American Cup: Dominguez knocks out Shankland in nerve-racking playoff

Robson takes the lead against So

On Thursday, the American Cup saw the start of the Champions Bracket semifinals (2 out of 4 games were played) and the whole first round of the Elimination Bracket. Thus, two players were knocked out of the competition in each section. On Friday, the players who won in the Elimination Bracket will get a rest day, while the semifinalists of the Champions Bracket will end their matches.

In the Champions Bracket of the open section, Fabiano Caruana v. Levon Aronian saw two games ending drawn, while Ray Robson v. Wesley So saw Robson winning the rapid encounter after signing a draw in the classical game.

Meanwhile, in the Elimination Bracket, Grigoriy Oparin and Sam Shankland were knocked out by Sam Sevian and Leinier Dominguez respectively. Sevian got a clear 3-1 win over Oparin, while Shankland and Dominguez played eight games, four with a rapid time control and four blitz tiebreakers. Shankland, in fact, won twice on demand to keep the match going.

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.

Sevian found a nice tactical idea in the fourth game against Oparin. Oparing, playing black, was in a must-win situation.

After 33.Ra7 the queen has no way to defend e6 — with the black knight on e8 and White’s dark-squared bishop controlling d6 and f6. Thus, there followed 33...Qxa7 34.Bxe6+ Kh8 35.Bxc8, and White has gained both a pawn and a strong initiative.

Sevian’s battery on the long, dark-squared diagonal was the key factor here, as Oparin was never able to find safety for his king and had to resign the game on move 58.

Grigoriy Oparin playing white against Sam Sevian | Photo: Crystal Fuller

In the eighth game of the match between Dominguez and Shankland, the Cuban-born GM entered an incredibly sharp line while only needing a draw with the white pieces.

This was a blitz game, and both players had less than 10 seconds left on their clocks, so 20.Qxe5 — a mistake according to the computers — makes sense from a pragmatic point of view. Especially if we consider that Shankland was in a must-win situation (for a third time in the match!).

There followed 20...dxe5 21.Rxd8+ Kxd8 22.Rxf7 Be7 23.Nc3

Uncovering the Anti-Sicilians! A dynamic grandmaster repertoire against 1.e4 Vol.3

This Fritztrainer offers you the perfect addition to any Sicilian or Najdorf repertoire, and covers all the minor variations that White has tried to avoid the open Sicilian.

Engines give Black a clear advantage here, but extreme precision is needed. As the game progressed, Dominguez handled his nerves better than his opponent, and finally obtained the win that he needed to reach the next stage in the Elimination Bracket.

Sam Shankland v. Leinier Dominguez | Photo: Lennart Ootes

All games - Champions Bracket

All games - Elimination Bracket

Women’s: Krush and Lee start with two wins

The Champions Bracket in the women’s section saw Irina Krush and Alice Lee grabbing consecutive wins to get a 2-0 lead in their matches against Nazi Paikidze and Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova. Coincidentally, Krush (aged 40) and Lee (14) played in the finals in the previous two American Cups. They each need only a draw on Friday to set up a third consecutive confrontation in the Cup’s final — in 2022 and 2023, Krush defeated her young opponent.

Meanwhile, the Elimination Bracket saw Jennifer Yu and Zoey Tang getting clear wins to knock out Tatev Abrahamnyan and Anna Zatonskih respectively.

Yu and Tang will get a rest day before playing the next round in the Elimination Bracket.

Making the right decisions in chess - Fundamentals

In a total of 6 chapters, we look at the following aspects: the right decision based on tactical factors, decisions in exchanges and moves, complex and psychological decisions in longer games and in defence.

Tang found a nice way to break through on the kingside in his second game against Zatonskih. Playing white, the youngster made the most of a royal-fork threat to win the game.

White wins by force after 27.Rxf6 Rxf6 28.Rxf6, as Black cannot grab the rook with the pawn due to Ng5-h6+, winning the queen.

Zatonskih went for 28...Qe7, but had to resign after 29.Qg6 Ne4 30.Rf7, with the same tactical idea as in the previous diagrammed position.

White is threatening checkmate on g7, and 30...Qxf7 fails to 31.Nh6+. Devastating!

Zoey Tang | Photo: Lennart Ootes

All games - Champions Bracket

All games - Elimination Bracket

Links

• Official site
• Fabiano Caruana wins American Cup! (2022)
• Hikaru Nakamura wins the American Cup (2023)