Chess in the Land of the Delta Blues

BRAVO to the distinguished winners of the 2012 US Amateur South Championship !

What an honor for Memphis to host a
United States Chess Federation Tournament here on home ground.

The thrill for these winners, which now hold a recognized title. 

For the second year in a row, this championship tournament
has been brought to Memphis by Shelby County Chess. 

If you didn't find the courage to play in the tournament this year,
be sure and watch for the details to be announced for the one next year.

Covered on the USCF website:

Reserve Co-Champion Kamron Jafari (left) &

2012 US Amateur South Champion George Woodbury (right)

pictured with their Coach, IM Jake Kleiman (center)

"George Woodbury III, a rising Sophomore at the University of Chicago, is contesting the stereotype of the chessplayer who gives up the game after his time on the Scholastic Circuit. In-between his studies, he has participated in the collegiate club and still found time to keep his game polished & notably sharp. Players asserted that his no-nonsense style & solid technique won him his title.


The Reserve section was characteristic of many under sections: more upsets than expected results, with players regularly coming out of the tournament hall shaking heads & asking "what was his rating again?”

With the top five boards in Round One drawing or going down in defeat, everyone knew that the tournament was anyone’s to win. Kamron Jafari, who studies with Mid-South Chess (Coached by Memphis’ own International Master Jake Kleiman), took a more traditional approach of jumping into the lead & holding it with two solid draws approaching the finish line.

Hayden Henson, after holding the top seed in the section to an opening round draw, had to play up for most of the event (rated only 1257, his post-event rating jumped to 1435!), yet he still needed to produce a clutch victory in the last round to make a fitting finale to his run."

 

Visiting guests to the US Amateur South: GM Kacheishvili, GM Hess, & IM-elect Coleman (standing, left to right) observe games in progress in the main hall. Reserve Co-Champion Hayden Henson also pictured (seated, right, in red shirt)

SAVE THE DATE !!!!!!

Mid-South Chess Camp 2012

Save the date!

Great instructor line up - check it out, click here!

World Team Championship

NOTE: Games from the tournament are below in viewer, you will need Java!

Good Luck to all of the USA team members, and a special shout out to Mid-South Chess Camp instructors GM Robert Hess and GM A Onischuk!

From the USCF website:
World Team Championship Begins
By Tony Rich
July 18, 2011

'In round 1, the U.S. was slated to play Russia. Players waited with bated breath the morning of round 1 to see who they would play. Since each team comes with one alternate player, it isn't clear until the day of each round what lineup a county will put forth. Russia, fielding the strongest team in the event, decided to play GM Sergey Karjakin (2788), GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2711), GM Peter Svidler (2739) and GM Nikita Vitiugov (2733) - resting GM Alexander Grischuk (2746). The Americans in turn posted GM Gata Kamsky (2741), GM Alex Onischuk (2675), GM Yury Shulman (2617) and GM Robert Hess (2609) for their roster, while GM Yasser Seirawan rested. When asked what he thought of the Russian lineup, GM Hess said, "This is a really tough event, especially since we have to play Russia and Armenia (two of the strongest teams in the event) in the first two rounds. However, we came to play, so let's bring the battle to them."

Hess went on to describe the differences in training amongst the countries represented. "I do wish we had more time to prepare as a group. I mean, everyone has spent a lot of time preparing individually before we came, but preparing as a group is different. Armenia had a two week training camp before arriving, and the Russians had at least a week. In team events it's really important that everyone comes together and performs as a single unit. We (the Americans) really get along well, so let's see how that pays off."'

FOR COMPLETE ARTICLE BY TONY RICH CLICK HERE.

So far there are 80 games from the World Team event in China below, you will need a java viewer to play through the moves.