There was some heartbreak and last-round drama at the 125th annual U.S. Open in Middleton, Wisconsin, last week, with Missouri GM Darius Swiercz emerging from the pack to take solo first and punch his ticket for a berth in the next U.S. national championship tournament.
Hometown favorite GM Joshua Friedel held a half-point lead heading into the ninth and final round, having already defeated two top grandmaster rivals, but lost to the Polish-born Swiercz finishing in a 10-way tie for second behind the winner’s undefeated 8-1 score.
Among those joining Friedel at 7½-1½ was Virginia’s own GM Praveen Balakrishna. A total of 475 players competed in the country’s longest-running and most prestigious open event.
Swiercz needed a rally in the final rounds to clinch the title, starting with a nice Round 8 win over Connecticut NM Nathaniel Moor, whose fine 7-2 result included an early upset of GM Daniel Naroditsky. Out of a Queen’s Indian, Swiercz as Black sets up a rock-solid Stonewall center that White fails to challenge aggressively after 12. Nxe4 fxe4 13. Ba3!?, when 13. f3 would have been more to the point.
Some early queenside skirmishing is fought to a draw, so Black goes hunting for play on the kingside with 20. Rac1 h5 21. Bh3 g5. Moor is still very much in the game until a small finesse rewards Black’s persistence: 23. f3 Qb4!? (a brave decision when Black absolutely needs a win, but White still faces defensive challenges with the queens off) 24. Qxb4 axb4 25. Kf2? (the White king steps up to defend the vulnerable f- and e-pawns, but puts himself needlessly in the line of fire; tougher with 25. Nc2 g4 26. fxg4 Nxg4 27. Bxg4 hxg4 28. e3, and it’s still anybody’s game) Ke7! (pinning the White f-pawn and setting up numerous tactical ideas) 26. Bg2 exf3 27. exf3 Ne4+, and White’s only legal move is to send the king back to where it just came from.
Black’s pieces pierce the White defensive perimeter and Swiercz’s bishop nicely repositions itself for the decisive shot: 30. Kf2 Bd3 31. a4 Kd6 32. Bf1 Be4 33. Bg2 (see diagram) Bxf3! — not a hard move to find but still a nice reward for Black’s purposeful play.
The pinned White bishop is doomed after 34. Bxf3 g4 35. Nc2 Ne4+ 36. Ke1 gxf3, and trying to win the pawn back with 37. Nxb4 runs into 37…f2+ 38. Ke2 Nd2! 39. Kxd2 f1=Q 40. Rxf1 Rxf1 41. Nd3 Rh1 42. h4 Rg1 and wins.
With White’s pieces pushed back and the passed f-pawn a constant threat, Black’s rook probes first on the a-file and then on the h-file for the final breakthrough. Moor can’t hold back the tide on 46. Rf4 Ke5 47. Kg3 (Kxf3? Nd4+ 48. Ke3 Rxa4) Nd4 48. Nb6 Ne2+! (efficiently simplifying to an easy win) 49. Kf2 Kxf4 50. Nxa8 Nc3, and White resigned as the passed Black pawn makes its presence felt in lines such as 51. Nc7 Ne4+ 52. Ke1 Ke3 53. Nxe6 f2+ 54. Kf1 Nd2 mate.
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Friedel, who took the U.S. Open title in 2013, enjoyed a blistering start with seven straight wins, including victories over GMs Jianchou Zhou and Varuzhan Akobian. The win over Zhou included an unexpected positional swerve in a heavily trafficked QGD Exchange line to which  Black never fully adjusted.
Things are going along well-traveled lines up through 18. Bxe7 Rxe7, with White ordinarily looking to plant his offside knight more effectively at either b6 or c5. Instead, Friedel goes in a very different direction with 19. Nh5!? Re8? (already failing to appreciate the positional tack, as White plans to grab space with an f-pawn push and attack; far better was an immediate challenge to that idea with 19…g6! 20. Ng3 f5) 20. f5! Qg5 21. Qe2! — a nice multipurpose move that adds fuel to the attack while protecting the knight on h5.
White amps up the pressure after 23…Re7? (an odd move that only gums up Black’s defensive line while in some lines setting up a fork of the rook and queen) 24. Nc3! (it turns out the knight never goes to the tempting queenside posts, preferring instead to aid the attack on the kingside) g6 25. e4 gxf5 26. e5!, far better than 26. exf5?! Rxe1 27. Rxe1 Re8, blocking all White’s attack lines.
On 26…Qg5 27. Re3! f4 28. Qxf4 (Rf3 was also strong) Qxf4 29. Rxf4, White doesn’t need his queen to exploit the wide-open files to Black’s king. On 30. Rh4 Ree8 (there’s no saving the h-pawn: 30…Kg7? 31. Rg3+ Kf8 32. Rxh6) 31. Bf5!, Friedel is a clear pawn to the good while Black’s army is largely tied down.
The exchange 34. Bxe6! Bxe6 35. Nf4 leaves White with a material edge and a nimble knight that dominates Black’s bishop. The end comes just after time control after 39. Nf6 Ke6 40. Rc3! (sidestepping 40. Nxe4?! dxe4 41. Rxe4 Rxh3, with counterplay, while preventing Black’s hopes of a c6-c5 break) Ra8 41. h4, and Zhou resigns. It may look a little premature, but Black’s king is cut off and he has simply no answer to the coming advance down the board of the White kingside pawns.
(Click on the image above for a larger view of the chessboard.)
Moor-Swiercz, 125th U.S. Open, Middleton, Wisconsin, August 2025
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 Be7 6. Bg2 c6 7. O-O O-O 8. b3 d5 9. Bc3 Ne4 10. Bb2 Nd7 11. Nfd2 f5 12. Nxe4 fxe4 13. Ba3 Nf6 14. Qc1 Bxa3 15. Nxa3 Qe7 16. cxd5 cxd5 17. Nc2 a5 18. Qd2 Ba6 19. Ne3 Rac8 20. Rac1 h5 21. Bh3 g5 22. Rfe1 Kf7 23. f3 Qb4 24. Qxb4 axb4 25. Kf2 Ke7 26. Bg2 exf3 27. exf3 Ne4+ 28. Kg1 Rxc1 29. Rxc1 Nc3 30. Kf2 Bd3 31. a4 Kd6 32. Bf1 Be4 33. Bg2 Bxf3 34. Bxf3 g4 35. Nc2 Ne4+ 36. Ke1 gxf3 37. Ne3 Ra8 38. Nd1 b5 39. Nb2 bxa4 40. Nxa4 h4 41. g4 h3 42. Kf1 Nd2+ 43. Kf2 Nxb3 44. Rb1 Nxd4 45. Rxb4 Nc6 46. Rf4 Ke5 47. Kg3 Nd4 48. Nb6 Ne2+ 49. Kf2 Kxf4 50. Nxa8 Nc3 White resigns.
Friedel-Zhou, 125th U.S. Open, Middleton, Wisconsin, August 2025
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 c6 6. e3 h6 7. Bh4 Bd6 8. Bd3 O-O 9. Nge2 Re8 10. h3 a5 11. Qc2 Na6 12. a3 Nc7 13. O-O Ne6 14. Rae1 Bd7 15. f4 Be7 16. Ng3 Nf8 17. Na4 N6h7 18. Bxe7 Rxe7 19. Nh5 Re8 20. f5 Qg5 21. Qe2 Nf6 22. Nxf6+ Qxf6 23. Qf2 Re7 24. Nc3 g6 25. e4 gxf5 26. e5 Qg5 27. Re3 f4 28. Qxf4 Qxf4 29. Rxf4 Ne6 30. Rh4 Ree8 31. Bf5 Kf8 32. Rxh6 a4 33. Ne2 Ke7 34. Bxe6 Bxe6 35. Nf4 Bf5 36. g4 Be4 37. Nh5 Rh8 38. Rxh8 Rxh8 39. Nf6 Ke6 40. Rc3 Ra8 41. h4 Black resigns.
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