Saint Louis: Irina Krush US Women's Champion 2010

2010 U.S. Women's and Junior Closed Championships

Two of the most prestigious tournaments in the country, the 2010 U.S. Women's Championship and the 2010 U.S. Junior Closed Championship, took place from July 9-20 at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis. IM Anna Zatonskih was looking to defend her crown, which she won for two years in succession. In the Junior section Ray Robson was the top seed.

Rounds nine: Krush Crowned

After an Anna Zatonskih draw, IM Irina Krush won a wild one against Abby Marshall to clinch the 2010 U.S. Women's Championship title.

Krush,I (2476) - Marshall,A (2182) [D07]
ch-USA w St Louis USA (9), 19.07.2010
1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nc6 3.Nc3 dxc4 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 a6 7.e4 Bg4 8.d5 Ne5 9.Bg3 Nfd7 10.Be2 Bxf3 11.gxf3 g5 12.f4 Ng6 13.fxg5 hxg5 14.Qd4 b5 15.a4 Rg8 16.axb5 axb5 17.Rxa8 Qxa8 18.Nxb5 Qa5+ 19.Nc3 Bg7 20.Qxc4 Nf4 21.Bd1 Kf8 22.0-0 Be5 23.Qa4 Bxc3 24.Qxd7 Bf6 25.Kh1 Qd2 26.Qxc7 Qd3 27.Re1 Qd2 28.Rg1

White is two pawns up, but her considerable advantage has begun to slip away. 28...Nd3? 28...Ne2 was the way to defend. 29.Qc2 Qxc2 30.Bxc2. Now White keeps her pawns and can use them to secure the win and get Irina the US Women's Championship: 30...Ne5 31.b4 Nf3 32.Rc1 Kg7 33.Bd1 Ne5 34.b5 Nd3 35.Rb1 Bd4 36.b6 Nxf2+ 37.Bxf2 Bxf2 38.b7 Rb8 39.Bg4 Bd4 40.Bc8 Be5 41.h3 Bd6 42.Kg2 Kf6 43.Kf3 Ke5 44.Ke3 Kf6 45.Kd4 Be5+ 46.Kc5 Bd6+ 47.Kb6 Ke5 48.Re1 f6 49.Bf5 Rh8 50.Rc1 Rh4 51.Rc6 Rxe4 52.Bxe4 1-0.

Final standings (after nine rounds) – Women

Video report with US Women's Champion Irina Krush at the end of the event

Warren Harper bounced back to upset Ray Robson and seemingly dash his hopes at a repeat, but a late draw by Parker Zhao created an Armageddon showdown.

Bryant,J (2403) - Zhao,P (2267) [B22]
ch-USA Junior St Louis USA (9), 19.07.2010
1.e4 c5 2.c3 Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.Nf3 e6 5.d4 cxd4 6.cxd4 d6 7.Bc4 Nc6 8.Qe2 Nb6 9.Bb3 dxe5 10.dxe5 Nb4 11.Bg5 Qd3 12.Nc3 Bd7 13.Rd1 Qxe2+ 14.Kxe2 Bc6 15.Nd4 Be7 16.Nxc6 Nxc6 17.Bf4 0-0 18.Bc2 Rfd8 19.Bd3 Nd4+ 20.Kd2 Rac8 21.Kc1 Nd5 22.Be3 Nxe3 23.fxe3 Nc6 24.Be4 Bg5 25.Rxd8+ Rxd8 26.Nd1 Nxe5 27.h4 Bf6 28.Bxb7 Nd3+ 29.Kc2 Nxb2 30.Nxb2 Rb8 31.Nc4 Rxb7 32.h5 Kf8 33.a4 Rb4 34.Kd3 Rb3+ 35.Kd2 Ke7 36.Rc1 Bg5 37.Kc2 Rb4 38.Kc3 Rxa4 39.Rb1 Ra6 40.Rb7+ Kf6 41.Kd4 g6 42.g4 h6 43.e4 gxh5 44.gxh5 e5+ 45.Kd5 Bf4 46.Nd6 Ra5+ 47.Kc6 Kg5 48.Rxf7 Kxh5 49.Rg7 Ra4 50.Kd5 Ra3 51.Nf5 a5 52.Rg1 Ra2 53.Kc4 a4 54.Kb4 a3 55.Kb3 Re2 56.Kxa3 Rxe4 57.Kb3 Re2 58.Kc3 Ra2 59.Kd3 Ra4 60.Rg8 e4+ 61.Ke2 Ra2+ 62.Kf1 Ra5 63.Nd4 Rg5 64.Re8 Re5 65.Rxe5+ Bxe5 66.Nb3 Bc3 67.Nc5 e3 68.Ne4 Bd4 69.Kg2 Kg4 70.Ng3 h5 71.Ne2 Be5 72.Ng1 h4 73.Nh3 Bg3 74.Ng1 Bc7 75.Nh3

Black has been persuing a winning endgame successfully, and now only needs to push the e-pawn to clinch the title of US Junior Champion: 75...e2 76.Nf2+ Kf5 77.Nd3 h3+ 78.Kxh3 Ba5 79.Kg3 Ke4 80.Nc5+ Ke3–+. But Parker Zhao commits and eleventh-hour inaccuracy: 75...Bd6? 76.Nf2+ Kf4 77.Nd3+ Ke4 78.Nf2+! Kd4. 78...exf2 79.Kxf2 and the wrong colored bishop ending is drawn. 79.Kf3 h3 80.Nxh3 Kd3 81.Nf2+ ½-½. Sic transit gloria mundi – now Parker has to fight on for another day.

IM Sam Shankland blew his opponent off the board, making it a three-way tie atop the Junior leaderboard.

Final standings (after nine rounds) – Juniors

The 2010 U.S. Junior Closed Champion will be determined by an Armageddon playoff, which will take place at 10 a.m on Tuesday. Robson, by virtue of being first on tiebreaks (the ones used in Saint Louis, which are not the same as those used by our program above), has elected to receive a bye in the first round of the playoff. Zhao and Shankland will play a game to determine who will play Ray Robson for the championship.

Armgeddon playoff finalists Parker Zhao and Ray Robson

In this game, both players will bid on how much time they are willing to start with, between 1 minute and 45 minutes. Whoever bids the lesser amount of time has the option to choose his color, with the black pieces getting draw odds (meaning that in the case of a draw, black is declared the winner). Whoever loses the bid will receive a full 45 minutes, with both players receiving a 5 second increment for each move.

The winner of that game will have his choice of color in the championship game, with black again having draw odds. In the championship game, each player will have 45 minutes with a 5 second increment for each move.

Reports by Mike Wilmering

Links Official tournament site All games in PGN: Women – Juniors The games were broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download the free PGN reader ChessBase Light, which gives you immediate access. You can also use the program to read, replay and analyse PGN games. New and enhanced: CB Light 2009!