American Cup 2024:

Caruana gets 2-point advantage over

Oparin

by ChessBase

3/13/2024 – The third edition of the American Cup kicked off at the World Chess Hall of Fame in
Saint Louis. Each match saw the contenders playing a classical game and a rapid game on
opening day. In the open, only Fabiano Caruana scored back-to-back wins (over Grigoriy Oparin),
which means he only needs a draw on Wednesday to advance to the next stage in the Champions
Bracket. Meanwhile, three out of four matches finished with 2–0 scores in the women’s section,
with Nazi Paikidze, Alice Lee and Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova obtaining consecutive wins on the
first day of action. | Photo: Austin Fuller

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A few tweaks in the format
In last year’s edition of the American Cup, participants played a single classical game on day 1 of
each match. On day 2, a second classical game followed, and in case of a 1-1 score, a series of
rapid and blitz encounters (played that same day) broke the tie. As these rapid play-off games
had a time control of 25 minutes plus 10-second increments, players often had to fight for many
hours before finding a winner.

To resolve this problem, the organizers now set up a system with a classical game and a rapid
game on each of the two days. Moreover, the rapid time control has been changed to 15 minutes
plus 10-second increments, accelerating the whole process.

Therefore, all contenders will play at least one rapid game, though they might be knocked out —
of the champions bracket in this case — after the first classical game of day 2.

In the open section, the one player who got a 2-0 victory on Tuesday was rating favourite Fabiano
Caruana, who beat Grigoriy Oparin first with white (in the classical game) and then with black (in
rapid).

Meanwhile, Wesley So beat Sam Shankland by a 1½-½ score, after winning the rapid encounter,
and the remaining two matches finished with a 1-1 score — i.e. Levon Aronian v. Sam Sevian and
Leinier Dominguez v. Ray Robson.

Caruana first won with white, attacking on the kingisde after Oparin mishandled the position in
the early middlegame.

Caruana v. Oparin - Game #1

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26.g5 converts White’s strategic edge into a more tangible advantage. Caruana then improved his
pieces, transferring his knight to e5 and doubling his rooks on the f-file.

This is how the position looked after 35.Ref1

Despite the material balance, White is completely winning thanks to his strong initiative and his
dominating knight on e5. Caruana soon gained an exchange, before prompting his opponent’s
resignation on move 48.

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 A tough pairing in the first round for Grigoriy Oparin | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Not surprisingly, Leinier Dominguez and Ray Robson, two of the most principled players in the
circuit, played two exciting, time-pressured games.

By move 34 of their classical encounter, a sharp Sicilian, Dominguez had 2 minutes to Robson’s
30 seconds. Engines gave White a clear advantage, but there were still plenty of tactical fireworks
left to be played.

Dominguez v. Robson - Game #1

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 Robson went all-in with 34...Rxa3, and it turned out that Dominguez could defend and even
increase his advantage after the ensuing tactical sequence — 35.bxa3 Ne3 36.Qd3 Qa5 37.Qxe3
Rxc3+

White consolidates here with 38.Qxc3 Qxc3+ 39.Nc2, as his knight is a great defender. Dominguez
needed eight more moves to secure the win.

Robson bounced back in the rapid game, showing good technique in a queenless position to get a
40-move victory.

A sharp Sicilian in Leinier Dominguez v. Ray Robson | Photo: Crystal Fuller

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Women’s: Paikidze, Lee and Tokhirjonova with 2-point leads
Six out of eight participants in the women’s section played in last year’s event, with Jennifer Yu
and Zoey Tang making their debuts in the knockout tournament.

Three out of four matches saw one of the contenders getting a 2-point lead on the rst day of
action. Curiously, the match with the biggest rating gap between the adversaries was the one that
ended drawn — i.e. Irina Krush (rated 2421) v. Zoey Tang (2253). Krush, an 8-time U.S. women’s
champion, is also the rating favourite and the defending champion.

Meanwhile, Nazi Paikidze, Alice Lee and Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova grabbed consecutive wins,
and only need a half point on Wednesday to win their matches.

All eight games in the women’s section ended decisively on Tuesday.

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 Zoey Tang beat defending champion Irina Krush with black in their classical
encounter | Photo: Lennart Ootes

For a second year in a row, Nazi Paikidze (a 2-time U.S. women’s champion) has been paired up
against Anna Zatonskih (a 4-time U.S. women’s champion). Paikidze won the match last year,
and grabbed two wins on the first day of the match this time around.

In the rapid confrontation, Zatonskih failed to find the one defensive move that would have kept
the balance on move 39 — moreover, she failed to foresee a checkmating idea.

Paikidze v. Zatonskih - Game #2

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Black’s 39...c3, pushing her queenside majority, immediately fails to 40.Bxh7, and there is no
way to prevent Rg5-g8#, so Zatonskih resigned.

Instead, Black could have kept the battle going with 39...Ne6, attacking the rook on g5, and White
cannot play 40.Rg4, maintaining the deadly threat, due to 40...h5.

Nazi Paikidze | Photo: Crystal Fuller

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