Big Sensations Lead U.S. Championships After Round Two

Editor’s note: From July 15–25 at the Saint Louis Chess Club (SLCC), chess is the big sensation. But it doesn’t stop there. Earlier this month, SLCC and the World Chess Hall of Fame (WCHOF) teamed up with the MUNY theater to share chess beyond their buildings' borders, sponsoring a run of Chess (the musical) from July 5 to 11. Our author was able to catch a performance (update: I stand corrected, she caught two performances! - ed.), and fans of the musical might recognize some references to the lyrics in the section headings below.

GM Melikset Khachiyan is one of three players (out of 30) to win both games, and certainly the one who has taken the wildest path to his victories (courtesy Bryan Adams/SLCC)

My Game is the Big Sensation

According to SLCC Executive Director Tony Rich, the year’s most exciting chess may happen during the U.S. Junior Championship (Junior), U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship (Girls’), and U.S. Senior Championship (Senior).

Rich said that players in the Junior and the Girls’ will be competing in future U.S. Championships and U.S. Women’s Championships. The players in the Senior are the legends of chess, familiar from Rich’s childhood.

Ultimate test of cerebral fitness

After just two rounds, only three players out of the 30 in the field still have perfect scores in the ultimate test of cerebral fitness.

In the Junior, GM Andrew Hong leads with 2/2. Today's annotations come from 2022 U.S. Girls' Junior champion (and two-time U.S. Women's Champion!) WGM Jennifer Yu, who rightfully describes Hong's attack here as "devastating."

In the Senior, GM Gregory Kaidanov and GM Melikset Khachiyan both remain perfect, but they took very different paths to get there.

Kaidanov must have tuned his "tactical radar" before this event (courtesy Lennart Ootes/SLCC)

Khachiyan (R) could not help but smile after his comeback victory (courtesy Lennart Ootes/SLCC)

In the Girls’, three players share the lead with 1½/2: FM (and soon-to-be IM) Alice Lee, FM Zoey Tang, and WGM Rochelle Wu. As Yu points out, this group of girls producing five drawn games on the same day is a once-in-a-blue-moon occurrence. But Wu's draw was anything but simple.

Shreya Mangalam might be the lowest rated player in the Girls' Junior, but she had serious chances in her endgame against WGM Rochelle Wu (courtesy Lennart Ootes/SLCC)

I’m the arbiter; I know the score

During the players’ meeting, Chief Arbiter Chris Bird announced that draws were not allowed. GM Joel Benjamin asked, “No draws, or no draw offers?” Bird said no draw offers.

Chief Arbiter Chris Bird gives the final word (courtesy Lennart Ootes/SLCC)

In round one, Benjamin as White had a rook and h- and g-pawns against GM Maxim Dlugy, who had exactly the same material. They drew by triple occurrence of position, with Benjamin’s king moving from e2-f2-e2-f2-e2 and Dlugy’s rook moving from a3-g3-a3-g3-a3-g3.

In round two, Benjamin had White again, this time against GM Dmitry Gurevich. Benjamin drew with king versus king: a draw by insufficient material. While Benjamin was likely content with his round one draw, he was probably unhappy with his round two draw because he had been two pawns ahead in that endgame.

Another illustrative draw came in the second round game between GM Abhimanyu Mishra and IM Josiah Stearman in the Junior. The simplification to a textbook draw is just the cherry on top of one of the most complicated, exciting games of the round:

The Deputy Arbiters are Korey Kormick and Maya Myers. Bird said the arbiters are likely to only make correct decisions. Though there is an Appeals Committee, Bird doesn’t expect it to convene.

Never stay too long in your bed

A player may be fined $500 for not being at the board by the round’s start time. Bird warned that if many players show up at five minutes to 1:00 p.m. then some might not make it to their boards in time. That’s because arbiters must “wand” each player, as part of fair play protocols.

Maximum security! The last two players arrive to be "wanded" before the start of the round (photo Dr WIM Alexey Root)

Bird advised players to leave their cell phones, watches, and pens in their hotel rooms, to speed up the scanning process. Before round two, the arbiters collected several cell phones and pens and kept them for players until the round’s end.

Cracks begin to show

Bird wished for every player to have a good tournament, while acknowledging that outcome is impossible. Some players will have bad results. For example, a player may be winning early in a game but end up with a loss instead.

For an example of this, just look at GM Igor Novikov’s tournament so far. After heroically defending a draw against Gurevich yesterday, he had to watch a winning position crumble in the above game against Khachiyan. Now, despite having two games that could mostly be considered ‘very good,’ he is stuck on the ‘bad’ score of ½/2.

All my dreams will be understood

Because the SLCC is undergoing renovation and expansion, the Junior, Girls’, and Senior Championships are being played on the third floor of the WCHOF. The SLCC — across the street from the WCHOF — broadcasts commentary on its multiple mounted television screens. The commentary is by SLCC Chief Commentator and Spokesperson GM Yasser Seirawan, GM Cristian Chirila, and WGM Katerina Nemcova.

The Junior, Girls’, and Senior players enjoy a break room stocked with snacks. Likewise, SLCC visitors enjoy free snacks while watching commentary. SLCC regular Michael Abron played US Chess-rated tournaments in all 50 states, the first Black player to do so. Abron moved to St. Louis so that he could regularly attend the SLCC.

Michael Abron, the first Black player to compete in all 50 states, at the SLCC (photo Dr WIM Alexey Root)

Next on the SLCC’s agenda is its 15th anniversary celebration on July 20th. One of my dreams is to have a book signing for United States Women's Chess Champions, 1937-2020 at the SLCC, which is the home of the U.S. Women’s Chess Championship. My dream will come true on the 20th.

My land’s only borders lie around my heart

As mentioned earlier, SLCC and the WCHOF share chess beyond their buildings’ borders. During their partnership with the MUNY for Chess (the musical), SLCC and WCHOF employees placed a dozen chess sets and boards on tables and several life-size chess games on grassy areas near the MUNY’s entrances. Before each evening’s performance of Chess, they gave MUNY visitors instruction, encouragement, and swag.

SLCC's Bobbie Fox (pink) introduces a number of theatergoers to a new obsession (photo Dr WIM Alexey Root)

The typical theatergoer is a woman in her fifties. Many of those women played chess for the first time at the MUNY thanks to the SLCC and the WCHOF. In the words of the musical, what was once a dream might now be an obsession for a whole new group of theatergoers!

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