Abhimanyu Mishra is the 2023 US Junior Champion

by André Schulz
7/25/2023 – Melikset Khachiyan and Alice Lee won the US Senior US Girls’ Championship with a round, which meant only one champion remained to be decided in Saint Louis. Going into the Junior Championship’s final round, Arthur Guo and Abhimanyu were tied for first place. Guo lost his game in the final round, allowing Abhimanyu to be crowned as the national champion in his category. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

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Seniors: Draws in the final round

In the US Championships, which took place at the Saint Louis Chess Club, two titles had already been decided before the last day of play.

Melikset Kkachiyan was the strongest player in the senior tournament, leaving a number of higher-rated players behind. On the last day of action, most of the veterans played it safe, and all games ended in a draw.

Vladimir Akopian, however, tried for a long time to defeat Dmitry Gurevich attempting to climb to second place, but he did not succeed. Behind Khakhiyan, Alex Shabalov ended up getting the coveted second place, while Akopian finished third.

Final standings

All games

Juniors: Lee and Abhimanyu triumph

The Girls’ Championship was also decided with a round to spare. The exceptionally talented Alice Lee achieved an unassailable lead one round before the end. The youngster did not rest on her laurels, though, as she scored one more victory in round 9, when she beat Shreya Managalam and finally won the tournament with an impressive 7½ score.

Ruiyang Yan also won her final round matchup against Gracy Prasanna and finished second 1½ points behind Lee. Carissa Yip defeated Rochelle Wu to finish tied for third place with Zoey Tang on 5½ points.

Carissa Yip | Photo: Bryan Adams

Only the Junior Championship was still up for grabs on Monday. Theoretically, five young grandmasters still had a chance to win the tournament, which comes with a 12,000 USD first prize and a scholarship worth 10,000 USD.

Abhimanyu Mishra and Arthur Guo went into the last round as co-leaders. Guo, however, lost his game against Kirk Ghazarian. The two young players had an interesting duel out of a Sicilian Defence. Guo castled long with the white pieces to take the initiative in the centre and on the kingside. His plan backfired, and Ghazarian managed to make the most of his superior position in the ensuing struggle.

Arthur Guo | Photo: Lennart Ootes

So a draw was enough for Abhimanyu Mishra to win the 2023 US Junior Championship. In his game against Baluji Daggupati, he needed to work hard out of a Najdorf Sicilian with both kings in the centre. A perpetual check finally gave him the result he needed to claim the title, though.

Behind the new champion, four players finished on 5½ points: GM Brandon Jacobson, GM Andrew Hong, GM Balaji Daggupati and IM Arthur Guo.

Abhimanyu Mishra | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Final standings - Juniors

All games - Juniors

Final standings - Girls

All games - Girls

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André Schulz started working for ChessBase in 1991 and is an editor of ChessBase News.