Akopian, Lee, Yoo Winners At U.S. National Championships

Three U.S. National Championships finished on Thursday in St. Louis and none of them needed playoffs. GM Vladimir Akopian had secured victory at the U.S. Senior Championship with a round to spare, after which GM Christopher Yoo won the U.S. Junior Championship, and IM Alice Lee the U.S. Girls' Junior Championship, a day later.

Three months before the "main" U.S. Championships, the competitions for juniors, girls and seniors were held simultaneously at the Saint Louis Chess Club. It is "one of our favorite trio of events we host because you can see a spectacular demonstration of chess from both proven legends of the sport and tomorrow’s superstars," said Tony Rich, Technical Director of the Saint Louis Chess Club in anticipation of these tournaments.

Each was an all-play-all with groups of 10 players and the total prize fund was over $135,000. The wish of the main arbiter Chris Bird was granted: each tournament had a clear winner after nine rounds so he didn't need an extra day of work to assist with playoffs.

My favorite pics from day 8 at the US Senior, Junior & Girls Junior Championships. One Champion down, two more to be crowned. Congrats to Vladimir Akopian on winning the Senior Champs! 🏆 Personal wish - no playoffs please! 🤞
📷 @LennartOotes & Crystal Fuller@STLChessClub pic.twitter.com/wd6ypyznqI

— Chris Bird (@ChrisBirdIA) July 25, 2024

U.S. Junior Championship: Yoo Wins Undefeated

The U.S. Junior Championship featured a strong field of new and returning prodigies, with five of the players currently ranked within the top-50 juniors in the world. The group had four grandmasters: besides winner Yoo (who also won in 2022) those were GMs Andrew Hong, Arthur Guo, and Balaji Daggupati. There was also 14-year-old IM and GM-elect Andy Woodward, who confirmed his strength with an excellent shared fifth place.

Yoo's score in the group was stable and consistent, with draws against the players who finished in second to fourth places, and wins against all opponents below that. It must have been inspiring to start with an attractive, attacking victory against one of his main rivals:

Yoo, who is from Dublin, California, scored another nice win in the fifth round. Can you find the decisive tactic?

U.S. Junior Championship: Lee Just Ahead of Atwell

Last year's winner did it again. 14-year-old Lee is one of America's most promising rising stars as the youngest female player in American history to earn the title of IM. Her biggest rival in the tournament was FM Rose Atwell, who finished just half a point behind and only lost to the tournament winner. The youngest participant was the only 11-year-old WFM Megan Paragua.

With her win, Lee once again qualified for the upcoming U.S. Women’s Championship — where she certainly belongs, after finishing in third place last year. Here's her important win against Atwell from round three:

U.S. Senior Championship: Akopian Wins Undefeated

The U.S. Senior field once again boasted some legendary chess players, including every winner of the tournament since its inception, including GM Melik Khachiyan (2023), GM Alex Shabalov (2019, 2022), GM Gregory Kaidanov (2021), and GM Joel Benjamin (2020). 

The top prize of $20,000, however, was snatched by 52-year-old Akopian, who resides in Glendale, California these days. With a 4.5/5 start he had already taken a 1.5-point lead, and by round eight he had clinched the tournament. With a draw in the final round, Akopian remained undefeated, like Yoo.

A key game was his win over runner-up GM Jesse Kraai, which reminded this author of some of GM Anatoly Karpov's best games: long maneuvering directed by a positional advantage, and finishing it off with a nice tactic. GM Rafael Leitao provided annotations:

If ever the term "bouncing back" was appropriate, it was for Kraai in this tournament. After his loss to Akopian, the grandmaster from Baltimore, Maryland, finished with four straight wins to grab the $13,000 check for second place. Here's his sharp and topsy-turvy victory over Kaidanov:

How to rewatch?

The 2024 U.S. National Championships took place July 16-26 in St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. All three events were a 10-player round-robin. The time control was 90 minutes for 40 moves followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game plus a 30-second increment starting on move one. The total prize fund was over $135,000.