2010 U.S. Chess Championship

It couldn't be clearer from this Round 7 video recap from the offical website for the 2010 U.S. Chess Championship - only the top 4 count.  The only other player who was mentioned in the recap was GM Larry Christiansen, who had a chance to make a break-through into the "quad."  A sound bite from Christiansen after the game was telling.  To paraphrase, he said that the tournament was over for everyone else except the top 4. He's right.  Everyone else is second thought, including Christiansen.  For a national championship set-up, that is pathetic.  And an insult to the players who didn't make the "quad."  They didn't come to St. Louis to pick their noses, but they may as well have.

Here is the video recap. 


A few other players, including IM Irina Krush and her quest for her second GM norm, were mentioned in today's article at Chess Life Online by FM Mike Klein, who has been providing excellent reports throughout the tournament.  According to Klein, Krush needs to score 1 point in her final 2 games - so they're only playing 9 games, not 10?  Whatever.  As Christiansen said, "the real tournament is over."  Personally, it doesn't much matter to me what dude wins the Men's Championship since Krush doesn't have a chance at the title, but I am rooting for her to get that second GM norm.