Have a Happy National Chess Day!

US Chess wishes all of our members and friends a happy National Chess Day on October 8, 2016! Many of our top players are currently participating in huge events that overlap with the holiday first declared by Gerald Ford in 1976. The Millionaire Chess Open just got underway in Atlantic City, while the chess.com International is nearing its finale in the Isle of Man.  Our top three US players, Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana and Wesley So, are all in the IOM International. Caruana is currently a half point out of the lead, trailing Pavel Eljanov of Ukraine. Caruana won a key game vs. Eljanov at the Olympiad- will he do the same in their face-off tomorrow?

[pgn] [Event "Isle of Man Masters"] [Site "Villa Marina, Isle of Man"] [Date "2016.10.05"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Movsesian, Sergei"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B48"] [WhiteElo "2813"] [BlackElo "2677"] [PlyCount "97"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] [TimeControl "6600+2205"] [WhiteClock "0:14:06"] [BlackClock "0:03:57"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Be3 a6 7. Qf3 Bd6 8. O-O-O Be5 9. g3 Nge7 10. Qe2 O-O 11. f4 Bxd4 12. Bxd4 Nxd4 13. Rxd4 e5 14. Rd1 exf4 15. e5 f3 16. Qxf3 Qxe5 17. Bg2 d6 18. Rhe1 Qg5+ 19. Kb1 Be6 20. Qxb7 d5 21. Nxd5 Nxd5 22. Bxd5 Rab8 23. Qc6 Rfc8 24. Qd6 Bf5 25. Be4 Bxe4 26. Rxe4 Rd8 27. Rde1 Qb5 28. Qe5 Qc6 29. b3 h6 30. Kb2 Rb5 31. Qf4 Rc8 32. R1e2 Rc5 33. c4 a5 34. Qe3 Kh7 35. Re5 Qf6 36. Qf4 Qg6 37. Qe4 f5 38. Qd4 Qh5 39. Rf2 Rxe5 40. Qxe5 Rf8 41. Qxa5 Qd1 42. Qd2 Qg1 43. Qc2 Kh8 44. a4 g5 45. c5 f4 46. c6 f3 47. c7 Kg7 48. Rd2 f2 49. Rd7+ 1-0 [/pgn]

GM Caruana v. the GM Hou Yifan, More photos on chess.com facebook 

[pgn] [Event "chess.com IoM Masters"] [Site "Douglas ENG"] [Date "2016.10.06"] [White "Hou, Yifan"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C50"] [PlyCount "78"] [EventDate "2016.10.01"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. c3 a5 7. Re1 h6 8. a4 O-O 9. h3 Be6 10. Na3 Bxa3 11. Bxe6 Bxb2 12. Bxf7+ Rxf7 13. Bxb2 Qd7 14. c4 Raf8 15. Nh4 Kh7 16. f4 exf4 17. d4 Re8 18. Qb1 Kg8 19. Nf3 Rfe7 20. d5 Ne5 21. Bxe5 Rxe5 22. Nxe5 Rxe5 23. Qxb7 f3 24. Qb3 fxg2 25. Qf3 Qe8 26. Ra2 Nxe4 27. Rae2 Ng5 28. Qg4 Rxe2 29. Rxe2 Qxe2 30. Qxe2 Nxh3+ 31. Kh2 g1=Q+ 32. Kxh3 Kh7 33. Qd2 h5 34. Qxa5 Qh1+ 35. Kg3 h4+ 36. Kf4 Qh2+ 37. Kf5 Qe5+ 38. Kg4 Qg3+ 39. Kf5 h3 0-1 [/pgn]

World Junior Champ Jeffery Xiong, still on a perfect score at Millionaire Chess, Photo David Llada

At Millionaire Chess, only two rounds are in the books so far, with the two top seeds Adhiban and Shankland, getting nicked for a half point in round two. Follow live games here.  There are plenty of others events and happenings across the country, including two other big Grand Prixs: The Washington Chess Congress in Virginia, and the Midwest Class Championships outside Chicago. Also gearing up for National Chess Day fun are: Saint Louis:

October 9 is #NationalChessDay and GM Ben Finegold is excited for our tournament tomorrow. Come out and join the fun! pic.twitter.com/vgSfxgUaec

— SaintLouis ChessClub (@CCSCSL) October 7, 2016

Philadelphia:

You have until tomorrow at 9:30 AM to register for #NationalChessDay ! Email bbarney@phillyasap.org ! #ASAPchess https://t.co/dvP9C0rl56

— ASAP (@PhillyASAP) October 7, 2016

Alabama

Get in the game! We are ready for #NationalChessDay events Oct. 8 with #Chess Day proclamation from the State of #Alabama. @USChess pic.twitter.com/KdtUW7v4IG

— Michael Ciamarra (@michaelciamarra) October 7, 2016

Alabama's 2015 National Chess Day celebrations included chess under a rocket!

Boston area:  

Register for the #NationalChessDay Open: https://t.co/gCZ0of3Kj5. Welcome in advance to new face Sam Song from Canada. @USChess pic.twitter.com/LX0gcBu1d0

— Boylston Chess Club (@BoylstonChess) October 7, 2016

Tucson area: 9Queens will be hosting the Green Valley Chess Tournament at the Joyner Green Valley Branch Library Please add your own as a comment or share with us on twitter or facebook.