2024 US Championship: Caruana wins fourth US championship title

GM Fabiano Caruana successfully defended his title at the 2024 US Chess Championship, scoring a victory over GM Sam Shankland in the final round to take home the $62,000 top prize and winner's trophy. Caruana's 7/10 performance left him with a 1.5 point buffer over six players tied for second.

With IM Carissa Yip already confirming victory in the women's event, all eyes turned to the race between WGM Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova and IM Alice Lee for the second ticket to the FIDE Women's World Cup 2025. A victory by Tokhirjonova over WGM Tatev Abrahamyan and a draw by Lee with Yip meant the former had secured his place.

The action at Saint Louis Chess Club continues with the 2024 9LX Chess Tournament beginning October 28. The event will feature Caruana, General Manager Garry Kasparov, General Manager Hikaru Nakamura and many others.

Final ranking: Championship

Final ranking: Women's Championship

American Championship

Results of the 11th day: Championship

Caruana entered the final round in the dressing room, needing only a draw with Shankland to guarantee himself tied or outright first.

Caruana studies Shankland's body language before the match. Photo: Lennart Ootes/Saint Louis Chess Club.

While the two men were evolving in a “sharp” line of the Sicilian defense: Variation Najdorf, the only player mathematically capable of catching him, GM Awonder Liang had just put a stop to the work with the audacious 1.a3!? (Anderssen's opening), against GM Leinier Dominguez.

The smiling assassin Liang strikes again. Photo: Lennart Ootes/Saint Louis Chess Club.

Notice Yip's wry smile of approval for Liang's first move in the video below.

Wonderful Liang decided to surprise his opponent from the first move by playing 1.a3!? during his match against Leinier Dominguez in the final round of the American Chess Championship. Why do you think he made this unusual choice? #uschesschamps #chess pic.twitter.com/Nvf9D4koM1

— Saint Louis Chess Club (@STLChessClub) October 23, 2024

The “fun” opening move came as no surprise to Caruana and he revealed that he “knew from the first move that he (Liang) was trying to win”. As an experienced campaigner himself, Caruana left nothing to chance and didn't settle for a draw against Shankland, slowly outplaying him and ultimately capitalizing on a 42nd move error.

With this victory, Caruana confirms his fourth American title and his highest FIDE rating since 2021 (2805).

Congratulations to Fabiano Caruana for winning the 2024 US Chess Championship, earning his fourth national title! Another incredible achievement from one of the best in the world! #uschesschamps #chess pic.twitter.com/TkQhiOQiS9

— Saint Louis Chess Club (@STLChessClub) October 23, 2024

Caruana also said he aims to become a five-time champion next year, a feat achieved by seven players since the tournament's inception in 1891: Jackson Showalter, GMs Samuel Reshevsky, Bobby Fischer, Larry Evans, Walter Browne, Gata Kamsky and Nakamura. .

Caruana is closer than anyone to dethroning Carlsen from the top spot, but he still has a way to go at the moment. Image: 2700chess.com.

Shortly before Caruana won the top prize, Liang's position against Dominguez deteriorated. Unfortunately for Liang, the difference between a loss and a draw ultimately came to $18,333, due to a six-way tie for second place.

Wins aside, Liang will have gained many new fans in St. Louis after his stellar performance as well as entertaining moments such as his house of cards, coin tower and impressions with the player who scored 10 draws in the championship this year, GM Wesley So. .

Caruana congratulated Liang and said he was capable of ranking in the “top 20 or 30”. Photo: Lennart Ootes/Saint Louis Chess Club.

The decisive third match of the round was between Grigoriy Oparin and Levon Aronian, and it featured a daring queen sacrifice from the latter. After falling to Liang in the third round, Aronian's resilient efforts that saw him win two matches and draw the rest catapulted him into the second tie.

Five days is plenty of time for Caruana to rest on his laurels as he returns to the Saint Louis Chess Club to play a 10-player 960 chess round robin (Chess 9LX) with a prize pool of $150,000. The American champion could have even more difficulty winning this tournament since Kasparov and Nakamura stand in his way…

Carlsen humbly admits that he thinks Kasparov is the GOAT of chess. Photo: Lennart Ootes/Saint Louis Chess Club. United States Women's Championship

Round 11 results: Women

Yip, the 2024 U.S. women's champion. Photo: Crystal Fuller/St. Louis Chess Club.

With the women's title finished, Yip was happy to see Lee opt for Petrov's defense, an opening with one of the highest draw rates in chess. Carissa then expressed her shock at Lee's choice: “I totally expected Alice (Lee) to play to win and as a friend I was a little disappointed that she chose the Petrov for this I sort of said that this unambitious opening was going to be punished with a draw.”

Yip wasn't wrong. The two men exchanged queens on the seventh move and spent only an hour in front of the board before agreeing on a draw and going to get an ice cream.

Carissa kept her promise and invited Alice over for ice cream right after their match! It’s always heartwarming to see on-set rivals become friends off-set! #chess #uschesschamps #icecream pic.twitter.com/R5DywMSe8p

— Saint Louis Chess Club (@STLChessClub) October 23, 2024

This revelation made Tokhirjonova's situation very clear: if she managed to defeat Abrahamyan, she would surpass Lee's score and book her ticket to the World Cup. An unbalanced French defense was the ideal battleground for a three-way match between Tokhirjonova and Abrahamyan and the midgame quickly became complicated.

If you could pick two players to have decisive results in the last match, it would be Yip and Tokhirjonova, who both had 10 decisive matches. Photo: Lennart Ootes/Saint Louis Chess Club.

The match was far from clean, but when the dust settled it was Tokhirjonova who picked up the all-important win to move to 7.5/11.

I got my third silver medal at the US Women's Championships and qualified for the Women's World Cup. Grateful#chess #usa #uschesschamps pic.twitter.com/VilV3H0ELX

– Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova (@Gulruhbegim) October 23, 2024

FM Megan Lee was the only other player to win her final match against FM Rose Atwell after uncorking a brilliant late game rook sacrifice. The surprise package in the women's event finished in fourth place with 6.5/11 and earned 40 rating points for their efforts.

60 years after Fischer's extraordinary performance at the Championship, a score of 11/11 has never been repeated. Many say this is an impossible goal in a modern chess round robin, but with the number of deciding games in this year's women's championship, it is not unreasonable to suggest that a future competitor could replicate the feat.

Will Yip be the first player to match the 1964 score? Photo: Lennart Ootes/Saint Louis Chess Club.

How to watch?

The 2024 US Chess Championship is a classic invitational event that determines the US Chess Champion. The 2024 United States Women's Championship will take place simultaneously. Both events begin October 11 and have the same format: a 12-player, 11-round tournament with a prize pool of $250,000 for the U.S. Championship and $152,000 for the U.S. Women's Championship.

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