US Seniors and Juniors: Akopian, Yoo and Lee prevail

by André Schulz
7/26/2024 – The final round of the US Senior and Junior Championships was played yesterday at the Saint Louis Chess Club. Vladimir Akopian (pictured) won the US Senior Championship with a round to spare, while Christoper Yoo and Alice Lee won the US Junior Championships. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club

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Akopian dominates Senior Championship

Vladimir Akopian was the dominating player in the 2024 US Senior Championship as he pulled away from the rest of the field very early on in the tournament. The 1999 FIDE World Champion started with three wins in the first three rounds against Igor Novikov, Alexander Shabalov and Larry Christiansen and followed this up with two more victories against Jesse Kraai and Douglas Root.

Before the final round, Akopian had a 1½-point lead and had thus secured tournament victory. In the final round, the new senior champion had a long battle with Joel Benjamin, which ended drawn in a rook ending.

Four of the five games in the final round ended drawn. But Kraai still managed a win against Julio Beccera, which earned him second place in the final standings. Benjamin and Christiansen shared third place.

Final standings

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Juniors: Yoo the clear winner

The Junior Championship offered more excitement than the Senior Championship, although one player, Christopher Yoo, also had things under control. The rating favourite began with wins against Arthur Guo and Nicholas Laden, followed by two draws, then two more wins and then two more draws.

Before the final round, Yoo was in the lead with 6 points from 8 games, but still had two stubborn pursuers, Andrew Hong and Jason Wang, who were not to be shaken off and were breathing down his neck half a point behind.

In the last round, Yoo faced Balaji Dagupati, an opponent from the bottom half of the table, with the white pieces; Andrew Hong faced Justin Wang, fourth in the standings, but also with the white pieces; while Jason Wang was also facing a rather difficult opponent in Andy Woodward with the black pieces.

In fact, Jason Wang had to accept defeat against Andy Woodward. And Andrew Hong suffered the same result against Justin Wang.

However, Christopher Yoo didn't even need these results, as he won his last game against Daggupati. In a Semi-Slav out of a QGD, Yoo seized the initiative with the white pieces and had the far better endgame after exchanging queens.

Jason Wang climbed to second place with his final-round victory.

Yoo, Christopher Woojin25991–0Daggupati, Balaji2490
USA Junior Championship 2024
Saint Louis25.07.2024[Schulz,A]
1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 8.Bd3 leads to the famous Merano Variation. 6...Bd6 7.g4 An aggressive move that was discovered in the 1990s. h6 7...dxc4 8.e4 e5 9.g5 Nh5 10.Be3 0-0 11.0-0-0 Qc7 12.Bxc4 b5 13.Be2 exd4 14.Nxd4 Nf4 15.Bxb5 Bb7 16.Bf1 Be5 17.Nde2 Nb6 18.Bxf4 Bxf4+ 19.Nxf4 Qxf4+ 20.Qd2 Qxd2+ 21.Rxd2 f5 22.e5 c5 23.Rg1 f4 24.a4 Bc6 25.a5 Nd7 26.Bc4+ Kh8 27.Re1 Rf5 28.e6 Ne5 29.Bd5 Rc8 30.Bxc6 Nxc6 31.e7 Re8 32.Rd6 1-0 (32) Rogozenco,D (2305)-Kiss,P (2410) Odorheiu Secuiesc 1992 7...Nxg4 8.Rg1 Nxh2 9.Nxh2 Bxh2 10.Rxg7 Qf6 11.Rxh7 Rxh7 12.Qxh7 Bd6 13.Bd2 Nf8 14.Qc2 Bd7 15.e4 Qxd4 16.Be3 Qf6 17.0-0-0 d4 18.Rxd4 Bc5 19.e5 Qxe5 20.Qd2 0-0-0 21.Re4 Bxe3 22.Qxe3 Qa5 23.c5 Qc7 24.Ra4 Ng6 25.Rxa7 Qf4 26.Qxf4 Nxf4 27.Ne4 Kb8 28.Ra4 e5 29.Nd6 Be6 30.Rb4 Rd7 31.a4 Ka7 32.a5 Bg4 33.a6 bxa6 34.Nc8+ Ka8 35.Nb6+ Ka7 36.Nxd7 Bxd7 37.Rb6 Ne6 38.Rxa6+ Kb7 39.b4 Nd4 40.Rb6+ Kc7 41.Ra6 Kb7 42.Ra3 Bg4 43.Kb2 f5 44.Bh3 Bf3 45.Bxf5 1-0 (45) Rogozenco,D (2405)-Golubovic,B (2300) Sas van Gent 1992 8.Rg1 e5 9.Be2 The main variation is 9.cxd5 cxd5 10.Nb5 Bb8 11.g5 9...e4 10.Nd2 Nf8 11.h4 g5
stoppng White's advance on the kingside. 12.cxd5 cxd5 13.Qb3 Qa5?! 13...Be6!? 14.Qxb7 Ng6 15.hxg5 hxg5 16.Nb3 Qc8 with good compensation. 14.Bb5+ Kd8 15.hxg5 15.Nxd5?? Be6-+ 15...hxg5 16.f3
16...Qb4? Losing a pawn. 16...Be6 and Black is well positioned. 17.fxe4 Qxb3 17...dxe4 18.Qxf7+- 18.axb3 dxe4 19.Ndxe4 Nxe4 20.Nxe4 Bb4+ 21.Bd2 Bxd2+ 22.Kxd2 Be6 23.Bc4+-
White is a pawn up and has the far better position. 23...Rh2+ 24.Kc3 b5 Black throws another smoke bomb, but it doesn't ignite. 25.Bxb5 Bd5 26.Nd6 Kc7 27.Bc4 Bxc4 27...Kxd6 28.Ra6+ Bc6 29.d5+- 28.Nxc4 Nd7 29.Ra6 Kb7 30.Rga1 Rg2 31.Nd6+ Kc7 32.Nxf7 Re8 32...Rxg4 33.Rxa7+ Rxa7 34.Rxa7+ Kc6 35.Rxd7 Kxd7 36.Ne5++- 33.Rxa7+ Kc6 34.R1a6+ Nb6 35.Ne5+ Kd5 36.Kd3 Rb8 37.Nd7 Na4 38.Nf6#
1–0

Christopher Yoo | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Final standings

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Girls: Lee finishes strong

In the Girls' Championship, top see Alice Lee, number seven in the girls' world rankings, steadily worked her way up after a very slow start with a loss and a draw. In the second half of the tournament, she scored four wins in a row from round five onwards and was toppig the standings before the final round, half a point ahead of Rose Atwell, the second seed.

In the last round, Alice Lee played with black against Megan Paragua. Rose Atwell had the white pieces against Rachael Li.

In the final round, however, it wasn't just the top matches that were fiercely contested, all five games ended decisively by the end of the day.

Alice Lee won her fifth game in a row against Megan Paragua, but had to work long hours in an endgame with opposite-coloured bishops. Rose Atwell also won against Rachael Li in the final round and finished in second place. Bronze went to Iris Mou, who had managed to beat Alice Lee in the opening round of the tournament.

Alice Lee | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Final standings

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

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