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Wesley So wins the 2026 U.S. Championship in a playoff; Rachael Li takes the women's title

Published · By TG, the site operator

The 2026 U.S. Championship and U.S. Women's Championship are over. Both were twelve-player round robins of eleven rounds, played at the Saint Louis Chess Club from 9 to 21 October with a classical time control. Grandmaster Wesley So won the open title on 22 October by beating Grandmaster Fabiano Caruana 1½–½ in a rapid playoff, which ends Caruana's four-year reign as champion. US Chess says it is So's fourth national title and his first for five years. In the women's event, 16-year-old Woman International Master Rachael Li finished alone in first place with 8½/11 to win her first title.

A last round that changed everything

So went into the final round on 21 October a full point ahead, so a draw with Black against Grandmaster Sam Sevian would have been enough. Caruana did his part first by beating Grandmaster Awonder Liang. Sevian, who had set out to play for a win, then showed fine technique in a rook-and-pawn endgame and beat the leader, which left So and Caruana level at the top. Grandmasters Grigoriy Oparin and Jeffery Xiong shared third place.

Two rapid games decide the title

The playoff was a two-game match at 15 minutes each plus 10 seconds per move. In game one Caruana had White in a Nimzo-Indian Defence. Both players ran short of time in a sharp position, and So was the one who had to bail out with a draw. In game two So opened with the Scotch Four Knights, met Caruana's gambit with the solid 6.Qd3 instead of capturing on c6, and left his opponent defending a passive position. Caruana stirred up some counterplay, but So regained control and won.

Li holds her nerve

Li won seven games and lost only one. A draw as Black against International Master Anna Zatonskih in the last round kept her ahead of International Master Alice Lee, who won her final game and took second place with 8/11. Grandmaster Irina Krush was third on 7½.

How to read 48...Rxg3??

The annotated US Chess report singles out one move in So's last-round loss, written 48...Rxg3??. Two parts of it never appear on this site. The three dots say the move was Black's 48th, with White's 48th left out. The two question marks are a commentator's verdict: they mark a blunder. Our move list gives each move number its own row, with White's move and then Black's, so it has no need for the dots, and it records only the moves, never a judgement on them. The rules guide explains the rest of the notation, such as x for a capture and + for check.

According to the same report, Sevian said afterwards that So seemed to think the game was already lost when he played it, while the report adds that So had more defensive chances than he seemed to realise. That is the lesson for everyone else: a position that feels lost often is not, and the most stubborn defence is worth looking for before you give up.

Trying it here

When a game on this site ends, the move list stays beside the board until you start a new one. Read back through it and find the move where the game turned, as an annotator would; it is the quickest way to learn from a loss. In online games, where each turn has a ten-minute limit, the Resign button asks you to confirm first. Use that pause to look once more for checks, captures and threats that might still save the game.

Sources

Written by the operator of this site from the sources listed above. Spotted a mistake? Email [email protected] and it will be corrected.

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