Cervantes wins five in a row
The two most relevant games for the standings in the women’s tournament finished decisively on Tuesday. Irina Krush, who was trailing Jennifer Yu by a half point, defeated the former sole leader to grab the sole lead herself and go into the final round with great chances of clinching a ninth national title. Thalia Cervantes, in the meantime, collected her fifth consecutive win to remain in contention for tournament victory, as she is now sharing second place with Yu.
Considered a master of prophylaxis, Petrosian sensed dangers long before they actually became acute on the board. In his prime, Petrosian was almost invincible. Let our authors introduce you into the world of Tigran Petrosian.
Fittingly, Cervantes will have the white pieces in her direct round-13 encounter against Yu. Krush, on her part, will play white against Anna Zatonskih, her long-time rival in national competitions. (If you want to dig deeper into the history of U.S. Women’s Championships, check out Alexey Root’s excellent book, her article on our news site, or Graeme Cree’s thorough stats’ compilation).
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Thalia Cervantes | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Krush had the black pieces against Yu, and got a better position out of the opening after White played a somewhat mysterious knight retreat with 11.Ne1, which was in fact a novelty.
11.Ng5 and 11.Kh1 have been played by strong grandmasters in this position, and both give White good play going forward. After the text, on the other hand, Black began to put pressure on her opponent.
Later on, Krush decided to cement her central knight with 17...e5
Once the structure was settled, Black began to play against White’s restricted light-squared bishop. Yu, notwithstanding, kept on fighting and managed to deal with Black’s threats.
On move 31, the youngster even failed to find a pawn push that would have shockingly turned the tables in her favour.
31.h5 here would have finally revived the light-squared bishop, giving White chances to create threats along that colour complex. Unfortunately for Yu, she not only missed this chance but blundered the game away with 31.Ba4. Apparently, as noted by Krush, she forgot that the black queen was still defending the rook on f8 after grabbing the bishop with 31...Qxa4 — White might have been thinking about 32.Qf7+ Kh8 33.Qxf8.
A piece to the good, Krush had no trouble converting the position into a crucial win.

The women’s tournament | Photo: Lennart Ootes
All results - Round 12
Standings after round 12
All games
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Bd2 0-0 5.a3 Bxc3 6.Bxc3 d5 7.e3 b6 8.Nf3 Bb7 9.Be2 Ne4 10.Rc1 Nd7 11.0-0 Rc8 12.b4 Nxc3 13.Rxc3 c5 14.cxd5N 14.bxc5 bxc5 15.cxd5 Bxd5 16.dxc5 Rxc5 17.Rxc5 Nxc5 18.Qc2 Qa5 19.Qb2 Ne4 20.Rc1 14...Bxd5 15.dxc5 15.bxc5 bxc5 16.Qd2 Bxf3 17.Bxf3 Nb6 18.Rd1 15...bxc5 16.Qc2 cxb4 17.axb4 Rxc3 18.Qxc3 Qb8 19.Rc1 Nf6 20.Nd4 Ne4 21.Qa3 h6 22.b5 Rc8 23.Nc6 Bxc6 24.bxc6 Qb6 25.Bd3 Nf6 26.Qa4 Nd5 27.Qa6 27.Be4 27...Qxa6= 28.Bxa6 Rc7 29.Kf1 Kf8 30.e4 Nb4 31.Bb5 Ke7 32.Ke2 Kd6 33.Rd1+ Kc5 34.Ba4 Nxc6 35.Bxc6 Kxc6 35...Rxc6?! 36.Rd7= 36.Rc1+ Kd7 37.Ra1 Kd6 38.Ke3 Kc5 39.Rc1+ Kb6! 40.Rb1+ Ka5 41.Ra1+ Kb4 42.Rb1+ Ka3 43.Ra1+ Kb2 44.Ra5 Kb3 45.Ra1 Rd7 46.h4 e5 46...Kb4 47.Rb1+ Kc5 48.Rc1+ Kb5 49.Rb1+ Kc6 47.h5 47.g4 47...Kb4 48.Rb1+ Kc5 49.Rc1+ Kd6 49...Kb5 50.Rb1+ Kc6 50.Ra1 Rb7 51.g3 Kc6 51...Kc5!? 52.f4 Rb3+ 53.Kd2 f6 54.fxe5 fxe5 55.Ra5+ Kb6 56.Rxe5 Rxg3 57.Re6+ Kb5 52.Rc1+? 52.f4= 52...Kb6!-+ 53.Rb1+ Kc7 54.Rc1+ Kb8! 55.Ra1 Rb3+ 56.Kd2 Kb7 57.Ra5 f6 58.Rd5 Kc6 59.Rd8 Rb7 59...a5-+ 60.Rg8 Rb2+ 61.Kc3 Rxf2 62.Rxg7 Rf3+ 63.Kb2 Kc5 60.Kc3 a5 61.f4 61.Rd5 61...exf4 61...Re7!-+ 62.Rg8 exf4 63.gxf4 a4 64.Rc8+ Rc7 62.gxf4 Re7 63.Rd4 Ra7 64.Kb3? 64.Rd1 64...a4+ 65.Ka3 Kc5? 65...Ra5-+ 66.f5 Ra7 66.Rb4!= Rd7 67.Rxa4 Rb7 68.e5 68.Ka2!= 68...fxe5 69.fxe5 Kd5 70.Rg4 Kxe5 71.Rg6 Kd4 72.Ka4 Ke3 73.Ka5 Kf3 74.Ka4 Re7 75.Kb3 Re3+ 76.Kc4 76...Re4+! 77.Kd5? 77.Kd3 77...Rg4-+ 78.Ke6 78...Rg5! 79.Rxg5 hxg5 80.Kf5 g4 81.Kg6 g3 82.Kxg7 g2 83.h6 g1Q+ 84.Kh8 Qd4+ 0–1 - Start an analysis engine:
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Zatonskih,A | 2368 | Yu,J | 2297 | 0–1 | 2022 | E20 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 1.1 |
Abrahamyan,T | 2308 | Krush,I | 2432 | ½–½ | 2022 | B42 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 1.2 |
Foisor,S | 2203 | Paikidze,N | 2354 | ½–½ | 2022 | E14 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 1.3 |
Lee,M | 2226 | Wu,R | 2317 | 1–0 | 2022 | B40 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 1.4 |
Eswaran,A | 2365 | Lee,A | 2263 | 0–1 | 2022 | A11 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 1.5 |
Tokhirjonova,G | 2336 | Morris-Suzuki,S | 2126 | 1–0 | 2022 | B52 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 1.6 |
Cervantes Landeiro,T | 2272 | Yan,R | 2220 | ½–½ | 2022 | D37 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 1.7 |
Paikidze,N | 2354 | Lee,M | 2226 | 0–1 | 2022 | C45 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 2.1 |
Morris-Suzuki,S | 2126 | Cervantes Landeiro,T | 2272 | ½–½ | 2022 | B56 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 2.2 |
Lee,A | 2263 | Tokhirjonova,G | 2336 | 1–0 | 2022 | D27 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 2.3 |
Yu,J | 2297 | Yan,R | 2220 | 1–0 | 2022 | D32 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 2.4 |
Zatonskih,A | 2368 | Abrahamyan,T | 2308 | ½–½ | 2022 | E36 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 2.5 |
Krush,I | 2432 | Foisor,S | 2203 | ½–½ | 2022 | A11 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 2.6 |
Wu,R | 2317 | Eswaran,A | 2365 | 1–0 | 2022 | E32 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 2.7 |
Cervantes Landeiro,T | 2272 | Lee,A | 2263 | ½–½ | 2022 | D12 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 3.1 |
Foisor,S | 2203 | Zatonskih,A | 2368 | ½–½ | 2022 | D35 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 3.2 |
Yan,R | 2220 | Morris-Suzuki,S | 2126 | 1–0 | 2022 | B80 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 3.3 |
Eswaran,A | 2365 | Paikidze,N | 2354 | ½–½ | 2022 | B11 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 3.4 |
Tokhirjonova,G | 2336 | Wu,R | 2317 | 1–0 | 2022 | B23 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 3.5 |
Abrahamyan,T | 2308 | Yu,J | 2297 | 1–0 | 2022 | C54 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 3.6 |
Lee,M | 2226 | Krush,I | 2432 | ½–½ | 2022 | B62 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 3.7 |
Krush,I | 2432 | Eswaran,A | 2365 | 1–0 | 2022 | E45 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 4.1 |
Lee,A | 2263 | Yan,R | 2220 | ½–½ | 2022 | D37 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 4.2 |
Wu,R | 2317 | Cervantes Landeiro,T | 2272 | ½–½ | 2022 | D85 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 4.3 |
Abrahamyan,T | 2308 | Foisor,S | 2203 | 1–0 | 2022 | B10 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 4.4 |
Yu,J | 2297 | Morris-Suzuki,S | 2126 | 1–0 | 2022 | A36 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 4.5 |
Zatonskih,A | 2368 | Lee,M | 2226 | 1–0 | 2022 | D35 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 4.6 |
Paikidze,N | 2354 | Tokhirjonova,G | 2336 | ½–½ | 2022 | D77 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 4.7 |
Yan,R | 2220 | Wu,R | 2317 | 0–1 | 2022 | B69 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 5.1 |
Tokhirjonova,G | 2336 | Krush,I | 2432 | 0–1 | 2022 | B62 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 5.2 |
Eswaran,A | 2365 | Zatonskih,A | 2368 | 1–0 | 2022 | B12 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 5.3 |
Morris-Suzuki,S | 2126 | Lee,A | 2263 | ½–½ | 2022 | D46 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 5.4 |
Lee,M | 2226 | Abrahamyan,T | 2308 | ½–½ | 2022 | C16 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 5.5 |
Cervantes Landeiro,T | 2272 | Paikidze,N | 2354 | ½–½ | 2022 | E11 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 5.6 |
Foisor,S | 2203 | Yu,J | 2297 | 0–1 | 2022 | D12 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 5.7 |
Zatonskih,A | 2368 | Tokhirjonova,G | 2336 | ½–½ | 2022 | E36 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 6.1 |
Abrahamyan,T | 2308 | Eswaran,A | 2365 | 0–1 | 2022 | B33 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 6.2 |
Foisor,S | 2203 | Lee,M | 2226 | 0–1 | 2022 | D30 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 6.3 |
Krush,I | 2432 | Cervantes Landeiro,T | 2272 | 1–0 | 2022 | A22 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 6.4 |
Paikidze,N | 2354 | Yan,R | 2220 | 0–1 | 2022 | B42 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 6.5 |
Yu,J | 2297 | Lee,A | 2263 | ½–½ | 2022 | D12 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 6.6 |
Wu,R | 2317 | Morris-Suzuki,S | 2126 | 0–1 | 2022 | D00 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 6.7 |
Morris-Suzuki,S | 2126 | Paikidze,N | 2354 | 0–1 | 2022 | B12 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 7.1 |
Lee,M | 2226 | Yu,J | 2297 | 1–0 | 2022 | C45 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 7.2 |
Tokhirjonova,G | 2336 | Abrahamyan,T | 2308 | 1–0 | 2022 | C02 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 7.3 |
Lee,A | 2263 | Wu,R | 2317 | 0–1 | 2022 | D15 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 7.4 |
Eswaran,A | 2365 | Foisor,S | 2203 | 1–0 | 2022 | B12 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 7.5 |
Yan,R | 2220 | Krush,I | 2432 | ½–½ | 2022 | B33 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 7.6 |
Cervantes Landeiro,T | 2272 | Zatonskih,A | 2368 | ½–½ | 2022 | D36 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 7.7 |
Abrahamyan,T | 2308 | Cervantes Landeiro,T | 2272 | 0–1 | 2022 | B90 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 8.1 |
Zatonskih,A | 2368 | Yan,R | 2220 | ½–½ | 2022 | A18 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 8.2 |
Yu,J | 2297 | Wu,R | 2317 | 1–0 | 2022 | D15 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 8.3 |
Foisor,S | 2203 | Tokhirjonova,G | 2336 | 1–0 | 2022 | D90 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 8.4 |
Krush,I | 2432 | Morris-Suzuki,S | 2126 | ½–½ | 2022 | A34 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 8.5 |
Lee,M | 2226 | Eswaran,A | 2365 | 1–0 | 2022 | B33 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 8.6 |
Paikidze,N | 2354 | Lee,A | 2263 | 0–1 | 2022 | C22 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 8.7 |
Tokhirjonova,G | 2336 | Lee,M | 2226 | 1–0 | 2022 | D02 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 9.1 |
Wu,R | 2317 | Paikidze,N | 2354 | ½–½ | 2022 | A53 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 9.2 |
Cervantes Landeiro,T | 2272 | Foisor,S | 2203 | 1–0 | 2022 | D46 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 9.3 |
Morris-Suzuki,S | 2126 | Zatonskih,A | 2368 | ½–½ | 2022 | C02 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 9.4 |
Eswaran,A | 2365 | Yu,J | 2297 | 0–1 | 2022 | B15 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 9.5 |
Lee,A | 2263 | Krush,I | 2432 | ½–½ | 2022 | D45 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 9.6 |
Yan,R | 2220 | Abrahamyan,T | 2308 | ½–½ | 2022 | C16 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 9.7 |
Krush,I | 2432 | Wu,R | 2317 | ½–½ | 2022 | D45 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 10.1 |
Abrahamyan,T | 2308 | Morris-Suzuki,S | 2126 | ½–½ | 2022 | C00 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 10.2 |
Zatonskih,A | 2368 | Lee,A | 2263 | ½–½ | 2022 | D27 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 10.3 |
Foisor,S | 2203 | Yan,R | 2220 | ½–½ | 2022 | D05 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 10.4 |
Lee,M | 2226 | Cervantes Landeiro,T | 2272 | 0–1 | 2022 | B90 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 10.5 |
Yu,J | 2297 | Paikidze,N | 2354 | ½–½ | 2022 | A17 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 10.6 |
Eswaran,A | 2365 | Tokhirjonova,G | 2336 | 0–1 | 2022 | A04 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 10.7 |
Tokhirjonova,G | 2336 | Yu,J | 2297 | 0–1 | 2022 | C43 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 11.1 |
Cervantes Landeiro,T | 2272 | Eswaran,A | 2365 | 1–0 | 2022 | A06 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 11.2 |
Morris-Suzuki,S | 2126 | Foisor,S | 2203 | 0–1 | 2022 | B12 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 11.3 |
Lee,A | 2263 | Abrahamyan,T | 2308 | ½–½ | 2022 | D37 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 11.4 |
Paikidze,N | 2354 | Krush,I | 2432 | 0–1 | 2022 | E08 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 11.5 |
Yan,R | 2220 | Lee,M | 2226 | 1–0 | 2022 | C54 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 11.6 |
Wu,R | 2317 | Zatonskih,A | 2368 | ½–½ | 2022 | D36 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 11.7 |
Foisor,S | 2203 | Lee,A | 2263 | ½–½ | 2022 | A06 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 12.1 |
Zatonskih,A | 2368 | Paikidze,N | 2354 | ½–½ | 2022 | E32 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 12.2 |
Abrahamyan,T | 2308 | Wu,R | 2317 | 1–0 | 2022 | B65 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 12.3 |
Eswaran,A | 2365 | Yan,R | 2220 | 0–1 | 2022 | D32 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 12.4 |
Tokhirjonova,G | 2336 | Cervantes Landeiro,T | 2272 | 0–1 | 2022 | D76 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 12.5 |
Yu,J | 2297 | Krush,I | 2432 | 0–1 | 2022 | E76 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 12.6 |
Lee,M | 2226 | Morris-Suzuki,S | 2126 | 0–1 | 2022 | B33 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 12.7 |
Krush,I | 2432 | Zatonskih,A | 2368 | ½–½ | 2022 | D35 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 13.1 |
Cervantes Landeiro,T | 2272 | Yu,J | 2297 | 0–1 | 2022 | E17 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 13.2 |
Morris-Suzuki,S | 2126 | Eswaran,A | 2365 | 1–0 | 2022 | E20 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 13.3 |
Wu,R | 2317 | Foisor,S | 2203 | 1–0 | 2022 | D45 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 13.4 |
Lee,A | 2263 | Lee,M | 2226 | 0–1 | 2022 | D30 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 13.5 |
Yan,R | 2220 | Tokhirjonova,G | 2336 | ½–½ | 2022 | C58 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 13.6 |
Paikidze,N | 2354 | Abrahamyan,T | 2308 | 0–1 | 2022 | D24 | USA Championship Women 2022 | 13.7 |
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Liang wins to remain in contention for the title
In the open, four players still have chances of winning the coveted U.S. title. Fabiano Caruana has been the sole leader since round 5, but is only a half point ahead of Ray Robson. Leinier Dominguez and Awonder Liang stand in shared third place a further half point back, with Liang catching the Cuban-born GM thanks to his round-12 victory over Dariusz Swiercz.
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.
None of these four players are paired up against each other in the final round. Three of them will have the white pieces as they will be looking to clinch first place in Saint Louis:
- Fabiano Caruana vs. Levon Aronian
- Ray Robson vs. Jeffery Xiong
- Leinier Dominguez vs. Sam Shankland
- Hans Niemann vs. Awonder Liang
Besides having the disadvantage of playing black, Liang will face an in-form Hans Niemann, who has won three games in a row in rounds 10-12. After beating Sam Sevian and getting a +1 score, Niemann told Cristian Chirila that he still considers his performance not to be a success. He elaborated:
Okay, I think it’s a success considering the circumstances. But, of course, I hold myself to a higher standard and I expect more of myself, and I believe this is not even close to my peak level of play.

Hans Niemann beat Sam Sevian with black | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Liang needed to work hard to remain in the fight for the title. In the game that lasted the longest on Tuesday, he needed 105 moves to convert a rook endgame with two extra pawns — these pawns were, however, on the problematic a and c-files.
This was the position on move 65. Endgame tablebases show that this setup is drawn, and Swiercz, in fact, managed to keep the engines showing zeros all the way until move 97, when he finally cracked under the pressure.

Awonder Liang | Photo: Lennart Ootes
All results - Round 12
Standings after round 12
All games
Replay and check the LiveBook here |
Please, wait...
- Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
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