The finals of the American Cup kicked off on April 27 with the first of two classical games in the matches between Aronian - Caruana and Krush - Lee. In the Open, Aronian managed to build up a winning endgame advantage but faltered at the last moment, allowing Caruana to escape with a draw. Meanwhile in the Women’s Field, Krush displayed her strategic skill once again, outplaying Lee in the early opening and middlegame to take a 1-0 lead in the match.

CHAMPIONS BRACKET

ARONIAN - CARUANA | ½-½

A quiet Italian Game quickly turned incredibly sharp as Caruana opted to sacrifice a pawn in exchange for long-term pressure against White’s kingside. After a complex struggle Aronian managed to trade the queens off and go into an endgame, where he then sacrificed an exchange in order to win a second pawn. Although the position was tenable for Black, Caruana soon erred and found himself in a dire straits. But a last ditch effort by Fabiano to create counterplay worked, as in time trouble Aronian missed his chance to achieve a winning ending and instead had to settle for a draw by repetition.

After Caruana’s 45…Bh4, White’s only win was 46.Ne2 Kxd8 47.Rd3+! followed by 48.Rd4. Instead Aronian played 46.N8e6, but 46…Rg1+ 47.Ke2 Re1+ 48.Kd3 g6! saved the game for Black. | ½-½, 52 moves

Aronian will have to defeat Caruana in two consecutive matches to earn the title. | Photo Courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Bryan Adams

KRUSH - LEE | 1-0

In a repeat of the first game of their previous classical match, Krush achieved a serious positional advantage right from the opening, this time a Reverse Benoni where Black lost several tempi compared to the usual line. From there it was smooth sailing for Krush, who gradually improved her position until Black’s structure could no longer hold, and Lee’s kingside simply collapsed.

After 26.Qb6, White’s pieces were simply dominant across the whole board. | 1-0, 39 moves

Today’s win put Krush another step closer towards the $25,000 1st place prize. | Photo Courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes

Day 9 of the 2022 American Cup will take place Thursday, April 28 starting at 12:50 PM CT. Catch all the action live with grandmaster commentators Yasser Seirawan, Cristian Chirila, and Alejandro Ramirez on uschesschamps.com and on the Saint Louis Chess Club’s YouTube and Twitch.tv channels.

Watch all the action LIVE at USChessChamps.com

Text: IM Kostya Kavutskiy

Photo credit: Saint Louis Chess Club, Lennart Ootes and Bryan Adams

Dates & Location:
April 20 - 29, 2022, Saint Louis Chess Club

Web: uschesschamps.com | Twitter: @STLChessClub

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Photo Credits:
Photos and appropriate credits available on Flickr 

Press Contact:
Rebecca Buffington rbuffington@saintlouischessclub.org

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