Natalya Tsodikova Wins 2024 U.S. Senior Women's Championship With Round To Spare

Tsodikova Wins 2024 U.S. Senior Women’s Championship

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Natalya Tsodikova is the 2024 U.S. Senior Women's Champion (Photo by Whitney Arave)

At the end of round 4, with a perfect 4/4 score, WFM Natalya Tsodikova clinched the 2024 U.S. Senior Women’s Championship. A point-and-a-half ahead of the field, she could have lost her fifth round and still taken clear first. Instead, she drew against WIM Beatriz Marinello to finish with 4½/5. Here is her fourth-round win over WFM Olga Sagalchik, with annotations by JJ Lang:

Helpful to Tsodikova’s quest for clear first place was the fourth-round draw between her nearest rivals, Marinello and WGM Anjelina Belakovskaia. The championship’s time control was game in 90 minutes plus a 30-second increment. Increment time controls enable players to add time to their clocks by moving quickly. Here is the endgame, with brief notes by JJ:

Their game began at 10 a.m. and ended just before 3:20 p.m., which delayed the start of round 5 from 3:00 p.m., its scheduled time, to 3:40 p.m. Belakovskaia and Marinello had about 20 minutes to eat their share of the lunches Maureen Grimaud brought from Harmons.

Results

Going into round 5, Marinello, Belakovskaia, and WCM Mary Kuhner were all tied for second with 2½/4. Belakovskaia and Kuhner won against Brenda Nardi and WIM Shernaz Kennedy, respectively. Thus, Belakovskaia and Kuhner finished with 3½/5 to tie for second place. They each won $1,500 for their split of the second- and third-place prizes. 

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WGM Anjelina Belakovskaia (R) and WCM Mary Kuhner (second-to-right) tied for second place, and are pictured here with IA Karen Pennock (L) and US Chess Women's Committee Co-Chair Maureen Grimaud (Photo by Whitney Arave)

Below are the key moments from Kuhner's fourth-round win over Jayashree Sekar and Belakovskaia's last-round win over Nardi, with annotations again by JJ:

As mentioned, Marinello drew her last round against Tsodikova. Marinello finished with 3/5, as did WFM Olga Sagalchik, putting them in a tie for fourth and fifth places which meant $500 each.

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WFM Olga Sagalchik (L) and WIM Beatriz Marinello (R) tied for fourth (Photo by Whitney Arave)

Finishing in sixth through tenth places were Brenda Nardi, WIM Shernaz Kennedy, Jayashree Sekar, WCM Natasha Christiansen, and me (WIM Alexey Root). These five players earned $80 each for scoring 2/5. 

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The five players tied for sixth, from left: Jayashree Sekar, WCM Natasha Christiansen, WIM Alexey Root, Pennock, Grimaud, Brenda Nardi, and WIM Shernaz Kennedy (Photo by Whitney Arave)

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Final standings, with tiebreaks included

Top Player

For winning her first national title, Tsodikova earned $4,000. She also got a trophy, courtesy of David Day and the Utah Chess Association. Becoming a national champion is the most recent accomplishment for this top player. In both the 1995 and 1996 U.S. Women’s Championships, Tsodikova finished in two-way ties for fourth place.

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Photo by Whitney Arave

Before the pandemic, Tsodikova played often at the Mechanics’ Institute. One of her notable results was sharing first place in a strong, and exceptionally large, Tuesday Night Marathon. As IM John Donaldson reported in 2016, “It broke its all-time attendance record on February 24, with 132 players participating in the recently concluded eight round Winter Tuesday Night Marathon. The tournament ended in a five-way tie for first between International Master Elliott Winslow, FIDE Master James Critelli and National Masters Natalia Tsodikova, Tenzing Shaw and Josiah Stearman.” Since then, Stearman has become an IM. (Editor’s note: Tsodikova is registered with US Chess as “Natalia” but, as the author learned over the weekend, she prefers the legal spelling of her name, which is “Natalya.”)

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Tsodikova in action during her first-round game (Photo by Whitney Arave)

In 2023, with the advent of opportunities specifically for USA women ages 50+, such as the U.S. Senior Women’s Championships and US Chess sponsoring senior women’s teams for the World Senior Team Chess Championships, Tsodikova returned to US Chess events.

Upset Prize Winners

As previously reported, Jayashree Sekar earned upset prizes for winning her round 1 and round 2 games. For rounds 3, 4, and 5, which had no upset wins, US Chess Senior Committee Chair Mike Mulford offered prizes for upset draws. Carla Naylor won an upset prize in round 3 for drawing against Brenda Nardi. Nardi won an upset prize in round 4 for drawing me (Alexey Root). WCM Natasha Christiansen won an upset prize in round 5, also for drawing me. Each upset prize was a $50 gift certificate to US Chess Sales.

Organizer Maureen Grimaud

US Women’s Committee Co-Chair Maureen Grimaud’s motivation for organizing the 2024 U.S. Senior Women’s Championship was to provide an event for one of the most underrepresented groups in US Chess: senior women. Her committee has mostly focused in past years on girls and adult women, so it was time for senior women to have their day in the sun. (Editor's note: Grimaud is interviewed in this segment on ABC4 Utah.)

Grimaud credits Elizabeth Shaughnessy, past committee member, for reminding the committee to spotlight senior women. Grimaud considers it an honor and a privilege to follow up Shaughnessy’s Berkeley Chess School’s hosting of the 2023 U.S. Senior Women’s Championship.

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US Chess Women's Committee Co-Chair Maureen Grimaud (Photo by Whitney Arave)

Grimaud is also a senior woman chess player who enjoys the relaxation of playing chess. She said, “Chess is a strategic and fun game.” She followed the 2024 U.S. Senior Women’s Championship games as her organizing schedule allowed. Grimaud said, “Jayashree put a spark in the tournament when she upset two players rated above her.” 

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Maureen and David Grimaud (Photo by Whitney Arave)

Maureen Grimaud thanked her husband David Grimaud, who is South Carolina Chess Association President. Maureen Grimaud said, “David is a big supporter and champion of women in chess. He and I want to thank Precision Tune Auto Care as the main sponsor for this year’s championship. We also thank and honor all of the players for their participation. They are living legacies who inspire the next generation.”