Holy Hathor! Abrahamyan Blew It!

Final standings 2016 U.S. Women's Chess Championship:

Tatev Abrahamyan had the championship in her hand and she blew it.  All she had to do was control her nerves and win a game over a lower rated player.  But she lost.

Final standings:

1.  Paikidze, Nazi  8.5/11
2.  Abrahamyan, Tatev  8.0/11
3.  Zatonskih, Anna 7.0/11
4.  Mencova, Katerina  6.5/11
5.  Foisor, Sabina-Francesca  6.5/11
6.  Krush, Irina  6.0/11
7.  Eswaran, Ashritha  5.5/11
8.  Yu, Jennifer R.  5.0/11
9.  Yip, Carissa  4.5/11
10.  Gorti, Akshita  4.0/11
11.  Bykovtsev, Agata  3.0/11

White	Evaluation	Black

1	WIM Eswaran, A. (4½) 2225	1-0	WGM Abrahamyan (8) 2342
2	GM Krush, Irina (6) 2465	0-1	IM Paikidze, N. (7½) 2346
3	IM Zatonskih, A. (6) 2470	1-0	Yip, Carissa (4½) 2164
4	WGM Foisor, S. (5½) 2258	1-0	WIM Bykovtsev, A. (3) 2219
5	FM Melekhina, A. (1½) 2205	0-1	WGM Nemcova, K. (5½) 2367
6	FM Gorti, A. (3½) 2184	½-½	WFM Yu, J. R. (4½) 2157

Coverage a Chess Champs.

This is what I wrote today at Facebook to one of my chess buddies, Ellen Wanek, who does a lot for chess in the Sheboygan area:

The U.S. Women's Chess Championship is taking place in St. Louis right now, today is the final round and it will be an exciting one. Tatev Abrahamyan is poised to win her first ever U.S. title but Nazi Paikidze is within striking distance at 7.5; she will have the black pieces against Irina Krush, who is in the uncomfortable position of third place with 6.0, and right behind her is Anna Zatonskih also with 6.0, but she will have a much easier match against a lower rated player. It's possible Paikidze could win her game and in the unlikely event Abrahamyan loses her game, could take the title! Or, if Abrahamyan draws, she and Paikidze would go to a play-off. So - lots of drama in store. I will be glued to my computer listening to the live coverage on U.S. Chess Champs.

What a blow to Krush, wow, dropping all the way to 6th place. And Zatonskih proved yet again how tough she is, a remarkable performance when she needed to pull it through. And so, we have a brand new U.S. Women's Chess Champion.

2016 U.S. Women's Chess Championship

And now, dear fans, please give a moment to listen to one of my favorite songs ever, by the one, the only, the incredible vocalist Miss Etta James, AT LAST:




Oh my goodness, Tatev, have you ever listened to this song?  You're way too young, you probably have no idea who the hell Eta James is, let alone ever heard her sing.  But the words, oh yes, those words in this song - so apt, so apropos to your situation these many years in the U.S. Women's Chess Championship!

WGM Tatev Abrahamyan, who for the past several years has come so close - and yet been so far - from winning the title for herself, is now within reach of the PRIZE!  There is one more round to go - tomorrow, and it looks like Abrahamyan is on a MISSION FROM THE CHESS GODDESS to finally take that title for her own. At last - well, we'll see.  Can she do it?  Here are the standings after Round 10.

Final

Rank	Name	Score	M/F	Rating	TPR	W-We	Mutual	Col.Bal.	SB	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
1	WGM Abrahamyan, Tatev	8.0	M	2342	2524	+2.23	0.0	1	35.75	1	1	½	½	½	1	1	½	1	1
2	IM Paikidze, Nazi	7.5	M	2346	2452	+1.35	.	1	31.75	½	1	1	½	1	½	1	½	½	1
3	GM Krush, Irina	6.0	M	2465	2331	-1.54	.	-1	27.0	½	1	½	1	½	1	½	½	½	0
4	IM Zatonskih, Anna	6.0	M	2470	2349	-1.39	.	-1	24.75	½	½	½	1	½	1	1	1	0	0
5	WGM Nemcova, Katerina	5.5	M	2367	2319	-0.60	.	1	29.25	½	½	0	½	½	1	1	½	½	½
6	WGM Foisor, Sabina-Francesca	5.5	M	2258	2329	+0.94	.	1	25.0	½	0	½	1	½	0	1	1	½	½
7	WIM Eswaran, Ashritha	4.5	M	2225	2248	+0.23	.	-1	17.0	½	0	0	½	½	1	½	0	½	1
8	Yip, Carissa	4.5	M	2164	2241	+0.95	.	1	22.5	1	1	½	0	0	½	0	0	½	1
9	WFM Yu, Jennifer R	4.5	M	2157	2270	+1.38	.	1	18.75	½	0	½	1	0	0	0	1	½	1
10	FM Gorti, Akshita	3.5	M	2184	2196	+0.05	.	-1	12.25	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	1	½	0
11	WIM Bykovtsev, Agata	3.0	M	2219	2144	-1.07	.	-1	11.0	0	1	½	0	1	0	0	0	½	0
12	FM Melekhina, Alisa	1.5	M	2205	1987	-2.53	.	-1	8.0	½	0	½	0	0	0	0	0	½	0

Generated by Swiss Master for Windows on 24-04-2016 at 18:01

She's got a slim 0.5 lead over the next highest-point player, native Georgian player Nazi Paikidze, who moved to Baltimore to attend college at the University of Maryland-Baltimore and changed her chess federation from Georgia to the United States.  Paikidze finished second in the 2015 U.S. Women's Chess Championship.   

And the match-ups for tomorrow:

Pairings round 11 

Table	White	Score	Rating	Black	Score	Rating	Result
1	WGM Foisor, Sabina-Francesca	5.5	2258	WIM Bykovtsev, Agata	3.0	2219
2	FM Melekhina, Alisa	1.5	2205	WGM Nemcova, Katerina	5.5	2367
3	GM Krush, Irina	6.0	2465	IM Paikidze, Nazi	7.5	2346
4	IM Zatonskih, Anna	6.0	2470	Yip, Carissa	4.5	2164
5	FM Gorti, Akshita	3.5	2184	WFM Yu, Jennifer R	4.5	2157
6	WIM Eswaran, Ashritha	4.5	2225	WGM Abrahamyan, Tatev	8.0	2342

Generated by Swiss Master for Windows on 24-04-2016 at 18:01

So, will we see something absolutely nutso happen like Abrahamyan losing to Eswaran Ashritha while Paikidze wins over Krush, thereby taking the title outright with 8.5/11 to Abrahamyan's 8.0/11?  I can't imagine Abrahamyan losing tomorrow's game but in this position, with that kind of pressure on, who the heck knows?  One might assume that Anna Zatonskih, currently in 4th place overall, will make it her business to defeat Carissa Yip, with the hope that Paikidze will either outright defeat Irina Krush (currently in 3rd place) or draw with her, thereby giving Zatonskih 3rd place, and it's money.  Both Krush and Zatonskih have something more than pride to play for in tomorrow's game.

Should be interesting.  You can watch the matches live at US Chess Champs online.