2012 U.S. Championships News

by GM Cristian Chirila

The tournament is heating up and the players are starting to feel the pressure, the effect of lowered energy, and the stress that the championship rounds are bringing to the table. There are two leaders in the U.S. Championship and a three way tie in U.S. Women’s Championship. Nakamura is making a strong comeback and he is now only half a point behind the leaders. The women’s section is catching fire as Anna Zatonskih wins a beautiful game and caught Paikidze and Abrahamyan at the top!

Let’s analyze this exciting round and see where we stand as we enter the last three rounds of this dramatic event.

2016 U.S. Championship

Caruana vs. Robson ½- ½

Fabiano was coming into round eight as the clear favorite, and his final rounds schedule suggests him as the main favorite to strip Naka off his title. One last big test that he had to pass was the Robson exam.

Unfortunately for him, Ray came off guns blazing and used an incredible preparation to equalize and ultimately force Fabiano to go for a sacrifice that led to a perpetual. Let’s give this game a closer look and get a clear idea of how you can outprepare a 2800!

So vs. Onischuk ½- ½

Wesley chose to test Onischuk in the same line Caruana defeated him just a couple of round ago. Onischuk boldly accepted the challenge and repeated the same move, he probably had some serious improvement over his previous loss, and So decided to deviate first by playing 8.d4. Onischuk knew the variation and did not stumble in his way to an inferior, but holdable endgame. Wesley never really had a chance for a serious advantage and misses his chance to surpass Caruana in the standings and become the sole leader of the tournament.

Shankland vs. Xiong ½- ½

This was a fairly uneventful game between the revenge seeking Shankland and one of the biggest sensation of the tournament, the young Jeffery Xiong (who has yet to taste defeat). As much as Shankland wanted to win, he also knew that his form is not at its peak and will not be a wise decision to go all-in against an ice cold Xiong that would penalize any inaccuracy. In an attempt to keep things down low and hopefully take out Xiong out of his preparation, Shankland opted for the Trompovsky, an opening that has not been seen in the U.S. Championship very often. Xiong played one of Kramnik’s main weapons, a strategically sound option that allows White to get a better structure in exchange for the bishop pair.

I myself played this line a few times as Black and never had any problems to prove the dynamic prospect of my bishops. The exchange spinning wheel made a natural appearance and the pieces started falling off the board at the speed of light. By move 30 there were only one pair of light pieces left on the board, the players agreed to a draw soon after the time control.

Akobian vs. Kamsky ½ - ½

Akobian and Kamsky both have had subpar events but this was one game to prove that it was everything a fluke, and their class had to be respected under any circumstances. Akobian chose a rare line in the KID by playing 6.g4!? Black had quite an interesting idea of combating White’s peculiar set-up with a combined attack in the center and on the queenside. Var managed to contain Black’s initiative and obtained a strategically better position, unfortunately for his he left himself little time and had to complete the last 20 moves in less than 2 minutes. Var should have taken the sacrifice with 17.Bg4! after which extreme complications arise, but they all seem to end up favorably for him. Instead he chose a more dull approach that did not paid off. Kamsky showed his resilient nature and the game ended after the 50th move.

Chandra vs. Lenderman 0-1

Lenderman showed why he is one of the most theoretically feared guy in the field. He wisely chose a Sicilian offbeat line that transitioned into a Pirc type of structure with the one improvement for Black that the White square bishop gets out and the “c” pawns are off the board, which gives his the important c6 square for the knight. Black easily equalized and was even better, but suddenly he chose the wrong plan and in three moves he was already almost losing.  

Luckily for Lenderman, Chandra is not in best shape and could not find the win starting after 33.Qe5! followed by Bxc5 sacrificing the piece and completely destroying Black’s king shelter. Instead, the National Junior champ allowed his opponent to get back into the game and event obtain a superior knights endgame. Lenderman had a dangerous passed pawn on the “b” file, and in Chandra’s second time trouble he managed to promote the pawn and get his first win of the tournament.

Nakamura vs. Shabalov 1-0

Nakamura obtained an important advantage out of the opening but failed to spot a few resources and allowed Black to get back into the game. In the ensuing materially unbalanced position, Nakamura managed to outsmart his opponent and place enough pressure that he would ultimately crack. Let’s give this game a closer look and see where both these players could have improved their performance.

Here are the standings after round 8:

2016 U.S. Women’s Championship

Abrahamyan vs. Krush ½ - ½

This battle was definitely the crucial one going into round 8 of the U.S. Women’s Championship as two of the three leaders were fighting against each other to maintain the edge over their competition. The game started quite badly for Tatev who quickly got into a worse position against the defending champ. Irina started her slow grind and looked as if she will be emerging victorious from this “championship” round.

The structural advantage and piece domination should have been decisive for Krush but ultimately she erred badly by playing a series of moves that diminished her advantage to the point where she actually felt endangered by Tatev’s initiative. If White would have played 40.Bf8! it is not clear whether Black would have been able to survive in the ensuing endgame. Draw and Tatev must be relieved to escape Krush’s torturous program.

Game annotation by GM Robert Hess.

Paikidze vs. Nemcova ½ - ½

Paikidze was looking to take the sole lead going into the final 3, Nemcova on the other hand was surely not complacent with a draw and would have liked to get the full point in order to start eyeing the top spots.

Nazi chose to follow the main lines this time around and picked the Catalan as her weapon of choice, but Nemcova appeared to be the better prepared player. Despite the opening failure, Nazi slowly started to outplay her opponent but failed to capitalize on her technique when she missed 26.Nxc6! Even after the game continuation, Nazi was still better and should have tortured her opponent for a longer time. Instead she chose a dubious plan and failed to spot Black’s cute 49…Rxc6! A move that sealed the draw and kept the standings up top unchanged.

Eswaran vs. Zatonskih 0-1

A French on the board. Zatonskih came very well prepared to this game and managed to fully equalize as soon as move 10. She had enough dynamics in the position to balanced her isolated pawn on the “d” file and soon her opponent decided to give a pawn in order to activate her forces. Unfortunately for White, this was not a very witty sacrifice and Zatonskih quickly increased her advantage through a series of well timed tactics. Anna accurately converted her gains and Eswaran will once again have to go back to the drawing board and try to salvage her mediocre event.

Zatonskih on the other hand maintains her high tempo and joint the leading pack with three more round to go.

Yip vs. Foisor 0-1

Sabina is slowly getting in her groove! After a slow start and a few disappointing performances she now seems like a new player and ready to climb the standings latter.

Carissa is coming off a couple of loses and seems to have slowed down after her furious start. If the Berlin is nowhere to be see these days, the French is making an appearance every round, generally in more than one game. The players followed one of the main lines of the 3.Nd2 French but Sabina seemed to have outprepared her younger opponent and equalized skillfully out of the opening. Sabina tried to complicate matter but her younger opponent managed to maintain the balance and even threaten to get an advantageous position. Unfortunately for her, it was Sabina who found a nice pawn sacrifice with 25…e3! which unleashed the dynamics of her pieces and placed Carissa under tremendous pressure. The youngster was not able to hold and blundered badly with 32.Rad1 which allowed Sabina to pin the knight decisively and win a full piece. Soon after, it was game over!

Bykovtsev vs. Gorti 0-1

The two juniors decided to play one of the sharpest line of the, you guessed it, French defense (self-proclaimed most popular opening of the U.S. Championships). It was Akshita who presumably forgot her preparation and played the dubious 17…Qf6 but in such a complex position is difficult to harshly condemn a natural looking move just because the engines don’t like it.

Agata’s 19.h4 was a difficult move to understand, as is closing the queen’s path back home, and so were her following moves. Akshita quickly finished her development and started a vicious pawn storm in the center, while keeping the opponent’s queen entrapped on the h file. Agata could not find an active plan and had to resign when her opponent’s second queen made an appearance on the board.

Yu vs. Melekhina 1-0

When you lose a game in an open tournament you usually go back to the drawing board and play an accessible opponent that will allow you to come back and restore your confidence. That is not the case in the U.S. Championships when every round you are playing the best players in the country. This has been the case for Alisa’s decline and has been quite heartbreaking to witness. Jennifer chose to start the game with 1.c4 and the players soon entered a topical line of the English opening in which White maneuvers their pieces in order to take advantage of the weakened d5 square. Alisa must have been inspired by Nemcova’s previous game in which she started an early attack with h4-h5, but this time around Jennifer knew what to expect and prepared her game plan thoroughly. Alisa took some bad decisions, in particular recapturing on e5 with the f pawn, which allowed her opponent to obtain a large advantage. Despite that, Jennifer did not handle the complications well and blundered with 23.Nd7?? This could have been a turning point for Alisa’s tournament but she failed to play the winning move 23…Rxf1! Instead she played a losing move and had to resign only a few moves later. Another disappointing result for Alisa who has played very decent games so far but failed to give her best during the critical moments.

We are entering the final three rounds of this exciting event and the battles are starting to heat up. Leaders will fight tooth and nail for this prestigious title, and the main benefiters of that will be the eagerly awaiting fans! Here are the matchups for Round 9:

By GM Cristian Chirila

Round seven of the U.S. Championship and U.S. Women’s Championship was arguably the most exciting one up to this point. As we approach the final days, the tension is rising and each individual’s nerves are starting to play a crucial role. Our pick for the most important game of the day was Jeffery Xiong’s first big test as he was facing the world #2 Fabiano Caruana. Wesley So was also following closely in the standings and had the Black pieces against the ultra-aggressive Alexander Shabalov.

In the Women’s Championship, the leaders—Paikidze, Krush and Abrahamyan—were all facing players that were having a critical tournament situation. Let’s analyze the games and understand how the players fared in this nerve-wracking round!

2016 U.S. Championship

Xiong vs. Caruana ½ - ½

This was undoubtedly one of the most important games of the round. Fabiano was coming in as the leader and knew that in order to preserve that status he would need to place as much pressure on his opponents from now till the end of the tournament. But today, he was facing a different player; a guy that he has never faced—a player that is arguably the biggest talent raised on American soil since Nakamura burst on the chess scene. That player is Jeffery Xiong and this was not going to be a cakewalk.

The game started off with a hybrid Ruy Lopez with 4…g6. Maybe Fabiano was inspired by the World Champion who used this same opening to win a nice game only two days ago in Norway. Jeffery looked surprised and allowed Black to get the upper hand after giving up his bishop pair without much fight with 8.Bxc6?! From there on, Fabiano exerted incredible pressure for the rest of the game. Unfortunately for him he did not manage to convert due to a marvelous resilience by his opponent.

Draw and the title race tightens up.

Shabalov vs. So 0-1

This was clearly one of those off days for Shabalov. He is known to be an extremely active player but failed to continue the game immediately after his preparation was over. Wesley surprised Shabalov (maybe himself too) with 17…Nf6?! Which has been played only once and it is quite an inaccuracy. His elite GM confidence confused White and he did not manage to play the most natural 18.Nf5! which would have given him a very pleasant advantage. Shabalov resigned at move 23 due to a terrible blunder in an already difficult position.

Robson vs. Chandra 1-0

This was a very important battle in the title run. Chandra has had a subpar event and as is the customs, when sharks smell blood, they will attack with ruthless precision and aggression. This was the case for Robson who knew a full point would put him back into the race and allow him to once again have a shot at the top laurel. White played the surprising 9.Qe2!?—a move that has only been played once before and that holds some serious poise attached. The point of it is to try for a queen exchange with Nc4-Qe5 and allow your queenside majority and centralized pieces to make the difference in the ensuing endgame. Chandra was not having any of that and avoided the queen swap at all costs which might have ultimately proven to be in his detriment. It was a tense middlegame but ultimately White managed to break through Black’s solid complex with 22.Nxb7! It was pawn up for Robson after that and only a miracle would have saved Chandra. Unfortunately for him, the miracle never came and Robson is back in the title contention!

Nakamura vs. Akobian 1-0

Another masterpiece by one of the top three titans of the tournament. Nakamura surely came to the game expecting to face Akobian’s renowned French, but Var had other plans. He surprised the national champion with the Petroff Defense and the game soon turned into a theoretical battle.

Nakamura had the last say in the matter and proved that even when surprised, 2800 caliber players have a secret bank of information that helps them to casually beat top GMs. Let’s take a closer look at this game and see how Nakamura managed to outplay his opponent. 

Onischuk vs. Shankland 1-0

Shankland came into this tournament as a feared player, but he has not managed to find his rhythm and the results have been below the expectations. Onischuk was having a stable event at 50% and was looking to make use of his Whites in order to climb the rankings and threaten the leaders. White chose a tricky line with Qc2-Rd1 in the QGD, but it did not seem to work as Shankland fully equalized after the opening and maybe could have even pressed for an advantage at some point. Instead, he started playing too passively and took some suspicious decisions that damaged his position. Onischuk slowly increased the pressure and forced his opponent into submission after showing impressive endgame technique. In the end, it was a game that shows that even in the most equal and dry positions there are always ways to test your opponent. Today it was Onischuk’s hunger to win that prevailed as he now moves at +1 and starts eyeing the top places.

Lenderman vs. Kamsky ½ - ½

White came very well prepared and manage to amass a serious edge out of the opening. Kamsky felt in danger of being squashed down and tried to create counterplay by sacrificing a pawn after 19…b5?! This was a rushed decision and White could have obtained a big advantage if he would have found the cunning 24.N1a3! Instead, the game continuation failed to produce any results and Black fully equalized a couple of moves later.

2016 U.S. Women’s Championship

Paikidze vs. Bykovtsev 1-0

Nazi is a terrific athlete; she works out every day sometimes even twice a day. As the tournament progresses and we enter the final round, it is very likely that we will see an improvement in her level of play.

Once again, Nazi clearly stated with her opening choice that she believes she is the superior player, the g3-b3 development not being objectively a difficult line to refute. Agata did not have a clear plan and the uncertainty got her in real trouble quite quickly, but with some good moves and a bit of luck she could have flipped the tables and actually obtain an advantage after 39…Bh6! Instead she played Ra8 and after the game continuation the position was almost resignable.

Krush vs. Eswaran ½ - ½

Krush dodged another bullet. The seven-time U.S. Women’s Champion tried to play a slow game and take her opponent to the endgame, where she thought she would outplay her and win with ease. This was not the case as the young Ashrita held her own and actually managed to outplay her much more experienced opponent. She should have held the bishops on the board with 25…Re2, after which Irina would have a difficult defense. Instead, she chose to enter the rook’s endgame, one that Irina knew to perfection and held the draw exemplary.

Melekhina vs. Abrahamyan 0-1

This game was arguably the wildest one in the Women’s Championship and subsequently the longest one as well. Melekhina was sitting at the bottom of the standings while Tatev was comfortably sharing the lead with Nazi. Nobody would have bet that this is going to be a nail biting escape by Tatev, but as it often happens in these type of events, the player sitting at the bottom of the table should never be underestimated as she can produce some incredulous surprises. Surpriseland was the direction in which this game was going with Melekhina building a huge advantage and pressuring Tatev to the breaking point. Her aggressive pawn sacrifice yielded great results and Alisa could have obtained a decisive advantage after the natural 20.Bh6! followed by an irresistible attack on the king. Our silicon friend suggests that Black could have resigned at this point. Unfortunately for Alisa, who has had a heartbreaking event, she did not find the winning move and instead allowed her opponent to get the winning edge. The two women traded blows and ultimately ended up in an equal endgame after the time control. Tatev gathered all her energy and realized that she still maintains some winning chances due to the poor coordination of White’s pieces. With good technique, Tatev managed to outplay Alisa in the endgame and joins Nazi in the leader’s chair.

Zatonskih vs. Gorti 1-0

This was a one-sided affair with the experienced Anna Zatonskih playing an almost perfect game and completely outplaying her younger opponent. Akshita did not understand the requirements of the position she was playing and incorrectly released the central pressure with 10.fxe5? This allowed White to obtain an incredible outpost on e5, as well as a game long target on e6. Anna knew she has a decisive strategic advantage and she never let go of it. Akshita did not have the necessary patience to defend such a passive position and cracked by playing 26…g5? Which simply gives a pawn and does not get any ounce of counterplay in return. The game quickly ended after that in a convincing victory for Zatonskih.

Nemcova vs. Yip 1-0

Katerina is trying to chain a few wins together and close the gap with her rivals that stand at the top of the standings. She knew that a golden opportunity would be in her game against Carissa Yip, the youngest participant and a very big talent in her own right. Once again the experience played an important role and Katerina managed to outplay her opponent out of the opening. Katerina never allowed her opponent to get back into the game and she now moves to 5th place, 1.5p behind the leaders.

Foisor vs. Yu 1-0

Sabina has had a difficult tournament up to this point but one thing that she surely didn’t lose is her motivation to win games. Today’s game was proof of that as the players played a tame game and ended up in a completely equal endgame. Sabina channeled her inner Carlsen and decided to play on to see how well her opponent handles technical endgames. Yu played a good game but at some point forgot about her opponent’s threats and blundered with 70…Ra1?? Allowing her opponent’s king to invade via f5 and obtained a decisive advantage. Sabina took advantage of her chance and finished her opponent with immaculate technique.