Yip, Tokhirjonova Grow Lead With 4 Victories
At the halfway point, IM Carissa Yip and WGM Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova are starting to run away with the U.S. Women's Championship. With a second win in a row and four victories total for each, they are a full point ahead of the field.
IM Alice Lee has completely flipped her own tournament around with a three-game winning streak. IM Anna Zatonskih won an attacking gem vs. defending champion WGM Jennifer Yu in our Game of the Day.
In the 2023 U.S. Championship, the standings remain exactly the same after an all-draw round. GM Fabiano Caruana continues to lead with GM Hans Niemann on his tail. GM Leinier Dominguez came the closest to scoring a victory in his double-edged game vs. GM Abhimanyu Mishra.
Round seven starts on October 12 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: Women | Open.
U.S. Women's Championship
The women's section continued in the same fashion as the day before with a majority of decisive games.
From the start, Yip aimed to imbalance the game with an atypical double-fianchetto setup while allowing FM Ashritha Eswaran to take vast space in the center. As her bishops sliced down the long diagonals in the middlegame, Yip activated the rest of her pieces and pushed her own pawns into the center, seizing the initiative. In an attempt to create counterplay, Eswaran sacrificed an exchange. Yet, the 2021 champion kept increasing the pressure, winning an insurmountable amount of material.
Check out @SabinaFoisor ‘s chat with IM Carissa Yip, @carissayipchess , after her win today.#USChessChamps #STLChessClub pic.twitter.com/luEEGgeuix
— Saint Louis Chess Club (@STLChessClub) October 11, 2023
In an equal rook and knight ending, Tokhirjonova managed to steal a pawn from WGM Atousa Pourkashiyan. After the game, Tokhirjonova revealed her mindset: "I think she thought it would be a very comfortable draw, but suddenly my position is slightly better, and I can just push... It's just going to be forever torture for her."
In the end, Pourkashiyan had one last chance to save the game. Can you find the incredible saving resource she overlooked?
White to move.
When Yu captured a poisoned pawn, Zatonskih wove her forces around the enemy king, out-calculating the defending champion in a dynamic skirmish. When discussing the game afterward with the commentators, Zatonskih reflected: "Oh wow, I was on fire!" as she confirmed the accuracy of her calculations with the engine analysis.
Zatonskih's dazzling victory is our Game of the Day. Annotations by GM Dejan Bojkov are below.
In a hedgehog, GM Irina Krush worked to open lines on the kingside to create attacking chances but underestimated FM Ruiyang Yan's counterattacking resources. Yan fought back but missed how to fully capitalize on her potent pieces. Can you find how she could have taken over the attack?
White to move.
In the endgame, it was Krush's turn to overlook a winning opportunity. In the end, the game settled into a fitting draw.
Though Lee gained a pawn vs. IM Nazi Paikidze, she reached a seemingly drawish ending with four pawn islands and no clear way to break through. Ultimately, Lee was able to use the threat of exchanging into a winning king and pawn ending to outflank her opponent on the queenside.
FM Thalia Cervantes vs. WGM Tatev Abrahamyan was the most topsy-turvy game of the day. With a stunning combination, Abrahamyan broke through with a surge of dynamic play in the center. One move before time control, with victory in sight, Abrahamyan blundered material. Down an exchange, the battle started anew with the 35-year-old woman grandmaster on the defensive. Yet, she fought on, and when Cervantes missed a winning opportunity in the rook ending, the game ended in a draw.
💔 A heartbreaker! Black was winning until 39...Qb3?? allowing the turnaround 40.Rxd2!
— chess24.com (@chess24com) October 11, 2023
It took just one move to go from winning to losing.#USChessChamps pic.twitter.com/9lD5b8C5Wy
U.S. Women's Championship | All Games Round 6
Round 6 Women's Standings
U.S. Championship
Dominguez and Mishra arrived ready for a fight. Dominguez sacrificed a pawn in the opening to gain the initiative and the bishop pair on an open board. Mishra counter-sacrificed to conjure attacking chances on the kingside. After a long think, Dominguez went for it, accepting the material by diving into the enemy queenside with his strongest piece.
In the midst of the energetic duel, Dominguez kept an extra pawn. Yet, the youngest 2600 in the world escaped into an opposite-colored bishop ending and held the draw.
"It was an honor to play a legend like Dominguez. I've grown up watching his games and he's simply one of the best players in the world!"
— chess24.com (@chess24com) October 11, 2023
- @ChessMishra after surviving a tough position against @chessleinier. #USChessChamps pic.twitter.com/Cn8ZHFDf6N
In a maneuvering struggle in the English, Caruana tried to generate queenside pressure vs. GM Sam Sevian. Yet, the 22-year-old grandmaster held the balance with perceptive placement of his pieces, shutting down Caruana's winning streak.
Regrouping after his opening struggles earlier in the event, GM Andrew Tang opted for a calm, safe setup vs. GM Ray Robson. After a series of maneuvers and exchanges, the players drew after reaching king and knight vs. king.
After an early queen trade, GMs Sam Shankland and Dariusz Swiercz reached an equal rook ending on move 30 and fought for 82 moves before drawing.
After declining two earlier opportunities to repeat to play for the win with black, Niemann accepted a repetition vs. GM Jeffery Xiong in a level rook ending.
Recovering from a disappointing loss yesterday, GM Levon Aronian drew a quick, balanced game vs. Wesley So.
"I'm learning, trying new things. So, it's part of the... learning process. Sometimes the result doesn't come, but, you know, as long as there's a plan, I kind of see the light in the end of the tunnel!"
— chess24.com (@chess24com) October 11, 2023
- @LevAronian after round six in the #USChessChamps. pic.twitter.com/xxoUA5sZJC
U.S. Championship | All Games Round 6
Round 6 Open 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
