U.S. Women’s Championship: Krush tops the standings

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
10/23/2020 – On the second day of action at the online U.S. Women’s Championship, Irina Krush scored 2½ out of 3 to take the sole lead of the event. Krush was not the only player to collect 2½ points on Thursday, as Dorsa Derakhshani and Carissa Yip achieved the same score to join the chasing pack a half point behind the leader. Meanwhile, Annie Wang, who was in the lead after day 1, lost three in a row and is now two full points behind Krush in the standings. | Photo: Austin Fuller / Saint Louis Chess Club
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A seven-time U.S. women’s champion

Early during the webcast of day 2, commentators Yasser Seirawan, Jennifer Shahade and Maurice Ashley were discussing whether playing online would end up favouring the younger participants or not. Seirawan considers that the youngsters are simply more used to the computer screen and can thus perform better under these circumstances, while Shahade and Ashley think that the older participants have learned to play online during the pandemic and have no trouble with this format.

At the end of the day, it was 36-year-old Irina Krush who ended up atop the standings. The seven-time U.S. women’s champion showcased her precise positional style to score 2½ out of 3 and is now sole leader a half point ahead of a three-player chasing pack formed by Dorsa Derakhshani, Emily Nguyen and Carissa Yip.

US Women's Championship 2020

Round 4

The fourth and sixth rounds finished with decisive results on all six boards. In the first round of the day, former leader Annie Wang lost with white against Yip, who launched an unstoppable attack on the queenside:

 
Wang vs. Yip
Position after 53.Qf3

Black had managed to keep White’s initiative on the kingside at bay, and swiftly pushed her pawns on the queenside. The game continued 53...c3 54.bxc3 Nc4 55.cxb4 — grabbing a second pawn but allowing mate — Qc2+ 56.Ka1 Qb2#

This was the first of three consecutive losses for Wang. Meanwhile, Krush obtained a crucial victory over defending champion Jennifer Yu, and Derakshani impressed by defeating Anna Zatonskih with the white pieces:

 
Derakhshani vs. Zatonskih
Position after 17...Nh6

The 22-year-old born in Tehran and now representing the United States had given up an exchange after Zatonskih uncharacteristically mishandled the opening. With all the positional trumps on her side, White went for 18.c4 here. Soon enough, Derakhshani doubled her heavy pieces on the b-file, eventually forcing Black to give back the exchange while her knight stood passive on h6.

White got to finish the game in style, with two good-looking pawn moves:

 
Position after 25...Rd7

Black is holding on to dear life with her two “active” pieces, but the paper-thin defence was dismantled with 26.d5 exd5 27.e6 — the rook cannot leave the seventh rank undefended — c3 28.Qb8 and Black resigned. 

 
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1.d4 Ftacnik,L Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bf4 D38: Queen's Gambit Declined: Ragozin Defence (4 Nf3 Bb4). c6 7.e3 0-0 8.Rc1 White has an edge. Re8 9.Bd3
9...Bg4N Predecessor: 9...Nbd7 10.0-0 Nf8 11.Ne5 Ng6 12.h3 Bd6 13.Nxg6 hxg6 14.Bg5 Be7 15.Qc2 Ne4 16.Bf4 Nxc3 17.bxc3 Bd6 18.Bxd6 Qxd6 19.c4 dxc4 20.Bxc4 Be6 1-0 (40) Polgar,Z (2560)-Ioseliani,N (2460) Monte Carlo 1993 CBM 034 [Ftacnik,L] 10.Qb3 Qb6 11.Ne5 Be6 12.0-0 And now Na4 would win. Bf8 13.Qc2 h6 14.h3 14.Bg3± 14...Nbd7 15.Bh2 c5 16.Na4 Qa5 17.Nxd7 17.Nxc5 is more complex. Nxc5 18.dxc5 Rac8 19.Qb3 Rxc5 20.Rxc5 Bxc5 21.Qxb7 d4 22.exd4 Bxd4 23.Nc6 17...Nxd7 18.dxc5 Rac8 19.Qb3 With the idea Qb5. Bxc5 19...Red8= 20.Nxc5 Nxc5 21.Qb5 Qxb5 22.Bxb5 Red8 23.Be5 a6 24.Be2 f6 25.Bd4 Ne4 26.Bd3 Kf7 27.Rfd1 Rxc1 28.Rxc1 Rc8 29.Rxc8 Endgame KBB-KBN Bxc8 Endgame KBB-KBN 30.f3 Nd6 31.g4 Bd7 32.Kf2 Bb5 33.Bc2 Ke6 34.a4 Bc6 35.h4 Nc4 36.b3 Ne5 37.h5 Kd6 38.Kg3 Bd7 39.Kf4 Nf7 39...Nc6 40.Bb2± Hoping for Ba3+. Ng5? Black cannot hold the game after this. 40...Kc6± 41.Ba3++- Kc7
42.Bf5! Bxf5 42...Ne6+ 43.Bxe6 Bxe6 43.gxf5 KB-KN Kc6 43...Nh7 might work better. 44.Kg3 Kd8 44.Bf8 Kd7 Double Attack 45.Bxg7 Double Attack Ke7 46.Bxh6 Nf7 46...Nh7 47.Kg4 Kf7 47.Bg7 Nd6 48.h6 White mates. Kf7 49.e4 d4
50.e5! d3 51.e6+ Kg8 52.Ke3 d2 53.Kxd2 Nxf5 54.Bxf6 Nxh6 55.Kd3 Kf8 56.Ke4 Ke8 57.Ke5 Ng8 58.Bg5 Av CentiPawn Loss W=-18/B=-49. Weighted=-14/-41 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Cervantes Landeiro,T2311Samadashvili,M22151–02020USA-ch Women 20204.1
Krush,I2429Yu,J23151–02020USA-ch Women 20204.2
Wang,A2384Yip,C24210–12020USA-ch Women 20204.3
Derakhshani,D2270Zatonskih,A24201–02020USA-ch Women 20204.4
Abrahamyan,T2358Eswaran,A22440–12020USA-ch Women 20204.5
Foisor,S2228Nguyen,E22801–02020USA-ch Women 20204.6

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Round 5

Krush had quickly grabbed the sole lead and kept things under control by drawing Martha Samadashvili with black in the next round. Derakhshani, who was already a half point behind the leader, also drew with black, while Nguyen and Yu joined the chasing pack by beating Thalia Cervantes and Wang respectively.

Nguyen found a nice tactical shot to finish off her opponent:

 
Nguyen vs. Cervantes
Position after 21...h6

After 22.Bh7+ Black loses her queen by force due to 22...Kh8 23.Nxf7+. Cervantes grabbed two pieces in exchange for the queen, but Nguyen had no trouble converting her material advantage into a 30-move win.

 
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1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Bxc4 c5 6.0-0 Nc6 7.Qe2 a6 8.Rd1 b5 9.dxc5 Qc7 10.Bd3 Bxc5 10...Nb4 is more fashionable. 11.a4 b4
has lost popularity (11...bxa4). 11...bxa4= remains equal. 12.Rxa4 Bb7 12.Nbd2 D28: Queen's Gambit Accepted: Classical main line: 7 Qe2 with early ...Nc6. 12.b3!± 12...Bb7 13.b3
13...Nd5N Predecessor: 13...0-0 14.Bb2 Be7 15.Rac1 Nd5 16.Ne4 Qa5 17.Neg5 h6 18.Bh7+ Kh8 19.Bb1 Bxg5 20.Nxg5 1/2-1/2 (57) Riess,A (2208)-Grabarczyk,M (2445) Lueneburg 2016 14.Bb2 The position is equal. Nc3 15.Bxc3 bxc3 16.Ne4 Bb4 17.Rac1 Ne5 18.Nxe5 Qxe5 White fights for an advantage. 19.Qg4
This costs Black the game. 19...0-0? Discovered Attack 19...Bxe4!= and Black is okay. 20.Bxe4 Rb8 20.Ng5!+- Discovered Attack Be7? 20...h6 21.Qh5 h6 22.Bh7+ Kh8 Discovered Attack 23.Nxf7+ Discovered Attack Rxf7 24.Qxe5 Kxh7 25.Qxe6 Raf8 Double Attack 26.Rd7 Double Attack Rxf2 27.Rxb7 Ba3 28.Qd7! R2f7 Double Attack 29.Qd3+ Double Attack Kg8 30.Rxf7 Av CentiPawn Loss W=-25/B=-137. Weighted=-15/-233 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Nguyen,E2280Cervantes Landeiro,T23111–02020USA-ch Women 20205.1
Eswaran,A2244Foisor,S22281–02020USA-ch Women 20205.2
Zatonskih,A2420Abrahamyan,T2358½–½2020USA-ch Women 20205.3
Yip,C2421Derakhshani,D2270½–½2020USA-ch Women 20205.4
Yu,J2315Wang,A23841–02020USA-ch Women 20205.5
Samadashvili,M2215Krush,I2429½–½2020USA-ch Women 20205.6

Round 6

In another round with decisive results on all boards, sole leader Krush and the three players standing a half point behind won their games. An inspired Derakhshani did not hesitate to give up a piece early on against Yu’s Petroff Defence:

 
Derakhshani vs. Yu
Position after 7...g5

Either Yu was not very well prepared or she trusted she could deal with White’s attack after 7...g5 (a novelty) 8.Nxg5 hxg5 9.Bxg5. Derakhshani knew she needed to play actively and followed through with 10.h4, 11.h5 and 12.f4 soon after the sacrifice, creating a number of tactical problems for her opponent.

The attack prevailed, even after material balance was restored:

 
Position after 26.Kb1

It is all about king safety in this position. White needed six more moves to force Black’s resignation.

Meanwhile, Krush obtained a strong positional edge in the middlegame against Cervantes, but, already in deep trouble, the latter missed a chance to turn the tables when her famed opponent blundered a simple knight fork:

 
Cervantes vs. Krush
Position after 56.Ra1

Black has a massive spatial advantage, but her 56...Ra1 simply allowed 57.Nc2+, checking the king and attacking the rook. In a case of mutual blindness, Cervantes played 57.Kg2, and Krush continued to up the pressure until scoring her second win of the day.

 
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1.d4 5 d6 5 2.c4 3 e5 0 3.d5 2 Be7 3 4.Nc3 1:20 Bg5 19 5.e4 4:56 Bxc1 19 6.Qxc1 0 a5 39 7.Be2 1:05 Nf6 34 8.Nf3 20 Na6 16 9.0-0 39 Bg4 0 10.Nd2 57 Bd7 1:46 11.Bd1 1:48 Nc5 19 12.Bc2 11 0-0 37 13.b3 0 c6 41 14.a3 52 Qb6 1:14 15.Rb1 41 cxd5 4:02 16.exd5 17 Na6 41 17.b4 2:56 axb4 8 18.axb4 3 Rfc8 44 19.Qb2 38 Qd4 0 20.Rbd1 2:18 Qh4 2:32 21.Bd3 42 Qd4 4:01 22.Be2 1:23 Qb6 17 23.Rb1 57 Bf5 11 24.Na4 6 Qd8 0 25.Rbc1 13 Nd7 24 26.Qb3 1:02 Nb6 17 27.Nb2 3 Nd7 13 28.Bd3 49 Bxd3 39 29.Nxd3 0 Qb6 0 30.Rb1 15 Qd4 11 31.Rfe1 57 Nf6 18 32.Rbd1 16 e4 6 33.Nb2 4 Re8 7 34.Nf1 22 Qb6 0 35.b5 7 Nc5 2 36.Qg3 1 Ra2 5 37.Rb1 4 Qa5 9 38.Qe3 10 g6 3 39.Qd4 3 Nfd7 0 40.Nd1 3 Qxe1 9 41.Nc3 4 Qxf2+ 6 42.Qxf2 1 Rxf2 1 43.Kxf2 0 Ra8 5 44.Ne3 11 f5 0 45.g3 2 Kf7 5 46.Nc2 7 Nb6 6 47.Ne3 7 Ra3 1 48.Ncd1 6 Ra2+ 7 49.Kg1 4 Kf6 0 50.Nc3 6 Ra3 5 51.Ncd1 3 Ke5 2 52.Kf2 4 Ra2+ 8 53.Kg1 8 Kd4 8 54.Rc1 4 Nd3 0 55.Rc3 11 Na4 4 56.Rb3 5 Ra1 6 57.Kg2 3 Ke5 3 58.h4 0 h6 4 59.Kh2 8 g5 3 60.hxg5 1 hxg5 0 61.Kg2 2 f4 5 62.gxf4+ 4 gxf4 1 63.Ng4+ 0 Kd4 4 64.Ndf2 9 Ra2 0 65.Kf1 7 Nac5 5 66.Rb1 7 e3 7 67.Nxd3 7 Nxd3 5 68.c5 7 e2+ 6 69.Kg1 1 Nxc5 0 70.Nf2 6 Rd2 9 71.Kg2 6 Kxd5 5 72.Kf3 3 Nd3 6 73.Nxd3 3 Rxd3+ 1 74.Kxe2 0 Re3+ 0 75.Kf2 1 Kc5 2 76.Rd1 5 d5 9 77.b6 9 d4 2 78.Rb1 18 d3 4 79.Rc1+ 6 Kxb6 0 80.Rc4 1 Re2+ 12 81.Kf3 1 Rh2 7 82.Rxf4 7 d2 3 83.Rd4 2 Kc5 2 84.Rd8 3 b5 0 85.Ke3 2 Kb4 3 86.Rd5 13 Ka4 7 87.Rd4+ 13 b4 2 88.Rxd2 1 Rxd2 2 89.Kxd2 0 Ka3 0 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Cervantes Landeiro,T2311Krush,I24290–12020USA-ch Women 20206.1
Wang,A2384Samadashvili,M22150–12020USA-ch Women 20206.2
Derakhshani,D2270Yu,J23151–02020USA-ch Women 20206.3
Abrahamyan,T2358Yip,C24210–12020USA-ch Women 20206.4
Foisor,S2228Zatonskih,A24201–02020USA-ch Women 20206.5
Nguyen,E2280Eswaran,A22441–02020USA-ch Women 20206.6

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Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.

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