U.S. Championships: Krush leapfrogs Yu

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
10/19/2022 – Going into Wednesday’s final round, Fabiano Caruana and Irina Krush are sole leaders in the open and women’s sections of the U.S. Championships, respectively. Ray Robson, Leinier Dominguez and Awonder Liang still have chances of catching Caruana in the open, while Jennifer Yu and Thalia Cervantes stand a half point behind Krush and will face each other in the thirteenth round. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

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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.

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).

Thalia Cervantes

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.

 
Yu vs. Krush

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.

US Chess Championship 2022

The women’s tournament | Photo: Lennart Ootes

All results - Round 12

 

Standings after round 12

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1.d4 2 Nf6 28 2.c4 51 e6 14 3.Nc3 35 Bb4 34 4.Bd2 9:23 0-0 1:20 5.a3 1:42 Bxc3 41 6.Bxc3 5 d5 13 E20: Nimzo-Indian: 4 g3 and 4 f3. 7.e3 2:07 b6 2:43 8.Nf3 8:01 Bb7 4:21 The position is equal. 9.Be2 10:30 Ne4 2:12 10.Rc1 4:24 Nd7 2:12 11.0-0 2:36 Rc8 6:55 12.b4 15:02 Nxc3 13:56 13.Rxc3 12 c5 3
14.cxd5N 8:51 Predecessor: 14.bxc5 bxc5 15.cxd5 Bxd5 16.dxc5 Rxc5 17.Rxc5 Nxc5 18.Qc2 Qa5 19.Qb2 Ne4 20.Rc1 1-0 (32) Strifler,J (2014)-Sasaeac,A (2022) Gyula 2001 14...Bxd5 21 15.dxc5 2:57 15.bxc5 keeps more tension. bxc5 16.Qd2 Bxf3 17.Bxf3 Nb6 18.Rd1 15...bxc5 31 16.Qc2 1:51 cxb4 6:01 17.axb4 24 Rxc3 14:34 18.Qxc3 9 Qb8 8 19.Rc1 11:18 Nf6 55 20.Nd4 7:58 Ne4 3:43 21.Qa3 31 h6 18:23 22.b5 4:29 Rc8 6:40 23.Nc6 2:30 Bxc6 2 24.bxc6 5 Qb6 22 25.Bd3 2:28 Nf6 4:43       26.Qa4 47 Nd5 2:32 27.Qa6 2:28 27.Be4 27...Qxa6= 2:40 28.Bxa6 1       Endgame KRB-KRN Rc7 4 29.Kf1 31 Kf8 36 30.e4 1:16 Nb4 1:26 31.Bb5 18 Ke7 4:08 32.Ke2 29 Kd6 1:27 33.Rd1+ 59 Kc5 28 34.Ba4 35 Nxc6 25 35.Bxc6 41 Kxc6 5 KR-KR Don't play 35...Rxc6?! 36.Rd7= 36.Rc1+ 23 Kd7 1:21 37.Ra1 14 Kd6 6 38.Ke3 14 Kc5 56 39.Rc1+ 28 Kb6! 6 40.Rb1+ 2 Ka5 40 41.Ra1+ 31:25 Kb4 30:59 42.Rb1+ 10 Ka3 0 43.Ra1+ 0 Kb2 0 44.Ra5 0 Kb3 0 45.Ra1 0 Rd7 0 46.h4 0 e5 0 Black should try 46...Kb4 ...a5 is the strong threat. 47.Rb1+ Kc5 48.Rc1+ Kb5 49.Rb1+ Kc6 47.h5 0 47.g4 is superior. 47...Kb4 0 48.Rb1+ 0 Kc5 0 49.Rc1+ 0 Kd6 36 49...Kb5 aiming for ...a5. 50.Rb1+ Kc6 50.Ra1 0 Rb7 36 51.g3 0 Kc6 3:01 Threatens to win with ...Rb3+. 51...Kc5!? 52.f4 Rb3+ 53.Kd2 f6 54.fxe5 fxe5 55.Ra5+ Kb6 56.Rxe5 Rxg3 57.Re6+ Kb5 52.Rc1+? 0 52.f4= 52...Kb6!-+ 39 53.Rb1+ 0 Kc7 5 54.Rc1+ 0 Kb8! 55 55.Ra1 1:27 Rb3+ 5 56.Kd2 3:58 Kb7 43 57.Ra5 43 f6 6 58.Rd5 1:39 Kc6 8 Prevents Rd7. 59.Rd8 28 Rb7 1:34 59...a5-+ 60.Rg8 Rb2+ 61.Kc3 Rxf2 62.Rxg7 Rf3+ 63.Kb2 Kc5 60.Kc3 44 a5 55       61.f4 1:21 61.Rd5 61...exf4 42 61...Re7!-+ is more deadly. Strongly threatening ...exf4. 62.Rg8 exf4 63.gxf4 a4 64.Rc8+ Rc7 62.gxf4 1 Re7 29 63.Rd4 54 Ra7 29 And now ...a4 would win. 64.Kb3? 18 64.Rd1 64...a4+ 36 65.Ka3 1 Kc5? 5 Prevents Rc4+. 65...Ra5-+ 66.f5 Ra7 66.Rb4!= 1:20 Rd7 39 White must now prevent ...Rd3+. 67.Rxa4 19 Rb7 36 68.e5 30 68.Ka2!= remains equal. 68...fxe5 12 69.fxe5 37 Kd5 4 70.Rg4 8 Kxe5 24 71.Rg6 1 Kd4 50 72.Ka4 14 Ke3 37 73.Ka5 33 Kf3 39 74.Ka4 45 Re7 45 75.Kb3 39 Re3+ 41 76.Kc4 35
76...Re4+! 27 77.Kd5? 1       77.Kd3 77...Rg4-+ 21 78.Ke6 19
78...Rg5! 23 79.Rxg5 1:49 hxg5 4 KPP-KP. Black mates. 80.Kf5 23 g4 7 81.Kg6 2 g3 4 82.Kxg7 4 g2 3 83.h6 5 g1Q+ 3 84.Kh8 42 Qd4+ 5 Weighted Error Value: White=0.15 (very precise) /Black=0.08 (flawless)
0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Zatonskih,A2368Yu,J22970–12022E20USA Championship Women 20221.1
Abrahamyan,T2308Krush,I2432½–½2022B42USA Championship Women 20221.2
Foisor,S2203Paikidze,N2354½–½2022E14USA Championship Women 20221.3
Lee,M2226Wu,R23171–02022B40USA Championship Women 20221.4
Eswaran,A2365Lee,A22630–12022A11USA Championship Women 20221.5
Tokhirjonova,G2336Morris-Suzuki,S21261–02022B52USA Championship Women 20221.6
Cervantes Landeiro,T2272Yan,R2220½–½2022D37USA Championship Women 20221.7
Paikidze,N2354Lee,M22260–12022C45USA Championship Women 20222.1
Morris-Suzuki,S2126Cervantes Landeiro,T2272½–½2022B56USA Championship Women 20222.2
Lee,A2263Tokhirjonova,G23361–02022D27USA Championship Women 20222.3
Yu,J2297Yan,R22201–02022D32USA Championship Women 20222.4
Zatonskih,A2368Abrahamyan,T2308½–½2022E36USA Championship Women 20222.5
Krush,I2432Foisor,S2203½–½2022A11USA Championship Women 20222.6
Wu,R2317Eswaran,A23651–02022E32USA Championship Women 20222.7
Cervantes Landeiro,T2272Lee,A2263½–½2022D12USA Championship Women 20223.1
Foisor,S2203Zatonskih,A2368½–½2022D35USA Championship Women 20223.2
Yan,R2220Morris-Suzuki,S21261–02022B80USA Championship Women 20223.3
Eswaran,A2365Paikidze,N2354½–½2022B11USA Championship Women 20223.4
Tokhirjonova,G2336Wu,R23171–02022B23USA Championship Women 20223.5
Abrahamyan,T2308Yu,J22971–02022C54USA Championship Women 20223.6
Lee,M2226Krush,I2432½–½2022B62USA Championship Women 20223.7
Krush,I2432Eswaran,A23651–02022E45USA Championship Women 20224.1
Lee,A2263Yan,R2220½–½2022D37USA Championship Women 20224.2
Wu,R2317Cervantes Landeiro,T2272½–½2022D85USA Championship Women 20224.3
Abrahamyan,T2308Foisor,S22031–02022B10USA Championship Women 20224.4
Yu,J2297Morris-Suzuki,S21261–02022A36USA Championship Women 20224.5
Zatonskih,A2368Lee,M22261–02022D35USA Championship Women 20224.6
Paikidze,N2354Tokhirjonova,G2336½–½2022D77USA Championship Women 20224.7
Yan,R2220Wu,R23170–12022B69USA Championship Women 20225.1
Tokhirjonova,G2336Krush,I24320–12022B62USA Championship Women 20225.2
Eswaran,A2365Zatonskih,A23681–02022B12USA Championship Women 20225.3
Morris-Suzuki,S2126Lee,A2263½–½2022D46USA Championship Women 20225.4
Lee,M2226Abrahamyan,T2308½–½2022C16USA Championship Women 20225.5
Cervantes Landeiro,T2272Paikidze,N2354½–½2022E11USA Championship Women 20225.6
Foisor,S2203Yu,J22970–12022D12USA Championship Women 20225.7
Zatonskih,A2368Tokhirjonova,G2336½–½2022E36USA Championship Women 20226.1
Abrahamyan,T2308Eswaran,A23650–12022B33USA Championship Women 20226.2
Foisor,S2203Lee,M22260–12022D30USA Championship Women 20226.3
Krush,I2432Cervantes Landeiro,T22721–02022A22USA Championship Women 20226.4
Paikidze,N2354Yan,R22200–12022B42USA Championship Women 20226.5
Yu,J2297Lee,A2263½–½2022D12USA Championship Women 20226.6
Wu,R2317Morris-Suzuki,S21260–12022D00USA Championship Women 20226.7
Morris-Suzuki,S2126Paikidze,N23540–12022B12USA Championship Women 20227.1
Lee,M2226Yu,J22971–02022C45USA Championship Women 20227.2
Tokhirjonova,G2336Abrahamyan,T23081–02022C02USA Championship Women 20227.3
Lee,A2263Wu,R23170–12022D15USA Championship Women 20227.4
Eswaran,A2365Foisor,S22031–02022B12USA Championship Women 20227.5
Yan,R2220Krush,I2432½–½2022B33USA Championship Women 20227.6
Cervantes Landeiro,T2272Zatonskih,A2368½–½2022D36USA Championship Women 20227.7
Abrahamyan,T2308Cervantes Landeiro,T22720–12022B90USA Championship Women 20228.1
Zatonskih,A2368Yan,R2220½–½2022A18USA Championship Women 20228.2
Yu,J2297Wu,R23171–02022D15USA Championship Women 20228.3
Foisor,S2203Tokhirjonova,G23361–02022D90USA Championship Women 20228.4
Krush,I2432Morris-Suzuki,S2126½–½2022A34USA Championship Women 20228.5
Lee,M2226Eswaran,A23651–02022B33USA Championship Women 20228.6
Paikidze,N2354Lee,A22630–12022C22USA Championship Women 20228.7
Tokhirjonova,G2336Lee,M22261–02022D02USA Championship Women 20229.1
Wu,R2317Paikidze,N2354½–½2022A53USA Championship Women 20229.2
Cervantes Landeiro,T2272Foisor,S22031–02022D46USA Championship Women 20229.3
Morris-Suzuki,S2126Zatonskih,A2368½–½2022C02USA Championship Women 20229.4
Eswaran,A2365Yu,J22970–12022B15USA Championship Women 20229.5
Lee,A2263Krush,I2432½–½2022D45USA Championship Women 20229.6
Yan,R2220Abrahamyan,T2308½–½2022C16USA Championship Women 20229.7
Krush,I2432Wu,R2317½–½2022D45USA Championship Women 202210.1
Abrahamyan,T2308Morris-Suzuki,S2126½–½2022C00USA Championship Women 202210.2
Zatonskih,A2368Lee,A2263½–½2022D27USA Championship Women 202210.3
Foisor,S2203Yan,R2220½–½2022D05USA Championship Women 202210.4
Lee,M2226Cervantes Landeiro,T22720–12022B90USA Championship Women 202210.5
Yu,J2297Paikidze,N2354½–½2022A17USA Championship Women 202210.6
Eswaran,A2365Tokhirjonova,G23360–12022A04USA Championship Women 202210.7
Tokhirjonova,G2336Yu,J22970–12022C43USA Championship Women 202211.1
Cervantes Landeiro,T2272Eswaran,A23651–02022A06USA Championship Women 202211.2
Morris-Suzuki,S2126Foisor,S22030–12022B12USA Championship Women 202211.3
Lee,A2263Abrahamyan,T2308½–½2022D37USA Championship Women 202211.4
Paikidze,N2354Krush,I24320–12022E08USA Championship Women 202211.5
Yan,R2220Lee,M22261–02022C54USA Championship Women 202211.6
Wu,R2317Zatonskih,A2368½–½2022D36USA Championship Women 202211.7
Foisor,S2203Lee,A2263½–½2022A06USA Championship Women 202212.1
Zatonskih,A2368Paikidze,N2354½–½2022E32USA Championship Women 202212.2
Abrahamyan,T2308Wu,R23171–02022B65USA Championship Women 202212.3
Eswaran,A2365Yan,R22200–12022D32USA Championship Women 202212.4
Tokhirjonova,G2336Cervantes Landeiro,T22720–12022D76USA Championship Women 202212.5
Yu,J2297Krush,I24320–12022E76USA Championship Women 202212.6
Lee,M2226Morris-Suzuki,S21260–12022B33USA Championship Women 202212.7
Krush,I2432Zatonskih,A2368½–½2022D35USA Championship Women 202213.1
Cervantes Landeiro,T2272Yu,J22970–12022E17USA Championship Women 202213.2
Morris-Suzuki,S2126Eswaran,A23651–02022E20USA Championship Women 202213.3
Wu,R2317Foisor,S22031–02022D45USA Championship Women 202213.4
Lee,A2263Lee,M22260–12022D30USA Championship Women 202213.5
Yan,R2220Tokhirjonova,G2336½–½2022C58USA Championship Women 202213.6
Paikidze,N2354Abrahamyan,T23080–12022D24USA Championship Women 202213.7

 

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.

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.

Sam Sevian, Hans Niemann

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.

 
Liang vs. Swiercz

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

Awonder Liang | Photo: Lennart Ootes

All results - Round 12

 

Standings after round 12

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Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.

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