Round 8: Lee, Aronian Make Moves on Difficult Day

It was very difficult for me to write today’s report. Like all in the chess community, I am deeply shaken by the tragic death of one of the sport’s brightest lights, GM Daniel Naroditsky, at the age of only 29.

Danya was one of my role models when I was growing up. I loved his book, Mastering Complex Endgames (published when he was only 18), and never missed his articles on Chess.com and in Chess Life. Apart from being an incredibly strong player, Danya was an incredible communicator who wrote and spoke with unmatched eloquence and precision of language. He was a fantastic streamer and commentator; countless people benefited from his teaching and wisdom. He was too young and too brilliant to leave us so soon. Unfortunately, I never had a chance to express to him how much he inspired me.

The players — many of them personal friends of Danya — learned of his passing only moments before the beginning of the round. I can’t imagine how it was possible to concentrate after such news. Yet, somehow, after a brief moment of silence, the chess went on as scheduled.

Normally, I try to analyze the games in as much detail and as objectively as I can. Today, it does not feel fully right to do so, given the situation that the players are facing. Any criticism of the moves is criticism of the moves only, not of the players; they deserve our credit simply for continuing the tournament under these circumstances.

U.S. Championship

The two decisive results in the Open Section were both consequential for the tournament standings. GM Andy Woodward continued to exceed expectations in his first U.S. Championship with his third win of the tournament, which came at the expense of GM Hans Niemann.

This is Hans’ second loss in a row and negated all the headway he made with his strong start. He is now a point-and-a-half behind the leaders, and, with only three rounds left, he faces a nearly insurmountable obstacle in the fight for first place.

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Andy Woodward is an early favorite for the bonus prize awarded to the top scorer in the second half of the tournament. (Photo courtesy SLCC/Lennart Ootes)

Meanwhile, GM Levon Aronian ended a long string of draws by defeating the 2018 Champion, GM Sam Shankland. Shankland played one of his specialties, the Sicilian Najdorf, for the first time in this event, and was clearly well-prepared. However, Aronian navigated the complications better and was able to consolidate his advantage.

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Photo courtesy SLCC/Lennart Ootes.

The leaders — GM Fabiano Caruana and GM Wesley So — both drew their games, against GM Ray Robson and GM Awonder Liang, respectively. They remain a half-point ahead of the field, now followed by Aronian in clear second place.

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Graphic courtesy of SLCC

After today’s rest day, So plays as White against GM Samuel Sevian while Caruana and Aronian take the black pieces against Shankland and GM Abhimanyu Mishra, respectively.

U.S. Women’s Championship

After losing her first game to GM Irina Krush, IM Alice Lee has set out on a remarkable comeback, winning four out of her next six games entering Monday’s Round 8. 

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A tough start to the tournament for 15-year-old Alice Lee has been more than made up for by a 6/7 performance by 16-year-old Alice Lee. (Photo courtesy SLCC/Lennart Ootes)

She continued that run today with a win over IM Tatev Abrahamyan after the latter erred in a complex Catalan middlegame.

Alice now leads the field with 6/8. However, a pack of four players are hot on her heels: four-time U.S. Women’s Champion IM Anna Zatonskih, three-time Champion IM Carissa Yip (winner of the last two editions), two-time champion IM Nazi Paikidze, and the early leader of the event, IM Anna Sargsyan.

Yip joined the tie for a second thanks to a win against tailender FM Megan Paragua, while Paikidze took advantage of a time-trouble blunder and defeated WGM Jennifer Yu as Black. Sargsyan kept the pace by surviving a major scare against WGM Atousa Pourkashiyan, a game in which both players erred in the famous rook ending with f- and h- pawns.

The only other decisive result of the round was GM Irina Krush’s win against WGM Thalia Cervantes Landeiro. Krush efficiently grinded a slightly better endgame for many moves until her opponent failed to withstand the mutual positional and clock pressure.

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Graphic courtesy of SLCC

On Wednesday, Zatonskih has a chance to level the playing field with the white pieces against Lee, while Paikidze – Paragua, Yip – Atwell, and Abrahamyan – Sargsyan will all be crucial to the standings, as well.

I will close with some words from Aronian, taken from his post-game interview:

“It is such a luxury just to play chess and not to think about things, and to be away from real life where all kinds of things can happen…so we should cherish what we have.”

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Levon Aronian's creative win over Shankland in the Najdorf Sicilian was overshadowed by the day's news, with Aronian saying concentration was impossible. (Photo courtesy SLCC/Lennart Ootes)

The players will have a much-needed rest day on Tuesday. On Wednesday, they will return to the playing hall yet again, ready for the ninth round. The pace never stops. Life must go on…

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