Yermo in Tulsa
Sioux Falls resident GM Alex Yermolinsky is in Tulsa Oklahoma competing for the US Chess Championship May 13-20. Alex is ranked 14th out of the 24 players in the tournament with a rating of 2568. This page will be updated daily to bring you the very latest news about the championship and how Yermo is doing in the tournament, please check back often.
Yermo got off to a good start in round one playing against the defending US Champion GM Shabalov. The game lasted 19 moves and chalked up the first win. Round 2 ended in a draw with GM Gulko. Round 3 dropped Yermo to the middle of the pack with his first loss against GM Becerra. Yermo played GM Ivanov in round 4 that looked drawish until an extra pawn advanage arose and led to a win for Yermo. Round 5 ended in a draw on move 25 with plenty of pieces on the board and 7 pawns on each side. Yermo had equalized but nothing to play that can could improve the position. In Round 7 with GM Kaidanov Yermo had an ugly pawn structure with three pawns stacked on the c file after move 9. The game didn’t look like it would end in a draw but it did, despite Yermo’s pawn advantage and a bishop vs knight end game. Yermo's loss in round 7 to GM Perelshteyn puts him out of reach for the US Championship title. Round 8 was other loss for Yermo to IM Finegold rated 2613. Despite the fact that Yermo was playing an IM (David Vigorito rated 3471) in the last round the game ended after 14 moves in a grandmaster draw. Congratulations to Yermo for playing a fine tournament and to Yury Shulman the winner of the US Championship!
Here are Yermo's 2008 championship games played thus far.
[Event "2008 Frank K. Berry U.S. Chess Championship"]
[Site "Tulsa, OK"]
[Date "2008.05.13"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Yermolinsky, Alex"]
[Black "Shabalov, Alexander"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteELO "2587"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackELO "2697"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 e6 3.Nge2 d5 4.exd5 exd5 5.d4 Nc6 6.Be3 Nf6 7.dxc5 Be7
8.Nd4 O-O 9.Be2 Ne5 10.O-O Bxc5 11.Ne6 fxe6 12.Bxc5 Rf7 13.f4 Nc6
14.Bf3 Qa5 15.Bf2 Bd7 16.Qd2 Rd8 17.Rad1 Rff8 18.a3 Ne7 1-0
[Event "2008 Frank K. Berry U.S. Chess Championship"]
[Site "Tulsa, OK"]
[Date "2008.05.14"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Yermolinsky, Alex"]
[Black "Gulko, Boris"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteELO "2587"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackELO "2623"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2 Be7 6.Nc3 O-O 7.d5 Bb4 8.O-O Bxc3
9.bxc3 d6 10.Nh4 Qc8 11.Bg5 Nbd7 12.e4 Re8 13.Re1 h6 14.Bxf6 Nxf6 15.f4 1/2-1/2
[Event "2008 Frank K. Berry U.S. Chess Championship"]
[Site "Tulsa, OK"]
[Date "2008.05.15"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Becerra, Julio"]
[Black "Yermolinsky, Alex"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteELO "2637"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackELO "2587"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8.
c3 O-O 9. h3 Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11. d4 Nd7 12. d5 Nb6 13. Nbd2 g6 14. b4 cxb4
15. cxb4 Nac4 16. Nxc4 Nxc4 17. Bb3 Bd7 18. Bh6 Re8 19. Rc1 a5 20. Bxc4
bxc4 21. Rxc4 Bb5 22. Rc1 axb4 23. Qb3 Qa5 24. Bd2 Qxa2 25. Qxb4 Qa4 26.
Rc7 Qxb4 27. Bxb4 Ra4 28. Rxe7 Rxe7 29. Bxd6 Rea7 30. Bxe5 Bd3 31. Bd4 Rb7
32. d6 Rd7 33. e5 Bc4 34. Rb1 Be6 35. Be3 Ra8 36. Nd4 Rda7 37. Rb4 Ra4 38.
Rb6 R4a6 39. Nxe6 fxe6 40. Rb7 Ra5 41. d7 Rd5 42. Bg5 1-0
[Event "2008 Frank K. Berry U.S. Chess Championship"]
[Site "Tulsa, OK"]
[Date "2008.05.16"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Yermolinsky, Alex"]
[Black "Ivanov, Alexander"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteELO "2587"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackELO "2622"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.Nbd2 b5 6.cxb5 Bxb5 7.Bg2 d5 8.O-O Be7 9.b4 O-O 10.a4 Be8 11.Ba3 a5 12.bxa5 Bxa3 13.Rxa3 Qd6 14.Qa1 Nc6 15.Rc1 Bd7 16.e3 Nxa5 17.Ne5 Rfb8 18.Rac3 Ra7 19.Bf1 Be8 20.Rc5 c6 21.Be2 Rba8 22.R5c3 Nb7 23.Nxc6 Rxa4 24.Qb1 Nd8 25.Ne5 Ra2 26.R3c2 Rxc2 27.Qxc2 Nd7 28.Bb5 f6 29.Nxd7 Bxd7 30.Bxd7 Qxd7 31.Nb3 Nb7 32.Qc6 Qxc6 33.Rxc6 Re8 34.g4 Kf7 35.Kg2 Re7 36.h4 Nd8 37.Rd6 Nb7 38.Ra6 Rd7 39.h5 Ke7 40.Rb6 Rc7 41.Kg3 Nd6 42.Nc5 e5 43.Rb8 Rc8 44.Rb3 Rc7 45.f3 Ra7 46.dxe5 fxe5 47.Rd3 Nb7 48.Rxd5 Nxc5 49.Rxc5 Kd6 50.Rb5 h6 51.Rb6 Ke7 52.f4 exf4 53.Kxf4 Ra5 54.e4 Kf7 55.e5 Ra1 56.Rb7 Ke6 57.Rxg7 Rf1 58.Ke4 Re1 59.Kf3 Rf1 60.Kg2 Rf4 61.Kg3 1-0
[Event "2008 Frank K. Berry U.S. Chess Championship"]
[Site "Tulsa, OK"]
[Date "2008.05.17"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Akobian, Varuzhan"]
[Black "Yermolinsky, Alex"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2666"]
[BlackElo "2587"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 c6 6. e3 Bf5 7. Qf3 Bg6 8.
Bxf6 Qxf6 9. Qxf6 gxf6 10. h4 Nd7 11. Nge2 Bd6 12. Nf4 O-O-O 13. O-O-O Rde8
14. Be2 h5 15. Rde1 f5 16. Kd2 Nf6 17. f3 Re7 18. Bd3 Rhe8 19. g3 a6 20.
Re2 Bh7 21. a3 Rg8 22. Rg1 b5 23. Ke1 Bg6 24. Kf2 Kb7 25. Bb1
1/2-1/2
[Event "2008 Frank K. Berry U.S. Chess Championship"]
[Site "Tulsa,OK"]
[Date "2008.05.18"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Yermolinsky, Alex"]
[Black "Kaidanov, Gregory"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteELO "2587"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackELO "2697"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c6 4.e4 dxe4 5.Nxe4 Bb4 6.Nc3 c5 7.a3 Ba5 8.dxc5 Bxc3 9.bxc3 Qxd1 10.Kxd1 Nc6 11.Be2 e5 12.Nf3 f5 13.Re1 Nf6 14.Bd3 Ng4 15.Ra2 O-O 16.h3 e4 17.hxg4 exf3 18.Bf4 fxg2 19.Bd6 Rd8 20.gxf5 b6 21.Be4 Bb7 22.Bd5 Kh8 23.Bxg2 Rd7 24.Rae2 h5 25.Re8 Rxe8 26.Rxe8 Kh7 27.Ke1 bxc5 28.Bxc5 Na5 29.Bxb7 Rxb7 30.Re7 Rxe7 31.Bxe7 Nxc4 32.Ke2 Kg8 33.Kd3 Kf7 34.Bc5 Ne5 35.Ke4 h4 36.Bd4 Nc4 37.Bxa7 Nxa3 38.Bb8 h3 39.Kf3 Kf6 40.Kg3 Kxf5 41.Bd6 Nc4 42.Bc5 g5 43.Kxh3 g4 44.Kg3 Nd2 45.Kg2 Ke4 46.Bd4 Nc4 47.Kg3 Kf5 48.Be3 Nd6 1/2-1/2
[Event "2008 Frank K. Berry U.S. Chess Championship"]
[Site "Tulsa, OK"]
[Date "2008.05.19"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Perelshteyn, Eugene"]
[Black "Yermolinsky, Alex"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteELO "2615"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackELO "2587"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 c6 6.e3 Be7 7.Bd3 Ne4 8.Bxe7 Qxe7 9.Qc2 Nxc3 10.bxc3 Be6 11.Rb1 b6 12.Ne2 Nd7 13.Nf4 Nf6 14.O-O O-O 15.Nxe6 Qxe6 16.c4 g6 17.cxd5 Nxd5 18.Rfe1 Rac8 19.Bc4 Qd6 20.Qb3 Ne7 21.a4 Rc7 22.Rbd1 Nf5 23.g3 Re8 24.Bf1 h5 25.Qc3 Rd8 26.Bh3 Qf6 27.Qc2 h4 28.Qe4 hxg3 29.hxg3 Ne7 30.Rc1 Nd5 31.Rc4 a5 32.Bg2 Kg7 33.Rec1 Nb4 34.Qf3 Qxf3 35.Bxf3 Rd6 36.Kf1 f5 37.Ke2 Na2 38.Ra1 Nb4 39.Rac1 Na2 40.Rg1 Nb4 41.g4 f4 42.g5 Re7 43.Rg4 b5 44.axb5 cxb5 45.Rc8 fxe3 46.Rh4 exf2 47.Kxf2 Nd3 48.Kg3 Re1 49.Kh2 Rc1 50.Rch8 Kf7 51.d5 1-0
[Event "2008 Frank K. Berry U.S. Chess Championship"]
[Site "Tulsa"]
[Date "2008.05.20"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Yermolinsky, Alex"]
[Black "Finegold, Benjamin"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteELO "2587"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackELO "2607"]
[BlackTitle "IM"]
[Source "MonRoi"]
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 dxc4 6.e4 b5 7.e5 h6 8.Bh4 g5 9.exf6 gxh4 10.Ne5 Qxf6 11.a4 Bb4 12.Be2 Nd7 13.Nxc6 Bxc3 14.bxc3 h3 15.gxh3 Bb7 16.axb5 a6 17.Rg1 axb5 18.Rxa8 Bxa8 19.Nb4 Qf4 20.Rg3 Ke7 21.Nc2 Be4 22.Ne3 Rb8 23.Rg4 Qxh2 24.Nf1 Qh1 25.Rg3 b4 26.f3 Bf5 27.cxb4 Bxh3 28.Kf2 Bxf1 29.Bxf1 Qh2 30.Rg2 Qh4 31.Kg1 Qf4 0-1
[Event "2008 Frank K. Berry U.S. Chess Championship"]
[Site "Tulsa, OK"]
[Date "2008.05.21"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Vigorito, David"]
[Black "Yermolinsky, Alex"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteELO "2471"]
[WhiteTitle "IM"]
[BlackELO "2587"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e3 O-O 6.Nf3 Nbd7 7.Rc1 a6 8.cxd5 exd5 9.Bd3 c6 10.Qc2 Re8 11.O-O Nf8 12.h3 N6d7 13.Bf4 Nf6 14.Bh2 1/2-1/2
You can watch the games live at the MonRoi chess website. Remember the rounds start at 2:30pm each day but for round 9, it starts at 2:15pm.
Replay Yermo's games on the sdchess.org sponsorship page
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