Oparin doubles up with Washington International, U.S. Open wins

In American chess this summer, the road to renown runs through Rockville, Maryland.

Completing an impressive two-fer, Missouri GM Grigoriy Oparin won an “Armageddon” playoff game against GM Jianchou Zhou Sunday night to claim top honors at the 126th U.S. Open in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The win comes just two weeks after Oparin bested Zhou and a host of challengers to take the 13th Annual Washington International Tournament, held at the Rockville Hilton in the Maryland suburb.

The 29-year-old Oparin, perhaps best known as longtime second to U.S. No. 1 GM Fabiano Caruana, emerged from a pack of eight players tied for first at 7½-1½ in the Open, including Zhou, GM Christopher Yoo, IM Jason Liang and several other players who also competed in Rockville. For his effort, Oparin earns a berth in the U.S. Championship tournament, to be played in October at the St. Louis Chess Club.

We’ll have some highlights from Oparin’s win and other news from Grand Rapids next week.

We don’t typically offer up draws when there’s so much battling chess to choose from, but the entertaining last-round split point between veteran GMs Alonso Zapata and Maryland’s own Jesse Kraai in the John T. Irwin National Tournament of Senior State Champions — one of a wealth of subsidiary events held alongside the U.S. Open — is worth a replay. Kraai’s epic defense as his king is chased across the board left Zapata a half-point short of new senior state champion FM Julio Morella of Florida.

WGM Sabina Foisor offers a deep-dive analytical look at this fascinating struggle at www.uschess.org, and the notes here incorporate many of the lines she highlighted. Unusually for this French Defense line, the center opens up early and Black’s risky plan to snatch Zapata’s isolated d-pawn results in some early fireworks.

A piece sacrifice flushes out the Black king after 16…Qxd4!? 17. Re4! Qb6 (the engines say Black’s best here might be 17…Qxe5!? 18. Rxe5 Bxe5 19. Bb1 Rfd8 20. Qc2 Nf6, with compensation for the lost queen) 18. Nxc6 bxc6 (see diagram) Bxh6!, blasting open the Black kingside fortress.

Kraai’s king embarks on a forced march after 19…Nf6? (Rfd8! 20. Qg4 Bf8 avoids the travails to come, but White still enjoys tremendous pressure) 20. Bxg7! Nxe4 21. Bxe4 Kxg7 (f5 22. Qxd6 Kxg7 23. Qe5+ Rf6 24. Rxc6 wins) 22. Qg4+, and the Black monarch must head to the center of the board as 22…Kh6?? 23. Qh4+ Kg7 24. Qg5+ Kh8 25. Qh6+ Kg8 26. Qh7 is mate.

With Black’s king stranded and alone in the center of the battlefield, Foisor writes that White missed a knockout blow with 24. Qg5+! (instead game’s 24. Bxc6?!); e.g. 24…f5 (Kd4 25. Bf3!, with the deadly threat of 26. Qe3 mate; or 24…Kxe4 25. Rc4+ Kd3 26. Qg4!, with a mating net) 25. Bxc6 26. Qg7+ Kd6 27. Rd1+ Bd4 28. Qd7+ Ke5 29. Qg7+ Kd6 30. Bxa8, with a won game. Remarkably, after 26. Bxa8 Bxf2+ 27. Qxf2 Qxf2+ 28. Kxf2 Rxa8 29. Rc4 Rd8, Black has survived the attacking onslaught with a fighting chance to save a pawn-down rook ending.

Perhaps exhausted by the earlier hand-to-hand combat, both grandmasters miss chances in the tricky final phase. Just at time control, Alonso hands his opponent a gift with 39. b6 a6 40. Kc3? (White looks to be winning after 40. Kc5! Kd3 41. Kc6 e2 42. Rxe2 Kxe2 43. b7 Kf2 44. h4), and Black returns the favor on 45 Kb4 Rb5+? (Kraai could actually have come all the way back for the win with 45…Kd4! 46. Rb2 Re5 47. b7 Re8 48. Ka3 Rb8 49. Ka4 Kd3 50. Rb6 e2 51. Rd6+ Ke3 52. Rxa6 Rxb7 53. Re6+ Kf2 54. a6 Rh7 and wins.

With both players apparently fearful of risking defeat, a draw was agreed after 47. Kb4 Rb5+?. Not a perfect game by any means, but a rattling good struggle all around.

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The Washington International Tournament, put on by the Maryland Chess Association last month, offered a sneak preview of the U.S. Open drama to come in Grand Rapids.

Oparin edged Yoo on tiebreaks to take the Maryland event, but Yoo pulled off a nice win against master Kevin George during the event, with a smartly played attack from the White side of a Nimzo-Indian defense. It’s a classic Nimzo struggle with Black targeting White’s queenside weaknesses while Yoo looks for attacking chances on the other flank.

White’s c-pawn can’t be saved, but Yoo gets good pressure and open lines in the center and on the kingside as compensation. White’s pieces pile on the pressure after 17. Nf4 Qe8!? (Qe7! 18. Qf3 Bxd3 19. Qxd3 cxd4 20. Nh5 Qe4 eases the cramp in Black’s game move effectively) 18. Re5 Qf7 19. Bg6!, when 19…hxg6? loses to 20. Re7! Qxe7 [Qg8 21. Nxg6+ Kh7 22. Qc2! is lethal] 21. Nxg6+ Kh7 22. Nxe7.

Black holds it together until 21. Re3 Nd5 22. Nxd5 (very messy is 22. Bxh7!? Qxh7 23. Rh3 Qxh3 24. gxh3 Nxf4 25. Qh4+ Kg8 26. Bxf4 cxd4 27. Bd6 Rf6, with unclear play) Rf1+? (mandatory was 22…Bxd5! 23. Rh3 Bxg2! 24. Rxh7+ [Kxg2 Qd5+ 25. Qe4 Qxg5+ 26. Kh1 h6 holds] Qxh7 25. Bxh7 26. Qxf1 Bxf1 27. Bf5 Bc4 28. Bxd7 Bd5, limiting White’s advantage) 23. Qxf1 Bxf1 24. Nf6!! (Rxf1?? Qxd5 25. Rh3 h6, and it’s  Black who is winning), a beautiful shot that reveals White’s attack will go on just fine with his queen.

Yoo wraps up the point with a string of hammer blows: 24…Qb3 (gxf6 25. Bxf6+ Qg7 26. Rxf1 hxg6 27. d5 Na5 28. Bxg7+ and wins) 25. Rxf1 Ne7 (hxg6 26. Rh3 is mate, and White also wins after 25…gxf6 26. Bxf6+ Kg8 27. Bh5 28. Rg3+ Kf8 29. Bh4+ Qf5 30. Rxf5 mate) 26. Rxe7 hxg6 27. Ne8! (threat: 28. Rf8+ Kh7 29. Rxh7 mate) Rxe8 28. Rxe8+ (Black’s queen is no match for White’s bishop and rook pair) Kh7 29. h3 Qxc3 30. Rf4, and George resigned as he must soon give up his queen just to delay mate on the h-file.

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It’s been a news-packed few weeks, but we could not close without noting the passing on Aug. 7 of tournament director-extraordinaire Bill Goichberg, at the age of 83. A pioneer of scholastic chess and the force behind such marquee events as the World Open and D.C.’s annual Atlantic and Eastern Opens, the colorful Goichberg’s Continental Chess Association organized thousands of tournaments and doled out millions in prize money over his remarkable six-decade career.

On a personal level, Goichberg-organized tournaments have supplied invaluable material for this column for decades. CCA officials vow to carry on his organizing legacy, but his larger-than-life personality and passion for the game will be sorely missed.

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

Zapata-Kraai, Irwin National Tournament of Senior State Champions, Grand Rapids, Michigan, August 2026

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 c5 4. Ngf3 Nf6 5. exd5 Nxd5 6. Nb3 cxd4 7. Nbxd4 Bb4+ 8. Bd2 O-O 9. c3 Bd6 10. Bc4 Nc6 11. O-O Nxd4 12. cxd4 Bd7 13. Re1 Bc6 14. Rc1 h6 15. Bd3 Qb6 16. Ne5 Qxd4 17. Re4 Qb6 18. Nxc6 bxc6 19. Bxh6 Nf6 20. Bxg7 Nxe4 21. Bxe4 Kxg7 22. Qg4+ Kf6 23. Qh4+ Ke5 24. Bxc6 Bc5 25. Qg3+ Kf6 26. Bxa8 Bxf2+ 27. Qxf2+ Qxf2+ 28. Kxf2 Rxa8 29. Rc4 Rd8 30. Ke2 Rd5 31. b4 Re5+ 32. Kd3 Re1 33. Rc2 e5 34. b5 Rb1 35. Kc4 e4 36. a4 Ke5 37. a5 e3 38. Ra2 Ke4 39. b6 a6 40. Kc3 Rc1+ 41. Rc2 Rb1 42. Kc4 Rb5 43. Ra2 f5 44. Kc3 Rc5+ 45. Kb4 Rb5+ 46. Kc3 Rc5+ 47. Kb4 Rb5+ Draw agreed.

Yoo-George, 13th Washington International Tournament, Rockville, Maryland, July 2026

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 c5 7. Bd3 Nc6 8. Ne2 b6 9. O-O Ba6 10. e4 Ne8 11. e5 Na5 12. f4 f5 13. exf6 Nxf6 14. f5 exf5 15. Rxf5 Bxc4 16. Bg5 Kh8 17. Nf4 Qe8 18. Re5 Qf7 19. Bg6 Qg8 20. Qe1 Nc6 21. Re3 Nd5 22. Nxd5 Rf1+ 23. Qxf1 Bxf1 24. Nf6 Qb3 25. Rxf1 Ne7 26. Rxe7 hxg6 27. Ne8 Rxe8 28. Rxe8+ Kh7 29. h3 Qxc3 30. Rf4 Black resigns.

• Got a hot tip or a cool game to share? David R. Sands can be reached at davidrsands18@gmail.com.