Round eight brought another round of exciting chess in the 2023 U.S. Championships. We can safely say that it was a round with some of the most topsy-turvy results for the standings.
The seventh round of the 2023 U.S. and U.S. Women’s Championships appears quite peaceful with all games in the Open section ending in a draw and half the games in the Women section following suit. However, the round was far from boring. Below I analyze four key games that were significant for the tournament standing. In the Open section, the standings remain unchanged, with GM Fabiano Caruana savoring his half-point advantage over GM Hans Niemann. Following closely behind, there's a neck-and-neck race for third place, shared by GM Leinier Dominguez and GM Wesley So.
While two consecutive rounds ended with draws on all six boards in the U.S. Championship, three players got win after win in the U.S. Women’s Championship. Co-leaders Carissa Yip and Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova have each grabbed three full points in a row to remain tied for first, while Alice Lee has in fact collected four back-to-back victories to climb to shared second place. | Photo: Lennart Ootes
The first rest day at the 2023 U.S. and U.S. Women’s Championships certainly allowed players to recharge, as round five marked the bloodiest round so far. There were a total of ten decisive games, with only one draw per section. Let's take a look at the most notable moments.