Clear Leaders Emerge in National Championships

As the U.S. Junior, Girls’ Junior, and Senior Championships approach the halfway point, the players continued to demonstrate keen fighting chess, battling for the coveted spot of tournament leader with everything from pugnacious openings to ineluctable endgame precision.

Some pre-game banter before another sharp round (Photo courtesy of Austin Fuller/SLCC)

With nine decisive games this round, it wasn’t quite as bloody as the last round, but when the dust settled, each section had a clear leader for the first time since the start of the tournament. GM Andy Woodward maintained his lead in the Junior Championships, FM Ruiyang Yan seized the lead in the Junior Girls Championship, and defending champion GM Vladimir Akopian rose to the top of the standings.

Junior Championship: Woodward maintains lead, gap shrinks as chasers pick up key victories

In the Junior Championship, three of the four chasers picked up key victories, closing the gap to tournament leader Woodward from a full point to a half-point. Though GMs Brewington Hardaway, Abhimanyu Mishra, and Kirk Ghazarian all prevailed with the white pieces, their paths to victory were markedly distinct.

Brewington Hardaway (L) is one of the players closing in on Woodward's lead (Photo courtesy of Crystal Fuller/SLCC)

In Hardaway’s win over FM Sharvesh Deviprasath, no piece was traded until move 17, when Hardaway set the game in motion by challenging the second player’s secure wall of pawns with an aggressive central thrust. The hidden tension of the Philidor Defense’s deadlock quickly sprung to life, and in the ensuing chaos, Hardaway found some precise moves to emerge a pawn up with the bishop pair. Deviprasath struck back with a kingside pawn push of his own, striving to simplify into a drawable endgame, but the secluded location of his queen plus Hardaway’s menacing queen and bishop pair cost him a piece and the game.

Ghazarian's win over IM Sandeep Sethuraman continued the chess fighters’ tradition of the pawn square, with Ghazarian bombing open the center in a Chebanenko Slav to exploit his lead in development. Once again, just like the two prior occurrences in round 3, it was the player who completed the pawn square that walked away with the victory.

Another win for Kirk Ghazarian (R) has the Californian grandmaster just a half-point behind Woodward (Photo courtesy of Crystal Fuller/SLCC)

After the mass central trades, Ghazarian found himself miles ahead in development and didn’t hesitate to invite all his pieces to the party, circling around the second player’s king while picking off loose pawns. Sethuraman fought stubbornly, clawing his way back from a lost middlegame to a drawn endgame, but amidst mutual time trouble, Ghazarian’s queen prevailed, picking up a bishop and the game.

The fight between chasers Mishra and the fourth member of the chasing pack, IM Nico Chasin, started off as a peaceful Queen’s Gambit Declined but quickly became spicy when Mishra opted for the risky and bold choice of shattering his own pawn structure to open a file against the enemy king.

The 2023 Junior Champion, Abhimanyu Mishra, defeated Nico Chasin to join Hardaway and Ghazarian in a tie for second (Photo courtesy of Crystal Fuller/SLCC)

Chasin defended accurately, and was briefly up a pawn, but his weak king created a looming shadow of mate threats, and the balance of the game hung by a thread. One minute the game was equal, but the next Mishra broke through with his queen, cornering Chasin’s king and finishing in style with a rook sacrifice to force mate.

Tournament leader Woodward seemed to be on track for a fourth win in his game against last year’s runner-up, IM Justin Wang, after Woodward steered a London System towards a favorable rooks-and-bishops endgame. However, just when his kingside majority was about to crash through, Wang found a stunning resource, sacrificing a full piece in the endgame and orchestrating a symphony of threats around White’s king.

Andy Woodward (L) looked to be on track to yet another win, but Justin Wang found spectacular resources to hold a draw (Photo courtesy of Crystal Fuller/SLCC)

With an extra piece and move, the position was surprisingly dead-equal. Woodward recognized this, though, and demonstrating composure and sharp calculation, he sacrificed an Exchange of his own to force perpetual check. The final position was another two-pieces-versus-rook imbalance, and humorously featured six pieces lined up consecutively on the fifth rank.

The remaining game of the section, IM Evan Park – IM Grayson Rorrer. experienced a topsy-turvy middlegame with mutually weak kings and a knight pair versus a bishop pair, but the resulting minor piece endgame was drawn thanks to precise moves from both players.

After four games, Woodward stays in the clear lead with 3½/4, but Mishra, Ghazarian, and Hardaway are all right behind him with 3/4. Next round, Woodward will face Chasin with the black pieces, Sethuraman will take on Mishra with the white pieces, and Wang will play Hardaway with the white pieces.

Graphic courtesy of SLCC

Girls’ Junior: Yan takes clear lead in nearly all-decisive round

Round four of the Girls’ Junior Championship was action-packed, replete with razor-sharp games, explosive tactics, and a study-worthy kingside attack that would make Tal proud. After four decisive games in the last round, the girls continued their dynamic performances, resulting in another four decisive games and a new tournament leader.

Ruiyang Yan (R) won a sharp game over Rose Atwell after surprising opening choice (Photo courtesy of Crystal Fuller/SLCC)

All eyes were certainly on FM Rose Atwell – FM Ruiyang Yan, a clash between two co-leaders of the tournament. Yan opted for the Philidor Defense, temporarily sacrificing central space for a solid position and yearning to take the opponent out of preparation. Atwell pressed forward with her space advantage, pushing her queenside majority and implanting her knight on a strong outpost, but Yan loaded up an attack of her own on the kingside, bringing in all the major pieces and building an Alekhine’s gun battery on the g-file.

Ruiyang Yan emerges as the sole leader of the Girls' Junior (Photo courtesy of Crystal Fuller/SLCC)

Just when Atwell had all the mate threats under control, huddling her own major pieces close to the king, Yan audaciously sent her pawn forward, leaving it en prise to not one, not two, but three attackers, in a thrust that would prove decisive. The final queen sacrifice was a nice cherry on top for Puzzle Rush fans. With this victory, Yan jumps into the sole lead with 3½/4.

Also featuring a rare opening was WFM Chloe Gaw – Jasmine Su. Most players happily take the center with an early e2-e4 against the Grunfeld Defense, but Gaw uncorked the creative Nc3-a4 instead, a move over 50 times rarer. Gaw obtained the bishop pair, but a few well-timed pawn breaks and trades from Su steered the game towards an equal endgame. The first player stirred up play, opening up the position for the bishop pair, but Su was able to neutralize the pressure and eliminate the isolated pawns one by one, eventually winning two pawns and the game.

In the Exchange Variation of the Caro-Kann Defense featured in WFM Laurie Qiu – WIM Iris Mou, the players took on the reverse roles of the Queen’s Gambit Declined, with Qiu pushing for the queenside break c3-c4 and Mou advocating for the central pawn storm of … f7-f6 and … e6-e5. After an isolated pawn emerged on d4, Qiu found a strong spot for her queen, but a clever resource by Mou transformed the game into a winning endgame. Two pawns up, the second player had no problem converting the full point.

The battle between WGM Zoey Tang and WFM Rachael Li also featured an isolated pawn, after a translated pawn square formed and exploded early in the opening. Instead of being on the d4-, e4-, d5-, and e5-squares, the pawns faced off one to the left on the c- and d-files Though shifted, this pawn square is actually a lot more common than the central one due to its prevalence in queen's pawn openings.

Top-seeded Zoey Tang is on the board with her first decisive result of the event (Photo courtesy of Crystal Fuller/SLCC)

Eager to utilize the superior activity provided by the isolated d-pawn, Li pointed her pieces towards the king and created weaknesses around the light squares. However, the first player held strong, creating a wall of pawns on the third rank. Li invaded with the queen, but Tang spotted an elegant trap, leaving the queen with no squares left. A desperado and a few trades later, and Tang was up an Exchange, which was more than enough to win.

To round out the games in the Girls' Junior, WGM Rochelle Wu – FM Megan Paragua ended in a serene draw after the duo agreed to a quick repetition in the opening.

After four rounds, Yan is in the lead with 3½/4, and sole chaser Paragua is just a half point behind, with 3/4. Next round, top seed Tang will take on tournament leader Yan with the black pieces, Paragua will face Atwell with the black pieces, and Mou will play Gaw in another battle of New Yorkers.

Graphic courtesy of SLCC

Senior Championship: Akopian on top, Christiansen, Goldin trail closely

Round four of the Senior Championship had only two decisive games, but had a crucial impact on the standings, with three co-leaders reducing to one sole leader. While the other sections were filled with middlegame chaos and king hunts, the battlefields of the Senior were all about the slow, but clinical, grind of the endgame.

After GM Alex Fishbein achieved comfortable equality in the Ruy Lopez with a timely … d6-d5 break, his game against Akopian seemed to be veering towards a draw. Pieces were flying off the board in mass trades, and although Akopian won a pawn, Fishbein’s active rooks compensated for it, rendering the position close to equal.

Reigning U.S. Senior champ Vladimir Akopian (L) is now in sole first after his win over Alex Fishbein (Photo courtesy of Crystal Fuller/SLCC)

However, Akopian was patient, letting go of one passed pawn to create another, and his advantage quickly snowballed after a pair of rooks were traded off. Hopping his knight into a strong outpost and cutting the enemy king off on the seventh rank, the first player amassed a winning advantage, taking all the remaining pawns and, with it, the full point.

Also decided by the endgame was GM Larry Christiansen – GM Igor Novikov. After Novikov opted for an early … e6-e5 push in the triangle Slav, pieces were traded until both sides had just a queen, bishop, and knight left. Having the isolated d-pawn as a long-term weakness to attack, Christiansen pressed his slight but lasting advantage, ultimately winning the pawn and emerging pawn-up in a queen-and-minor-piece endgame.

Larry Christiansen (L)'s win over Igor Novikov put some separation in the standings (Photo courtesy of Crystal Fuller/SLCC)

However, Novikov defended resiliently, and with his outside-passed pawn running down the board quickly, Christiansen traded queens. The resulting two-pawn-versus-one single minor piece endgame was technically drawn, but Christiansen found a nice breakthrough in mutual time pressure, securing the win.

GM Gregory Kaidanov and IM Timothy Taylor split the point after an opposite-side castling position fizzled out into a drawn rook endgame. In GM Maxim Dlugy – GM Alexander Shabalov, Shabalov found a nice tactic to reach a pawn-up endgame, but accurate defense from the first player simplified the game to a drawn three-versus-two rook-and-pawn endgame, which Dlugy was able to hold. GM Joel Benjamin – GM Alexander Goldin started off as a Ruy Lopez but grew sharper than a Najdorf when Benjamin exploited Goldin’s exposed king, sacrificing piece after piece. However, Goldin was resourceful, running his king away to safety, and the duo settled the result in the middlegame when neither side had better than perpetual check.

After four rounds in the Senior Championship, Akopian takes the clear lead with 3/4, with Christiansen and Goldin trailing him closely on 2½/4. Next round, chasers Christiansen and Goldin will face off and Novikov will take Akopian with the white pieces.

Graphic courtesy of SLCC

Will the leaders maintain their dominant performances? What do the players have cooked up for the last round before the rest day? How many more pawn squares will we see in the opening? All pairings can be viewed here, and tune in today, July 19, at 12:20 p.m. CDT to follow the action live!

Quick Links: