This will be a very exciting finish. Irina is leading Anna by 1/2 point. But the young talented Tatev Abramyan is quietly having a wonderful tournament. She is only 1 point behind Irina and 1/2 point behind Anna. Therefore, any of the top 3 can technically win the National Championship.
Irina Krush (WGM, IM – 7 pts) – Katerine Rohonyan (WGM 5.5 pts)
Tsagaan Battsetseg (WIM 4.5 pts) – Anna Zatonskih (WGM, IM 6.5 pts)
Chimi Tuvshintugs (WIM 4.5 pts) – Tatev Abrahamyan (WFM 6 pts)
Iryna Zenyuk (WFM, CM) – Chouchanik Airapetian (WFM)
Esther Epstein (WM) – Courtney Jamison
Standings going into the final round:
1 Krush, Irina IM 2515 USA 7.0
2 Zatonskih, Anna IM 2490 USA 6.5
3 Abrahamyan, Tatev WFM 2280 USA 6.0
4 Rohonyan, Katerine WGM 2318 USA 5.5
5-6 Battsetseg, Tsagaan WIM 2251 USA 4.5
5-6 Tuvshintugs, Batchimeg WIM 2289 USA 4.5
7 Zenyuk, Iryna WFM 2205 USA 3.5
8 Epstein, Esther WM 2194 USA 1.5
9 Airapetian, Chouchanik WFM 2143 USA 1.0
10 Jamison, Courtney 2064 USA 0.0
What is your prediction?
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Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
I’ll vote for Irina, only because I like her style of play.
It would be so cool to see Tatev win, but it’s not likely to happen this year. She’ll be more hungry to win it next year.
Is this a “golden” period for US Women’s chess? Have there ever been this many top level players active in the championship?
Irina is showing a major lack of chess understanding as she has achieved a lost position against Rohonyan, pushing for a win in a blatantly worse endgame with no winning chances at all for her( she could of easily drawn it). Very stupid play by Krush,doesn’t deserve to win after this.