American Cup: Aronian knocks out Caruana in Armageddon

Seven decisive games in a row

The top five seeds in the open section of the American Cup are among the fifteen strongest players in the world. Thus, it was to be expected for at least one of the favourites to be eliminated from the event at this stage, after the fifth day of action. As it happened, last year’s champion Fabiano Caruana was the one being knocked out. Caruana lost with white in Armageddon to Levon Aronian in a match that featured seven consecutive decisive results.

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On Wednesday, Aronian will face Leinier Dominguez, who got the better of Sam Shankland by a less dramatic 1½-½ score. The winner of that match will play the loser of the champions bracket’s final — i.e. either Hikaru Nakamura or Wesley So. Naka and So drew their first classical game on Tuesday.

Wesley So | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes

Nakamura ½ - ½ So

In a game lasting 34 moves, Nakamura played it safe with white and saw his opponent showing good theoretical preparation to keep the evaluation balanced throughout.

 

Nakamura, Hikaru2768

½–½

So, Wesley2761

American Cup Champions 2023 Saint Louis21.03.2023[TA]

1.e4 7 e5 38 2.Nf3 18 Nc6 1:14 3.Bb5 7 Nf6 18 4.d3 8 Bc5 46 5.0-0 13 Nd4 1:01 The position is equal. 6.Be3 44 C65: Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defence (3...Nf6), unusual lines and 4 0-0 Bc5. Nxf3+ 38 7.Qxf3 32 Bxe3 29 8.Qxe3 7 c6 12 8...0-0 9.d4 d6 10.Be2 c6 11.dxe5 dxe5 12.Nd2 Be6 13.a4 Qb6 14.Qxb6 axb6 15.Rfd1 Rfd8 16.b3 Kf8 ½-½ Nakamura,H (2761)-So,W (2754) Abidjan GCT rapid 2019 (8) 9.Bc4 6 d6 7 10.Nd2 9

10...Qb6N 43 Predecessor: 10...0-0 11.Rfe1 Be6 12.h3 b5 13.Bb3 Nd7 14.Nf3 Nc5 15.d4 Nxb3 16.axb3 f6 ½-½ Martinez Alcantara,J (2591)-Tari,A (2672) Chess.com Rapid Wk22 Swiss 2022 (7) 11.Qxb6 15 axb6 8 12.f4 3 exf4 1:49 13.Rxf4 17 b5 11 14.Bb3 5 Be6 10 15.a3 5 0-0 9:35 16.Raf1 3:11 Rae8 4:19 17.Bxe6 3:58 Rxe6 2:22 18.Nf3 1:03 d5 44 19.e5 1:32 Nd7 27 20.d4 11 f6 48 21.h3 2:52 Re7 32 22.exf6 52 Rxf6 1:38 23.Rxf6 5 Nxf6 6 24.Re1 26 Rxe1+ 37 25.Nxe1= 2       Endgame KN-KN Ne4 13 26.Nd3 23 Kf7 6 27.Kf1 25 Ke6 5 28.Ke2 4 g5 16 29.g4 24 h6 7 30.Ke3 12 Kd6 20 31.Ne5 4:45 Ke6 17 32.Nd3 3 Kd6 4 33.Ne5 46 Ke6 7 34.Nd3 5 Not much happened in this game. Weighted Error Value: White=0.01 (flawless) /Black=0.01 (flawless) ½–½

Nakamura’s recap: “Dear YouTube, today’s game was a shocker”

Aronian 4 - 3 Caruana

A match that features seven consecutive decisive games requires by force for both players (combined) to win on demand three times. In this thrilling confrontation, Aronian twice scored in must-win situations, while Caruana did it once.

In the Armageddon decider, a retreating move by Caruana, with white, left him in an inferior position amid a tense tactical struggle.

25.Rg1 was called for at this point, challenging the all-important open file on the kingside. Instead, Caruana’s 25.Qf3 allowed Black to gain the initiative with 25...f5, using the pin on the light-squared long diagonal.

One more mistake by Caruana three moves later was enough for Aronian to clinch match victory and advance to the next stage in the elimination bracket.

It was a tense struggle — Fabiano Caruana and Levon Aronian | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes

Dominguez 1½ - ½ Shankland

Two players known for their excellent theoretical preparation explored a Najdorf Sicilian in the first game of their match. Dominguez, playing white, already had the upper hand when Shankland faltered on move 19.

19...Nxh3 does create a discovered attack against the dark-squared bishop, but 20.Bb6 is an elegant refutation (20.Bc5 was also good), as the knight is now trapped on h3.

Dominguez ended up with a piece — and the bishop pair — for two pawns, and duly converted his advantage into a 48-move win. The Cuban-born star employed the Petroff Defence to draw the second game and knock out his opponent.

Leinier Dominguez | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes

Paikidze and Tokhirjonova advance

After getting knocked down to the elimination bracket on Monday, Nazi Paikidze and Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova managed to remain in contention for overall victory in the women’s section by beating Tatev Abrahamyan and Atousa Pourkashiyan respectively.

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Similarly to what happened in the open section, the finalists in the champions bracket, Irina Krush and Alice Lee, signed a draw in their first classical encounter.

A beautiful shot by Lennart Ootes, with 13-year-old Alice Lee in the background | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes

Krush ½ - ½ Lee

A strategic battle saw both players spending considerable amounts of time in the opening and the early middlegame. Krush had an extra pawn, but a couple of subpar manoeuvres left her in an inferior position. Lee tried her best, but Krush’s experience allowed her to keep things under control until the end.

 

Krush, Irina2432

½–½

Lee, Alice2362

American Cup Women Champions 2023 Saint Louis21.03.2023[TA]

1.c4 4 c6 5 2.e4 18 d5 5 3.exd5 9 cxd5 7 4.cxd5 8 Nf6 47 5.Nc3 16 g6 2:20 6.Bc4 8:25 Bg7 3:04 7.Nge2 2:13 0-0 5:19 B10: Caro-Kann: 2 d3 and 2 c4. 8.0-0 1:07 Nbd7 12:05 9.d3 59 a6 8:19 White is slightly better. 10.a4! 1:08 b6 1:19 11.h3 16:34 White is more active. Bb7 4:31

12.d4N 1:45 12.Be3 Predecessor: 12.Be3 Rc8 13.Rc1 Ne8 14.Ne4 Nd6 15.Nxd6 exd6 16.Nd4 Qh4 17.Nc6 Bxb2 18.Rb1 1-0 Netzer,J (2208)-Saada,J (2304) FRA-ch Accession 2010 (1) 12...b5= 4:43 The position is equal. 13.axb5 1:03 Nb6 1:17 14.Bd3 10:33 14.bxa6? perishes. Nxc4 15.Qd3 Nd6 14...axb5 1:18 15.Rxa8 7 Qxa8 6:38 16.Bxb5 10 Nfxd5 5:28 17.Nxd5 6:44 Bxd5 7:32 18.Nf4 3:48 Bb7 2:51 19.Re1 9:40 e6 8:16 20.Bf1 14 Rd8 31 21.Qb3 3:37 Bxd4 5:26 22.Be3 8:45 Bxe3 53 23.Qxe3 25 Nd5 4:03 24.Nxd5 3 Rxd5 35 25.b4 1:27 Bc6 59 26.g3 5:42 Rd7 2:57 27.b5 43 Bb7 1:15 28.Qe5 4:07 Qa3 6:12 29.Qb8+ 7:03 Kg7 12

...Qf3 is the strong threat. 30.Qe5+ 8 Kg8 6 ...Qf3 would be deadly. 31.Qb8+ 5 Kg7 23 And now ...Qf3 would win. 32.Qe5+ 7 Kg8 1:02 Weighted Error Value: White=0.06 (flawless) /Black=0.05 (flawless) ½–½

Paikidze 1½ - ½ Abrahamyan

In the post-match interview, a confident Paikidze noted that she prepared well for this tournament, unlike what she had done in last year’s US Women’s Championship, which did not go well for her. In the first game, she got an early advantage and focused on preventing Abrahamyan from getting the kind of counterplay that often serves her well. Paikidze won the game in 34 moves.

The second game saw Abrahamyan missing a chance to create good winning chances by pushing her central d-pawn at once in the middlegame.

16.d5 would have created a world of trouble for Black, while Abrahamyan’s 16.b4 gave Paikidze a respite to coordinate her pieces in defence. The game ended as a 50-move draw.

Nazi Paikidze | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes

Tokhirjonova 2 - 0 Pourkashiyan

After winning the first game with white, Tokhirjonova got to attack her opponent’s king in a position with opposite-side castling.

White is doomed after 28...Bf5. There followed 29.Qg3 cxb2 30.Bxb2 Qxc2+ 31.Ka1 Rd8, and Pourkashiyan resigned two moves later.

Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes

Links

• Official site
• Fabiano Caruana wins American Cup! (2022)