Woodward Improves to 3/3 in U.S. Junior Championship, Girls' Junior and Senior Races Tighten

Andy Woodward (L) improved to 3/3 after yesterday's win over Sharvesh Deviprasath (Photo courtesy of Crystal Fuller/SLCC)

Although we are only a third of the way through the tournament, round 3 of the National Championships was riddled with deja vu moments, with motifs reoccurring between different sections and different rounds. We saw yet another knight get trapped on the b8-square, two instances of the queen triumphing against rook and pawns, and, in both knight-versus-bishop endgames of the day, it was the cavalry who emerged victorious, albeit with different colors.

With pieces fighting until their last breath, kings getting stormed and gushed out into the open, and numerous shiny sacrifices, this round was the most decisive round of the tournament so far, with a whopping 10 out of 15 games producing a winner.

Junior Championship: Woodward extends lead, Hardaway, Sethuraman score first win

In the Junior Championship, Woodward extended his lead to a full point after his knight outshined the opponent’s bishop in FM Sharvesh Devisaprath – GM Andy Woodward. After Woodward clarified the central tension early, Devisaprath seized the bishop pair, but the closed nature of the position and solid pawn chain allowed Woodward to capitalize on the knight-versus-bishop imbalance. Bishops normally reign supreme when pawns remain on both sides, but the solid outpost and well-placed pawns rendered the endgame completely winning for Woodward. Devisaprath stirred up counterplay with his advanced b-pawn, but Woodward’s knight was in time to stop the pawn in its tracks and win the game.

With this win, Woodward now leads the field by a full point and maintains his perfect score of 3/3.

Moving to a positive score and joining the chasing pack is GM Brewington Hardaway, after an early pawn sacrifice bore fruit and led to overwhelming piece activity. Hungry for something unique and exciting, Hardaway opted for the exotic Pirc Defense, a rare but viable pick at the highest echelons of chess.

Brewington Hardaway (L) eschewed potentially dangerous preparation from Grayson Rorrer by opting for "exotic" opening play of his own (Photo courtesy of Crystal Fuller/SLCC)

As early as move five, a square of four pawns formed in the center … just in time to explode and stabilize into an opposite-side-castling middlegame. Rorrer emerged a pawn up, but Hardaway’s superior development and piece activity gave him more than enough compensation. With central dominance and the queen menacing both queenside destruction and kingside checkmate, the second player broke through, winning first a pawn and then an Exchange. Rorrer drummed up counterplay with his kingside majority, but after his knight got sidetracked and entombed on b8, it was all she wrote for the first player.

Also achieving his first win of the event was IM Sandeep Sethuraman, when a well-timed knight sortie and queen trap led to a significant advantage. Stubborn defense by IM Evan Park brought the game nearly back to equality, with rook, knight, and pawn balancing out Sethuraman’s queen, but an unfortunate slip in time trouble allowed Sethuraman to win a piece right before the second time control with a resourceful pawn push. Park picked up two pawns in the process, but the rook and its soldiers weren’t enough to stop the white queen from weaving a mating net and winning the game.

IM Justin Wang – IM Nico Chasin played out until bare kings, but the game quickly petered out to a draw with mass trades in the Queen’s Gambit Accepted. Meanwhile, GM Kirk Ghazarian – GM Abhimanyu Mishra also ended peacefully after the duo executed an early three-fold-repetition in a perfectly symmetrical middlegame.

After four, Woodward continues to lead the pack with 3/3. Hardaway, Mishra, Chasin, and Ghazarian are all in the chase, albeit a full point behind, with 2/3. Next round, Mishra and Chasin will square off, with Mishra taking the white pieces, and Wang will face Woodward with the black pieces.

Graphic courtesy of SLCC

Girls’ Junior Championship: Yan, Paragua join Atwell in the lead

Amidst an already-decisive round, the Girls’ Junior Championship proved to be the most bloodthirsty section, featuring a queen sacrifice, multiple rook sacrifices, and even both in the same game!

One of those rook sacrifices was featured in FM Ruiyang Yan – WGM Rochelle Wu. After a sharp theoretical back-and-forth in the Sicilian Sveshnikov, Wu picked up a slight edge, her knight proving slightly superior to Yan’s bishop in the middlegame with mutually stranded kings facing off in the center.

Ruiyang Yan before and after a hard day's work saw her join the tournament leaders (Photos courtesy of Crystal Fuller/SLCC)

Ruiyang Yan before and after a hard day's work saw her join the tournament leaders (Photos courtesy of Crystal Fuller/SLCC)

However, even though the first player’s doubled pawns made the creation of a passed pawn less likely, the advanced b6-pawn served as an anchor for the seventh rank rook, tying down Wu’s forces. After winning a pawn, Yan wasted no time to convert, using a rook sacrifice to simplify matters and send her passed pawn an express ticket to promotion.

In the battle of the New Yorkers, FM Megan Paragua emerged victorious against WIM Chloe Gaw, after the knight proved superior to the bishop for the second time this round. Despite starting off as an Open Sicilian, both players played solidly in the middlegame, maintaining equality all the way into the bishop versus knight endgame. Both players used up most of their first time control by move 40, and, after 20 more moves, even the additional 30 minutes were exhausted too, leading to mutual time trouble. Under the pressure, a slight move order inaccuracy allowed Paragua to pounce, creating two connected passed pawns and utilizing the agility of her knight to win the game.

In Jasmine Su – WFM Laurie Qiu, complications arose from a peaceful Italian game after Qiu whipped up some play on the kingside. In the ensuing opposite-colored-bishop middlegame, Su’s bishop proved more active. Though Qiu sacrificed an Exchange and her queen seemed to be crashing through on the kingside, the first player defended accurately, repelling the attack and finishing the game with an elegant queen sacrifice of her own.

Jasmine Su returned to an even score by winning her first game of the tournament (Photo courtesy of Crystal Fuller/SLCC)

The sharp Rossolimo Sicilian in WIM Iris Mou – WFM Rachael Li was all about the h-file. Winning the bishop pair early, Mou was off to a good start, but an early kingside pawn storm from Li opened up the h-file and quickly shifted the momentum in her favor. Once the second player castled her king and stacked more major pieces onto the h-file, not even Mou’s two extra pawns and emergency evacuation could save her.

Rachael Li's sharp Sicilian delivered her first decisive result of the tournament, putting her only a half-point behind the trio of leaders (Photo courtesy of Crystal Fuller/SLCC)

Material remained equal after the queen sacrifice, but the two rooks and two pawns stood no chance against the queen-and-knight duo, and Li promptly converted her advantage in yet another queen versus rook and pawns endgame.

The last game of the section, FM Rose Atwell – WGM Zoey Tang, ended peacefully, but not without a fight, with tournament leader Atwell and top-seeded Tang duking it out until bare kings. Atwell’s attack struck first in an opposite-sided-castling Petroff, but Tang defended resiliently. Even with Atwell’s three connected passed pawns on the queenside, Tang’s own passed pawns on the kingside provided her enough counterplay to draw. As is common in tight king-pawn endgames, the pawns promoted within a move of each other.

After round 4, Atwell is joined in the lead by Paragua and Yan with 2½/3, with sole chaser Rachael Li on 2/3. Next round, Li will play Tang with the black pieces, and leaders Atwell and Yan will square off, making for what is sure to be a critical round for the top of the standings.

Graphic courtesy of SLCC

Senior Championship: Three on top after three rounds

The seniors experienced many sharp, concrete fights in round 3, with all three decisive games involving vicious attacks on the king. Two of the games even featured castling by hand, reminding us that a king need not find its castle to be safe. Sometimes, a formidable swath of closed pawns can provide sufficient coverage.

In IM Timothy Taylor – GM Vladimir Akopian, Taylor acquired the early bishop pair in the Nimzo Indian, but Akopian found a good arrangement for his king, using the central pawns as shelter and attacking with the kingside pawns. The second player managed to keep the b-file closed against Taylor’s rooks, but was able to crash through on the h-file, using a colorful rook sacrifice to win three pieces for a rook and the game.

Also getting the better of a double-edged middlegame is GM Alexander Shabalov, whose precise concrete calculations in GM Alexander Shabalov – GM Gregory Kaidanov led all the way to mate in a queen-and-bishop endgame. In the Steinitz variation of the French Defense, Shabalov gave up the bishop pair for a queenside pawn majority and to inhibit black’s kingside castling, but Kaidanov untangled quickly, safely connecting his rooks.

Kaidanov versus Shabalov lived up to the hype (Photo courtesy of Crystal Fuller/SLCC)

Shabalov’s queenside pawn majority netted him a passed pawn, but the true turning point came when his queen gained access deep inside the enemy base. A series of precise checks closed the mating net and earned Shabalov the win.

GM Alexander Fishbein – GM Larry Christiansen started more quietly, with Fishbein opting for a King’s Indian Attack setup and Christiansen responding with a kingside fianchetto of his own. Both sides had an isolated pawn in the middlegame, but patient play by Fishbein allowed his queen to find an opening into the second player’s position, first winning a pawn and then a piece. Dodging perpetuals and mate threats with precise thematic resources, Fishbein consolidated his material advantage and earned the full point.

Alex Fishbein gave an in-depth in-studio interview after his first win of the tournament (Photo courtesy of Crystal Fuller/SLCC)

Both GM Igor Novikov – GM Alexander Goldin and GM Maxim Dlugy – GM Joel Benjamin ended in draws after the second player found a clever repetition scheme with their queen to bail out before sinking into deeper quicksand.

After four rounds, the Senior Championship remains a tight race at the top, with Novikov, Goldin, and Akopian in the shared lead with 2/3 and five more players only a half-point back with 1½/3 scores. Next round, Novikov will face Christiansen with the black pieces, Dlugy and Shabalov will play, and Akopian and Fishbein (who both won their round 3 games) will square off for round 4. What happens when fire meets fire?

Graphic courtesy of SLCC

Will a clear leader arise in the Junior Girls and Senior Championship? Will Woodward maintain his perfect score? Is it possible to break the current tournament’s record of 10 decisive games in a round? All pairings can be viewed here, and tune in today, July 18, at 12:20 p.m. CDT to follow the action live!

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