In a healthy sign for American chess, two of the strongest fields ever are battling it out as the 2023 U.S. Championship and U.S. Women’s Championship kicked off at their now-traditional home at the Chess Club of St. Louis last week.
The fields were so strong — nine of the 12 players in the open field are rated 2667 or higher — that one bit of intrigue went by the boards early: No one will claim the lucrative Fischer Prize for a perfect score, a prize created to mark Bobby’s epic 11-0 run in the 1963-64 title tournament.
Still, there’s been plenty to generate interest in both events through Sunday’s Round 4, with world No. 2 GM Fabiano Caruana leading the championship field at 3-1, and IM Carissa Yip and Iranian-born WGM Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova atop the women’s leaderboard, also at 3-1.
The start by Yip, the 2021 U.S. women’s champ, was particularly impressive as, by the luck of the draw, she faced four of her top rivals in the first four rounds, drawing with Tokhirjonova and top-seeded GM Irina Krush and defeating defending champion FM Jennifer Yu and rising star FM Alice Lee. The victory over Lee in Round 3 came with some tense moments for both young players.
In a great King’s Indian positional battle, Yip offers up a pawn for open lines against White’s castled king. In the face of mounting pressure, Lee defends coolly — until she doesn’t.
White’s ramparts should just hold after 28. Kg1 Rag8 29. g4! (a brave move when every Black piece is trained on your king) fxg3 30. hxg3 Rh6 (Rxg3+? looks like it might work, but doesn’t: 31. Nxg3 Rxg3+ 32. Rg2 Qh3 33. Qe2 Ng5 34. Rxg3 Qxg3+ 35. Kh1, and White defends) 31. Rg2 Rf8 32. Kf2 (Qe3 is also good, though White can’t get too cute with 32…Nf6 33. Qxh6+? Qxh6 34. Rh2 Qxh2+ 35. Kxh2, because 35…Nxe4 pins and wins) Nf6. Now White’s king can high-tail it out of there and Lee would have remained a pawn up after 33. Ke3! Qg6 34. Nxf6 Qxf6 35. Qe4 Rg8 36. Kd3.
Instead, the pressure of the attack forces a mistake: 33. Nxf6?! Rhxf6 34. g4? (even now, 34. f4! exf4 35. Ke1 f3 36. Rgf2 keeps White in the game) Qh3 35. Rg3? (losing; White had to find 35. Kg1!, holding the draw after 35…Rxf3 36. Rxf3 Rxf3 37. Qg6! Rf4 38. Qg5) Qh2+ 36. Ke2 (also insufficient was 36. Rg2 Rxf3+ 37. Qxf3 Rxf3+ 38. Kxf3 e4+ 39. Kf2 e3+! 40. Kf3 Qh3+ 41. Rg3 Qxf1+ and wins) Kg7!, not rushing into 36…Qxg3?? 37. Rh1+ Kg7 38. Qh7 mate.
Yip finally breaks through on 38. Rfg1 Rxf3+! 39. Rxf3 Qxg1+ 40. Kd2 (Ke2 Qg2+ 41. Ke3 Rxf3+ 42. Ke4 Qg4 mate) Qg2+ 41. Qe2 Qxf3, and White resigned a hopeless position.
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GM Hans Moke Niemann, whose cheating controversy and clash with ex-world champ Magnus Carlsen, Chess.com and other detractors has been resolved (for now), is back to, as he says, “letting the chess speak for itself.” He has played some of the most aggressive chess of the event so far and, despite a loss to GM Sam Shankland in Round 3, is in a three-way tied for second at 21/2-1½, just a half-point behind Caruana.
Niemann’s fighting spirit was on display in a back-and-forth Round 2 battle with GM Sam Sevian, with Niemann’s gamble to refuse a draw in a mostly equal position paying off in the end.
Black’s 10 Bd2 Ra7!? is a lesser-played sideline of the Catalan, but one Niemann has played before. Sevian’s 13. Nbd2 Qa8 14. Ne1?! looks slightly artificial (14. e4 is a reasonable alternative), and White’s game loses focus after the wandering knight tour 21. Nf4 Kg7 22. Nh5!? Kh6! (an odd post for the king, but it proves perfectly safe here) 23. Nf4 f5 24. Ng2, and Black starts to take over the play.
Black might have kept an edge with 29. h4 Ne5 — instead of the game’s 29…Qb8?! — in lines like 30. Rc7 Rxc7 31. Qxc7 Ng6 32. Rc1 Qe4, but Niemann stays aggressive even as the position drifts toward equality, declining a repetition of moves and sacrificing his h-pawn to preserve the initiative.
Black’s fighting spirit nearly costs him, though, as after 34. Nf4 Ng6!? (in deep time trouble, Black nearly played 39…Ng4??, pulling back just in time to avoid 40. Rxf5! exf5 41. Qxf5+ Kg7 (Rg6 42. h5) 42. Nc5 Qc7 43. Qxg4+ Kh7 44. Qxd7, winning. Better here, though would have been 39…Rdg8, as after 40. Nxg6 Rxg6 41. Rc1, White is just a pawn up and Black is struggling for the draw.
Niemann’s efforts to complicate White’s task pay off when Sevian goes in for an ill-fated piece sacrifice in hopes of checkmate: 50. Ra8 Rg4 (Black covers — for now — the deadly checking squares around his king, and White underestimates the peril his own king will soon face) 51. Kf1?! (Nd2!, bringing the last piece to the attacking party, was the way to go; e.g. 51…Qxh4 52. Qe8 Qf6 53. Nf3 b3 54. Nxe5 Qxe5 55, Qxf7+ Kh6 56. Re8 Rg6 57. Re7 and wins) Qd6! 52. Qb7? (not losing, but White takes a big gamble with a piece sacrifice in hopes of checkmate; 52. Ke2 kept the draw in hand) Qd1+ 53. Kg2 Qxb3 54. Qxf7+ Kh6 (see diagram), and now White fails to find the computer-y 55. Ra5!! Rg7 (Bg7?? 56. Rxf5!, winning with an unexpected pin on the Black e-pawn) 56. Qf8 Bc3 57. Qh8+ Rh7 58. Qd8, drawing.
After 55…Bg7 56. Qd6 Qc4, White’s attack is shot and he’s just a piece down. The players duke it out to the bitter end: 62. Kh3 b1=Q 63. Rxb1 Qxb1 64. fxg4 Qh1 mate.
(Click on the image above for a larger view of the chessboard.)
Lee-Yip, U.S. Women’s Chess Championship, St. Louis, October 2023
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. O-O h6 8. d5 a5 9. Ne1 Na6 10. b3 Nc5 11. Qc2 b6 12. Bd2 Nfd7 13. Bg4 f5 14. exf5 Nf6 15. Bh3 gxf5 16. Qc1 Rf7 17. f3 Nh7 18. Bxh6 f4 19. Bxc8 Qxc8 20. Bxg7 Rxg7 21. Qc2 Qh3 22. Kh1 Qh5 23. Nd3 Nxd3 24. Qxd3 Ng5 25. Ne4 Nh7 26. a3 Rg6 27. Ra2 Kh8 28. Kg1 Rag8 29. g4 fxg3 30. hxg3 Rh6 31. Rg2 Rf8 32. Kf2 Nf6 33. Nxf6 Rhxf6 34. g4 Qh3 35. Rg3 Qh2+ 36. Ke3 Kg7 37. g5 Rf4 38. Rfg1 Rxf3+ 39. Rxf3 Qxg1+ 40. Kd2 Qg2+ 41. Qe2 Qxf3 White resigns.
Sevian-Niemann, U.S. Chess Championship 2023, St. Louis, October 2023
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qa4 a6 8. Qxc4 b5 9. Qc2 Bb7 10. Bd2 Ra7 11. a4 b4 12. Bg5 Nbd7 13. Nbd2 Qa8 14. Ne1 Bxg2 15. Nxg2 c5 16. Bxf6 gxf6 17. Nb3 cxd4 18. Rac1 Ne5 19. Nxd4 Rd8 20. Nb3 Rad7 21. Nf4 Kg7 22. Nh5+ Kh6 23. Nf4 f5 24. Ng2 Kg7 25. Qb1 Bf6 26. Rc5 Ng6 27. Rc4 Be7 28. Qc2 h5 29. h4 Qb8 30. Qc1 Bf6 31. Na5 Qb6 32. Nb3 Qb8 33. Na5 Qb6 34. Nb3 Kh7 35. Nf4 Ne5 36. Rc5 Qb7 37. Nxh5 Bh8 38. Qc2 Rg8 39. Nf4 Ng6 40. Nxg6 Rxg6 41. Rc1 Qb6 42. Rd1 Rxd1+ 43. Qxd1 Bxb2 44. Qd7 Rg7 45. e3 Qb8 46. Kg2 Qa8+ 47. Rc6 Be5 48. Qc8 Qa7 49. Rxa6 Qe7 50. Ra8 Rg4 51. Kf1 Qd6 52. Qb7 Qd1+ 53. Kg2 Qxb3 54. Qxf7+ Kh6 55. Qf8+ Bg7 56. Qd6 Qc4 57. Re8 b3 58. Rxe6+ Kh7 59. Qd7 b2 60. Rb6 Qe4+ 61. f3 Qc2+ 62. Kh3 b1=Q 63. Rxb1 Qxb1 64. fxg4 Qh1 mate.
• David R. Sands can be reached at 202/636-3178 or by email at dsands@washingtontimes.com.
• David R. Sands can be reached at dsands@washingtontimes.com.
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