 0-1 85 D85 Gruenfeld Defence

Robson, Nakumura 5
So 4.5
Sevian, Kamsky, Troff 4

Pairings round 8

Table White Score Rating Black Score Rating Result
1 GM Troff, Kayden W 4.0 2532 GM Nakamura, Hikaru 5.0 2798
2 GM Gareev, Timur 2.0 2604 GM Sevian, Samuel 4.0 2531
3 GM Robson, Ray 5.0 2656 GM Shankland, Samuel L 3.5 2661
4 GM Onischuk, Alexander 3.5 2665 GM Naroditsky, Daniel 1.5 2633
5 GM Holt, Conrad 2.5 2530 GM So, Wesley 4.5 2788
6 GM Akobian, Varuzhan 2.5 2622 GM Kamsky, Gata 4.0 2683

[Mick Norris]

Round 7 (April 8, 2015)
Nemcova, Katerina - Virkud, Apurva 1-0 72 B20 Sicilian Wing Gambit
Krush, Irina - Wang, Annie 1-0 32 A18 English Opening
Paikidze, Nazi - Melekhina, Alisa 1-0 46 A37 English Symmetrical
Goletiani, Rusudan - Sharevich, Anna 0-1 43 A07 Barcza System
Foisor, Sabina-Francesca - Yu, Jennifer R ½-½ 60 D12 Slav Defence
Ni, Viktorija - Abrahamyan, Tatev ½-½ 27 B23 Sicilian Closed

Nemcova 6
Krush 5

Krush has white against Nemcova in the final round

Pairings round 8

Table White Score Rating Black Score Rating Result
1 WCM Virkud, Apurva 2.5 2132 WGM Sharevich, Anna 3.5 2267
2 WIM Wang, Annie 1.5 1901 IM Goletiani, Rusudan 4.0 2311
3 FM Melekhina, Alisa 2.0 2235 GM Krush, Irina 5.0 2477
4 WGM Abrahamyan, Tatev 4.0 2322 IM Paikidze, Nazi 4.5 2333
5 WFM Yu, Jennifer R 2.0 2180 WIM Ni, Viktorija 3.5 2188
6 WGM Nemcova, Katerina 6.0 2279 WGM Foisor, Sabina-Francesca 3.5 2235

[LawrenceCooper]

For fans of chaotic time scrambles Goletiani-Sharevich is worth a look.

[Jonathan Bryant]

I’m reading on twitter that Wesley So has been forfeited after 10 mins of the current round for note taking.

I can’t think of anything to say other than "blimey".

[LawrenceCooper]

Wesley So has been defaulted by the arbiter on move 6, apparently for making his move and then writing on a scoresheet beneath the official one. He had been warned at least twice about it during the tournament.

[LawrenceCooper]

http://livestream.com/ccscsl/USChessCha ... s/83481149

[Jonathan Bryant]

Interesting article on the So default here

http://www.chess.com/news/breaking-wesl ... und-9-9186


In the comments section after the article GM Shankland writes,

"In case anyone was wondering about the first warnings, Wesley (A good friend of mine) was doing this against me at the start of round 2. I pointed out to him that this was not allowed, he said "really?", I brought the TD over, who confirmed this is the rule ...."

Even without the comments by Paul Trong in the main article, I would have found it *very* hard to believe that So genuinely didn’t know that he wasn’t allowed to make notes.

[Roger de Coverly]

I would have found it *very* hard to believe that So genuinely didn’t know that he wasn’t allowed to make notes.

It does show up an unexpected hole in the drafting of the FIDE Laws, in that whilst "taking notes" on the scoresheet is outlawed, there appears no direct prohibition about making notes on a separate sheet. Nevertheless any player recording an analysis tree even on a separate sheet of paper might expect to be penalised. The stories suggest it wasn't specific moves being recorded, rather general comments. I think in the circumstances the arbiter's decision was more or less justified, not least to set a precedent that writing comments on a separate sheet isn't acceptable. There's that general catch all phrase that the FIDE Laws of Chess cannot be expected to include absolutely everything, with the notion that there are situations where the spirit rather than the letter of the Laws is relevant.

[Ian Thompson]

It does show up an unexpected hole in the drafting of the FIDE Laws, in that whilst "taking notes" on the scoresheet is outlawed, there appears no direct prohibition about making notes on a separate sheet.

Surely making notes during a game is contrary to Law 11.3 a. By writing a note down there's at least a possibility that it will help you later in the game.

[NickFaulks]

I think So broke the rule which says that when an arbiter repeatedly tells you to stop doing something then you are not allowed to keep doing it. He believed he was above the rules, and has been treated in the only way that there is a chance he may understand.

I witnessed similar behaviour from him in Bergamo last year. There was a small ceremony at the start of the first round, in which I was supposed to play his first move, but that didn't happen because he wasn't there. He was found in the street outside very close to the default time, totally unconcerned because he was sure that the announced regulations would not be applied to him.

[David Robertson]

From this considerable distance from the details of the matter, relying only on what I've read, I'd suspect this young man has 'issues' that fall outside the "don't you know who I am?" range.

[Tim Harding]

It now appears So is not appealing the result but is trying to appeal the loss of rating points. Good luck with that, as they say.
I imagine it is beyond the remit of the tournament appeal committee to change FIDE rating rules. In effect he is asking them to lie and pretend he didn't make any moves in the game, though the whole world knows he did.

http://www.chess.com/news/breaking-wesl ... und-9-9186

I gather he is blaming family issues (arising from his withdrawal from his college course after winning Millionaire Chess last year) for distractions that led to his three earlier losses in the championship. It's also clear that he has been regularly writing motivational messages to himself for years and some opponents have been rather annoyed about it.
Eventually he seems to have realised he was breaking rule 8.1.b:
The scoresheet shall be used only for recording the moves, the times of the clocks, offers of a draw, matters relating to a claim and other relevant data.

He doesn't seem to have grasped that he was also breaking 11.3.a
During play the players are forbidden to use any notes, sources of information or advice.

The support for So (and criticism of the arbiter and opponent) in some quarters of the US is maybe understandable. I expect Akobian had decided before the game (maybe after consulting with other players) to observe So's behaviour early on and consult the arbiter before anybody could say he was only doing it because he had got a bad position.

From what Nick Faulks says, and from what I observed at Bunratty (I doubt they'll ever invite So back because he didn't attend the prizegiving) this young man is not only going to make a rapid exit from the Top 10, but he is also going to find organisers wary of paying him generous expenses and appearance money until he grows up.