US Championship: Caruana takes sole lead again

The round starts

In the top encounter of the sixth round Hikaru Nakamura had Black against Wesley So and after 1.e4 tried a popular line of the Steinitz Variation in the French. So had a slight initiative but after a small inaccuracy all his chances were gone and the game soon ended in a draw.

So against Nakamura

Wesley So

Fabiano Caruana was well prepared against Alexander Onischuk's Arkhangelsk variation and chose a line which had been tried in a number of correspondence game. After the opening Caruana was better but he won the game with a nice tactical trick in the endgame.

In a duel "Experience vs Youth" 48-year old Alexander Shabalov, who played against Sam Shankland, showed that he still is a force to reckon with. Shabalov first won the exchange and then the game.

Gata Kamsky and Ray Robson drew as did Varuzhan Akobian and Aleksandr Lenderman. Jeffrey Xiaong also switched back to drawing mode. He played against Akshat Chandra and this battle of the young also ended in a draw.

Results of round six

Games of rounds 1 to 6

With 5.0/6 Fabiano Caruana took the sole lead again. Wesley So and Ray Robson follow half a point behind while Hikaru Nakamura still suffers from his loss against Caruana.

Standings after six rounds

Women's Tournament

In round six of the Women's Tournament five games were decided and only one ended in a draw. Tournament leader Nazi Paikidze had a good position against Carissa Yip but missed a possible win. This allowed Tatev Abrahamyan and Irina Krush to catch up to her. Anna Zatonskih also won and now is half a point behind the three leaders.

Carissa Yip

Results of round six

Games of rounds 1 to 6

Standings after six rounds

Photos: Tournament page...