18-year old IM Carissa Yip rode on a five-game winning streak to win in spectacular fashion the 2021 US Women’s Chess Championship which ended October 19th in St. Louis, Missouri.
Yip finished the 12-player, single round robin event ahead by 1½ points ahead of her nearest rival. She also managed to defeat four former champions, including defending champion GM Irina Krush, and ran away with the title with one round to spare. Yip also pocketed the $25,000 champion’s purse.
The cast of the 2021 US Women’s Chess Championship is composed of GM Irina Krush (2429), IM Anna Zatonskih (2422), IM Carissa Yip (2402), IM Nazi Paikidze (2374), WGM Tatev Abrahamyan (2344), WGM Katerina Nemcova (2331), WGM Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova (2322), WGM Anna Sharevich (2276), WIM Ashritha Eswaran (2244), WIM Megan Lee (2211), WGM Sabina-Francesca Foisor (2205), and FM Thalia Cervantes Landeiro (2175). Krush is eight-time US Champion, Zatonskih is four-time champion, while Paikidze and Foisor each won the US title once.
Yip’s claim to fame include being the youngest female chess player to defeat a grandmaster, which she did at age ten in 2019 when she beat GM Alexander Ivanov at the New England Open.
The final standings: 1. Yip, 8½; 2. Tokhirjonova, 7; 3. Krush, 6½; 4-6. Abrahamyan, Nemcova, Eswaran, 6; 7. Cervantes Landeiro, 5; 8-9. Paikidze, Zatonskih, 4½; 10-12. Lee, Sharevich, Foisor, 4.
Yip,C (2402)-Krush,I (2429) [B12]
Saint Louis (4.3) 2021
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be2 c5 6.0-0 Nc6 7.Be3 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Nxd4 9.Qxd4 Ne7 10.Qa4+ Nc6 11.c4 dxc4 12.Qxc4 Be7 13.Nc3 0-0 14.f4 h6 15.Rfd1 Qa5 16.Rd7 Rfc8 17.Qb5 Bb4 18.Rc1 Bxc3 19.Rxc3 Qxb5 20.Bxb5 Be4 21.Bf1 Nb4 22.Rxc8+ Rxc8 23.Rd4 1-0
Tokhirjonova,G (2322)-Yip,C (2402) [E61]
Saint Louis (5.4) 2021
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.g3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Bg2 Nb6 7.Nf3 Nc6 8.e3 0-0 9.0-0 Re8 10.h3 e5 11.d5 Na5 12.Qc2 Bd7 13.Rd1 Qc8 14.Kh2 c6 15.dxc6 Bxc6 16.e4 Qe6 17.b4 Nac4 18.a4 a5 19.b5 Bd7 20.Nd5 Rec8 21.Ng5 Qe8 22.Nxb6 Nxb6 23.Qd3 Rd8 24.Qe3 Nc8 25.Bb2 Bh6 26.h4 Bg7 27.Bf1 h6 28.Nf3 Qe6 29.Ba3 Qe8 30.Bc4 Bg4 31.Bd5 Rd7 32.Bb3 Rd8 33.Kg2 Ne7 34.Rxd8 Rxd8 35.Nh2 Bc8 36.Rc1 Qd7 37.Nf3 Re8 38.Kg1 Rd8 39.Bc5 Rf8 40.Rd1 Qe8 41.Bb6 Bd7 42.Bxa5 Kh7 43.Bc3 Bg4 44.Rc1 f6 45.Bb4 f5 46.Rc7 f4 47.gxf4 exf4 48.Qd3 Ng8 49.Bxf8 Qxf8 50.Ne5 Nf6 51.Nxg4 Nxg4 52.Qd7 Ne5 53.Qe7 Nf3+ 54.Kh1 Qh8 55.Rxb7 1-0
Krush,I (2429)-Zatonskih,A (2422) [D41]
Saint Louis (5.6) 2021
1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 c5 5.cxd5 cxd4 6.Qxd4 exd5 7.Bg5 Be7 8.e3 Nc6 9.Qd3 Be6 10.Be2 Qb6 11.0-0 Rd8 12.Nb5 0-0 13.h3 Rd7 14.Nbd4 Qxb2 15.Bxf6 gxf6 16.Rfb1 Qa3 17.Rb3 Qa4 18.Qb1 Nxd4 19.Nxd4 Rc7 20.Rxb7 Qd7 21.Rxc7 Qxc7 22.Bd3 Bc5 23.Bxh7+ Kg7 24.Bf5 Bxd4 25.exd4 Re8 26.Qc2 Qf4 27.Bxe6 Rxe6 28.Rd1 Re4 29.Qd3 Qd6 30.Qd2 Qa6 31.Rb1 Re2 32.Qf4 Qd3 33.Rb3 Qd1+ 34.Kh2 Re6 35.Rg3+ Kf8 36.Qb8+ 1-0
Yip,Ca (2402)-Zatonskih,A (2422) [C02]
Saint Louis (7.3) 2021
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Qb6 5.Nf3 Bd7 6.Bd3 cxd4 7.0-0 dxc3 8.Nxc3 Ne7 9.h4 h6 10.h5 Qd8 11.Be3 Nec6 12.Rc1 Be7 13.Bb1 Na5 14.Qd4 Nbc6 15.Qg4 Kf8 16.b3 Rc8 17.Ne2 b6 18.Rcd1 Rc7 19.Qg3 Bc8 20.Nfd4 Nxd4 21.Nxd4 Nc6 22.Nb5 Rd7 23.f4 d4 24.Bf2 Bc5 25.f5 exf5 26.Bxf5 Re7 27.Be4 Nxe5 28.b4 Bxb4 29.Rxd4 1-0
Paikidze,N (2374)-Yip,C (2402) [B06]
Saint Louis (10.4) 2021
1.d4 g6 2.e4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.Nf3 a6 5.a4 Nd7 6.Bc4 e6 7.Bg5 Ne7 8.Qd2 h6 9.Be3 b6 10.h3 Bb7 11.0-0 Nf6 12.d5 e5 13.Nh2 Nh5 14.Rfe1 g5 15.g3 Ng6 16.Qd1 Nf6 17.Bf1 Bc8 18.a5 b5 19.Bg2 Bd7 20.Nf1 Qc8 21.Kh2 h5 22.f4 gxf4 23.gxf4 exf4 24.e5 Ng4+ 25.hxg4 hxg4+ 26.Kg1 dxe5 27.Bc5 Qd8 28.Ne4 f5 29.d6 c6 30.Bb6 Qh4 31.Bf2 Qh5 32.Qd3 fe4 33.Be4 Nf8 34.Bd4 f3 35.Bf3 gf3 0-1
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PUZZLERS
WHITE TO MOVE, MATE IN TWO.
The key to our last problem is 1.Qxb7!, and Black’s futile options are: 1…Rc6, Nc7 2.N(x)c6#; 1…Rc5 2.bxc5#; 1…Re5 2.fxe5#; 1…Re4, Ne7 2.Q(x)e4#.
