John Brezina's US Juniors/Senior Championship

"... of how our great game crosses the barrier of time"

As always, I am pleased to select and caption Mr. Brezina's excellent photographs from the world class chess tournaments he attends. The photos are not necessarily related to the text but are mainly chosen to highlight young players and women who are getting into chess and to illustrate how popular chess is becoming in the United States. Mainly due to the efforts of Rex and Jeane Sinquefield, and their fantastic St. Louis Chess Club. 

Players checking out the all star lineup of players at this event. 

Quoting John Brezina "I was privileged to attend the last major US chess tournament I had yet to cover, the 2024 US Senior/Juniors Championships. It took place once again in St. Louis at the World Chess Hall of Fame as expansion work continues across the street at the chess club. I was able to photograph round seven and see players young and old that I have not seen in quite some time. This was also my first trip to St. Louis in July and the weather was quite pleasant for my short visit."

Nothing but class at the St. Louis Chess Club.

"The playing hall was a photographer's dream with thirty players across the three fields to choose from. Ten players made up each field, the Senior, Junior, and Girls' Junior Championship. I had been following the tournament and began to research some of the players, where some of the names began to stick out. First was the current Junior tournament leader after six rounds, Christopher Yoo. He is the top rated US junior at 17 years old and the youngest ever US master before he turned ten, and that is when I first met him and his father. It was in New York at the 2016 World Chess Championship. Yoo had just earned the master title and was playing blitz in the lounge area where he began to draw quite an audience at only 9 years and 11 months old!"

Getting everything just so.

"Another US junior and only 14 years old is Andy Woodward, who is now a Grandmaster. He achieved his final GM norm back in January in Jeddah at only 13 years and 8 months, the second youngest in US history. He told his story and annotated games from the Jeddah young masters tournament in the July 2024 issue of ChessLife. A remarkable read and perspective from such a young player. He was at 50 percent with 3.0 points after six rounds when I arrived."

You don't want to mess with this young lady :-)

"In the Girls' Junior field, "veteran" Alice Lee was tied for first with 4.0 points. I say this because Alice is only 14 years old, but has played in many major tournaments including the most recent Cairns Cup. She also recently won the 2024 American Cup title from her nemesis Irina Krush. She is also a two-time US Junior champion and a three-time World Youth Champion. An impressive chess resume at such a young age."

Friends before the game starts. Tough competitors after the first move.

"But the name that caught my eye was a 15 year old that was tied with Alice Lee for first place, Rose Atwell. The name rang a bell when I realized she played in our 2019 Denver Open when she was only 10 years old and a "mere" expert. This is the only time I had photographed the young Rose when she played in a strong field of chess veterans that included Colorado Hall of Famers Alex Fishbein, John Watson, and Brian Wall. Also in the lineup was Chess.com guru Danny Rensch and teaching legend Sunil Weeramantry, to name a few. Here she was five years later keeping right up with Alice Lee."

I can keep score and move at the same time. 

"The Senior championship had a lineup of familiar names to us "old" chess players. Vladimir Akopian was leading the field by 1.5 points with three rounds to go. He was an Armenian chess legend before changing to the US federation in 2021. Three names that I remember with a certain association are Gregory Kaidanov, Larry Christiansen, and Alex Shabalov. They all played in the 2002 Edward Levy Memorial tournament in Denver which was the very first tournament that I had played in as an unrated beginner. Of course I was not in their division, but I do remember walking around and thinking how cool it was to be playing along with these great chess players. If only I had a camera back then to capture the moment, which is what I enjoy most of covering tournaments today."

In the sport of chess, all that's necessary is an agile mind.

Another familiar name throughout the American chess scene is Joel Benjamin. A World Chess Hall of Fame member and the first to break Bobby Fischer's record of youngest US master at 13 years old. Another first was the trifecta in American chess titles: US junior champion, US champion, and US senior champion. My first time photographing him at the board along with many others here.

"GM Julio Becerra is making his first appearance in the Senior championship 25 years after defecting from Cuba. Settling in Miami, he has gone on to win the Florida State championship eight times. He had also been Cuban champion in 1996 and 1998. The chess culture is still strong in Cuba a hundred years after world champion Capablanca. I can attest this after visiting Havana myself in 2017 and witnessing the excitement kids showed after donating chess sets to a local school."

Combined, these players have probably been playing chess for over 100 years

"It was exciting to attend and watch this cross section of players across the board for the first time. A reminder of how our great game crosses the barrier of time. To see the young teenage talent play alongside veterans who have been across the board for over half a century is quite amazing. The St. Louis chess club has done a great job elevating this tournament to a prestigious level. A first class setting for first class players to inspire future chess players."

serious young ladies recording their moves...

...and young players sharing a little humor before the game gets serious...

...and it's come down to what looks like a serious endgame advantage.

"This tournament provided many decisive games right from the start with only three draws for the first fifteen games. After four rounds, Vladimir Akopian and Christopher Yoo led their fields. For the girls, Alice Lee sat at only 50 percent while Jasmine Su jumped ahead of the field at 3.5/4 points. But Alice Lee turned it up, winning the next two rounds while Su faltered and lost both her games. Rose Atwell quietly rose the ranks and tied the lead with Lee at 4/6 points. Akopian and Woo both extended their leads as well, setting up an exciting round seven which is when I arrived."

How am I going to get out of this mess :-)

"The seniors were hoping Melikset Khachiyan could slow leader Vladimir Akopian down from his 1.5 point lead with only three rounds to go. With a chance to still catch the leader, Jesse Kraai pushed hard with the black pieces to reach an endgame a piece down but up three pawns. Pushing Kaidanov's King into the corner of h1, Kraai delivered mate on the board on move 39. Jesse won another game with the black pieces in round eight against Alexander Shabalov. But after a draw in round seven, Akopian took down Douglas Root with an unstoppable knight and rook mate on move 42 to seal the title with a round to spare."

After filling in my scoresheet...

... I'm ready to play and...

...I welcome my opponent to the board.

"Christopher Yoo had a one point lead and faced Justin Wang who was just a point behind. Andrew Hong and Jason Wang both won their games to put them both at 5/7 points, putting the pressure on Yoo. With the white pieces, Yoo never seemed to get into too much trouble but couldn't find an advantage and had to settle for a draw. He still led the field but by only half a point now with two rounds to go. While the penultimate round eight promised to be exciting for the boys, the status quo remained with all five games drawing. Jason Wang and Andrew Hong both within reach, perhaps over reached in the final round as both lost their games. Justin Wang delivered the loss to Andrew and jumped into clear second place as Yoo delivered a final round loss to Balaji Daggupati to capture another US junior title."

An intense game in progress.

"The girls' junior had the closest horse race going into the final rounds. In round seven Alice Lee faced early tournament leader Jasmine Su. Rose Atwell had the black pieces against Yassamin Ehsani. Both of these games were being played side by side so both leaders kept a close eye on each other's games. Alice and Rose both pulled off victories to keep the horse race going into the penultimate round eight. Jasmine Su held Rose to a draw while Alice Lee showed her mettle and won against Zoey Tang to just pull ahead by half a point going into the final turn on the track. Everything was put into the games of the final round as all were decisive. After the dust settled, Alice Lee sat on top while an incredible performance by Rose Atwell gave her clear second half a point behind."

These players may not even be in high school. 

"In addition to a generous money prize, both Yoo and Lee received a $10,000 scholarship from the Dewain Barber Foundation and US Chess. But perhaps more importantly they both get a seat in the US chess championships. Congratulations to the 2024 champions Vladimir Akopian, Christopher Yoo and Alice Lee."

"Enjoy all of my photos from round seven here:" https://photos.app.goo.gl/4GWrqYiKJp2KjcFVA   

"Regards, John Brezina, Colorado Chess Informant Editor"