Yoo’s outburst casts a shadow over U.S. chess title tourney

Chess is a war game of the mind. But sometimes players carry the violence off the board as well.

In an incident that generated national headlines, 17-year-old GM Christopher Yoo, upset over a painful Round 5 loss to top-seeded GM Fabiano Caruana at the ongoing U.S. Championship Tournament in St. Louis, ripped up his scorecard, abruptly left the board and — worst of all — struck a female videographer from behind as he left the tournament hall.

The U.S. Chess Federation, rightly, immediately disqualified the young California GM, and his games — including the loss to Caruana — will not count toward the final scores.

“We take player conduct seriously and do not tolerate violations of our standards,” the host St. Louis Chess Club said in a statement. “We acted swiftly to address this situation, ensuring a respectful and safe environment for everyone involved in the tournament.”

In a separate statement, Yoo’s parents apologized unreservedly for their son’s out-of-character behavior, writing late last week: “Something like this has never happened before and he will be getting therapy to help make sure his mental well-being is properly cared for and that something like this will not happen again.”

Yoo himself is preparing his own apology, his father said.

What makes the incident even stranger is the game against Caruana that apparently set Yoo off was nothing particularly egregious: Yoo wins a clear advantage — though far from winning — out of this Symmetrical English, overplays his hand and allows Caruana back into the game and eventually to fashion a winning mating attack. There were no hung queens, no overlooked mates-in-one, no clock forfeits in a winning position that might explain (though never justify) the loser’s actions.

Caruana errs early on 12. Bg3 h5?! 13. Bh4, when already unappetizing would be 13…Re8 14. f4 15. 0-0-0 Be7 16. Bxe7 Qxe7 17. Bc2 with a clamp on the position. Black decides to take his medicine with 13…Nxe5 14. Bxd8 Nxd3+ 15. Qxd3 Qxd8 16. 0-0-0 Qc7 — Caruana clearly has insufficient compensation for the exchange but figures — rightly, it turns out — that the bishop pair will prove useful somewhere down the line.

White, perhaps overconfident, gives fuel to his opponent’s comeback hopes with moves like 21. b3?! (weakening a key diagonal when 21. f4! [Bxc4?? 22. Qd4 wins material] was there for the taking) and 28. Qg5? (wrongly targeting Black’s kingside pawns just as Caruana’s bishops are coming to life; better was 28. Qe2 Bf5+ 29. Ne4 Rxh1 30. Rxh1 with balanced play) Rxh1 29. Rxh1 Qd6! (defending and attacking at the same time) 30. g4 Qd3+ 31. Kb2 Bd4, and suddenly mate threats swirl around the White king.

Both players feel the pressure as the time control looms: 33. a4 Qe4?! (Black will be clearly winning if his king can find shelter from the queen checks, so more accurate here was 33…Kc7! 34. Qe7+ Bd7 35. Rc2 e4) 34. Qf6 Kc7, and with little time to think, Yoo can’t find the computer’s clever but unexpected 35. b4! axb4 36. Qe7+ Bd7 37. Qxb4 Bxg4 38. a5!, with the Black king again facing the heat.

On 38. Qe7+ Ka6, Caruana’s king worries are over and he can turn his full attention to the attack: 39. b4 (making things worse, but White’s game may already be past saving) Qxc4 40. Qe8 (b5+ axb5 41. axb5 Qxb5+, advertising the uselessness of White’s permanently pinned knight) Qxb4+ 41. Ka1 Qc4+ 42. Kb4 Kb7 (Be6?? 43. Qa8 mate) 43. Qe7+ Kb8 44. Qd6+ Ka8 45. Qxg6 Be6 — the second bishop joins the party and the end is near.

White’s king can’t flee the crossfire in the finale: 46. Rc2 Qa2+ 47. Kc1 Be3+ 48. Kd1 Bg4+, and Yoo resigned as all roads dead-end: 49. Ke1 (Ne2 Qa1+ 50. Rc1 Qxc1 mate; 49. Re2 Qd2 mate) Qa1+ 50 Rc11 Qxc1+ 51. Nd1 Qxd1 mate.

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Easily the single best performance on display in St. Louis this month is that of IM/soon-to-be GM Carissa Yip, the 21-year-old defending women’s champion who opened the women’s national title tournament with eight straight victories. As this is written, she has a 2½-point lead over her nearest rival with two rounds to go and seems all but certain to claim her third national crown. (Of course, right after this was written, Yip suffered her first loss of the tournament, to FM Megan Lee, shaving her lead to 1½ points.)

Perhaps the game of the tournament was Yip’s epic clash with eight-time women’s U.S. titleholder GM Irina Krush, a Shakespearean five-act tragicomedy with a climax worthy of the build-up.

We can’t really do analytical justice to the ebb and flow of the play here. In what evolves into a kind of Czech Benoni, the center locks up and Krush as White gets real pressure on the half-open b-file. Black battens down on that flank and launches her own counter on the kingside, sacrificing the exchange on 32. fxe4?! (Nxe4! g4 33. Bd3 Ne5 [Rxf3 34. Nxc5!] 34. Rxb6 Nxd3 35. Qb5! would have been very difficult to meet here) Rxf2 33. Kxf2 Qxe4! (the tactical skill on both sides here is of the highest caliber) 34. Bxg5 Qg2+ 35. Ke1 Qxh2 36. Bxe7 Qxg3+ 37. Kd2 Qf4+ 38. Kc2 Qe4+ 39. Kb3 Qxe7, recovering the piece and creating a dangerous passed h-pawn, But now with 40. Ka3, White can finally return to her mating attack along the b-file.

All of which is just a warm-up for the slam-bang finale: 43. Bd3 Ne5! (see diagram; Black gives up the defensive clamp on b6, but Yip sees an inspired defensive idea) 44. Rxb6!! (a brilliant concept, though the remorseless engines suggest it’s only good enough to draw) Nxd3 45. Qb5? (Krush’s idea, but 45. Rb7+! is the silicon solution, with one wild line being 45…Kd8 [Bxb7? 46. Qxb7+ Kd8 37. Rg1! Qh8 48. Qb8+ and wins] 46. Qb5 Ne5! 47. Qxa6 Nxc4+ 48. Ka2 Qe4 49. Qc6 Bxb7 50. Rxb7 Qc2+ 51. Ka1 Qc1+ 52. Ka2 Qc2+ 53. Ka1 Qxc3+, with perpetual check) Nb4!! (addressing White’s big threat here: 46. Qc6+ Kd8 47. Qxc8+! Kxc8 48. Rb8+ Kd7 49 R1b7 mate), when 46. cxb4 loses to 46…axb4+ 47. Ka2 Rxb6 48. Qe8 Qxc4+.

In a magnificent battle of wills, White makes the last mistake with 46. Rxa6? (Rf1! Rxb6 47. Rf7+ Kd8 48. Rf8+, with a draw, as Black dare not play 48…Ke7?? 49. Qe8 mate) Bxa6 47. Qxa5+ Kd7 48. cxb4, when White collects the knight but Black gets to go king-hunting: 48…Qg3+ 49. Kb2 Qe5+ 50. Kc2 Qe2+ 51. Kc3 Qxc4+ 52. Kb2 Qd4+ 53. Kc1 Qc3+ 54. Kd1 h2, and the humble h-pawn, a bit player in the drama heretofore, returns to the stage with decisive effect.

With no checks and no way to halt the pawn’s advance, Krush resigned.

(Click on the image above for a larger view of the chessboard.)

Yoo-Caruana, U.S. Chess Championship, St. Louis, October 2024

1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 b6 3. Nc3 Bb7 4. e4 e6 5. d4 cxd4 6. Nxd4 Nf6 7. Bd3 Nc6 8. Nxc6 dxc6 9. e5 Nd7 10. Bf4 Qc7 11. Qe2 O-O-O 12. Bg3 h5 13. Bh4 Nxe5 14. Bxd8 Nxd3+ 15. Qxd3 Qxd8 16. O-O-O Qc7 17. Kb1 Be7 18. Rhe1 g6 19. g3 Kb8 20. Qe3 Ba6 21. b3 Bc8 22. f4 h4 23. Qe5 f6 24. Qe3 hxg3 25. hxg3 e5 26. fxe5 fxe5 27. Rh1 Bc5 28. Qg5 Rxh1 29. Rxh1 Qd6 30. g4 Qd3+ 31. Kb2 Bd4 32. Rc1 a5 33. a4 Qe4 34. Qf6 Kc7 35. g5 Qd3 36. Qe7+ Kb8 37. Qd6+ Kb7 38. Qe7+ Ka6 39. b4 Qxc4 40. Qe8 Qxb4+ 41. Ka2 Qc4+ 42. Kb2 Kb7 43. Qe7+ Kb8 44. Qd6+ Ka8 45. Qxg6 Be6 46. Rc2 Qa2+ 47. Kc1 Be3+ 48. Kd1 Bg4+ White resigns.

Krush-Yip, U.S. Women’s Championship, St. Louis, October 2024

1. c4 g6 2. Nc3 Bg7 3. d4 c5 4. d5 Bxc3+ 5. bxc3 e5 6. e4 d6 7. Bd3 Nd7 8. Ne2 Qe7 9. O-O h5 10. a4 a5 11. Rb1 Kd8 12. Be3 Kc7 13. Rb5 h4 14. Qd2 Ra6 15. Qb2 g5 16. Rb1 b6 17. f3 f6 18. Nc1 Qg7 19. Nb3 Ne7 20. Be2 Kd8 21. Bf2 Ng6 22. Nd2 Kc7 23. Nf1 Ne7 24. Ne3 Qh7 25. Kf1 f5 26. exf5 Nxf5 27. Ng4 h3 28. g3 Rf8 29. Kg1 Ne7 30. Be3 Qg6 31. Nf2 e4 32. fxe4 Rxf2 33. Kxf2 Qxe4 34. Bxg5 Qg2+ 35. Ke1 Qxh2 36. Bxe7 Qxg3+ 37. Kd2 Qf4+ 38. Kc2 Qe4+ 39. Kb3 Qxe7 40. Ka3 Qh4 41. Bd3 Qg3 42. Bf1 Qh4 43. Bd3 Ne5 44. Rxb6 Nxd3 45. Qb5 Nb4 46. Rxa6 Bxa6 47. Qxa5+ Kd7 48. cxb4 Qg3+ 49. Kb2 Qe5+ 50. Kc2 Qe2+ 51. Kc3 Qxc4+ 52. Kb2 Qd4+ 53. Kc1 Qc3+ 54. Kd1 h2 White resigns.

• David R. Sands can be reached at 202/636-3178 or by email at dsands@washingtontimes.com.