A broken king? A blundered bishop? A scrambled leaderboard in the U.S. Women’s Championship with one round to go? Chaos has erupted at the U.S. Championships.
Fabiano Caruana and his closest competitor Ray Robson each drew, staying in first and second. Wild card GM Awonder Liang fought for 105 moves for the win to join Leiner Dominguez in a tie for third. In the U.S. Women’s Championship, there were decisive results on all the leading boards. Irina Krush defeated Jennifer Yu to leapfrog into first. Thalia Cervantes won yet again, reaching a five-game winning streak. She and Yu are now tied for second, trailing Krush by half a point, and facing each other for a climatic last round.
Check out the full replay of live coverage from the day here. The time control for the event is 90 minutes for 40 moves plus 30 minutes for the rest of the game; with a 30-second increment starting from move 1.
2022 U.S. Championship
GM Awonder Liang vs. GM Dariusz Swiercz 1-0
GM Awonder Liang was the last game to finish. In this marathon game vs. GM Dariusz Swiercz, Liang gained one extra pawn after 50 moves, a second one on move 60, and finally converted in the rook ending after 105 moves. Liang has performed vastly above his rating, gaining 20 FIDE rating points from the event so far.
GM Sam Sevian vs. GM Hans Niemann 0-1
Sam Sevian vs. Hans Niemann featured not just dynamic fighting play between these resilient grandmasters but also a unique over-the-board incident. On move 45, as Niemann considered his next move, Sevian absentmindedly picked up his opponent’s king ― the way one might fiddle with a piece from off the board―and broke the top cross off. This leads to a moment of sheer confusion between the players, the arbiter, and the commentators before the game continues. In the post-game interview, Niemann explained that Sam wanted to glue the broken piece. Despite his broken king, Niemann managed to score his third victory in a row.
GM Aleksandr Lenderman vs. GM Wesley So 0-1
Aleksandr Lenderman vs. Wesley So was close for much of the game until So doubled on the open h-file, aiming down at White’s open king.
GM Levon Aronian vs. GM Elshan Moradiabadi 1-0
Levon Aronian scored a positional victory vs. Elshan Moradiabadi and won his first game in the 2022 US Chess Championship!
The remaining three games ended in draws.
2022 U.S. Women’s Championship
WGM Jennifer Yu vs. GM Irina Krush 0-1
Krush gained an edge out of the opening with black, but Yu gradually fought back to equality. Yu soon built up attacking chances against her opponent’s king but then tried an inaccurate tactical idea, losing a bishop.
WGM Begim Tokhirjonova vs. WGM Thalia Cervantes 0-1
Thalia Cervantes won a tactical battle vs. Begim Tokhirjonova to reach a fifth victory in a row.
WGM Tatev Abrahamyan vs. FM Rochelle Wu 1-0
In a Siclian with the kings castled to opposite sides, Abrahamyan’s effective attacking play won material.
WIM Megan Lee vs. WIM Sophie Morris-Suzuki 0-1
Sophie Morris-Suzuki defeated Megan Lee in an open position where her long-range pieces sliced into her opponent’s position.
FM Ashritha Eswaran vs. FM Ruiyang Yan 0-1
Ruiyang Yan’s powerful bishop pair aided in creating threats against her opponent’s king, winning material.
It was yet another round of five decisive games and only two draws.
The last round of the 2022 U.S. & U.S. Women’s Chess Championships will take place on Wednesday, October 19. Watch the action live at 1:20pm CT with commentators GM Yasser Seirawan, WGM Anastasiya Karlovich, and GM Cristian Chirila.
