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Day 5 of the American Cup saw all rating favourites prevailing over their nominally weaker opponents in the open section. In the final of the Champions Bracket, Levon Aronian got two victories over Ray Robson, which means he only needs a draw on Sunday to reach the Grand Final. Meanwhile, in the Elimination Bracket, Fabiano Caruana and Wesley So knocked out Leinier Dominguez and Sam Sevian respectively.
The most exciting confrontation of the day surely was Caruana v. Dominguez, with Caruana winning the fourth rapid game on demand to set up a blitz tiebreaker. In the 3-minute games, the former World Championship challenger showed better nerves to get a 2-0 victory.
Caruana and So will play what is likely to be a hard-fought rapid match on Sunday. The winner of that contest will then face the loser of the Aronian v. Robson match the next day.
After losing the first rapid game against Sevian, So found a nice combination to even the score from this position.
33...Rxh4 opens up the kingside for the black queen and bishop to wreak havoc on that side of the board — note that the presence of opposite-coloured bishops in the middlegame clearly favours the attacker.
There followed 34.gxh4 Qg4+ 35.Kh2 Qxh4+ 36.Kg1 Bh3
37.Rd4 is White’s last defensive attempt, but then comes 37...Qh5 38.Qd3 Bg2, as the pawn on f3 ends up playing a key role in the combination. Sevian resigned.
Sam Sevian v. Wesley So | Photo: Austin Fuller
In what we might dub ‘El Clásico’ of the American Cup’s women’s section, Irina Krush got the lead in the match against Alice Lee. Krush won the classical game with the white pieces to get ahead on the scoreboard.
Meanwhile, in the Elimination Bracket, it did not take long for Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova to get a clear 2½-½ victory over Zoey Tang. Much later in the day, it was Jennifer Yu who advanced to the next stage by beating Nazi Paikidze by a 5½-4½ score — six blitz games were needed for the winner to be decided.
Krush found an elegant move to put an end to the classical game against Lee. The defending champion had a clear advantage since the early middlegame, but Lee’s 38...g5 gave way to a good-looking tactical shot.
39.Nf5+ is both a royal fork and a discovered attack against the queen on e7. Lee resigned.
El Clásico: Irina Krush v. Alice Lee | Photo: Austin Fuller
