Kamsky and Onischuk lead in St. Louis

Gata Kamsky and Alexander Onischuk cashed in the advantage of the white pieces in their respective games. Meantime Hikaru Nakamura was held to a draw by Yuri Shulman and finds himself half-a-point off the pace. The other co-leader Alex Stripunsky also drew.
In today's crunch game Onischuk has White and will hope to put Kamsky under pressure.

In the fifth round there were eight wins and only four draws, an honorable percentage of decisive games!

Irina Krush continues her good form with a win over the much higher rated Robert Hess, and Jesse Kraai beat Jaan Ehlvest with Black to join the group in third to sixth places.

Kraai took a big scalp in the fifth round. @ Betsy Dynako

Here are the fifth round results in full.

BdNamesratingResultsNamesrating
1GM Yuri Shulman (3)26130.5-0.5GM Hikaru Nakamura (3)2733
2GM Gata Kamsky (3)27021-0GM Larry Christiansen (3)2578
3GM Alexander Onischuk (3)26991-0GM Varuzhan Akobian (3)2599
4GM Alexander Stripunsky (3)25700.5-0.5GM Alex Yermolinsky (2.5)2528
5GM Jaan Ehlvest (2)25910-1GM Jesse Kraai (2.5)2492
6IM Irina Krush (2)24551-0GM Robert Hess (2)2590
7GM Joel Benjamin (1.5)25651-0GM Aleksandr Lenderman (1.5)2598
8GM Melikset Khachiyan (1.5)25390-1GM Alexander Shabalov (1.5)2585
9GM Sergey Kudrin (1.5)25710-1GM Gregory Kaidanov (1.5)2577
10GM Ben Finegold (1.5)25391-0IM Levon Altounian (1.5)2454
11IM Samuel Shankland (1)25070.5-0.5GM Ray Robson (1.5)2569
12GM Vinay Bhat (1)25470.5-0.5GM Dmitry Gurevich (0.5)2488

Just behind the leaders, in the sixth round pairings Nakamura will be a strong favourite on board two, especially with the white pieces, whereas the battle on board three is more evenly matched.

1GM Alexander Onischuk (4)2699GM Gata Kamsky (4)2702
2GM Hikaru Nakamura (3.5)2733GM Jesse Kraai(3.5)2492
3GM Alexander Stripunsky (3.5)2570GM Yury Shulman (3.5)2613
4GM Varuzhan Akobian (3)2599GM Alex Yermolinsky(3)2528
5GM Larry Christiansen (3)2578IM Irina Krush (3)2455
6GM Alexander Shabalov(2.5)2585GM Gregory Kaidanov(2.5)2577
7GM Ben Finegold (2.5)2539GM Joel Benjamin (2.5)2565
8GM Ray Robson (2)2569GM Jaan Ehlvest (2)2591
9IM Levon Altounian(1.5)2454GM Robert Hess(2)2590
10GM Aleksandr Lenderman(1.5)2598GM Sergey Kudrin (1.5)2571
11GM Vinay Bhat(1.5)2547IM Samuel Shankland(1.5)2507
12GM Dmitry Gurevich(1)2488GM Melikset Khachiyan (1.5)2539

Onischuk is apparently unbeaten for nearly fifty US Championship games. Will he demonstrate why, or will his record go later today?

Kamsky & Robson: The old hand with the young gun. @ Betsy Dynako

You can watch the games live and can find more information on the official tournament site.


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