U.S. Women’s Championship: Krush still on top

by ChessBase
10/24/2020 – It was a volatile day at the top of the standings as GM Irina Krush first lost the lead before regaining it during a dramatic third day at the 2020 U.S. Women’s Championship. Things were looking good for the recent U.S. Girls’ Junior Champion, WGM Carissa Yip, who grabbed the lead after winning her first two games of the day, but a critical Round 9 loss to WIM Ashritha Eswaran left Carissa in a tie for second with IM Dorsa Derakhshani. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club
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One day to go

Press release by the Saint Louis Chess Club
By IM Kostya Kavutskiy

It was a volatile day at the top of the standings as GM Irina Krush first lost the lead before regaining it during a dramatic third day at the 2020 U.S. Women’s Championship. Things were looking good for the recent U.S. Girls’ Junior Champion, WGM Carissa Yip, who grabbed the lead after winning her first two games of the day, but a critical Round 9 loss to WIM Ashritha Eswaran left Carissa in a tie for second with IM Dorsa Derakhshani.

US Women's Championship 2020

Round 7

In the first round of the penultimate day, GM Irina Krush squandered a large advantage and drew against IM Annie Wang, opening the door for WGM Carissa Yip to catch up with a win. Carissa did manage to defeat WGM Sabina Foisor, winning a pawn in the opening and never looking back, converting into a full point.

 
Yip vs. Foisor
Position after 19.Re1

The 2020 U.S. Girls’ Junior Champion started off strong with two wins today.

 
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d3 Nf6 5.0-0 d6 6.c3 a5 C54: Giuoco Piano: 4 c3 Nf6, main lines with 5 d4 and 5 d3. 7.a4 h6 8.Nbd2 0-0 The position is equal. 9.Re1 Ne7 10.Nf1 Ng6 11.Ng3 c6 12.Bb3
12...d5N Predecessor: 12...Re8 13.h3 d5 14.exd5 Nxd5 15.d4 exd4 16.Rxe8+ Qxe8 17.Bxd5 cxd5 18.Nxd4 Bd7 1/2-1/2 (107) Duda,J (2731)-Nakamura,H (2749) Saint Louis 2019 13.exd5 cxd5 14.d4 exd4 15.Nxd4 Bg4 16.f3 Bd7 17.Bc2 Nh4 18.Qd3 Qb6 19.Be3 Rfe8 20.Bf2 Ng6 21.Qd2 Nh7 21...Rxe1+= 22.Qxe1 Re8 22.Bf5 22.Rxe8+ keeps more tension. Rxe8 23.Nb3 Bxf2+ 24.Qxf2 Qxf2+ 25.Kxf2 b6 26.Nd4 22...Bxf5 23.Ndxf5 23.Ngxf5 seems wilder. Ng5 24.Rad1 Ne6 25.Nb5 Rad8 26.b3 23...Bxf2+ 24.Qxf2 Qxf2+ 25.Kxf2 Nf4 With the idea ...Nd3+. 26.Rxe8+ Rxe8 27.Rd1 Nf6 28.Ne3 Re6 28...b5 29.Rd4 g5 30.Ngf5 30.Ne2± 30...Rb6! 31.Nd1 Kh7 32.g3 Ne6 33.Rd2 Nc5 34.Rd4 Ne6 35.Rd2 g4 White is more active. 36.Nfe3 White is more active. Ng5 37.Nxd5 Nxd5 38.Rxd5 Endgame KRN-KRN Nxf3 Endgame KRN-KRN 39.h3 Inferior is 39.Rxa5 Rd6 39...Rf6 39...Kg6± 40.hxg4+- Ne5+ 41.Ke2 Re6 42.Kd2 b6 43.Ne3 Nf3+ 44.Ke2 44.Kd3± 44...Ne5 44...Ng5! 45.Kf2 Kg6 46.Rd4 Kg5 47.b4 47.b3± 47...Rc6 48.bxa5 bxa5 49.Rd5 f6! 50.c4 Kg6 51.Rd4 Rc5
52.Ke1? Double Attack. Quite a comeback for Black. Av CentiPawn Loss W=-34/B=-14. Weighted=-69/-16 52.Kg2= 52...Nf3+ Double Attack. Quite a comeback for Black. Av CentiPawn Loss W=-34/B=-14. Weighted=-69/-16 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Eswaran,A2244Cervantes Landeiro,T23110–12020USA-ch Women 20207.1
Zatonskih,A2420Nguyen,E2280½–½2020USA-ch Women 20207.2
Yip,C2421Foisor,S22281–02020USA-ch Women 20207.3
Yu,J2315Abrahamyan,T23580–12020USA-ch Women 20207.4
Samadashvili,M2215Derakhshani,D2270½–½2020USA-ch Women 20207.5
Krush,I2429Wang,A2384½–½2020USA-ch Women 20207.6

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Round 8

The second round of the day saw Carissa continue to surge, slowly grinding down WIM Emily Nguyen in a Fianchetto Grunfeld. Meanwhile, Krush was held to a draw by IM Dorsa Derakhshani, allowing Carissa to take the clear lead heading into Round 9.

 
Nguyen vs. Yip
Position after 17...Be6

Carissa used her slightly better structure to grind out another point in the endgame.

Another highlight saw WGM Tatev Abrahamyan sacrifice a piece for a decisive attack against WFM Martha Samadashvili:

 
Abrahamyan vs. Samadashvili

After 26.Bxg6!, opening up Black’s king for good.

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bxf6 Qxf6 7.Qa4+ Nc6 8.e3 0-0 D38: Queen's Gambit Declined: Ragozin Defence (4 Nf3 Bb4). 9.Rc1 Bd7 10.cxd5 exd5 White is slightly better. 11.Qb3 Rfe8
12.a3N 12.Be2 Predecessor: 12.Be2 Qg6 13.0-0 Bh3 14.Ne1 Rad8 15.Kh1 Bf5 16.Bf3 Be6 17.Ne2 Bd6 18.Nd3 0-1 (39) Bonin,J (2352)-Batchimeg,T (2229) Philadelphia 2007 12...Bd6 12...Bxc3+!= 13.Qxc3 Bg4 13.Nxd5 Qe6 14.Qa2 Qg4 15.Be2 Qg6 16.Kf1 16.0-0= keeps the balance. 16...Be6 17.b4 Bxb4 18.Nf4 And now d5 would win. Bxa2 19.Nxg6 Bxa3 20.Ra1 Nb4 21.Nge5 Threatens to win with Nd3. Bb2 Remove Defender 22.Rxa2! Remove Defender Nxa2       Double Attack 23.Bc4! Double Attack Nc3 Double Attack 24.Bxf7+ Double Attack Kf8 25.Bxe8 Kxe8 26.Ke1 a5 27.Kd2 Black should prevent Kc2. Ne4+ 28.Kc2 Ba3 29.Rb1 b6 30.Nd3 Bd6 31.Nh4 a4 32.f3 Nf6 33.Nf5 Bf8 34.e4 a3 35.Ne3 c6 36.Nc1 36.Kb3 36...b5 Of course not 36...a2?! 37.Ra1± 37.Na2 Ra4 38.d5 Kd7 39.e5? 39.dxc6+= Kxc6 40.Nc3 39...Nxd5-+ 40.Nxd5 cxd5 41.Rxb5 KRB-KRN Ke6 42.Kb3 42.Rb8 was worth a try. Bc5 43.Re8+ Kf5 44.h3 42...Rd4 aiming for ...Rd2. 43.Rb8
43...Be7! 44.Rb7? 44.Kc2 44...Rd2 White must now prevent ...Rb2+. 45.g4 Rb2+ Av CentiPawn Loss W=-56/B=-12. Weighted=-76/-14 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Cervantes Landeiro,T2311Wang,A23840–12020USA-ch Women 20208.1
Derakhshani,D2270Krush,I2429½–½2020USA-ch Women 20208.2
Abrahamyan,T2358Samadashvili,M22151–02020USA-ch Women 20208.3
Foisor,S2228Yu,J23150–12020USA-ch Women 20208.4
Nguyen,E2280Yip,C24210–12020USA-ch Women 20208.5
Eswaran,A2244Zatonskih,A24201–02020USA-ch Women 20208.6

Round 9

The final round of the day saw a complete turnaround as WGM Carissa Yip misplayed her position and ended up losing to WIM Ashritha Eswaran, despite a hail-mary attempt in the late middlegame:

 
Yip vs. Eswaran

Carissa tried to turn the tables with 28.Rxg7+!?, but Eswaran was able to defend after 28...Kxg7 29.Bh6+ Kxh6 30.Rxe4 Qxh3!

Yip’s loss opened the door for Krush to overtake the lead, which she managed to do thanks to a fantastic attacking game against WGM Tatev Abrahamyan, where the 7-time champion sacrificed a full rook to checkmate Black’s king:

 
Krush vs. Abrahamyan

GM Krush bounced back with a nice demonstration of the power of two bishops.

In the meantime IM Dorsa Derakhshani won her game against IM Annie Wang, continuing the 12th seed’s remarkable run in this year’s championships to tie for second with just two rounds left to go.

 
Wang vs. Derakhshani
Position after 13...e5

IM Dorsa Derakhshani won her 4th game of the event to stay within half a point of first place.

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 d5 5.0-0 0-0 6.c4 dxc4 7.Na3 c3 8.bxc3 c5 9.Re1 9.Bb2 is the recent fashion. Played by Shakhriyar Mamedyarov in June 2020. D77: Fianchetto Grünfeld: 6 0-0: Replies other than 6...c6. Nc6 10.Bb2 Bf5
11.Nc4N White is slightly better. Predecessor: 11.d5 Na5 12.c4 Be4 13.Bh3 Bxf3 14.exf3 Ne8 15.Bxg7 Nxg7 16.Re5 b6 17.Qe2 Re8 18.Re1 Kf8 19.Qe3 Nb7 20.Qh6 f6 21.Qxh7 e6 1-0 (21) Meier,G (2621) -Ter Sahakyan,S (2640) Lichess.org INT 2020 11...Rc8 12.Nfe5 12.d5!? b5 13.Ne3= 13.dxc6 bxc4 14.Qxd8 Rfxd8= 12...cxd4 13.Nxc6 bxc6 14.cxd4 Be4 ...Bxg2 is the strong threat. 15.f3 Bd5 16.Ne5 Nd7 17.e4 Nxe5 18.dxe5 Be6 19.f4 Qb6+ 20.Qd4 Rfd8 21.Qxb6 axb6 22.Bc3 Rd3 23.Rec1 Ra8 24.a4 f6 24...g5 seems wilder. 25.Bf1 Re3 26.Bg2 gxf4 27.gxf4 Rd3 25.exf6 exf6 26.a5 bxa5 27.Rxa5 Rxa5 28.Bxa5 Bd7 29.Bc3 Kf7 30.e5 Bf8 31.exf6 Ba3 32.Rc2 c5 Black should try 32...Bf5 33.Bd2 Bb4 33.Be4 Rd1+ 34.Kf2 Strongly threatening Bf3. c4
34...Be6= 35.Rd2? 35.Ke2!± Rc1 36.Rxc1 Bxc1 37.Kf3 35...Bc5+ The position is equal. 36.Ke2 Bg4+ 37.Bf3 Bxf3+ 38.Kxf3 Rxd2 39.Bxd2 Endgame KB-KB Kxf6= Endgame KB-KB 40.Ke4 Bg1 41.h3 h5 42.g4 hxg4 43.hxg4 Ke6! 44.Bc3 Bb6 45.Bd2 Ba7 46.Ba5 Bc5 47.Bc3 Ba7 48.Bd4 Bb8 49.Be3 Bc7 50.Bd4 Bb8 51.Be3 Bc7 52.Bd2 Bb6! 53.Bc1 Ba7 54.Bb2 Bb6 55.Bd4 Bc7 56.Ke3 Kd5 57.Bc3 Bb6+ 58.Kf3 Bd4 59.Bxd4 Kxd4 KPP-KPP 60.Ke2 Ke4       61.f5! gxf5 62.gxf5 Threatening mate with f6. Kxf5 KP-K 63.Kd2 Ke4 64.Kc3 Kd5 65.Kc2 Kd4 66.Kd2       c3+ 67.Kc2 Kc4 68.Kc1 Kb3 ( -> ...c2) 68...Kd3!? 69.Kd1 Ke4= 69.Kb1 c2+ 70.Kc1 Kc3 Av CentiPawn Loss W=-8/B=-23. Weighted=-11/-24 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Zatonskih,A2420Cervantes Landeiro,T2311½–½2020USA-ch Women 20209.1
Yip,C2421Eswaran,A22440–12020USA-ch Women 20209.2
Yu,J2315Nguyen,E2280½–½2020USA-ch Women 20209.3
Samadashvili,M2215Foisor,S2228½–½2020USA-ch Women 20209.4
Krush,I2429Abrahamyan,T23581–02020USA-ch Women 20209.5
Wang,A2384Derakhshani,D22700–12020USA-ch Women 20209.6

The final two rounds of the 2020 U.S. Women’s Championship will take place tomorrow, October 24, with live coverage from WGM Jennifer Shahade, GM Yasser Seirawan, and GM Maurice Ashley starting at 12:50 PM CDT on USChessChamps.com, YouTube, and Twitch.

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