After a dramatic playoff, 24-year-old Nazi Paikidze became our new US Women's Chess Champion. After 11 rounds of Classical chess, Paikidze was tied with 15-year-old Annie Wang with 8/11. They faced off on Championship Monday in a tiebreak that combined rapid and blitz.
In the first game, Annie Wang won spectacularly, with the precision and creativity of a Grandmaster.
[pgn]
[Event "U.S. Women's Championship"]
[Round "12.1"]
[White "Wang, Annie"]
[Black "Paikidze, Nazi"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E36"]
[WhiteElo "2321"]
[BlackElo "2352"]
[PlyCount "89"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "United States"]
[BlackTeam "United States"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "USA"]
[BlackTeamCountry "USA"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Qxc3 c5 7. dxc5 d4 8.
Qg3 Nc6 9. Qxg7 Rg8 10. Qh6 e5 11. Bg5 Rg6 12. Qh4 Qa5+ 13. Bd2 Qxc5 14. e4 Qd6
15. f3 d3 16. Qf2 Nd4 17. Bb4 Qc6 18. Bxd3 Be6 19. Ne2 O-O-O 20. O-O-O Bxc4 21.
Nxd4 Rxd4 22. Bxc4 Rxc4+ 23. Kb1 Nd7 24. Qxa7 Rxg2 25. Qa8+ Kc7 26. Ba5+ b6 27.
Qa7+ Kd8 28. Bxb6+ Ke8 29. Bf2 f6 30. Rd2 Rg7 31. Rhd1 Re7 32. Rg1 Kf7 33. Qe3
Nf8 34. Qh6 Ke8 35. Rgd1 Nd7 36. Qh5+ Kd8 37. Qg4 Kc7 38. Qg8 Qb5 39. Qg4 Qc6
40. Rd5 Nb8 41. Qg8 Nd7 42. Be1 Rc5 43. Bb4 Rxd5 44. exd5 Qa4 45. Rc1+ 1-0
[/pgn]
https://twitter.com/USChess/status/991029452565032961
In a must-win situation, Nazi Paikidze delivered in the second rapid game.
[pgn]
[Event "U.S. Women's Championship"]
[White "Paikidze, Nazi"]
[Black "Wang, Annie"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C00"]
[WhiteElo "2352"]
[BlackElo "2321"]
[PlyCount "83"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "United States"]
[BlackTeam "United States"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "USA"]
[BlackTeamCountry "USA"]
1. Nf3 e6 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 d5 4. O-O Be7 5. d3 c5 6. Nbd2 Nc6 7. e4 b6 8. e5
Nd7 9. Re1 Qc7 10. Qe2 Bb7 11. c4 d4 12. Nf1 h6 13. h4 O-O-O 14. h5 Rdf8 15. a3
g5 16. g4 Kb8 17. Bd2 Re8 18. b4 cxb4 19. axb4 Nxb4 20. Nxd4 Bxg2 21. Kxg2 Nc6
22. Nxc6+ Qxc6+ 23. f3 f6 24. exf6 Bxf6 25. Ra2 Rhf8 26. Be3 Ne5 27. Nh2 Rd8
28. Rd1 Ka8 29. Bf2 Rc8 30. Rb1 Nd7 31. Ra6 Qb7 32. Qa2 Kb8 33. d4 Bd8 34. Ra1
Rc7 35. c5 Re8 36. Rc1 e5 37. Bg3 Rc6 38. Ra1 Rc7 39. cxb6 Nxb6 40. Bxe5 Rxe5
41. dxe5 Qc8 42. Rxb6+ 1-0
[/pgn]
https://twitter.com/USChess/status/991049188199817217
https://twitter.com/USChess/status/991045795804778496
Annie picked the Black pieces in the Armageddon game and repeated the previous game, hoping to improve with more active play with moves such as ....f5. Unfortunately for Wang, Paikidze had also improved upon her opening play and instead of pushing her pawn to g4, she manouevered her knight to the critical g4 square. With the extra minute, Paikidze pressed her time advantage and got a strategically dominant position out of the opening.
[pgn]
[Event "U.S. Women's Championship"]
[White "Paikidze, Nazi"]
[Black "Wang, Annie"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C00"]
[WhiteElo "2352"]
[BlackElo "2321"]
[PlyCount "66"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "United States"]
[BlackTeam "United States"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "USA"]
[BlackTeamCountry "USA"]
1. Nf3 e6 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 d5 4. O-O Be7 5. d3 c5 6. Nbd2 Nc6 7. e4 b6 8. e5
Nd7 9. Re1 Qc7 10. Qe2 Bb7 11. c4 d4 12. Nf1 h6 13. h4 O-O-O 14. N1h2 g5 15. h5
Rdf8 16. Ng4 Kb8 17. Bd2 f5 18. exf6 Nxf6 19. Nge5 g4 20. Nxc6+ Bxc6 21. Ne5
Bxg2 22. Kxg2 Qb7+ 23. Kg1 Re8 24. Ng6 Rh7 25. Qxe6 Nxh5 26. Qxg4 Nf6 27. Qf4+
Ka8 28. Nxe7 Rf7 29. Nf5 Rxe1+ 30. Rxe1 Rf8 31. Re7 Qc6 32. Qxh6 Rc8 33. Rf7
Qf3 1-0 [/pgn]
Congratulations to Nazi Paikidze on her victory, good for $25,000, an Olympic team spot and her second US Women's Championship title. The Las Vegas resident also won the event in 2016.
Annie Wang also has a lot to be proud of, including an 11-round IM norm, and the second prize check of $18,000.
https://twitter.com/NaziPaiki/status/991328125593247746
https://twitter.com/USChess/status/991054151873417216
https://twitter.com/STLChessClub/status/991054019643789313
Find more information on uschesschamps.com and chess24. Relive our twitter takeovers from IM Eric Rosen and Vanessa West on our twitter feed or using the hashtag #uschesschamps. 
After a dramatic playoff, 24-year-old Nazi Paikidze became our new US Women's Chess Champion. After 11 rounds of Classical chess, Paikidze was tied with 15-year-old Annie Wang with 8/11. They faced off on Championship Monday in a tiebreak that combined rapid and blitz.
In the first game, Annie Wang won spectacularly, with the precision and creativity of a Grandmaster.
