Favorites dominate first round of US Championship

by André Schulz
4/15/2016 – With Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura and Wesley So three of the world's best player take part in the US Championship 2016. They all started well into the tournament and showed their class by beating their first round opponents in textbook fashion. In the women's tournament the favorites Krush and Zatonskih started less convincingly.
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The first round of the US Championship 2016 was played 14th April. The overall prize-fund of about 300,000 USD and the prestige of the tournament attracted a very strong field to St. Louis, where the Chess Club and Scholastic Center supported by sponsor Rex Sinquefield once against hosts the event.

Nominally, the US Championship 2016, is the strongest of all time. The top favorites are Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura and Wesley So, but players such as Ray Robson or Sam Shankland or the young talents Akshat Chandra or Jefferey Xiong are always good for a surprise.

But in the first round the favorites showed why they are the favorites. Varuzhan Akobian had to play with Black against Fabiano Caruana and tried arather rare line of the Scandinavian perhaps hoping to bring Caruana out of book. But Caruana showed his opponent why this line is not often played by the top opponents Caruana usually plays against. Black did not get any counterplay and lost without much of a fight.

Caruana-Akobian

 
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1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6 The Scandinavian with 2...Nf6 - a rare guest at top tournaments. 3.Bb5+ The main line is 3.d4 Nxd5 4.c4 Nb6 3...Bd7 4.Bc4 Bg4 The line 4...b5 5.Bb3 Bg4 dates back to the beginnings of opening theory, e.g. in the following example: 6.f3 Bc8 7.Qe2 a6 8.c4 c6 9.Nc3 cxd5 10.cxd5 Bb7 11.Qe5 Nbd7 12.Qd4 Qb6 13.Qe3 b4 14.Na4 Qa5 15.d6 Bc6 16.a3 e6 17.axb4 Qxb4 18.Qc3 Qxd6 19.d4 Nd5 20.Bxd5 Qxd5 21.Ne2 Bb5 22.Nf4 Qf5 23.Kf2 Bd6 24.g4 Qf6 25.Qe3 0-0 26.h4 e5 27.Nh5 Qg6 28.Qe4 f5 29.Qd5+ Kh8 30.g5 f4 31.Rd1 Qxh5 32.Qxd6 0-1 (32) Hanstein,W-Von Heydebrand und der Lasa,T Berlin 1841 5.f3 Bf5 6.Nc3 Nbd7 7.g4 More popular is 7.Nge2 Nb6 8.Bb3 Nfxd5 9.Nxd5 Nxd5 10.d4 e6 7...Nb6 8.b3 Bc8 9.Bb2 Nfxd5 10.Nxd5 Nxd5 11.Qe2 e6 12.0-0-0 b6 13.Nh3 Bb7 14.f4
14...Bd6?! Komodo can colleagues recommend 14...Qe7 and 15.-- 0-0-0 15.f5 Less energetic is 15.Bxg7 because of Rg8 16.Be5 Bxe5 17.fxe5 Qh4 and Black has counterplay. 15...Qe7 16.Bxg7 16.Rhf1!? 0-0-0 17.Bxd5 exd5 18.Qxe7 Bxe7 19.f6 gxf6 20.Bxf6 Bxf6 21.Rxf6 Rhg8 22.Rg1± Or 16.fxe6!? fxe6 17.Rhe1 Less promising is 16.Rhe1 because of 0-0-0 17.fxe6 Rhe8 16...Rg8 17.Bb2 0-0-0 18.Rhf1 Rde8 19.f6 Qf8
20.g5 Black suffers from a very restricted position. h6 21.Rg1 hxg5 22.Nxg5
22...Rh8?! 23.h3 Here the engine spot an immediate and tactically complicated win for White: 23.Nxf7‼ A typical computer move. Qxf7 24.Rg7 Qh5 25.f7 Ref8 25...Re7 26.Qxh5 Rxh5 27.f8Q+ 26.Qxe6+ Kb8 27.Rg8 and Black has more problems than he can solve, e.g. Nf4 28.Qe8+ Rxe8 29.fxe8Q+ Qxe8 30.Bxh8 Bf8 31.Bg7 Ne6 32.Bxf8 Bc8 32...Nxf8 33.Rf1+- 33.Rdg1 Nxf8 34.Rf1+- with a winning advantage for White. 23...Rh6 24.Rdf1 a5 25.Kb1 Kb8 26.Rg4 Rd8 27.h4 Ka7 28.Be5 Rd7
White keeps things under control. Black has no counterplay and is forced to wait. 29.Bb5 Rd8 30.Bxd6 cxd6? 30...Rxd6 31.c4 Nxf6 32.Rgf4± 31.Bc4 31.c4!? Nxf6 32.Rgf4 Qg7 33.Qf2+- and White wins on the f-file. 31...Nc7
32.Nxf7 The beginning of the end. Qxf7 33.Rg7 Qf8 34.Rxc7 Rxf6 35.Rxf6 Qxf6 36.Qxe6 Qxh4 37.Bd5 Rb8 38.Qf7 Qe1+ 39.Kb2 Qe5+ 40.c3 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Caruana,F2795Akobian,V26151–02016B01ch-USA 20161

Hikaru Nakamura answered Lenderman's attempt to play a Semi-Slav by transposing to a gambit line of the Catalan. In this line Nakamura gave up material but had a lot of pressure - too much for Lenderman who soon collapsed.

Nakamura-Lenderman

 
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1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 c6 5.g3 Nakamura fights the Semi-Slav with a Catalan. dxc4 6.Bg2 b5 7.0-0 Bb7 8.b3 White did not play the typical Ne5 but decided to play a real gambit. cxb3 9.Qxb3 Be7 10.Ne5 a6 11.Rd1 All this happened before: 11.Be3 0-0 12.Ne4 Nd5 13.Rfc1 a5 14.Bd2 Qb6 15.Qb2 Rc8 16.Nc5 Ra7 17.e4 Nf6 18.Be3 Bxc5 19.dxc5 Qc7 20.Rd1 Ne8 21.Bh3 Qe7 22.Rd6 Ba6 23.Rad1 Rb7 24.Nxf7 Kxf7 25.Bxe6+ Qxe6 26.Rxe6 Kxe6 27.Qb3+ Ke7 28.Qg8 h6 29.Rd6 Nxd6 30.cxd6+ Kd7 31.Qxg7+ Kxd6 32.Qxh6+ Kd7 33.Qg7+ Kd6 34.Qf6+ Kc7 35.Qe5+ Kd7 36.Qf5+ Kc7 37.Bf4+ Kb6 38.Qxc8 Ka7 39.e5 1-0 (39) Spassky,B-Zinn,L Marianske Lazne 1962 11...0-0 12.Ne4 12.Bg5 Nfd7 13.Bxe7 Qxe7 14.Nd3 Ra7 15.Rac1 c5 16.dxc5 Nxc5 17.Nxc5 Qxc5 18.Ne4 Qe7 19.Nd6 Bxg2 20.Nc8 Qb7 21.Nxa7 Bd5 22.Qe3 Nd7 23.Qf4 Qxa7 24.Rc7 Qb8 25.Rxd7 Qxf4 26.gxf4 Bxa2 27.Ra7 Bc4 28.e3 Bd5 29.Rxa6 Rb8 30.Rb1 f5 31.Rb4 Bc4 32.Ra7 Rd8 33.Rb1 h6 34.Kg2 Rd2 35.Kh3 Rxf2 36.Rg1 Rf3+ 37.Kh4 Kf8 38.Rgxg7 Bf1 39.Kh5 Rf2 40.Rgc7 Rxh2+ 41.Kg6 Rg2+ 42.Kf6 1-0 (42) Ma,Q (2621)-Svane,R (2507) Groningen 2014 12...Qc7 13.Ng5 a5
14.Bh3 White does not hide his willingness to sacrifice on e6 if the opportunity arises. a4 15.Qc2 Bc8 Protecting the weak spot. 16.Bf4 Qd8 17.Ng4 Threatening to mate Black. g6 18.Nxf6+ Bxf6 19.Ne4 Bg7
White is a pawn down but has lots of compensation. After 19 moves Black has only one piece that is fully developed: the bishop g7. 20.Bg2 Qb6 21.Bd6 Re8 22.Rac1 Qd8 23.Bc5 Ba6 24.Bb4 Qc7 25.d5! Opening the position to activate the white pieces even more. exd5 26.Nd6 Qd7 Black tries to calm White with an exchange sacrifice. But White wants more... 26...Rf8 27.Bxd5± 27.Nxe8 Qxe8 28.e4 and opens more lines. d4 29.e5 h5 29...Bxe5? 30.Re1+- 29...Qxe5 30.Re1+- 30.f4 f6 31.Rxd4 fxe5 32.fxe5 Bc8 Black desperately tries to stop White from invading on d8. 32...Bxe5 33.Re4+- 33.Rcd1 Bd7 34.Rd6 Qxe5 35.Qxg6 Qf5 36.Bc3 Qf7 37.Rf1 Qxg6 38.Rxg6 White will mate soon. 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Nakamura,H2787Lenderman,A26181–02016E04ch-USA 20161

 

 

Wesley So followed the advice of Pavel Eljanov and quickly and convincingly demolished Gata Kamsky's Breyer Defense of the Ruy Lopez by sacrificing a knight on f5.

So-Kamsky

 
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.h3 Nb8 10.d4 Nbd7 11.Nbd2 Bb7 12.Bc2 Re8 13.Nf1 Bf8 14.Ng3 g6 15.Bg5 h6 16.Bd2 Bg7 17.a4 c6 18.axb5 axb5 19.Rxa8 Qxa8 20.Nh4 Qd8 21.Qc1 Kh7 22.Nhf5 gxf5 23.Nxf5 Re6 24.Bxh6 Ne8 25.Bg5 Bf6 26.Bxf6 Qxf6 27.d5 Re7 28.g4 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
So,W2773Kamsky,G26781–02016C95ch-USA 20161

Wesley So

Defending champion Hikaru Nakamura is interviewed

Round 1- results

Br. Tit Name Coun ELO Result Title Name Coun ELO
1 GM Fabiano Caruana
 
 2794 1 - 0 GM Varuzhan Akobian
 
 2610
2 GM Hikaru Nakamura
 
 2790 1 - 0 GM Aleksandr Lenderman
 
 2623
3 GM Wesley So
 
 2773 1 - 0 GM Gata Kamsky
 
 2667
4 GM Samuel L Shankland
 
 2648 1 - 0 IM Akshat Chandra
 
 2501
5 GM Alexander Onischuk
 
 2664 ½ - ½ GM Jeffery Xiong
 
 2588
6 GM Alexander Shabalov
 
 2520 0 - 1 GM Ray Robson
 
 2663

Games of round 1

 
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1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6 3.Bb5+ Bd7 4.Bc4 Bg4 5.f3 Bf5 6.Nc3 Nbd7 7.g4 Nb6 8.b3 Bc8 9.Bb2 Nfxd5 10.Nxd5 Nxd5 11.Qe2 e6 12.0-0-0 b6 13.Nh3 Bb7 14.f4 Bd6 15.f5 Qe7 16.Bxg7 Rg8 17.Bb2 0-0-0 18.Rhf1 Rde8 19.f6 Qf8 20.g5 h6 21.Rg1 hxg5 22.Nxg5 Rh8 23.h3 Rh6 24.Rdf1 a5 25.Kb1 Kb8 26.Rg4 Rd8 27.h4 Ka7 28.Be5 Rd7 29.Bb5 Rd8 30.Bxd6 cxd6 31.Bc4 Nc7 32.Nxf7 Qxf7 33.Rg7 Qf8 34.Rxc7 Rxf6 35.Rxf6 Qxf6 36.Qxe6 Qxh4 37.Bd5 Rb8 38.Qf7 Qe1+ 39.Kb2 Qe5+ 40.c3 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Caruana,F2795Akobian,V26151–02016B01ch-USA 20161
Nakamura,H2787Lenderman,A26181–02016D43ch-USA 20161
So,W2773Kamsky,G26781–02016C95ch-USA 20161
Shankland,S2656Chandra,A24771–02016C07ch-USA 20161
Onischuk,A2664Xiong,J2618½–½2016D20ch-USA 20161
Shabalov,A2528Robson,R26630–12016D43ch-USA 20161

 

Standings

 

Women's tournament

Top favorites in the US Women's Championship are Anna Zatonskih and Irina Krush. But in the first round both had to concede a draw   with Black.

Round 1 - results

Br. Tit Name Coun ELO Result Title Name Coun ELO
1 IM Nazi Paikidze
 
 2346 ½ - ½ IM Anna Zatonskih
 
 2469
2 WGM Katerina Nemcova
 
 2367 ½ - ½ GM Irina Krush
 
 2458
3 WGM Tatev Abrahamyan
 
 2324 1 - 0 WIM Agata Bykovtsev
 
 2176
4 WGM Sabina Francesca Foisor
 
 2258 ½ - ½ FM Alisa Melekhina
 
 2205
5 WFM Jennifer R Yu
 
 2102 ½ - ½ WIM Ashritha Eswaran
 
 2149
6   Carissa Yip
 
 2109 1 - 0 FM Akshita Gorti
 
 2242

Round 1 - Games

 
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1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.g3 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Be7 6.Bg2 0-0 7.0-0 c6 8.Qc2 b6 9.b3 Ne4 10.Bf4 Bb7 11.Ne5 f6 12.Nd3 Na6 13.Nd2 f5 14.Be5 Nb4 15.Nxb4 Bxb4 16.Nxe4 fxe4 17.f3 exf3 18.exf3 Qe7 19.c5 bxc5 20.a3 Ba5 21.dxc5 Ba6 22.Rf2 Rad8 23.Qb2 Bc7 24.Bxc7 Qxc7 25.Re1 Rfe8 26.f4 d4 27.Re5 d3 28.Rd2 Rb8 29.Qc3 Qb7 30.b4 Qd7 31.Be4 Rbd8 32.Kg2 Re7 33.Rh5 g6 34.Re5 Bb5 35.h4 Qd4 36.Qxd4 Rxd4 37.Kf2 a5 38.bxa5 Kf7 39.h5 Ra7 40.Ke3 Ra4 41.hxg6+ hxg6 42.Rg5 R4xa5 43.Rxg6 Rxa3 44.Rh6 R7a4 45.Rh7+ Kg8 46.Rd7 Rc4 47.R2xd3 Rxd3+ 48.Bxd3 Rc3 49.Ke4 Bxd3+ 50.Rxd3 Rxc5 51.Rd7 Kf8 52.g4 Rd5 53.Rc7 Rc5 54.Kd4 Rd5+ 55.Ke3 Rc5 56.Ke4 Ke8 57.g5 Kf8 58.g6 Rf5 59.Rxc6 Rf6 60.Ke5 Rf5+ 61.Ke4 Rf6 62.Ke5 Rf5+ 63.Kxe6 Rxf4 64.Rc7 Kg8 65.Ke5 Rf1 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Paikidze,N2346Zatonskih,A2470½–½2016D02ch-USA w 20161
Nemcova,K2367Krush,I2465½–½2016B47ch-USA w 20161
Abrahamyan,T2342Bykovtsev,A22191–02016B90ch-USA w 20161
Foisor,S2258Melekhina,A2205½–½2016B39ch-USA w 20161
Yu,J2157Eswaran,A2225½–½2016A18ch-USA w 20161
Yip,C2164Gorti,A21841–02016C04ch-USA w 20161

Standings

Impressions

The Chess Hall of Fame

Without Rex Sinquefield none of this would happen

Fabiano Caruana plays...

... against his manager Lawrence Trent

The ladies share pictures and news

 

Pictures: Tournament page (Lennart Ootes)

Tournament page...

André Schulz started working for ChessBase in 1991 and is an editor of ChessBase News.

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