Jennifer Yu Power Chess !

This post is about WGM Jennifer Yu Power chess.

Who is Jennifer Yu ? She is a very promising talent in US Chess and is currently enrolled at Harvard University in Boston.

You can read her full bio over here -> https://uschesschamps.com/bio/jennifer-yu-9
She won the US Women's Chess Championship in 2022 and is a WGM. She played this year's edition and she finished tied for 5, in a tournament won by IM Carissa Yip.

Here's the final standings table : 

This blog entry is about a game Jennifer played and was remarkable in many ways. And she didn't win the tournament !

Before I explain further, let must say I am also fatigued to analyze and discuss well known GMs in particular men, whether GM Fabiano Caruana winning a 4th US Championship or a streamer-retired player who didnt play this year's men's edition

Here's the game where Jennifer had the White pieces and won in short order, with my comments and analysis

First off, Tatev Abrahamyan is a strong opponent so this win is impressive. Second, I really like the approach Jennifer took : Playing c4, e3,b3 Qc2 and then going straight for the attack with Ng5 and h4, postponing 0-0 along the way.

So where did Jennifer deviate from standard theory ? let's look at a classic way to develop pieces on move 5

Instead, this is the position Jennifer was aiming for:

 It is a straightforward plan, highlighted by my blue arrows. Black castled early giving White attacking chances. Under pressure, Tatev lost quickly..

I really think this is an opening one could learn relatively quickly and without tons of theory. Here's a game I played using a similar theme yet in a different move order. Hope this can inspire you to create your own path to future wins with White, avoiding main lines.

And that's a wrap for today's entry. Looking forward to reading comments and preparing for future entries.