US Championship: Shankland and Wang sprinting to gold

Open Championship

The open event was dominated by three games, though only two were really impactful.

Wesley So is playing submarine in the tournament, below the leaders and hoping to pass them should they open an opportunity. Naturally, this also means performing on his end, and in round nine, this meant beating Varuzhan Akobian with black.

The game was a topical line of the Grunfeld with 4.Bf4, and a novelty appearing as late as move 16, but Akobian aggressively countered with 17.Rd5! And after 17…Be6, boldly offered his rook with 18.Kd2, daring Black to take.

With a pair of bishops, a powerful protected passed pawn on d5, it was unclear how Black could break through if he did, but there seemed little choice, and eventually, he did capture it with 20…Bxd5. The game quickly fizzled out as So seemed unable to find any way to crack the fortress, and a draw was agreed on move 34.

Tactic Toolbox Grünfeld

The most effective, timeproven way to develop tactical abilities, imagination, and the ability to calculate variations, is practice. The 69 exercises on this DVD are taken from grandmaster games and show tactical ideas that are typical for the Grünfeld.

Wesley So had a good start but faded in the second half | Photo: Lennart Ootes

The game that really had the audience’s attention, by virtue of prestige and potential effect on the standings was Fabiano Caruana against Hikaru Nakamura. Nakamura has had a fairly indifferent tournament so far, with that one mental hiccup loss to Izoria, repeating Caruana’s mistake almost verbatim, but has had good results against Caruana, and this might be his moment for redemption. It nearly was too!

Black had a golden opportunity to take home the full point but missed the continuation 46...Qxe4!! 47.Qxe4 Bxe4 48.Rxe4 (48.Bxc7 Rd7) Nxb2 49.Ke1 Nxc4!

The point is that now 50.Rxc4 loses to 50...b2! and the pawn cannot be stopped.

A close call for Faby, who nearly saw all hope for the title go up in smoke. He still has chances but saw them take a serious hit, not so much by this near-loss, but because of his rival’s continued run.

Magic of Chess Tactics 2

FM Claus Dieter Meyer has put under the microscope a comprehensive fund of topical and timeless games / fragments. On video Hamburg GM Dr. Karsten Müller has outlined corner points of Meyer's work and created 14 tests plus 10 interactive test sets.

The game between Caruana and Nakamura did not disappoint... the audience | Photo: Lennart Ootes

The third game to affect the leadership was, of course, the one by co-leader Sam Shankland against Yaroslav Zerebukh. As is often the case, it all came down to one key position, one key move. Black had been playing with ambitions of his own, but his bishop threatened to be caught. There was only one way out, with a strong pawn offer 20.f4!! that could not be accepted, but Black missed this opportunity and found himself struggling to save the game. Remarkably, he did exactly that with exceptional technique, but just as the danger seemed about to pass, a fatal mistake with 58…Rg1?? cost him the game.

Sam Shankland 1-0 Yaroslav Zerebukh

A World Champion's Repertoire against the Queen's Gambit Declined

This DVD offers a complete repertoire for handling this solid opening, often featuring a dynamic approach to pose the opponent more practical problems. Both of the main continuations 3...Nf6 and 3...Be7 are covered in two separate parts.

Sam Shankland's perseverance was eventually rewarded against Yaroslav Zerebukh, though he ended up needing to win the game twice! | Photo: Lennart Ootes

As a result, with only two rounds left, Sam Shankland has finally pulled away from his closest and most dangerous rival, Fabiano Caruana, by half a point. Will he manage to keep his lead and win a fantastic title ahead of so many big-name hitters?

Standings after nine rounds

Games of round nine

Women’s Championship

It would be unfair to say that there was only one game going on, with so many valiant fighters duking it out on 64 squares, but …. There was only one game that really had all eyes one: the game between the leaders, Annie Wang and Nazi Paikidze. Annie has had what can only be called a Cinderella event, which is the second year in a row that one happens.

In 2017 it was the amazing Sabina Foisor who played superbly, outpacing her rival Nazi Paikidze, who had been hoping for a second straight title, culminating in that unforgettable queen sacrifice victory in the last round. This year, it is the turn of 15-year-old Annie Wang, who is fresh from her World Youth under-16 victory and has now take the absolute US Women’s championship by storm. Combining grit, luck, and quality, her star has never faded for even an instant, and by round eight had opened a massive one point lead over her nearest rival.

In a sense, it was the only game that mattered, as the two leaders bashed heads to see who would lift the trophy | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Round nine was precisely when the two met, and Nazi Paikidze was the one burdened with the need to win. Not quite at all costs, but beating Wang was easily her best chance at a late change of direction for fate and gold. It was not to be, as they drew their game, and Annie Wang maintains her one point lead. While Irina Krush won her game to move into third.

If Annie Wang wins, she will become the second youngest winner of the US Championship ever, the title of youngest going to seven-time winner Irina Krush, who won it at age 14 in 1998. The field Irina faced then was possibly not quite as strong, but her score of 8½/9 was also not open to argument either.

It hasn't been her greatest tournament, but Irina Krush can still grab a spot on the podium | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Standings after nine rounds

Games of round nine

Links

• Official site
• Watch Live
• The U.S. Championship begins
• Round 1: So and Akobian start with wins
• Round 2: US Champs: Two in a row for So and Akobian
• Round 3: US Championship: The leaderboard takes shape
• Round 4: US Championship: Caruana suffers shock loss 
• Round 5: The one that got away
• Round 6: Shankland in the lead
• Round 7: Caruana joins the lead
• Round 8: Eight decisive games