Start From the Middleton: U.S. Open, Invitationals Begin in Wisconsin

The 125th Annual U.S. Open began Monday, July 28, in Middleton, WI, with several hundred players competing in the first round of the seven-day schedule and another several hundred competing in the opening round of the national state invitationals.

Come Thursday, we will know who is "champion of champions" for elementary, middle school, and high school, as well as for scholastic-aged girls and for seniors. More information about these invitationals can be found in this year's program.

As if that wasn’t enough, 50 of those players also got a head start on their week of chess by competing in Monday’s Daily Quads.

Below are reports and game highlights from the invitationals, as selected by our event commentator WGM Sabina Foisor, as well as highlights from the first day of the U.S. Open.

Irwin

The 8th Annual John T. Irwin National Tournament of Senior State Champions produced some of the most evenly matched chess of any of Monday’s events, including draws on boards two and four.

The top-seeded player in this year’s field is Alabama’s IM Stuart Rachels, who was a key part of this year’s FIDE World Senior Championship gold medal team. Rachels is off to a good start after defeating Rhode Island’s Michael Carey on board one.

Third-seeded GM Alex Fishbein, hot off his U.S. Senior Championship victory, is looking to pick up where he left off, winning an instructive game over Texas’s Scott Alan Elliott:

The top-seeded players to start with the black pieces were not so fortunate, with GM Melikset Khachiyan and IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat being held to draws by Louisiana’s Adam Caveny and Illinois’s Florentino Inumerable Jr., respectively, on boards two and four.

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Melik Khachiyan (L) was held to a draw by Louisiana's Adam Caveney in the opening round of the Irwin (Photo by David Llada)

Both games could have gone differently with a little finesse that is much easier to appreciate in hindsight, writes Foisor:

This morning, Rachels has the black pieces on the top board against Florida’s FM Julio Morella, who himself is coming off a strong showing in the U.S. Senior Open, where his last-round battle with GM Jesse Kraai was hard-fought.

Denker

In the 41st Annual GM Arnold Denker National Tournament of High School State Champions, top-rated 11th -graders IM Liam Henry Putnam (NY) and Evan Park (PA) lead the field of five IMs, three FMs, and many more national masters.

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Dwight Barber makes the ceremonial first move for Liam Putnam on the top board of the Denker against Aayush Wadhwa (Photo by David Llada)

Putnam’s game against Kansas’s Aayush Wadhwa caught Foisor’s eye when she discovered that Putnam’s best move (which he did not play) violated a well-known principle:

The only semi-upset of the top boards occurred on board four, where SuperNationals VIII K-12 Co-Champion IM Eric Chang Liu (9th grade, TX) was very fortunate to escape with a draw against New Hampshire’s Noah Van Vugt.

Today, it’s already masters against masters on the top boards, including Advaith Vijaykumar (2239, WA) taking the white pieces against Putnam on board one.

Haring

It was business as usual on the top boards of the 13th Annual WIM Ruth Haring National Tournament of Girls State Champions, with the higher-rated players all emerging victorious.

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Maureen Grimaud makes the first move for Megan Paragua in the Haring (Photo by David Llada)

Top-seeded FM Megan Paragua (NY) enters off an impressive second-place finish in the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship. Despite being only a sixth-grader, she is definitely the player to beat.

On board four, 11th-grader Rebecca Cortez of Illinois caught Foisor’s eye with a nice punishment of her opponent’s early error:

This morning, Paragua takes the black pieces against WCM Ananya Wadhwa of Kansas this morning. Careful readers will note that this is the first mention of a pair of sibling invitees, and it might not be the last in the reports to come.

Barber

The 15th Annual Dewain Barber National Tournament of Middle School State Champions also got off to a quiet start at the top, producing no upsets.

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Andrew Wu (L) against Aastik Grover on the Barber's top board (Photo by David Llada)

North Carolina’s Andrew Wu, who is only in sixth grade, enters as the highest-rated player, ahead of Florida’s Oscar Izzy Williams (grade eight) and Virginia’s Kyle Zhuang (also grade eight). We can expect a competitive section, with the top six boards in round two already featuring match-ups between players whose ratings all start with a two.

Rockefeller

Finally, the 6th Annual John D. Rockefeller III National Tournament of Elementary School State Champions produced what might be the most impressive result of any of the invitational tournaments. Across 25 boards, there were no upset victories or even draws, with the higher-rated player winning in all 25 games.

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John D. Rockefeller V makes the first move for Lucas Maokhampio on the Rockefeller's top board (Photo by David Llada)

The two highest-rated entrants, FMs Linxi Zhu (NY) and Ted Wang (WA), who are both fifth graders, also enter with higher ratings than any of the participants in this year’s Barber. Below is Wang’s positionally mature victory:

Weeramantry

The day began with the 6th Annual FM Sunil Weeramantry National Blitz Tournament of State Champions, consisting of five sections of four double-round Swiss System tournaments. Unlike the other invitationals, this tournament divides players into groups based on rating rather than age.

In the top section, Putnam and Iowa’s Barber representative, Nehranj Ramesh, shared top honors with 7/8 scores. New Hampshire’s Noah Van Vugt (who held Liu to a draw in the Denker) won the 1800-2099 section with an 8/8 score.

South Dakota’s Caleb Neff (Denker) and New Jersey’s Saadhanaa Ashok (Barber) shared first in the 1500-1799 section. Rhode Island’s Devie Coletta (Rockefeller) won the 1200-1499 section with a 7/8 score, and Hawaii’s Kūliaikapono Shirota-Kapalu (Barber) won the Under-1200 section with a 6/8 score.

By my count, that’s three Denker representatives, three Barber representatives, and one representative from the Rockefeller boasting Weeramantry victories. All results can be found here.

Open

The seven-day schedule of the U.S. Open also began last night, with 236 players opting to compete on the longest timeline. 

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US Chess President Kevin Pryor took a break from presiding over the Executive Board to play some chess (Photo by David Llada)

Four grandmasters are competing in this schedule: Mikhail Antipov, Jianchao Zhou, Joshua Friedel, and Varuzhan Akobian.

With large rating differentials in the opening round — including a 1,045 gap on the top board — many games featured swift, decisive attacks. I’ve included a few key positions below as quizzes, to see if you can find the defending side’s best resource. As a bonus: can you guess what move was actually played? Solutions will be included in tomorrow’s report.

For the first time, players in the “traditional” schedule of the U.S. Open will have to play double-round days. With the tournament being condensed from nine days to seven for the first time, the slowest schedule will feature two games today and tomorrow, with the merge still happening for the seventh round.

The second round of the 7-day U.S. Open schedule and each of the national invitationals are currently underway in Middleton, with live commentary available on Twitch and YouTube from WGM Sabina Foisor. The third round of the invitationals begins at 7:00 p.m. CDT along with the third round of the U.S. Open. The 5-day schedule of the Open begins tomorrow.

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