U.S. Junior, Girls, Senior: Youth and Experience in Rd 1

The 2019 U.S. Junior, Girls, and Inaugural Senior Championships got underway today at the Saint Louis Chess Club. The first round had everything: tactical fireworks, trapped rooks, time scrambles, and a true miniature. And what about those four sacrificed rooks on a8?! Without further ado, let’s break down the action. Juniors Brandon Jacobson had today’s star move in his win against Hans Niemann. While he had a serious advantage before Niemann’s 26. … Ra7, the move gave Jacobson the chance to finish the game with a memorable flourish.

[pgn]

[Event "2019 U.S. Junior Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.07.11"]
[Round "1.2"]
[White "Jacobson, Brandon"]
[Black "Niemann, Hans Moke"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E15"]
[Annotator "Hartmann,John"]
[PlyCount "73"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. Qc2 d5 (5... c5 6. d5 {is very
complex.}) 6. cxd5 exd5 7. Bg2 Bb4+ 8. Nc3 O-O 9. O-O Re8 10. Ne5 {Jacobson
thought that White was almost already winning here. Black's biggest problem is
the c6 knight, which lacks a safe move and leaves the a8 rook adrift in the
corner.} c6 11. Bg5 Bxc3 $6 {"Desperation," per Jesse Kraai.} (11... h6 12.
Bxf6 Qxf6 $2 13. Nxd5 cxd5 14. Bxd5) (11... Be7 12. Rfe1 Bb7 13. e4) 12. Qxc3
Ne4 13. Bxe4 Qxg5 14. Bf3 Bb7 15. Rac1 c5 (15... f6 {falls to the 'trick'} 16.
Bxd5+ cxd5 17. Qc7) 16. h4 (16. Nd3 c4 17. Nf4 Nd7) 16... Qe7 (16... cxd4 17.
Qc7 Qe7 18. Nxf7 $1 Qxf7 19. Qxf7+ Kxf7 20. Rc7+ {and "that's someone who has
played a lot of Puzzle Rush!" (Kraai)}) 17. Nd3 c4 18. Nf4 Rd8 19. b3 b5 20.
bxc4 dxc4 21. d5 Qc5 22. a4 a6 23. Nh5 f6 24. Nf4 Bc8 25. Qa5 Re8 26. axb5 Ra7
{[#]} 27. b6 $1 (27. Ra1 {is "good enough" but "why not win with style when
you can?" (Jacobson)}) 27... Qxa5 28. bxa7 Qb6 29. a8=Q Bb7 30. Rb1 $1 Qxb1 31.
Qa7 $1 (31. Rxb1 Bxa8 32. Bg4 {is still winning, but not "as" winning. White's
minor pieces lack mobility.}) 31... Qb4 32. Be4 c3 33. Bd3 c2 34. Bxc2 Qc3 35.
Qxb7 Qxc2 36. Ne6 Qg6 37. Rc1 1-0

[/pgn]

Jennifer Yu, who won the 2019 U.S. Women’s Championship in March, is the organizer’s wild card in the 2019 Junior. Today she lost a gripping battle  against John Michael Burke. Yu gave up her light-squared bishop to win an exchange, and the absence of that bishop was felt as she defended against Black’s kingside pressure. Burke eventually broke through Yu's defenses in her extreme time pressure.

[pgn]

[Event "2019 U.S. Junior Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.07.11"]
[Round "1.3"]
[White "Yu, Jennifer"]
[Black "Burke, John Michael"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A34"]
[Annotator "Hartmann,John"]
[PlyCount "68"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]

1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. g3 Nc6 6. Bg2 Nc7 7. O-O e5 8. d3
Be7 9. Nd2 O-O 10. Nc4 f6 11. f4 Be6 12. f5 Bd7 13. Ne3 Kh8 14. Kh1 b5 15. g4
Nd4 $5 {[#] To take, or not to take?} 16. Bxa8 Qxa8+ 17. Kg1 g6 18. Ne4 Rg8 19.
Ng3 c4 (19... Qc8 $5) 20. fxg6 Rxg6 21. Nef5 ({The greedy computer likes} 21.
dxc4 {but Black seems to have plenty of comp after something like} Nce6) 21...
Bc5 22. e3 {Yu was under two minutes here, while Burke had about fifteen
minutes on the clock.} Nde6 (22... Nxf5 23. gxf5 Rg7 {looks promising with the
open g-file, but White can close the a7-g1 diagonal with} 24. d4 Bd6 25. Kf2 {
and it's very unclear.}) 23. Nh4 (23. dxc4 {(attacking the loose Bd7)} Bc6 24.
h3 {and White is consolidating her material advantage.}) (23. d4) 23... Rg8 24.
Qf3 (24. h3 $5) 24... Nd5 $1 25. Ne4 {The position is incredibly complex, and
with Yu being dramatically behind on the clock, it's hard to ward off Burke's
pressure.} Nd4 (25... Nef4 $1 {and everything is falling.}) 26. exd4 Bxg4 27.
Qg3 (27. Qg2 Be2 28. Ng3 {is marginally better}) 27... Be2 28. Ng5 Bxd4+ 29.
Rf2 fxg5 30. Nf5 Bxf2+ 31. Kxf2 Nf4 32. dxc4 Qe4 33. Ne3 Rf8 34. Ke1 Bxc4 0-1

[/pgn]

Nicolas Checa won an ending against Atulya Vaidya that may well, as Jesse Kraai proclaimed in the post-game interview, end up in the textbooks.

[pgn]

[Event "2019 U.S. Junior Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.07.11"]
[Round "1.1"]
[White "Checa, Nicolas"]
[Black "Vaidya, Atulya"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D38"]
[Annotator "Hartmann,John"]
[PlyCount "83"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Qb3 c5 6. dxc5 Na6 7. a3 Bxc3+ 8.
Qxc3 Nxc5 9. cxd5 Qxd5 10. Be3 Nce4 11. Qe5 O-O 12. Rd1 Qxe5 13. Nxe5 Nd5 14.
Bc1 Nd6 15. f3 f5 16. e3 b6 17. Bd2 Bb7 18. Bb4 Nxb4 19. Rxd6 Nd5 20. Bc4 Rad8
21. Rxd8 Rxd8 22. Kf2 Kf8 23. Rc1 Rc8 24. Rd1 Ke7 25. Bb3 Rc7 26. h3 h5 27. h4
a5 28. Rd2 Kf6 29. Nd3 g5 30. hxg5+ Kxg5 31. Bxd5 Bxd5 32. Nf4 Rc5 33. b4 axb4
34. axb4 Rb5 {Forced, but the rook is extremely passive....} 35. Rd4 {and now
it's functionally trapped.} Bb3 36. g3 $1 {Afterwards Checa said that he
thought Vaidya was essentially in zugzwang here. It appears that all Black can
do is shuffle his bishop back and forth, while the White king begins to march
towards the stranded Black rook.} Ba2 ({Checa was dismissive of} 36... Kf6 37.
Nxh5+ {but the computer says this is drawn with best play.}) (36... e5 $2 37.
Rd6 exf4 (37... Bf7 38. Nh3#) 38. exf4#) 37. Ke2 Bb3 38. Kd2 Bd5 39. Ke2 $1 ({
The transition to the pawn endgame with} 39. Nxd5 $6 Rxd5 40. Rxd5 exd5 {
is drawn.}) 39... Bb3 40. Kd3 {[#]} Bd5 $4 (40... Ba2 {is a very narrow path
forward, and perhaps beyond human abilities:} 41. Kc3 Re5 $8 (41... e5 42. Rd6
{mates}) 42. Kd2 Rb5 43. Kd3 Kf6 $8 (43... Bb3 $2 44. Kc3 Ba2 45. Rd2) 44.
Nxh5+ Kg5 45. Nf4 e5 $14) (40... Kf6 {is worse here than on move 36, but White
still has to work after} 41. Nxh5+ Kg5 42. Kc3 Bd5 43. Nf4 Bxf3 44. Nxe6+ Kf6)
(40... e5 $2 41. Rd6 $18) 41. Nxd5 exd5 42. Kc3 {and the rook is trapped.} 1-0

[/pgn]

Joshua Sheng broke down Andrew Tang’s London System, defeating him in 58 moves, while top seed Awonder Liang defeated Craig Hilby in 59 moves. Girls 9-year-old Rachael Li, who earned the organizer’s wild card entry to the 2019 Girls Championship, unleashed the “opening novelty” of the day with her 1.a3. Soon the position resembled more traditional theory, but after Agata Bykovtsev allowed Li to win the a8 rook, she quickly overpowered her opponent and mated Li on move 40.

[pgn]

[Event "2019 U.S. Girls Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.07.11"]
[Round "1.2"]
[White "Li, Rachael"]
[Black "Bykovtsev, Agata"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A00"]
[PlyCount "80"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]

1. a3 Nf6 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 g6 4. c4 Bg7 5. Nc3 O-O 6. e3 Nbd7 7. Bd3 e5 8. O-O
Nh5 9. dxe5 dxe5 10. e4 Nc5 11. Bc2 Ne6 12. Qxd8 Rxd8 13. Be3 Nd4 14. Bxd4 exd4
15. Nd5 d3 16. Nxc7 dxc2 17. Nxa8 Bxb2 18. Rae1 Be6 19. Re2 c1=Q 20. Rxc1 Bxc1
21. Re1 Bf4 22. g3 Rxa8 23. gxf4 Nxf4 24. c5 Rc8 25. Nd4 Bc4 26. c6 bxc6 27. e5
c5 28. Nf3 Bd5 29. Nd2 c4 30. Nb1 c3 31. Nxc3 Rxc3 32. h4 Rh3 33. f3 Rg3+ 34.
Kf2 Rxf3+ 35. Kg1 Rxa3 36. Rb1 Ra2 37. Kf1 Bc4+ 38. Ke1 Ng2+ 39. Kd1 Ne3+ 40.
Kc1 Rc2# 0-1

[/pgn]

Rochelle Wu put a new twist on a known gambit in her game against Emily Nguyen, choosing to sac the d-pawn instead of the b-pawn on her sixth move. Objectively the idea, culminating in (you guessed it) the grabbing of the a8 rook, should not have worked.  But Nguyen gave Wu a route back into the game on move 15, and after that Wu did not falter.

[pgn]

[Event "2019 U.S. Girls Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.07.11"]
[Round "1.4"]
[White "Wu, Rochelle"]
[Black "Nguyen, Emily"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D10"]
[Annotator "Hartmann,John"]
[PlyCount "115"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. cxd5 cxd5 5. Bf4 Qb6 6. Qb3 $5 (6. e3 Qxb2 {
is well-known in GM practice, and gives White good compensation for the pawn,
i.e.} 7. Bb5+ Bd7 8. Bxd7+ Nbxd7 9. Nge2 Qa3 10. Rb1 {½-½ (55) Morozevich,A
(2748)-Mamedyarov,S (2764) Tashkent 2012}) 6... Qxd4 7. Nb5 $2 (7. e4 $5 e6 (
7... dxe4 $4 8. Nb5 Qc5 9. Nc7+ $18) 8. Bxb8 Rxb8 9. Bb5+ Bd7 10. exd5 Nxd5 11.
Nf3 Qb4 {and it's not clear that White has anything for her pawn.}) 7... Qxf4
8. e3 Qe4 9. Nc7+ Kd8 10. Nxa8 e6 11. a3 Nc6 12. Rc1 Bd6 13. Nf3 Ke7 (13... d4
$5) 14. Bd3 Qg4 15. O-O Bd7 $2 (15... Qh5 $1 {wti ...e5-e4 or ...Ng4}) 16. Qxb7
{Now the knight on c6 is very loose.} Rb8 17. Qa6 Rxa8 18. Rxc6 Bxc6 19. Qxc6
Rb8 20. h3 Qh5 21. b4 g5 $5 {This looks like coffeehouse chess, but it's
probably Black's best path here.} 22. Rc1 $6 (22. Qa6 g4 23. Qxa7+ Kf8 {
clogs up the back rank and prevents the rook from sliding to g8.}) 22... g4 23.
hxg4 Qxg4 $6 (23... Nxg4 {threatens ...Nh2 with a probable draw.}) 24. Qa6 $1
Rg8 25. Qxa7+ Nd7 26. Ne1 {It's hard to see how Black's attack can get there
fast enough, while White's queenside pawns look ominous.} h5 (26... Rb8 {
stops the Bd3-b5 idea.}) 27. Bb5 $18 Rd8 28. Rc8 e5 29. Rxd8 Kxd8 30. Qa8+ Ke7
31. Qxd5 Nf6 32. Qb7+ Kf8 33. Qa8+ Ke7 34. Qb7+ Kf8 35. Qf3 Ne4 36. Qxg4 hxg4
37. Nc2 Ke7 38. Bc6 Nc3 39. Kf1 Kd8 40. Ke1 Kc7 41. Be8 f5 42. Kd2 Ne4+ 43. Ke2
g3 44. f3 Ng5 45. a4 Kb6 46. Bg6 f4 47. exf4 exf4 48. Bd3 Be5 49. Bc4 Kc6 50.
Ne1 Bd4 51. Nd3 Be3 52. a5 Nh7 53. b5+ Kb7 54. Bd5+ Kb8 55. b6 Nf8 56. Nb4 Nd7
57. Na6+ Kc8 58. b7+ 1-0

[/pgn]

Carissa Yip won a nice positional game against Veronika Zilajeva. Zilajeva got a very bad version of a typical French structure, and Yip’s pressure across the board earned her the full point.

[pgn]

[Event "2019 U.S. Girls Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.07.11"]
[Round "1.3"]
[White "Yip, Carissa"]
[Black "Zilajeva, Veronika"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C06"]
[PlyCount "103"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. Bd3 c5 6. c3 Nc6 7. Ne2 cxd4 8. cxd4
f6 9. exf6 Nxf6 10. O-O Bd6 11. Nf3 O-O 12. Re1 Bd7 13. Bf4 Ne4 14. Bxd6 Nxd6
15. Ng3 Qf6 16. Qc2 g6 17. Rad1 Rac8 18. Qe2 Nf5 19. Nxf5 gxf5 20. Bb5 Qg7 21.
Bxc6 bxc6 22. Rc1 Kh8 23. Ne5 Be8 24. f4 Rg8 25. Rc3 Qe7 26. Rec1 Qb7 27. Qf2
Rg7 28. b3 Qb6 29. Rd3 Qa6 30. a4 Qb7 31. Rc5 Qb4 32. Rdc3 Qa3 33. h3 Rb8 34.
Qf3 Qb4 35. Qe3 Qa3 36. Kh2 Qb2 37. Qf3 Bh5 38. Qf1 Rxb3 39. Rxb3 Qxb3 40. Rxc6
Re7 41. Qf2 Be8 42. Qh4 Rg7 43. Rc8 Qxa4 44. Qf6 Kg8 45. Qxe6+ Kf8 46. Qxf5+
Kg8 47. Qe6+ Kf8 48. Qd6+ Kg8 49. Qxd5+ Kf8 50. Qd6+ Kg8 51. Ng4 Qb5 52. Nh6+
1-0

[/pgn]

The two remaining games of the round – Yan-Cervantes and Samadashvili-Feng – were both hard-fought draws. Senior Combining the inaugural Senior Championship with the Junior and Girls is, in my opinion, an inspired decision, and not just because it gives the Seniors another (and well-deserved) day in the sun. What makes the pairing of the U18 and 50+ fields so powerful is that it gives some of our elite youth the chance to meet and watch some of the legends of American chess in action. Awonder Liang noted that while he has crossed paths with some of the Seniors who are still active on the circuit, there are others who he has not gotten the chance to see play. And let there be no doubt, particularly after watching today’s Round 1 action, that the Seniors still have lessons to teach today’s young stars. The first result of the day was a 14-move miniature win for Larry Christiansen over Jaan Ehlvest. Well-known for his attacking prowess, and the author of two outstanding books on attacking play, Christiansen overwhelmed Ehlvest after a very early error in the opening.

[pgn]

[Event "2019 U.S. Senior Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.07.11"]
[Round "1.1"]
[White "Christiansen, Larry"]
[Black "Ehlvest, Jaan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B08"]
[Annotator "Hartmann,John"]
[PlyCount "27"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Be3 O-O 6. Qd2 c6 7. Bd3 b5 8. Bh6
Qc7 (8... Nbd7 9. Bxg7 Kxg7 10. e5 dxe5 11. dxe5 Ng4 12. Qg5 {1-0 (39) Ivanov,
A (2520)-Ehlvest,J (2620) New York 1990}) 9. Bxg7 Kxg7 10. e5 Nfd7 $2 11. h4 $1
(11. e6 Nf6 12. exf7 Rxf7 13. h4 {1-0 (22) Vouldis,A (2508)-Nikolaidis,K (2354)
Kavala 2001}) 11... h5 12. e6 Nf6 13. exf7 Nh7 14. Ng5 (14. Ng5 {and the
threat is 15.Nxh7 Kxh7 16.Qg5+-}) 1-0

[/pgn]

Alexander Goldin had the other decisive result in today's round, defeating Joel Benjamin in fine style.

[pgn]

[Event "2019 U.S. Senior Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.07.11"]
[Round "1.2"]
[White "Goldin, Alexander"]
[Black "Benjamin, Joel"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A47"]
[Annotator "Hartmann,John"]
[PlyCount "95"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 b6 3. Bg5 Ne4 4. Bh4 Bb7 5. e3 g6 6. Bd3 Bg7 7. O-O O-O 8.
Nfd2 Nxd2 9. Nxd2 c5 10. c3 d6 11. f4 $1 {The commentators loved this move,
and Goldin explained that while he had a lead in development, Benjamin would
be ok if he had a few moves to catch up. Gaining space on the kingside
troubles the Black position.} Ba6 $6 {Trading off an already developed piece
for a bishop that isn't so strong.} 12. Bxa6 Nxa6 {Now the knight is offside.}
13. f5 $36 Qd7 14. Qg4 Nc7 15. Qh3 f6 $6 {Before this move, Goldin thought
he'd have to play tactically and attack the king. But after 15. ... f6, he
thought that he also had the option to play positionally, given the holes in
Black's position.} 16. Rf3 gxf5 17. Rxf5 e6 18. Rh5 cxd4 ({If} 18... f5 19. Bg3
{with the idea of Nc4.}) 19. exd4 f5 20. Bg5 Qf7 21. Rf1 Qg6 22. Be7 Nd5 23.
Rg5 {Goldin is spoiled for choice here! He had two other winning options, but
he thought this was the cleanest way to win.} (23. Bxf8 $18) (23. Bxd6 Rfd8 $18
) 23... Nxe7 24. Rxg6 Nxg6 25. d5 exd5 26. Qd3 (26. Rxf5 {was also considered:}
Nf4 27. Rxf8+ Rxf8 28. Qf3 d4 29. Ne4 d3 $5 {and while this is clearly winning,
the game seemed more practical to him.}) 26... d4 27. cxd4 Rae8 28. Nf3 (28.
Kh1 $5) 28... Nf4 29. Qb3+ Kh8 30. Kh1 Re2 31. Ng5 h6 32. Nf7+ Kh7 33. Nxd6 Rf6
34. Qf3 Rxd6 35. Qxf4 Rxd4 36. Qxf5+ Kh8 37. Qc8+ Kh7 38. Qf5+ Kh8 39. h3 Rxb2
40. Qc8+ Kh7 41. Re1 Rd5 42. Qb7 Rg5 43. Qe4+ Rg6 44. g4 Rb5 45. Qd3 Re5 46.
Rxe5 Bxe5 47. h4 Kg7 48. Qd7+ 1-0

[/pgn]

It looked as if Alex Fishbein would join Christiansen and Goldin in the winner’s circle, as he was a clean exchange up (that a8 rook again!) against Max Dlugy, but Dlugy successfully muddied the waters and the game was eventually drawn.

[pgn]

[Event "2019 U.S. Senior Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.07.11"]
[Round "1.4"]
[White "Fishbein, Alexander"]
[Black "Dlugy, Maxim"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D20"]
[Annotator "Hartmann,John"]
[PlyCount "102"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e4 b5 4. a4 c6 5. axb5 cxb5 6. Nc3 a6 7. Nxb5 axb5 8.
Rxa8 Bb7 9. Ra1 e6 10. Ne2 Bxe4 11. Nc3 Bc6 12. Be2 Nf6 (12... b4 13. Nb1 Bxg2
14. Rg1 Bd5 15. Nd2 c3 16. bxc3 bxc3 17. Nb1 Bb4 18. Qa4+ $18 {1-0 (34)
Rodshtein,M (2698)-Alekseenko,K (2585) Sochi 2017}) 13. Bf3 Bb4 14. Bg5 O-O 15.
O-O Be7 16. Bxc6 Nxc6 17. Nxb5 Qd5 18. Bxf6 Bxf6 19. Nc3 Qxd4 20. Qxd4 Nxd4 21.
Ra4 Nb3 22. Rd1 Rc8 23. Ne4 h6 24. Nxf6+ gxf6 25. g3 c3 26. bxc3 Rxc3 27. Rd8+
Kh7 28. Ra7 Kg6 29. Rg8+ Kf5 30. Rxf7 {[#]} Nd2 31. Rh7 Nf3+ 32. Kg2 Ne1+ 33.
Kh3 (33. Kf1 Nd3 34. Ke2 Ne5 35. Rxh6 Rc2+ 36. Ke3 Rc3+ 37. Kd2) 33... Nd3 34.
f3 Nf2+ 35. Kh4 (35. Kg2 Rc2 36. Kf1) 35... Rxf3 36. Rxh6 Ne4 37. Rh5+ Ng5 38.
Rf8 (38. Rhxg5+ $1 fxg5+ 39. Rxg5+ $18) 38... Kg6 39. Rhh8 (39. Rxf6+ $1 Rxf6
40. Rxg5+ $18) 39... Rf2 40. Rhg8+ Kh7 41. h3 Rh2 42. Rxg5 $6 (42. Kg4 Nxh3 (
42... Ne4 43. Kf4 Nd6 44. h4 {and White is perhaps making progress}) 43. Rh8+
Kg7 44. Rhg8+ Kh7 45. Ra8 {is easy for the computer to see as a win, but
humans are rightly worried by positions where they give up a pawn and don't
have a clear tactical win.}) (42. Rh8+ Kg6 (42... Kg7 43. Rfg8+ Kf7 44. Rxg5
fxg5+ 45. Kxg5 $18) 43. Rhg8+ Kh7 44. Kg4 {transposes to the above}) 42...
fxg5+ 43. Kg4 Kg7 $11 44. Re8 Kf7 45. Rh8 Rg2 46. Ra8 Kf6 47. Ra3 Rh2 48. Rb3
Rh1 49. Rf3+ Kg6 50. Re3 Kf6 51. Rf3+ Ke5 1/2-1/2

[/pgn]

In the two other games, Alex Shabalov – my pre-tournament favorite, for the chess gamblers out there – could not convert his advantage against Gregory Kaidanov, while Alex Yermolinsky and Igor Novikov also drew.

---

The 2019 Junior, Girls, and Senior Championships will be contested daily from July 10th-20th at the Saint Louis Chess Club, with a rest day on July 1th. Rounds start at 1pm CDT, except for July 20th, when play begins at 11am. US Junior/Senior/Girls Quick Links:  Official STL Chess Club YouTube Live on uschesschamps.com  Pairings & Results US Junior Pairings & Results US Senior Pairings & Results US Girls  Winners of the US Junior Championship and US Junior Girls Championship will be awarded a $10,000 scholarship to be used at the institution of his or her choice. The scholarship is generously jointly funded by the Dewain Barber Foundation and US Chess.