Niemann Clinches U.S. Junior Championship; Wang Wins Girls' Title
GM Hans Niemann won the U.S. Junior Championship on Sunday in St. Louis. The 18-year-old grandmaster and chess streamer finished on 6/9, half a point more than a group of five players. IM Annie Wang won the girls' section.
GM Gregory Kaidanov defeated GM Larry Christiansen 1.5-0.5 in the rapid playoff for first place in the Seniors section on Monday. The Saint Louis Chess Club hosted three tournaments in the past week: the U.S. Juniors, Girls, and Seniors Championships, each being 10-player round-robins.
Niemann grabbed the sole lead in the junior tournament in the fourth round, when he reached 3.5 points. By then he had already beaten his closest rival on rating, GM Nicolas Checa:
By round seven, Niemann was a point ahead of the pack, but everything was wide open again when he suffered his first (and only) loss to IM Christopher Yoo in the penultimate round. He was still half a point ahead, and a draw in the final round was enough for sole first place after all.
Niemann won $6,000 for first place as well as a $10,000 scholarship to be used at the institution of his choice. This scholarship was jointly funded by the Dewain Barber Foundation and US Chess. On top of that, he is now entitled to play in the 2022 U.S. Championship.
US JUNIORS CHAMPION. 6k First Prize 10k Scholarship and a spot in the US CHESS CHAMPS 2022!!!
— Hans Niemann (@HansMokeNiemann) July 26, 2021
U.S Juniors 2021 | Final Standings
| # | Fed | Player | Rtg | Perf | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 | Pts | SB |
| 1 | Niemann,Hans Moke | 2571 | 2603 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 6.0/9 | |||
| 2 | Burke,John M | 2538 | 2565 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 5.5/9 | 23.25 | ||
| 3 | Checa,Nicolas | 2552 | 2564 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 5.5/9 | 23 | ||
| 4 | Jacobson,Brandon | 2504 | 2569 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 5.5/9 | 21.25 | ||
| 5 | Brodsky,David | 2455 | 2574 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 5.5/9 | 21.25 | ||
| 6 | Balakrishnan,Praveen | 2507 | 2569 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 5.5/9 | 21 | ||
| 7 | Yoo,Christopher Woojin | 2479 | 2456 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 4.0/9 | |||
| 8 | Wang,Justin | 2467 | 2375 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 3.0/9 | 16 | ||
| 9 | Hong,Andrew | 2474 | 2374 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3.0/9 | 10 | ||
| 10 | Li,Ben | 2376 | 2226 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1.5/9 |
Wang won the girls' tournament by scoring 7/9 and finishing a point ahead of WCM Yan Ruiyang. Wang earned $3,000 and also a $10,000 scholarship.
She played quite a few long games, averaging 46 moves over nine games, but the following was a quick win against the second highest-rated player in the field:
U.S Girls 2021 | Final Standings
| # | Fed | Player | Rtg | Perf | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 | Pts | SB |
| 1 | Wang,Annie | 2384 | 2288 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7.0/9 | |||
| 2 | Yan,Ruiyang | 2111 | 2220 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6.0/9 | |||
| 3 | Wu,Rochelle | 2138 | 2175 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 5.5/9 | |||
| 4 | Morris-Suzuki,Sophie | 2043 | 2146 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 5.0/9 | |||
| 5 | Samadashvili,Martha | 2215 | 2089 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 4.5/9 | |||
| 6 | Zeng,Sheena | 2013 | 2072 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4.0/9 | |||
| 7 | Lee,Alice | 1972 | 2037 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 3.5/9 | 17.5 | ||
| 8 | Ulrich,Susanna | 1974 | 2037 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 3.5/9 | 13.75 | ||
| 9 | Cervantes Landeiro,Thalia | 2226 | 2010 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 3.5/9 | 12.5 | ||
| 10 | Vittal,Sanjana | 1938 | 1953 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.5/9 |
The most famous names, especially for our older readers, were playing in the seniors' tournament designated for players who are 50 or older. In this tournament, Christiansen caught up with Kaidanov to share the first place in the final round as he won his game with the black pieces:
U.S Seniors 2021 | Final Standings
| # | Fed | Player | Rtg | Perf | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 | Pts | SB |
| 1 | Kaidanov,Gregory | 2547 | 2654 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 6.5/9 | 26.5 | ||
| 2 | Christiansen,Larry | 2567 | 2652 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 6.5/9 | 25.75 | ||
| 3 | Yermolinsky,Alex | 2478 | 2574 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 5.5/9 | 24.5 | ||
| 4 | Fishbein,Alexander | 2417 | 2581 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 5.5/9 | 20.75 | ||
| 5 | Novikov,Igor | 2554 | 2527 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 5.0/9 | |||
| 6 | Tarjan,James | 2381 | 2506 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 4.5/9 | |||
| 7 | Benjamin,Joel | 2506 | 2455 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 4.0/9 | |||
| 8 | Shabalov,Alexander | 2521 | 2371 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 3.0/9 | 12.25 | ||
| 9 | Sokolin,Leonid | 2497 | 2374 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3.0/9 | 9.25 | ||
| 10 | Khachiyan,Melikset | 2474 | 2217 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.5/9 |
Kaidanov and Christiansen finished their playoff on Monday for the title: two games of rapid with 10 minutes for the whole game and a two-second delay. Kaidanov emerged victoriously with a 1.5-0.5 score to become the 2021 US Senior Champion.
Peter Doggers joined a chess club a month before turning 15 and still plays for it. He used to be an active tournament player and holds two IM norms. Peter has a Master of Arts degree in Dutch Language & Literature. He briefly worked at New in Chess, then as a Dutch teacher and then in a project for improving safety and security in Amsterdam schools. Between 2007 and 2013 Peter was running ChessVibes, a major source for chess news and videos acquired by Chess.com in October 2013. As our Director News & Events, Peter writes many of our news reports. In the summer of 2022, The Guardian’s Leonard Barden described him as “widely regarded as the world’s best chess journalist.”
Peter's first book The Chess Revolution is out now!
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