Junior and Senior Championships Round 8: Woodward Makes His Move

Woodward Catches Mishra as Other Leaders Hold On

This year’s Junior and Senior champions will be crowned today in St. Louis. Unless, of course, there’s a tie for first, in which case playoffs will take place tomorrow. But three of the four events boast clear leaders headed into the final day of action. Here’s how Wednesday’s games shaped today’s standings:

Senior Championship: Onischuk Catches Fishbein, Trails Akopian

GM Vladimir Akopian still leads the U.S. Senior Championship, but GM Alexander Onischuk cut the margin to a half-point with his win yesterday against IM Stuart Rachels.

Alexander Onischuk won a complex game against Stuart Rachels to move into a tie for second entering the final round of the U.S. Senior Championship. (Photo courtesy SLCC/Lennart Ootes)

After an opening mishap, Onischuk raced out to a clear advantage. The position remained complicated, however, with Rachels having some chances to neutralize. But, in the end, Onischuk brought home the full point.

Photo courtesy SLCC/Lennart Ootes.

Graphic courtesy of SLCC.

Fishbein entered the round a half-point ahead of Onischuk, but after drawing his game, he is now in joint second. Akopian has the black pieces against GM Jesse Kraai, while Fishbein has white against Onischuk.

A winner in Fishbein – Onischuk and an Akopian draw would produce a tie for first. Akopian can win the tournament with a win today. The only way for a three-way tie would be an Akopian loss and a draw in Fishbein – Onischuk.

Senior Women’s Championship: Belakovskaia Gives It Her All

WGM Anjelina Belakovskaia held onto her full point lead over WFM Natalya Tsodikova yesterday by grinding down WIM Alexey Root in a tense rook-versus-bishop endgame that will be the star of a future Wednesday Workout.

Meanwhile, Tsodikova kept hope of a playoff alive by extinguishing WFM Olga Sagalchik’s chances of catching the leader:

WFM Chouchanik Airapetian’s instructive win over WFM Ivona Jezierska moved her up to third in the standings.

Graphic courtesy of SLCC.

Belakovskaia clinches her second U.S. Senior Championship today with a draw against Sagalchik. Tsodikova’s only chance of a playoff comes if she defeats Airapetian and Belakovskaia loses.

Junior Championship: Woodward Catches Mishra, Adewumi Falls Short

With his fifth draw, GM Abhimanyu Mishra gave GM Andy Woodward and IM Tanitoluwa Adewumi yet another chance to catch up to the leader.

Brewington Hardaway (L) lost a tense game against Andy Woodward, moving the latter into a share of first place. (Photo courtesy SLCC/Lennart Ootes)

Against GM Brewington Hardaway, Woodward took advantage of one inaccuracy to take over as Black and join Mishra in a tie for first:

We're starting to see the resemblance! (Photo courtesy SLCC/Lennart Ootes)

While Mishra and Woodward each had the black pieces, Adewumi was White against IM Alice Lee, giving him better on-paper chances of scoring a victory.

The smile of a player who knows he is about to give it his all. (Photo courtesy SLCC/Lennart Ootes)

Adewumi took a direct approach, going for an attack out of the gates. But Lee defended very well, and Adewumi ultimately failed to find the right time to cut his losses and settle for a clever forced draw:

After a slow start, Lee has reached an even score and is tied for fourth place.

It was a hard day of work for Alice Lee, but she certainly earned the victory! (Photo courtesy SLCC/Lennart Ootes)

Graphic courtesy of SLCC.

Today, Woodward and Mishra each have the white pieces (against GM Kirk Ghazarian and IM Bach Ngo, respectively). Even after yesterday’s loss, Adewumi still has a theoretical chance of tying for first if he defeats IM Evan Park as Black and both Woodward and Mishra lose.

Girls’ Junior Championship: Tang Keeps Hope Alive For Li

WGM Zoey Tang has not quite clinched her second consecutive U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship.

Tang Su — Zoey Tang is now one draw away from her second consecutive title. (Photos courtesy SLCC/Lennart Ootes)

Against FM Jasmine Su, Tang had winning chances, but they were quite subtle:

The draw eliminated Su from the race for first place. But WIM Rachael Li’s win against WFM Aimee Yang, anchored by a stellar and correct piece sacrifice, closed the gap with Tang to one point:

Graphic courtesy of SLCC.

Tang clinches the victory with a draw as Black against WIM Chloe Gaw. But a Tang loss and a Li win against CM Irene Jiao Fei would force a playoff.

As always, this reporter has conflicted feelings about the last round. As a fan of chess, I want to see as much chess as possible, so bring on the playoffs! But not having to write a report on Saturday morning sounds nice, too.

As a compromise, I’ve decided that I would like to see all sections end with a clear winner today. But, if any section ends with a tie for first, I hope the rest end up with ties, too!