Leaders to Clash in Round 6 of Juniors, Girls, Seniors Championships

With yesterday’s rest day under their belts, it’s back to business at the 2019 U.S. Junior, Girls, and Senior Championships. Today’s Round 6 features key matchups between leaders in all three Championships: Checa-Liang in the Junior, Yip-Wu in the Girls, and Goldin-Shabalov in the Senior. Suffice to say that today’s games may go some distance in determining the eventual winners of each event. Here’s a look back at Monday’s fifth round. JUNIOR

Nicolas Checa won a heavy-duty theoretical battle in victory over Craig Hilby. After Hilby deviated from a Wang Hao game with 15. Rxa7, Checa’s 15. … Qxd4 led to a better endgame and a smooth win.

[pgn] [Event "2019 U.S. Junior Championship"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.07.15"] [Round "5.3"] [White "Hilby, Craig"] [Black "Checa, Nicolas"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E10"] [Annotator "Hartmann,John"] [PlyCount "82"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Bb4+ 5. Nbd2 dxc4 6. Bg2 b5 7. O-O O-O 8. a4 c6 9. axb5 cxb5 10. Ng5 Nd5 11. e4 Nc7 12. Nxh7 Kxh7 13. e5 g6 $5 (13... Rh8 14. Bxa8 Nxa8 15. Rxa7 Nc7 16. Ne4 Qd7 17. Qg4 Bf8 18. Nf6+ gxf6 19. Rxc7 Qxc7 20. exf6 Nd7 21. Qe4+ {1/2-1/2 (26) Woellermann,J (2384)-Lubbe,N (2515) Douglas 2017}) 14. Bxa8 Nxa8 15. Rxa7 $6 (15. Qf3 Nc7 16. Ne4 Be7 17. Rxa7 Nd5 18. Bg5 Nc6 19. Rxe7 Ncxe7 {0-1 (28) Bai,J (2594)-Wang,H (2710) Tianjin 2018}) 15... Qxd4 16. Rxa8 ({Checa spent the bulk of his time calculating} 16. Qf3 Qxa7 17. Ne4 {(looking to mate Black) but the attack doesn't work out.}) 16... Bb7 17. Ra1 Rd8 ({If} 17... Bc5 $2 18. Nf3 Qxd1 19. Ng5+ $1) (17... Nd7 $2 18. Nf3 {is similar}) 18. Qe2 Bxd2 19. Rd1 Qd5 20. f3 Nc6 (20... Qc5+ $1 {followed by Rd3 would be cleaner (Checa)}) 21. Rxd2 Nd4 22. Rxd4 ({Better is} 22. Kf2 Nxe2 23. Rxd5 Rxd5 24. Kxe2 Rxe5+ {when Checa thought that Black had good winning chances.}) 22... Qxd4+ 23. Kg2 Qd1 24. Qxd1 Rxd1 25. Kf2 Bd5 26. h4 b4 27. Ke2 Rh1 28. Kf2 Kg8 29. Ke2 Kh7 30. Kf2 b3 $1 31. Ke3 (31. Kg2 {loses to} Rd1 32. Kf2 c3 $1 33. bxc3 b2 34. Bxb2 Rd2+) 31... Rf1 32. Kd4 Rxf3 33. Bg5 Rd3+ 34. Kc5 c3 35. bxc3 Rxc3+ 36. Kd4 Rxg3 37. Bf6 Kh6 {"Once my king is out, it's much simpler for Black." (Checa)} 38. Rf1 Rg2 39. Kc3 Rc2+ 40. Kb4 Kh5 41. Bg5 Re2 0-1 [/pgn]

Checa leads the field by half a point at 4.5/5. Hot on his heels are Awonder Liang and Joshua Sheng, both with 4 points after five rounds. Liang defeated Hans Niemann after Niemann “invited the vampire to the wedding,” as Jesse Kraai memorably put it, and suddenly found himself checkmated.

[pgn] [Event "2019 U.S. Junior Championship"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.07.15"] [Round "5.4"] [White "Liang, Awonder"] [Black "Niemann, Hans Moke"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B30"] [Annotator "Hartmann,John"] [PlyCount "47"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 e6 4. Bxc6 (4. O-O) 4... bxc6 5. d3 Ne7 6. Qe2 { with the idea of e4-d5} d6 7. O-O e5 8. c3 $5 {The start of an interesting plan, aiming for d3-d4, when Liang thought that the e7-knight was misplaced.} Ba6 9. Rd1 g6 10. Qc2 Bg7 11. d4 cxd4 12. cxd4 exd4 13. Nxd4 Bb7 14. Bf4 O-O 15. Nb3 Nc8 $5 16. Nc3 Qf6 17. Qd2 a5 18. a4 ({After} 18. Na4 {Liang was worried about} Ba6 (18... c5 $5) 19. Bxd6 Nxd6 20. Qxd6 Qxd6 21. Rxd6 Bb5 $13) 18... Qe6 19. Nd4 (19. Ra3 Be5) 19... Qe7 20. Bh6 Bxh6 $6 {"You shouldn't invite the vampire to the wedding!" (Kraai)} 21. Qxh6 Nb6 22. Rd3 Qe5 $2 ({If} 22... f6 23. Rg3 Nc4 24. Nf5 Qd7 25. Rd1 $18) 23. Nf5 $1 f6 $4 (23... gxf5 24. f4 $1 (24. Rg3+ $2 Kh8 25. f4 Qd4+ {and Black still controls the dark squares}) 24... Qc5+ 25. Kh1 $18) (23... Qh8 $4 24. Ne7#) 24. Qg7# 1-0 [/pgn]

Meanwhile Sheng earned his fourth point of the tournament, winning a complex game against John Michael Burke.

[pgn] [Event "2019 U.S. Junior Championship"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.07.15"] [Round "5.5"] [White "Sheng, Joshua"] [Black "Burke, John Michael"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A11"] [Annotator "Hartmann,John"] [PlyCount "77"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. c4 c6 2. Nf3 g6 3. d4 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. h3 Nf6 6. Nc3 O-O 7. Bd3 Na6 8. Be3 e5 9. d5 Nh5 10. g3 cxd5 11. cxd5 Bd7 12. Nd2 Nb4 13. Bb1 b5 14. a3 Na6 15. Bd3 b4 16. Bxa6 bxc3 17. bxc3 Qa5 18. Be2 Qxc3 19. Rc1 Qxa3 20. Nc4 Qb4+ 21. Bd2 Qb8 22. Rb1 Qd8 23. Nxd6 Qf6 24. Nb7 Rfb8 25. Ba5 $1 Bf8 ({with the idea of} 25... Bc8 26. Bd8 $1) 26. Qc2 Rc8 27. Qd3 Rab8 28. Bg4 Rxb7 $1 29. Rxb7 Bxg4 30. hxg4 Rc1+ 31. Ke2 Nxg3+ (31... Rxh1 32. gxh5 Bc5 33. Be1 {"probably close to equal" (Sheng)}) 32. Qxg3 Rxh1 33. Rxa7 $1 Bc5 $2 34. Ra8+ Kg7 35. Bc7 Bd4 36. g5 Qf4 37. Qxf4 exf4 38. d6 Be5 39. Re8 1-0 [/pgn]

It was an all-action round in the Junior, with all five games ending decisively. Andrew Tang navigated a tricky king and pawn ending to defeat Brandon Jacobson, while Jennfier Yu continued to suffer a difficult event, losing to Atulya Vaidya. Today’s pairings: Vaidya (2) – Burke (2), Niemann (2.5) – Sheng (4), Checa (4.5) – Liang (4), Jacobson (3) – Hilby (1), Yu (0) – Tang (2). GIRLS

Rochelle Wu’s magic continues to hold strong, as she was gifted a draw in her game against tailender Rachael Li. Li’s King’s Indian proved a wiley choice by the 9-year-old phenom, and she found herself in a winning position after Wu’s erroneous rook sac on move 25. Perhaps dazzled by Wu’s position in the tournament, or just wanting to make sure that she got on the scoreboard, Li passed up a winning continuation and offered a draw that Wu gladly accepted.

[pgn] [Event "2019 U.S. Girls Championship"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.07.15"] [Round "5.2"] [White "Wu, Rochelle"] [Black "Li, Rachael"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E81"] [Annotator "Hartmann,John"] [PlyCount "68"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. f3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nc3 O-O 6. Be3 c5 7. Nge2 Nbd7 8. d5 Ne5 9. Ng3 e6 10. a4 exd5 11. cxd5 a6 12. Be2 Bd7 13. h3 b5 14. f4 Nc4 (14... b4 $5 15. Nb1 Nxd5 16. exd5 Qh4 17. Bf2 Qxf4 18. O-O {and White is better.}) 15. Bxc4 bxc4 16. O-O Qe7 17. Qe2 (17. Qd2 {keeps e2 clear for the Ng3.}) 17... Rfb8 18. Rae1 h5 19. Bc1 $6 (19. e5 $5 {Meeting a flank advance with central break!} Ne8 (19... dxe5 20. d6 Qxd6 21. Rd1 Qc6 22. fxe5 $16) 20. e6 $1 fxe6 ( 20... Bc8 21. f5 $3) 21. dxe6 Bxe6 22. f5 Bxf5 23. Nxf5 gxf5 24. Nd5 $18) 19... h4 20. Nh1 Nh5 21. e5 Bf5 {...Bd3 is a huge threat now.} 22. Rf3 Re8 23. Nf2 dxe5 24. fxe5 Bxe5 25. Rxf5 $2 (25. Re3 Ng3 26. Qxc4 {is fairly level, although there's a lot of fight left in the position.}) 25... gxf5 26. Qxh5 Bh2+ $1 {White is busted.} 27. Kxh2 Qd6+ 28. Re5 Qxe5+ 29. Kh1 Qe1+ 30. Kh2 Qe5+ 31. Kh1 Qe1+ 32. Kh2 Qxc1 $1 (32... Qe5+ {draws by repetition.}) 33. Qxf5 Qe3 (33... Qh6 $1 {threatens ...Qd6+, and White remains in very big trouble.}) 34. Nfe4 Kf8 ({Li said that she was worried about a line like} 34... Kf8 35. d6 Qd4 36. Qh7 {but Black can handle all the threats without difficulty. Still, at 0/4 going into the round, Li's decision is understandable.}) 1/2-1/2 [/pgn]

At 4.5/5, Wu is trailed by Carissa Yip (4/5) and Emily Nguyen (3.5/5). Yip drew against Thalia Cervantes, while Nguyen worked her way up the leader board with a strong positional win over Veronika Zilajeva.

[pgn] [Event "2019 U.S. Girls Championship"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.07.15"] [Round "5.5"] [White "Nguyen, Emily"] [Black "Zilajeva, Veronika"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D37"] [Annotator "Hartmann,John"] [PlyCount "107"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 b6 7. Rc1 c5 8. dxc5 Bxc5 9. cxd5 exd5 10. Be2 Bg4 11. Bg5 Be6 12. Nd4 Bxd4 $5 {Controversial, giving White the bishop pair and trading pieces.} 13. Qxd4 Nc6 14. Qa4 { White has a good position against the IQP.} Ne5 15. O-O h6 16. Bh4 Ng6 17. Bg3 a6 18. Rfd1 b5 19. Qb4 Rc8 20. a4 Qb6 21. axb5 a5 22. Qd4 $18 Nd7 23. Ra1 Qxd4 24. Rxd4 Nc5 25. Bd1 Ne7 26. Bd6 Rfe8 27. Bxe7 Rxe7 28. Nxd5 Bxd5 29. Rxd5 a4 30. Rc1 Rec7 31. b6 Rc6 32. Bg4 (32. Rcxc5 Rxc5 33. b7 $1 {is a nice find by the computer.}) 32... Nb7 33. Ra1 Ra8 (33... Rb8 $5 34. Rxa4 Rxb6 {"and she [Zilajeva] has chances to defend."}) 34. Rb5 Ra6 35. Bf3 $1 {A nice tactical nuance.} Rcxb6 36. Bxb7 Rxb5 37. Bxa6 Rxb2 38. Rxa4 Rb1+ 39. Bf1 g6 40. g3 Kg7 41. Ra7 Rc1 42. Kg2 Rc3 43. Bb5 Rc8 44. Bd7 Rf8 45. Be6 g5 46. Rxf7+ Rxf7 47. Bxf7 Kxf7 48. g4 Kf6 49. f4 gxf4 50. exf4 Kg6 51. Kf3 Kf6 52. h4 Kg6 53. Ke4 Kf6 54. g5+ 1-0 [/pgn]

In other results, Rui Yang Yan, who has to be considered one of the surprises of of the tournament thus far, won against Martha Samadashvili, while Maggie Feng and Agata Bykovtsev drew. Today’s pairings: Cervantes (2.5) – Zilajeva (1), Bykovtsev (1.5) – Nguyen (3.5), Yan (3) – Feng (2), Li (0.5) – Samadashvili (2.5), Yip (4) – Wu (4.5). SENIOR

While he admitted to mixing up his move orders in the opening, Alex Goldin nevertheless earned the full point in his game with Alex Fishbein. The win gave Goldin a share of first place after Alex Shabalov could only draw with Larry Christiansen.

[pgn] [Event "2019 U.S. Senior Championship"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.07.15"] [Round "5.2"] [White "Fishbein, Alexander"] [Black "Goldin, Alexander"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C60"] [Annotator "Hartmann,John"] [PlyCount "66"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. O-O Bg7 5. c3 d6 (5... a6) 6. d4 Bd7 7. Re1 a6 8. Bc4 b5 9. Bd5 Nge7 10. dxe5 dxe5 11. Be3 (11. a4 {and if} O-O $2 (11... Rb8 $142 12. axb5 axb5 13. Bb3 O-O 14. Bg5 {is "very unpleasant" for Black. (Goldin)}) 12. axb5 axb5 13. Rxa8 Qxa8 14. Bxf7+ Rxf7 15. Qxd7) 11... Nxd5 12. exd5 Ne7 13. Bc5 f6 14. Qb3 Bg4 (14... O-O $4 15. d6+) 15. c4 $6 (15. Rd1 { "is just solid;" Goldin said he probably would have played} Bxf3 16. gxf3 Nf5 { and ..Nd6}) 15... bxc4 16. Qa3 {Too aggressive.} (16. Qxc4 Bxf3 17. gxf3 Qxd5 $15) 16... Nxd5 17. Nc3 Nxc3 18. Qxc3 Qd5 $19 19. Qa3 Rd8 20. Nd4 Kf7 21. Ne2 Qc6 22. Nc3 Rd3 23. Qa5 Rb8 24. Ba3 Bh6 25. Qa4 Qxa4 26. Nxa4 a5 27. Re4 Rd4 28. Rae1 Bf5 29. Rxd4 exd4 30. Re7+ Kg8 31. Rxc7 c3 $1 32. g4 (32. bxc3 $4 Rb1+ ) 32... c2 33. gxf5 d3 0-1 [/pgn]

Igor Novikov had the other win of the day in the Senior Championship, defeating former US Chess President Max Dlugy in a razor-sharp line of the London.

[pgn] [Event "2019 U.S. Senior Championship"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.07.15"] [Round "5.5"] [White "Dlugy, Maxim"] [Black "Novikov, Igor"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D00"] [Annotator "Hartmann,John"] [PlyCount "76"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. d4 d5 2. Bf4 Nf6 3. e3 c5 4. dxc5 e6 5. b4 a5 6. c3 Bd7 7. Nd2 axb4 8. cxb4 b6 9. cxb6 Bxb4 10. Bc7 Qe7 (10... Qc8) 11. Ngf3 (11. b7 $5 Ra3 12. Bxb8 Ba4 $44 {Novikov}) 11... Ba4 12. Qxa4+ (12. Qc1) (12. Qb1) 12... Rxa4 13. Bb5+ Nfd7 (13... Kf8 {was Novikov's preparation, but he couldn't remember his analysis, and so played the game continuation.}) 14. Bxa4 {"Dangerous for both sides." (Novikov)} O-O 15. Bxd7 Qxd7 16. a4 $5 {"The only move to play for a win."} Na6 17. Ne5 Qe7 18. Nc6 Qc5 (18... Qf6 {and if} 19. Be5 Bxd2+ 20. Ke2 Qh4 $19) 19. Nxb4 Qxb4 20. Rb1 Qa5 21. Bd6 (21. Bg3 $5) 21... Rd8 22. Bg3 (22. Be7 Rb8 ( 22... Rd7 23. b7 Nb8 {is very unclear}) 23. Ke2 Rxb6 24. Rhc1 $1 {and White is still fighting.}) 22... d4 23. e4 e5 24. b7 f6 25. f4 Rb8 26. fxe5 fxe5 27. O-O Qxd2 28. Bxe5 Rf8 $1 29. Rfd1 Qe3+ 30. Kh1 d3 31. Bd6 Rf2 32. Bg3 Re2 33. b8=Q+ Nxb8 34. Rxb8+ Kf7 35. Rg1 Qxe4 36. a5 d2 37. Rd8 Ke7 38. Rd6 Qe3 0-1 [/pgn]

The round’s remaining games – Yermolinsky-Ehlvest and Kaidanov-Benjamin – were drawn. Today’s pairings: Ehlvest (2.5) – Novikov (2.5), Benjamin (2.5) – Dlugy (1), Christiansen (3) – Kaidanov (2.5), Goldin (3.5) – Shabalov (3.5), Yermolinsky (2)  - Fishbein (2).

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The 2019 Junior, Girls, and Senior Championships will be contested daily from July 10th-20th at the Saint Louis Chess Club, with a rest day on July 16th. Rounds start at 1pm CDT, except for July 20th, when play begins at 11am. US Junior/Senior/Girls Quick Links:  Official STL Chess Club YouTube Live on uschesschamps.com  Pairings & Results US Junior Pairings & Results US Senior Pairings & Results US Girls  Winners of the US Junior Championship and US Junior Girls Championship will be awarded a $10,000 scholarship to be used at the institution of his or her choice. The scholarship is generously jointly funded by the Dewain Barber Foundation and US Chess.