US Championships: Caruana sole leader, Yip still perfect

Caruana and Robson score

Fabiano Caruana and Ray Robson were the only winners of the fourth round at the US Open Championship. Caruana slowly wore down Abhimanyu Mishra with white in a heavy-piece ending which emerged from the classical variation of the French Defence. The position further simplified into a rook ending in which the 2018 World Championship challenger gradually took all the pawns from his young opponent with sophisticated technique.

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.

In the game between Awonder Liang and Ray Robson, Liang fell behind while playing white out of a Najdorf Variation of the Sicilian and was eventually outplayed tactically.

Awonder Liang and Ray Robson | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Wesley So and Grigoriy Oparin played an interesting game in an unusual variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined. Playing black, Oparin was able to drive a passed pawn far forward on the d-file and keep his opponent busy. Eventually, an endgame with queens and bishops emerged. In the end, a draw was agreed with bare kings on the board.

In the game between Sam Shankland and Hans Niemann, Black was also able to advance a passed pawn all the way to the third rank. After this pawn was lost, though, Niemann had to fight for a draw in the minor piece endgame, which he managed effortlessly.

Sam Shankland pondering | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Standings after round 4

All games

Yip beats Krush in style

Carissa Yip had a strong start in Saint Louis, as she won three consecutive games at the outset of the US Women's Championship. In round 4, she faced the multiple national champion Irina Krush.

After a cautious opening amid a convoluted position, a spectacular and highly dramatic game developed when Yip went on the attack with the black pieces.

Krush, Irina2388

0–1

Yip, Carissa2418

USA-ch Women 2024 Saint Louis14.10.2024[Schulz,A]

1.c4 g6 2.Nc3 Bg7 3.d4 c5 4.d5 Bxc3+!? A deep positional approach. Black weakens White's pawn position and exchanges her bad bishop. Leading to "normal" variations is 4...d6 5.bxc3 e5 Here mostly 5...f5 has been played, in order to make e2-e4 more difficult. 6.e4 d6 7.Bd3 Nd7 8.Ne2 8.f4 exf4 9.Bxf4 Qh4+ 10.Bg3 Qe7 11.Nf3 Nh6 12.e5 Nxe5 13.Nxe5 dxe5 14.0-0 0-0 0-1 Duda,J (2731)-Carlsen,M (2859) Meltwater Tour Final chess24.com INT rapid 2022 (7.2) with a good position for Black. 8...Qe7 9.0-0 h5 10.a4 10.h3 Nh6 11.f4 f6 12.f5 g5 13.Ng3 h4 14.Nh5 Kd8 15.g3 hxg3 16.Kg2 Qf7= 0-1 Gorshtein,I (2563)-Kazhgaleyev,M (2458) Aix en Provence Dole op 2nd 2024 (6) 10...a5

In this closed position, the chances are balanced. 11.Rb1 Kd8 12.Be3 Kc7 13.Rb5 h4 14.Qd2 Ra6 15.Qb2 g5 16.Rb1 Now threatening Rxb7. b6 17.f3 f6 18.Nc1 Qg7 19.Nb3 Ne7

This was followed by a phase of manoeuvring. Black is most likely to be able to do something on the kingside. Perhaps for this reason White should also bring the king to the queenside. 20.Be2 Kd8 21.Bf2 Ng6 22.Nd2 Kc7 23.Nf1 Ne7 24.Ne3 Qh7 25.Kf1 f5 26.exf5 Nxf5 27.Ng4 h3 28.g3 Rf8 29.Kg1

29...Ne7 29...e4!? with the idea of 30.fxe4 Nxg3 31.Bxg3 Qxe4 and the pretty checkmate after 32.Bd1 Qh1+ 33.Kxh1 Rf1# 30.Be3 Qg6 31.Nf2 e4? 32.fxe4? The alternative is 32.Nxe4 g4 33.Ng5 gxf3 34.Ne6+ Kb7 35.Bf1? 32...Rxf2 33.Kxf2 33.Bxf2 Qxe4 34.Bf1 Ne5 35.Qe2 Nf3+ 36.Kh1 Bf5 37.Qxe4 Bxe4 38.R1b2 Nd2+ 39.Kg1 Nxf1 40.Re2 and White holds her ground. 40.Kxf1 Bd3+ 41.Kg1 Bxc4-+ 33...Qxe4 34.Bxg5 34.Rg1!?= 34...Qg2+ 35.Ke1

35...Qxh2!? 35...Ng6 36.Bf1 Qh1 37.Qf2 Nde5= 36.Bxe7 Black is now a rook down but has a strong attack and also regains material. Qxg3+ 37.Kd2 Qf4+ 38.Kc2 Qe4+ 39.Kb3 Qxe7 A bizarre position. Most of the white pieces are on the b-file. The black a6-rook and c8-rook do not look good. 40.Ka3 Qh4 41.Bd3 Qg3 42.Bf1 Qh4 43.Bd3 Ne5 Black is playing for a win. 44.Rxb6 Nxd3 45.Qb5

45.Rb7+!? Kd8 46.Qb5= 45...Nb4! Remarkable! Black pours fuel on the fire once again. Objectively (according to the engines) the position is still balanced, but White has to solve some problems. 46.Rxa6? Loses. 46.cxb4? axb4+ 47.Ka2 Rxb6-+ The engines' variation is 46.Rf1 Qe7 47.Rb8 h2 48.Kb3 Kd8 49.cxb4 Qe3+ 50.Kc2 Qe2+ 51.Kb3 Qxf1 52.Rxc8+ Kxc8 53.Qxa6+ Kd7 54.Qb7+ Ke8 55.Qc8+ Kf7 56.Qe6+ Kg7 57.Qe7+ Qf7 58.Qg5+ Kf8 59.Qd8+ with perpetual check. 46...Bxa6 47.Qxa5+ Kd7 Not 47...Kb7? 48.cxb4+- 48.cxb4 Qg3+ 49.Kb2 49.Rb3 Qe1 50.Rxh3 Qc1+ 51.Ka2 Bxc4+ 52.Rb3 Qc2+-+ 49...Qe5+ 50.Kc2 Qe2+ 51.Kc3 Qxc4+ 52.Kb2 Qd4+ 53.Kc1 Qc3+ 54.Kd1 h2 0–1

Middlegame Secrets Vol.1 + Vol.2

Let us learn together how to find the best spot for the queen in the early middlegame, how to navigate this piece around the board, how to time the queen attack, how to decide whether to exchange it or not, and much more!

Carissa Yip now has a full-point lead | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Megan Lee and Thalia Cervantes also won with the black pieces, against Tatev Abrahamyan and Jennifer Yu respectively.

The 15-year-old Alice Lee, sixth in the girls' world rankings, didn't quite get going yet and drew once again, this time against Rose Atwell. It is her fourth draw at this championship so far. The game between Nazi Paikidze and Atousa Pourkashiyan also ended without a winner.

Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova recorded the only win with the white pieces in this round, as she defeated Anna Zatonskih.

Atousa Pourkashiyan | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Standings after round 4

All games

Links

• Official site
• Reports from previous editions: 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019