American Cup: So and Lee remain in contention

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
3/24/2023 – Wesley So and Alice Lee qualified to the American Cup’s grand finals in the open and women’s sections respectively. So knocked out Levon Aronian, while Lee eliminated Nazi Paikidze. In both cases, after 1-1 draws in the 25-minute games, the winners prevailed in the second set of tiebreakers, played with a 10-minute time control. | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes

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Rematches

The regulations of the American Cup differentiate between the formats used in the champions brackets and the elimination brackets. In the latter, matches are decided on a single day, with rapid games being played from the get go (first 25-minute games, then 10-minute games, and so on). In the champions bracket, on the other hand, two classical games — played on two separate days — set things going.

Thursday was a rest day for the winners of the champions brackets, while the two players who survived up to this point in each section’s elimination brackets decided who would move on to the grand finals. Once all was said and done, Wesley So gained the right to face Hikaru Nakamura in the open, while 13-year-old Alice Lee advanced and set up a rematch against Irina Krush in the women’s.

Both So and Lee already lost to Nakamura and Krush, and will need to beat them twice to get the titles in each section. The winners of the champions brackets have yet to lose a match, so they will get a second chance (a third match against the same opponent, in this case) if they lose in the grand final. Classical games will be played on Friday and Saturday. If So or Lee win, the potential deciding matches are scheduled to take place on Sunday.

Wesley So

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

So 2½ - 1½ Aronian

The first two games of the match, lasting 76 and 47 moves respectively, finished drawn, with So failing to convert his advantage in a rook endgame in the first encounter — the engines show that the ending was winning for So at various points.

Aronian got white first in the blitz tiebreakers (10 minutes plus 5-second increments). The Berlin Defence that appeared on the board was anything but dull.

 
Aronian vs. So - Game #3

This is what happens when White goes all-in in this opening. Aronian gave up two pawns on the queenside to hinder Black’s development and force his opponent to leave the king in the centre. Engines here give 19.Rde1 as the best alternative for White but, naturally, 19.f5 was the human way to go after having burned so many bridges. 

So continued grabbing the gifted material as the game continued with 19...Ne3 20.fxe6 Nxd1 21.Rf7 — again going all-in!

 

Black has his pieces stuck on their initial squares, but he is still a whole rook up. Aronian tried to sacrifice both his minor pieces (only the knight was taken), as he tried to break through against So’s stoic defence.

In the end, it turned out that Black had enough recourses to defend the position. Aronian resigned the game in the following peculiar position.

 

Game over. So drew the next game with black and thus advanced to the gran final.

 
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1.d4 1 Nf6 2 2.c4 2 e6 2 3.Nf3 1 d5 3 4.Nc3 2 Nbd7 35 5.e3 20 Be7 1:46 6.b3 8 0-0 1:51 D37: Queen's Gambit Declined: 5 Bf4. 7.Bb2 2 b6 3 8.Bd3 32 is the legacy move (8.cxd5). Bb7 7 White has an edge. 9.Qc2 18 h6 28
10.Rd1N 2:48 Predecessor: 10.h4 c5 11.Rg1 cxd4 12.exd4 Rc8 13.Qe2 Bb4 14.Kf1 dxc4 15.bxc4 Ng4 16.Ne4 0-1 Coto Mederos,M (2348)-Yuan,Q (2373) Titled Tuesday intern op 14th Sept blitz 2021 (3) 10...c5 9 11.cxd5 5 Nxd5 1:11 12.Nxd5 16 Bxd5 3 13.dxc5 6 Bxc5 2:56 14.0-0 1:23 And now e4 would win. 14.Qc3 Qf6= 14.e4!? Bc6 15.0-0 14...Qe7 1:20 15.Bh7+ 3:19 Kh8 1 16.Be4 3 Bxe4 1:09 17.Qxe4 6 a5 21 18.Qf4 5:52       White attacks. Kh7 2:16 19.g4 1:23 Nf6 3:54 20.g5 31 hxg5 7 21.Nxg5+ 1:30 Kg8 3 22.Kh1 3:35 Rfd8 19 23.Rxd8+! 3 Qxd8 5:48 24.Rg1! 3 Be7 36 25.e4 9 Hoping for e5. White has more active pieces. Qe8 1:04
25...e5± was worth a try. 26.Bxe5 26.Qxe5 Rc8± 26...Rc8 26.Qh4 2:27 26.Nf3!+- Qd8 27.Qh6 26...Qc6? 1:42       26...e5± is a better chance. 27.f3 18 27.Rg3 Strongly threatening Rh3. Nh5 28.Qxh5 Bxg5       Remove Defender 29.Qxg5 Qxe4+ 30.Kg1 Qb1+ 31.Bc1 27...e5+- 1:02 28.Bxe5 3 Ra7 34 29.Bxf6? 3:09 29.Bd4+- Threatens to win with e5. g6 30.Qf4 30.Qh6 Bf8± 29...Bxf6= 3 30.Qh7+ 3 Kf8 1 31.Qf5 7 Bxg5 25 Black should play 31...Kg8= 32.Qxg5 3       Endgame KQR-KQR f6 16 33.Qh5 1 Kg8 8 Wards off Qh8+ 34.Rd1 10 White wants to mate with Rd8+. Ra8 7 Repels Rd8+ 35.h4 12 Qe6 5 36.Kg2 7 Against Qh3+ Rc8 1 Black should try 36...a4 37.Kg3± 9 Qe7 11 38.Qd5+ 13 Kh8 7 39.Qd6 16 39.Kh3 39...Qe8 7 40.Qxb6 30 Qe5+ 14 41.Kh3 37 Rd5 is the strong threat. Rc3 6 42.Kg4 25 Rc2 16 43.Qd8+ 12 Kh7 2 44.Rd2 0 Prevents Rg2+. Qe6+ 33 45.Kg3 1 Qe5+ 2 46.Kh3 33 46.Kg2!? Qb2 47.Rxc2 Qxc2+ 48.Kg3± 46...Rc3 7 47.Kg2 15 Qf4 15 48.Rf2 1 Rc5 1
48...Qxh4= 49.Qd6 49.Qd2 Rc5= 49...Qg5+ 50.Qg3 Qc5 49.Qd7! 28 Qxh4 18 50.Qh3 1 Qxh3+ 14 51.Kxh3 1 KR-KR g5 3 51...Rc1± might work better. 52.Rd2 15 Rd5 would be deadly. a4 15 53.bxa4 25       aiming for Rd5. Rc4? 1 53...Ra5± 54.Rd6 15 54.a5 54...Kg7 1 54...f5 55.exf5 Rxa4 55.a5+- 5 Ra4 1 56.a6 2 Rxa2 1 57.Kg4 1 Ra5 1 57...Kf7 58.f4 gxf4 59.Kxf4 Ke7 58.Kh5 8 Kf7 2 59.Rb6 4 Ra4 53 60.Rb7+ 15 Ke6 0 61.a7 1 Ke5 10 62.Re7+? 22 62.Kg6+- Ra6 63.Kh5 62...Kf4!= 30 The position is equal. 63.Rf7 1 Kxf3 1 64.e5 1 Ke4 1 65.exf6 23 Kf5 1 66.Kh6 0 g4 0       67.Kg7 46 g3 2 ( -> ...g2) 68.Rb7 12 f7 would kill now. g2 4 69.Rb1 12 Black must now prevent f7. Chess con chili. Rxa7+ 15 70.f7 1 Intending Rg1 and mate. Kf4 12 71.Kg8 3 Ra8+ 2 72.f8R+ 3 Rxf8+ 1 73.Kxf8 1 Kg3 1 74.Ra1 1 Kh2 2 75.Ra2 0 Kh1 1 76.Rxg2 1 Kxg2 1 Blacks defense is rewarded with a draw. Weighted Error Value: White=0.26 (precise) /Black=0.31
½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
So,W2761Aronian,L2745½–½2023American Cup Elimination 20234.1
Aronian,L2745So,W2761½–½2023American Cup Elimination 20234.2
Aronian,L2745So,W27610–12023American Cup Elimination 20234.3
So,W2761Aronian,L2745½–½2023American Cup Elimination 20234.4
 

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American Chess Cup 2023

Lee 3 - 1 Paikidze

Exciting chess was the rule in the match between Lee and Paikidze. All four games finished decisively, with tactical fights making for an entertaining exhibition for the spectators. The contenders traded wins with white in the first set of 25-minute games. Lee scored first, after Paikidze overlooked a pretty-yet-simple tactic in a wild position.

 
Lee vs. Paikidze - Game #1

17...g5 allowed 18.Qxc5+, using the pin along the dark-squared diagonal. Black is doomed. Resignation came shortly after.

Lee also won both 10-minute games. The first one saw the players entering a materially imbalanced position. The 13-year-old had a queen for Paikidze’s rook and bishop (and a potentially dangerous passer on the a-file). A decisive moment came when Paikidze underestimated her opponent’s attacking chances on the light-squared long diagonal.

 
Paikidze vs. Lee - Game #3

White here needed to address the fact that the queen is ready to go to g5, creating mating threats together with the bishop on b7 — 35.Bb5, preparing to defend from f1 was called for. Instead, 35.Red1 Qg5 36.g3 Qh5 followed, and White was in deep trouble.

 

The light-squared complex around White’s king is simply too weak. Paikidze resigned the game five moves later.

 
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1.d4 1 g6 2 2.c4 1 Bg7 2 3.e4 5 c5 9 4.d5 1 d6 2 5.Be2 14 e6 1:43 6.Nc3 46 Bxc3+ 2:11 7.bxc3 2 e5 1 8.Bd3 1:13 White is better. Nd7 1:25 9.Ne2 16 Qe7 47 10.h3 1:44 White should play 10.0-0± 10...Kd8 1:43 Black should try 10...f5! 11.Be3 38 Kc7 16 12.Qd2 2:41 White is more active. 12.Ng3± 12...f5!= 2:53 13.exf5 1:58 e4 4 14.Bg5 9       White has some pressure. Ndf6 2:52 14...Ngf6= 15.Bc2 Ne5 15.Bc2± 1:12 Black must now prevent fxg6. Bxf5 28 16.Qe3 51 h6 41 17.Bf4 5       g5? 1:28
This move loses the game for Black. 17...b6± 18.0-0 g5 18.Qxc5++- 5 White is clearly winning. Kd8 1:21 19.Bxd6 13 A strong pair of Bishops. Qd7 11 20.Nd4 31 Rc8 25 21.Qb4 18 Ne8 2:02 22.Be5 20
Threatens to win with Ne6+. 22...Rh7 15 23.g4 8 An entertaining game by Lee. Weighted Error Value: White=0.18 (very precise) /Black=0.29 (precise)
1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Lee,A2362Paikidze,N23141–02023American Cup Women Elimination 20234.1
Paikidze,N2314Lee,A23621–02023American Cup Women Elimination 20234.2
Paikidze,N2314Lee,A23620–12023American Cup Women Elimination 20234.3
Lee,A2362Paikidze,N23141–02023American Cup Women Elimination 20234.4
 

Nazi Paikidze

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

American Chess Cup 2023

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Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.

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