Early Leaders Emerge in U.S. Junior, Girls, and Senior

Round 3 of the 2019 U.S. Junior, Girls, and Senior Championships is underway as this goes to press, and while it’s still early, the fields are beginning to sort themselves out on the leaderboards. Four players have jumped to the top of their respective tables after two days of play. Will they be able to stay there? Only time, and their moves, will tell! Here’s a recap of yesterday’s Round 2 action. Junior Top-seed Awonder Liang jumped out to an early lead in the Junior Championship with his win over Atuyla Vaidya, but despite the rating difference of nearly 400 points, Liang had to really work for his full point. Vaidya played impressively, but an ill-considered check gave Liang the tempi needed to get his b-pawn towards the endzone.

[pgn]

[Event "2019 U.S. Junior Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.07.12"]
[Round "2.1"]
[White "Vaidya, Atulya"]
[Black "Liang, Awonder"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E12"]
[Annotator "Hartmann,John"]
[PlyCount "122"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. a3 Bb7 5. Nc3 d5 6. cxd5 Nxd5 7. Qc2 Be7 8. e4
Nxc3 9. bxc3 O-O 10. Bd3 Nd7 11. O-O h6 12. Qe2 Re8 13. Bf4 Bd6 $5 {
"Provocative," inviting the e-pawn forward.} 14. e5 ({If} 14. Be3 e5 $1) 14...
Bf8 15. Be4 $6 {Trading off a good attacking piece without reason.} (15. Nd2)
15... Bxe4 16. Qxe4 c5 17. Rfd1 cxd4 18. cxd4 Rc8 19. Rac1 b5 20. d5 exd5 21.
Qxd5 Nc5 22. Be3 Qxd5 23. Rxd5 Red8 24. Rxd8 Rxd8 25. Kf1 Na4 26. Nd4 $1 Bxa3
27. Rc7 Bb2 28. Nc6 (28. e6 $5 Bxd4 29. e7 Re8 30. Bxd4 a6 31. Ke2 f6 32. Kd3
Kf7 33. Ra7 Rxe7 34. Rxa6) 28... Rd1+ 29. Ke2 Nc3+ 30. Kf3 a6 31. e6 $132 fxe6
32. Bd4 Rd3+ 33. Kg4 Nd1 34. Rxg7+ Kf8 35. Bxb2 Nxb2 36. Ra7 Rd2 37. Kh5 Rd6
38. Rxa6 Kg7 39. f4 Nd3 40. g3 Rd5+ 41. Kh4 Kf6 {The engine thinks that the
position is equal, but Liang thought that the difference between the two
knights - his d3 knight being superior - was more than enough to keep playing.}
42. Ra7 Rd6 43. Ne7 e5 44. Kg4 h5+ 45. Kf3 (45. Kxh5 exf4 46. gxf4 Nxf4+ 47.
Kg4 Ne6) 45... exf4 46. gxf4 b4 47. Rb7 Ke6 48. Ng6 Kf5 49. Ne7+ (49. Ne5)
49... Kf6 50. Ke3 Ne1 51. Ng8+ (51. Rxb4 $2 Nc2+) 51... Kf5 52. Ne7+ Kg4 53.
Ke4 Nd3 54. Rb8 Nc5+ 55. Ke5 Rd2 56. Rg8+ $2 (56. Rb5 Nd3+ (56... Nd7+) 57. Ke4
Nxf4 58. h3+ $5 Nxh3 (58... Kxh3 {also draws} 59. Kxf4 Kg2 60. Rxb4 h4) 59.
Rxb4 $11) 56... Kh3 {There's no mate, and Black's pawn can march.} 57. Rc8 Nd3+
58. Ke4 b3 59. Rb8 b2 60. f5 Rd1 61. f6 Nc5+ 0-1

[/pgn]

Liang is alone at the top of the Junior after two rounds with 2/2. Four players – John Burke, Nicolas Checa, Joshau Sheng, and Brandon Jacobson – are half a point behind at 1.5. All four, along with Andrew Tang and Craig Hilby, drew in round two. The other decisive result of the round came in the game between Hans Niemann and Jennifer Yu. Niemann’s early g2-g4 dragged the game into the tactical weeds, and he better navigated the ensuing complications.

[pgn]

[Event "2019 U.S. Junior Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.07.12"]
[Round "2.4"]
[White "Niemann, Hans Moke"]
[Black "Yu, Jennifer"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A06"]
[Annotator "Hartmann,John"]
[PlyCount "59"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 e6 3. b3 Nf6 4. Bb2 Bd6 5. g4 $5 Nxg4 (5... h6 6. Rg1 Nbd7 7.
Qc2 c6 8. Nc3 Qe7 9. e3 {1/2-1/2 (50) Diaz Hollemaert,N (2398)-Marrero Lopez,Y
(2305) Sao Jose dos Campos 2012}) 6. Rg1 e5 7. h3 e4 (7... Nxf2 8. Kxf2 e4 9.
e3 (9. Ng5 $2 h6) 9... exf3 10. Qxf3 Qh4+ 11. Ke2 dxc4 12. Kd1 cxb3 13. axb3
Nc6 14. Ra4 {was Niemann's best guess at best play.}) 8. hxg4 exf3 9. e3 $1 Qg5
10. Qxf3 {Already Niemann thought he was winning.} h5 11. Nc3 hxg4 12. Qxd5
Qxd5 13. Nxd5 Kf8 14. e4 (14. c5 $5 c6 15. cxd6 cxd5 16. Ba3 Bd7 17. Bg2 Rh5)
14... Na6 (14... Nc6 {and Niemann/Kraai analyzed} 15. d4 Nb4 16. Ne3 Bf4 17.
Ba3) 15. Be2 f6 16. d4 Bh2 (16... Rh4 17. Ne3 g3 $5) 17. Rg2 Rh4 18. Kd2 Bd7
19. Kc2 Re8 20. Rh1 g3 $2 (20... Bg3 $1 {is necessary} 21. Rxh4 (21. fxg3 $2
Rxh1) 21... Bxh4 22. Bxg4 Bxg4 23. Rxg4 Bxf2 $16) 21. fxg3 Bxg3 22. Ba3+ c5 23.
Rxh4 Bxh4 24. dxc5 {Threatening c5-c6+} Kg8 25. Bd3 Nb8 26. Bb2 {The pin on
the g-file gives White some tactical possibilities.} Kf7 $6 27. e5 $1 {with
the idea of Bg6+, skewering the king and rook.} Bg5 28. exf6 gxf6 29. Bxf6 {
Very nice.} Bxf6 30. Bg6+ 1-0

[/pgn]

The remaining games, as mentioned above, were drawn: Sheng-Hilby, Burke-Tang, and Checa-Jacobson. Girls It was a round without draws in the Girls Championship, which is led by Carissa Yip and Rochelle Wu as round three gets underway. Both players are at 2/2, and they are followed closely by Maggie Feng and Rui Yang Yan, who are at 1.5/2. Yip’s victory over Agata Bykovtsev seemed fairly unlikely 15 moves into the game, when both of Yip’s bishops were buried behind pawns of both colors. But the liberation of the c8-bishop was a shot of adrenaline for Black’s position, and simplifications favored Yip immensely. Soon Yip had a technically winning endgame, one that she converted without drama.

[pgn]

[Event "2019 U.S. Girls Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.07.12"]
[Round "2.4"]
[White "Bykovtsev, Agata"]
[Black "Yip, Carissa"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B30"]
[Annotator "Hartmann,John"]
[PlyCount "100"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Bc4 Bg7 5. O-O e6 6. d4 Nxd4 7. Nxd4 cxd4 8.
Nb5 Qb6 9. c3 Ne7 10. Nxd4 a6 11. Bb3 O-O 12. Be3 Qc7 13. f4 Nc6 14. f5 {
Bykovtsev has gotten a great position out of the opening. The c8 bishop is
awful, and it looks like the Black king will have some weak squares around it.}
Na5 15. f6 Bh8 16. Bh6 Rd8 17. Qf3 (17. Qg4 $5 {(Hess) followed by the rook
lift and then mate!}) 17... Nxb3 18. Nxb3 (18. axb3 $5) 18... d6 19. Rad1 e5 {
Now that the light-squared bishop can breathe, Black's right back in the game.}
20. Nd2 Be6 21. b3 d5 22. exd5 Rxd5 23. Ne4 Rad8 24. c4 Rxd1 25. Rxd1 Bf5 26.
Rf1 {Suddenly, as Yip points out, the f6 pawn is more of a weakness than a
strength!} Qb6+ 27. Be3 Qc6 28. Ng3 $6 {Trading queens in principle seems
wrong here, but there are also concrete tactical problems, as the game shows.}
Qxf3 29. Rxf3 Rd1+ 30. Nf1 Bd3 31. Bg5 e4 32. Rf2 Re1 33. Bd2 Rxf1+ 34. Rxf1
Bxf1 35. Kxf1 Bxf6 {And the endgame is lost for White.} 36. Bf4 Bd4 37. b4 f5
38. Ke2 Kf7 39. Kd2 Ke6 40. h3 Be5 41. Bh6 f4 42. Ke2 Kf5 43. a4 Bd6 44. c5 Be7
45. Bg7 Ke6 46. a5 Kd5 47. Bc3 Kc4 48. Be1 g5 49. g3 Bf6 50. h4 Bd4 0-1

[/pgn]

Rochelle Wu got a roaring attack against Veronika Zilajeva’s king, but her 32. … Nb6 drew an important defender away from her kingside. Zilajeva correctly sacrificed her knight to open Wu’s king, and she even had a chance to win the game after Wu eschewed a clear drawing continuation. Wu survived, however, as Zilajeva missed the most forcing continuation and the perpetual check was not to be found.

[pgn]

[Event "2019 U.S. Girls Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.07.12"]
[Round "2.3"]
[White "Zilajeva, Veronika"]
[Black "Wu, Rochelle"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A50"]
[Annotator "Hartmann,John"]
[PlyCount "86"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 b6 3. Nc3 Bb7 4. e3 e6 5. Nf3 Bb4 6. Bd3 Ne4 7. Qc2 f5 8. Bd2
Bxc3 9. Bxc3 O-O 10. O-O-O Qe7 11. Ne1 d5 12. f3 Nf6 13. h3 dxc4 14. Bxc4 Bd5
15. Qb3 (15. Bxd5 Nxd5 16. Bd2) 15... c5 (15... a5 $5 {is a curious idea,
trying to make use of the fact that the rook is still on a8, and 'storming' on
the a-file!}) 16. Nc2 Nbd7 17. e4 $6 {Perhaps a step too far.} fxe4 18. fxe4
Nxe4 19. Bxd5 Qg5+ $1 20. Kb1 Qxd5 21. Rhe1 c4 {The attack is on.} 22. Qa4
Nxc3+ 23. bxc3 b5 24. Qa3 a5 25. Qe7 Rfe8 26. Qh4 b4 27. Qe4 Qb5 28. Ka1 Qa4
29. Ne3 b3 30. Rd2 Rab8 31. Ng4 Qa3 32. Qe3 Nb6 $2 {Now Zilajeva gets a chance
to save the game. As it turned out, she missed a chance for more.} (32... Rb5
33. Qg3 Kh8 {and White is running out of useful moves while Black's initiative
only grows.}) 33. Nh6+ $1 gxh6 34. Qg3+ Kf7 $4 {This walks into tactics.} (
34... Kh8 {acquieces to the draw, but as Wu said after the game, "I'd rather
risk losing than have a draw."}) 35. Rf2+ Ke7 36. Qc7+ Nd7 37. d5 Rb6 38. Ref1
$4 (38. dxe6 $1 Rxe6 39. Rxe6+ Kxe6 40. Re2+ Kf6 41. Qc6+ {and Black cannot
hold.}) 38... Rf8 39. Rf7+ Rxf7 40. Rxf7+ Kxf7 41. Qxd7+ Kf6 42. Qd8+ Kf5 43.
g4+ Ke4 0-1

[/pgn]

In other games, Maggie Feng won against Thalia Cervantes, Emily Nguyen downed Martha Samadashvili, and in the battle of the two youngest players in the field, Rui Yang Yan checkmated Rachael Li in 66 moves. Senior Larry Christiansen continued his winning ways in Round 2, defeating Alex Goldin in another attacking gem. He has sole custody of first place in the Senior Championship with 2/2 as today’s Round 3 is underway, followed by Alex Shabalov at 1.5/2. Five players are tied for third with 1/2. Christiansen’s use of the Bishop’s Opening followed games by Magnus Carlsen (with both colors), and after twelve moves he already thought that he had a promising position against Goldin. His commentary in the post-game interview with Jesse Kraai is striking, especially when compared with the rapidfire tactical analysis offered by the juniors. Christiansen mixed key strategic insights – talk of the ‘tiny’ d6 weakness in Black’s camp, the incessant search for correctly timed pawn breaks, etc – with concrete lines, resulting in a fascinating insight into a top GM’s thinking.

[pgn]

[Event "2019 U.S. Senior Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.07.12"]
[Round "2.5"]
[White "Christiansen, Larry"]
[Black "Goldin, Alexander"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C24"]
[Annotator "Hartmann,John"]
[PlyCount "113"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]

1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. d3 Nc6 4. Nc3 Na5 5. Nge2 Bc5 6. O-O c6 (6... O-O 7. a4
Nxc4 8. dxc4 a5 9. Qd3 d6 10. b3 Be6 11. Be3 Nd7 12. Rad1 {1/2-1/2 (28)
Carlsen,M (2855)-Giri,A (2782) Paris 2016}) 7. a4 Nxc4 8. dxc4 d6 9. Qd3 Be6
10. b3 a5 11. Be3 Qb6 12. Bxc5 Qxc5 {Christiansen thought that Black had a
tiny weakness (d6) and a good queen, so his idea was to stop the pawn breaks (.
..d6-d5) and play a slow buildup.} 13. Rad1 Rd8 14. Qg3 O-O 15. Kh1 g6 16. f3
Rd7 {Kraai and Christiansen both felt (doubling the rooks on the d-file) this
was too passive. Larry suggested going for an ...f7-f5 break instead.} 17. Rd2
Rfd8 18. Rfd1 Kg7 19. Nc1 Qe3 20. Rd3 Qb6 21. Qe1 Ne8 22. h3 f6 23. Qg3 Bf7 24.
N1e2 Qc5 25. f4 {"Pretty optimistic at this stage." (Christiansen)} exf4 26.
Nxf4 Qe5 27. Qf2 (27. Nce2 {with the idea} Qxe4 $2 28. Nd4 $18) 27... Nc7 28.
Re3 Re7 29. Nce2 Ne8 30. Nd4 d5 31. cxd5 (31. exd5 Qxe3 32. Nfe6+ Rxe6 33.
Nxe6+ Qxe6 {and Christiansen stopped here, thinking that Black was better. But
after} 34. dxe6 Rxd1+ 35. Kh2 Bg8 36. Qa7 $1 {the rampaging queen may be more
than a match for the rook and two minors.} (36. Qb6 {is similar})) 31... cxd5
32. Nb5 (32. Ree1 $5) 32... d4 (32... Nd6 $1 33. Nxd6 Rxd6 $11) 33. Re2 Red7
34. Nd3 Qh5 35. Rf1 Re7 36. e5 $1 f5 37. Nf4 (37. Nxd4 $2 Rxd4 38. Qxd4 Qxe2
39. e6+ Kf8 40. Re1) 37... Qg5 38. Nxd4 Nc7 39. Kh2 Nd5 40. Nxd5 Bxd5 41. c4
Bc6 (41... Bxg2 $2 42. Rg1 $1) (41... Qxg2+ 42. Qxg2 Bxg2 43. Nxf5+ (43. Rd1 $2
Bf3) 43... gxf5 44. Rxg2+ Kf7 45. Rxf5+ Ke6 $18) 42. Nxc6 bxc6 43. Re3 Rd4 44.
Rg3 Qh4 45. Qe1 (45. Qxf5 $2 Qxg3+ 46. Kxg3 gxf5) 45... Re4 46. Qxa5 R4xe5 47.
Qc3 Qf6 48. b4 h5 49. a5 h4 50. Rd3 Kh7 51. a6 Qg5 52. Qd2 Qf6 53. Rd6 R5e6 54.
Rxe6 Qxe6 55. Qf4 Qf6 56. Qb8 Qd4 57. Rf4 (57. Rf4 Re4 (57... Qf6 58. a7) 58.
Rxe4 fxe4 59. a7 e3 60. a8=Q e2 61. Qg8+) 1-0

[/pgn]

Alex Shabalov won a “typical Shabalov game” against Max Dlugy. The engine shows that Shabalov was winning for many moves in the ending, but the nuances are so complex, and the win so demanding, that the engine doesn’t actually seem to make progress despite its high scores for Black. Shabalov did well to ‘pull an [Alexander] Onischuk,’ as he described it in the post-game interview, and go deep into calculation to find the correct technical win.

[pgn]

[Event "2019 U.S. Senior Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.07.12"]
[Round "2.2"]
[White "Dlugy, Maxim"]
[Black "Shabalov, Alexander"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A45"]
[Annotator "Hartmann,John"]
[PlyCount "122"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 c5 3. e3 Qb6 4. Nc3 a6 ({Black can grab the pawn, but he may
get indigestion:} 4... Qxb2 5. Nb5 Nd5 6. a3 $5 (6. Rb1 Qxa2 7. Ra1 Qb2 8. Rb1
$11) 6... a6 7. Rb1 Qa2 8. Qc1 (8. Ra1 {is a repetition unless White goes for
the Qc1 idea}) 8... axb5 9. Ra1 Qxa1 10. Qxa1 Nc6 $13) 5. a3 d6 6. Be2 g6 7.
Nf3 Bg7 8. Nd2 Be6 9. dxc5 Qxc5 10. O-O O-O 11. Na4 Qc7 12. c4 b5 $5 {"Not
really a pawn sacrifice. I'm just fighting for the d5 square."} 13. Bf3 (13.
cxb5 axb5 14. Nc3 Nd5) 13... Ra7 14. cxb5 axb5 15. Nc3 Qd7 16. Qe2 Rc7 $1 {
A small tactical nuance that indirectly protects the b5 pawn. Shabalov was
very happy with his position here, feeling as if he had a "good Dragon."} 17.
e4 ({If} 17. Nxb5 Rc2) 17... Ng4 $1 {Dlugy told Shabalov he thought that he
was doing well here until he saw 17...Ng4, which he missed.} 18. Nd5 {Now
Shabalov thought he was just strategically better.} Bxd5 19. exd5 Ne5 20. Be4
Rfc8 21. Rad1 Nc4 22. Nxc4 bxc4 23. Rc1 Qa4 24. Qc2 Qb5 25. b4 {"Desperation,
but if he does nothing... I bring my knight to a4 and the pawn will fall."}
cxb3 (25... Ra7 {should also win, but Shabalov wanted to go for the "more fun"
solution.}) 26. Qxc7 Rxc7 27. Rxc7 Nd7 28. Rc8+ Nf8 29. Bg5 b2 30. Rb1 (30.
Bxe7 {falls to} Qd7) 30... e6 31. h4 exd5 32. Bc2 d4 33. a4 Qe2 34. Bb3 h6 35.
Bd8 d3 36. Bb6 d2 37. Bd1 Qe1+ 38. Kh2 Be5+ 39. g3 Qe4 40. Rc2 Qxh4+ 41. Kg1
Qe4 (41... Qxa4 42. Rcxb2 Qe4 43. Rc2 {felt unclear to Shabalov during the
game, so (as he told Kraai) he tried to channel Alex Onischuk and settled on
the game continuation. Though it let the a-pawn run, he carefully calculated
everything out, as he felt Onischuk would, and went ahead.}) 42. a5 Ne6 43. a6
Nd4 44. Rc8+ (44. Rcxb2 Ne2+ 45. Kh2 Qh4+ 46. Kg2 Nxg3 47. fxg3 Qxg3+ {will
pick up the b2-rook but even the computer can't find a clean win for Black
here. It's a mess.} 48. Kf1 Qf4+) 44... Kh7 45. Rxb2 Qe1+ 46. Kg2 Qxd1 47. Rxd2
Qxd2 48. a7 Qb2 49. a8=Q Qxb6 50. Qd5 Qb3 51. Rc4 Ne6 52. Qc6 Kg7 53. f4 Bd4
54. Rc2 Bc5 55. Qe4 Nd4 56. Rd2 Nf5 57. Qf3 Ne3+ 58. Kh2 h5 59. Kh3 Qe6+ 60.
Kh2 Ng4+ 61. Kg2 Qe1 {"The Shabalov of old," as Kraai put it, and I can't
disagree. A messy, tactical, wonderful game.} 0-1

[/pgn]

Joel Benjamin had the third decisive result of the round, defeating Alex Yermolinsky in what Jesse Kraai described as his favorite game of the tournament thus far.

[pgn]

[Event "2019 U.S. Senior Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.07.12"]
[Round "2.4"]
[White "Benjamin, Joel"]
[Black "Yermolinsky, Alex"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B22"]
[Annotator "Hartmann,John"]
[PlyCount "61"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]

1. e4 c5 2. c3 Nf6 3. e5 Nd5 4. Nf3 d6 5. Bc4 Nb6 6. e6 $5 {Improvisation!}
fxe6 (6... Nxc4 7. Qa4+ Nc6 8. exf7+ Kxf7 9. Qxc4+ e6 {"and it's kind of a
normal position... Black isn't that messed up here. In bughouse maybe [it is]!"
}) 7. Bb3 (7. Bd3 Nc6) 7... Nc6 8. Ng5 d5 9. Bc2 Qd6 (9... g6 10. Nxh7 Qd6 $13)
10. d4 ({Less strong is} 10. Qh5+ g6 11. Bxg6+ hxg6 12. Qxh8 Qf4 $1 {and "if
not for that move, it's easy!" (Benjamin)}) 10... cxd4 11. Qh5+ g6 12. Bxg6+
hxg6 13. Qxh8 Qe5+ 14. Qxe5 Nxe5 15. cxd4 Nc6 16. Be3 Bg7 17. Nc3 (17. Nf3 e5)
17... Bd7 18. O-O-O Rc8 19. h4 $6 (19. Kb1 {improves}) 19... Nb4 $1 {Yermo's
back in it, and Benjamin will have to give something back.} 20. Kd2 Nc4+ 21.
Ke2 Nxb2 22. Rb1 N4d3 (22... Rxc3 23. Rxb2 a5 $13) 23. Nd1 $1 Rc2+ 24. Kf3 e5 (
24... b6 $5) (24... b5 25. Nxb2 Nxb2 26. Rhc1 Rxc1 27. Rxc1 Nc4 {and Benjamin
thought that Black had full compensation, while Kraai thought White had a good
advantage.}) 25. Nxb2 e4+ 26. Kg3 Nxb2 27. Rhc1 Re2 28. Rc7 e5 29. Rxb7 Nc4 30.
Rxd7 Kxd7 31. Rb7+ 1-0

[/pgn]

Elsewhere, Jaan Ehlvest got on the scoreboard with his draw against Gregory Kaidanov, and Igor Novikov shared the point with Alex Fishbein.

---

The 2019 Junior, Girls, and Senior Championships will be contested daily from July 10th-20th at the Saint Louis Chess Club, with a rest day on July 1th. Rounds start at 1pm CDT, except for July 20th, when play begins at 11am. US Junior/Senior/Girls Quick Links:  Official STL Chess Club YouTube Live on uschesschamps.com  Pairings & Results US Junior Pairings & Results US Senior Pairings & Results US Girls  Winners of the US Junior Championship and US Junior Girls Championship will be awarded a $10,000 scholarship to be used at the institution of his or her choice. The scholarship is generously jointly funded by the Dewain Barber Foundation and US Chess.