And We're Off! Day 1 in Orlando

The 120th US Open kicked off yesterday with a simul, some bughouse, and the first of nine days of intense chess competition. Here’s a rundown of the day’s events. YU SIMUL The day began with a simultaneous exhbition put on by Jennifer Yu, who played against 22 competitors and scored a strong 17-5 with no losses. Yu’s opponents were drawn from the fields of the Arnold Denker Tournament of High School Champions, the Dewain Barber Tournament of K-8 Champions, and the Ruth Haring National Girls’ Tournament of Champions. All except one, that is. Minnie Mouse made the trip from Disney World to challenge the current U.S. Women’s Champion, and with some assistance from US Chess Director of Women’s Programs Jennifer Shahade, she essayed a sideline against Yu's 1. d4. https://twitter.com/JenShahade/status/1157680457649217537 Soon Minnie offered a draw, which was diplomatically accepted by Yu. (That Minnie could be heard discussing the position in Russian with her companion might also have pushed Yu to take the half-point!) https://twitter.com/USChess/status/1157643999995449350 Cindy Jie was the last player standing, and she and Yu went head-to-head in a queen and bishop ending. With the simul already over four hours in length, a clock was brought out, and Yu managed to squeeze out the win. After Jie’s resignation, the two (who are friends in real life) immediately went into post-mortem mode with Shahade and other kibitzers. https://twitter.com/USChess/status/1157705363879268353 SIDE EVENTS The 2019 Bughouse Tournament was won by Iowa’s dynamic duo of Dan Brashaw and Joseph Wan. Brashaw is now a repeat winner, having taken the title last year in Middleton with Gokul Thangavel. Two rounds of the Weekend Swiss are in the books, with ten players at 2/2, including three masters, as today’s round three got underway. THE BIG FIVE The main focus of the ten days here in Orlando are five marquee events: the Denker, the Barber, the Haring, the Senior Tournament of Champions, and of course, the US Open itself. Opening ceremonies for the four invitationals were held, including the famous parade of states for the Denker, Barber, and Haring. Dignitaries included Dewain Barber, Maureen Grimaud, Jon Haskel, Al Lawrence, Carol Meyer, Jen Shahade, and Harold Winston. And then it was time to play. All five tournaments started their first rounds at 7pm, and in most cases, top seeds tend to come through their games unscathed. Last night, however, was a bit of an exception, with a number of key draws and upset wins in the four invitationals.

[pgn]

[Event "2019 Denker"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.08.03"]
[Round "1.1"]
[White "Zeng, Sheena"]
[Black "Li, Ben"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D13"]
[WhiteElo "2172"]
[BlackElo "2470"]
[PlyCount "93"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. cxd5 cxd5 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. Bf4 Nc6 6. e3 a6 7. Be2 Bf5 8. Nf3
e6 9. Qb3 Bd6 10. Bxd6 Qxd6 11. Qxb7 O-O 12. Qb3 Nb4 13. O-O Nc2 14. Rac1 Rfb8
15. Qa4 Rb4 16. Qa5 Rxb2 17. Nd1 Rbb8 18. Ne5 h6 19. Nc3 Bh7 20. Na4 Qa3 21.
Nc6 Rc8 22. Nb6 Qd6 23. Nxc8 Rxc8 24. Nb4 Qb8 25. Nxc2 Rxc2 26. Rxc2 Bxc2 27.
Qc3 Bf5 28. Rc1 Qb6 29. Bd3 Bxd3 30. Qxd3 g6 31. Qb3 Qa5 32. h3 Kg7 33. a3 Qd2
34. Qc2 Qa5 35. Qc5 Qd2 36. Qc2 Qa5 37. Qc3 Qb5 38. f3 g5 39. Re1 Nh5 40. Kf2
Qb8 41. Kg1 Qb5 42. Kf2 Qb8 43. Kg1 Qb5 44. Kf2 Qb8 45. Kg1 Qb5 46. Kf2 Qb8 47.
Kg1 1/2-1/2

[/pgn]

[pgn]

[Event "2019 Barber"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.08.03"]
[Round "1.4"]
[White "Bao, Chris"]
[Black "Guo, Arthur"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B99"]
[WhiteElo "1994"]
[BlackElo "2429"]
[PlyCount "139"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Be7 8. Qf3
h6 9. Bh4 Qc7 10. O-O-O Nbd7 11. Bd3 g5 12. fxg5 Ne5 13. Qe2 Nfg4 14. h3 hxg5
15. Bg3 Nf6 16. Nf3 Nh5 17. Bh2 Bd7 18. Rhf1 Nf4 19. Bxf4 gxf4 20. Nxe5 dxe5
21. Qe1 Rg8 22. Rg1 Bc5 23. Rf1 O-O-O 24. Qe2 Be3+ 25. Kb1 Bd4 26. Bc4 Rg7 27.
Rd2 Rdg8 28. Bb3 Bc6 29. Rf3 Be3 30. g4 fxg3 31. Qxe3 g2 32. Qg1 Qe7 33. a3 Qh4
34. Rxf7 Rxf7 35. Bxe6+ Rd7 36. Rxd7 Bxd7 37. Bxg8 Qxh3 38. Qc5+ Kb8 39. Ne2
Qg4 40. Bc4 Qxe4 41. Qd6+ Kc8 42. Qc5+ Bc6 43. Bd3 Qf3 44. Ka2 e4 45. Ng1 Qf6
46. Be2 Kb8 47. Qe3 Qf1 48. Qc5 Qe1 49. Qd4 Qc1 50. Qd1 Qe3 51. Bc4 Qc5 52. Bb3
Qf2 53. Nh3 Qe3 54. Ng1 Qf2 55. Nh3 Qf6 56. Qd2 Qf3 57. Qd8+ Ka7 58. Qd4+ Ka8
59. Ng1 Qg3 60. Ne2 Qe1 61. Bc4 Qf1 62. Qb6 Qf6 63. Qc7 Ka7 64. Qf7 Qf1 65. Qg7
Qf2 66. Qg4 e3 67. Qd4+ Ka8 68. Qd8+ Ka7 69. Qd4+ Ka8 70. Qd8+ 1/2-1/2

[/pgn]

[pgn]

[Event "2019 Barber"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.08.03"]
[Round "1.6"]
[White "Province, Cael"]
[Black "Wang, Jason"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D20"]
[WhiteElo "1874"]
[BlackElo "2388"]
[PlyCount "45"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e3 e5 4. Bxc4 exd4 5. Nf3 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 Bxd2+ 7. Qxd2 Nc6
8. exd4 Nf6 9. Ne5 O-O 10. Nxc6 bxc6 11. O-O Qd6 12. f3 Bf5 13. Nc3 Rad8 14.
Rad1 Rd7 15. Qg5 Bc2 16. Rd2 Qb4 17. Bxf7+ Rfxf7 18. Rxc2 Qxd4+ 19. Rcf2 Rfe7
20. Qc1 Re3 21. Ne4 Rxe4 22. fxe4 Nxe4 23. Qc4+ 1-0

[/pgn]

[pgn]

[Event "2019 Haring"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.08.03"]
[Round "1.11"]
[White "Sevilla, Julia"]
[Black "Low, Beatrice"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D75"]
[WhiteElo "2103"]
[BlackElo "1648"]
[PlyCount "156"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 d5 6. O-O c5 7. cxd5 cxd4 8.
Nxd4 Nxd5 9. Nc3 Nxc3 10. bxc3 Nd7 11. Ba3 Re8 12. Rb1 Nb6 13. Nb5 Nc4 14. Qxd8
Rxd8 15. Bxe7 Re8 16. Bg5 Rxe2 17. Rfe1 Rxe1+ 18. Rxe1 Bd7 19. Nd4 Rb8 20. Bf4
Rd8 21. Bxb7 Bxd4 22. cxd4 Be6 23. Rd1 Nb2 24. Rb1 Nd3 25. Be3 Rb8 26. Kf1 Bc4
27. d5 Rxb7 28. Ra1 Ne5+ 29. Kg1 Bxd5 30. Rd1 Rd7 31. f4 Nc4 32. Bc1 Be6 33.
Re1 Nb6 34. Be3 Bxa2 35. g4 Be6 36. h3 Nd5 37. Bc1 Nc3 38. Bb2 Na4 39. Bf6 Rb7
40. f5 Bd7 41. fxg6 fxg6 42. Re7 Bc6 43. Re6 Bd5 44. Rd6 Bc4 45. g5 Rb1+ 46.
Kf2 Rb8 47. Rd7 Bf7 48. Rxa7 Nc5 49. Kg2 Re8 50. Be7 Bd5+ 51. Kh2 Nb7 52. Bf6
Re2+ 53. Kg3 Ra2 54. Rxa2 Bxa2 55. Kf4 Kf7 56. h4 Ke6 57. Bd4 Nd6 58. Bf2 Nf5
59. Be1 Kd5 60. Bf2 Bb3 61. h5 Bc2 62. hxg6 hxg6 63. Be1 Kd4 64. Bf2+ Kd3 65.
Bc5 Nd4 66. Be7 Nc6 67. Bf6 Kc4 68. Kg4 Kd5 69. Kf4 Nd4 70. Be7 Ne6+ 71. Kf3
Ke5 72. Kg4 Bd1+ 73. Kh4 Kf4 74. Bd6+ Kf5 75. Be7 Bg4 76. Bf6 Kf4 77. Be7 Ng7
78. Bd6+ Kf3 0-1

[/pgn]

None of the games from the 9-day schedule, with three GMs in the field, were broadcast on uschess.live. Those GM games have been recovered from scoresheets and are given below. Note that Jim Tarjan's game is also analyzed in Kostya Kavutskiy's first Game of the Day column, exclusively here on CLO.

[pgn]

[Event "2019 US Open"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.08.03"]
[Round "1.145"]
[White "Kanli, Alperen"]
[Black "Tarjan, Jim"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C55"]
[WhiteElo "1971"]
[BlackElo "2458"]
[PlyCount "64"]
[SourceVersionDate "2019.08.04"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Be7 5. Qe2 O-O 6. c3 d6 7. Nbd2 Na5 8. Bb5
a6 9. Ba4 b5 10. Bc2 c5 11. Nf1 Nc6 12. Ng3 Re8 13. h3 d5 14. Nh2 Be6 15. Qf3
Qd7 16. O-O Rad8 17. Re1 d4 18. Rd1 dxc3 19. bxc3 b4 20. Ba4 bxc3 21. Be3 Qc7
22. Rac1 Nd4 23. Bxd4 cxd4 24. Bxe8 Rxe8 25. Rc2 Rb8 26. Nf5 Bf8 27. Ng4 Nxg4
28. Qxg4 Rb2 29. Qe2 Qb8 30. Ra1 g6 31. Nh4 Rxc2 32. Qxc2 Qb2 0-1

[/pgn]

[pgn]

[Event "2019 US Open"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.08.03"]
[Round "1.143"]
[White "Cote, Gary"]
[Black "Dragun, Kamil"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E54"]
[WhiteElo "1800"]
[BlackElo "2676"]
[PlyCount "72"]
[SourceVersionDate "2019.08.04"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d5 6. Nf3 c5 7. O-O cxd4 8. exd4
dxc4 9. Bxc4 b6 10. Bg5 Bb7 11. Ne5 Bxc3 12. bxc3 Nbd7 13. Re1 Qc7 14. Qb3 Nxe5
15. dxe5 Ne4 16. Bf4 Rac8 17. Bd3 Nc5 18. Qc2 Nxd3 19. Qxd3 Qxc3 20. Qxc3 Rxc3
21. Red1 Bd5 22. a4 Rfc8 23. Be3 R8c7 24. a5 b5 25. Rac1 R3c4 26. f3 h5 27. a6
Kh7 28. Rb1 Bc6 29. Rd8 Ra4 30. Rd6 Rxa6 31. Rc1 b4 32. Bxa7 Raxa7 33. Rdxc6
Rxc6 34. Rxc6 Rb7 35. Rc2 b3 36. Rb2 Kg6 0-1

[/pgn]

[pgn]

[Event "2019 US Open"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.08.03"]
[Round "1.144"]
[White "Mikhalevski, Victor"]
[Black "Sloan, Kenneth"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E09"]
[WhiteElo "2636"]
[BlackElo "1798"]
[PlyCount "45"]
[SourceVersionDate "2019.08.04"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. d4 c6 3. c4 d5 4. g3 e6 5. Bg2 Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. Qc2 Nbd7 8. Rd1
Re8 9. Nc3 Nf8 10. e4 dxe4 11. Nxe4 Ng6 12. h4 Nxe4 13. Qxe4 Bf6 14. h5 Nf8 15.
Bf4 h6 16. Ne5 Nh7 17. Nxf7 Kxf7 18. Qxh7 Bd7 19. Qg6+ Kf8 20. Bd6+ Be7 21. Be5
Bf6 22. Rd3 Bxe5 23. dxe5 1-0

[/pgn]

Play continues today with round two of the four Invitationals underway as this report goes to press, along with the Scholastic tournament and the finale of the Weekend Swiss. Tonight sees round three of the Invitationals along with the second round of the US Open 9-day schedule.

---

Quick Links US Open Information US Open Pairings & Results Denker Information Denker Results Barber Information Barber Results  RHNGTOC Information RHNGTOC Results  NSTOC Information US Open reports on CLO  Twitch stream (starting Friday night)