Fabiano Caruana, the world's number two chess player, successfully defended his national title on Wednesday by achieving an unbeaten 7/10 score in the US Championship held in St Louis. The first prize amounted to $62,000 (£48,000). Caruana's victory margin was a comfortable one and a half points, secured after a final round where he won while his closest rivals either drew or lost, resulting in a six-way tie for second place with 5.5/10 points each.

Among the runners-up were the controversial Hans Niemann, who solidified his position among the world's top 20 players, along with rising talents Samuel Sevian and Awonder Liang, and established grandmasters Levon Aronian, Ray Robson, and Leinier Domínguez. Wesley So, a pre-tournament favorite, scored 5/10, drawing every game, and consequently dropped out of the world's top 10 rankings.

With this win, Caruana joins an exclusive group of players who have won at least four US titles: Jackson Showalter, Samuel Reshevsky, Bobby Fischer, Larry Evans, Walter Browne, Yasser Seirawan, Alexander Shabalov, Gata Kamsky, and Hikaru Nakamura. Among these legends, Caruana has come closest to the world crown, other than Fischer, holding Magnus Carlsen to a 6-6 draw in their 2018 title match before losing in a speed tie-break.

Caruana, who reached a peak rating of 2851, stands as the third-highest-rated chess player in history, trailing only Carlsen and Garry Kasparov. Post-tournament, he confirmed his intention to pursue a fifth US title in 2025. This low-scoring contest was marred by an alleged offboard assault, which was reported in last week's column. Following this, Christopher Yoo's father issued a statement, and Yoo himself made a personal written apology.

Chess, though a mind sport, involves physical components such as adrenaline and increased heart rate under stress. Coping with defeat can be particularly challenging, especially after losing an advantageous position. Most players handle such losses internally, but there have been instances of physical reactions, such as Boris Spassky crying in the street after a painful loss to Mikhail Tal. While some may take out their frustration on hotel furniture or even the opponent, striking an innocent bystander is another matter entirely.

In the US Women's Championship, Carissa Yip won her first eight games, putting her in contention for the $64,000 Fischer prize, awarded to anyone matching Bobby Fischer's 11/11 perfect score in the 1963-64 US Championship. Despite losing her next two games, Yip retained her title with a round to spare. The 21-year-old also won the second board gold medal with 10/11 at the Olympiad and is on the cusp of breaking into the world's top 30. She has realistic aspirations for the $100,000 Cairns Chess Queen award, given to US women who achieve grandmaster status at open level.

Ethan Pang, aged nine, reached a landmark 2300 live rating on Wednesday, leading the current Vezerkepzo IM tournament in Budapest with an unbeaten 4/6 score. Pang, who earlier this year became the youngest ever 2200-rated player and recently defeated three grandmasters in a single tournament, has so far added 69 Fide points to his existing 2233 rating, the highest in the world for an under-10 player. Two other English children, Bodhana Sivanandan and Kushal Jakhria, also rank among the world's top six nine-year-olds. If Pang maintains a rating above 2300 by the end of the tournament, he will break the world age record as the youngest published 2300 player by approximately four days, although Faustino Oro would still hold the record for the youngest when the record was set.

Pang's tournament performance rating (TPR) currently stands at 2450, precisely the requirement for an international master norm. Achieving a score of 3/4 in the remaining rounds would secure Pang his first IM norm, making him four months younger than Oro when he achieved his norm by finishing second in a tournament in southern Argentina. This feat would likely make Pang the youngest player ever to win an international master tournament, though it remains a challenging prospect.

Pang's games have showcased high quality. In round one, he defended a Nimzo-Indian in classical style to draw, while in round two, his Carlsen-style grind won a marathon rook ending. In round three, he cleverly trapped his opponent's h6 bishop by f6, g5, and Nf5. In round four, he drew with a solid understanding of the Sicilian Sveshnikov, and in round five, after being surprised in the opening by 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Qb6, he fought back to a drawn rook and pawn ending. Pang's games are available in play-through format at chess-results.com.

3943: 1 Rxh7+! and Black resigned. If 1…Qxh7 2 Qe8+ Qg8 3 Rh1 mate. If 1…Kxh7 2 Rh1+ Kg8 3 Qxd5+ when if 3…Qf7 4 Nh6+ forks king and queen and soon mates, or 3…Kf8 4 Rh8+ Qg8 5 Rxg8 mate.

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