Yoo, Yu, Shabalov Win U.S. National Championships
The U.S. National Championships, held in St. Louis, crowned three new champions. GM Christopher Yoo won the U.S. Junior Chess Championship, FM Jennifer Yu won the U.S. Girls Junior Chess Championship, and GM Alexander Shabalov won the U.S. Senior Chess Championship.
The only winner decided in the initial nine rounds was Yoo, who won with a point ahead of the field with 7/9. Yu won a playoff against WFM Sophie Morris-Suzuki and FM Thalia Cervantes, while Shabalov defeated GM Larry Christiansen in the final round of what started as a five-person playoff.
Yoo, who was awarded his grandmaster title earlier this year, has added yet another accolade to his arsenal at the age of 15. The tournament victory for the junior from California was the smoothest here compared to the other sections, as he kept the lead for virtually the entire event.
A minor crisis occurred after a loss in round seven to IM David Brodsky. But Yoo managed to win the next game vs. GM Abhimanyu Mishra, and a draw with IM Carissa Yip in round nine secured the title comfortably.
The new champion earned $12,000, a $10,000 scholarship by U.S. Chess and Dewain Barber, and entry into the 2022 U.S. Championship.
An honorable mention has to go to GM Andrew Hong, who finished in second place but played a number of spectacular games in the event. GM Rafael Leitao annotated the following—in his words—"masterpiece" in the Sicilian Najdorf.
U.S. Juniors 2022 | Final Standings
| Rk. | Title | Name | Rtg | FED | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | R9 | R10 | Pts. |
| 1 | GM | Yoo Christopher Woojin | 2550 | * | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 7.0 | |
| 2 | GM | Hong Andrew | 2504 | 0 | * | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 6.0 | |
| 3 | GM | Mishra Abhimanyu | 2553 | 0 | ½ | * | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 5.0 | |
| 4 | IM | Daggupati Balaji | 2488 | 0 | 0 | ½ | * | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 5.0 | |
| 5 | IM | Brodsky David | 2496 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | * | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 4.5 | |
| 6 | IM | Wang Justin | 2469 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | * | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 4.5 | |
| 7 | GM | Liang Awonder | 2625 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | * | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4.5 | |
| 8 | GM | Jacobson Brandon | 2544 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | * | 1 | 1 | 4.0 | |
| 9 | IM | Yip Carissa | 2416 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | * | 0 | 2.5 | |
| 10 | NM | Espinosa Pedro | 2130 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | * | 2.0 |
Morris-Suzuki dominated the Girls division for most of the event. After round six, she even led with a two-point margin, having won every single one of her six games. In round seven, however, she suffered a defeat to the resurging Yu, who bounced back after losing the previous round herself to FM Rochelle Wu.
Morris-Suzuki won the following game but lost again in game nine to Cervantes, thus opening up the tournament to a three-player playoff.
The first playoff, played with 10 minutes and a two-second increment, failed to decide a champion. It was decided in the blitz playoff (three minutes plus two-second increment for each side), where Yu claimed the national title after winning both of her games. A dramatic ending for sure, and a heartbreaker to Morris-Suzuki, who could not have had a stronger start.
Yu claimed the $6,000 prize, a $10,000 scholarship by U.S. Chess and Dewain Barber, and entry into the 2022 U.S. Women's Championship.
U.S. Junior Girls 2022 | Final Standings
| Rk. | Title | Name | Rtg | FED | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | R9 | R10 | Pts. |
| 1 | WGM | Yu Jennifer | 2268 | ½ | * | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | |
| 2 | WGM | Cervantes Landeiro Thalia | 2234 | * | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | |
| 3 | WFM | Morris-Suzuki Sophie | 2055 | 0 | 0 | * | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | |
| 4 | FM | Wu Rochelle | 2216 | ½ | 1 | 0 | * | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6.5 | |
| 5 | FM | Lee Alice | 2288 | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | * | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 5.5 | |
| 6 | FM | Yan Ruiyang | 2248 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | * | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 3.5 | |
| 7 | WFM | Tang Zoey | 2133 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | * | 0 | 1 | ½ | 2.5 | |
| 8 | WFM | Prasanna Gracy | 1956 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | * | 0 | 1 | 2.5 | |
| 9 | WIM | Wang Ellen | 2040 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | * | ½ | 2.5 | |
| 10 | WFM | Velea Anne-Marie | 1956 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | * | 1 |
Christiansen looked to have some chances of breaking away in the Senior tournament when he led by half a point after round seven—until Shabalov brought him down to earth in round eight by capitalizing on a blunder shortly after move 40.
The tournament, which featured invited players aged 50 and older, suddenly opened up, and no fewer than half the players in the tournament (five out of 10!) tied for first with 5.5 after they all drew their last-round games.
Like in the Girls section, the leader's showstopper in the nine rounds turned out to shine in the rapid playoffs and steal the tournament. After playoffs featuring GMs Vladimir Akopian, Christiansen, Maxim Dlugy, Shabalov, and Dmitry Gurevich, Shabalov finally overcame Christiansen after a major (and losing) oversight on move 51.
U.S. Senior 2022 | Final Standings
| Rk. | Title | Name | Rtg | FED | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | R9 | R10 | Pts. |
| 1 | GM | Shabalov Alexander | 2510 | 0 | * | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 5.5 | |
| 2 | GM | Akopian Vladimir | 2620 | * | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 5.5 | |
| 3 | GM | Gurevich Dmitry | 2351 | ½ | ½ | * | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5.5 | |
| 4 | GM | Christiansen Larry | 2577 | ½ | 0 | ½ | * | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 5.5 | |
| 5 | GM | Dlugy Maxim | 2513 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | * | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5.5 | |
| 6 | GM | Kaidanov Gregory | 2548 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | * | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 5 | |
| 7 | GM | Benjamin Joel | 2496 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | * | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4.5 | |
| 8 | GM | Novikov Igor | 2547 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | * | ½ | ½ | 3 | |
| 9 | IM | Khmelnitsky Igor | 2472 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | * | ½ | 3 | |
| 10 | GM | De Firmian Nick | 2496 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | * | 2 |
Shabalov earned $20,000 and the title of U.S. Senior Champion after finishing in the top spot of an exhilarating playoff.
NM Anthony Levin caught the chess bug at the "late" age of 18 and never turned back. He earned his national master title in 2021, actually the night before his first day of work at Chess.com.
Anthony, who also earned his Master's in teaching English in 2018, taught English and chess in New York schools for five years and strives to make chess content accessible and enjoyable for people of all ages. At Chess.com, he writes news articles and manages social media for chess24.
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