St. Louis is proving quite the accommodating host this summer.
Just days after staging the senior and junior U.S. open and women’s championships, the St. Louis Chess Club is again multitasking as the site for the Sinquefield Cup and Cairns Cup, annually among the stronger open and female invitational tournaments in the country.
As we write, U.S. GM Wesley So is clinging to a half-point lead over a quartet of challengers in the elite, 10-grandmaster Sinquefield Cup, with three rounds to go. On the women’s side, former women’s world champ GM Tan Zhongyi of China is pacing the field at 4½-1½, with American WGM Alice Lee alone in second at 4-2.
It’s been a tough go for the two world championship candidates competing in St. Louis: Uzbek GM Jovakhir Sindarov, who takes on world champ GM Dommaraju Gukesh of India in a title match later this year, is tied for eighth in the Sinquefield with just 2½ points, while India’s GM Vaishali Rameshbabu, set to take on women’s world champ GM Ju Wenjun, has just two points through six rounds in the Cairns clash.
Lee, just 17 years old, is fast cementing her status as one of the top American female players. But her superb tactical acumen deserted her in her only loss so far in St. Louis, when she fell victim to a fine mating attack from Greek IM Stavroula Tsolakidou.
Lee, as Black, secures an acceptable position out of this popular London System line, but gets into trouble when her king is left with too little protection: 14. Nxc3 Rd8?! (either 14…Ne5 or 14…e5 would slow down White’s plans more effectively) 15. e5 (forcing Black’s best defensive piece to relocate) Nd5, when the engines are already pushing for 16. Bxh7+!? Kxh7 17. Ng5+, with White seizing the edge in lines such as 17…Kg8 18. Nce4 Qb6 19. Qh5 Nxe5 20. Qh7+ Kf8 21. Qh8+ Ke7 22. Qxg7 Bd7 24. Qxe5.
Tsolakidou launches a different salvo just a few moves later with 17. Qc1 Nde7?! (again too casual as White’s attack gains fuel; better was 17…Nd4 18. Nxd4 Qxd4 19. Qg5 Bd7 20. Rad1 h6 21. Qg3 Bc6 and Black can fight on) 18. a3! (driving the queen away from her useful defensive post) Qb6 19. Rd1, already threatening 20. Nf6+! gxf6 21. exf6 Kf8 (Ng6 22. Qh6) 22. Qg5 Ng6 23. Bxg6 fxg6 24. Qh6+ Ke8 25. Qg7, with checkmate in the offing.
On 19…Nf5, White goes for it anyway with 20. Nf6+!? (this shouldn’t win, and objectively stronger was 20. b4 h6 21. b5, but now Black must find a string of forced moves just to survive) gxf6 21. exf6 h6 (Black must prevent 22. Qg5+ Kf8 23. Bxf5 exf5 24. Qg7+ Ke8 25. Qg8 mate) 22. Bxf5!? (OK, but even better was 22. g4!) Rxd1+ 23. Qxd1 (see diagram; mandatory now was 23…Qxb2! 24. Be4 Qxf6 25. Rc1 e5 26. Bxc6 bxc6 27. Qe2, and it’s still very much a game) exf5? 24. Qd6!! — an inspired and unexpected move that threatens to transfer the White queen to the attacking zone via g3.
With the White rook also poised to crash the party, Lee has no defense: 24…Be6 (Qb3 loses to 25. Qg3+ Kf8 26. Re1 Be6 27. Qg7+ Ke8 28. Qg8+ Kd7 29. Qxa8 and wins) 25. Qg3+ Kf8 26. Rd1! (neatly cutting off the Black king’s escape route) Qc5 27. b4! (once again ousting the Black queen from a critical defensive perch; bad was the hasty 27. Qg7+? Ke8 28. Qg8+ Qf8 and Black survives) Nxb4 28. axb4 Qxb4 29. Rd6!, once again sealing off the Black queen from the defense of her king.
Lee resigned as it’s mate in just a few moves, even after 29…Qxd6 30. Qxd6+ Kg8 31. Qg3+ Kf8 32. Ne5! Rc8 33. Qg7+ Ke8 24. Qg8 mate.
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We noted here last week the passing of Continental Chess Association founder and prolific tournament director, Bill Goichberg, earlier this month at the age of 83. A former president of the U.S. Chess Federation, a former co-editor of the magazine Chess Life, captain of the U.S. 1976 Olympiad team and the driving force behind the World Open, the North American Open and innumerable scholastic chess events, Goichberg provided the organizational acumen and entrepreneurial drive to greatly expand the game’s reach in the U.S. during a remarkable six-decade career.
But we should not overlook Goichberg’s over-the-board achievements as well. His USCF rating topped 2500 at its peak, and he likely could have claimed the international master title had his other chess duties not taken precedence.
Raised in the intensely competitive postwar New York chess scene, he scored an excellent result in the 1967 U.S. Open held in Atlanta, tying for fourth behind winner GM Pal Benko alongside such luminaries as GM Nicholas Rossolimo and future GM Walter Browne.
Goichberg was a fierce attacker at the board, as can be seen in his win over longtime Virginia master Rusty Potter in Atlanta. This Rubinstein French game has distinct parallels to our first game, with Goichberg as White employing the very same bishop sacrifice on h6 to pry open the Black king position and ignite a mating attack.
Here, too, Black is just a tad too casual with his kingside defense, opening himself up to a powerful tactic: 11. Bd2 a6?! (too slow — better was an immediate challenge in the center with 11…c5, when Black can fight for the initiative after 12. Rhe1 b5!? 13. Bxb5 cxd4 14. Nxd4 Bb7) 12. h4 b5 13. Bd3 Qd6?! (another less-than-pressing move when 13…c5 was called for) 14. Ne5 Bb7 15. Bxh6!.
It may already be too late for the defender, as 13…f5 16. g4 gxh6 17. gxf5 exf5 18. Rdg1+ Kh8 19. Qf3 set up the nasty threat of 20. Rg6 Rf6 21. Rhg1, with tremendous pressure. As in our first game, however, accepting the impudent bishop plays out even worse for Black.
Thus: 15…gxh6 16. Qg4+ Kh8 17. Qh5 Kg7 18. Rh3! (ignoring the coming Black knight fork to keep the attack in high gear) Nf4 19. Qg4+ Bg5 (desperation, but no better was 19…Ng6 20. Bxg6 fxg6 21. Qxg6+ Kh8 22. Qxh6+ Kg8 23. Rg3+ and mate next) 20. hxg5 Nxh3 21. gxh3 Qe7 (there’s no salvation in 21…Rh8 22. gxh6+ Kf8 23. Qg7+ Ke7 24. Qxf7+ Kd8 25. Qf6+ Kc8 26. Qxh8+ Qd8 27. Qxd8+ Kxd8 28. Rg1 and wins) 22. gxh6+ Kxh6 23. Rg1 (as the last White piece joins the hunting party, Black chooses a quick end to his suffering) f5 (Goichberg also runs down his prey on 23…Rg8 24. Nxf7+! Qxf7 25. Qh4+ Qh5 26. Qf6+ Rg6 27. Rxg6+ Kh7 28. Qg7 mate) 24. Qg6 mate.
(Click on the image above for a larger view of the chessboard.)
Tsolakidou-Lee, 6th Cairns Cup, St. Louis, August 2026
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4 c5 4. e3 Nc6 5. h3 e6 6. Bd3 Bd6 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. Nc3 Bd6 9. O-O O-O 10. Bxd6 Qxd6 11. e4 d4 12. Nb5 Qc5 13. c3 dxc3 14. Nxc3 Rd8 15. e5 Nd5 16. Ne4 Qb4 17. Qc1 Nde7 18. a3 Qb6 19. Rd1 Nf5 20. Nf6+ gxf6 21. exf6 h6 22. Bxf5 Rxd1+ 23. Qxd1 exf5 24. Qd6 Be6 25. Qg3+ Kf8 26. Rd1 Qc5 27. b4 Nxb4 28. axb4 Qxb4 29. Rd6 Black resigns.
Goichberg-Potter, 68th U.S. Open, Atlanta, August 1967
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Nf3 Ngf6 6.Nxf6+ Nxf6 7.Bc4 h6 8.Qe2 Be7 9.Bf4 O-O 10.O-O-O Nd5 11.Bd2 a6 12.h4 b5 13.Bd3 Qd6 14.Ne5 Bb7 15.Bxh6 gxh6 16.Qg4+ Kh8 17.Qh5 Kg7 18.Rh3 Nf4 19.Qg4+ Bg5 20.hxg5 Nxh3 21.gxh3 Qe7 22.gxh6+ Kxh6 23.Rg1 f5 24.Qg6 mate.
• Got a hot tip or a cool game to share? David R. Sands can be reached at davidrsands18@gmail.com.
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