In his Washington Post column this week, legendary GM Kavalek expressed the same opinion as mine about the 2006 US Championship format and problems. This is what he wrote:
CHESS Lubomir Kavalek
By Lubomir Kavalek
Monday, March 20, 2006; Page C10
Somebody is jinxing the prize distribution at the U.S. championships. Last year the America’s Foundation for Chess overpaid the players $20,000. This year, most of the players in San Diego were charged 11 percent of the announced prizes. Since taking over the championship in 2000, the AF4C did a marvelous job in improving the playing conditions and the prize fund that now reaches more than $250,000. Perhaps next year they will get it right.
The AF4C may even consider giving the championship more prestige and slowing it down. The current format is turning the championship match between two group winners into an extravaganza of rapid play that can sometimes end with a blitzing circus. It is like asking athletes after they finish their marathon run to compete in a 100-meter dash to decide the winner.
Storming Magician
Larry Christiansen, at 49 one of the oldest participants at the U.S. championship, played well in his group in San Diego, sharing first place with Yuri Shulman and Gata Kamsky. All three players scored 6 1/2 points in nine games. But the Boston grandmaster was a victim of another strange rule that called for the distribution of prizes according to tiebreaks. The best tiebreak took Shulman to the championship final, where he earned $17,000 after losing to Alexander Onischuk. Kamsky’s tiebreak got him $10,300. For basically the same effort Christiansen collected only $6,000…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/19/AR2006031900705.html 
You and Kavalek are both right on. This latest format is a disgrace.
I know Larry. He is a super nice guy and a great player. Too bad he didnt get more for the championship.