by National Life Master Loal Davis
There were three decisive games in the final round of the U.S. Chess Championship 2019. Hikaru Nakamura played a excellent fighting game for a final round. He selected a Dutch Defense as Black; an excellent choice if one either wants, or must have a win as Black. Like most Sicilian Defenses, there are energy imbalances and great winning (and losing) chances. Again – an excellent choice when you are/were tied for the lead with two other contenders. Those two, Fabiano Caruana and Leinier Dominguez, tried to win, yet had to settle for draws. This placed Nakamura in undisputed possession of first place. Congratulations !
[Event “US Chess Championship 2019”]
[Site “?”]
[Date “2019.03.31”]
[Round “11”]
[White “Xiong, Jeffery”]
[Black “Nakamura, Hikaru”]
[Result “0-1”]
[PlyCount “116”]
[EventDate “2019.03.30”]
[SourceDate “2019.03.31”]
1. d4 f5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 g6 4. g3 Bg7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O d6 7. Nc3 Nc6 8. d5 Na5 9. b3 c5 10. Bb2 a6 11. Ng5 Rb8 12. Qd3 Qe8 13. Nd1 b5 14. Qd2 Nb7 15. Ne3 Nd8 16. Nh3 Bd7 17. Rad1 b4 18. Qc2 a5 19. Nf4 a4 20. h4 Ra8 21. Qb1 Ra6 22. Bf3 Qf7 23. Neg2 Ng4 24. Bxg4 fxg4 25. e4 Bxb2 26. Qxb2 Qg7 27. Qxg7+ Kxg7 28. e5 Bf5 29. exd6 exd6 30. Rfe1 Nf7 31. Re7 Kf6 32. Rb7 axb3 33. axb3 Rfa8 34. Ne3 Ra1 35. Kf1 Ne5 36. Rxa1 Rxa1+ 37. Ke2 Nf3 38. Nxf5 Kxf5 39. Ke3 Re1+ 40. Kd3 Ne5+ 41. Kd2 Ra1 42. Ne6 h6 43. Rb6 Ra3 44. Kc2 Ra2+ 45. Kd1 Nd3 46. Rxd6 Nxf2+ 47. Ke1 Nd3+ 48. Kd1 Ke4 49. Nc7 Nf2+ 50. Ke1 Kd3 51. Rxg6 Ne4 52. Kf1 Nxg3+ 53. Kg1 Ne2+ 54. Kh1 Ke3 55. Rf6 Ra1+ 56. Kg2 Rg1+ 57. Kh2 g3+ 58. Kh3 Rh1+ 0-1
Final Position
[Event “US Chess Championship 2019”]
[Site “?”]
[Date “2019.03.31”]
[Round “11”]
[White “Robson, Ray”]
[Black “Akobian, Varuzhan”]
[Result “0-1”]
[PlyCount “112”]
[EventDate “2019.03.30”]
[SourceDate “2019.03.31”]
1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 Nf6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 c6 6. Qc2 Be7 7. e3 Nbd7 8. Bd3 Nh5 9. Bxe7 Qxe7 10. Nge2 g6 11. O-O O-O 12. Rae1 Ndf6 13. Nc1 Bd7 14. f3 Rfe8 15. Nb3 b6 16. e4 Nf4 17. Qd2 Nxd3 18. Qxd3 Rad8 19. Qe3 Be6 20. e5 Nd7 21. Ne2 c5 22. Ng3 c4 23. Nd2 f6 24. f4 f5 25. Nf3 b5 26. h3 b4 27. Ne2 a5 28. Kh2 Rf8 29. Ng5 h6 30. Nxe6 Qxe6 31. g4 Kh7 32. Qf3 Nb8 33. gxf5 gxf5 34. Ng3 Rg8 35. Rg1 Nd7 36. Re2 Rg6 37. Reg2 Rdg8 38. b3 c3 39. Qd3 Nf8 40. Qb5 Qf7 41. Qxa5 Ne6 42. Qxd5 Rd8 43. Qc4 Rxd4 44. Qc8 Rg8 45. Qc6 Nxf4 46. Rf2 Qe6 47. Qc5 Rd5 48. Qe3 Nxh3 49. Nh5 Rxg1 50. Nf6+ Kg6 51. Nxd5 Qxd5 52. Kxh3 Rh1+ 53. Kg3 Rg1+ 54. Kh3 Rg4 55. Kh2 Qe4 56. Qb6+ Kh5 0-1
Final Position
[Event “US Chess Championship 2019”]
[Site “?”]
[Date “2019.03.31”]
[Round “11”]
[White “So, Wesley”]
[Black “Liang, Awonder”]
[Result “0-1”]
[PlyCount “168”]
[EventDate “2019.03.30”]
[SourceDate “2019.03.31”]
1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. e3 Bb4 5. Qc2 Bxc3 6. Qxc3 Qe7 7. d4 e4 8. Ng1 d5 9. b3 O-O 10. Ne2 a5 11. Nf4 Be6 12. Be2 g5 13. Nxe6 fxe6 14. a3 Qd7 15. O-O Ne7 16. b4 a4 17. b5 Rf7 18. c5 Qe8 19. f4 exf3 20. Rxf3 g4 21. Rf4 Ng6 22. Qc2 e5 23. Rf5 e4 24. Bd2 Nh4 25. Re5 Qf8 26. Be1 Nf3+ 27. Bxf3 gxf3 28. Bg3 Ng4 29. Rg5+ Rg7 30. Rxd5 Qf7 31. Qa2 f2+ 32. Bxf2 Nxf2 33. Re5 Nh3+ 34. Kh1 Nf2+ 35. Kg1 Qxa2 36. Rxa2 Nd1 37. g3 Rf7 38. Rxe4 Nc3 39. Rg4+ Kf8 40. Rd2 Nxb5 41. Rd3 c6 42. e4 Re8 43. d5 Nc7 44. Rd4 Re5 45. Rxa4 cxd5 46. exd5 Nxd5 47. Rge4 Rxe4 48. Rxe4 Rc7 49. Rh4 Nf6 50. Kg2 Rxc5 51. Rb4 Rc7 52. g4 Nd5 53. Rb5 Nc3 54. Rb6 Kf7 55. Kg3 Nd5 56. Rd6 Ne3 57. Rh6 Kg7 58. Rb6 Nc4 59. Rb3 Kf6 60. Kf4 Ke6 61. h3 Nd6 62. Re3+ Kf7 63. Rd3 Rc6 64. Rb3 Ra6 65. Kg5 Ra5+ 66. Kh4 b5 67. Rd3 Nc4 68. Rd7+ Kg6 69. Rb7 Nxa3 70. Rb6+ Kf7 71. Rb7+ Ke6 72. g5 Nc4 73. Rxh7 Nd6 74. Rh6+ Ke5 75. Rh8 b4 76. Rf8 Rb5 77. g6 Rb7 78. Rf3 Rb8 79. Rb3 Kf6 80. Kh5 Kg7 81. Kg5 Ne4+ 82. Kf5 Nd2 83. Rd3 Rb5+ 84. Kf4 b3 0-1
Final Position
Images Courtesy Of Derrick Bartotto
