The queen's pawn
Woodward opens up the game by grabbing space in the center and going for the slightly less tactical waters of queen's pawn games.
A flexible choice, developing the knight and not yet defining which system he will play (e.g. it could still be a Grunfeld, or a Nimzo-Indian, or many others).
Woodward develops his kingside knight
He too stays flexible, not yet showing his hand in terms of how he's going to arrange his pawn structure.
A solid and popular choice, freeing up the dark-squared bishop.
Woodward grabs the center.
Niemann steps his queen's pawn forward, seeking to contest the center himself.
Classical development so far, with both knights reaching their ideal squares and a strong hold over the center for Woodward.
Niemann shows his ambition
This move is often played when the Black side wants to keep a lot of tension in the position, and seek out long-term winning chances. It's in stark contrast with, let's say, Ray Robson's approach in his game against Fabiano Caruana today. In that one, Ray has chosen a line that is purpose-built to try and make a draw.
Woodward anchors his bishop on the most promising diagonal, pressuring Niemann's queenside.
Niemann steps out his own bishop, again posting it on an aggressive square, as he invades into Woodward's camp.
Woodward takes the pawn now, locking down a typically advantageous pawn structure where he'll be the side with two pawns on the most central files, versus just one pawn for Niemann.
Niemann takes back with the pawn, to make sure he keeps a solid footing in the core of the center.
Woodward continues his development, clearing the path of his light-squared bishop.
Aggression again!
Niemann shows that he's looking to play a dynamic game, and seems unbothered by the fact that this is precisely the area where the 15-year old Andy Woodward shines. He's challenging for the center here in the most direct way possible.
Woodward develops his bishop to the best diagonal available.
Niemann grabs space
A double-edged move, as he secures a space advantage on the queenside and gains time against the bishop. That all seems good, but it does mean that his pawn no longer pressures Woodward's central one, and that lack of tension can make life easier for Andy in many ways.
Woodward drops back, away from the attack.
Niemann targets the knight
A curious move, since Niemann almost seems to be bluffing that he's going to win a pawn by taking Woodward's knight. But in truth, that's not a threat as Niemann would fall far too behind in development (see the next note).
Andy allows Niemann to take the knight + pawn if he wishes, because he knows that he could then cut off Niemann's king from castling, and land in a near-winning position out of the gates!
Niemann recognizes the danger of ignoring his king safety, and makes sure to castle as soon as possible.
He continues to display really good theoretical understanding of the position. The point is that if Niemann now wins that poisoned pawn, then his queen is going to get stuck behind enemy lines because Woodward will push the left-hand pawn up one more square, robbing Niemann's queen of taking the pawn and then exiting via the square she is currently occupying.
The opening experiment seems to have gone wrong for Hans, as Andy Woodward has shown that he knows exactly how to handle this early aggression on the queenside. And now, the problem for Hans is that his opponent has the bigger slice of the center, and well-placed pieces. A clear edge for Woodward.
Woodward continues to tempt Niemann
He jumps onto a strong central square with his knight, improving his piece activity while still ignoring the threat against his queenside pawn.
Looks like he's not happy with the position he's gotten out of the opening. Objectively, it's not a strong idea. But in practice, it requires Woodward to find a very precise path to an advantage, so that's what Niemann is surely banking on.
Niemann snaps up the pawn
If he didn't take it, then giving up his strong dark-squared bishop for the less active knight would not have made any sense. Now Woodward can get an edge, but only if he recognizes that he should put his queen on the semi-open file in order to pressure the pawn, and that's not at all obvious.
The fact that Woodward goes for this exchange, tells me that he's likely to have spotted this strong queen move that he'll almost certainly play next.
The reason is that this exchange is designed to drag Niemann's bishop out, when the queen side to the left-hand file will come with an immediate hit on the now undefended pawn.
The reason this is such a clever idea, is because it basically forces the win of the pawn. It would seem as though Niemann could just push his pawn right now, but the problem is the second poisonous plan for Woodward: to maneuver his dark-squared bishop to trap Niemann's queen!
Niemann drops his queen back, in order to avoid that threat that Woodward had of trapping it with his bishop.
Woodward takes the pawn
He gets to recover his material, in really good circumstances. His queen is safe here in spite of being deep in enemy territory, as she is shielded by the cover of Andy's dark-squared bishop.
Niemann tries to coordinate
He puts his rook behind his passed pawn, something that might be useful in the future. But also, he now supports lifting his bishop forward, in order to hit Woodward's queen and kick her out of his camp.
Woodward takes control of the file
His dark-squared bishop stops Niemann from challenging for the only open file of the position, so it makes sense that Andy increases his stronghold over it.
Niemann jumps in with his queen, hitting the bishop. I'm not too sure what the purpose of this is however, since Woodward can just lift his rook up one square and cover against the threat. And now, Niemann's queen will once again be in some danger of getting trapped at the right moment.
Woodward keeps things safe
He offers a queen trade, which is not the strongest idea. But it's a safe approach, and as the lower rated player he is likely happy to keep risk to a minimum.
Niemann jumps in with his knight, defending his queen.
Woodward drops his queen back
By doing so, he opens up the vision of his rook, which can now invade along the open file.
Niemann sets up a tactic
By retreating his queen, he sets up the threat of jumping in with his knight to target the rook. This would also set up a second and fatal tactic: to fork the queen to the king! So Woodward must be careful here.
Woodward moves forward with his rook, targeting the bishop.
Niemann moves forward with his bishop, in order to kick away the active rook.
Having provoked Niemann into driving his bishop onto a more passive square, he now drops his rook back to the second rank. He's ready to double up rooks at the right moment.
Niemann pushes forward, but now this passed pawn looks like it's going to be fragile, and could get scooped up by Woodward over the coming moves.
Woodward moves his rook out of the way of attack, and at the same time hits the now vulnerable pawn.
Niemann drops back, in order to defend the pawn with his rook.
This is the problem for Niemann. Curiously, Andy Woodward's loss to Wesley So in yesterday's round came in exactly this kind of way: by pushing a passed pawn and having it be rounded up. Hans has to be careful here.
Niemann continues taking risks
He targets Woodward's strong bishop, but at the cost of weakening his kingside. This could backfire long term, especially because it undermines Niemann's dark squares, and Woodward is the only side with a dark-squared bishop.
Woodward drops back
He retreats rather than moving forward with the bishop, which was the more aggressive option. Woodward continues to have a great position, but he has to be careful not to play too timidly just because his opponent is significantly higher rated.
Niemann improves his rook placement
He's getting ready to double up, in order to try to hang on to his advanced pawn.
A very smart practical decision from Woodward. The idea is that he'll now be able to win the passed pawn. And that means that he's going to have a largely risk-free chance at playing for the full point. Let's check out the sequence.
Without the knight guarding the pawn, Woodward is ready to win it on the spot.
Niemann brings his other rook into the game, pressuring Woodward's own rook and trying to forcibly seize control of the file.
Niemann down a pawn
He has won the file, and has the slightly more active and better coordinated pieces for the time being. But what matters most is that Woodward is a pawn to the good. It's possible that Hans can escape with a draw, since opposite colored bishop positions are often hard to win (when just one pawn up). But it's far from a certain draw.
Woodward makes a tactical slip. It's not fatal, but it does cost him pretty much his entire edge, if Niemann finds it. The idea is that Hans can now move in with his bishop, activating it with a gain of time against Woodward's queen. And it cannot be captured, because of the threat of back rank mate!
While it's true that Woodward can just move his queen away, or even block with the pawn, neither of these moves are without their drawbacks. To block with the pawn will weaken his king long term. While the queen actually lacks any good squares, due to various back rank tactics that exist.
Niemann finds it, and he's suddenly back in the game. Woodward has to be careful not to blunder here. His only move if he wants to avoid Hans (at least) forcing a draw, is to push the pawn forward. But that's going to leave his king vulnerable, so Andy might just move his queen and give Hans a chance to force the draw after all.
Woodward to his credit, finds the aggressive move to keep some winning chances alive. Now, Niemann gets to trade pawns and weaken his king. But Woodward keeps his extra pawn.
A big mistake, as now Woodward gets to keep a much healthier pawn structure and his king stays relatively safe. Back to having very good winning chances for Andy.
Woodward creates some space for his king, a way of avoiding facing risky checks along the back rank.
Andy needs to recognize that he must push the pawn forward now. That will keep his king super safe, while compromising Niemann's own safety.
Woodward finds it! Hans Niemann could very well be in trouble in this one. Overall, he has made quite a lot of mistakes so far today, and at this stage his position is so delicate that he cannot afford any more significant inaccuracies. Pawn down, and less safe king for Hans.
A necessary move, to try to keep the dark squares under some control.
Woodward ramps up the pressure
Dangerous for Niemann, as Andy seizes the open file and can now start thinking about drumming up an attack against the enemy king.
Niemann gets out of the way of potential checks along the back rank.
Niemann cannot be feeling comfortable here. Woodward is ready to play pawn takes pawn, and then jump in with his queen. This is a huge threat that Niemann must stay savvy to.
Niemann continues to let errors creep into his game, and now he makes a key oversight. The problem for him is that Woodward can push his central pawn, targeting the rook as a way of dealing with Niemann's own pressure against his own rook.
A great find! The reason this is such a strong reply is that Woodward isn't just hitting Niemann's rook. He's also carved out a key diagonal to bring his queen to join in on the attack. Things are collapsing here for Hans.
Niemann shifts a pawn to the dark square, in order to try to keep things as solid as possible. That's the set of colors that is most at risk for him after all, given that Andy is the only one with a dark-squared bishop.
A nice move, with the point being that by defending the bishop, Woodward is now threatening to play pawn takes pawn.
Niemann has no choice but to invite the rook trade, but now Woodward gets to build a hugely powerful passed pawn.
Although still 'only' up one pawn, the problem for Niemann is that that single pawn is the strongest on the chess board. Hans has to fight like a lion to try to make a draw here, but so long as Andy plays the right moves, it's going to be out of Niemann's hands.
Defending the pawn, and at the same time improving the queen's position.
Woodward enters decisively
This looks like very close to the end of the road for Niemann, who is going to be down two pawns very soon.
Niemann has to stay guarding the pawn next to his king, though now Woodward is going to be able to pick up the one in the center.
Woodward picks up the undefended pawn
Now, he just needs to improve his piece coordination a little, and start guiding the central pawns forward. If he can do that, then Niemann's position will unravel over the coming 4 or 5 moves.
A good practical try
Hans might sense that the opposite colored bishop endgame is lost (and the computer agrees). But both players will know that oftentimes, even a couple of pawns advantage is not enough in endgames like these ones with such famously drawish tendencies. So psychologically it might be hard for Andy to play the best move and swap queens.
He's gone in for the opposite colored bishop endgame, and it's the right call. Now the key is that he's able to push his central pawn forward next, along a light square.
Woodward immediately pushes his pawns along light squares, making it hard for Niemann to blockade them from advancing further.
Niemann needs to stop Woodward from giving that check by pushing his pawn forward.
Woodward continues to play excellently
Again it would have been tempting to push his pawn forward, but Woodward correctly recognizes that trading is best. This will make it harder for Niemann to maintain any sort of blockade.
Woodward takes the opportunity to drive his king further up the board. He's been playing this endgame to perfection so far.
Woodward threatens to move forward and win the remaining kingside pawn, so Niemann must block that threat.
The threat is to push the pawn forward, so again Niemann must stop that in order to try to maintain a blockade along the light squares.
The idea behind a blockade, is to try and find a way to stop the pawns from rolling by clamping down on the color that the defending side is strongest on. In this case, it's the light squares since Niemann is the only side with a light-squared bishop.
Woodward will likely anchor his bishop in the center to defend the pawns. And then begin the slow march of his king to the queenside, to try to break through.
Niemann can do nothing but sit and wait.
Woodward begins the march to the kingside, since Niemann is in any case paralyzed so there is no need to rush.
Niemann pushes forward, but it doesn't change anything. Woodward can keep advancing with his king, since Niemann can never take the right-hand pawn since his bishop is tied down.
Woodward continues his march, and soon he'll be able to support the dangerous passed pawn.
Niemann had to rush his king to try and hold things together on the queenside, but this is the price to pay: now the other pawn starts running.
Niemann takes the pawn, since he knows that sitting idle will just lead to a loss. But now there is a clean forced win for Woodward.
Woodward pushes forward, splitting Niemann's defenses as he cannot contain both passed pawns with just his king.
Niemann is trying to stop the pawns, but now Woodward can just make a queen as a decoy, and then run the other pawn. Woodward is about to win.
A huge result for the youngest player in the field, 15-year old Andy Woodward, who now jumps to a very respectable 50% score after 8 rounds of play at this year's U.S. Championships.
Hans Niemann will be disappointed, as he did not manage to play up to his usual standards. He was ambitious in the type of moves he played, right from the opening where he went pawn-grabbing on the queenside, up until the late middlegame where he opened up his king's position to try to mix things up.
But the problem is that such a risky approach can easily backfire, unless you back it up with very precise play. In today's game, Woodward was simply the one who made the best moves. He kept a very high and consistent level throughout, and then converted smoothly once Niemann's position had degraded to the point where it could no longer be saved.
Huge kudos to Andy, who will be able to face the final three rounds with a very real sense of accomplishment in what is sure to be one of many U.S. Championships in his career.
As for Niemann, it's a tough blow. Back-to-back losses effectively rule him out of contention for the title, something that seemed within reach just yesterday.
Both players looking to bounce back
It was a rough seventh round for both Hans Niemann and Andy Woodward, as they fell against two of the veterans of the field: Fabiano Caruana and Wesley So, respectively.
Likely, the player who will feel most aggrieved is Hans Niemann. He's struggled terribly against Fabiano, amassing a string of losses against him in his career. And yesterday wasn't just a regular kind of loss, it was an attacking demolition by Caruana.
So, Hans will for sure be looking to try and score a win in this round, as he'll see 15-year old Andy Woodward as one of the more beatable players in the field. And with only three more rounds to go after today's game, Hans absolutely needs a win here if he wants to stay anywhere near the race for this year's title.
Of course, Andy will have different ideas in mind. He's picked up a couple of wins in his first appearance at the U.S. Championships, and a scalp against Hans today would bring him to a very respectable 50% score.
Just 15 minutes to go until kick-off!