U.S. Championship, Day 3: The Podium is Set; Can Xiong or Robson Catch So for First?
It has been a surprisingly competitive - and uncompetitive - U.S. Championship. Already after day 1 Wesley So was in the lead, with Ray Robson and Jeffery Xiong tied and nipping at So's heels. The same is true at the end of day 3, and as was the case after day 2, no one else has more than 50%. This means that with two rounds to go, So (with 8 out of 9), Xiong and Robson (tied with 7 points apiece) are guaranteed the medals no matter how they do on Thursday.
That said, who will win what medal is entirely up for grabs, especially with Robson getting White against So in round 10. But before discussing the final day's pairings, let's recap the day 3 action as it pertained to the leaders.
After getting out to a 5-0 start, So was finally held to a draw in round 6, and he opened Wednesday's action with another draw. This time he had White, against Sam Sevian, got nothing out of the opening - not even his customary advantage on the clock, and the game was abandoned - entirely appropriately - after only 28 moves. This gave the youngsters a chance to catch him. Xiong won with shocking ease against Hikaru Nakamura, while Robson also won, in dominating fashion, against Elshan Moradiabadi. That produced a three-way tie for first with all the players having 6/7, but the troika was dissolved in the next round.
Just when it seemed that So might have lost a step, he won with Black against Moradiabadi, happily accepting the material his opponent sacrificed in the hopes of an attack. It looked a little scary, but the engine - and So's strong play - confirms that there was nothing there. Meanwhile, Xiong and Robson faced off in the first battle of the leaders, Robson was doing well until he played 15...Ne5, presumably either missing or underestimating Xiong's fine retort, 16.Ba3. From then on he was in serious trouble, and after 25...c6 he was clearly lost. Xiong finished strongly, won, and maintained his part of the tie for first.
His reward? Black against So. The game was very sharp, with the players castling on opposite flanks, and while So was better in much of the early going, his 22.Qxf4? gave Xiong the chance to obtain a serious advantage with 22...Qa5. Xiong played 22...Rxb4 instead, and So had a small plus after that. The evaluation fluctuated between something serious for So and equality for a long time, and only turned into a win for White after 47...f5? Another 2.5/3 day left So a point ahead of Xiong - and ahead of Robson, too, who bounced back nicely after a win over Nakamura. (Incredibly, Nakamura is now at -1, which would be shocking in classical chess but is even harder to believe in a g/25 event. Kudos to Leinier Dominguez, however, who seems to have recovered from the doldrums, going 2.5/3 today to get back to 50%.)
Two rounds remain, and here are the relevant pairings:
Round 10:
- Robson (7) - So (8)
- Xiong (7) - Lenderman (3)
Round 11:
- So (8+?) - Nakamura (4+?)
- Lenderman (3+?) - Robson (7+?)
- Ramirez (2.5+?) - Xiong (7+?)
As Xiong has the easiest pairings on the day and So the hardest, it's difficult to pick a clear favorite. In case of a tie, there will be a playoff (see section VIII of the regulations), so don't forget to add that into the mix as you determine your favorite. Hopefully it will be exciting, whatever happens.
Here are today's games featuring the leaders - sans comments. (At least for now. I might annotate some of them later, either for here or for Chesslecture.com.)