Aronian and Lee clinch American Cup titles!

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
3/22/2024 – Levon Aronian and Alice Lee emerged victorious at the 2024 edition of the American Cup. While Aronian did not lose a single game throughout the event, Lee managed to beat defending champion Irina Krush twice in a row in hard-fought matches. At 14, Lee played her third consecutive Grand Final in the event, as Krush had defeated her in the previous two editions. | Photo: Crystal Fuller
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Aronian beats So, finishes undefeated

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.

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.

American Chess Cup 2024

So, Wesley27570–1Aronian, Levon2722
American Cup Open Champions 2024
Saint Louis20.03.2024
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 0-0 5.e4 c5 5...d6 6.e5 Nfd7 7.exd6 cxd6 8.Nf3 Nc6 9.Bd3 e5 10.0-0 exd4 11.Bxh7+ Kh8 12.Nd5 Nde5 13.Nxe5 dxe5= ½-½ So,W (2757)-Keymer,V (2738) Chessable Play In Match D1 Chess.com INT rapid 2024 (1.2) 6.e5 cxd4 7.a3 Ba5 8.exf6 dxc3 9.b4 Bc7 10.fxg7 Re8 11.Nf3
11.Bd3 f5 12.Nf3 Qf6 13.Bg5 Qxg7 14.0-0-0 Nc6 15.g4 Ne5 16.gxf5 Nxf3 17.Be3 exf5 18.Qe2 c2 19.Kxc2 Nd4+ 20.Bxd4 Rxe2+ 21.Bxe2 Be5 22.Be3 f4 23.Bc1 Kf8 0-1 Citak,S (2332)-Dimitrov,R (2488) Munich Pfingst op-A 1st 2023 (4) 11...d5 11...Qf6= 12.Qxc3 Stronger was 12.Ng5!? f5 13.Qxc3± e5?? 14.Qh3+- 12...e5 13.cxd5 e4 Black focuses on quick development. 14.Nd4 Be5 15.Bb2 Nd7= 16.Bb5 a6 16...Qb6 17.Ba4 Rd8= 17.Bxd7? The exchange accelerates Black's development. White gives up the bishop pair. 17.Ba4 b5 18.Bb3 17...Bxd7 18.0-0 Qh4 18...Bb5!? 19.Rfd1 Qf6 20.Qe3 Rad8 19.g3 Qh3 20.f4 Bf6 Not 20...exf3? 21.Qxf3 Re7 22.Rae1+- 21.Qe3 Bg4 22.Rf2 Rad8 23.Nb3 Rxd5 Black has a noticeable initiative. And there are many weaknesses around the white king. 24.Re1 Bxb2 25.Rxb2 Qh6 26.Rd2 Qd6=
27.Rxd5 Qxd5 28.Nd2 Bf5 29.Nf1 Bh3 30.Nd2 Re6 31.Rc1 Kxg7 32.Rc5 Qd3 33.Rg5+ 33.Qxd3!? exd3 34.Re5= 33...Kf8 34.Qc5+?? 34.Kf2= 34...Rd6 35.Rh5 Qxd2 36.Rxh3 b6 White has to give up the defence of e3 and is checkmated. 36...b6 37.Qc8+ Rd8 38.Qxa6 Qe3+ 39.Kh1 Rd1+ 40.Kg2 Qf3# 0–1

Levon Aronian

Levon Aronian | Photo: Crystal Fuller

All games - Champions Bracket

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Women’s: Lee wins in thrilling blitz playoff

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.

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.

American Chess Cup 2024

Lee, Alice23561–0Krush, Irina2421
American Cup Women Champions 2024
Saint Louis20.03.2024[Schulz,A]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e5 4.Nc3 d6 5.e4 Nbd7 6.Nge2 g6 7.Ng3 h5 Following in Larsen's footsteps. 7...a6 8.Be2 h5 9.h4 Bh6 10.Bxh6 Rxh6 11.Qd2 Rh8 12.Nf1 Qe7 13.Ne3 Nb6 14.f3 Bd7 ½-½ Forintos,G-Larsen,B Europe-Echecs-03 Le Havre GM 1966 (4) 8.Bd3 h4 9.Nge2 Bh6 Exchanges the "bad" bishop. 10.Bxh6 Rxh6 11.Qd2 Rh8 12.a3 Kf8
13.0-0-0 Lee wants to attack on the kingside. Kg7 14.g3 With the idea of opening lines, but White is somewhat unprepared and Black can successfully disrupt the position. a6 15.f4 Ng4 Thretening to gain an exchange. 16.Rdf1 hxg3 17.hxg3 Ndf6 18.Kb1 Bd7 18...Nh2! 19.f5 Rb8 20.a4 Nh2 21.Rd1
21...Nf3 21...Nfg4! 22.Nc1 Qf6 23.Qe2 gxf5 24.exf5 Bxf5 and Black has the advantage. 22.Qc1 Ng4 23.Rxh8 Qxh8 24.Rh1 Qd8?! Better was 24...Nfh2 and White can try 25.Nf4 Nf2 25...exf4 26.Qxf4 with good play for the piece. 26.Ne6+ Bxe6 27.dxe6 Nxh1 28.Qxh1 fxe6 29.Qd1 exf5 with an advantage for Black. 25.Ng1 Nxg1 26.Rxg1 Qf6 The game is now about to start. 27.Rf1 Rh8 28.Be2 Nh6 29.g4 g5 30.Bd1 Ng8 31.Qe3
31...Qh6?! The critical point. Here the game tips in White's favour. 31...Rh4 32.Ne2 32.Rg1 Qh6= 32...Qh6 33.Ng3 Nf6 32.Ne2 b5 33.Ng3 f6 33...Nf6 34.Rh1+- 34.axb5 axb5 35.Qa3 Less precise was 35.Rh1 Qxh1 36.Nxh1 Rxh1 37.Kc1 b4= 35...Kf7 36.Qa7 Ke7 37.Rh1 Stronger was 37.cxb5 Qh4 38.Rh1+- 37...Qxh1 38.Nxh1 Rxh1
39.cxb5 Not 39.Kc2? b4 and White's task is much more difficult. 39...Rxd1+ 40.Ka2 Rd4 41.b6 The game is now decided. Rxe4 42.b7 Rb4 43.b8Q Rxb8 44.Qxb8 Nh6 45.b4 cxb4 46.Qxb4 Nf7 47.Kb3 Be8 48.Qb8 Bd7 49.Qc7 Ke8 50.Kb4 Ke7 51.Ka5 Ke8 52.Kb6 Ke7 53.Qc4 Be8 54.Kc7 Bd7 55.Qb4 Be8 56.Qb7 Bd7 57.Qb8 e4 58.Qb4 Be8 59.Qxe4+ Ne5 60.Qb4 Nf7 61.Qb8 Bd7 62.Qa8 Ne5 63.Qd8+ Kf7 64.Qxd7+ 1–0

Alice Lee, Irina Krush

An epic confrontation — Alice Lee v. Irina Krush | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Alice Lee, Rex Sinquefield

Alice Lee next to tournament sponsor Rex Sinquefield | Photo: Crystal Fuller

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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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