American Cup: Nakamura through, Caruana to Elimination
Hikaru Nakamura has made it through the Champions Bracket at the American Cup, taking down Fabiano Caruana in blitz tiebreaks. The two played a pair of draws in classical, and then Nakamura won the first blitz game, so Caruana had to bounce back. It was a titanic tilt in a time scramble: Fabiano had a rook, knight, and passed d-pawn against a queen, with a bishop each, and he was never quite able to figure out how to force through the pawn. Eventually Nakamura got the chance to set up a nasty pin on Black’s rook that cost the passer, and Caruana conceded the match shortly after.
In the Elimination Bracket, Levon Aronian had beaten Wesley So and Sam Sevian upset Lenier Dominguez. Following those matches, Aronian beat Sevian 2-0, so Caruana and Aronian will fight on Friday to challenge Nakamura in the Final.
In the Women’s, Alice Lee survived an exchange down to draw game two and win her match against Tatev Abrahamyan 1.5 – 0.5, and win her way through the Champions Bracket. Meanwhile, Irina Krush beat Nazí Paikidze in the Elimination Bracket, and will face Abrahamyan to get into the Final against Lee.
Full information can be viewed on the event website.
