Hess continues to impress. He defeated the reigning U.S. champion Shulman today to tie Nakamura for the lead with one round to go. Nakamura got the best of the local hero Michael Brooks to put himself give himself an excellent chance to win his second U.S. Championship crown.
Here are the full results:
| Board | White | Rating | Result | Black | Rating |
| 1. | GM Gata Kamsky (5) | 2798 | ½-½ | GM Alexander Onischuk (5) | 2736 |
| 2. | IM Robert Hess (5) | 2545 | 1-0 | GM Yury Shulman (4½) | 2697 |
| 3. | IM Michael Brooks (4) | 2419 | 0-1 | GM Hikaru Nakamura (5) | 2757 |
| 4. | GM Varuzhan Akobian (4½) | 2664 | 1-0 | GM Joel Benjamin (4) | 2650 |
| 5. | GM Joshua Friedel (4) | 2568 | 1-0 | GM Jaan Ehlvest (4) | 2649 |
| 6. | IM Ray Robson (3½) | 2542 | 1-0 | IM Enrico Sevillano (4) | 2549 |
| 7. | GM Gregory Kaidanov (3½) | 2662 | ½-½ | GM Ildar Ibragimov (3½) | 2628 |
| 8. | GM Larry Christiansen (3) | 2681 | 1-0 | Tyler Hughes (3) | 2293 |
| 9. | GM Boris Gulko (3) | 2631 | ½-½ | GM Julio Becerra (3) | 2672 |
| 10. | GM Alexander Shabalov (3) | 2620 | 1-0 | IM Irina Krush (3) | 2496 |
| 11. | GM Melikset Khachiyan (2½) | 2632 | 0-1 | FM Doug Eckert (1) | 2278 |
| 12. | Charles Lawton (0) | 2350 | ½-½ | IM Samuel Shankland (2½) | 2464 |
Source: http://saintlouischessclub.org/US-Championship-2009-Round-8
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Hess is impressive!
Naka is actually living in the Snow White story.
He is the Prince charming in real life and Dopey on ICC.
Hess has been performing excellently in his past few tournaments, but these are all in the US. He should play in strong European and Asian events to prove that he’s the real deal.
Maybe Hess can take the summer off to play some chess in Europe but after that, finishing a rigorous high school schedule and getting into college are priorities.