Illinois GM Andrew Tang is the new U.S. Open champ, tying 2022 champ GM Alexey Sorokin at 8-1 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Monday and defeating the Russian GM in an Armageddon playoff game to claim the title. In addition to the honor of winning the 123rd running of the nation’s most prestigious open event, the 23-year-old Tang, now studying at Princeton, earns a slot in next year’s U.S. national championship tournament.

In this most democratic of tournaments — there are class prizes, but everyone from grandmaster to beginner competed in the same nearly 500-player field — sometimes the lower seeds get the better of their betters. A key moment in the Open came in Round 8 when top-seeded Russian GM Semen “Sam” Khanin, trying to get back among the leaders after some midtournament draws, took on expert Nathaniel Moor, rated nearly 400 points lower.

Things did not go according to plan, or to ranking.

Khanin had to be happy with the start of the Nimzo-Indian, as after 16. Qxc4 e5 17. Bd2 Qc7, Black is a clear pawn to the good with a healthy queenside pawn majority. Once Black can develop his forces, the win should be a matter of technique.

But Moor fights on, complicating the play and posing just enough problems to stay in the game: 26. Qc2 (generating an actual threat of check on h7) g6 27. bxc6 (h4 also looks promising, but Black stays on top after 27…c4! 28. h5 [Qxc5?? Rc1+! 29. Kg2 Rxc1! wins] Bf5 29. Qb3 Bxb1 30. Qxb1 g5) bxc6 28. Kg2 (and again not 28. Qxc6?? Qxc6 29. Rxc6 Rd1+ 30. Kg2 Bd5+) Rd4 29. Qc5 Qd7!? (better might have been 29…Bd5+ 30. f3 Qb6 31. Bd3 Qxc5 32. Rxc5 Ra4) 30. Qxe5 Bh3+ 31. Kf3, and it turns out it’s not so easy to get at the exposed White king.

Perhaps ruffled by the resistance, Black first misses a put-away volley and then hits it right into the net: 36. Qd4 Qe7?! (Qb7!, hitting the bishop on b1 and threatening 37…c5+, looks like a winner; e.g. 37. Bd3 c5+ 38. Be4 Qe7 39. Qd3 Qg5! 40. Bd5 Rf6+ 41. Rf4 Rxf4+ 42. gxf4 Bd2+ 43. Ke3 Qxd5) 37. Qc3 (see diagram; even here, Black can keep a clear edge with 37…Qg5!, but Khanin gets greedy) Rxe2?? 38. Rh4!, and, shockingly, White is winning the bishop on h3 because of the simultaneous threat of 39. Rxh6+!! Kxh6 40. Qh8+ Kg5 41. f4 mate.

Black fights on a bit, but the trade of rooks leaves him with a hopeless ending; after 46. Bxa4 Kf6 47. Kd3, the grandmaster resigned.

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The FIDE World Cup, including a 128-player men’s and 64-player women’s knockout tournament now underway in Baku, Azerbaijan, is another event that features ratings mismatches and unlikely upsets. Former world champion GM Magnus Carlsen of Norway and reigning women’s world champ GM Ju Wenjun of China are still in the hunt going into this week’s fourth round, but such stars as U.S. GM Sam Shankland, Uzbek phenom Nodirbek Abdusattorov and French GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave have been eliminated.

American GM Hikaru Nakamura almost made a quick exit from the event when his Round 2 match with young Indian GM Karthik Venkataraman went to a rapid playoff after both classical games were drawn. The world No. 2 player gets badly outplayed from the Black side of this QGD, as two inspired White pawn captures (18. exf3! and 29. gxh4!) leave Karthik’s kingside in tatters but open up some great attacking lines, while Black’s isolated and blocked d-pawn is a permanent defensive liability.

This time, however, the higher-rated Nakamura shoots some treacherous rapids and manages to come out ahead on the other side: 37. b5!? (very strong would have been 37. Qb6! Nxg4 38. Rxg4 Qf6 39. Kf2 Qe7 40. Qd4, with a dominating positional bind) Re7 38. Bc8 Rc7 39. Bf5 Rc4? (opening an unexpected tactical back door; on 39…Qh5! 40. Bg4 Qh6 41. Qa1 Re7, Black can defend) 40. Qb6??.

Poor Karthik — at the rapid time controls, he likely did not have time to suss out the winning 40. Qa1! and engineer a monumental upset. The point is that on 40…Ne8 (White’s threat is 41. Qa8+ Ne8 [Ke7 42. Qxb7+ Ke8 43. Qa8+ Ke7 44. Re1+ is also decisive] 42. Bd7, winning a piece) 41. Re1 Nc7 42. b6 Na6, White gets a killer kingside attack with 43. f4 Nb8 44. Bg6! Rc6 (Qxg6 45. Qh8+ Qg8 46. Qh6+ Qg7 47. Qxd6+ Kg8 48. Rg1; or 44…fxg6 45. Qf6+ Kg8 46. Qxd6 Nc6 47. Qxd5+) 45. Qf6 and wins.

In the game, after 40…Ne6 (Black’s pieces start cooperating just in time) 41. Qxb7? Qf6! 42. Qd7 (Bg4 Rxg4 43. Rxg4 Qxf3+ 44. Kg1 Qxh3 45. Qd7 Qxd3, and Black is better) Rc7, White must give up the exchange with 43. Rg8+ Kxg8 44. Qxe8+ Kg7 to avoid losing even more material.

Finally seizing the initiative, Nakamura makes his extra material count: 45…Qe7! 46. Qa8 (trading queens just accentuates Black’s material edge) Qe2! 47. Qa1+ Kg8 48. b6 Rc3 49. Qg1 Kf8! (sidestepping any discovered check tricks) 50. Nc1 Qc2, and the White knight can’t be saved; Karthik resigned.

The knockout formula can be random at times, but the players have a strong incentive to participate: The top three finishers in both sections qualify for slots in the 2024 world championship Candidates tournament.

(Click on the image above for a larger view of the chessboard.)

Moor-Khanin, 2023 U.S. Open, Grand Rapids, Mich., August 2023

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. c4 e6 4. g3 Bb4+ 5. Nc3  O-O 6. Bg2 dxc4 7. O-O Nc6 8. Qc2 Nxd4 9. Nxd4 Qxd4 10. Rd1 Qe5 11. Bf4 Qa5 12. Rac1 c6 13. a3  Be7 14. Ne4 Nxe4 15. Bxe4 h6 16. Qxc4 e5 17. Bd2 Qc7 18. Qa4 Be6 19. Ba5 Qc8 20. Bb4 Re8 21. Bxe7 Rxe7 22. Bb1 Qc7 23. b4 Rd7 24. b5 Rxd1+ 25. Qxd1 Rd8 26. Qc2 g6 27. bxc6 bxc6 28. Kg2 Rd4 29. Qc5 Qd7 30. Qxe5 Bh3+ 31. Kf3 Rd5 32. Qb8+ Kh7 33. Qf4 Rd4 34. Qe5 Rd6 35. Rc4 Re6 36. Qd4 Qe7 37. Qc3 Rxe2 38. Rh4 Qe5 39. Qxe5 Rxe5 40. Rxh3  Ra5 41. Rh4 Rxa3+ 42. Ke2 c5 43. Bc2 Kg7 44. Rc4 Ra5 45. Ra4 Rxa4 46. Bxa4 Kf6 47. Kd3 g5 Black resigns.

Karthik-Nakamura, FIDE World Cup, Round 2, Baku, Azerbaijan, August 2023

1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 e6 3. c4 c5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. g3 Nc6 6. Bg2 Nf6 7. O-O Be7 8. dxc5 Bxc5 9. a3 O-O 10. b4 Bb6 11. Bb2 Bg4 12. Nc3 Re8 13. Na4 Bc7 14. Nc5 Rb8 15. Rc1 Ne5 16. Bxe5 Bxe5 17. h3 Bxf3 18. exf3 a5 19. Qb3 axb4 20. axb4 g5 21. Rfd1 Bd6 22. Qd3 Qe7 23. Qd2 h6 24. Re1 Qf8 25. Qd4 Rxe1+ 26. Rxe1 Qg7 27. Bf1 h5 28. Bd3 h4 29. gxh4 Qh6 30. Bf5 gxh4 31. Kh1 Re8 32. Rg1+ Kf8 33. Nd3 Qh5 34. Bg4 Qh6 35. Bf5 Qh5 36. Bg4 Qh6 37. b5 Re7 38. Bc8 Rc7 39. Bf5 Rc4 40. Qb6 Ne8 41. Qxb7 Qf6 42. Qd7 Rc7 43. Rg8+ Kxg8 44. Qxe8+ Kg7 45. Bg4 Qe7 46. Qa8 Qe2 47. Qa1+ Kg8 48. b6 Rc3 49. Qg1 Kf8 50. Nc1 Qc2 White resigns.

• David R. Sands can be reached at 202/636-3178 or by email at dsands@washingtontimes.com.

• David R. Sands can be reached at dsands@washingtontimes.com.