Day 2 of the U.S. National Championships saw GM Gregory Kaidanov and GM Melik Khachiyan both win their games to stay perfect in the U.S. Senior, while only GM Andrew Hong moved to 2/2 in the U.S. Junior. Somewhat surprisingly, all games in the U.S. Girls’ Junior were drawn, leaving IM-elect Alice Lee, FM Zoey Tang, and WGM Rochelle Wu in the lead with 1.5/2.
Check out the full replay of live coverage from the day here. Each event features a 10-player round-robin format, with a time control of 90 minutes for 40 moves, followed by an additional 30 minutes with a 30-second increment added from move one.
U.S. Senior Championship
Both Kaidanov and Khachiyan managed to win their second straight games to maintain their lead, both taking advantage of tactical blunders by their opponents, Novikov and Shabalov.
Shabalov-Kaidanov: 23…Rxf3! led to resignation after 24.gxf3 Nxc1 0-1 as 25.Rxc1 Qg5+ gives Black an extra piece.
A smooth 2/2 for the 2021 U.S. Senior Champion. | Photo courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes
Meanwhile, top seed GM Vladimir Akopian was able to bounce back from yesterday with a clean positional victory against Root, winning the game thanks to a breakthrough on move 30:
Akopian-Root: 30.d5! exd5 31.Qg5++- was the finisher, as Qd8+ and Re7 is coming next.
GM Vladimir Akopian got back to even today. | Photo courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes
U.S. Senior Championship – Standings after Round 2
U.S. Junior Championship
After five decisive results in Round 1 only GM Andrew Hong could maintain his perfect streak, as he sacrificed a piece to defeat IM Jason Liang in fine attacking style:
Hong-Liang: 32.Bf4! was a killer blow, bringing the a1-rook into play next. | 1-0, 35 moves
Two whites and two wins for GM Andrew Hong. | Photo courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes
IM Josiah Stearman had top seed GM Abhimanyu Mishra on the ropes today, as he found a brilliant rook sacrifice to reach a completely winning position, but failed to convert in the second time control:
Stearman-Mishra: 34.Ba5!! posed very serious problems for Black, with the deadly threat of Qh8+ | ½-½, 74 moves
Mishra survived by the skin of his teeth today. | Photo courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes
U.S. Junior Championship – Standings after Round 2
U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship
Surprisingly all five games were drawn today, leaving IM-elect Alice Lee, WGM Rochelle Wu, and FM Zoey Tang tied for the lead with 1.5/2. Top seed IM Carissa Yip played a second game with Black and was held to another draw, this time to NM Rose Atwell who managed to defend a pawn down in a heavy piece endgame.
1.0/2 for NM Rose Atwell, who’s drawn two favorites so far. | Photo courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes
Three-time champion IM Carissa Yip is also on 1.0/2. | Photo courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes
Closest to winning was WCM Shreya Mangalam, who missed a few opportunities in an endgame against Wu:
Mangalam-Wu: 51.h6! was White’s last chance to win the game, e.g. 51…f4+ 52.Ke2 g5 53.b5!+- | | ½-½, 65 moves
WCM Shreya Mangalam | Photo courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Crystal Fuller
U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship – Standings after Round 2
The 2023 U.S. Juniors’ and U.S. Senior Championships continue tomorrow, July 17th, starting at 1:15 PM CDT. Catch all the action live with grandmaster commentators Yasser Seirawan, Cristian Chirila, and Katerina Nemcova on uschesschamps.com and on the Saint Louis Chess Club’s YouTube and Twitch.tv channels.