Philadelphia Open Starts Strong

The Philadelphia Open is going strong, with a great turn out from titled players, including GMs Kamsky, Stripunsky, Robson, Ehlvest, Shabalov, Friedel, Akobian, Kudrin, Perelshteyn, and DeFirmian (to name just a few!)  It’s looking like Easter’s answer to the World Open, with practically the same level of fireworks for chess fans.  USCF’s Chess Scoop has posted a nice page and video (see “The Scoop Begins at the Philadelphia Open“). Monroi has Live Games.  GM Ray Robson (currently tied for first) had a nice win over Shinsaku Uesugi in Round 3 with the piece sac line against the Sveshnikov: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Bxf6 gxf6 10.Nd5 f5 11.Bxb5 axb5 12.Nxb5.  But I especially enjoyed GM Josh Friedel’s win as Black against IM Oladapo Adu, which feaured a sharp line against the English, some well-calculated tactics, and then a nice attacking finish (including a Queen sac to push through a passed pawn).