US OPEN UPDATE

Cheryl is at the US Open with Trevor and the kids - but no laptop! What does this mean? It means Mr. RoundUnvarnished has been asked to put up a quick post in Cheryl's stead to thank all the readers who followed the Denker action and to let them know that a photo gallery will be posted here next week.

Meanwhile, in US Open action, Trevor has 3 points out of 5. After a good start, he lost in the 3rd round to IM Salvijus Bercys (2503). "IM" stands for International Master, one step below Grandmaster. Bercys is currently tied for 1st, with 4.5 points in the tournament, so Trevor's loss to him certainly wasn't shabby. In fact, Trevor's teacher, Yury Shulman, wrote to me that Trevor had a good position against him, concurring with my assessment that Trevor was indeed ahead in the mid-game. (Trevor was up two pawns!) But for Trevor to get to that point, he had to *think, think, think* and so used up almost all of his clock by move 28. He hung in there for four more moves as the clock wound down, but as he began to have to play "blitz" style (quick chess) due to his clock, Trevor's position weakened. Then, a questionable move on move 33 sealed his fate.

Trevor was exhausted and did not play his best chess in the next round. He had a worthy opponent, former Oregon Denker champ Ethan Peake (1950), but certainly not one in the same class as Bercys. Still, you've got to be at 100% to play anyone at the US Open, and so Trevor wound up with another loss before rebounding with a win last night against David Witner (1850).

But there still is a lot of chess left: 4 more boards over the next three days. BTW, Robert Lau, whom Trevor drew in the last round of the Denker and with whom he shared 5th place is currently tied for first with Bercys and a few others with 4.5 points! (And, Trevor's friend Eric Rosen, who lost the Illinois Denker championship to Trevor only on a tie-break, is having a marvelous tournament so far: he has 3.5 points and drew Grandmaster Jesse Kraai in the third round. Go Eric! "Woo-hoo!")