Nearly All Decisive Day: Caruana Pulls Off Hat Trick, Niemann Defeats Aronian
Nearly every single game was decisive in the 2023 U.S. Championship on Tuesday. The frontrunners have begun to distinguish themselves as they accumulate victories. GM Fabiano Caruana won a third game in a row, gaining a winning position vs. GM Andrew Tang by move 10. GM Hans Niemann defeated GM Levon Aronian for the first time to move into sole second.
GM Ray Robson's swashbuckling king hunt vs. GM Jeffery Xiong scored him his first victory in our Game of the Day.
In the women's section, IM Carissa Yip and WGM Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova both won to maintain their tie for the lead. GM Irina Krush defeated IM Anna Zatonskih to stay within half a point as she pursues the leaders.
Round six starts on October 11 at 2:30 p.m. ET/20:30 CEST/12:00 a.m. IST.
See what happened
You can follow the games from the US Championships on our Events Pages: Open | Women.
On the first rest day on Monday, the players participated in community day, sharing their knowledge with local students and teaming up with the kids for casual games and variants.
To introduce round five—one of the most combative days possible—here is Niemann's reflection on his experience of playing the usually light-hearted game of hand-and-brain the day before:
At one point, my team started saying every single piece perfectly. They were reading my mind. It was such synergy.
Of course, even a casual game with school kids, I take extremely seriously. I’m not messing around. Victory must be obtained at all costs.
Victory must be obtained at all costs.
-Hans Niemann
U.S. Championship
Unleashing a rare line vs. Tang, Caruana achieved a winning positon by move 10, reinforcing his lead over the field.
When Aronian opted for the Sicilian Defense—an uncommon visitor in his classical games—vs. Niemann, the 20-year-old grandmaster was ready with a surprise of his own, a sideline in the Alapin that he discovered while watching a game beside him at the recent World Junior Championship. As commentator GM Cristian Chirila described: "Levon is looking for a fight, and he got it."
After the game, Niemann admitted: "Levon is such a legend. I'm honored to play against him... He's one of the greatest players of modern times. It means a lot to beat him, especially after he slipped away the last two times. It's nice to win."
Also with ambitious intentions, GM Abhimanyu Mishra played the classic ...Rxc3 exchange sacrifice in the Open Sicilian vs. GM Wesley So. Though this initially gave his queenside attacking play a head start, the rising prodigy followed it up inaccurately. So began to build up his own attack but offered Mishra one additonal opportunity to get back into the game. Can you find it?
Black to move.
Position after 21.Ka2
Ultimately, So broke through on the kingside first—a fitting victory for the day after his 30th birthday.
🎉Join us in wishing Grandmaster Wesley So a Happy Birthday! 🎉
— Saint Louis Chess Club (@STLChessClub) October 9, 2023
He is currently playing in the US Championship, so you can send him some good vibes 🙂.
♟️
📸 by Crystal Fuller
♟️#USChessChamps #STLChessClub pic.twitter.com/uhP1khMxh3
Despite a rough start to the event, Robson seized his opportunity to play the "not best objectively, but just so tempting" f5-break followed by a sacrifice to jumpstart his attack. After an inaccuracy in defense, Robson’s king hunt raged, as he chased the enemy monarch across the board.
💥 Bam!
— chess24.com (@chess24com) October 10, 2023
Although the rook sacrifice is not objectively winning, the attack is reaching decisive proportions in the game.https://t.co/5J5Tbo1IiW#USChessChamps pic.twitter.com/DO01x6wl28
Robson's sacrifice-laden first victory is our Game of the Day, annotated by GM Dejan Bojkov.
Afterwards, Robson revealed the depth of his calculations: "After ...Be6, I had seen basically everything that happened in the game up to Ne4 from afar."
GMs Leinier Dominguez and Sam Shankland also dove into the complexities of the Open Sicilian with their kings castled to opposite sides. Dominguez built up the faster attack, won an exchange, and traded into an ending. Shankland nearly held off his opponent's attempts to press until Dominguez found a decisive trick at the very end.
Dominguez wins the last game of the day, finishing a long sequence with the final move 73.Rh1! preparing the skewer, something Shankland may have missed.#USChessChamps pic.twitter.com/OuvstGsQHz
— chess24.com (@chess24com) October 10, 2023
GMs Dariusz Swiercz and Sam Sevian were the only players with peaceful intentions. They drew a short, quiet game as crossfire raged all around them.
U.S. Championship | All Games Round 5
Round 5 Open Standings
U.S. Women's Championship
In tune with the open section, the U.S. Women's Championship also had nearly all decisive games.
WGM Tatev Abrahamyan, a longtime 1.e4 player, decided to play 1.d4 vs. Yip, inducing the 2021 champion's favored King's Indian Defense. Though she succeeded at surprising her opponent, this strategy backfired for Abrahamyan. As the players reached the middlegame, Yip felt at home with the complexities due to her years of experience in the system.
When Abrahamyan went all in for her kingside attack with a knight sacrifice, Yip accepted the material immediately, defended her own king resourcefully, and then finished the game off with a mating combination.
Check out @carissayipchess ‘s chat with @SabinaFoisor after today’s win against WGM Tatev Abrahamyan.#USChessChamps #STLChessClub pic.twitter.com/TLNzRFZOZz
— Saint Louis Chess Club (@STLChessClub) October 10, 2023
Keeping pace with Yip, Tokhirjonova obtained a dominant position in the Maroczy Bind vs. WGM Thalia Cervantes. After the game, the co-leader shared: "I played this line since I was a kid, and I love it for White, so I felt very comfortable. When she played 1...c5, I knew it was going to be a good day, no matter what."
Chasing the leaders, Krush faced her longtime rival, Zatonskih. The eight-time champion gained the initative with an early pawn sacrifice. When Zatonskih tried to fight back by activating her own forces, she blundered the exchange.
Defending champion WGM Jennifer Yu scored her first victory in a dynamic struggle vs. IM Nazi Paikidze. When the 2018 champion attempted to counterattack on the kingside, Yu thwarted her opponent's play and broke through with her own mating combination.
Defending champion Jennifer Yu scores her first victory of the tournament in round five!https://t.co/mKo2NRgsBD#USChessChamps pic.twitter.com/IYznbLKiEq
— chess24.com (@chess24com) October 10, 2023
When asked about her defensive abilities in her earlier game vs. Cervantes, Yu shared with a chuckle:
I honestly think that’s just me, my entire career. If you look at most of my games, I’m just always losing, sometimes out of the opening. So if I don’t want to lose every game, you've just got to mess around, create some chances. If I have a bad position, I’m just like, let’s make it a little tricky for my opponent. It’s not something I like doing, but I’m pretty used to this situation.
Joining in the feast of decisive games, IM Alice Lee outplayed WGM Atousa Pourkashiyan in a complicated queenless middlegame. With this second win in a row, Lee has changed her fortunes, joining the tie for fourth while eyeing the top three spots.
The only draw of the round between FMs Ruiyang Yan and Ashritha Eswaran may have felt like a victory to Eswaran, who has made it onto the scoreboard and ended her losing streak. After the game, she shared her mentality in the face of a tough event: “I’ve been getting advice to just take it game by game and forget about the past.”
U.S. Women's Championship | All Games Round 5
Round 5 Women's Standings
The 2023 U.S. Chess Championship is an invitational classical event that determines the chess champion of the United States. The 2022 U.S. Women's Championship is being held concurrently. Both events start on October 5 and have the same format: a 12-player, 11-round tournament with a $250,000 prize fund for the U.S. Championship, and $152,000 for the U.S. Women’s Championship.
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Vanessa West is a National Master, a chess teacher, and a writer for Chess.com. In 2017, they won the Chess Journalist of the Year award.
You can follow them on X: Vanessa__West
