The action continues to heat up in round four of the U.S. Junior, Junior Girls’, and Senior championships, as the players approach the midpoint of the event, with only one more round before the rest day.
For these prestigious invitational championships, we are always on the lookout for the slight chance that Fischer’s perfect score in the 1964 US Championships could be repeated, but round four answered that question, leaving us with no more perfect scorers.
While the Senior and Girls’ championships end the round with a clear leader a point ahead of the rest, the lead in the Junior Championships is far from clear, with three people finishing the round tied with scores of 3/4.
Although the round again finished with “just” seven decisive games, the action was far from dull. We saw upsets, back-and-forth battles, and even a game described by commentator GM Yasser Seirawan as “a hot potato game all the way through.”
Senior
In the Senior, the race tightens as three-time U.S. Champion GM Larry Christiansen jumps up to sole second place after dispatching four-time U.S. Champion GM Alexander Shabalov with the black pieces.
Yet again, there was only one decisive game in the Senior, making each win that much more significant.
After an ambitious Nimzo Indian where Shabalov accepted doubled pawns in exchange for a strong center, Christiansen wasted no time in slow development or early kingside castling, instead quickly neutralizing Shabalov’s bishop pair and grabbing the bull by the horns with the breakthrough e4-e5! Following a dangerous pin on the e-file and a deadly attack on the first player’s exposed king, Christiansen ultimately won a piece and the game.
Although ending in a draw, the game between GM Jesse Kraai and GM Igor Novikov was a belligerent affair right from the start. With the Grand Prix attack, Kraai made clear his intention for a sharp fight, and Novikov was up for the battle. Kraai’s early f4-f5 breakthrough was a blitzkrieg attack against the second player’s uncastled king, but Novikov defended stubbornly, seeking refuge for his king behind a wall of center pawns.
With both kings severely exposed and the second player’s heavy artillery quickly jumping to life, Kraai delivered a perpetual check to reach the peaceful result.
In the clash between GM Gregory Kaidanov and GM Vladimir Akopian, the duo demonstrated a masterclass on how to play the main line of the Slav, with Akopian castling queenside and Kaidanov settling his king safely on e2. A trade of queens and a mopping up of the remaining pawns led to a smooth draw: an impressive game of 98% accuracy on both sides.
The encounter between GM Melikset Khachiyan and IM Douglas Root also ended peacefully, as did GM Julio Becerra - GM Joel Benjamin, albeit with very different endgames. In the former, we saw two minor pieces against a rook, while the latter delivered a well-played pure rook endgame.
Girls’ Junior
In the Girls’ Junior, we saw an incredible display of persistence and stamina, with both decisive games being among the last to finish.
Certainly many eyes were on the battle of two New Yorkers: tournament leader Jasmine Su and WIM Iris Mou.
After a solid Caro-Kann from Mou, Su applied strong pressure on the light squares, posing a tough question for the second player: sacrifice an Exchange or allow a dangerous protected passed pawn. Mou chose the former, setting up a blockade in front of White’s d-pawn, but precise play by the first player tore open the position, after which Su had no problem converting the extra exchange. With this victory, Su extended her lead to a full point, the first-time invitee starting off the event with a strong 3½/4.
The second decisive game of the Girls’ featured a rare endgame featuring a rook against four (!) connected passed pawns. Beginning with a Jobava London, the clash between FM Rose Atwell and FM Zoey Tang seemed to be fizzling out to a draw after an early queen trade, but the extreme pawn majorities on each side promised some action.
With the bishop and more active rook, Tang applied persistent pressure, but Atwell resisted tenaciously, eventually shoving her c-pawn straight towards the finish line. The seventh-rank soldier allowed Atwell to emerge a rook up, and due to the proximity of her king, the chariot cleanly mopped up all four black pawns and secured her the victory. Moving up to a score of 2½/4, Atwell joins the chaser pack, albeit a full point behind Su.
This round also featured the showdown between the oldest and youngest in the field. WFM Yassamin Ehsani, who is 19, is a rising sophomore at the University of Chicago, while WFM Megan Paragua, at age 11, is a celebrated star on ChessKid.
The opposite-sided pawn storms built up the tension, but just as it seemed that Ehsani was crashing through on the queenside, Paragua settled things peacefully with a piece sacrifice and a perpetual check. With this draw, Ehsani stays in the chaser pack on 2½/4.
Also ending peacefully were WFM Rachael Li’s game against IM Alice Lee, and WFM Chloe Gaw’s game against WIM Omya Vidyarthi, with the players opting for the solid Petrov’s Defense and Exchange Slav, respectively.
Junior
With four decisive games today, this year’s Junior is shaping up to be the “bloodiest” tournament of the three, with more than half of the decisive results coming from this one section alone.
IM Justin Wang, who sat at a perfect 3/3 going into the round, faced off against IM Jason Wang with the white pieces.
Although Justin seized the bishop pair in the opening, Jason established a harmonious coordination along the long diagonal, condemning the first player’s “Catalan bishop” to passivity. Material was equal just moves before the end, but Jason’s active pieces soon netted him an extra piece and the game.
With this victory, Jason Wang, the defending National High School Champion, bounces back to an equal score of 2/4. Despite the loss, the Chess Connections magazine founder Justin Wang remains in the shared lead with 3/4.
The game between IM Brewington Hardaway and GM Balaji Daggupati was the so-called “hot potato” game as referred to by Yasser, and for good reason. Starting off with a dynamic pawn sacrifice in the Sicilian Sveshnikov, the game veered towards chaos as Daggupati first sacrificed an exchange to neutralize Hardaway’s dangerous passed pawn and later emerged with two pieces for a rook. With mutually unsafe kings, the engine coldly read “0.00,” but a slightly misplaced queen retreat cost the second player the game in just one move, allowing Hardaway to make a decisive pawn push and crash through with his attack. With this victory, the wildcard Hardaway jumps to sole chaser with 2½/4.
Another nail-biting encounter occurred between former Grand Prix winner IM Jason Liang and GM Arthur Guo, who will be joining me at Yale University this fall.
Opting for a French Defense, the duo buckled up for a fight after castling on opposite sides. Guo immediately started the pawn storm, but Liang’s b-file was already open, and his attack crashed through first. Doubling rooks and sacrificing an exchange forced Guo’s king into the open, and Liang delivered checkmate soon: just one move before his own king would have been checkmated by Guo’s queen-rook battery.
Also ending decisively was GM-Elect Andy Woodward’s victory over Nicholas Ladan. A peaceful London system was balanced for the first thirty moves, but Woodward took the driver’s seat after spotting a tactic to exploit the first player’s restricted rook and winning a pawn.
Though the resulting endgame was equal in material, the second player’s superior structure gave him a decisive advantage. Ladan defended stubbornly, but Woodward was able to convert the full point. With this win landing him on 3/4, Woodward joins the pack of leaders.
The game between the two top seeds of the event — GM Christopher Yoo and GM Andrew Hong — fizzled out to a draw after a central liquidation in the advance Caro-Kann led to mass trades and a balanced opposite colored bishops ending. With this draw, Yoo remains in the pack of leaders with 3/4.
With five rounds remaining, things are just heating up in the U.S. Junior, Girls’ Junior, and Senior championships.
Who will take the lead in the Juniors? Will Akopian maintain his lead in the Seniors, or will Christiansen close that gap? Will Su continue her streak of upsets?
And don’t count out last year’s winners GM Melikset Khachiyan and IM Alice Lee, who are still within striking range of the leaders. Play continues today 1:20 PM CDT, with the players taking a well-deserved day off on Sunday before resuming for round six on Monday, July 22.
Quick Links
Follow our coverage of the 2024 National Championships
Official Website
Replay all games on Chess.com: Senior / Girls' Junior / Junior
Follow live commentary with GM Yasser Seirawan, GM Christian Chirila, and IM Nazi Paikidze on Twitch or YouTube
Categories
Archives
- October 2024 (35)
- September 2024 (23)
- August 2024 (27)
- July 2024 (44)
- June 2024 (27)
- May 2024 (32)
- April 2024 (51)
- March 2024 (34)
- February 2024 (25)
- January 2024 (26)
- December 2023 (29)
- November 2023 (26)
- October 2023 (37)
- September 2023 (27)
- August 2023 (37)
- July 2023 (47)
- June 2023 (33)
- May 2023 (37)
- April 2023 (45)
- March 2023 (37)
- February 2023 (28)
- January 2023 (31)
- December 2022 (23)
- November 2022 (32)
- October 2022 (31)
- September 2022 (19)
- August 2022 (39)
- July 2022 (32)
- June 2022 (35)
- May 2022 (21)
- April 2022 (31)
- March 2022 (33)
- February 2022 (21)
- January 2022 (27)
- December 2021 (36)
- November 2021 (34)
- October 2021 (25)
- September 2021 (25)
- August 2021 (41)
- July 2021 (36)
- June 2021 (29)
- May 2021 (29)
- April 2021 (31)
- March 2021 (33)
- February 2021 (28)
- January 2021 (29)
- December 2020 (38)
- November 2020 (40)
- October 2020 (41)
- September 2020 (35)
- August 2020 (38)
- July 2020 (36)
- June 2020 (46)
- May 2020 (42)
- April 2020 (37)
- March 2020 (60)
- February 2020 (38)
- January 2020 (45)
- December 2019 (35)
- November 2019 (35)
- October 2019 (42)
- September 2019 (45)
- August 2019 (56)
- July 2019 (44)
- June 2019 (35)
- May 2019 (40)
- April 2019 (48)
- March 2019 (61)
- February 2019 (39)
- January 2019 (30)
- December 2018 (29)
- November 2018 (51)
- October 2018 (45)
- September 2018 (29)
- August 2018 (49)
- July 2018 (35)
- June 2018 (31)
- May 2018 (39)
- April 2018 (31)
- March 2018 (26)
- February 2018 (33)
- January 2018 (30)
- December 2017 (26)
- November 2017 (24)
- October 2017 (30)
- September 2017 (30)
- August 2017 (32)
- July 2017 (27)
- June 2017 (32)
- May 2017 (26)
- April 2017 (37)
- March 2017 (28)
- February 2017 (30)
- January 2017 (27)
- December 2016 (29)
- November 2016 (24)
- October 2016 (32)
- September 2016 (31)
- August 2016 (27)
- July 2016 (24)
- June 2016 (26)
- May 2016 (19)
- April 2016 (30)
- March 2016 (37)
- February 2016 (27)
- January 2016 (33)
- December 2015 (25)
- November 2015 (23)
- October 2015 (16)
- September 2015 (28)
- August 2015 (28)
- July 2015 (6)
- June 2015 (1)
- May 2015 (2)
- April 2015 (1)
- February 2015 (3)
- January 2015 (1)
- December 2014 (1)
- July 2010 (1)
- October 1991 (1)
- August 1989 (1)
- January 1988 (1)
- December 1983 (1)