Clear Leaders in Each Section as Junior, Girls' Junior, Senior Enter Rest Day

As the U.S. Junior, Girls’ Junior, and Senior championships truck on side-by-side in St. Louis, there’s only one thing they each have in common: a clear leader after five rounds.

In the Senior, victories are coming for the players who have kept up with the latest trends in opening theory. But in the Junior, the exact opposite is true, with frontrunner GM Chris Yoo managed winning with 2. Ne2 in the Sicilian. And in the Girls’ Junior, it’s not about the openings at all, where all the games have been dizzying technical displays. A particular standout this round was IM Alice Lee’s endgame against WFM Chloe Gaw, in which she showed both great practical play and impressive calculation skills.

Senior

The top story in this round is that of GM Vladimir Akopian pulling away from the pack with a win over ChessDojo’s GM Jesse Kraai that can only be described as dominant.

With 4½/5 score and a one-and-a-half-point lead over the pack, it really seems as though it’s Akopian’s tournament to lose.

This is compounded by the fact that one of Akopian’s wins came against GM Larry Christiansen, who is currently tied for second. That said, as is so often true in tournaments of this caliber, a dark horse emerges as the players head into the final stretch.

Julio Becerra has joined a two-way tie for second, albeit a point-and-a-half behind Akopian (Photo courtesy Lennart Ootes/SLCC)

GM Julio Becerra Rivero won a convincing game as Black in the King’s Indian and has fought his way to join Christiansen in a tie for second place. He has yet to face either Christiansen or Akopian, as well, so if there is going to be a miraculous late tournament comeback, Becerra certainly seems like the guy to look at.

In the lower rungs, prolific author GM Joel Benjamin tallied his first win of the tournament against GM Melikset Khachiyan while the other three games ended peacefully.

Girls’ Junior

Of the three tournaments, the Girls’ Junior Championship currently has the tightest race for first.

Jasmine Su (R) still leads the Girls' Junior, but Omya Vidyarthi's victory shook up the standings (Photo courtesy Lennart Ootes/SLCC)

Jasmine Su, the only untitled player of the bunch, dropped her game to WIM Omya Vidyarthi and now only stands a half-point ahead of the pack.

Meanwhile, the highest-rated player, defending champion IM Alice Lee, won her game against WFM Chloe Gaw, joining WIM Iris Mou and FM Rose Atwell in a three-way tie for second place with 3/5.

Both Lee and Atwell have yet to get their shot at the leader, making Su’s position even more tenuous atop the standings.

Alice Lee has joined a three-way tie for second, only a half-point behind Su (Photo courtesy Lennart Ootes/SLCC)

Elsewhere, Mou managed a win this round as well, breaking down WFM Yassamin Ehsani’s Caro-Kann in a back-and-forth positional battle, with the other two games ending in draws, but not without lack of adventurous play.

Of the games I looked at this round, the young women seemed the most willing to take risks and play excitingly. It’s no wonder why there have been 14 decisive results in 25 games played this tournament.

Junior

After a red-hot start to the tournament with three consecutive victories, IM Justin Wang has cooled off a bit, scoring only ½/2 headed into the rest day. This is still enough for clear second at the moment, but following a very fast Berlin draw this round, one wonders if he’ll come back after the break with some more aggressive play, particularly because he has yet to play undefeated frontrunner GM Chris Yoo.

Chris Yoo leads the Junior with a 4/5 score (Photo courtesy Lennart Ootes/SLCC)

Yoo, on the other hand, has been increasingly dominant as the tournament has went on, moving up to a 4/5 score after his latest victory. His unorthodox play against IM Jason Liang’s Sicilian shows he’s not afraid to play whatever, whenever, and adds some beautiful color to his already stellar performance.

Still, despite his play, Yoo cannot seem to put any real distance between himself and the rest of the pack. In addition to Justin Wang’s 3½/5 score, there are also GM Andrew Hong, IM Jason Wang, GM-Elect Andy Woodward, and IM Brewington Hardaway all nipping at Yoo’s heels with 3/5.

Of the players with 3/5 scores, Hong seems to have the clearest path to catching up as he hasn’t played Yoo, but also hasn’t played Nicholas Ladan, who remains winless in this incredibly tough field of IMs and GMs.

Andy Woodward (L) and Andrew Hong discuss Hong's victory in their fifth round encounter (Photo courtesy Lennart Ootes/SLCC)

Indeed, Hong’s big win over Woodward this round sets him up nicely leading into the Sunday break.

It’s anyone’s tournament after the break, but a betting man would take Yoo, a kid confident enough to play 2. Ne2 against the Sicilian in an important game for the standings.

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