How I Won My Second U.S. Junior Girls Championship
For context, the U.S. Junior Championships are 10-player invitational tournaments held in St. Louis, MO, every July. They are prestigious, exciting, and competitive events. The winners of the Junior and Junior Girls Championships qualify for the U.S. Championship and U.S. Women’s Championship (respectively) held in October! This was my fifth time playing in the U.S. Junior Girls. Coming back from my 2023 victory as the rating favorite, I wanted to defend my title. Yet, the journey was far from smooth. Without further ado…
Hoping to get off to a strong start, I found myself getting off to the very opposite. I lost the first round in a crushing defeat against WIM Iris Mou. Still, I knew it was a long tournament, so one game wouldn’t be the deciding factor. I could bounce back. I just needed to win the next couple of games to be back on track… But I didn’t. I was unable to break through in round 2 against WFM Yassamin Ehsani after a solid game. And so I started the tournament with 0.5/2.
In previous years, typically, 7/9 points was enough to win the tournament. But if I wanted to keep my winning chances alive, I’d need an almost perfect score of 6.5 out of the next 7! With the odds against me, I decided to focus on each game individually rather than what was necessary for the next 7.
In the third round, I was white against FM Rose Atwell. Rose was one of the top seeds, and I knew it would be a difficult game. I decided to surprise her on the first move, playing 1. c4. We eventually got into a balanced Queen's Gambit Declined middlegame. I created some chances, but eventually, it fizzled down to a queen-and-rook vs. queen-and-rook with four pawns for each side. Still, time pressure brings chaos! And, as we both went down to our last minutes, we arrived in a bizarre position on move 54:
I drew my round 4 game in a solid Petroff draw against WFM Rachael Li. Standing at 2/4, I wanted to go into the rest day with a plus score, which meant winning my round 5 game. And I won! It was a tough battle, but I eventually prevailed after grinding a rook-and-knight endgame up a pawn against WFM Chloe Gaw. The tournament standings looked promising for me as well. The sole leader was NM Jasmine Su, who had 3.5/5. I was tied for second to fourth place at 3/5, and I was optimistic as I had the chance to play Jasmine later in the tournament.
After a rest day consisting of popsicles and an interesting history lecture by IM John Donaldson, I was set to play WIM Omya Vidyarthi in round 6. This turned out to be one of the most exciting games of the tournament. From a dubious position rose a fantastic opportunity!
The game was not trivial even after I found the combination! But her king remained weak, and eventually, I used this fact to win the game. It also marked the first time I took the lead in the tournament, tying for first at 4/6 with FM Rose Atwell. A few people were trailing half a point behind, but I would be the sole person controlling my fate.
Rounds 7 and 8 went smoothly. In two equal endgames against NM Jasmine Su and WIM Zoey Tang, I outplayed my opponents in time scrambles, taking the sole lead in the tournament with 6/8 points. Still, going into the last round, I was only half a point ahead of my nearest competitor, Rose. This meant I needed to win the final round to clinch first place! The last round ended up being my longest game of the tournament.
Thinking during Round 8! (Photo Credit: STL Chess Club)
In the final round, I was black against WFM Megan Paragua. At 11 years old, Megan was the youngest competitor in the tournament by a long shot! I knew she could be a dangerous player, but I was happy with what I got in the game—an objectively equal endgame where I was slightly pressing. We eventually traded into an opposite-colored bishop's endgame where I was up a pawn. Although it appeared that she was holding, I was able to put pressure on her position and eventually break through.
Bughouse at the end of the tournament!