Swiercz surprises Wesley with the Nimzo-Larsen Attack. An offbeat opening choice, aiming to take his opponent out of well-trodden preparation lines early!
Bishop Eyes the Knight
Wesley develops his light-squared bishop, subtly targeting Swiercz’s knight.
Swiercz develops his queenside bishop via fianchetto, reinforcing his control over the long diagonal and preparing a solid setup.
Wesley develops his knight, keeping options open to push his central e-pawn.
A pawn move opens up the diagonal for Swiercz’s bishop.
By moving his e-pawn just one square, Wesley mirrors Swiercz but preserves a solid structure.
Swiercz pushes his pawn to target Wesley’s bishop, forcing a decision: retreat or trade bishop for knight?
Wesley retreats his bishop to a safe square, avoiding the trade.
Swiercz advances his pawn, opening a square to develop his knight.
A prophylactic pawn move creates a safe retreat for his bishop, anticipating Swiercz’s potential pawn-and-knight chase.
Swiercz follows through on his plan, bringing the knight into play.
Wesley develops his knight, interposing against Swiercz’s bishop and securing his g-pawn, paving the way for smooth bishop development.
Swiercz launches an aggressive pawn push, targeting Wesley’s bishop and signaling an early skirmish on the kingside!
Wesley safely moves back his bishop, showcasing the earlier prophylactic pawn move: he’s ready if Swiercz’s knight comes chasing.
Swiercz brings his rook into defense of the g-pawn, preparing to push his h-pawn and continue an aggressive kingside plan.
Wesley develops his dark-squared bishop confidently, showing no fear of Swiercz’s kingside advance and keeping his position solid.
As planned, Swiercz advances his h-pawn, continuing his aggressive kingside strategy.
Wesley moves his queen, ready to castle queenside and tuck his king safely away from Swiercz’s kingside pressure.
Wesley trades bishops instead of retreating, missing a small advantage. The exchange helps Swiercz equalize.
Swiercz recaptures the bishop back with his queen, now equalizing the position.
With queenside castling, Wesley secures his king and connects his rooks.
Swiercz pushes his flank pawn, initiating a potential queenside pawn storm!
Wesley pushes his flank pawn, halting Swiercz’s potential queenside pawn advances and keeping the position under control.
Swiercz repositions his queen, targeting Wesley’s flank pawn and putting pressure on his queenside defenses.
Wesley moves his queen to defend the flank pawn, directly challenging Swiercz and hinting at a potential queen trade.
The queens are traded, simplifying the position, but with all pawns still on the board, careful maneuvering and strategic play remain crucial.
Wesley pushes his pawn forward, claiming more queenside territory and improving his position.
Swiercz repositions his knight, clearing the path to advance his f-pawn and increase kingside pressure.
Wesley retreats his bishop to make room for a g-pawn advance. In closed positions, patience and strategic maneuvering are key.
As planned, Swiercz advances his f-pawn, signaling intentions to challenge Wesley’s kingside structure.
By advancing his g-pawn, Wesley counters Swiercz’s f-pawn, showing careful preparation and strategic patience.
Swiercz brings his rook to the f-file, eyeing potential opening of the f-file.
Wesley brings his rook to the kingside, keeping an eye on the g-file and preparing for potential kingside activity.
Swiercz faces severe time trouble with only 3 minutes left, while Wesley enjoys roughly an hour. With move 40 still far away, every second counts for him now!
Wesley moves his king toward the center, reinforcing his knight and f-pawn.
Swiercz moves his rook up, aiming to double on the f-file and intensify pressure on Wesley’s kingside.
Wesley moves his king just in time, ensuring all his pieces are protected and his position remains intact.
Swiercz doubles his rooks on the f-file. Both sides have maneuvered carefully, and the position hangs in suspense, of what comes next!
With his rook protecting the f-pawn, Wesley can now maneuver his knight safely.
Swiercz repositions his bishop, preparing a central pawn break that could open up the closed position.
Wesley moves his knight as planned, preparing to reposition and maximize its potential.
Swiercz pushes his pawn in the center, challenging Wesley’s setup and opening lines for his pieces.
Wesley repositions his knight, placing it on a more active square to control key squares.
Swiercz captures Wesley’s bishop, simplifying the position.
Wesley recaptures with his rook, keeping material balanced. The tricky knights still lurk, promising tactical possibilities!
With his knight move, Swiercz attacks the g-pawn.
Wesley moves his pawn, in defense of his g-pawn.
Swiercz moves his knight to the center, offering a trade and testing Wesley’s decision-making.
Wesley wisely retreats his knight, avoiding a trade that would have given Swiercz a strong central pawn.
Swiercz makes a waiting move, gaining time.
Wesley advances his knight, attacking Swiercz’s g-pawn while keeping one piece tied down in passive defense.
Swiercz plays waiting moves, carefully conserving time as he struggles with just a minute left and aims to reach move 40 for the extra time.
It seemed like a repetition was incoming, but Wesley signals he’s not ready to settle for a draw and chooses to keep fighting!
Swiercz advances his pawn, preventing Wesley’s knight from jumping into the center.
But Wesley can exchange this pawn, by capturing it with an en passant and he goes for it!
Swiercz recaptures the pawn back with his knight.
Wesley shifts his rook to the d-file, creating subtle chances in a dry position and aiming to improve his setup gradually.
Swiercz defends his g-pawn, freeing his rook on the first rank.
With the second time control reached, each player gains 30 minutes. Swiercz finally gets relief from his critical clock situation!
Facing a dominant knight in the center, Swiercz opts for a trade.
Wesley recaptures the knight, playing beautifully and slowly gaining a small advantage: classic “principle of two weaknesses” in action!
➡️ The Principle of Two Weaknesses means you often need to create or attack two separate weaknesses in your opponent’s position, because one alone is usually not enough to win.
Here Wesley has left Swiercz with two targets, the d-pawn and g-pawn.
Sticking to passive defense is dangerous for Swiercz. Giving up a pawn to activate his pieces might be the better way forward.
Wesley misses the chance for a kingside pawn break. It would have been the perfect moment to increase pressure and seize a stronger advantage!
Swiercz sacrifices a pawn temporarily, opting for active play rather than passive defense.
Wesley accepts the temporary pawn sacrifice, offered by Swiercz.
Swiercz moves his rook, looking to regain the pawn back, and gain some activity.
A big mistake by Wesley! He loses the small advantage he had built, allowing Swiercz to equalize and reenter the game!
Swiercz captures with his rook, creating a fork on Wesley's knight and b-pawn.
Wesley moves his knight to safety, clearing the path for a potential g-pawn advance.
Swiercz takes Wesley’s b-pawn with his rook, giving a check.
Wesley wins a pawn and takes the lead, but the big question remains, can he convert this small advantage into a full point?
Swiercz trades rooks, reducing material and moving the game toward a calm yet still tricky endgame.
Wesley recaptures the rook back with his king.
Swiercz finds the best move, placing his rook on the seventh rank.
Wesley calmly moves his king out of check, stepping closer to Swiercz’s rook.
Swiercz moves his rook, creating a pin on Wesley’s knight and looking to slow down Wesley's coordination.
Wesley finds the best move! He surrenders his extra pawn to free his pieces and puts his hopes on the powerful passed g-pawn.
Swiercz avoids entering a rook endgame, which favors Wesley, and keeps the knights on the board.
All eyes are on the pawns! Swiercz pushes his hopes on the a-pawn, while Wesley relies on his passed g-pawn!
Wesley places his knight on a powerful central square, ready to support his g-pawn while keeping Swiercz’s a-pawn in check.
Swiercz moves his king out of check.
Instead of capturing a pawn, Wesley focuses on advancing his g-pawn, putting his energy into creating a winning passed pawn.
Wesley executes a stunning interference, sacrificing a piece to clear the path for his g-pawn’s promotion!
A big and important win for Wesley So in a long, 72 move game! The opening was an offbeat Nimzo-Larsen Attack, with Swiercz playing ambitiously from the start, launching a kingside pawn storm. Wesley, calm and solid, navigated the complications, and after a queen exchange, the game entered a long, maneuver-heavy positional endgame.
Swiercz found himself in critical time pressure, and Wesley gradually built a small but persistent advantage, applying the principle of two weaknesses to create multiple targets. The endgame saw swings, with Swiercz having moments to equalize, but Wesley’s resilience and precise play eventually converted the advantage into a full point.
With Caruana’s game still ongoing, the leaderboard is in flux, but this result certainly shakes up the title race. Stay tuned tomorrow for the final round, where the U.S. Championship will be decided!
Welcome to Round 10 and our live commentary! With just two rounds remaining, every move now carries enormous weight in the race for the U.S. Championship title. After Round 9, Fabiano Caruana leads the field with 6.5/9, followed closely by Wesley So on 6/9, and Levon Aronian on 5.5/9.
Today, all eyes are on Wesley So’s game against Dariusz Swiercz. Wesley, still unbeaten in this tournament, comes from a solid draw against Sevian and needs a win to catch up with Caruana before the final round. Swiercz, meanwhile, has had a challenging event so far, sitting at 3.5/9, and will be looking to bounce back with a strong performance.
Can Wesley score with the black pieces and set up a thrilling finale tomorrow? Let’s find out!