2024 U.S. Championship: Caruana Wins 4th U.S. Championship Title

U.S. Championship

Round 11 Results: Championship

Caruana entered the final round in the box seat, needing only a draw with Shankland to guarantee himself equal or outright first.

As the pair played into a “sharp” line of the Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation, the only player mathematically able to catch him, GM Awonder Liang had just thrown a wrench in the works with the audacious 1.a3!? (the Anderssen Opening), against GM Leinier Dominguez. 

Notice Yip’s wry smile of approval for Liang’s opening move in the video below.

Awonder Liang decided to surprise his opponent right from the first move by playing 1.a3!? in his game against Leinier Dominguez in the final round of the US 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 did not come as a surprise to Caruana, and he revealed that he “knew from the first move that he (Liang) is 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 eventually capitalizing on a move-42 mistake.

With this victory, Caruana confirmed his fourth U.S. title and his highest FIDE rating since 2021 (2805).

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

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

Caruana also indicated that 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.

Not long before Caruana claimed the top prize, Liang’s position against Dominguez deteriorated. Heartbreakingly for Liang, the difference between a loss and a draw was $18,333, due to a six-way tie for second.

Winnings aside, Liang should have gained many new fans in St. Louis after his exceptional performance along with entertaining moments such as his house of cards, tower of pieces, and impressions with the player who scored 10 draws in this year’s championship, GM Wesley So.

The third decisive game of the round was GM Grigoriy Oparin-GM Levon Aronian, and it featured a daring queen sacrifice by the latter. After falling to Liang in round three, Aronian’s resilient effort that saw him win two games and draw the rest catapulted him into the second-place tie.

Five days is all the time that Caruana will have to rest on his laurels as he will return to the Saint Louis Chess Club to contest a 10-player Chess960 round-robin (Chess 9LX) boasting a $150,000 prize fund. The U.S. champion may find this tournament even more difficult to win as Kasparov and Nakamura stand in his way.

U.S. Women’s Championship

Round 11 Results: Women’s

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

Yip was not wrong. The pair exchanged queens on move seven and spent just an hour at the board before agreeing to a draw and going to get ice cream. 

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

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

This revelation made Tokhirjonova’s situation crystal clear. If she could defeat Abrahamyan, she would surpass Lee’s score and book her ticket to the World Cup. An imbalanced French Defense was the perfect battleground for a three-result game between Tokhirjonova and Abrahamyan, and the middlegame quickly became messy.

The game was far from clean; however, when the dust settled it was Tokhirjonova who clinched the all-important win to move to 7.5/11.

Got my third Silver🥈 at the US Women’s Champs 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 round game. Against FM Rose Atwell, she uncorked a brilliant rook sacrifice in the late middlegame. The surprise of the women’s event finished in fourth place on 6.5/11 and gained 40 rating points for her efforts.

After Fischer’s extraordinary performance at the Championship 60 years ago, an 11/11 score has never been repeated. Many say it’s an impossible goal in a modern round-robin; however, with the number of decisive games in this year’s women’s championship, it’s not unreasonable to suggest that a future contender could replicate the feat.

How to watch?

The 2024 U.S. Chess Championship was an invitational classical event that determined the chess champion of the United States. The 2024 U.S. Women’s Championship was held concurrently. Both events started on October 11 and had the same format: a 12-player, 11-round tournament with a $250,000 prize fund for the U.S. Championship, and $152,000 for the U.S. Women’s Championship.

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