Fighting Chess After Rest Day in Fifth Round of U.S. Championships

The first rest day at the 2023 U.S. and U.S. Women’s Championships certainly allowed players to recharge, as round five marked the bloodiest round so far. There were a total of ten decisive games, with only one draw per section. Let's take a look at the most notable moments.

Andrew Tang is sticking to his London guns, as Caruana lurks menacingly in the background (courtesy Lennart Ootes/SLCC)

In the Open section, GM Andrew Tang decided to use his London system weapon yet again and this time against the leader GM Fabiano Caruana. Caruana chose less popular London waters, signaling that he was ready to fight and would not settle for a draw through any hyper-analyzed equal lines or a three-fold repetition. Unfortunately for Tang, he appeared to be unfamiliar with this particular sideline and made a few inaccurate moves early on. This got him quickly into a worse position. Caruana had no trouble increasing his advantage and, with the help of a few precise moves, converting it into a full point.

As everyone expected, the "friendless" GM Hans Niemann was ready to challenge GM Levon Aronian and play a complex and aggressive game. What no one expected was how quickly both players would surprise each other with their opening preparation. After Niemann played 1. e4, the well-known 1. … e5 ambassador Aronian decided to switch to Sicilian with 1. … c5. To return the surprise, Niemann chose to play an Alapin-like 3.c3 that has inspired him at the recent World Junior championship.

Niemann borrows a pose out of Caruana's book as Aronian works on his pop quiz (courtesy Lennart Ootes/SLCC)

The players got out of theory very quickly, but it was Niemann who got the better hand of the position. After Aronian positionally blundered, Niemann's precise play earned him a material advantage. Later in the game, Aronian could have balanced the position and saved the game by playing a difficult sequence of only moves. After failing to do so, Niemann's pieces got very active and he confidently scored an important victory that kept himself within a half-point of Caruana.

After a rocky start in the tournament, GM Ray Robson got on his feet today and defeated GM Jeffery Xiong in a beautiful game full of sacrifices. The game started with the Petroff Defense and soon went into a less popular sideline. Robson wasted no time and with an opening novelty 15. f5 and the first sacrifice in the game, after which he launched an attack on the opponent's king. Soon after, he sacrificed a whole rook.

Robson has had several nice results in the U.S. Championship before, and must be considered a threat this year as well (courtesy Lennart Ootes/SLCC)

Unfortunately for Xiong, who developed a bishop instead of running away with the king, it took only this one move for the position to completely collapse. Robson found a number of the most accurate moves and with a fantastic double-piece sacrifice, he was close to checkmating before Xiong resigned. This game is a perfect illustration of creative sacrifices, all kinds of issues with an uncastled king, and deep calculation skills.

A very complex game with material imbalance was played between GM Leinier Domínguez and GM Sam Shankland. The biggest action, however, happened in the incredibly difficult rook endgame. Shankland, who has been regularly treating us with fantastic rook endgames in this tournament, unfortunately missed the best defense this time. After a long battle, he fell short after being unable to spot White's winning technique and allowed Domínguez to score a very valuable point for the tournament.

In the Women's Section, the two leaders IM Carissa Yip and WGM Begim Tokhirjonova won their games and continued to sail through the tournament in a tremendous fashion.

Yip did not seem to mind an unexpected opportunity to add to her growing collection of King's Indian brilliancies (courtesy Lennart Ootes/SLCC)

Playing with the white pieces, WGM Tatev Abrahamyan decided to surprise the tournament co-leader, IM Carissa Yip, with 1. d4, which she played only a handful times in her long chess career. However, this surprise may have come to Yip as a favor because it allowed her to once again rely on her main weapon in this tournament: the King's Indian Defense. Playing a rare line in the opening and attacking on opposite sides, the players got quickly into unfamiliar and very complex waters. Yip showed a more accurate understanding of the position and quickly seized advantage. While low on time, Abrahamyan blundered by choosing a risky sacrifice. With the best defense, Yip got a significant material advantage and the full point.

The co-leader Tokhirjonova played the English opening against WGM Thalia Cervantes, but the position quickly transposed into the Sicilian with a Maroczy Bind structure. After the opening, Cervantes surprisingly offered to trade her knight for White's bad light-squared bishop, which was quickly accepted by Tokhirjonova. This allowed her to enjoy positional advantage and to push forward in the center. Although there were better ways to pursue the game, Tokhirjonova found a nice tactic and got the opponent's queen for a rook and a knight. Strangely enough, Cervantes had a way to build a fortress and secure a draw but she was unable to find it in a time scramble and instead blundered.

FM Alice Lee had a good day as she defeated WGM Atousa Pourkashiyan in a classical King's Indian Defense. Right out of the opening, Lee got a good position and gained an extra pawn. However, with precise play, there was sufficient compensation for Pourkashiyan.

Don't call it a comeback! (courtesy Lennart Ootes/SLCC)

The brutal reality of chess was shown once again in this game as only one bad move decided the fate of this game. After Pourkashiyan’s premature pawn recapture, compensation for the pawn disappeared as Lee gained active pieces. Showing very good technique, Lee smoothly transferred into a bishop endgame and finished her game in a nice style. Despite Lee's slow start, she is back in the tournament with this second win in a row.

It was also a good day for the reigning champion, WGM Jennifer Yu, who scored her first victory in the tournament and defeated IM Nazi Paikidze. The game started with the 4. g3 line of the Queen's Indian, and soon after the opening, Yu enjoyed a strong pawn center and an easier position to play.

The defending champion was finally able to bring home a full point in round five (courtesy Lennart Ootes/SLCC)

Paikidze then played an inaccurate move followed by a big mistake. That allowed Yu to push her e-pawn all the way to e6 and lock in a decisive advantage.

courtesy SLCC / Spectrum Studios

courtesy SLCC / Spectrum Studios

In tomorrow's sixth round, players are likely to continue playing aggressively as they still have a lot of energy from the recent rest day. I predict another round of risky decision making and many decisive games. Matchups that may be especially exciting to watch include: sole leader Caruana playing against solid Sevian, struggling Xiong playing against Niemann, who will certainly take his chances to catch up to Caruana, and young superstar Mishra playing against elite player Dominguez. In the women's section, all eyes will be on the two leaders: Yip facing Eswaran — who is not having a good tournament so far — and Tokhirjonova playing against Pourkashiyan, who lost a tough game in the previous round against young Lee. Tune in today at 1:20 p.m. CDT!

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