Yu wins title with round to spare, Caruana catches the leaders!

By GM Cristian Chirila

The penultimate round of the 2019 U.S. Championships couldn’t have been more exciting, as the players came in ready to work extra hard for their respective goals. Fabiano Caruana completed the comeback, as he demolished Lenderman in the Petroff. The two leaders, Nakamura and Dominguez, took no major risks in their direct encounter and drew their game quickly. So fought valiantly to stay in the mix but was cut short by Sevian, who played a wonderful game and almost beat the former champion. Fortunately for So, he managed to save the game and will now need a victory tomorrow to hope for a tiebreak. His chances are slim, nevertheless, in chess everything is possible.

The big story of the round happened in the women’s section, as Jennifer Yu was crowned the new queen of American chess after defeating Anna Zatonskih, her most ardent rival, in their direct encounter. The tension was high throughout the game, as both players gave their all to reach their goals. Abrahamyan and Wang both scored important victories, and they will be fighting tooth and nail for the remaining medal spots. They will go into the final round separated by half a point, with everything to play for!

Let’s look at the most impactful games of the round!

U.S. Chess Championship

 Caruana vs Lenderman

With the two leaders likely heading toward a draw, Caruana knew exactly what he had to do in order to keep his title chances alive. A win on demand was the only satisfying result. Caruana was aware of that as he mentioned it often during his interviews. Lenderman has been off-form throughout the event and still looking to find that elusive victory. In our short chat after the game, Lenderman confessed that he wanted to give Fabiano a way to over press and commit errors, as a victory for Lenderman would help him on his bid to reach one of the world cup spots. Lenderman chose the Petroff, a decision that some people might call naïve as Caruana is by many accounts the biggest expert in this opening.

The position quickly became very unpleasant for Black after he erred with the imprecise 9…Nb4?!

This allowed Caruana to obtain a better structure and the advantage he needed to start pressuring his opponent. The ensuing middle game position was one that you never want to have against a top player, a worse position without any counterplay. Let’s take a closer look at what transpired during this key match of the day!

We are all set for an explosive finish in the championship round today!

U.S. Women’s Championship

 Zatonskih vs Yu

This was clearly the game that commanded everybody’s attention throughout the day. The two players were separated by only half a point, and this match could have flipped the script as Zatonskih had the White pieces and a clear shot at upsetting the leader.

The ladies quickly blitzed out the first 15 moves of a known line of the Slav. It was Zatonskih who had the first long think of the day, as she contemplated her plan and decided to go for the committal 16.Rd4 idea. Yu responded with the consolidating 16…a5 and it was at this point that Zatonskih made a big strategic mistake, 17. h4?! This was simply too much, as Zatonskih launched into a flank offensive without bringing any pieces to support it. A better course of action would have been to finish her development and create a strong battery on the d-file via the Qc2-Rd1 maneuver. Yu took advantage of her opponent’s carelessness by playing the ultra-concrete 17…Nc5!

This was without a doubt the most difficult move of the game, as she had to calculate countless tense and sharp lines to make sure it worked. The ensuing complications were handled with precision by Yu, and Zatonskih erred under the looming threat of mass exchanges. Her 20.Nxe5? mistake allowed Yu to get a decisive advantage after 20…Bxf2, and she never looked back. It was all Yu until the end, as she forced Zatonskih’s resignation through a brilliant assault against her opponent’s king. The young Jennifer Yu becomes the 2019 U.S. Women’s Chess Champion in style, as she scores a whooping 9/10 and takes the coveted title home with one round to spare!

Let's take an even deeper dive into this game with GM Denes Boros expert analysis!

Big congratulations to Jennifer!