American Cup: Krush strikes first

by ChessBase
3/25/2023 – The 2023 American Cup Finals kicked off in exciting fashion with the first games between Hikaru Nakamura against Wesley So and Irina Krush against Alice Lee. In the open, Nakamura sacrificed his queen for two rooks in a roller-coaster game that would ultimately end in a draw. Meanwhile, Krush took a 1-0 lead after winning a very sharp first game as White. | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes
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Krush a draw away from overall victory

By IM Kostya Kavutskiy / Saint Louis Chess Club

The 2023 American Cup Finals kicked off in exciting fashion with the first games between Hikaru Nakamura against Wesley So and Irina Krush against Alice Lee. In the open, Nakamura sacrificed his queen for two rooks in a roller-coaster game that would ultimately end in a draw. Meanwhile, Krush took a 1-0 lead after winning a very sharp first game as White.

In this unique double-elimination format, the losers of each match get relegated to the Elimination Bracket, where they get a second chance to continue the tournament.

Nakamura - So | ½-½, 49 moves

What started out as a relatively quiet English Opening heated up rather quickly, as Nakamura blasted things open with multiple pawn breaks in the center. A few moves later, Hikaru decided to sacrifice his queen, leaving himself two rooks and a bishop against So’s queen and knight. With several possible mating nets and a strong passed pawn, Nakamura then sacrificed his bishop as well, leaving Black’s king and knight paralysed, but it wasn’t winning on the spot as So could still defend.

 
Nakamura vs. So

31.h4!! was an incredible shot from Nakamura, with the idea of 31…Nxf1 32.Rg5!+- (and Bg7 mate next).

A tremendously complicated position arose, where Wesley then missed a chance to consolidate his material advantage and possibly win the game, instead letting Nakamura off the hook with a draw and ending with an unexpected stalemate.

 

48…Qxh4+! forced a fantastic stalemate on the board, as So realized he had no more chances to win.

Hikaru Nakamura, Wesley So

One of the wildest games of the tournament | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes

 
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1.c4 4 e5 45 2.Nc3 14 Nf6 5 3.Nf3 15 Nc6 5 4.e4 10 Bb4 34 5.d3 9 d6 5 6.a3 4 A28: English Opening: Four Knights Variation. Bc5 51 7.b4 19 Bb6 3 8.Na4 10 Bg4 3:03 9.Be2 46 Bxf3 35 10.Bxf3 6 Nd4 4 11.Nxb6 9 axb6 41 12.0-0 26 Qd7 17:48 13.Bb2 28 Nxf3+ 1:56 14.Qxf3 43 0-0 7 15.Qe2 5
15...Rfe8N 7:02 Predecessor: 15...Qe7 16.g3 Nd7 17.Kh1 c6 18.Rae1 Rfe8 19.f4 f6 20.f5 Qf7 21.g4 d5 1-0 Pap,G (2517)-Medvegy,Z (2547) HUN-chT 1314 2013 (1) 16.f4 7:44 b5 24 17.c5 9:11 Qe6 14:45 18.Rac1 8:23 c6 5:44 19.cxd6 17:49 Nd7 1:46       20.Qf2 5:57 f6 1:34 21.d4 3:12 Threatens to win with fxe5. exf4 5:16 22.e5 7:51 fxe5 2:19 23.dxe5 1:05 Nxe5 4 24.Rce1 9:42 Qd5 2:55 And now ...Nd3 would win. 25.Qe2 1:59 25.Qxf4 Nd3 26.Rxe8+ Rxe8 25...Nc4 7:59 26.Qxe8+ 4 Rxe8 1 27.Rxe8+ 6 Kf7 3 28.Re7+ 1:30       28.Rxf4+? Kxe8 29.Bxg7 Qxd6 30.Re4+ Kf7-+ 28...Kg6 5 29.Rxg7+ 48 29.Bxg7? Ne3 30.Rxe3 fxe3-+ 29...Kh6 1 30.Ba1 12:27 Ne3 3:24
30...Qxd6= 31.Rf7 31.Rxb7 Qd2 31...Kg5 31.h4! 12 White threatens Rg5! and mate. Qd3 3:09 31...Qxd6? 32.Rg5 Qd7 33.Bg7+ 33.Rxf4 Qd1+ 34.Kf2 Qxa1= 33...Qxg7 34.Rxg7 34.Rxf4? loses. Qe7-+ 34...Kxg7 35.Rxf4+- 32.Rxf4 6:27 Qd1+ 15 33.Kf2 25 33.Kh2± Qxa1 34.Re7 33...Qxa1 6:45 Better is 33...Nd5= 34.Rff7 Qxa1 34.Rg5 6 White is more active. White should play 34.Re7! Nxg2       Decoy 35.Kxg2 Qa2+ 36.Kg3 Qg8+ 37.Kf2 Qa2+ 38.Kg3 Qg8+ 39.Kf2 Qa2+ 40.Kg3 34...Nd5= 2:22 34...Qxa3? 35.Rf6# 34...Nc4!? 35.d7 Qc3= 35.d7 1:26 Dancing on a razor blade. Qh8 3:46 35...Nxf4? 36.d8Q Ne6 37.Qd2 Qd4+ 38.Qxd4 Nxd4 39.Re5+- 36.Re4 2:03 Re6+ would kill now. Qf6+ 1:53 37.Kg1 34 Hoping for Rg8. Qd6 10 37...Nc7? 38.Rg8+- 38.d8Q 3:13      
Deflection 38...Qxd8 4 39.Re6+ 3 Nf6 3 40.Kh2? 9       40.Kf2!= 40...Qd4? 2:37 40...Qc7+-+ 41.g3 Qf7 41.Kg3 33:14 The position is equal. b6 33:54 Strongly threatening ...c5. 42.Rxc6 2 Qe3+ 27 43.Kh2 1 Qf4+ 2 43...Qf2!? 44.Kh3 Qd4= 44.Kh3 11 Qf1 1:01 44...Qd4!? 45.Kg3 Qe3+ 46.Kh2 Qd4 47.Kg3= 45.Re6 56 Qf2 2:03 46.Rc6 22 Qe3+ 1:27 47.Kh2! 7 Qd4 52 48.Kg3 10 Qxh4+ 43 49.Kxh4 3 A fantastic game! Weighted Error Value: White=0.14 (very precise) /Black=0.18 (very precise) ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Nakamura,H2768So,W2761½–½2023A28American Cup Champions 20234.1
So,W2761Nakamura,H2768½–½2023E36American Cup Champions 20234.2
So,W2761Nakamura,H27681–02023C65American Cup Champions 20234.3
Nakamura,H2768So,W27610–12023E51American Cup Champions 20234.4
 

Krush - Lee | 1-0, 48 moves

In a rematch of last year’s final, Krush started with 1.c4, against which Lee chose a very modern pawn sacrifice, leading to a chaotic middlegame with opposite sides castling. But Lee then made a critical mistake in trading off her light-squared bishop, giving Krush total control over the light squares. From there, Irina nicely side-stepped Black’s attack while advancing her own initiative. As White’s attack was breaking through, Lee was forced to give up material, and Krush navigated the complications well to emerge with an extra piece.

 

After 33.b5, Krush’s attack was simply decisive, with Black having no threats against White’s king to compensate for the material.

Alice Lee

Alice Lee | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes

 
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1.c4 3 e5 5 2.Nc3 40       Nf6 5 3.Nf3 2:55 e4 6 4.Ng5 4:34 c6 17 5.Ngxe4 2:02 Nxe4 7 6.Nxe4 7 A22: English Opening: 1...e5 2 Nc3 Nf6. d5 4 7.cxd5 5:24 cxd5 7 8.Ng3 6 White is better. 8.Qa4+? Bd7 9.Qd4 dxe4 10.Qxe4+ Be7-+ 8...h5 8 9.e3 57 h4 15 10.Bb5+ 6:19 10.Ne2!± 10...Nc6= 9:26 11.Ne2 25
11...Bd6N 12:47 Predecessor: 11...h3 12.g3 a6 13.Bxc6+ bxc6 14.Qa4 Qf6 15.Qf4 Qe6 16.Nd4 Qg6 17.Qe5+ Be7 ½-½ Nyzhnyk,I (2674)-Sevian,S (2684) Saint Louis Spring-A 2022 (1) 12.0-0 3:54 Qf6 5:09 13.f3 6:03       Bd7 6:20 14.d4 5:21 0-0-0 16:16 15.Bd2 6:11 Bc7 3:53 16.Bd3 6:57 Qd6 4:37 17.f4! 10 g5 8:34 18.Qb3 7:16 18.fxg5? Qxh2+ 19.Kf2 h3-+ 18...Rhg8 6:22 19.Kh1 1:42 g4 4:43 20.Rfc1 2:35 White is more active. Qf6 4:06 20...Kb8 21.Qxd5 5:54 g3 2:27 21...Kb8± 22.Qb3 h3 22.Qf3 2:44 22.Be4!+- 22...Bg4± 1:38
23.Qf1 14 Bxe2 49 23...Kb8± 24.Rc2 24.hxg3? Bxe2       Remove Defender 25.Qxe2 hxg3-+ 24...Qe7 24.Bxe2+- 8:56       h3 23 25.Bf3 14 25.gxh3? g2+-+ 25...hxg2+ 1:10 26.Bxg2 28 26.Qxg2?! gxh2 27.Qf2 27.Qxh2? Rh8-+ 27...Kb8+- 26...gxh2 53 27.Qf3 3:31 Rg6 2:40 ...Rdg8 is the strong threat. 28.Rc2 2:01 d5 would be deadly. 28.Kxh2? Rh8+ 29.Bh3+ Kb8-+ 28...Rdg8 5:45 29.Be1 8 Kb8 29 30.Rac1 1:42 30.Kxh2? Qf5 31.Rac1 Rh6+ 32.Kg1 Rh3-+ 30.d5 30...Qf5 1:46 31.b4 9:26       31.Kxh2? Rh6+ 32.Kg1 Rh3-+ 31...Bd6 3:22 32.a4 1:44 Black must now prevent b5. 32.Kxh2? Rh6+ 33.Kg1 Rh3-+ 32...f6? 34 Black cannot hold the game after this. 32...Qg4± 33.b5 1:21 White is clearly winning. 33.Kxh2? loses. Rh6+ 34.Kg1 Rh3-+ 33...Ba3 34 34.bxc6 35 c7+ would kill now. Rxg2 12 35.Rxg2 2:04 Rxg2 6 36.c7+ 2:28 Kc8 4 37.Qxg2 33 White wants to mate with Qg8+. Bxc1 8       Endgame KQB-KQB 38.Qg8+ 27 38.Kxh2 Bxe3 39.Qg8+ Kxc7 38...Kxc7 4 39.Qc4+ 7 Stronger than 39.Kxh2 Bxe3 40.Qf7+ Qd7 41.Qc4+ Kb8 39...Kd7 24 40.Qxc1 30 Qh3 26 41.Bd2 30:24 Qf3+ 31:32 42.Kxh2 6 Qf2+ 3 43.Kh1 28 Qf3+ 8 44.Kg1 12 Qg3+ 9
45.Kf1! 9 Qf3+ 6 46.Ke1 5 f5 40 47.Qc4 1:14 Qg3+ 20 48.Kd1 37 Excellently played by Krush! Weighted Error Value: White=0.33/Black=0.36 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Krush,I2432Lee,A23621–02023A22American Cup Women Champions 20234.1
Lee,A2362Krush,I24320–12023E11American Cup Women Champions 20234.1
Krush,I2432Lee,A2362½–½2023A44American Cup Women Champions 20234.2
 

The 2023 American Cup continues Saturday, March 25 with tournament action starting at 1:20PM CT, with commentators Yasser Seirawan, Cristian Chirila, and Jovanka Houska on uschesschamps.com and on the Saint Louis Chess Club’s YouTube and Twitch.tv channels.

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