Fireworks Continue in Round Four of U.S. Junior, Girls’, and Senior Championships

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.

Jason Wang (pictured) upset Justin Wang, ending the latter's hopes of a perfect score (Photo courtesy Lennart Ootes/SLCC)

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.

Larry Christiansen, pictured here against Akopian, is still within striking distance (Photo courtesy Lennart Ootes/SLCC)

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.

Jesse Kraai, pictured here in his third-round game, came close to scoring his second victory today (Photo courtesy Crystal Fuller/SLCC)

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.

Jasmine Su extended her lead to a full point with her fourth-round victory (Photo courtesy Lennart Ootes/SLCC)

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.

Rose Atwell discusses a remarkably imbalanced endgame with Zoey Tang (Photo courtesy Lennart Ootes/SLCC)

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.

Jason Wang got back to an even score with his victory over Justin Wang (Photo courtesy Lennart Ootes/SLCC)

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.

With this victory, Brewington Hardaway now sits a half-point behind the leaders (Photo courtesy Lennart Ootes/SLCC)

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.

Andy Woodward, pictured here in round three, joined the three-way tie for first with his latest victory (Photo courtesy Crystal Fuller/SLCC)

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.

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