Awonder Liang and Carissa Yip entered the day only needing a draws to clinch their respective championships. Conversely, Advait Patel and Jennifer Yu, the only players within a point of the leaders, faced must-win games with everything on the line.
The 6-way tie for 1st in the Junior section disappeared as quickly as it appeared—with Awonder Liang emerging as the sole leader. In the Girls section, most of the leaders won, allowing Carissa Yip to maintain her half point edge.
In a thrilling round 6, the leaders of both championships lost their games, opening up the race for 1st completely. The Junior section currently has a 6-way tie at the top while Carissa Yip’s lead has been reduced to just half a point in the Girls’ section.
In the Junior section, defending champion Awonder Liang won a key game to gain ground on Advait Patel. Contrastingly, in the Girls’ section, Carissa Yip extended her lead to a full point.
For the first time, we have a clear leader in the Girls’ section while Advait Patel has extended his lead in the Juniors section by defeating his closest rival.
Round 2 of the U.S. Junior Championships was a round of many surprises. Three underdogs, Annie Wang, Alex Bian, and Rochelle Wu, won upset victories over tournament favorites.
The U.S. Junior Championships kicked off with a bang. Tournament favorites faced off in both the Junior and Girls’ Juniors sections, and half the games ended decisively, including a Grandmaster upset.
Drama unfolded during the playoff Monday in Saint Louis, as the best women chess players in the nation went head to head in a rapid chess match that was going to decide the victor.
