2008 Frank K. Berry U.S. Women's Chess Championship
May 13 - 22, 2008
Tulsa, Oklahoma

Our Coverage of the 2007 U.S. Women's Chess Championship

News/Results/Standings (scroll down for latest news)
  Rounds 1 and 2 
  Rounds 3 and 4 
  Rounds 8 and 9 

Round 5, May 17, 2008 (report posted May 18, 2008):

Here are the results:

Standings (from The Week in Chess):

Here is Tom Braunlich's summary for Round 5 from Monroi.  The photo is a radiant Zatonskih, no photographer is credited so I'm thinking it is a shot by Braunlich himself.  Great photo!

Once again the women continue to impress - four of the five games were decisive and Krush and Zatonskih continue to keep apace of each other with 5.0 for 5 - perfect scores!  The men switched back the balance in favor of decisive games too, going seven decisive games to five draws.  Braunlich mentioned in his Round 5 summary that the "space problem" had been solved by rearranging the tables.  That's good news, but I'm wondering what they did???

Here is Jen Shahade's Round 5 round-up at Chess Life Online.  Shahade features the games of Zatonskih and Krush in her Round 5 coverage.

Round 6, May 18, 2008 (report posted May 19, 2008):

Here are the results:

Standings (from The Week in Chess):

Here is Tom Braunlich's report on Round 6 at Monroi.  Here is Jen Shahade's report at Chess Life Online.  She featured the games of Zatonskih, Krush and Abrahamyan.

This is getting to be old hat - four out of five of the women's games were decisive, and Krush's draw was hard-fought.  The men had eight draws in Round 6.  You can download the games in PGN format at The Week in Chess.

Round 7, May 19, 2008 (report posted May 20, 2008):

Wow - Zatonskih lost!  Here are the results:

Standings (from The Week in Chess):

It's obviously going to be a battle to the end - unless Zatonskih loses her game today against Krush!  The marquee match-up of the Women's Championship. (Photo: Betsy Dynako, Rohonyan, Krush, Zenyuk, Zatonskih).

Meanwhile, Abrahamyan has been quietly having an excellent tournament, winning her last five games! If Krush and Zatonskih say, split the point today and draw their respective games tomorrow (or, even lose, gasp), and Abrahamyan keeps on keeping on - well - I guess we'll just have to wait to see what we shall see!  

Here is Tom Braunlich's review of Round 7 at Monroi.  He's got a stunning photograph posted of Abrahamyan, she's a beautiful young lady when she's not ducking away from the camera.  Here is Jen Shahade's review at Chess Life Online.  Zatonskih's and Krush's games are featured in the report.  It's clear that Zatonskih didn't give up that loss without a fight - 76 moves; and Krush did not cruise to victory over Airapetian.

Once again, four out of five of the women's games were decisive!  This is getting very habit-forming, and the men seem to have caught on - Round 7 for them resulted in 11 decisive games out of 12.  Wow!  Fans are happy!  Sponsors are happy!  Let's hope there's none of those cheapo quick draws in Rounds 8 and 9.  Fight, fight, fight to the end.