Recap

The second round of the U.S. & U.S. Women’s Chess Championship was another intriguing story. The games had everything; blunders, turnovers, as well as an unfortunate premature resignation. The open section saw some balanced games, as well as a couple of important victories by So and Sevian. In the ladies section, the situation was no longer as imbalanced as in the first round, with only two games finishing with decisive results. Let’s take a closer look at the action games in round 2!

While the open section saw some tense battles without producing many decisive results, the women’s championship was a full-fledged bloodbath that ended with a full board of decisive results!

With 12 more blitz games left to play, the final day of the Champions Showdown was undoubtedly going to be action packed. The fans were in for a treat as the players came ready to fight - making only 16 draws in 60 games! At the end of the day, five winners were crowned all of whom earned $36,000 for their efforts, with their opponents taking home $24,000.

With the rapid portion of the matches in the books, 12 games of blitz were in store for the players. Today brought everything one would expect from such a hectic day: blunders, flagging and a lot of fireworks across the boards. There were no big shake-ups in the standings, as the leaders either maintained or extended their leads, with Caruana already clinching the win.

Today was the last day of rapid chess, and the pressure was on for the players to not go drowning into day one of blitz that starts tomorrow. With every game counting double, it was especially important to score today. Shankland was trying to keep afloat against Rapport, but to no avail, and Harikrishna, although he didn't lose the day to Caruana, was unable to put a dent in their score difference. Topalov showed why he is one of the all-time great players of the World in today's rounds against Dominguez, while So's time management keeps Navara in tremendous pressure, which the Czech has so far been unable to withstand.

Day two saw more riveting chess, as two players tried to make a comeback, while the other matches started the day as a close competition. After a tough start, Shankland and Harikrishna trailed 7-1 against Rapport and Caruana respectively. Topalov and So started the day with the minimum advantage while Duda and Nakamura came in tied 4-4.

Day one of the 2019 edition of the Champions Showdown kicked off with fireworks and excitement. What’s unique about this particular event is the number of fresh faces who made their debut in Saint Louis, who otherwise don’t get many opportunities to share the stage with the very best in the world. Both the newcomers and the veterans showed their mettle and determination to outplay their opponents.

Almost all the rounds of this event had a lot of excitement, so it wasn’t a surprise that the last one didn’t disappoint.  In the battle for first place, GM Gunina had an advantage most of the game against GM Kosteniuk, but Alexandra fought back and even had winning chances at some point before the game finally ended in a draw.  Krush completely dominated Harika to secure 3rd place, and Dzagnidze won an all-Georgian matchup to move into 4th. 

Round eight had plenty of fighting chess, but only one player was able to secure a victory.  French GM Marie Sebag scored her first win of the tournament against GM Irina Krush. IM Zhansaya Abdumalik came close to knocking off the tournament leader but stumbled just before making time control.  GM Alexandra Kosteniuk, on the other hand, had plenty of chances against Dzagnidze before the Georgian GM managed to hold her to a draw.

The 7th round saw two decisive results, but they were crucial ones.  Gunina won a 4th game in a row and moved into clear first place, while Kosteniuk drew the worse side of a french and fell back to 2nd.  The 3rd place player, GM Irina Krush, lost in convincing fashion to GM Bela Khotenashvili. Abdumalik-Dzagnidze and Paehtz-Sebag also could have seen White victories, but both players were unable to convert.