WGM Jennifer Yu was topped the winner of the 2022 U.S. Women’s Chess Championship on Thursday after an exciting tiebreaker that needed to be determined by an armageddon sport. After successful the opening sport of the match towards GM Irina Krush, Yu very practically put the match away in the course of the second sport. However, the eight-time champion Krush was not going to go down and not using a battle and clapped again to equal the scores.

The remaining armageddon sport featured imbalance, blunders, time scarcity, and a surprising turnaround victory for Yu that was dramatic proper up till the ultimate transfer. An unlawful transfer was the coup de grâce for Krush’s title desires, and her time expired quickly after, confirming Yu because the U.S. girls’s champion for the second time.

Congratulations to @jenniferyuuu for successful her 2nd US Championship AND doing it in a wild armageddon tiebreak! 👏🏆 pic.twitter.com/TXHfV7UrXT

— Chess.com (@chesscom) October 20, 2022

The playoff for the ladies’s title was all the time going to be a slugfest and Thursday’s duel didn’t disappoint. Krush opted for the Czech Benoni within the opening sport which instantly implied her intent to attempt to win with the black items.

Having scored eight wins within the 13 rounds of the ladies’s championship, Yu was able to battle tooth and nail for the primary level. Up the alternate for 2 pawns, Krush determined to seize a 3rd pawn, nevertheless it was poisoned and Yu took full benefit, checkmating the eight-time champion. GM Dejan Bojkov has analyzed our Game of the Day beneath.

The second sport favoring Krush as she steered the sport onto a extra positional battlefield the place she might slowly press towards Yu. Needing to win on demand, Krush determined to sacrifice a knight for 2 pawns however was swiftly punished with a counter alternate sacrifice. Yu’s benefit would not final lengthy although and the doubtful 35.Nc4?? left Krush in a dominant place that she transformed with relative ease.

Nine minutes on the clock was all that separated the gamers from the trophy because the deciding armageddon sport bought underway. The sport began as tame as another however shortly descended into chaos. Needing to win with the white items, Krush’s poison of selection was the King’s Indian Attack and Yu appeared to have the place underneath management till she capitulated and performed the inaccurate 9.Bg4??. 

After hanging a bishop, pundits have been able to dub Krush the champion, however a number of twists awaited the combatants. On transfer 23 it was Krush’s flip to blunder and, after shedding her queen for a knight and a rook, her lead had diminished from +9 to barely higher than equal. Yu’s queen danced round Krush’s remaining items because the participant’s clocks dwindled and it nonetheless regarded as if Krush would pull by way of. However, she finally blundered right into a drawn place with eight seconds left on the clock. Swaths of followers and chess legends have been already praising the extraordinary playoff on Twitter.

If you didn’t watch the playoffs towards GM Irina Krush, you higher go watch on YouTube ASAP! I’ve by no means ever in my life ever seen something like this end!!! 🤩🤯😆😅 Congratulations @jenniferyuuu! https://t.co/qVzAxewDKL

— Maurice Ashley (@MauriceAshley) October 20, 2022

This win, was the precise reverse for Jen as her first. It actually got here all the way down to the ultimate seconds of Armageddon towards the legendary Grandmaster Irina Krush.

But the spirit was nonetheless there.

A champion wins.

— Jennifer Shahade (@JenShahade) October 20, 2022

With no increment to save lots of the sport, a two-second clock benefit in favor of Yu appeared decisive, however Krush pushed on. An unlawful transfer by the latter within the remaining seconds gave Yu an additional two minutes on the clock and was additional affirmation of what was already recognized: Yu could be topped the U.S. girls’s champion for the second time.

Yu was all smiles after the match and would later entrance for an interview claiming, “I actually didn’t assume I’d pull this off right here at this event,” and that she “didn’t really feel prepared” earlier than the occasion. Yu’s victory meant that she joined an elite group of 16 girls gamers who’ve gained two or extra championships in its prestigious 85-year historical past.

Final Women’s Standings

The 2022 U.S. Chess Championships takes place October 4-20, 2022 in St. Louis to find out the subsequent chess champions of the United States. The 2022 U.S. Women’s Championship is being held concurrently. Both occasions have the identical format: 14 gamers, 13-round event with a $250,500 prize fund for the U.S. Championship, and $154,000 for the U.S. Women’s Championship.