U.S. Championship, Round 9

Caruana still leads, Yip's bid for perfection ends.

The most important game of the round in the open/men’s section was between Fabiano Caruana and Awonder Liang, who entered the round in first and second place, respectively. Caruana had the white pieces, but his 9.d4 gave Liang an easy life. Things were really looking up for Liang after 22.Qe4?, but the hasty 26…c5 restored equality, and Caruana was soon able to steer the game to a comfortable draw.

The only win on the day was Leinier Dominguez’s comeback from a lost position against Sam Sevian. Sevian was in charge but then lost the thread, and his 29.Qe6?? gave Dominguez a chance to win that he seized with both hands. (All five games, with my comments, are here.)

Two rounds remain, and Caruana’s 5.5/8 is good for a half-point lead over Liang and a full-point lead over Niemann. Niemann has 4.5/8, sorta-kinda tied with Ray Robson and Levon Aronian, but they’ve both played nine games. (They’re the last two players who will receive byes resulting from Christopher Yoo’s expulsion.) Here are the pairings for round 10:

So (4) - Liang (5.5)

Dominguez (4) - Caruana (5.5)

Shankland (4) - Sevian (4)

Niemann (4.5) - Oparin (3)

Robson (4.5/9) - Mishra (2)

Aronian - Bye

In the women’s section, Carissa Yip’s dream of winning the $64,000 Fischer Prize for going 11-0 came to an end when she failed to convert a better, at one point winning, advantage against Megan Lee and eventually lost. Her closest rival, Begim Tokhirjonova won her game, so Yip still hasn’t quite clinched her second U.S. Women’s Championship title. She’s still a heavy favorite to do so, but as Yogi (Berra, not Bear) said, it ain’t over ‘til it’s over.