Nakamura, Yu… 2019 U.S. Chess Champs!

U.S. Overall (by FIDE Rating)
#	Name	Title	Rating	Residence
1	Caruana, Fabiano	GM	2828	St. Louis, Missouri
2	So, Wesley	GM	2762	Minnetonka, Minnesota
3	Nakamura, Hikaru	GM	2746	Sunrise, Florida
4	Dominguez, Leinier	GM	2739	Miami, Florida
5	Shankland, Sam	GM	2731	Orinda, California
6	Robson, Ray	GM	2667	St. Louis, Missouri
7	Xiong, Jeffery	GM	2663	Coppell, Texas
8	Sevian, Sameul	GM	2642	Holden, Massachusetts
9	Lenderman, Aleksandr	GM	2637	Brooklyn, New York
10	Akobian, Varuzhan	GM	2625	North Hollywood, California
11	Liang, Awonder	GM	2590	Madison, Wisconsin
12	Gareyev, Timur	GM	2560	San Diego, California
U.S. Women (by FIDE Rating)
1	Krush, Irina	GM	2451	Brooklyn, New York
2	Zatonsih, Anna	IM	2430	Hartsdale, New York
3	Abrahamyan, Tatev	WGM	2377	Glendale, California
4	Wang, Annie	FM	2304	Los Angeles, California
5	Sharevich, Anna	WGM	2282	St. Louis, Missouri
6	Yip, Carrisa	FM	2279	Boston, Massachusetts
7	Foisor, Sabina	WGM	2276	Durham, North Carolina
8	Yu, Jennifer	FM	2273	Ashburn, Virginia
9	Gorti, Akshita	FM	2272	Chantilly, Virginia
10	Eswaran, Ashritha	WIM	2234	San Jose, California
11	Feng, Maggie	FM	2199	Columbus, Ohio
12	Nguyen, Emily	WIM	2143	Austin, Texas
Francisco Guadeloupe, Chief Arbiter

If it wasn’t apparent that we have officially entered a new era in U.S. Chess, it should be fully clear at this point. In a very exciting pair of tournaments, we saw the dominance of rising star Jennifer Yu. After her medal-winning performance at the Olympiad last fall, the 17-year old from Ashburn, Virginia has now added her name to the annals of U.S. chess history with her first championship. From the looks of it, there will be many more. She amassed 10/11 and clinched her crown with one round remaining.

Jennifer Yu, 2019 U.S. Women’s Champion.
Photo by Lennart Ootes/Saint Louis Chess Club.

Hikaru Nakamura, now one of the senior statesmen at 31, shows how young the field is compared to previous editions. Actually the oldest in the field at 35 was Leinier Dominguez (two months older than Varuzhan Akobian) who was playing in his debut since switching his federation in December 2018. The Cuban national was actually in the running into the final round making the tournament a sign of things to come in future Olympiad. The five-time Cuban champion will add to an already formidable Olympiad lineup. Fabiano Caruana noted that it is the strongest national championship in the world.

What a truly special feeling to turn back the clock and win so many must games in order to become the 2019 US Chess Champion!! Big should out to the amazing twitch community from whom I drew so much inspiration!

— Hikaru Nakamura (@GMHikaru) April 1, 2019

Hikaru Nakamura wins his 5th title!

Includes a nice Dragon against Robson…

What is interesting in the women’s field was that it was mostly comprised of school girls. There were the mainstays like defending champion Sabina-Francesca Foisor, 7-time champion Irina Krush, and 4-time champion Anna Zatonskih. Tatev Abrahamyan and Anna Sharevich rounded out the field of veterans. None of the other players were out of their teens.

What does this mean for the future of U.S. chess? It means that on the men’s side the competition just got more stiff and it will be interesting to see what the addition of Dominguez does to the rise of homegrown stars like Jeffery Xiong, Sam Sevian and Awonder Liang. With five top 30 players on the national team, it will take a lot of determination to crack the Olympiad lineup. As far as the women’s field, it seems as if the veterans’ days are numbered and the torch is being passed to a cadre of ambitious scholastic players.

In both fields, the U.S. had been bolstered by immigrant talent. In the 80s and 90s, it was from the Soviet bloc after which the U.S. championships were dominated by these players. Twenty years later, these players became coaches and helped to raise the next generation of talent. However, many of them held onto to their top positions for another decade… until now. It has taken 20 years to raise the level of elite talent and with the steady stream of strong players emerging, the future looks bright.

Congrats to the #USChessChamps winners, @GMHikaru and Jennifer Yu! pic.twitter.com/JUn47jHIeS

— Saint Louis Chess Club (@STLChessClub) April 2, 2019

2019 U.S. Chess Championship St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Final Standings (Overall)
Rank	Name	Score	Rating	TPR	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
1	GM Nakamura, H	8.0	2746	2851	½	½	1	½	½	1	1	½	1	½	1
2	GM Caruana, F	7.5	2828	2802	½	½	½	½	½	1	1	½	1	1	½
3	GM Dominguez, L	7.5	2739	2810	½	½	1	½	½	½	1	1	1	½	½
4	GM So, W	6.0	2762	2711	½	1	½	½	½	½	½	½	1	½	0
5	GM Sevian, S	6.0	2642	2722	½	1	0	½	1	½	1	0	½	½	½
6	GM Shankland, S	5.5	2731	2678	½	½	0	½	½	½	½	½	1	½	½
7	GM Xiong, J	5.0	2663	2648	1	½	1	0	½	0	½	½	½	½	0
8	GM Liang, A	5.0	2590	2655	½	0	½	½	0	1	½	½	0	½	1
9	GM Lenderman, A	4.0	2637	2584	½	½	½	½	½	½	0	½	0	0	½
10	GM Akobian, V	4.0	2625	2585	½	½	½	½	0	0	0	½	0	½	1
11	GM Gareyev, T	4.0	2557	2592	0	0	½	½	1	0	0	½	0	1	½
12	GM Robson, R	3.5	2667	2551	½	½	0	1	½	½	0	½	0	0	0
PGN Games (Open)

2019 U.S. Women’s Chess Championship St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Final Standings (Women)
Rank	Name	Score	Rating	TPR	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
1	FM Yu, Jennifer	10.0	2273	2678	1	1	1	1	½	1	1	1	½	1	1
2	IM Zatonskih, Anna	7.5	2430	2414	1	½	1	1	½	1	1	½	1	0	0
3	WGM Abrahamyan, T	7.5	2377	2419	0	½	1	1	1	1	½	½	½	1	½
4	FM Wang, Annie	7.0	2304	2394	1	½	½	½	½	1	1	½	0	1	½
5	GM Krush, Irina	5.0	2451	2243	1	½	0	0	½	0	0	1	½	½	1
6	WGM Sharevich, Anna	5.0	2282	2258	0	½	0	0	½	½	1	½	½	1	½
7	WIM Eswaran, Ashritha	5.0	2234	2263	0	0	1	1	0	0	1	½	0	½	1
8	FM Yip, Carissa	4.5	2279	2230	1	1	0	0	1	½	0	0	1	0	0
9	WGM Foisor, S	4.0	2276	2193	0	½	0	1	½	0	0	0	1	0	1
10	FM Gorti, Akshita	4.0	2272	2193	0	0	1	0	½	1	0	0	0	1	½
11	FM Feng, Maggie	4.0	2199	2200	1	½	0	½	0	0	0	1	1	0	0
12	WIM Nguyen, Emily	2.5	2143	2096	0	½	½	0	½	0	½	½	0	0	0
PGN Games (Women)