U.S. Open Day 4: Come On Feel the Illinoise!

Illinois Wins Top State as Invitationals End

Today was the day when three became one: The 7-day, 5-day, and 4-day schedules of the 126^th U.S. Open merged earlier tonight for Round 7.

From here on in, it’s Round 8 Saturday at 7 p.m. and Round 9 Sunday at 3.

WGM Sabina Foisor is currently streaming on the US Chess Twitch Channel for tonight’s round, and she has once again curated the positions and games analyzed in today’s report.

But first, the six National Invitational tournaments of state champions concluded yesterday, and we have 11 new Champions of Champions! With the addition of the GM Maurice Ashley National Tournament of K-3 State Champions, this marks the first year that these tournaments awarded a total of more than $100,000 in scholarships and cash prizes.

Irwin

FM Julio Morella (FL) won the 9th Annual John T. Irwin National Tournament of Senior State Champions with a 5/6 score, a half-point ahead of seven players (including three grandmasters) tied for second.

Morella entered Thursday morning’s final round with a half-point lead over the five-player chasing pack. With the black pieces against GM Dmitry Gurevich (IL), Morella played simple, logical chess that gave Gurevich no hope of an initiative. The game ended peacefully in just 19 moves, guaranteeing Morella at least a share of the title.

On Board 3, FM Robby Adamson (AZ) and Paul Rohwer (CA-S) agreed to a draw in 22 moves. Against Rohwer’s Philidor’s Defense, Adamson played aggressively, but Rohwer found the key central break to equalize.

With the other two games ending relatively quickly, it all came down to Board 2, where a decisive result would mean a tie for first and a draw would give Morella the title outright. There, GM Alonso Zapata (GA) generated significant attacking chances as White against GM Jesse Kraai (MD) out of the opening. By move 24, Kraai’s king was on the e5-square!

But Zapata’s attack came at the cost of a rook. Unable to find the knockout blow, he instead regained material and liquidated to a pawn-up rook endgame. This phase of the game was even more exciting, with all three results possible before the players peacefully shook hands.

Morella won $2,500 for his victory. The remaining prizes for second through fifth place were split equally among the seven players tied for second, good for $485.71 each. Tiebreak order determines which players go home with which plaques.

Rohwer finished second on tiebreaks, and deservedly so. His only loss was to Morella in Round 3, and he defeated a GM, an IM, and an FM before drawing Adamson in the final round, good for a performance rating of roughly 2450.

Kraai, Adamson, Gurevich, and Zapata finished third through sixth, respectively, on tiebreaks. With wins in Round 6, IM Mark Ginsburg (VA) and FM Nathan Resika (NY) also joined the tie for second, finishing seventh and eighth, respectively, on tiebreaks.

GM Julio Morella, winner of the 2026 Irwin Invitational Tournament of Senior State Champions. (Photo by John Hartmann)

Denker

CM Alex Zhang (MO) won the 42nd Annual GM Arnold Denker National Tournament of High School State Champions on tiebreaks ahead of FM Stephen John Willy (WA) and IM Erick Zhao (PA).

Zhang and Zhao entered Round 6 as the only players with 4½/5 scores. Although Zhou had the better chances in the rook endgame, Zhang was able to generate enough activity to hold the position despite a time disadvantage.

The draw on Board 1 gave the only players with 4/5 scores — Willy and Anshul Shetty (IL) — a chance to catch the leaders. Willy achieved a promising position as White coming out of a Neo-Grünfeld, but it would require some ingenuity to turn the slight edge into something concrete.

Willy met the challenge head-on, sacrificing a pawn for ample activity and amassing a huge lead on the clock. A few inaccuracies let Shetty back into the game but by that point Shetty had only two minutes to Willy’s 48, and it was not enough time to defend accurately.

Four players tied for fourth with 4½/6. In tiebreak order: FM Vaibhav Kalpaka (VA), IM Julian Colville (CA-S), Sunav Adhikari (OH), and CM Marvin Gao (FL). Colville’s last-round win is included below:

The scholastic invitational tournaments award both cash and scholarship prizes (generously donated by the invitationals’ sponsors). The cash prizes are divided equally among players with the same score, but tiebreaks are used to award scholarships.

The three co-champions each pocketed $566.66 in cash, and each player tied for fourth will go home with $125. The five scholarships are worth $5,000 for first, $4,000 for second, and so on down to $1,000 for fifth. Recipients may use the scholarship at any school of higher learning.

Denker winners Alex Zhang, Stephen Willy and Erick Zhao, with Dewain Barber. (Photo by David Llada)

Haring

FM Jasmine Su (CT) left no room for doubters, winning the 14th Annual WIM Ruth Haring National Tournament of Girls State Champions outright with the only perfect 6/6 score of any of the six invitationals.

Su only needed a draw against WCM Evelyn Qiao (GA) to clinch clear first, but fighters are going to fight. After equalizing in the opening, Su had a better structure as Black and used this long-term advantage to play for a win in the resulting rook endgame.

But there were a few moments earlier in the game where Qiao could have drastically altered the course of the game:

Su takes home the $800 cash prize and the $5,000 scholarship.

In the race for second, WFM Chloe Wang (PA) entered Thursday’s final round in clear third with a 4/5 score. With Su’s win over Qiao, a Wang win against WIM Chloe Gaw (NY) would vault her into clear second. Gaw, in contrast, would have to win as Black to finish in the top five. Gaw employed a sharp Classical Sicilian, but both players were too accurate and things quickly fizzled out into a drawn rook endgame by move 25.

Qiao finished second on tiebreaks to win the $4,000 scholarship, while Wang finished third and earned the $3,000 scholarship.

Three more players won their final game to catch Qiao and Wang in a tie for second. In tiebreak order: WCM Celine Chen (NC), CM Irene Fei (IA), and WFM Sophie Li (FL). Chen and Fei won the $2,000 and $1,000 scholarships, respectively. Each of the five players tied for second earned $280 in cash.

Jasmine Su, winner of the Ruth Haring Invitational Tournament of Girls State Champions, with Maureen Grimaud of the US Chess Women's Committee. (Photo by David Llada)

Barber

Jason Marshal (SC) won the 16th Annual Dewain Barber National Tournament of Middle School State Champions with a 5/6 score ahead of FM Patrick Liu (CA-N) on tiebreaks.

Marshal entered the final round with a half-point lead over his six closest competitors. Employing a Pirc Defense as Black against FM Ted Wang (WA), Marshal was never in serious trouble out of the opening. By the endgame, he was the one playing for a win before deciding to repeat moves.

On Board 3, Liu defeated CM Maxwell Yang (FL) to catch Marshal. Artemi Khanbutaev (IL) also had a shot at tying for first with a win on Board 4, but he could only manage a draw against Harshin Jagirapu (NM), the tournament’s highest-rated player.

On Board 2, William Wu (MA) rushed out to a very promising position against Roshan Sethuraman (AZ)’s Najdorf. But everything comes at a cost: By move 24, Wu was down 30 minutes on the clock. In these situations, it’s tempting to look for the quick win in order to end the game before time trouble is a factor. As a result, Wu overpressed and saw his advantage evaporate. But, from there, he held on to draw the resulting pawn-down rook endgame without giving his higher-rated opponent any winning chances.

Marshal and Liu each won $650 in cash in addition to Marshal’s $5,000 scholarship and Liu’s $4,000 scholarship. The four players tied for third each earned $225 in cash. On tiebreaks, Wang won the $3,000 scholarship, with the $2,000 scholarship going to Khanbutaev and the $1,000 scholarship going to Wu.

Marshal entered the tournament as the 19th seed with an official rating of 2145. His live rating was 2176 and he had never crossed 2200. This week, he went an undefeated 4/5 against players rated over 2200, including wins against a CM and an IM. His performance rating for this event was north of 2500, and he will certain gain enough rating points to earn the national master title in one of the coolest and most impressive ways possible.

Jason Marshal, winner of Dewain Barber National Tournament of Middle School State Champions, with Dewain and Susan Barber. (Photo by David Llada)

Rockefeller

Aayansh Samanta (PA) won the 7th Annual John D. Rockefeller III National Tournament of Elementary School State Champions outright with a 5½/6 score.

Samanta entered Thursday’s round with a half-point lead over five competitors and the white pieces against Ryan Zhou (MN). The position remained balanced through the early stages before reaching the key position below. Samanta kept his composure in the ensuing complications, and one error from Zhou was enough to seal the victory for Samanta:

With Samanta’s win, the battles on boards 2 and 3 turned into a fight for second place. On Board 3, CM Sriansh Katta (NC) won against Landon Meadors (GA) to claim at least a share of second. Gurug Gurumoorthi (WI) achieved a promising position out of the opening as White against Rocky Wang but was unable to find a way to break through.

Samanta won $800 cash along with the $5,000 scholarship, while Katta earned $500 along with his $4,000 scholarship for clear second. Wang and Gurumoorthi finished third and fourth, respectively, on tiebreaks to claim the $3,000 and $2,000 scholarships.

CM Aiden Li (IL) and Reyansh Paragiri (CA-N) were able to join the tie for third by winning their final game, with Li earning the final $1,000 scholarship ahead of Paragiri on tiebreaks. The four players tied for third each earned $225 in cash, as well.

Aayash Samanta, winner of the John D. Rockefeller III National Tournament of Elementary School State Champions, with John D. Rockefeller. (Photo by David Llada)

Ashley

Max Mulholland (NY) won the 1st Annual GM Maurice Ashley National Tournament of K-3 State Champions on tiebreaks ahead of Renae Chen (CA-S) and Devansh Vellanki (MA).

From left: Renae Chen (CA-S), Max Mulholland (NY), and Devansh Vellanki (MA). (Photo by David Llada)

Mulholland and Vellanki each entered the final round with 4½/5 scores and drew on Board 1. The draw allowed Chen to catch the leaders by defeating Mustafa Muhammad (NC) as Black on Board 2, and Chen finished second on tiebreaks ahead of Vellanki.

The co-champions each earned $566.67 in cash in addition to the scholarships awarded based on tiebreaks.

On Board 3, Ratul Rahula Krishnan (KS) and Emily Jiayin Tang (IL) each had a chance to claim a share of first with a win, but their game instead ended peacefully, putting them both in the group of five players tied for fourth place with 4½/6. Tang took fourth on tiebreaks, winning the $2,000 scholarship, while Mehmet Yilanli (OH) finished fifth to win the $1,000 scholarship. Samir Salem (KY), Krishan, and William Zheng (AZ) finished sixth through eighth, respectively. Each of these five players won $100 in cash.

Team

The race for top team was down to the wire. The 11 champions and co-champions came from 10 different states, with only Pennsylvania producing two winners. But it takes a deep bench to win a team competition, and Illinois edged out Pennsylvania on tiebreaks to take top honors.

Both states finished with a combined 25½/36 score, even though Pennsylvania produced two individual winners to Illinois’s zero. With an average rating of 2185, four members of Team Illinois finished with 4½/6 scores — Tang, Khanbutaev, Li, and Gurevich — while Shetty and Haring representative Elizabeth Xia also finished with plus scores — 4/6 and 3½/6, respectively.

For Pennsylvania (2151), Samanta and Zhao combined for 11½/12 at the top and Wang contributed 4½/6 from the Haring. Rounding out Team Pennsylvania were CM Tariq Yue (4/6), FM Karl Dehmelt (3½/6), and Ridhan Venkatesan (3/6) from the Barber, Irwin, and Ashey, respectively.

Florida (2096) finished in third, only a half-point behind the co-champions with a 25/36 score. North Carolina was only a half-point back in fourth and, a half-point behind the Tar Heels, Arizona edged out Southern California on tiebreaks for fifth.

Gift certificates for the U.S. Open Chess Store will be awarded to each player from the three highest-scoring states.

In addition, gift certificates will be awarded to each player of the highest-scoring state whose players’ average rating is Under-2100, Under-1900, or Under-1600. Other than Florida, the top Under-2100 state was Arizona (2054). With 19½/36 scores, Kansas (1750) topped Minnesota (1877) for the Under-1900 prize. Finally, with a 16½/36 score, Louisiana (1562) won the top Under-1600 prize.

U.S. Open

Going into tonight’s merge, GM Christopher Yoo (CA-N) “won” the 7-day schedule outright with a 5½/6 score after defeating Donald Johnson (NC) last night.

IM Jason Liang (OH) and GM Jianchao Zhou (MA) drew on Board 1 and now join nine other players who finished the 7-day portion with 5/6 scores.

Through five rounds of the 5-day schedule, GM Grigoriy Oparin (MO) is the last player standing with a 5/5 score after defeating young FMs Hersh Singh (WI) and Avi Kaplan (IL) in Thursday’s final two rounds. Four players trail Oparin by a half-point: GM Bryan Smith (PA), FM Ryan Amburgy (OK), Matthew O’Brien (PA), and Sho Glashausser (KS). Amburgy – Oparin and Smith – O’Brien are currently underway in Round 6, which is being played at the slower time control.

Another 185 players joined the fun yesterday as the first three rounds of the 4-day schedule started. With Round 3 kicking off at 10 p.m. last night, this is the section for the night owls. It’s also the section for state champions who didn’t get enough chess, with a number of familiar names on the crosstable.

Eleven players entered this morning’s fourth round with 3/3 scores, including Nevada’s Irwin representative GM Richard Bitoon and IMs Bohdan Bilovil (TX), Joshua Posthuma (MI), and, fresh from the Denker, Colville (CA).

The 4-day featured three rounds today before tonight’s merge. More information on schedules and time controls can be found here.

Side Events

We went back to alphabet city for Thursday’s quads, which stretched all the way from Quad A down to Quad P to accommodate the 65 participants. Yesterday’s top quad had its first three-way tie for first, as Santhosh Ayyappan (NJ), Gabriel Broyles (AZ), and Elijah Logozar (MO) each finished with 2/3 scores.

Not to be outdone, Friday's quads went all the way to the 18th letter of the alphabet ("R," apparently) for a total of 70 players. Elijah Logozar (MO) once again won the top quad.

While today was the final set of quads, it’s not too late to register for the Weekend Swiss, which begins tomorrow. And don’t forget about tomorrow’s U.S. Open Blitz Championship at noon!

WGM Jennifer Shahade’s book signing was a big hit yesterday, but if you didn’t get your (free!) signed copy of Thinking Sideways yesterday, fear not. Shahade has another book signing on Sunday, and come by Exhibit Hall A tomorrow at 5 p.m., when the three-time national champion will lecture, analyze games and sign books. You might even get into a simul, which she played today!