Jessica Lauser is U.S. Blind Champion, First Woman to Capture Title

Left to right: V. Alverson (with Elijah); R. Kownacki (volunteer); J. Homme; S. De Joseph; A. Pietrolungo; J. Lauser; B. Leverett (volunteer); D. Rosenkoetter; A. Rosenkoetter (volunteer); A. Relyea (tournament director). Photo Nita Patel

Jessica Lauser of Kentucky won this year’s U.S. Blind Championship, becoming the first woman to earn the title. Jessica finished with a 4-0 score, including a 500-point rating upset over US Chess Expert Stephen De Joseph.

[pgn][Event "2018 U.S. Blind Championship"]
[Site "Pittsburgh, PA"]
[Date "2018.10.20"]
[White "Lauser, Jessica"]
[Black "De Joseph, Stephen"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B50"]
[WhiteElo "1643"]
[BlackElo "2120"]
[PlyCount "79"]
[EventDate "2018.10.20"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "4"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceVersionDate "2018.10.20"]

1. e4 c5 2. c3 d6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. d3 g6 5. Be2 Bg7 6. h3 O-O 7. O-O Nc6 8. Nbd2
Nh5 9. Nc4 b5 10. Ne3 Nf4 11. Nd5 Nxe2+ 12. Qxe2 e6 13. Ne3 d5 14. Nc2 d4 15.
Bd2 e5 16. a4 Ba6 17. axb5 Bxb5 18. c4 Bxc4 19. Na3 Bb3 20. Rfc1 Qb6 21. Ne1
Rfc8 22. f4 exf4 23. Bxf4 Ne5 24. Nf3 f6 25. Nd2 Qe6 26. Nac4 Bxc4 27. Nxc4 Nf7
28. Qd2 g5 29. Bg3 h5 30. Rf1 h4 31. Bh2 Rc6 32. b4 cxb4 33. Qxb4 Qc8 34. Rf5
Bf8 35. Qb3 Kg7 36. Raf1 Be7 37. e5 Qd7 38. exf6+ Bxf6 39. Be5 Nxe5 40. Nxe5
1-0 [/pgn]

De Joseph, returning to rated chess after a 7-year hiatus, was also snagged for a draw by 2015 champion Al Pietrolungo; the two tied for second.

[pgn][Event "2018 U.S. Blind Championship"]
[Site "Pittsburgh, PA"]
[Date "2018.10.21"]
[White "Pietrolungo, Albert"]
[Black "De Joseph, Stephen"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D05"]
[WhiteElo "1415"]
[BlackElo "2120"]
[PlyCount "142"]
[EventDate "2018.10.20"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "4"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceVersionDate "2018.10.20"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. e3 e6 4. Bd3 Bd6 5. Nbd2 O-O 6. O-O Nbd7 7. Re1 c5 8. c3
Qc7 9. e4 dxe4 10. Nxe4 Nxe4 11. Bxe4 Nf6 12. dxc5 Bxc5 13. Bc2 Bd7 14. Be3
Rad8 15. Qe2 Bxe3 16. Qxe3 Qb6 17. Qxb6 axb6 18. Rad1 Bc6 19. Rxd8 Rxd8 20. Nd4
Kf8 21. f3 h6 22. Nb3 Ba4 23. Rd1 Rxd1+ 24. Bxd1 Ke7 25. Kf2 Nd5 26. Bc2 Kd6
27. Be4 Bxb3 28. axb3 f5 29. Bxd5 $2 Kxd5 30. Ke3 e5 31. g3 g5 32. h3 b5 33. g4
e4 34. gxf5 exf3 35. Kxf3 h5 36. f6 Ke6 37. f7 Kxf7 38. c4 b6 39. Ke4 Kg6 40.
cxb5 Kf6 41. b4 Ke6 42. b3 Kf6 43. Kf3 Ke5 44. Ke3 Kd5 45. Kd3 Ke5 46. Ke3 Kf5
47. Kf3 h4 48. Kg2 $2 g4 49. hxg4+ Kxg4 50. Kh2 h3 51. Kh1 Kf3 52. Kh2 Ke3 53.
Kxh3 Kd3 54. Kg3 Kc3 55. Kf3 Kxb3 56. Ke3 Kxb4 57. Kd3 Kxb5 58. Kc3 Ka4 59. Kb2
b5 60. Ka2 b4 61. Kb2 b3 62. Kb1 Kb4 63. Kb2 Kc4 64. Kb1 Kb5 65. Kb2 Ka4 66.
Kb1 Ka3 67. Ka1 Kb4 68. Kb2 Kc4 69. Kb1 Kc3 70. Kc1 b2+ 71. Kb1 Kb3 1/2-1/2

[/pgn]

De Joseph seemed to have found the path to win after Pietrolungo mistakenly traded down to a bad king-and-pawn.

De Joseph vs. Lauser, round 2 (J. Karras assisting), Photo Nita Patel

The games among the top three finishers were interesting and hard-fought. Lauser emerged from the opening with worse positions against both De Joseph and Pietrolungo, but by plain tenacity, regained her footing; it’s not easy even to pinpoint where her opponents went wrong.

[pgn]

[Event "2018 U.S. Blind Championship"]
[Site "Pittsburgh, PA"]
[Date "2018.10.21"]
[White "Pietrolungo, Albert"]
[Black "Lauser, Jessica"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A10"]
[WhiteElo "1415"]
[BlackElo "1643"]
[PlyCount "112"]
[EventDate "2018.10.20"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "4"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceVersionDate "2018.10.20"]

1. c4 d6 2. Nc3 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. g3 Qc7 5. Bg2 g6 6. O-O Bg7 7. d3 e5 8. Bd2
O-O 9. Qc1 Re8 10. Bh6 Bh8 11. e4 Nbd7 12. b4 Nf8 13. Bxf8 Rxf8 14. Re1 Bd7 15.
a4 a5 16. b5 Rfc8 17. Ne2 c5 18. Qd2 b6 19. Nc3 Be6 20. Qe2 h6 21. Qf1 Re8 22.
Bh3 Qd7 23. Bxe6 fxe6 24. Rac1 Rad8 25. Qh3 Bg7 26. Qf1 Qf7 27. Nd2 d5 28. cxd5
exd5 29. f3 d4 30. Nd1 Qa2 31. Nc4 Qxa4 32. Re2 Qxb5 33. Rb2 Qd7 34. Rxb6 Re6
35. Rxe6 Qxe6 36. Ra1 g5 37. Rxa5 Nd7 38. Ra2 Rf8 39. Rf2 Ra8 40. Ndb2 Ra2 41.
Kg2 Qa6 42. Qd1 h5 43. Qb3 Kh7 44. h3 h4 45. g4 Nf8 46. Nd6 Ng6 47. Qc4 Qxd6
48. Qxa2 Qf6 49. Qa5 Qf4 50. Qd2 Qg3+ 51. Kf1 Nf4 52. Nc4 Nxh3 53. Ke1 Ng1 54.
Qd1 h3 55. Nd6 h2 56. Nf5 Qf4 0-1

[/pgn]

Jessica told CLO that she was thrilled to become the first woman to capture this National title, but in the spirit of a champion, is already planning her next steps. "I am to begin training, soon, in preparation for next year’s blind world championship, at which my success, here, has officially, earned me a place. I’ll be the first American woman to ever take part in that event, if I can raise enough money to go, and my ultimate plan remains to become the first blind women’s master in the United States."