The Kings Converge On St. Louis

On Chess: The Kings Converge On St. Louis
By BRIAN JERAULD

In chess, conquering the center is a strategy nearly as old as the game itself.

It is a building block, a foundation, with centuries of theory backing the blueprint. American legend Bobby Fischer opened all but one of his myriad games by instantly striking into the center with 1. e4, famously referring to the first move as “best, by test.”

And it’s a theme that stays constant throughout the game. The early jockey for central management often induces a larger fight, one that radiates from where it started. All pieces converge on the battle’s expansion, using the center as a launchpad to fresh attack.

There is a moment in chess games, in essence an undrawn line that separates middlegame from end, where the kings look around an open battlefield and see only dust clearing. The queens have been traded away, the bishops and knights have valiantly served their duties, and scattered pawns cry out desperately for support.

At this moment the king, who quite often spends the entire game hiding in his castle, finds himself with a significant role in the fight. At this moment the monarch, the last of the major pieces, grabs his trusty sword and ventures fearlessly out into the open. Toward the center.

Here come the kings.

Next week, America’s emperors will converge on the Central West End of this middle-squared city, for the 2014 U.S. Championships hosted by the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of St. Louis. It will be the sixth time in a row St. Louis has held the event, the most-ever held consecutively by the same venue, with games set to begin next Thursday, May 8 at 1 p.m.

The format for the event changes annually, and the theme along with it, though the story behind this edition is shaping up to be a straight-out, bare-knuckled dogfight. With U.S. No. 1 Hikaru Nakamura passing on his invitation for the second year in a row, focusing instead on global competition as the world’s current No. 7, his absence leaves no favorite to win the 2014 national title.

… Also celebrating victory is local hero Ray Robson, one of the starters on the two-time collegiate champion Webster University squad. Robson is the youngest American ever to become a Grandmaster (beating out Nakamura by a month, who beat out Fischer by three months) and seeks another big milestone to support the prophecy; the national title seems the next logical step. He tied for fifth out of 24 in last year’s U.S. Championship.

If there is a better environment for a flourishing chess star like Robson, find it. The 19 year old has been coached by legendary grandmaster Susan Polgar for both of his years at Webster, currently trains with seven other GMs as teammates, and has Wesley So – ranked No. 22 in the world – as his roommate. Robson’s only emergence from his castle this year was to help Webster win its second title last month, though his teammates did some talking for him at the St. Louis Open: Three of them, including So, tangled with Ramirez to tie for first.

Full article here.