Anna Zatonskih! (14)

Zatonskih and Abrahamyan © official site
The US Championships ended on the final evening with an entertaining tie-break for the Women's final. All three hard-fought tussles were long and tense. Zatonskih won the first, lost the second but edged the title by drawing the third game with Black.

The final went the whole way. Anna Zatonskih's win with Black in the first rapid game (game 3) was followed by Tatev Abrahamyan hitting back (game 4), thus taking the game to the fifth and final game.

Tatev Abrahamyan then took White with more time on the clock, but in these Armageddon games Black has draw odds. So by holding the draw, Anna Zatonskih became the 2011 Champion.

Final:

Game no. White Elo Result Black Elo
1 Tatev Abrahamyan  2326 ½-½ Anna Zatonskih 2499
2 Anna Zatonskih 2499 ½-½  Tatev Abrahamyan  2326
3 Tatev Abrahamyan   2326 0-1 Anna Zatonskih 2499
4 Anna Zatonskih  2499 0-1 Tatev Abrahamyan  2326
5 Tatev Abrahamyan  2326 ½-½ Anna Zatonskih 2499 

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