Chess runner-up will pay check for his mates
Barrington man finishes 2nd in U.S. tournament
By Brian Cox, Special to the Tribune
8:25 p.m. CDT, May 25, 2010
Yury Shulman has gone from checkmate to “check, please.”
The Barrington chess grandmaster failed to capture the U.S. title after his opponent Gata Kamsky battled to a draw in a special tiebreaker game. Under the rules at the U.S. Chess Championship in St. Louis, that was enough to give Kamsky the title.
“I feel happy about my overall performance but a little disappointment that I did not finish first,” Shulman said.
Still, Shulman takes home not only $25,000 for finishing second, but also the satisfaction of having upset defending champion Hikaru Nakamura in what observers said was a dramatic semifinal round of the tournament.
The Belarus-born Shulman, 35, started playing chess at age 6 and won the U.S. title in 2008.
“I’ll see how well I recover,” he said. “There will be other strong chess players there.”
But he is planning to enjoy this week’s earnings by taking friends and family to dinner.
“I’ll celebrate,” he said, “but I hope I’m not going to spend $25,000 on that dinner.”
Source: http://www.chicagotribune.com
Yury should have been the champ. Stupid playoff!
Shulman is truly a gentleman, a wonderful teacher and a great sportsman. With or without the title, he’s the underdog who upsets the former US Champ and no one can take that way from him.
Gata should thank Yuri for defeating Naka and make his life easier IMHO.
The BEST U.S. Championship games in years!!!