U.S. Women's Chess Championship: Zatonskih, Krush draw to keep joint lead

IM Anna Zatonskih at the

U.S. Women's Chess Championship

Hello Everyone!

IM Anna Zatonskih and IM Irina Krush drew their game on the top board in the third round of the U.S. Women's Chess Championship. Both are jointly leading with 2.5/3 each. The Championship is being held in St. Louis along with the U.S. Junior Closed Championship.

Krush came prepared with a Benoni particularly to surprise her opponent. Krush has played the Benoni only two times five years ago! However, Zatonskih was up to the challenge and the game ended with a three-fold repetition. All the other four games were decisive. You can check the official website for the full news report here.

Round 3 results

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1. WFM Abby Marshall-WGM Sabina Foisor 0-1

2. WIM Beatriz Marinello- WIM Iryna Zenyuk 1-0

3. WFM Tatev Abrahamyan-WIM Alisa Melekhina 1-0

4. IM Anna Zatonskih-IM Irina Krush ½-½

5. WGM Katerina Rohonyan-WGM Camilla Baginskaite 0-1

Standings after Round 3

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1. IM Irina Krush 2.5

2. IM Anna Zatonskih 2.5

3. WFM Tatev Abrahamyan 2.0

4. WIM Alisa Melekhina 2.0

5. WIM Iryna Zenyuk 2.0

6. WGM Camilla Baginskaite 1.0

7. WGM Sabina Foisor 1.0

8. WGM Katerina Rohonyan 1.0

9. WIM Beatriz Marinello 1.0

10. WFM Abby Marshall 0.0

Here are two nice games from the third round. You can run them in our pgnplayer or watch them in flash below.

PGN: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c5 4. d5 d6 5. Nc3 exd5 6. cxd5 g6 7. Bf4 Bg7 8. Qa4+ Bd7 9. Qb3 Qc7 10. h3 b5 11. Nxb5 Bxb5 12. Qxb5+ Nbd7 13. Qc6 Qd8 14. Nd2 O-O 15. e3 Rc8 16. Qxd6 Qa5 17. Qa6 Qb4 18. Qb5 Nxd5 19. a3 Qxb2 20. Qxb2 Bxb2 21. Ra2 Bc3 22. Bh6 Rfd8 23. Bc4 Ne5 24. Bxd5 Rxd5 25. Ke2 Rxd2+ 26. Rxd2 Bxd2 27. Kxd2 Nc4+ 28. Kc3 Nxa3 29. Bf4 Nb5+ 30. Kc4 Na3+ 31. Kb3 Nb5 32. Kc4 Na3+ 33. Kb3 Nb5 1/2-1/2

PGN: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Qa4+ Nc6 6. e3 O-O 7. Bd2 a6 8. a3 Be7 9. Qc2 b6 10. cxd5 exd5 11. Bd3 Bb7 12. Ne5 h6 13. f4 Nxe5 14. fxe5 Ne8 15. O-O c5 16. Rf2 Nc7 17. Raf1 Ne6 18. Qd1 Bg5 19. Qg4 cxd4 20. exd4 Bxd2 21. Rxd2 Qg5 22. Qxg5 hxg5 23. Bf5 Bc6 24. Rf3 Nf4 25. g3 Ne6 26. Kf2 Rae8 27. Ke3 f6 28. Rdf2 Nxd4 29. e6 Nxf3 30. Kxf3 d4+ 31. Ne4 g6 32. Bxg6 f5 0-1

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's

www.chessblog.com

Also see her personal blog at

www.chessqueen.com