Class acts: Caruana, Yip defend chess titles at U.S. national championships

U.S. national champion GM Fabiano Caruana and U.S. women’s national titleholder IM Carissa Yip successfully defended their crowns at the national championship tournaments that ended last week at the Chess Club of St. Louis. It was the fourth open American title belt for Caruana, the country’s highest-rated player, and the third for Yip.

Caruana took the lead in mid-tournament and never looked back, besting a strong field by 1½ points even after his victory over young GM Christopher Yoo was nullified in their now-infamous Round 5 encounter in which Yoo’s post-loss tantrum, including the inexcusable physical altercation with a tournament employee, got him kicked out of the tournament.

Yip took a very different path, opening with eight straight wins, clinching the women’s crown with a round to spare despite a couple of late-tournament losses.

Props here to IM Begim Tokhirjonova, who did what it took six male grandmasters to do in St. Louis — finish second. In the closely bunched open championship, a sextet of grandmasters shared the silver medal behind Caruana: Sam Sevian, Hans Moke Niemann, Leinier Dominguez Perez, Levon Aronian, Awonder Liang and Ray Robson, all at 5½-4½.

Tokhirjonova, by contrast, used a finishing kick of three straight wins to finish alone in second a point behind Yip at 7½-4½, earning a slot in the upcoming Women’s World Cup in the process. Very quietly, the 26-year-old Uzbek native has built up an impressive resume since coming to the U.S. — this is her third second-place finish in the U.S. women’s title tournament.

Tokhirjonova’s win over FM Megan Lee at St. Louis, from the Black side of a Modern Defense, demonstrated an important chess principle: Not all bishop pairs are created equal. Black bides her time in the opening phase and strikes back when Lee goes on an ill-timed pawn-hunting expedition.

White appears to hit upon the wrong plan for the position (14. h4! Kf8 15. hxg5 hxg5 16. Rxh8 Bxh8 17. Bg4 Bxg4 18. Qxg4 Bf6 19. 0-0-0 makes for an easy kingside initiative), winning a pawn but facing a powerful counterpunch on 16. Nb6 Rb8 17. Qd3?! d5! 18. exd5 cxd5 19. Qxa6 d4 20. Bd2 e4, and Black’s suddenly menacing space advantage is well worth the lost pawn.

If White could mobilize those queenside pawns, she’d be in good shape. But Tokhirjonova’s bishops and rooks never give her the chance: 24. Rfc1 Qd7 (good, but the computer’s 24…Rc6! 25. Qa7 Qd8! puts the White queen in real danger of being trapped behind enemy lines) 25. Bf1 Ba2 26. Ra1 Rxb2, winning back the pawn and claiming a powerful initiative.

White’s two bishops are mostly spectators as Black pushes her positional edge to victory: 28. hxg5 hxg5 29. Bxg5? (another ill-fated pawn grab, though 29. Rab1 Rxb1 30. Rxb1 Rxc2 31. Qe2 g4 was not much better) d3! (with the bonus threat of 30…Ra8, trapping the queen) 30. Bf4 Ra8 31. Qd6 Qxd6 32. Bxd6 Rxc2 (the queen trade does nothing to relieve White’s woes, as Black’s rooks and bishops dominate the board) 33. Rab1 Ba2 34. Rxc2 dxc2 35. Rc1 Bb3 (now the threat is 36…Bh6) 36. Bf4 Rxa5 37. f3 Bb2 38. Re1 Bd4+, forcing resignation as now the White king is in mortal peril. Lee resigned ahead of 39. Kh2 (Be3 c1=Q 40. Rxc1 Bxe3+ cleans up, while 39. Kh1 Rh5+ 40. 40. Bh2 Be5 also wins) Bf2! 40. Rxe4 Rh5 mate.

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SuperChess wasn’t super enough at the recent 39th European Cup Club Championship in Vrnjacka  Banja, Serbia. Despite an eye-popping average rating of 2730, the club managed only a seventh-place finish in the 84-team event.

Indian superstars GMs Donnemaru Gukesh and Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, holding down top boards for the SuperChess squad, both were upset during the seven-round competition, with Iranian GM Amin Tabatabaei of the Turkish Airlines team taking down “Pragg” in spectacular fashion in their Round 4 Catalan. Black’s 7. 0-0 b5!? is typically a move that signals a sharp fight is in store, as Black will make White work to win back the gambited pawn, while White looks for a counterpunch elsewhere.

Black rejects 16…Qxc5 17. Qxc4, with a sterile position that is likely headed for a quick draw, but then gets into trouble on 19. Rad1 Qf5?! (there’s already some danger for Black in the position, so better may have been 19…Qc7 20. Ng5 Nf6!? (g6? 21. Rxe6! fxe6 22. Nxe6 Qe5 23. Bxd5, attacking both rooks and threatening some nasty discovered checks) 21. Bxa8 Rxa8 22. Ne4 Nxe4 23. Qxe4 Bb7, with reasonable compensation for the exchange) 20. Qc1!, eyeing 21. Nd6 Qf6 22. Bxd5 exd5 23. Rxd5, winning back the pawn with far more active pieces.

With 23…d4?! (Bc8 24. Qxd5 Qxd5 25. Rxd5 Be6 offers a sturdier defense) 24. Qxd4 Bb7, Black looks to exploit the weak light squares around the White king with his queen and bishop, but the attack will be repulsed with some inspired play by the Iranian star.

After 31. Qc3 h5 (see diagram; Black still dreams of a mating attack, but he’s in for a rude shock) 32. Nxf7!! Kxf7 33. Rxe7+!, Tabatabaei sacrifices a knight and rook to draw Black’s king out into the open. Praggnanandhaa’s king gets no rest for the rest of the game, as his other pieces stand by helplessly: 33…Kxe7 (Kg6 34. Qxg7+ Kf5 35. Re5 mate) 34. Qxg7+ Ke8 (Ke6 35. Rd6+ Kf5 36. Qf6 mate) 35. Re1+ Kd8 36. Qf6+ Kc7 37. Qd6+ Kb7 38. Re7+ Ka6 39. Qxc6+ Ka5 40. Rb7!, finishing things in style. Black resigns as the White queen wraps up things on her own on 40…Rxb7 41. Qxb7 Rg8 (Qe6 42. Qxa8+ Kb5 43. Qb7+ is an easy win given the preponderance of White pawns) 42. Qb6+ Ka4 43. Qb4 mate.

The Serbia event may be the last we’ll see of Gukesh before he seeks to wrest the world classical chess crown from Chinese GM Ding Liren in their 14-game title match set to start Nov. 25 in Singapore. The 18-year-old Gukesh, looking to become the youngest world champion in history, was upset by Russian GM Dmitry Andreikin at the European Cup competition, his first loss at classical time controls in 38 games.

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

Lee-Tokhirjonova, U.S. Women’s National Championship, St. Louis, October 2024

1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. Nc3 d6 4. Be3 a6 5. a4 Nc6 6. d5 Ne5 7. Bd4 g5 8. Be2 c5 9. dxc6 bxc6 10. Nf3 Nxf3+ 11. Bxf3 e5 12. Be3 Be6 13. a5 h6 14. O-O Nf6 15. Na4 O-O 16. Nb6 Rb8 17. Qd3 d5 18. exd5 cxd5 19. Qxa6 d4 20. Bd2 e4 21. Be2 Nd5 22. Nxd5 Qxd5 23. Rab1 Rfc8 24. Rfc1 Qd7 25. Bf1 Ba2 26. Ra1 Rxb2 27. h4 Bd5 28. hxg5 hxg5 29. Bxg5 d3 30. Bf4 Ra8 31. Qd6 Qxd6 32. Bxd6 Rxc2 33. Rab1 Ba2 34. Rxc2 dxc2 35. Rc1 Bb3 36. Bf4 Rxa5 37. f3 Bb2 38. Re1 Bd4+ White resigns.

Tabatabaei-Praggnanandhaa, 39th European Club Cup, Vrnjacka Banja, Serbia, October 2024

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c6 5. g3 dxc4 6. Bg2 Nbd7 7. O-O b5 8. e4 b4 9. e5 Nd5 10. Ne4 Be7 11. Bg5 O-O 12. Qc2 a5 13. Bxe7 Qxe7 14. Nfd2 c5 15. Nxc5 Nxc5 16. dxc5 Ba6 17. Ne4 Qc7 18. Rfe1 Qxe5 19. Rad1 Qf5 20. Qc1 Qh5 21. Nd6 Rad8 22. Bxd5 exd5 23. Qd2 d4 24. Qxd4 Bb7 25. Re3 Qh3 26. f3 c3 27. bxc3 Bc6 28. cxb4 axb4 29. Qxb4 Ra8 30. a3 Rfb8 31. Qc3 h5 32. Nxf7 Kxf7 33. Re7+ Kxe7 34. Qxg7+ Ke8 35. Re1+ Kd8 36. Qf6+ Kc7 37. Qd6+ Kb7 38. Re7+ Ka6 39. Qxc6+ Ka5 40. Rb7 Black resigns.

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