Zatonskih Goes Undefeated to Win US Women's Championship

Anna Zatonskih came into the US Women's Chess Championship as the top seed (just barely -- her USCF and FIDE ratings were just two and four points higher, respectively, than those of Irina Krush), but few could have predicted that she'd dominate a fairly strong field as thoroughly as she did last week, winning the event by two points without a single loss. Her score of 8.5/9 was nearly reminiscent of Bobby Fischer's 11-0 score at the 1963/64 US Championship; Zatonskih's only blemish came in a draw against Camilla Baginskaite, who finished second at 6.5 points.

The complete tournament standings show just how competitive the championship was. Even the lowest rated player, Yun Fan, scored a respectable 2.5 points, and every player recorded at least two wins. Third place was shared by Krush and each scoring 5.5 points.

This year's championship was held at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis, the same beautiful venue which hosted the 2009 US Championship. The prize fund of over $64,000 was the largest ever for a US Women's Championship, with Zatonskih winning $15,000 for first place. Her performance was so impressive that even in a field that would be considered weak compared to many of the international tournaments we talk about here (the average FIDE rating of the group was just 2292), her performance rating was 2765 -- meaning she did about as well as you'd expect any super GM to do in an event of this level! Congratulations to Anna Zatonskih on a fantastic performance, and a well-earned championship.