By IM Kostya Kavutskiy / Saint Louis Chess Club
Hikaru Nakamura pulled through to become the 2023 American Cup Champion after defeating Wesley So 2½-1½ in a difficult final Elimination Match. The finale started out with three solid draws, but finished abruptly in the fourth game after a blunder by So got his queen trapped inside Nakamura’s territory.
The day started with two 25+10 games in the final Elimination match. The first game saw Nakamura emerge with an extra pawn in a theoretically drawn rook endgame, which So had few problems holding.
In the second game, Wesley was a bit better in a double-bishop endgame, but eventually allowed a draw by three-fold repetition, taking the players to a rapid playoff.
Game 1 ended in a stalemate | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes
In the playoff, So started as White, and after a balanced middlegame he ended up with a very pleasant advantage in a knight ending. But Hikaru defended well and managed to hold the draw.
After 33.Ba3, So had good winning chances thanks to the passed b-pawn, but never a clear win.
In the next game Hikaru got a bit of an edge after starting with 1.Nf3, but the game ended rather surprisingly in the middlegame after a devastating blunder by So got his queen trapped with no way out.
17…Qxd2?? was an unfortunate blunder, as after 18.Rfd1 Qb2 19.Nc4! Black’s queen was trapped.
After three solid draws, Nakamura seized his opportunity to win the game, the match, and the title | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes
Second place after a fantastic showing from Wesley So | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes
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