Another US Chess Championship has come and gone with GM Hikaru Nakamura claiming his 5th national championship title! There was a last minute push by former champion GM Fabiano Caruana, but he was unable to hold off a draw with GM Sam Shankland. Going into the tournament final, Nakamura and Caruana were tied with Leinier Dominguez for first place, but Nakamura was able to pound out a fine win to reclaim the title.
I was impressed with Nakamura’s performance considering that he also streamed regularly on his Twitch channel during the competition!
[pgn]
[Event “US Championships 2019”]
[Site “Saint Louis”]
[Date “2019.03.31”]
[White “Xiong, Jeffery”]
[Black “Nakamura, Hikaru”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “A89”]
[WhiteElo “2663”]
[BlackElo “2746”]
[PlyCount “116”]
[EventDate “2019.??.??”]
1. d4 f5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 g6 4. g3 Bg7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O d6 7. Nc3 Nc6 8. d5
Na5 9. b3 c5 10. Bb2 a6 11. Ng5 Rb8 12. Qd3 Qe8 13. Nd1 b5 14. Qd2 Nb7 15. Ne3
Nd8 16. Nh3 Bd7 17. Rad1 b4 18. Qc2 a5 19. Nf4 a4 20. h4 Ra8 21. Qb1 Ra6 22.
Bf3 Qf7 23. Neg2 Ng4 24. Bxg4 fxg4 25. e4 Bxb2 26. Qxb2 Qg7 27. Qxg7+ Kxg7 28.
e5 Bf5 29. exd6 exd6 30. Rfe1 Nf7 31. Re7 Kf6 32. Rb7 axb3 33. axb3 Rfa8 34.
Ne3 Ra1 35. Kf1 Ne5 36. Rxa1 Rxa1+ 37. Ke2 Nf3 38. Nxf5 Kxf5 39. Ke3 Re1+ 40.
Kd3 Ne5+ 41. Kd2 Ra1 42. Ne6 h6 43. Rb6 Ra3 44. Kc2 Ra2+ 45. Kd1 Nd3 46. Rxd6
Nxf2+ 47. Ke1 Nd3+ 48. Kd1 Ke4 49. Nc7 Nf2+ 50. Ke1 Kd3 51. Rxg6 Ne4 52. Kf1
Nxg3+ 53. Kg1 Ne2+ 54. Kh1 Ke3 55. Rf6 Ra1+ 56. Kg2 Rg1+ 57. Kh2 g3+ 58. Kh3
Rh1+ 0-1
[/pgn]
Just two days prior, 17-year old Jennifer Yu improved over her 2018 6.5/11 result to claim the title of 2019 US Women’s Chess Champion. Yu’s play was as solid as anything we’ve ever seen from her; solidifying her place among the great modern female chess players.
[pgn]
[Event “U.S. Women’s Championship”]
[Site “Saint Louis”]
[Date “2019.03.30”]
[White “Zatonskih, Anna”]
[Black “Yu, Jennifer”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “D17”]
[WhiteElo “2430”]
[BlackElo “2273”]
[Annotator “Kostya”]
[PlyCount “66”]
[EventDate “2019.??.??”]
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. Ne5 {Repeating the line
that Annie Wang played against Jennifer in an earlier round. Jennifer doesn’t
deviate, so the players follow that game for some time:} Nbd7 7. Nxc4 Qc7 8. g3
e5 9. dxe5 Nxe5 10. Bf4 Nfd7 11. Bg2 f6 12. O-O Rd8 13. Qc1 Be6 14. Ne4 (14.
Nxe5 {took place in Jennifer’s earlier game against Annie Wang:} Nxe5 15. Qe3 {
and now Black could probably equalize with} Qb6 $1) 14… Bb4 {This seems like
an empty square for the bishop, but there is simply no better place for it at
the moment.} 15. Rd1 O-O 16. Rd4 $146 {A new move, threatening Nxe5 and Rxb4.}
(16. a5 {is the main move, not allowing Black to establish a5 themselves.} a6
17. Rd4 Nc5 18. Nxc5 Bxc5 19. Nxe5 fxe5 20. Qxc5 exf4 21. Rxf4 Rxf4 22. gxf4
Rd2 $44 {and Black was more or less all right in ½-½ (31) Shankland,S (2633)
-Alonso,S (2505) Praia da Pipa 2014.}) 16… a5 $1 {Logical, since White
didn’t play a5, Black takes the opportunity to secure the bishop on b4.} 17. h4
({Stockfish gives} 17. Qc2 {with idea Rad1, after which White would seem to
have some pressure.}) 17… Nc5 $5 {A sharp move, but everything seems to work
out for Black.} ({Black could also just improve the position with a move like}
17… Kh8 {as White has no useful way to improve the position for the time
being.}) 18. Rxd8 (18. Nxe5 {was the only way for White to fight for a
concrete edge. Black must find} Nb3 $1 {and now White has a very narrow path
to a small advantage:} (18… fxe5 $2 19. Rxb4 $1 axb4 20. Nxc5 $18 {is just
winning for White.}) 19. Nxc6 $1 Qxc6 20. Qxc6 bxc6 21. Rxd8 Rxd8 22. Rb1 $14)
18… Qxd8 {Correctly getting out of the pin.} 19. Nxc5 $6 {Likely missing
Black’s 20th move.} (19. Nxe5 fxe5 20. Nxc5 Bxc5 21. Be3 $11 {Things would be
close to equal.}) 19… Bxc5 20. Nxe5 $2 {Continuing with the plan.} ({At this
point best was} 20. Bxe5 fxe5 21. e3 $11 {where White can restrict the
dark-squared bishop just enough.}) 20… Bxf2+ $1 {A nice in-between move,
luring White’s king to the f-file.} 21. Kh2 (21. Kxf2 fxe5 22. Qe3 Qf6 $1 $17 {
and after capturing on f4 Black will end up with an extra pawn.}) 21… fxe5
22. Bxe5 Bd4 {White has not lost any material, but the kingside is now
severely compromised and with the position opening up, White’s rook on a1 ends
up out of play.} 23. Bf4 (23. Bxd4 Qxd4 $15 {leaves Black with more active
pieces and better structure. This would be a difficult defense for White.})
23… Qb6 24. Qc2 Bb3 (24… Qxb2 $2 25. Qxb2 Bxb2 26. Rb1 Bc3 27. Rxb7 $14)
25. Qc1 $2 {Too passive.} ({After} 25. Qd3 {White is worse but things are not
that bad yet.} Rd8 {can be met with} 26. Bc7 $1 Qxc7 27. Qxb3+ $15) 25… Qb4
26. Bd2 Qd6 27. Bf4 ({Editor’s note: There’s a beautful variation hidden after
} 27. Bxa5 $2 {when Black can sacrifice her queen for a stunning attack:} Qxg3+
$3 (27… Rf2 $1 {was Yu’s in-game idea, and it’s also crushing}) 28. Kxg3 Be5+
29. Kg4 Be6+ 30. Kh5 g6+ 31. Kg5 (31. Kh6 Rf5 {cutting off the king’s escape
and threatening …Rh5#} 32. Bf3 Bg7#) 31… Rf5+ 32. Kg4 (32. Kh6 Bg7#) 32…
h5+ 33. Kh3 Rf2#) 27… Qb4 28. Bd2 Qe7 $1 {Correctly avoiding the repetition
— a draw would not clinch anything for Jennifer, and the position is very
close to winning.} 29. Bc3 Be3 30. Qe1 {A final error.} (30. Bd2 {was needed,
where Black could choose between exchanging bishops and playing Rf2 or keeping
the dark squared bishop with Bb6, in both cases with a serious edge.} Bxd2 (
30… Bb6) 31. Qxd2 Rf2 32. Rf1 Rxe2 33. Qxa5 $17 {and thanks to the check on
a8 White is surviving for the moment, but is still seriously worse.}) 30… Bf2
31. Qd2 Bxg3+ $1 {A powerful stamp on an incredible tournament. This leads to
forced mate.} 32. Kxg3 Qc7+ 33. Kg4 Be6+ ({and White resigned in view of} 33…
Be6+ 34. Kg5 h6+ 35. Kh5 Qf7#) 0-1
[/pgn]
Congratulations to both players for a job well done! Read more on the official press releases ([Nakamura](https://new.uschess.org/news/nakamura-wins-2019-u-s-championship/))([Yu](https://new.uschess.org/news/yu-womens-champion-open-grabs/)) on the official [US Chess](http://www.uschess.org) website.