U. S. Chess Championships 2019

[Hans Jung]

The last games went to long endgames so the players and fans could get maximum juice from the positions. Congratulations to Timur Gareev for fantastic calculating in finding bizarre moves to end up in a torturous draw. Lenier Dominguez was deprived of champion chances due to Timur's great play and in doing so Timur escaped the cellar. (Ray Robson ended up last)

[Hans Jung]

Fabiano Caruana agreed to an early draw which left the way open for a great performance and clutch win as black by Hikaru Nakamura the 2019 US Champion! Congratulations!

[Hans Jung]

Awonder Liang got a major scalp from Wesley So as he attacked Wesley's king and won a piece transferring into a won endgame.

[Hans Jung]

Most exciting finish for a US championship in some time!

[Wayne Komer]

U.S. Championship 2019

March 31, 2019

Round Eleven

Round 11, Mar. 31
Xiong, Jeffery – Nakamura, Hikaru
A89 Dutch, Leningrad, main variation

1.d4 f5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 g6 4.g3 Bg7 5.Bg2 O-O 6.O-O d6 7.Nc3 Nc6 8.d5 Na5 9.b3 c5 10.Bb2 a6 11.Ng5 Rb8 12.Qd3 Qe8 13.Nd1 b5 14.Qd2 Nb7 15.Ne3 Nd8 16.Nh3 Bd7 17.Rad1 b4 18.Qc2 a5 19.Nf4 a4 20.h4 Ra8 21.Qb1 Ra6 22.Bf3 Qf7 23.Neg2 Ng4 24.Bxg4 fxg4 25.e4 Bxb2 26.Qxb2 Qg7 27.Qxg7+ Kxg7 28.e5 Bf5 29.exd6 exd6 30.Rfe1 Nf7 31.Re7 Kf6 32.Rb7 axb3 33.axb3 Rfa8 34.Ne3 Ra1 35.Kf1 Ne5 36.Rxa1 Rxa1+ 37.Ke2 Nf3 38.Nxf5 Kxf5 39.Ke3 Re1+ 40.Kd3 Ne5+ 41.Kd2 Ra1 42.Ne6 h6 43.Rb6 Ra3 44.Kc2 Ra2+ 45.Kd1 Nd3 46.Rxd6 Nxf2+ 47.Ke1 Nd3+ 48.Kd1 Ke4 49.Nc7 Nf2+ 50.Ke1 Kd3 51.Rxg6 Ne4 52.Kf1 Nxg3+ 53.Kg1 Ne2+ 54.Kh1 Ke3 55.Rf6 Ra1+ 56.Kg2 Rg1+ 57.Kh2 g3+ 58.Kh3 Rh1+ 0-1

Round 11, Mar. 31
Dominguez, Leinier – Gareyev, Timur
B56 Sicilian Defence

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.f3 e5 7.Nb3 Be6 8.Nd5 Be7 9.c4 O-O 10.Be3 a5 11.Qd2 a4 12.Nc1 Nd7 13.Ne2 f5 14.exf5 Bxf5 15.Nec3 Nc5 16.Be2 Bh4+ 17.g3 Bf6 18.Rd1 Ne6 19.O-O Ncd4 20.Bd3 Bh3 21.Rf2 Bg5 22.Bf1 Bxf1 23.Rdxf1 Bxe3 24.Qxe3 Rc8 25.f4 Rxc4 26.fxe5 Rxf2 27.Rxf2 Rc5 28.Kg2 h6 29.h4 Nc6 30.exd6 Qxd6 31.Rd2 Ncd4 32.Rxd4 Nxd4 33.Qxd4 a3 34.Nf6+ Qxf6 35.Qxc5 axb2 36.Qd5+ Kh8 37.Nb1 Qg6 38.Qd1 Qe4+ 39.Kf2 Qf5+ 40.Kg2 Qe4+ 41.Kh2 Qf5 42.h5 Qf2+ 43.Kh3 Qf5+ 44.g4 Qe4 45.Kg3 b5 46.a3 b4 47.axb4 Qxb4 48.Qd8+ Kh7 49.Qd3+ Kh8 50.Qf5 Qd4 51.Kf3 Kg8 52.Ke2 Kh8 53.Kf3 Kg8 54.Qe6+ Kh8 55.Ke2 Kh7 56.Qf5+ Kh8 57.Nd2 Qc3 58.Qf8+ Kh7 59.Qf5+ Kh8 60.Qe4 Kg8 61.Qd5+ Kh8 62.Qd8+ Kh7 63.Qd3+ Qxd3+ 64.Kxd3 g6 65.Kc2 Kg7 66.Ne4 gxh5 67.gxh5 Kf7 68.Kxb2 Ke6 69.Kc3 Kf5 70.Kd4 Kg4 71.Nf6+ Kf5 72.Ne4 Kg4 73.Nf6+ Kf5 74.Ne8 Kg5 75.Ng7 Kf6 76.Ne8+ Kg5 77.Ng7 Kf6 1/2-1/2

Position after Black’s 64….g6




Chessbomb kibitzers

- It was never easy
- It's time to celebrate joint 2nd Domi and come back next year for first.
- came close but no cuban cigar

Round 11, Mar. 31
Shankland, Samuel – Caruana, Fabiano
E11 Bogo-Indian Defence

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ 4.Bd2 Be7 5.Nc3 O-O 6.e4 d5 7.cxd5 exd5 8.e5 Ne4 9.Bd3 Nxd2 10.Qxd2 Nc6 11.O-O Bg4 12.Qf4 Bxf3 13.Qxf3 Nxd4 14.Qxd5 Qxd5 15.Nxd5 Bd8 16.Rad1 c6 17.Nc3 Bb6 18.Rfe1 Rfe8 19.Kf1 Rad8 20.f4 Ba5 21.g3 g6 22.a3 Bxc3 23.bxc3 Nb3 24.Kf2 Nc5 25.Bc2 Kf8 26.Kf3 a5 27.Rxd8 Rxd8 28.Rd1 Rxd1 29.Bxd1 h5 30.Ke3 Ke7 31.Kd4 Ne6+ 32.Ke3 Nc7 33.Be2 b5 34.Kd4 Ne6+ 35.Ke3 Nc5 36.Bd1 Kd7 37.Bc2 Ke7 38.Bd1 Kd7 39.Bc2 1/2-1/2

- why would Caruana play for a draw- he already has the knight vs bishop advantage
- That famous advantage that loses many endgames?
- no, the one which eliminates one of the defenses to a check which permits targeting of indefensible pawns
- which has been used successfully by Anand and Grishchuk

Round 11, Mar. 31
So, Wesley – Liang, Awonder
A28 English, Four Knights, Romanishin variation

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.e3 Bb4 5.Qc2 Bxc3 6.Qxc3 Qe7 7.d4 e4 8.Ng1 d5 9.b3 O-O 10.Ne2 a5 11.Nf4 Be6 12.Be2 g5 13.Nxe6 fxe6 14.a3 Qd7 15.O-O Ne7 16.b4 a4 17.b5 Rf7 18.c5 Qe8 19.f4 exf3 20.Rxf3 g4 21.Rf4 Ng6 22.Qc2 e5 23.Rf5 e4 24.Bd2 Nh4 25.Re5 Qf8 26.Be1 Nf3+ 27.Bxf3 gxf3 28.Bg3 Ng4 29.Rg5+ Rg7 30.Rxd5 Qf7 31.Qa2 f2+ 32.Bxf2 Nxf2 33.Re5 Nh3+ 34.Kh1 Nf2+ 35.Kg1 Qxa2 36.Rxa2 Nd1 37.g3 Rf7 38.Rxe4 Nc3 39.Rg4+ Kf8 40.Rd2 Nxb5 41.Rd3 c6 42.e4 Re8 43.d5 Nc7 44.Rd4 Re5 45.Rxa4 cxd5 46.exd5 Nxd5 47.Rge4 Rxe4 48.Rxe4 Rc7 49.Rh4 Nf6 50.Kg2 Rxc5 51.Rb4 Rc7 52.g4 Nd5 53.Rb5 Nc3 54.Rb6 Kf7 55.Kg3 Nd5 56.Rd6 Ne3 57.Rh6 Kg7 58.Rb6 Nc4 59.Rb3 Kf6 60.Kf4 Ke6 61.h3 Nd6 62.Re3+ Kf7 63.Rd3 Rc6 64.Rb3 Ra6 65.Kg5 Ra5+ 66.Kh4 b5 67.Rd3 Nc4 68.Rd7+ Kg6 69.Rb7 Nxa3 70.Rb6+ Kf7 71.Rb7+ Ke6 72.g5 Nc4 73.Rxh7 Nd6 74.Rh6+ Ke5 75.Rh8 b4 76.Rf8 Rb5 77.g6 Rb7 78.Rf3 Rb8 79.Rb3 Kf6 80.Kh5 Kg7 81.Kg5 Ne4+ 82.Kf5 Nd2 83.Rd3 Rb5+ 84.Kf4 b3 0-1

Round 11, Mar. 31
Lenderman, Aleksandr – Sevian, Samuel
E32 Nimzo-Indian, Classical variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 O-O 5.Nf3 d5 6.a3 Bxc3+ 7.Qxc3 dxc4 8.Qxc4 b6 9.Bg5 Ba6 10.Qa4 c5 11.dxc5 bxc5 12.Rc1 Qb6 13.Bxf6 gxf6 14.Rc2 Rd8 15.e3 Bxf1 16.Rxf1 Nc6 17.Ke2 Na5 18.Nd2 Rd5 19.Rfc1 f5 20.g4 Rad8 21.gxf5 exf5 22.h3 Kf8 23.Ke1 Kg8 24.Ke2 Kf8 25.Ke1 Kg8 26.Ke2 1/2-1/2

Round 11, Mar. 31
Robson, Ray – Akobian, Varuzhan
D36 QGD, Exchange, positional line

1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4 Nf6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 c6 6.Qc2 Be7 7.e3 Nbd7 8.Bd3 Nh5 9.Bxe7 Qxe7 10.Nge2 g6 11.O-O O-O 12.Rae1 Ndf6 13.Nc1 Bd7 14.f3 Rfe8 15.Nb3 b6 16.e4 Nf4 17.Qd2 Nxd3 18.Qxd3 Rad8 19.Qe3 Be6 20.e5 Nd7 21.Ne2 c5 22.Ng3 c4 23.Nd2 f6 24.f4 f5 25.Nf3 b5 26.h3 b4 27.Ne2 a5 28.Kh2 Rf8 29.Ng5 h6 30.Nxe6 Qxe6 31.g4 Kh7 32.Qf3 Nb8 33.gxf5 gxf5 34.Ng3 Rg8 35.Rg1 Nd7 36.Re2 Rg6 37.Reg2 Rdg8 38.b3 c3 39.Qd3 Nf8 40.Qb5 Qf7 41.Qxa5 Ne6 42.Qxd5 Rd8 43.Qc4 Rxd4 44.Qc8 Rg8 45.Qc6 Nxf4 46.Rf2 Qe6 47.Qc5 Rd5 48.Qe3 Nxh3 49.Nh5 Rxg1 50.Nf6+ Kg6 51.Nxd5 Qxd5 52.Kxh3 Rh1+ 53.Kg3 Rg1+ 54.Kh3 Rg4 55.Kh2 Qe4 56.Qb6+ Kh5 0-1

Final Standings

1 Nakamura 8
2-3 Dominguez, Caruana 7.5
4-5 So, Sevian 6
6 Shankland 5.5
7-8 Xiong, Liang 5
9-11 Lenderman, Akobian, Gareyev 4
12 Robson 3.5

Women’s Championship

Round 11, Mar. 31
Yu, Jennifer – Yip, Carissa
A10 English Opening

1.c4 g6 2.Nc3 Bg7 3.g3 e6 4.Bg2 Ne7 5.d4 d5 6.cxd5 exd5 7.Nf3 O-O 8.O-O Nbc6 9.a3 Nf5 10.e3 a6 11.Ne1 Nce7 12.Nd3 c6 13.b3 Nd6 14.a4 a5 15.Ba3 Re8 16.Re1 Nef5 17.Qc2 h5 18.h3 Nh6 19.Rad1 Bf5 20.Qc1 Rc8 21.Nf4 Kh8 22.f3 b5 23.Bc5 b4 24.Nce2 Nb7 25.Nd3 Qg5 26.Kf2 Bxd3 27.Rxd3 Nxc5 28.Qxc5 Nf5 29.e4 Bf8 30.Qc1 Qxc1 31.Rxc1 Ng7 32.Rd2 Ne6 33.exd5 cxd5 34.Rxc8 Rxc8 35.f4 Rd8 36.Rc2 Bh6 37.Rc6 h4 38.Ra6 hxg3+ 39.Kxg3 Bg7 40.Rxa5 Nxd4 41.Nxd4 Bxd4 42.Bxd5 Kg7 43.Rb5 Ba7 44.Kf3 Kf6 45.Ke4 Rb8 46.Rxb8 Bxb8 47.a5 Ke7 48.a6 f6 49.h4 Ba7 50.f5 g5 51.h5 Kf8 52.h6 1-0

Round 11, Mar. 31
Foisor, Sabina – Zatonskih, Anna
D02 Queen’s Pawn game

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 a6 5.Bg5 dxc4 6.a4 h6 7.Bxf6 Qxf6 8.e3 Qd8 9.Bxc4 Be7 10.O-O O-O 11.Qe2 Nc6 12.Rad1 Qe8 13.e4 Nb4 14.Rfe1 Bd7 15.Bb3 b5 16.Ne5 bxa4 17.Nxd7 Qxd7 18.Bxa4 Qc8 19.Qh5 c5 20.d5 Rd8 21.Re3 Bg5 22.Ree1 Be7 23.g3 Rb8 24.Re3 exd5 25.exd5 Bg5 26.Re4 Rb6 27.d6 g6 28.Qe2 Kg7 29.Re8 Rxe8 30.Bxe8 Bf6 31.d7 Qc7 32.Bxf7 Rb8 33.Be8 Nc6 34.Qe6 Ne5 35.Qxf6+ Kxf6 36.Nd5+ 1-0

Round 11, Mar. 31
Gorti, Akshita – Abrahamyan, Tatev
E18 Queen’s Indian, old main line

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2 Be7 6.O-O O-O 7.Nc3 Ne4 8.Bd2 Bf6 9.Rc1 d6 10.d5 Nxc3 11.Bxc3 Bxc3 12.Rxc3 e5 13.e4 a5 14.Nd2 Nd7 15.f4 c6 16.Nf3 cxd5 17.cxd5 f6 18.Nh4 Nc5 19.Nf5 Bc8 20.Ne3 b5 21.fxe5 fxe5 22.Rxf8+ Qxf8 23.Rc2 Bd7 24.Rf2 Qe7 25.h4 g6 26.Qd2 a4 27.Nc2 Rf8 28.Rxf8+ Qxf8 29.Qe3 Qc8 30.Nb4 Nb7 31.Qb6 Qc5+ 32.Qxc5 Nxc5 33.Kf2 Kf7 34.Ke3 Ke7 35.Bf1 Kd8 36.Be2 h5 37.Nc2 Kc7 38.Ne1 Kb6 39.Nf3 b4 40.Ng5 a3 41.bxa3 bxa3 42.Kd2 Bb5 43.Bxb5 Kxb5 44.Kc3 Ka4 45.Kc4 Ka5 46.Nf7 Nxe4 47.Kd3 Nxg3 48.Nxd6 Kb6 49.Nc4+ Kc5 50.Nxe5 Kxd5 51.Nxg6 1/2-1/2

Round 11, Mar. 31
Wang, Annie – Sharevich, Anna
D37 QGD

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Be7 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.g3 O-O 6.Bg2 c6 7.O-O Nbd7 8.b3 b6 9.Bb2 Ba6 10.Nd2 Rc8 11.Re1 b5 12.e4 bxc4 13.bxc4 Rb8 14.Rb1 Nb6 15.exd5 exd5 16.c5 Nc4 17.Nxc4 Bxc4 18.Qa4 Qd7 19.Bc1 Rxb1 20.Nxb1 Bb5 21.Qb4 Bd8 22.Nd2 a5 23.Qb2 Re8 24.Rxe8+ Qxe8 25.Nf3 Bc7 26.Bg5 Ne4 27.Be3 a4 28.Ne1 Ba5 29.Nf3 f6 30.Bf1 Bxf1 31.Kxf1 Qc8 32.Kg2 Bc7 33.Ne1 h6 34.Nd3 Qa6 35.Qa3 f5 36.f3 Ng5 37.Bf2 Ne6 38.Nb2 Bd8 39.Qe3 Kf7 40.Nd3 Bf6 41.Ne5+ Bxe5 42.Qxe5 Qd3 43.h4 Qc2 44.a3 Qd3 45.Qd6 Qxa3 46.Qxc6 Qb3 47.Qd7+ Kf6 48.c6 a3 49.Qd6 a2 50.c7 Qc4 51.Qd8+ Nxd8 52.cxd8=Q+ Kf7 53.Qd7+ Kg8 54.Qe6+ Kh8 55.h5 a1=Q 56.Qe8+ 1/2-1/2

Round 11, Mar. 31
Nguyen, Emily – Eswaran, Ashritha
A45 Trompovsky Attack

1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 d5 3.e3 c5 4.Bxf6 gxf6 5.dxc5 e6 6.Nf3 Bxc5 7.Be2 Nc6 8.O-O O-O 9.Nbd2 f5 10.c4 dxc4 11.Nxc4 Qf6 12.Qc2 Bd7 13.a3 Rfc8 14.Rad1 Be8 15.b4 Bf8 16.Qb3 Rd8 17.b5 Ne7 18.Nfe5 Rd5 19.f4 Rxb5 20.Qa2 Nd5 21.Rd3 Rc5 22.Bf3 Bb5 23.Qb3 Rac8 24.Rd4 Bxc4 25.Rxc4 Rxc4 26.Nxc4 Rxc4 27.Qxc4 Nxe3 28.Qc8 Qd4 29.g3 Nxf1+ 30.Kxf1 b6 31.Bh5 Qd3+ 32.Kg2 Qxa3 33.Qd7 Qb2+ 34.Kh3 Qf6 35.Qxa7 Bc5 36.Qb7 Kg7 37.Kg2 Bd4 38.Kf1 e5 39.fxe5 Bxe5 40.Bf3 f4 41.g4 Qg6 42.Qe4 Qd6 43.Qd5 Qc7 44.Qc6 Qa7 45.Qb5 Bf6 46.Kg2 Qa2+ 47.Qe2 Qa5 48.Qc4 Be5 49.Qd5 Qc3 50.Qb5 Qd4 51.Be2 Qe4+ 52.Bf3 Qe3 53.Qd5 h6 54.Qe4 Qxe4 55.Bxe4 f6 56.Kf3 Kf7 57.Ke2 Ke6 58.Kd3 Bd6 59.h4 Bc5 60.h5 Ke5 61.Bf3 b5 62.Bd1 b4 63.Bf3 b3 64.Kc3 b2 65.Kxb2 Kd4 66.Kc2 Ke3 67.Bc6 f3 68.Kd1 Bb4 69.Bb5 Kf2 70.Kc2 Ke1 71.Kd3 f2 72.Ke4 Bd2 73.Kf5 Bg5 0-1

Final Standings

1 Yu 10
2-3 Abrahamyan, Zatonskih 7.5
4 Wang 7
5-7 Sharevich, Krush, Eswaran 5
8 Yip 4.5
9-11 Feng, Foisor, Gorti 4
12 Nguyen 2.5
_________

Nakamura, with his win, has now jumped above such legendary players like GM Yasser Seirawan and GM Alex Shabalov who both have four lifetime titles. It also pulled him equal with longtime national team partner GM Gata Kamsky, who also has five. (Mike Klein)

[Hans Jung]

Awonder Liang defeating Wesley So ended Wesley's 45 game unbeaten streak in US Championships. Awonder also crossed 2600 the first time (at age 15!) Quite the feat.

[Hans Jung]

Jennifer Yu gained almost 100 Fide points for her win. She should soon have the IM title. Congratulations on her amazing victory.

[Hans Jung]

Most of the men players followed Jennifer Yu's performance and commented in support.

[Hans Jung]

Jennifer Yu when asked for advice for girls just starting in tournaments: "Its been hard but its worth it. I couldnt imagine myself living without chess."

[Wayne Komer]

U.S. Championship 2019

April 1, 2019


Dennis Monokroussos has an appreciation of the final round in his chess blog, The Chess Mind:

http://www.thechessmind.net

It ends with this sentence:

Congratulations are also in order for Jennifer Yu, who won yet again to finish with a fantastic score of 10/11, a TPR of 2678, and a gain of 96 rating points. Not bad for a week and a half's work for the 17-year-old!