"In my Fabi era"

There seems to be no stopping Carissa Yip at the US Women's Chess Championship. The 21-year-old secured her seventh consecutive victory, defeating former champion Nazi Paikidze with the white pieces in a sharp variation of the Caro-Kann Defence. Following her impressive win, Yip posted on X, "In my Fabi era", referencing Fabiano Caruana's legendary start at the 2014 Sinquefield Cup, where he also won seven consecutive games in Saint Louis - albeit against an elite field with a 2802 average rating!

Yip's 37-move triumph was not the only entertaining battle of the day. Five out of six games ended decisively, with Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova and Thalia Cervantes also winning in tactically rich encounters.

Tokhirjonova's win (with black) over Rose Atwell featured a bold knight sacrifice with 15...Nxg2, which, though evaluated as incorrect by chess engines, proved effective after Atwell's blunder on move 21.

Attacking with the Jobava London System

The Jobava London System is a minor form of the London System. White tries to play Lf4 quickly followed by Nc3.

Atwell's 21.Re2 allowed Black to infiltrate with 21...Qh2 - giving Tokhirjonova the attacking chances she had envisioned when she sacrificed her knight - while stronger moves like 21.Rxa5 or 21.Bf4 would have maintained White’s advantage. Tokhirjonova capitalised on the mistake, securing victory in 30 moves. Atwell later posted on X:

I was white and we played a Ruy Lopez today. My position was great because she did an unsound sacrifice of her knight. But then I blundered. King safety matters.😞

In other results, Megan Lee and Jennifer Yu both scored vital victories, defeating Alice Lee and Irina Krush, who had entered the round tied for second place. These losses left Tokhirjonova in sole second, 2 points behind Yip. Alice Lee, Irina Krush, and Megan Lee now share third place with 4/7 points each.

Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Jennifer Yu defeated Irina Krush | Photo: Lennart Ootes

In Yip v. Paikidze, a slight change in the move order out of a sharp variation in the Caro-Kann led to a wild battle right out of the opening. Paikidze found herself with two pawns for a minor piece plus a dangerous initiative, but her 20...Nxf2+ - an aggressive move in the spirit of the position - turned out to be a major mistake.

Instead of grabbing on f2, Black could have gone for 20...Bxd4 21.Rxd3 0-0 22.Rxd4 Qxb3+ 23.Ke1, and though the position has been simplified and Black is still a piece down, the fact that the white king is stuck in the centre and White has advanced her kingside pawns gives Black enough chances to at least save a draw.

Instead, after 21.Qxf2 e5 22.Qf5, White managed to create counterplay - while two pieces up in a double-edged position with queens still on the board.

Yip continued to advance her kingside pawns, and ended up winning by creating a direct attack against Black's monarch.

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.

Paikidze resigned in this position, after 37.h6

Nazi Paikidze, Carissa Yip, Megan Lee and Alice Lee | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Round 7 results

Standings after round 7

All games

Liang beats Oparin, climbs to sole second place

Round 7 of the US Chess Championship saw two decisive results, as Awonder Liang defeated Grigoriy Oparin with the black pieces and Ray Robson beat Hans Niemann with white. Sole leader Fabiano Caruana drew his game with black against Sam Sevian, following four consecutive victories (although his round-5 win over Christopher Yoo was annulled due to Yoo's disqualification). Caruana remains in the lead, but the competition is heating up.

Liang's victory over Oparin marked his second consecutive win and his third in the tournament, pushing him into sole second place, just half a point behind Caruana. In round 8, the 21-year-old will face Sevian, one of five players currently tied for third place.

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.

The Saint Louis Chess Club shared a light-hearted video showing Wesley So joking with Liang and Carissa Yip about Liang's quirky behaviour while making moves during the tournament, adding a humorous touch to the intense competition.

So, meanwhile, has drawn all his games except for one – his round-2 victory over Yoo, which has since been annulled following the expulsion. Nevertheless, So could still join the race for first place if he manages to defeat Caruana with white in their crucial round-8 matchup on Saturday, a highly anticipated clash between the top two rated players in the field.

Levon Aronian signed a 40-move draw in his Friday encounter against Wesley So, and now stands a full point behind Fabiano Caruana | Photo: Lennart Ootes

After getting what at first seemed to be a harmless extra pawn on the queenside, Liang slowly but surely increased his advantage in his game with black against Oparin. Already in a clearly winning position, the young player now standing in sole second place found a couple of nice tactical shots to end the game in style.

33...Rxd3 works due to 34.Nxd3 Nxd3 35.Qe2 Nxe1, and the queen cannot recapture because of the mating threat on g2. Oparin thus replied by 34.Qf2, and after 34...Qxe4 35.Bg5, Liang found another brilliant attacking move.

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!

With 35...Rxh3+ the rook completes a two-step swipe of the third rank. Now after 36.gxh3, there is 36...Nef3+ 37.Bxf3 Nxf3+ 38.Kg3 followed by grabbing the white rook on e1.

Oparin tried 36.Kg1, but all Liang needed now was to simplify into a winning endgame via 36...Qxg2+ 37.Qxg2 Nxg2, etcetera. Resignation came two moves later.

Grigoriy Oparin | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Round 7 results

Standings after round 7

All games

Links

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