U.S. Championships: Robson traps Niemann’s queen, Abhimanyu scores

A single misstep

Hans Niemann had been the only player to remain at a half-point distance from sole leader Fabiano Caruana after seven rounds at the U.S. Championship. However, playing black against Ray Robson, he suddenly allowed his queen to be trapped by his opponent — despite having a 45-minute advantage on the clock!

Navigating the Ruy Lopez Vol.1-3

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.

A time-trouble addict, Robson had been very careful not to let any tactical trick escape him in the opening and early middlegame of a theoretical Ruy Lopez. At this point, with six moves to go before reaching the time control, he had 4 minutes to Niemann’s 49.

Both the blunder 34...Qa3 and the refutation 35.Ra2 were played almost instantly.

The queen has nowhere to go. Resignation came after 35...Ba4 36.Qa1.

Hans Niemann | Photo: Lennart Ootes

After this loss, Niemann remained in second place, but now a full-point behind defending champion Caruana, who drew Sam Shankland with white. Sharing second place with Niemann on plus-one scores are Leinier Dominguez, Wesley So and Abhimanyu Mishra.

At 14 and as the second-lowest rated player in the field, Abhimanyu is having a great run in the national championship. On Friday, he beat Sam Sevian with the white pieces. The teenager had an extra pawn in a bishop vs knight endgame, and managed to convert his advantage after Sevian incorrectly pushed his f-pawn on move 47.

The ending was analysed by our in-house expert, GM Karsten Müller.

Mishra, Abhimanyu2599

1–0

Sevian, Samuel2698

USA Championship 2023 Saint Louis13.10.2023[Mueller,Karsten]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Be7 7.Nc3 d5 8.cxd5 exd5 9.Bg2 0-0 10.0-0 Re8 11.Ne5 Bb7 12.Rc1 Nbd7 13.Bf4 Nf8 14.h4 h6 15.e3 Ne6 16.g4 c6 17.Bg3 c5 18.dxc5 Bxc5 19.Qf3 Qe7 20.Nd3 Rad8 21.Nxc5 bxc5 22.Be5 Nd7 23.Bg3 Nb6 24.Rfe1 Rd7 25.Qf5 Red8 26.Ne2 Re8 27.Red1 Red8 28.Nf4 Nxf4 29.Qxf4 d4 30.Bxb7 Rxb7 31.exd4 cxd4 32.Rxd4 Rxd4 33.Qxd4 Rd7 34.Qe5 Qb4 35.g5 hxg5 36.hxg5 Qd2 37.Bf4 Qd5 38.Qxd5 Nxd5 39.Bd2 Kh7 40.Kg2 Kg6 41.Kf3 Ne7 42.Bf4 Nf5 43.Kg4 Ne7 44.Rc7 Rxc7 45.Bxc7 Nd5 46.Bb8 a6 47.f4

Counterplay counts. In an endgame, king activity is often important: 47...f5+? This blocks Black's king road and Black's blockade will be broken. The knight trick 47...Ne3+ 48.Kf3 Nd5 defends, e.g. 49.Ke4 49.Ba7 Kf5 50.Be3 f6 51.gxf6 Nxf6 52.Bc1 Ne4 53.Bb2 g6 54.Ke3 Nc5 55.Kd4 Ne6+ 56.Kd5 Nxf4+ 57.Kc6 g5= 49...Nc3+ 50.Kd4 Nxa2 51.Kc5 Kf5 52.Kb6 Nc1 53.b4 Nd3 54.Bd6 Nxb4 55.Bxb4 Kxf4 56.Be7 Kf5 56...f6?? 57.Bxf6+- 57.Kxa6 f6= 48.Kf3 Now White's king will invade sooner or later as Black has no counterplay. Nb4 49.a4 Nc6 50.Be5 Kf7 51.Bc3 g6 52.Ke3 Ke6 53.b4 Kd5 54.Kd3 Ne7 55.Bd4 Nc6 56.Bc5 Na5 57.Bf2 Nc4 58.Kc3 Nd6 59.Bd4 Ne4+ 60.Kd3 Nd6 61.Bg1 Nc4 62.b5 axb5 63.axb5 Nd6 64.b6 Nb7 65.Be3 Nd6 66.Kc3 Ke4 67.Bc1 Kd5 68.Kb4 Kc6 69.Be3 Kd5 70.Bc5 Nb7 71.Be3 Nd6 72.Ka5 Kc6 The active 72...Ke4 does not defend due to 73.Bc1 Kd5 74.Ka6 Kc6 75.Ba3 Nb7 76.Be7+- 73.Ka6 Nb7 74.Bd4 Nd8 75.Bf6 Ne6 75...Nb7 76.Be7+- 76.Be7 The knight is dominated, Black in zugwzang and so Black's blockade is broken. Nxf4 77.b7 Nd5 77...Kc7 78.Bd6+ Kxd6 79.b8Q++- 78.b8Q Nxe7 79.Qe5 Kd7 80.Kb7 f4 81.Qxf4 Nf5 82.Qa4+ Ke7 83.Kc7 Ng7 84.Qd7+ Kf8 85.Qd8+

Black resigend as this check cannot be met by the knight fork Ne6+. 85.Qd8+ Kf7 86.Qf6+ Kg8 87.Qxg6+- 1–0

Magical Chess Endgames Vol. 1 & 2 + The magic of chess tactics

In over 4 hours in front of the camera, Karsten Müller presents to you sensations from the world of endgames - partly reaching far beyond standard techniques and rules of thumb - and rounds off with some cases of with own examples.

Abhimanyu Mishra | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Round 8 results

Standings after round 8

All games

Yip and Tokhirjonova two points ahead

There is no stopping the leading duo in the Women’s Championship. After each obtained a fourth consecutive victory in round 8, co-leaders Carissa Yip and Gulrulkhbegim Tokhirjonova now have a 2-point lead over Irina Krush and Alice Lee.

While Tokhirjonova outplayed Anna Zatonskih positionally to get a rather clean 32-move victory on Friday, Yip emerged victorious out of a rollercoaster battle against Atousa Pourkashiyan.

If we look at this position, it is surprising that it was Black who ended up getting a win. Despite being an exchange down, White has a strong initiative. And, indeed, Pourkashiyan could have obtained a remarkable victory had she found 54.Rc3 here, threatening to give a lethal check from c8 — e.g. 54...Qd6 fails to 55.g6, leaving the queen en prise to take away the h7-square from the black king.

It should be noted that both players had about a minute left on the clock at this point and were mostly ‘living on increments’.

Instead of the killer shot, White played 54.Qb8+, and after escaping with the king to f6, the worst had passed for Yip.

A few moves later, Pourkashiyan faltered again, except this time not by failing to find a winning manoeuvre but by entering a hopeless position.

Black is attacking the rook on g3 and, according to the engines, has a slight advantage.

Master Class Vol.16 - Judit Polgar

In this video course, experts (Pelletier, Marin, Müller and Reeh) examine the games of Judit Polgar. Let them show you which openings Polgar chose to play, where her strength in middlegames were, or how she outplayed her opponents in the endgame.

However, it was not the time to go for desperate measures — i.e. 58.Nh7+ allowing 58...Rxh7 to pin the knight with 59.Qf4, as was seen in the game. After the simple 59...Rhg7, Black is guaranteed further simplifications, and her material advantage is sure to give her the victory.

Instead of all this, White could have gone for 58.Nxf7, and the battle continues. With so little time on the clock, Yip would have probably struggled to find the more accurate moves to convert her advantage. It was a lucky break for the youngster, which keeps her tied for first as she fights to get her second U.S. women’s title.

Carissa Yip | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Round 8 results

Standings after round 8

All games

Links

• Official site
• Reports from previous editions: 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019