Caruana Beats Mishra, Assumes Sole Lead; Yip Still Perfect
Five leaders were whittled down to one in the fourth round of the 2024 U.S. Championship as GM Fabiano Caruana defeated GM Abhimanyu Mishra and moved to 3/4. GM Ray Robson scored the only other decisive result of the round, thwarting a dubious pawn sacrifice by GM Awonder Liang in the Najdorf Sicilian.
IM Carissa Yip continues to dominate the women's event, putting GM Irina Krush to the sword to move to 4/4. Wins to WGM Thalia Cervantes, FM Megan Lee, and IM Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova leave Yip with a one-point lead.
Following a rest day on Tuesday, the fifth round of the U.S. Championships will start on October 16 at 2 p.m. ET/20:00 CEST/11:30 p.m. IST.
Round 4 Standings: Championship
Round 4 Standings: Women's Championship
U.S. Championship
Caruana has made up for missed chances by winning consecutive rounds at the U.S. Championship and, with his win in round four, his live rating has crept back over 2800. Playing with the white pieces against Mishra, who is the tournament's 11th seed and youngest participant, Caruana probed for chances to press.
The defending champion opted for a rare line, previously played by GM Daniil Dubov, against Mishra's French Defense and the 15-year-old Mishra spent some time navigating the opening. Overall though, he handled the unorthodoxy admirably.
On the cusp of entering a drawish queen and two-rook ending, Caruana managed to create a pawn weakness and the position quickly snowballed.
The other decisive game in the open event was Robson-Liang, and this was an important one for the Puzzle Rush world champion who is trying to put his slow start to the event behind him. Robson elected to play the Najdorf and ended up with a strong center, bolstered by his e and f-pawns. Feeling the heat, Liang decided to give up a pawn.
The sacrifice was imprecise at best and Robson was able to capitalize on the error.
Win, lose, or draw, Liang seems to be having a great time in St. Louis and was spotted building a house of cards as Robson calculated his way to victory in round four.
How do you pass the time when your opponent is deep in thought? 🤔 one of the leaders of US chess Championships Awonder Liang is busy building a house of cards while Ray Robson thinks about his next move. With over 40 minutes on his clock, Awonder could certainly afford it!… pic.twitter.com/cp6M5M5hZX
— Saint Louis Chess Club (@STLChessClub) October 14, 2024
Accurate play by GMs Sam Shankland and Hans Niemann generated a to-and-fro contest where neither player could manufacture a decisive edge. Shankland did win a pawn shortly after reaching the time control however the minor piece ending remained close to equal.
Witnessing Caruana win with Black must have been difficult for former co-leaders and GMs Wesley So and Sam Sevian, who were unable to break through their lower-rated opponent's defenses with White. Though neither player had significant winning chances, Sevian could have snapped up a pawn on move 26 against GM Christopher Yoo and tried to hold onto an edge.
A draw between GMs Leinier Dominguez and Levon Aronian has left both of the veterans winless heading into the rest day and their round-five pairings against Shankland and Robson won't give them much reprieve.
Round five will also see Caruana take on a struggling Yoo with Black while a mouthwatering clash between Niemann and So will test the mettle of these frontrunners.
U.S. Women's Championship
In the words of GM Yasser Seirawan, Yip is "making history" at the U.S. Women's Championship and heads into the rest day on 4/4, having already played and beaten two multi-time champions, WGM Jennifer Yu, and her round-four opponent, Krush.
The Modern Defense was the battleground for this titanic clash and Yip forewent the opportunity to play the comically-named "Pterodactyl, Beefeater Variation," transposing instead into an improved version of the Czech Benoni.
A skirmish for space and squares ensued and after 45.Qb5 Krush looked sure to win the game. Unperturbed by her exposed king, Yip instantly played 45...Nb4!. With minimal time to deal with such a blow, Krush misplayed on the following move and Yip converted expeditiously.
As the game drew to a close Seirawan joked about whether Saint Louis Chess Club had "taken out an insurance policy" on the legendary Fischer Prize, which was a $64,000 bonus jackpot promised in some previous editions for any player who was able to clean sweep the championship.
*It's worth noting that there is no mention of the prize being on offer in the 2024 regulations.
The greatest threat to Yip's title defense at this point appears to be Tokhirjonova, who finished in style against IM Anna Zatonskih. Tokhirjonova will get her shot at Yip in round five when they face off. Expect this to be a thrilling duel...
After a tumultuous few rounds Cervantes, and Lee (Megan) have both found their feet— Cervantes played a model game against WGM Jennifer Yu's London System, while Lee created enough chaos to bewilder WGM Tatev Abrahamyan.
Dreams of winning the women's championship should not be forsaken... should Tokhirjonova topple Yip on Wednesday, the door may open for challengers once more.
The live broadcast was hosted by WGM Katerina Nemcova and GMs Yasser Seirawan and Cristian Chirila.
See what happenedYou can follow the games from the U.S. Championships on our Events Pages: Open | Women.
The 2024 U.S. Chess Championship is an invitational classical event that determines the chess champion of the United States. The 2024 U.S. Women's Championship is being held concurrently. Both events start on October 11 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.
