After five rounds of the 2024 US Chess Championships being held in St Louis, Missouri, favourite grandmasters Fabiano Caruana and Carissa Yip were leading the competition. While Caruana scored three victories from his five encounters, Yip chalked up five from five, a phenomenal achievement!
The tournaments are 12-player round robins and conclude October 24. They feature the strongest chess players in the United States. In the Open section, the players are competing for a total of a $250,000 and the title of US champion, while in the Women’s Championship the prize money is 152,000 and the title of US Women’s Champion.
The US Championships are open to all Americans based on ratings and represent the finest talent in the nation. With just 12 participants in each category, the US Championships are the pinnacle of American chess. This year’s edition features both 2023 champions in Caruana and Yip. Past champions of the game include luminaries such as Bobby Fischer, Hikaru Nakamura and Yasser Seirawan. Caruana himself opposed Magnus Carlsen for the World Championship title.
In today’s featured game, Guyana’s Loris Nathoo, playing black in a Sicilian defence, against Yoboue Hermann Manan of Cote d’Ivoire sacrificed a rook for a knight on move 19, breaking open white’s kingside. At first the move seemed strange, but as I played on I realized the move was well intentioned. I invite our young chess players to replay this game . On his 39th move Nathoo demonstrated the reason for breaking up White’s kingside. He created a passed pawn and eliminated the only remaining piece that was poised to stop the queening pawn with his queen. A wonderful game!
