CHESS #1346

The European Championships are nicely poised after nine rounds. Seven players share the lead with seven points each. This group includes Kacper Piorun, Maxim Rodshtein, Vladislav Artemiev, Nils Grandelius, Andrey Esipenko, Grigoriy Oparin and David Antón Guijarro. There’s another tie from 8th-23rd on 6.5 points. The top 22 qualify for the 2019 World Cup, apart from the prize fund of 100,000 euros. 

In the US Championships, Hikaru Nakamura (5) is leading after seven rounds. He’s closely followed by Fabiano Caruana, Leinier Domínguez (the Cuban-born GM debuted as an US citizen) and Samuel Sevian. This trio is on 4.5. The play has