US Championship 2015 - Round 2

Opening: C10, C65: French: Rubinstein variation, Ruy Lopez: Berlin defense

Player(s): Nakamura, Akobian, So, Shankland

GM Larry Christiansen recaps Round 2. As one would expect, Hikaru Nakamura and Wesley So lead after two rounds, with 2 out of 2. But it was a totally different story which characterized their games. Nakamura made it look easy against Akobian; Naka played apparently simple chess, not giving a chance to Var to come out of game alive. Wesley had to play a very long game against Shankland. After missing some good winning chances, Wesley found himself stuck in a dead drawn endgame, which tiredness and time pressure turned into a blunder galore. Shankland had a real chance - after a long series of unbelievable mistakes - to draw the ending, but he blundered just one time too much, and had to resign. 90+ moves and 6 hours of play can undermine even young and strong players' strenght and confidence! Holt won a nice game against Gareev, and Troff won with Naroditsky, who now sits at the bottom of the standings with zero points. Nakamura and So 2.0/2, Robson 1.5/2, and then Onischuk, Akobian, Kamsky, Troff and Holt 1.0/2.