GM Fabiano Caruana and GM Christopher Yoo join the tie for first in the U.S. Championship with critical victories. In the U.S. Women’s Championship, FM Alice Lee and WIM Megan Lee reached 2.5 to narrow down the leaderboard.
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 Fabiano Caruana vs. GM Dariusz Swiercz, 1-0
In a tense fight in the d3 Ruy Lopez, GM Fabiano Caruana won a pawn in the ending and carefully maneuvered through his opponent’s active resistance. Caruana scored his first victory in the event and now ties for first place with Hans Niemann, Samuel Sevian and 15-year-old Christopher Yoo.
GM Christopher Yoo vs. GM Elshan Moradiadadi, 1-0
After a wild tactical back-and-forth, GM Christopher Yoo gained an extra passed pawn as the smoke cleared, which he soon converted into his second consecutive victory. The 15-year-old revealed in the post-game interview that he was distracted by commentaries on his round 2 interview and that his mom got worried about it.
GM Awonder Liang vs. GM Alexsandr Lenderman, 1-0
GM Awonder Liang scored his first win in a dynamic battle against GM Alexsandr Lenderman, eventually gaining the upper hand in the endgame.
After over five hours of struggle, the rest of the games finished in draws.
2022 U.S. Women’s Championship
WGM Tatev Abrahamyan vs. WGM Jennifer Yu, 1-0
WGM Tatev Abrahamyan scored her first victory, defeating one of the tournament leaders, WGM Jennifer Yu, with an insightful tactical sequence in a double-edged game.
WGM Begim Tokhirjonova vs. FM Rochelle Wu 1-0
This game was an incredible fight between both players. Out of the opening, WGM Begim Tokhirjonova launched an attack with an early f5 in the Grand Prix, opening up the center to hunt down her opponent’s uncastled king. Tokhirjonova gained a winning attacking position, but Wu fought back. The game soon exploded into chaos with both sides aiming most of their pieces at each other’s kings. Though Tokhirjonova had to give up her queen, she discovered a combination to trade into a slightly better ending and won the game all over again.
FM Ruiyang Yan vs. WFM Sophie Morris-Suzuhi 1-0
FM Ruiyang Yan is another player who scored her first victory today, gaining the better minor piece and winning a pawn against WFM Sophie Morris-Suzuhi.
The remaining games ended peacefully.
Round 4 of the 2022 U.S. & U.S. Women’s Chess Championships will take place tomorrow, October 8. Watch the action live at 1:20pm CT with commentators GM Yasser Seirawan, WGM Anastasiya Karlovich, and GM Cristian Chirila here.
