Chess elite check in for 7th round

After six of nine rounds in the U.S. Chess Championship, defending champion Yury Shulman of Chicago is tied for the lead with fellow grandmaster Varuzhan Akobian. Both players have 4.5 points. (One point is awarded for a win; one-half point for a draw.)

The seventh round begins at 2 p.m. today at the St. Louis Chess Club and Scholastic Center in the Central West End. 

The top player from St. Louis, Charles Lawton, has yet to earn a point in the competition. He has lost his first six matches and chances appear slim for Lawton picking up a victory in the last three days of competition. Lawton is one of only three players in the competition not internationally ranked, and he has already lost to the other two, Doug Eckert of Quincy, Ill. and 17-year-old Tyler Hughes of Colorado, the national junior champion.

Michael Brooks of Kansas City, the top-rated player in Missouri, has made a strong showing in the tournament by notching two wins and two draws.

Behind leaders Shulman and Akobian is a group of six players tied with 4 points. That pack includes the top three seeds in the tourney, Gata Kamsky, Hikaru Nakamura and Alexander Onischuk, along with 17-year-old Robert Hess.

The youngest player in the tourney, 14-year-old Ray Robson of Florida, has earned 3.5 points -- and has created a stir among chess fans by defeating three grandmasters, including former tournament champions Boris Gulko and Larry Christiansen.

For detailed standings and other tournament information, go to www.saintlouischessclub.org

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