Megan Lee, 22-year-old Maker, Wins U.S. Women's Open

Megan Lee, a 22-year-old designer & inventor based in the Seattle area, won the U.S. Women's Open with 4.5/5. Megan defeated the 2018 champion in her critical final round victory.

[pgn] [Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.06.13"] [Round "?"] [White "Saikhanchimeg, T."] [Black "Lee, Megan"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C54"] [PlyCount "114"] [SourceVersionDate "2019.06.13"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 a6 6. Nbd2 d6 7. Nf1 O-O 8. b4 Ba7 9. Bg5 Be6 10. Bb3 h6 11. Bh4 Re8 12. Ne3 Nb8 13. O-O Nbd7 14. Nf5 Nf8 15. Kh1 Ng6 16. Bc2 Bxf5 17. exf5 Nxh4 18. Nxh4 Nd5 19. Qh5 Nxc3 20. Bb3 d5 21. Rac1 Bd4 22. Rc2 Qg5 23. Qxg5 hxg5 24. Nf3 g4 25. Ng5 c6 26. f3 gxf3 27. Rxf3 e4 28. dxe4 Nxe4 29. Nxe4 Rxe4 30. Rf1 Rae8 31. g3 Re2 32. Rfc1 Bb2 33. Rb1 Ba3 34. Ba4 Rxc2 35. Bxc2 Re2 36. Bb3 Rf2 37. Re1 Kf8 38. g4 Bxb4 39. Rb1 Bd6 40. Kg1 Rxh2 41. Rd1 Rh4 42. Kf2 Rxg4 43. Bc2 Rh4 44. Ke3 Rh3+ 45. Ke2 Rh2+ 46. Kd3 c5 47. Re1 c4+ 48. Kc3 d4+ 49. Kxc4 Rxc2+ 50. Kd5 Bb4 51. Rb1 Rc5+ 52. Kd6 Rb5+ 53. Kd7 d3 54. f6 gxf6 55. a3 Bxa3 56. Rh1 Rd5+ 57. Kc7 d2 0-1[/pgn]

Megan Lee in her final round game against Saikhanchimeg Tsogtsaikhan, Photo Tim Hanks

Megan was raised in Bellevue, WA, attended college at the Rhode Island School of Design, and has since moved back to the Seattle area. Her portfolio shows a stunning diversity of projects, from photography to chair design to comics. Right after Megan posed for her victory photos at the U.S. Women's Open, she jumped into her first round at the National Open. Look for Megan in an upcoming edition of Ladies Knight, where she talks about designing a chess set, what it means to be a "maker", her favorite variants, and her toughest games at the U.S. Women's Open. Find full standings of the U.S. Women's Open here.

WGM Carla Heredia, Joanna Liu and Nadiia Salakh all tied for second place with 4/5.

https://twitter.com/HerediaCarla/status/1139001427676651520 As the U.S. Women's Open ended, the National Open began. Follow the nine-round tournament chock full of top Grandmasters on the official site, follow chess, and with newsletters by NTD David Hater, featuring photography by Tim Hanks.