Strength in Activity as U.S. Open Begins

126th U.S. Open Begins in Michigan

The official motto of Grand Rapids, MI is the Latin phrase motu viget, which translates as “strength in activity.” It’s hard to think of a more apt phrase for the 126^th U.S. Open, which began yesterday in “Furniture City.”

In addition to the almost 500 players registered for the Open itself, almost 300 state champions began competing yesterday in the national invitational tournaments of state champions. Add on another 64 players who needed to get three classically rated games in before yesterday’s evening round, and you’re looking at a DeVos Convention Center abuzz with more activity than a King’s Gambit Accepted.

The theme of activity also carried over to yesterday’s games. WGM Sabina Foisor is providing live commentary for each round on the US Chess Twitch channel, and she will be selecting key moments for our Chess Life Online recaps, as well.

The first round often features matchups of players with a rating disparity of several hundred points, and the resulting games often come down to a question of activity. If the higher-rated player can stay active, they often win (as we’ll see), but upsets tend to crop up when they allow too much counterplay and activity (as we’ll also see!).

Irwin

In the 9th Annual John T. Irwin National Tournament of Senior State Champions, three of the field’s grandmasters — GMs Jesse Kraai (MD), Richard Bitoon (NV), and Alonso Zapata (GA) — all got off to promising starts with victories.

Jesse Kraai (L) and Ariel Levi (MI) shake hands as David Grimaud makes the ceremonial opening move of the Irwin. (Photo by David Llada)

Still, the Irwin featured the most upsets of any of the invitationals. Congratulations to Jeffery Solheim (NE), David Friedman (OH), and Pavel Sulyandziga (ME) for recording upsets of 418, 317, and 186 points, respectively.

Ohio's David Friedman scored one of the Irwin's biggest upsets! (Photo by David Llada)

An additional seven games ended peacefully, including three between players rated between 2000–2100 and players rated over 2300. Michael Carey (RI) held GM Dmitry Gurevich (IL) to a draw on one of the top boards, while former US Chess Vice President of Finance Chuck Unruh (OK) drew IM Mark Ginsburg (VA) and Thomas Denton (AL) drew IM James Rizzitano (DE).

Chuck Unruh (L) and Thomas Denton each played admirably to hold the half-point against a pair of international masters. (Photos by David Llada)

Chuck Unruh (L) and Thomas Denton each played admirably to hold the half-point against a pair of international masters. (Photos by David Llada)

Of the other draws, Mark Lencho (WI) overcame a 500-point rating gap to draw FM Nathan Resika (NY).

Denker

Photo by David Llada

The 42nd Annual GM Arnold Denker National Tournament of High School State Champions also saw victories on the top boards, with both of the IMs in the field — Erick Zhao (PA) and Julian Colville (CA-S) — producing two very different types of victories.

But on Board 4, CM Marvin Gao (FL) lost to Charlie Creswell (ME) in a game featuring a 303-point rating differential. Nath Des Ruisseau (WV) overcame a 288-point gap to defeat FM Vaseegaran Nandhakumar (TX) in the tournament’s only other decisive upset.

Only one game ended peacefully, with Akhil Velampalli (NJ) being held to a draw by Darren Su (ID) despite the latter being 551-points lower rated.

Barber

Photo by David Llada

In the 16th Annual Dewain Barber National Tournament of Middle School State Champions, no lower-rated player managed to score an upset victory. But, of the three draws, two came from the section’s top five boards.

Gallagher Kelsch (WV) drew Sam Luger (NY) despite a 395-point differential:

Paul Wonsidlr (MO) held CM Sharath Radhakrishnan (OH) to a draw despite the 347-point discrepancy, and Chase James Ruby (WI) overcame a 494-point gap to hold CM Shararsh Santosh (GA) to a draw as well.

The top four players with perfect 1/1 scores now comprise a strong west coast contingent: Harshin Jagirapu (NM), FM Ted Wang (WA), Roshan Sethuraman (AZ), and FM Patrick Liu (CA-N).

Rockefeller

Photo by David Llada

In the 7th Annual John D. Rockefeller III National Tournament of Elementary School State Champions, the name of the game was fighting chess. This was the only invitational to produce zero draws in the first round!

While there was only one upset, but it was on Board 3! Srihas Maddipati (TX) lost to Andy Chen (WA) despite the 401-point differential.

CM Aiden Li (IL), CM Yi Sha (FL), and Aayansh Samanta (PA) lead the pack as the three players rated over 2150.

Haring

Photo by David Llada

The 14th Annual WIM Ruth Haring National Tournament of Girls State Champions produced two “half-upsets” on the top four boards, including one featuring the tournament’s defending champion, as Anushka Ayyappan (NJ) held CM Irene Fei (IA) to a draw on Board 3.

Emma Linyue Zhang (MA) likewise held WCM Tori Porat (CA-S) to a draw on the adjacent board, and Kaleigh King (MS) played up 442 points against WFM Aradh Kaur (WI) and still managed to split the point!

FM Jasmine Su (CT) and WIM Chloe Gaw (NY) enter as the only players currently rated over 2200, making them the favorites, and they both won with class:

Ashley

Photo by David Llada

Finally, the 1st Annual GM Maurice Ashley National Tournament of K-3 State Champions got off to a fantastic start with an encouraging message from the tournament’s namesake. Speaking of activity, you’ll notice that almost all of the section’s top boards featured the Sicilian Defense!

While this section did not produce any pure upsets, its two draws featured the widest margins of any of the invitationals. Ridhan Venkatesan (PA) was held to a draw by Ethan Dai (MI-Alt) despite a 711-point differential, and Daneel Kuznetsov (FL) was held to a haalf-point by Stanley Pribik (MT) despite the whopping 795-point differential.

The players to watch are Mehmet Yilanli (OH) and Renae Chen (CA-S), who enter the tournament as the only players already rated over 2000.

Due to the slightly faster time control, this section is held in a different playing area from the other invitationals, and as a result it does not feature any DGT boards. But fear not! Your intrepid reporter is on site and is in the process of securing scoresheets from the K-3 champions. By tomorrow, I hope to have some games to share.

U.S. Open

Alongside the invitationals, the first round of the “neo-traditional” 7-day schedule began last night. The round began with remarks from US Chess President Kevin Pryor and a moment of silence for FM William “Bill” Goichberg, whose passing was announced yesterday afternoon. The American chess tournament experience would not be what it is today if not for Goichberg, so it felt fitting to honor him at a major event.

With big ratings discrepancies the norm for the early rounds of this event, the “big four”— GM Jianchao Zhou (MA), GM Christopher Yoo (CA-N), IM Jason Liang (OH), GM Rahul Srivatshav Peddi (IND) — all won without much ado.

But, a little further down the crosstable, four massive upset victories are worth mentioning! Congratulations to Ye Jiang (MI) for the round’s largest upset (711 points). Fellow Michigan residents Anrew George Pappas and David Durkee produced upsets of 481- and 469-points respectively. Finally, Dexter Broyles (AZ) pulled an upset win of “only” 455 points, making it the “narrowest” win of the bunch (but still a remarkable achievement).

Of the ten “half-upsets,” the biggest splash was on Board 6, where FM Donald Johnson (NC) was held to a half-point by Pavan Kannan (MI) despite the 646-point differential.

Side Events

The daily quads got off to a great start yesterday, filling up an entire chessboard with 64 players across 16 quads. Congratulations to Julian Proleiko on winning the de facto master quad with a 2½/3 score. Final standings for all quads can be found here.

For the rest of the week, the daily quads will be held in the larger Exhibit Hall B (across the hall from Grand Gallery B, the old room) to better accommodate the crowd’s enthusiasm for extra rated games.

Today’s longer U.S. Open Quad is underway, and the schedule for the rest of the week is available here. Tomorrow, players will have a choice between Wednesday’s quad and the National G/15 Championship.

A full schedule breakdown by day is available here.