Action Heats Up in Round Four of U.S. Chess Championships

At the end of a period in most sports, athletes are eager to score going into the intermission: maybe even a buzzer-beater. The 2023 U.S. and U.S. Women’s Championships were no different, as the last round before the first rest day showcased immense energy on almost every board. Players were going all-in in their opposite-side-castling pawn races, patiently squeezing in objectively drawn endgames, and even king-walking to the center of the board with queens present!

Going into the round, many eyes were certainly on the game between GM Abhimanyu Mishra and GM Hans Niemann, a battle between two youths and also a critical game in the fight for tournament leader. Mishra’s strong 2½/3 lead showed that the reigning U.S. Junior Champion was out for blood, but Niemann’s aggressive opening choice signaled that he was also playing for a win, even with the black pieces.

The battle of youth had important implications for the standings (courtesy Crystal Fuller/SLCC)

After a Rossolimo Sicilian where Niemann won the bishop pair at the cost of doubled pawns, Mishra started with a slight advantage due to Niemann’s doubled, isolated pawns, but the pressure against Mishra’s central pawn chain gradually turned the tide in the second player’s favor. A few precise endgame moves grew the advantage to an irreversible two pawn lead. The final position is somewhat intriguing, as White is up a bishop for a pawn but unable to prevent promotion even with an extra tempo and an apparent rook skewer. With this victory, Niemann joins the chaser pack with Mishra and Shankland, all on 2½/4.

Also keeping the audience at the edge of their seats was the marathon battle between GM Fabiano Caruana and GM Dariusz Swiercz, lasting for more than five hours and finishing last among all of the games. Swiercz started off with a strong opening, obtaining a slight middlegame pull with extra central space in an Italian game, but Caruana banked on the long-term advantage of his bishop against Swiercz’s knight and steered the game back to equality with a favorable pawn trade.

The dark magician is in sole first after four rounds (courtesy Crystal Fuller/SLCC)

By move 54, the game was still equal, but as Caruana described it, it was a “tricky draw,” especially under the time trouble that Swiercz faced. The true turning point of the game was when Caruana uncorked 65. Bh6!, a spectacular maneuvering move that commentator GM Cristian Chirila aptly described as “dark magic.” An elegant rerouting gave Caruana the perfect zugzwang, finishing the game in style and landing him in the sole lead with 3/4.

We continue to see exciting fighting chess in the game between GM Sam Shankland and GM Wesley So, with both players fearless in their pursuit for winning chances. Despite an early queen trade and a subsequent liquidation to a somewhat symmetrical endgame with equal material, pawn majorities quickly formed on both sides and snowballed into two connected passers for Shankland and a menacing initiative for So.

The renowned endgame author will have plenty of material from this event for his next book (courtesy Lennart Ootes/SLCC)

The first player temporarily had four pawns for the piece, but So’s knight, rook, and king trio were way too active for the passed pawns to create any significant threats. The players agreed to a well-fought draw on move 59, which keeps Shankland in the chase pack with 2½/4.

While some players chose to light fireworks on the board, others opted for a more positional game. This was in the case of GM Jeffrey Xiong and GM Andrew Tang, where both youngsters demonstrated excellent knowledge of the Catalan.

While Xiong utilized the weak d6-square and exerted a pull for most of the game with the typical Catalan bishop and central space, Tang equalized with a well-timed pawn sacrifice, simplifying the game into a drawn queen and opposite colored bishops endgame. It’s certainly counterintuitive to give away a pawn and the bishop pair, but if it works, we don’t question it!

Just like the open section, the U.S. Women’s Championships was also full of action, with three decisive results and middlegames so complicated that you would only expect to see them in movies.

The two tournament leaders from the previous round: IM Carissa Yip and WGM Begim Tokhirjonova, drew to keep their co-lead in a chaotic Scotch opening where neither king felt too safe. The Scotch is known for its sharp play and unforgiving nature, but despite hanging onto balance by just one move in some positions, the game never veered too far from equality. Shout out to Yip for starting off strong even with a busy workload like Stanford’s!

The longest game by move count and certainly the most wild game overall was between WGM Thalia Cervantes and FM Alice Lee. An opening is rarely normal when you see two knights against two bishops on move 13, and the chaos only multiplied when Lee castled queenside, sounding the horn for an opposite side pawn race.

Thalia Cervantes certainly had chances in her encounter with Lee (courtesy Lennart Ootes/SLCC)

Lee began with the upper hand, her strong outposted knights winning an exchange, but Cervantes fought viciously, ripping open the queenside and drawing the second player’s king out of its fort. Cervantes had to spot a very precise sequence to win, but after a slightly imprecise queen check, Lee humorously switched to playing King of the Hill instead of regular chess, marching her king straight towards the center.

Alcie Lee's nervy victory required a lot of calculation and ingenunity (courtesy Crystal Fuller/SLCC)

Funnily enough, Stockfish approved, and the position with a king on d5 was objectively winning! Cervantes put up a stubborn resistance in the ensuing endgame, but the result was never in doubt.

Hopping into the chasers pack is WGM Tatev Abrahamyan, who prevailed with black in a very close game against FM Ashritha Eswaran. Eswaran dictated the early middlegame with aggressive pawn thrusts on the queenside, opening up the king and achieving a nearly decisive advantage.

What were we supposed to do? Not use this photo of Tatev Abrahamyan photo-bombing Maurice Ashley? (courtesy Lennart Ootes/SLCC)

But as often happens with opposite-side castling, a tiny inaccuracy turned the tables, unleashing the reins of Abrahamyan’s ferocious passed d-pawn, which marched all the way to promotion. These final few moves demonstrate how dangerous a passed pawn can be:

The third decisive result of the section occurred between WGM Atousa Pourkashiyan and WGM Jennifer Yu, with Pourkashiyan prevailing over the reigning champion in another passed pawn rampage. After a series of rare opening choices from both sides, an amusing position with double doubled d-pawns was reached with a massive wall of four pawns of alternating color lined up in the center.

Atousa Pourkashiyan had lots to smile about after finishing off her win against the reigning champ in style (courtesy Lennart Ootes/SLCC)

Yu equalized with the thematic c-pawn push in the early middlegame and was even pressing against the passed a-pawn a-la Benko Gambit style, but the trading of pieces softened the blockade, and coupled with a strong queen sacrifice, Pourkashiyan’s passer eventually broke through. Can you find the queen sacrifice that won the game?

Although she entered as the wildcard and lowest rated of the event, FM Ruiyang Yan demonstrated that rating is just a number, starting off the event with a solid 2/4 performance.

Experience versus youth, Nimzo-Indian edition (courtesy Crystal Fuller/SLCC)

In her game against IM Anna Zatonskih with the black pieces, both sides demonstrated phenomenal understanding of the Nimzo Indian and showcased precise endgame play. It’s always a good fight when just kings and pawns remain on the board.

After four long rounds, the players move on to a well-deserved rest day to explore the neighborhood, catch up on work, prepare for future rounds, and recharge. Saint Louis Chess Club has a great neighborhood to explore during the rest day, and Forest Park is less than 10 minutes from the club and is one of GM Jeffrey Xiong’s favorite places to take a walk in. Players can also use rest days as a valuable time to catch up with work, such as in the case of WGM Jennifer Yu, who is taking a Harvard midterm at the chess club while being proctored by a tournament director. We wish her the best of luck!

No rest for the studious! Jennifer Yu will be back at the Club today to take a midterm exam (courtesy Crystal Fuller/SLCC)

Round five will resume on Wednesday, October 10. Based on the dynamic action we’ve seen in the previous rounds, I’m predicting that a sole leader will emerge from each section after round five. We have many pairings to look forward to: sole leader Caruana will play Tang with the black pieces while the three chasers will all play 2700+ opponents. In the women’s section, Yip will face chaser Tatev Abrahamyan with black while chasers GM Irina Krush and Zatonskih will face off. Tune in at 1:20 p.m. CDT!