It was a fight to the finish as grandmasters from Russia and China topped the leaderboard at the 124th U.S. Open, which wrapped up play in Norfolk, Virginia, with a scintillating final round and playoff Sunday.
Unlike so many big-time Swiss events these days, both top-board games between the players at 7-1 ended decisively Sunday evening. Russian GM Semen Khanin downed U.S. GM Fidel Corrales and Chinese GM Zhou Jianchao won a hard-fought struggle with veteran New Jersey GM Mackenzie Molner. Khanin then defeated Zhou in a blitz armageddon playoff game to claim the prestigious title.
Unfortunately for Molner and Corrales, their losses left them a half-point behind two other American finishers in the race for a coveted berth in the next U.S. national championship tournament. Wisconsin GM Awonder Liang grabbed the spot as the top American finisher by winning another blitz playoff over Missouri GM Varuzhan Akobian after the two finished at 7½-1½.
Nearly 400 players competed in the weeklong tournament, which also featured a number of scholastic and side events.
Zhou’s battle with Molner was everything you want to see in a last-round pairing with titles and prize money on the line. In a popular Symmetrical English line, Molner as Black offers — and Zhou accepts — a pawn that may or may not be poison after 9. Qb3 Bg7!? (Qc8 10. Ng5 Ne6 11. d3 Bg7 also offers good play for both sides) 10. Qxb7 Bd7 11. Qb3!, smartly getting the queen out of Dodge before the exits are blocked.
After 14. Rb1 Ned4 15. Nxd4 Nxd4 16. Qd1 Be6, Black has two very nice bishops, a well-posted knight, a lead in development and good pressure along the b-file, a substantial positional return on the investment of a pawn. But what looks like a little bit of impatience will cost Black as Zhou finds some nice tactics to untangle his position and ultimately seize the initiative.
Thus: 18. axb4 Qd6?! (Black puts a foot wrong for the first time in the game; with moves like 18…Bg4 19. Re1 Qd7, he can keep building up the pressure) 19. e3! Nb5 (Nf5 20. d4 Rfd8 21. Ne4, blocking off Black’s fianchettoed bishop and holding on to the gambited pawn) 20. Ne4 Qd3 21. Bb2 Rfd8 22. Bxg7 Kxg7 23. Rb2 Qa3 24. Qb1 Bc4 (see diagram; White tenaciously clings to the extra pawn, but it seems Black’s pressure is only growing; Zhou, however, now finds a move that abruptly turns the tables) 25. Nc5!!.
Black might have been better advised to refuse the offered exchange, as 25…Bxf1?! 26. Bxf1 leaves him facing the very nasty threat of 27. Rb3, trapping the queen. The Black knight must be sacrificed to save Her Majesty — 26…Nd4 27. exd4 Rxd4, and now White finds another stunner: 28. Qe1!! (good but less convincing was 28. Rb3 Rdxb4 29. Rxb4 Qxb4 30. Qa1+ Kg8 31. Qe5 Rd8 32. Qxe7 Rxd2), abandoning the rook on b2 to begin an unexpected attack on the Black king.
Black restores nominal material equality after 28…Qxb2 29. Qe5+ Kh6 30. Qxb8 Rxb4, but his king is left in a highly precarious situation from which there will be no escape.
Zhou brings home the point with another nice tactical flourish: 31. Qf8+ Qg7 (Kh5 32. Be2+ Rg4 33. Qxf7 is just winning) 32. Qxe7! (trading queens just lets Black escape with a better game; now the threat is 33. Qg5 mate) Qd4 33. Ne6!, and Black resigned as 33…fxe6 (Qe5 34. Qf8+ Kh5 35. Ng7+ Kh6 36. Ne8+ Kh5 37. Be2+! Qxe2 38. Nf6 is a neat mate) 34. Qf8+ Qg7 (Kh5 35. Be2+ wins again) 35. Qxb4 leaves White up a full piece.
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Virginia master Tyson Brady did the Old Dominion proud with a superb 7-2 result, losing only to Zhao and landing in a 10-way tie for sixth with a slew of higher-rated players.
A sample of his strong play was a Round 8 win over fellow Virginian expert Siddhant Nair from the White side of the Sicilian Dragon Yugoslav Attack. Black in this line relies heavily on his Dragon bishop on g7 to control the position, and this game instructively shows the perils that can result when that key piece leaves the board.
With the kings castled on opposite wings, White hustles to generate a kingside attack while Black looks to counterpunch in the center and on the other flank. In retrospect, the game is effectively decided by the sequence 12. Bd4 Nxc3!? (e5 13. Bc5 Re8 14. Ne4 Be6 15. h4 may be a trifle better for White, but at least the beautiful fianchettoed Black bishop remains on the battlefield) 13. Qxc3 Bh6+ 14. Be3 (forcing a trade, as Black’s queen is also attacked) Bxe3+ 15. Qxe3 Qa5? (too passive; 15…Qb6! 16. Qg5 [Qxe7 Be6 17. Qa3 Rad8 18. Bd3 c5 19. g4 Rd4, and at the minor cost of a pawn, Black gets good piece activity and a real initiative on the queenside).
With Black’s kingside dark squares fatally weak and Black’s attack taking too long to materialize, White’s game practically plays itself from here on out: 16. Bc4 (developing a piece while protecting a2) Ba6 17. Bb3!, and now opening pretty much any line on the kingside will be nearly impossible for Black to defend.
Nair never gets a chance to get back in the game: 20. h5 Qb6 21. Qg5 Kg7? (losing, but White is still dominating in lines like 21…Re8 22. hxg6 fxg6 23. f4 Qe3+ 24. Kb1 Qe4 25. Qh4 h5 26. Re1 Qf5 27. Re5 Qf7 28. a3) 22. hxg6 hxg6 23. Qe5+ (Black’s fortress cannot hold; also strong was 23. Bxe6! fxe6 24. Qe7+ Kg8 25. Qxe6+ Kf8 26. Rh8+, with mate in a few moves) f6 (Kf8 24. Qf6 Qe3+ 25. Kb1 Qh6 26. Qxd8+ [and not 26. Rxh6?? Rd1 mate] Kg7 27. Rxh6) 24. Qxe6, and the mating net draws ever tighter.
The h-file proves its usefulness one last time in the finale: 24…Qc7 25. Qh3! Qf4+ 26. Kb1, and Black resigned not needing to see lines such as 26…Kf8 (Bc4 27. Qh7+ Kf8 28. Qh8+ Ke7 29. Rh7+ Kd6 30. Qxd8+) 27. Qe6 Qc7 28. Qxf6+ Ke8 29. Rh8+ Kd7 30. Qe6 mate.
(Click on the image above for a larger view of the chessboard.)
Zhou-Molner, 124th U.S. Open, Norfolk, Va., August 2024
1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. g3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Bg2 Nc7 7. a3 g6 8. h4 Bg4 9. Qb3 Bg7 10. Qxb7 Bd7 11. Qb3 Rb8 12. Qc2 Ne6 13. O-O O-O 14. Rb1 Ned4 15. Nxd4 Nxd4 16. Qd1 Be6 17. b4 cxb4 18. axb4 Qd6 19. e3 Nb5 20. Ne4 Qd3 21. Bb2 Rfd8 22. Bxg7 Kxg7 23. Rb2 Qa3 24. Qb1 Bc4 25. Nc5 Bxf1 26. Bxf1 Nd4 27. exd4 Rxd4 28. Qe1 Qxb2 29. Qe5+ Kh6 30. Qxb8 Rxb4 31. Qf8+ Qg7 32. Qxe7 Qd4 33. Ne6 Black resigns.
Brady-Nair, 124th U.S. Open, Norfolk, Va., August 2024
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 Nc6 8. Qd2 O-O 9. O-O-O d5 10. exd5 Nxd5 11. Nxc6 bxc6 12. Bd4 Nxc3 13. Qxc3 Bh6+ 14. Be3 Bxe3+ 15. Qxe3 Qa5 16. Bc4 Ba6 17. Bb3 e6 18. h4 Rfd8 19. Rxd8+ Rxd8 20. h5 Qb6 21. Qg5 Kg7 22. hxg6 hxg6 23. Qe5+ f6 24. Qxe6 Qc7 25. Qh3 Qf4+ 26. Kb1 Black resigns.
• 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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