So Draws Niemann in Under an Hour, One Round From a Fourth Title

Wesley So needed very little time on Round 10 day. He drew Hans Niemann in under an hour and kept a full-point lead over Fabiano Caruana and Grigoriy Oparin in the Open section of the U.S. Championship, with one round to play.

The game was a theoretical Nimzo-Indian that quickly slid into an endgame with mass trades. So described his strategy for the final stretch as “to remove games from the tournament.” Few approaches are more sensible for a player a point clear.

So on Niemann

So’s postgame remarks on the broadcast were mixed. “Hans is a really good player. I actually had high hopes for him for his first Olympiad this year, but it didn’t work out well.

“I’m not sure what’s going on with his classical chess career.”

He added that a few months ago Niemann looked to be competing at the level of Javokhir Sindarov and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu. So also said Niemann had told him a couple of days earlier that he is focused on other chess formats, not classical, and So wondered how that fits Niemann’s stated goal of becoming classical world champion.

The chasers stall

The draws that mattered most were Jeffery Xiong vs. Caruana and Oparin vs. Abhimanyu Mishra. A win in either would have put Caruana or Oparin half a point behind So. Caruana tried the Scandinavian with Black, and his opponent answered it perfectly: all four players on both boards showed 99 accuracy.

Caruana’s verdict, as quoted by Chess.com: “Nobody checks the Scandinavian anymore. It’s not so bad!” Awonder Liang and Andy Woodward also drew, leaving both on 5.5, too few to win the tournament.

For the chasers, the arithmetic is simple. So can lose his lead only if he loses the last round and a rival wins. He said a draw would be a good result but that he would also like to win.

He also noted he was briefly ahead of Nodirbek Abdusattorov, who lost in round four of the European Club Cup, and back in the top five. He wants to stay there.

The money and the bonuses

A fourth national title would bring $55,000, plus a $7,000 Winner’s Bonus and a $5,000 Finish Strong Prize. Nobody will take the Fischer Bonus Prize, which requires at least five consecutive wins.

Shankland survives a slugfest

The two decisive games were the day’s real fights. Sam Shankland beat Sam Sevian in a Najdorf Poisoned Pawn, a highly theoretical line Sevian revived. Shankland said he wasn’t expecting a Najdorf at all.

Both sides found game-saving and game-winning resources, and both erred. Sevian reached a relatively risk-free advantage late on, then played 35…Qg1??, an irreversible blunder.

Shankland was frank: “This was certainly not a glorious win for me, but after everything I’ve been through this tournament I’ll take it.” He also thought Sevian “got a little too ambitious at some point.”

In the other decisive game, Levon Aronian beat Ray Robson in a queen endgame.

Women’s section

WIM Rachael Li, a rookie in the event, leads the Women’s Championship by a full point over IM Alice Lee alone. Five of six games were decisive. Li beat Rose Atwell, and Lee won against Thalia Cervantes in a must-win to stay in the race.

Tatev Abrahamyan beat Anna Zatonskih, Carissa Yip beat Nazi Paikidze, and Anna Sargsyan beat Jennifer Yu. The only draw was Megan Paragua vs. Irina Krush.

Lee must win and hope Li slips, which makes her pairing in the last round the one to watch.

The 11th and final round is Wednesday, October 21, at 1 p.m. ET.