Tis_Your_Move_Chess

We take a look at the game we discussed in our last puzzle set - the fighting chess game of Garv Gaur versus Bakhrillaev from the Qatar Open. It was a fighting chess game right out of the opening but in the middle-game Garv took over and showed some impressive ideas to seal the deal and take home the full point. THE GAME SCORE: [Event "Qatar Masters Open 2023"] [White "Garv Gaur"][Black "Bakhrillaev,Bakhrom"] [Site "Doha"][Round "6.19"] [Result "1-0"][Date "2023.10.17"] [WhiteElo "2401"][BlackElo "2302"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. c4 Bg7 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 d6 6. O-O Nbd7 7. Nc3 e5 8. e4 exd4 9. Nxd4 Re8 10. h3 a6 11. Be3 Rb8 12. b3 c5 13. Nde2 b5 14. Qxd6 b4 15. Na4 Nxe4 16. Bxe4 Bxa1 17. Rxa1 Rxe4 18. Nxc5 Re8 19. Rd1 Qe7 20. Qxe7 Rxe7 21. Nf4 Nxc5 22. Bxc5 Rd7 23. Nd5 Kg7 24. Bd4+ f6 25. Bxf6+ Kf7 26. Be5 Ra8 27. Rc1 Rd8 28. Nb6 Ra7 29. c5 Re7 30. f4 Bxh3 31. c6 Bc8 32. c7 Rg8 33. Nc4 Re6 34. Rd1 Ke7 35. Bd6+ Kf6 36. Bxb4 Ree8 37. Bc3+ Ke6 38. Kf2 Ref8 39. Bb4 Re8 40. Nd6 Ref8 41. Ne4 Re8 42. Rd6+ Kf7 43. Ng5+ Kg7 44. Bc3+ Kf8 45. Nxh7+ Ke7 46. Bb4 Kf7 47. Ng5+ Kg7 48. Bc3+ Kf8 49. Bf6 a5 50. a3 Bg4 51. Rd8 Bc8 52. b4 a4 53. b5 Bb7 54. Rd7 Rc8 55. Rf7+ Ke8 56. Re7+ 1-0 Enjoy this donnybrook of a chess game, stay well and be well ~ Sean.

The King’s Indian Defense - KID for short - is a fighting defense. But that doesn’t mean things always go the second player’s way. In today’s game Garv Gaur overcomes a game opponent in a hard fought good old fashioned chess donnybrook. And we the chess fans come out the winners! THE GAME SCORE: [Event "Qatar Masters Open 2023"] [White "Garv Gaur"][Black "Bakhrillaev,Bakhrom"] [Site "Doha"][Round "6.19"] [Result "1-0"][Date "2023.10.17"] [WhiteElo "2401"][BlackElo "2302"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. c4 Bg7 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 d6 6. O-O Nbd7 7. Nc3 e5 8. e4 exd4 9. Nxd4 Re8 10. h3 a6 11. Be3 Rb8 12. b3 c5 13. Nde2 b5 14. Qxd6 b4 15. Na4 Nxe4 16. Bxe4 Bxa1 17. Rxa1 Rxe4 18. Nxc5 Re8 19. Rd1 Qe7 20. Qxe7 Rxe7 21. Nf4 Nxc5 22. Bxc5 Rd7 23. Nd5 Kg7 24. Bd4+ f6 25. Bxf6+ Kf7 26. Be5 Ra8 27. Rc1 Rd8 28. Nb6 Ra7 29. c5 Re7 30. f4 Bxh3 31. c6 Bc8 32. c7 Rg8 33. Nc4 Re6 34. Rd1 Ke7 35. Bd6+ Kf6 36. Bxb4 Ree8 37. Bc3+ Ke6 38. Kf2 Ref8 39. Bb4 Re8 40. Nd6 Ref8 41. Ne4 Re8 42. Rd6+ Kf7 43. Ng5+ Kg7 44. Bc3+ Kf8 45. Nxh7+ Ke7 46. Bb4 Kf7 47. Ng5+ Kg7 48. Bc3+ Kf8 49. Bf6 a5 50. a3 Bg4 51. Rd8 Bc8 52. b4 a4 53. b5 Bb7 54. Rd7 Rc8 55. Rf7+ Ke8 56. Re7+ 1-0 Enjoy the game and tactics, stay well and be well ~ Sean.

QATAR MASTERS GAME VENKATESH vs AUDI, Round Nine. A game with some monster tactics for your enjoyment today! Venkatesh prevailed over his opponent Ameya Audi in round 9 of the Qatar Masters. However it was young Nodirbek Yakubboev who won the event with a hard fought last round win and then overcoming his fellow countrymen Nodirbek Abdusattorov in a two game blitz tie breaker. Both grandmasters are from Uzbekistan, which has quite a crop of up and coming talents that you will be hearing from in the very near future as they create even more chess art. Today’s Game given in full down below. [Event "Qatar Masters 2023"] [White "Venkatesh,M"][Black "Audi Ameya"] [Site "Doha"][Round "9.23"] [Result "1-0"][Date "2023.10.20"] [WhiteElo "2428"][BlackElo "2372"] 1. b3 Nf6 2. Bb2 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 d6 5. d4 c5 6. Nf3 cxd4 7. Nxd4 d5 8. c4 dxc4 9. bxc4 Qb6 10. Qb3 Nfd7 11. Nb5 Nc5 12. Qa3 Bxb2 13. Qxb2 O-O 14. a4 a6 15. a5 Qe6 16. Qa3 Qxc4 17. N5c3 Rd8 18. O-O Nc6 19. Nd5 Rxd5 20. Rc1 Qxc1+ 21. Qxc1 Nb3 22. Qe1 Rc5 23. Nd2 Nxa1 24. Qxa1 Be6 25. h4 Rd8 26. Ne4 Rxa5 27. Qc3 Rb5 28. Ng5 Rd1+ 29. Kh2 Bd7 30. Be4 Ne5 31. Qc7 h6 32. Nf3 Bc6 33. Nxe5 Bxe4 34. f3 Rb2 35. fxe4 Rxe2+ 36. Kh3 Rh1+ 37. Kg4 Rxe4+ 38. Kf3 Rhe1 39. Qc8+ Kg7 40. Nd7 R4e3+ 41. Kf2 R3e2+ 42. Kf3 Re3+ 43. Kf2 g5 44. Qf8+ Kg6 45. Qg8+ Kf5 46. Qxf7+ Kg4 47. Ne5+ Rxe5 48. Qf3+ Kh3 49. g4+ Kh2 50. Qg2# 1-0 Enjoy and stay safe and be well! ~ S.

SPOT ON CHESS PUZZLES: US WOMEN’S CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP ~ FIGHTING CHESS! The Ladies played for glory in the 2023 edition of the US WOMEN’S CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP! With 39 out of a possible 66 games being decisive, as compared to the men’s championship with 25 games out of 66 games being settled in favor of a victor. The men had only a 38% games being decided one player’s way or the other whereas the women had a whooping 59 percent of games being decidedly decisive. We have to ask ourselves “Why were so many games decisive in the US WOMEN’S CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP?” Was it because of lower rated players playing “less” solid chess? Was it a lack of ability to handle the stress of competitive play? Was it because of distractions at the tournament site? No. It was the fact that the ladies turned out to be playing for the wins. I very much enjoyed this year’s edition of the US WOMEN’S CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP. What an amazing event this year! A grueling 12 player round robin with plenty of stress for all 12 players. One thing to note is that Irina Krush had an off event. I have always been a fan and look forward to her return to good form… but this event saw her allow draws in winning positions and a last round loss that showcased how tough this event was for her. She has won the US WOMEN’S CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP an amazing seven times… here is to seeing her win an eighth title in a future edition but this was not her event to win this year. Hopefully she uses this event’s experiences to fuel her next drive towards chess excellence. “Big drama show” - Boxer Gennady Golovkin. Our two main players both had a collapse in the final round of the Championship: both Carissa Yip and Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova both lost their last round 11 games on Tuesday the 17th of October, 2023. Carissa Yip lost to Ruiyang Yan and Tokhirjonova lost to Jennifer Yu. Both of them lost with the White Pieces! Tokhirjonova lost in round 10 to GM Irina Krush as well… so the winner of this year’s event was Carissa Yip who crushed with 8.5 points out of a possible 11 points. Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova finished in second place with 8 points. Had she claimed that draw in round 10 though… Interestingly enough in the 2021 edition of this very same event Carissa Yip won with 8.5 points as well… while Women’s Grandmaster Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova took second place with 7 points! All of these competitors played interesting and demanding games - I look forward to seeing more of their chess art in the future! Enjoy today’s six tactical positions and get out there and make your own chess art! ~ Sean. PS Please feel free to visit Mark Crowther’s TWIC for all your tournament cross tables, games and chess fixings! The website can be found at: https://theweekinchess.com

In an instructive win Nazi Paikidze shows how to play the Caro-Kan defense. Her handling of the Black pieces was very instructive and would make even former World Champion Grandmaster Anatoly Karpov proud! Enjoy four quick tactics and the game where the Caro-Kan did, indeed, get the job done! Stay healthy and be safe ~ S.

Congratulations to the 2023 United States Chess Champion - Fabiano Caruana. This is his third title as US Champion... to go along with his other numerous claims to chess fame such as being the third highest rated chess player in history and to have gone toe to toe with then World Champion Magnus Carlsen drawing all twelve of their regulation standard time control chess games. GM Caruana only lost in the rapid tie-breaks having come very close to becoming World Champion. Perhaps this is the start of his next run at the World Title? Here you will find three puzzles: Wins by Caruana, Mishra and So. All three had a stellar tournament. But everyone who played here was among the creme de la creme. Some brilliant stars were missing though: GM Hikaru Nakamura chief among them. Thanks for tuning in solvers - enjoy the puzzles! ~ Sean.

So it finally happened! Our International man of chess Mystery had the White pieces versus the tournament leader GM Fabiano Caruana. I present the game Niemann versus Caruana for your enjoyment. Puzzles in our next posting! Be safe and remain free ~ S

SPOT ON CHESS PUZZLES: The Caro Can't and Magnus can! Taking a break from US Chess Championship coverage let’s all reflect upon what else is happening in the Chess World right now, shall we? We have Magnus Carlsen back in the news for having proposed obvious anti-cheating measures at the World Renowned Qatar Masters Open which is currently underway. After having suffered a massive defeat at the hands of a young talented Grandmaster Suleymenov crushed Carlsen in a tactical display of brilliance. Carlsen even stated that his complaint wasn’t meant to take away from his adversary’s sparkling play. But he definitely was distracted during the game by the watch his opponent wore… (Note to self - if I ever get to play GM Magnus Carlsen… I will wear lots of “Bling”!) The Russian Championship just concluded and we have a new crop of talented players coming to the fore. With seasoned players like Grandmaster Kateryna Lagno, as one of the top Women’s players in the world, also in the mix this was quite an interesting edition to this event. In the end Grandmaster Vladislav Artemiev ran away with the show and first honors scoring 8.5 points to finish two points ahead of his nearest pursuers GMs Maxim Matlakov, Pavel Ponkratov and Evgeniy Najer. This event was a 12 player round robin - the standard for top level events these days. Today’s games feature a win by each of the GMs Magnus Carlsen and Vladislav Artemiev. And they both crushed their respective opponents! The super solid Caro Kann defense takes a beating at the hands of GM Artemiev and Magnus shows he can win like a World Champion - even still! Hence today’s title: The Caro Can’t and Magnus can! Enjoy and peace be unto you and all of your kin ~ S.

The US WOMEN’S CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP has become a two woman show: Yip and Tokhirjonova! After 8 rounds each of them are now on an incredible 7 out of a possible 8 points. Having reduced the rest of the tournament participants to spectators with only GM Irina Krishna now having a theoretical outside chance of catching them over the course of the final three rounds it looks like one of them will surely win this event. If both of them continue to perform as they have they may even end up sharing the title. This has been a tough tournament for each of the participants but perhaps harder for some than others. Irina Krush saw several potential full points rendered drawn in hard fought games. However with the final three rounds remaining there is still a lot of chess to be played! Enjoy the games ~ S

Two scary puzzles for you upon this fine Friday the 13th! Taken from the round eight games Robson versus Niemann and Mishra versus Sevian. These were the only two decisive games played today. The Standings are: 1st Place @ 5.5 points GM Fabiano Caruana (2786) 2nd -5th Place @ 4.5 points: GMs Leinier Dominguez Perez, Wesley So, Hans Moke Niemann and Abhimanyu Mishra. 6th-7th Places @ 4 points each are GMs Sam Shankland and Ray Robson. 8th-10th Places @ 3.5 points are GMs Samuel Sevian, Dariusz Swiercz and Levon Aronian. 11th-12th Places @ 3 points are GMs Jeffery Xiong and Andrew Tang. Saturday the 14th of October is a rest day with round 9 being held this Sunday the 15th. Enjoy the fine remaining moves that will be played at the Women's and Men's US Chess Championships - we only have three more rounds to go now! ~ S

Today's game: Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova (2350) versus Nazi Paikidze (2316) In a Caro-Kan opening Begim allows IM/WGM Paikidze to set up an apparently solid position but then undermines it and shows it to be full of holes by the end of the game. WGM/IM Paikidze is no weakie having achieved her Women's Grandmaster title in 2010 and her International Master in 2012. An accomplished player who has previously won the US Women's Chess Championship in 2016 and the 2018 editions she has also had many other outstanding chess tournament performances over the course of her chess career. But so far in this edition of the US Women's Chess Championship it is a two woman show: Carissa Yip and Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova. Both of whom are just flattening the opposition - but have drawn each other. Now it becomes a question of who can maintain their concentration and maintain good energy over the last 4 rounds as we come into the home stretch! And there is still a Grandmaster out there in the field who, though trailing both the leaders can still inflict some damage upon the rest of the field and thus has an outside chance of catching up. Thanks for watching - catch you all later on down the time line! ~ S.

Carissa Yip maintains her co-lead in the US Women's Chess Championship from the Black side of an awesome Modern Defense win. We’ll take a look at that game today and discuss some of the tactics. The round six US WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP saw four out of six games end with a decisive result and only two draws. The US Men’s Chess Championship… had six draws. The ladies seem to be showcasing a lot of fighting chess! RESULTS: Eswaran, Ashritha vs Yip, Carissa 0-1 Zatonskih, Anna vs Yu, Jennifer 1-0 Paikidze, Nazi vs Lee, Alice 0-1 Yan, Ruiyang vs Krush, Irina 1/2-1/2 Pourkashiyan, Atousa vs Tokhirjonova, Gulrukhbegim 0-1 Cervantes Landeiro, Thalia vs Abrahamyan, Tatev 1/2-1/2 1st - 2nd place Carissa Yip (2372) leads the pack with her co-leader Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova both having scored 5 points out of a possible 6 - quite a blistering start! 3rd Place GM Irina Krush a full point behind with 4 points out of 6 rounds. 4th-5th Places Alice Lee and Anna Zatonskih 3.5 points 6th - 7th Places Ruiyang Yan and Tatev Abrahamyan 3 points 8th Place Nazi Paikidze 2.5 points 9th - 11th Places Thalia Cervantes Landeiro, Atousa Pourkashiyan and Jennifer Yu. 2 Points 12th Place Ashritha Eswaran. 1/2 point. LINKS OF NOTE: Mark Crowther's THE WEEK IN CHESS (TWIC) at: https://theweekinchess.com Those feisty German Chess Lovers at Chessbase over at: https://en.chessbase.com The St Louis Chess Center - Host & Sponsor of the 2023 Women's and Men's US Chess Championships: https://www.uschesschamps.com/2023-us-championships/2023-us-championship CHESS24 US Women’s Chess Championship Coverage https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tournaments/us-womens-championship-2023 CHESS24 US Men’s Chess Championship Coverage https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tournaments/us-championship-2023/6/1/1 Thanks for your time - wishing you and yours all the best. ~ S.

SPOT ON CHESS PUZZLES: A "Krushing" round 5 Win at US WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP! GM Irina Krush has reasserted herself with an impressive win over super strong Anna Zatonskih in round 5 of the US Women’s Chess Championship. An impressive win at that! ROUND 5 Standings: US WOMEN’S CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP 1st - 2nd Places: Yip & Tokhirjonova share the lead with 4 points out of 5. 3rd Place: GM Irina Krush in hot pursuit! 4th - 8th Places: Lee, Paikidze, Yan, Zatonskih, and Abrahamyan. 9th - 10th Places: Yu and Pourkashiyan 11th Place: Cervantes Landeiro 12th Place: Eswaran. For further coverage please visit: Mark Crowther's THE WEEK IN CHESS (TWIC) at: https://theweekinchess.com Those feisty German Chess Lovers at Chessbase over at: https://en.chessbase.com The St Louis Chess Center - Host & Sponsor of the 2023 Women's and Men's US Chess Championships: https://www.uschesschamps.com/2023-us-championships/2023-us-championship Thanks for watching! See you later on down the timeline ~ S.

Caruana Crushes! After 5 rounds, and two draws and three wins, GM Caruana leads at the US MEN’S CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP. But can he maintain and widen his lead on his fellow chessboard warriors over the course of the final six rounds of this elite round robin chess event? ROUND 5 RESULTS: US MEN’S CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP Robson vs Xiong 1-0 Tang vs Caruana 0-1 So vs Mishra 1-0 Swiercz vs Sevian 1/2-1/2 Niemann vs Aronian 1-0 Dominguez Perez vs Shankland 1-0 US WOMEN’S CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP Abrahamyan vs Yip 0-1 Krush vs Zatonskih 1-0 Yu vs Paikidze 1-0 Tokhirjonova vs Cervantes 1-0 Yan vs Eswaran 1/2-1/2 Lee vs Pourkashiyan 1-0 LINKS for additional US CHAMPS coverage at: Mark Crowther's THE WEEK IN CHESS (TWIC) at: https://theweekinchess.com Those feisty German Chess Lovers at Chessbase over at: https://en.chessbase.com The St Louis Chess Center - Host & Sponsor of the 2023 Women's and Men's US Chess Championships: https://www.uschesschamps.com/2023-us-championships/2023-us-championship Thanks for watching! See you later on down the timeline ~ S.

Good old fashioned Donnybrooks broke out in the US Championship playing hall in St Louis today! Fire on the boards! What a day... games still going on, many of the games having finished up just now and so an update on some of those games later on today! Enjoy this brief update, and for full coverage please visit: Mark Crowther's THE WEEK IN CHESS (TWIC) at: https://theweekinchess.com Those feisty German Chess Lovers at Chessbase over at: https://en.chessbase.com The St Louis Chess Center - Host & Sponsor of the 2023 Women's and Men's US Chess Championships: https://www.uschesschamps.com/2023-us-championships/2023-us-championship Thanks again for watching, please drop a "Like", "Share" and/or "subscribe" - much appreciated, Thanks. ~ S.

SPOT ON CHESS PUZZLES: Two to grow on from round 3 of the US MEN'S CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP Today being a rest day, with US Chess Championship action resuming tomorrow, I decided to look at two tactical positions from round three. No games today, just puzzles positions. Puzzle one is Jeffrey Xiong with the white pieces taking on top rated and defending Champion Fabiano Caruana. Rated for Beginner or Casual Chess Players. Then Puzzle two is from Hans Make "International Man of Chess Mystery" Niemann battling Sam Shankland. Sam wins a Donnybrook and is after four rounds tied with Mishra and Niemann for second place at two and half points each. Fabiano Caruana is half a point to the good on three points, two wins and two draws. The second player or the competitor with the Black Pieces ends up winning these games today. Thanks for watching! Enjoy the chessboard hostilities and as always play your best moves in the game of life! See you later on down the time line! ~ S.

Round 4 update on the Men's & Women's US Chess Championships! I briefly review GM Caruana's round four game and cover three tactical positions, or puzzles if you will, from the Women's Championship. So far the Women's section has provided a bit more decisive chess! This is a bit unfair to the men as there have been "mostly" fighting draws with unheard chess melodies of victory. A few disappointingly quick draws as well... HERE ARE THE RESULTS FROM ROUND 4 US MEN'S ROUND 4: Aronian vs Robson 1/2-1/2 Xiong vs Tang 1/2-1/2 Shankland vs So 1/2-1/2 Caruana vs Swiercz 1-0 Sevian vs Dominguez Perez 1/2-1/2 Mishra vs Niemann 0-1 US WOMEN'S ROUND 4 Zatonskih vs Yan 1/2-1/2 Pourkashiyan vs Yu 1-0 Paikidze vs Krush 1/2-1/2 Eswaran vs Abrahamyan 0-1 Yip vs Tokhirjonova 1/2-1/2 Cervantes vs Lee 0-1 A lot of fighting draws as well today!!! Rest day Monday but don't worry as the action resumes on Tuesday at 1 PM Central Time! Thanks for tuning in... please "like", "share" and "subscribe" if you enjoyed this video. Thanks in advance and I wish you all the best! ~ S.

Alice Lee versus Carissa Yip: KID wins again 0-1! A practical competitive outing for the KID in today's - Saturday's - round 3 game between Alice Lee and Carissa Yip. One to grow on! Here are the results from both the MEN'S and WOMEN'S US CHESS CHAMPIONSHIPS round three held on Saturday October 7th of 2023. US MEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP: Dominguez (2745) vs Swiercz (2621) 1/2-1/2 Robson (2699) vs Mishra (2599) 0-1 So (2753) vs Sevian (2698) 1/2-1/2 Tang (2504) vs Aronian (2742) 1/2-1/2 Niemann (2667) vs Shankland (2698) 0-1 Xiong (2693) vs Caruana (2786) 0-1 All decisive games in the Men's section were won by the player with the Black pieces! US WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP Yan (2205) vs Paikidze (2316) 1/2-1/2 Zatonskih (2364) vs Eswaran (2291) 1-0 Tokhirjonova (2350) vs Abrahamyan (2262) 1-0 Yu (2294) vs Cervantes (2303) 1/2-1/2 Lee (2388) vs Yip (2372) 0-1 Krush (2437) vs Pourkashiyan (2288) 1-0 And for all of your wonderful coverage please visit: SAINT LOUIS CHESS CENTER at: https://saintlouischessclub.org THE WEEK IN CHESS by Mark Crowther: https://theweekinchess.com CHESSBASE at: https://en.chessbase.com CHESS.COM at: https://www.chess.com/events/2023-us-chess-championship/games Things are really starting to heat up now! Enjoy the chessboard hostilities ~ Sean.

ROUND 2 FIGHTING CHESS AT THE WOMEN'S AND MEN'S US CHAMPIONSHIPS! An interesting round two today for both the MEN’S and WOMEN’S US CHAMPIONSHIPS! Two decisive games in the men’s or “Open” section and three decisive games in the Womenn’s section. With many hard fought draws with unheard winning melodies! Here are the results from today: US WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP: Eswaran (2291) vs Tokhirjonova (2350) 0-1 Abrahamyan (2262) vs Lee (2388) 1-0 Yip (2372) vs Yu (2294) 1-0 Pourkashiyan (2288) vs Yan (2205) 1/2-1/2 Cervantes (2303) vs Krus (2437) 1/2-1/2 Paikidze (2316) vs Zatonskih (2364) 1/2-1/2 US MEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP Caruana (2786) vs Dominguez (2745) 1/2-1/2 Swiercz (2621) vs So (2753) 1/2-1/2 Sevian (2698) vs Niemann (2667) 0-1 Shankland (2698) vs Robson (2699) 1/2-1/2 Mishra (2599) vs Tang (2504) 1-0 Aronian (2742) vs Xiong (2693) 1/2-1/2 Round three tomorrow! As always please visit the following websites to keep up on all of your US Chess Championship news: SAINT LOUIS CHESS CENTER at: https://saintlouischessclub.org THE WEEK IN CHESS by Mark Crowther: https://theweekinchess.com CHESSBASE at: https://en.chessbase.com CHESS.COM at: https://www.chess.com/events/2023-us-chess-championship/games Always play the best moves in your life! ~ S.

GM Robson versus GM Sevian - a good old fashioned Donnybrook! In the only decisive game in round one of the US Men's Championship GM Robson played with aggression and spirit which was matched by his opponent GM Sevian. Quite the game! Buckle your seatbelt, sit back and enjoy the chessboard hostilities! ROUND 1 RESULTS from MEN'S and WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIPS: US MEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 1: Xiong vs Mishra 1/2-1/2 Aronian vs Caruana 1/2-1/2 Niemann vs Swiercz 1/2-1/2 Robson vs Sevian 0-1 So vs Dominguez Perez 1/2-1/2 Tang vs Shankland 1/2-1/2 US WOMAN'S CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 1: Krush vs Yip 1/2-1/2 Yu vs Abrahamyan 1/2-1/2 Paikidze vs Eswaran 1-0 Zatonskih vs Pourkashiyan 1/2-1/2 Yan vs Cervantes 1/2-1/2 Lee vs Tokhirjonova 1/2-1/2 Despite the high number of draws there was actually quite a bit of fighting chess in round one. For more comprehensive coverage - with better audio - please visit: SAINT LOUIS CHESS CENTER at: https://saintlouischessclub.org THE WEEK IN CHESS by Mark Crowther: https://theweekinchess.com CHESSBASE at: https://en.chessbase.com CHESS.COM at: https://www.chess.com/events/2023-us-chess-championship/games Enjoy all of the fantastic games from these two outstanding tournaments! ~ S.

US Chess Championship - Round one update! The first game has finished for round one... Wesley So versus Leinier Dominguez Perez was an interesting draw with quite a few unheard melodies. Here is the game... will review my pick for the best game from round one later on. Here is some information on both the Men's and Women's US Chess Championship events: PARTICIPANTS in the MEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP are all top level Grandmasters: Fabiano Caruano (2816), Wesley So (2806), Levon Aronian (2794), Leinier Dominguez Perez (2779), Sam Shankland (2752), Jeffery Xiong (2734), Sam Sevian (2732), Hans “International Chess Man of Mystery” Niemann (2730), Ray Robson (2725), Dariusz Swiercz (2701), Abhimanyu Mishra (2624), Andrew Tang (2568). PARTICIPANTS in the WOMAN'S CHAMPIONSHIP are all strong Masters: GM irina Krush (2488), IM Carissa Yip (2421), FM Alice Lee (2419), IM Anna Zatonskih (2402), WGM Begim Tokhirjonova (2388), IM Nazi Paikidze (2366), WGM Jennifer Yu (2365), WGM Atousa Pourkashiyan (2347), FM Ashritha Eswaran (2342), WGM Tatev Abrahamyan (2341), WGM Thalia Cervantes (2333), FM Riuyong Yan (2292). For coverage please visit: SAINT LOUIS CHESS CENTER at: https://saintlouischessclub.org THE WEEK IN CHESS by Mark Crowther: https://theweekinchess.com CHESSBASE at: https://en.chessbase.com CHESS.COM at: https://www.chess.com/events/2023-us-chess-championship/games Enjoy the games from these two outstanding events! ~ S.

Mexican World Junior Chess Championship Mayhem continues! Hans "The International Chess Man of Mystery" was eliminated from the hunt for first place in today's final round 11 of World Junior Chess Championship Open in Mexico. With this loss, his second of the eleven round event, he only scored 7.5 out of 11 points. Don't worry - he'll be back with more chess shenanigans in the US Championship in about a week's time here in the United States! Three way tie for first place between Grandmasters Arseniy Nesterov, Luka Budisavljevic and Mamikon Gharibyan who all stood at 8.5 out of 11 possible points once all of the dust settled. Quite an event. Quite a lot of talented players! Congratulations to each and every participant, I look forward to seeing each and every single one of these players craft more of their own brand of chess art in the future! Enjoy the chess mayhem! ~ S.

Andy Woodward defeated the GM Hans "International Man of Mystery" Niemann down in the World Junior Open Championship being held down in Mexico City! We present this interesting game for your chess satisfaction and entertainment. With a little puzzle at the end of all leaving you with the question "How would you have settled matters had Niemann forced you to checkmate his King?". Many talents in this year's event... and we have many top level chess players being forged there that we can look forward to seeing their future chess art. Stay healthy, be well and always play the best moves in life ~ S.

How to play the King's Indian Defense as the second player... Top German Junior player GM Frederik Svane shows us all how to get it done with the Black pieces! Right now the World Junior Chess Championship is underway in Mexico. Many of the world's finest chess players are competing and they are all youngsters! From the USA we have International man of mystery Hans Niemann - among several Americans. But today's game comes to us courtesy of GM Frederik Svane... a young Grandmaster who, along with his brother, has been really shaking up German Chess recently. Today he shakes up his opponent with some stellar play on the Black side of a King's Indian. Buckle up and enjoy the slugfest! Always play the best moves in the game of life ~ S.

SPOT ON CHESS PUZZLES: MONDAY 8/7/23: A Strategy for dealing with the French Defense Advance Variation! A fine game worthy of study: Euwe versus Abdul Satar from a Simultaneous Chess Exhibition held in Indonesia back in 1930. The strategy featured here shows you one method for dealing with the second player when you play the Advance versus their French Defense. Enjoy! ~ S