Day 4
Day 4 of the 2022 Summer Chess Classic started with Ray Robson unfortunately withdrawing from the tournament due to COVID-19. Because he had not played more than 50% of his games, Robson’s results against Yu Yangyi, Oparin, and Mishra were annulled, and no points were awarded for his remaining games. The games already played will still count for rating.
Yu was able to gain a steady advantage out of the opening and built it up to secure the win after 53 moves.
Bjerre had a great start to the game and worked his way up to a +7 position in only 26 moves! Unfortunately, he could not find the only move to win on move 27 and lost his winning advantage. Mishra was able to defend a tough position and drew the game.
Antipov had a promising space advantage in the opening and had a quick attack against Black’s king but Zhou was able to defend and even achieve a winning position once it fizzled out! Zhou was unable to find the correct defensive move with 29…f6?? Allowing White to tie down Black’s extra piece and draw the game.
Burke won against Checa’s French Defense by breaking through the center and ended up with 2 extra pawns in a rook endgame.
Day 5
Only one decisive result ended in Group A where Hakobyan was able to win with the English Opening. Black had a risky defense around the king by extending the pawns to the 4th and 5th ranks which turned out to be a hook for White to attack.
In Group B, Vazquez played a marathon game with 103 moves to grind out the win against Harutyunyan in a Rook and pawn endgame. JJ was also able to win against his opponent Checa by coordinating his pieces into a successful kingside attack. Brandon Jacobson was able to gain a piece for a couple of pawns against Antipov, but Black kept his rooks active and was able to draw.
Day 6
Sickness strikes again but this time against GM Brandon Jacobson, forcing him to withdraw from the rest of the tournament. Because Jacobson had played more than half of his games, his results against Checa, Dragun, Zhou, Arutyunyan, and Antipov still stand. However, he does forfeit his remaining games and his opponents will get a full-point bye.
All four games in Group A were drawn while there was 1 decisive game in Group B. Antipov was able to win against Harutyunyan with the Black pieces. Black was able to force white to give up an exchange without leaving any major weaknesses for himself and was able to convert.
With two players sick, the standings are altered as follows:
Standings
Coverage of the 2022 Summer Chess Classic happens everyday at 3pm CT on https://www.uschesschamps.com/watch-live.