GM Irina Krush left no chance for her rivals as she won both of her games on the final day to clinch 1st place with 8.5/11 in the 2020 U.S. Women’s Championship, her eighth national title victory. 

“After these four days of play, with all the stress, all the preparation, I mean for it to finally end in the way you want it to end, what you’ve been working for, I mean that just feels amazing”, said Irina in the post-round interview. “I feel the support of my friends, my family, my students, my coach, all these people that are supporting me, and watching the games and hoping I do well, I want to make them happy.”

Chasing Irina until the very last moment was the recently crowned U.S. Girls’ Junior Champion, WGM Carissa Yip, who also won both of her final games to finish in clear 2nd place.

Probably the biggest surprise of the event was 12th-seed IM Dorsa Derakhshani, who scored 7.5/11 points on her route to earning third place.

Up next is the 2020 U.S. Chess Championship, which begins on Monday, October 26, with WGM Jennifer Shahade, GM Yasser Seirawan, and GM Maurice Ashley calling all the action live starting at 12:50 PM CDT on USChessChamps.com, YouTube, and Twitch.tv.

Text: IM Kostya Kavutskiy

Photo: Official website

Official site: USChessChamps.com