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Before reaching the Grand Final, Levon Aronian got the better of Sam Sevian, Fabiano Caruana and Ray Robson. In the deciding match, he faced the winner of the Elimination Bracket, Wesley So, who had been defeated by Robson last Friday, in the semifinals of the Champions Bracket. So then beat Sevian and Caruana to gain the right to face Aronian.
Navigating the Ruy Lopez Vol.1-3
The Ruy Lopez is one of the oldest openings which continues to enjoy high popularity from club level to the absolute world top. In this video series, American super GM Fabiano Caruana, talking to IM Oliver Reeh, presents a complete repertoire for White.
In the Grand Final, three draws were followed by a win with black for Aronian (see analysis of the game below), who did not lose a single game throughout the whole event. Aronian had reached the Grand Final in the first edition of the American Cup back in 2022, while he made it to the Elimination Bracket final last year.
For his efforts, Aronian took home the US$ 90,000 first prize.
Levon Aronian | Photo: Crystal Fuller
While Aronian’s victory was quite smooth, the Grand Finals in the women’s section featured two hard-fought matches between two players who came from facing each other five times in the three editions of the event. Irina Krush had beaten Alice Lee in all of those matches, including the two pairs of Grand Finals in 2022 and 2023.
Attacking with the Jobava London System
The Jobava London System is a minor form of the London System. White tries to play Lf4 quickly followed by Nc3.
Once again, Krush arrived in the deciding stage after winning the Champions Bracket, but this time around her 14-year-old opponent managed to stop the streak, as she won back-to-back matches on Wednesday and Thursday to claim overall victory.
Lee has climbed to world number nine in the girls’ live rating list (for players aged 20 or younger). Only Li Miaoyi is younger than Lee among the top 20 in this list.
Winning the tournament granted Lee a US$ 40,000 monetary prize.
An epic confrontation — Alice Lee v. Irina Krush | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Alice Lee next to tournament sponsor Rex Sinquefield | Photo: Crystal Fuller
