Fierce fights as U.S. title tourneys near climax

It’s just past the halfway point in the U.S. open and women’s national championship tournaments, with fierce fights for the crown still very much up in the air at this point.

With four rounds to go as this is being written, three-time defending champ GM Fabiano Caruana and second-seeded GM Wesly So are tied atop the 12-grandmaster field in the U.S. Championship at 5-2, with GMs Hans Niemann and Levon Aronian a point back. In the U.S. Women’s Championship, young Minnesota sensation WGM Alice Lee leads the pack, also at 5-2, but with seven rivals within a point of the front-runner.

Both tournaments, being played at the St. Louis Chess Club, feature a nice mix of proven veterans and next-generation stars, leading to some spirited fights.

After his recent stunning run at September’s FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament, in which he nearly qualified for the 2026 Candidates cycle, it was unlikely the other grandmasters in St. Louis were underestimating young GM Andy Woodward. The Texas teenager had a rough start in his first U.S. title tournament, with two losses in his first three games, but bounced back with a pair of wins including a nice tactical takedown of GM Sam Sevian in Round 5.

Play is dynamically equal in the early stages of this English Opening, but White gets a little too far out over his skies and is punished for his aggression: 22. Nd4 Rad8 23. Qe2?! (heading down the wrong path; better was something solid like 23. Rac1) Qe8 24. Qe3 Qe5! — a cheeky move that invites complications that the young Woodward handles superbly.

Sevian takes the bait with 25. f4? (Qe2 Bd6 26. Nf3 maintains the balance) with dreams of a potent central push, only to be surprised by 25…Nd5!! (Qe7?! 26. Kh1 Rfe8 27. Qg3, with pleasant pressure for White on the kingside) 26. Qf2 (an ignominious retreat, but also bad were 26. fxe5? Nxe3 27. Rd3 Nxg2 28. Kxg2 fxe5, winning the pinned knight, and 26. Rdc1 Nxe3 27. fxe5 Nxg2 28. Kxg2 fxe5 29. Nf3 Bg6 30. Rc4 Rxf3 31. Kxf3 Rd3+ 32. Ke2 Rd2+ 33. Ke3 Rxb2, and Black’s two bishops will dominate) Nxf4.

White parries with the tricky 27. Nc6, setting up a double attack on the Black queen, but Woodward has another trick up his combinational sleeve: 27…Rxd1+ 28. Rxd1 Qxe4!!, when 29. Bxe4 (Ne7+ Qxe7 30. Qxf4 Bxb3 31. Rc1 c6) Nxh3+ 30. Kg2 Nxf2 31. Kxf2 bxc6 32. Bxc6 Bxb3 33. Bd5+ Bxd5 34. Rxd5 c5 just leaves Black up a healthy two pawns.

After the game’s 29. Nxb4 Nxg2 30. Rd4 (Qxg2 Qxb4) Qb1+ 31. Kxg2 axb4 32. Qd2 c6!, Woodward is ahead in material, his opponent has no counterplay, and the Black bishop is heading for the dominating d5-square. It’s over on 35. Rxd5 Qe4+! (accurate to the last; more work than necessary was 35…cxd5!? 36. Qxd5+ Kh8 37. Bd4 Qc2+ 38. Bf2) 36. Kf2 Qxd5, and White resigned facing dreary lines such as 37. Qc2 Re4 38. gxf6 Qf5+ 39. Kg2 Rg4+ 40. hxg4 Qxc2+ and wins.

The showdown between top seeds Caruana and So, which we pick up from today’s diagram, features a bit of a rarity: Caruana, the world’s third-ranked player, misses a forced mate at the board and had to settle for a draw, muffing a golden opportunity to put some distance between himself and the field.

So as Black had been steadily outplayed in another English Opening, and White correctly sacrifices a piece in search of the coup de grace: 35. Be5! Qxb3 (one threat was 36. Rh6+ Kg8 37. Qd5+ Rf7 38. Qxf7 mate) 36. Rh6+! Kg8 (Nxh6 37. Qxg7 mate) 37. Rh7 Rf7 38. Nxf7 Kxh7 39. Ng5+ Kh6 40. Qxb6+ g6.

Here the search engines go Code Red, noting White has a forced mate with 41. Qd8! Nxh4 42. Bf6! (not an easy move for a human to spot with time control looming) Nf3+ 43. Nxf3 Qd1+ 44. Kh2 Bd6+ 45. Qxd6 Qxf3 46. Qf8+ Kh7 47. Qg7 mate.

Caruana’s 41. Qf6?, threatening mate on the move, looks just as lethal, but allows Black a miracle defensive save: 41…Qg8! 42. Nf7+ Kh7 43. Ng5+ Kh6 44. Bxd4 Nxd4 45. Qxd4 Qg7 — White is a pawn up, but his mating attack is dead and Black’s long-range bishop offers clear drawing chances in the ending.

White can harass the cornered Black king but can never recruit enough forces to renew the mating threats. After several fruitless feints, Caruana agreed to the draw on Move 62.

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GM Irina Krush has long dominated the American women’s game, with her eight U.S. women’s national titles helping to earn her an induction into the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame just before this year’s tournament began. But Krush in recent years has been caught and surpassed by a rising generation of U.S. female stars, notably IM Carissa Yip, the 2023 and 2024 women’s champ now studying at Stanford, and Lee, who just turned 16.

So it must have been particularly satisfying for Krush to upend Lee in the very first round of this year’s event, using a piece sacrifice and her formidable attacking skills to take down her younger rival.

Lee as Black is doing fine in this QGD Exchange line at first, but gets a little too casual about her king’s safety and pays a drastic price: 16. f4 c5? 17. Qf2?! (missing the first open door, as White gets a raging attack on 17. dxc5 Qxc5 18. b4!; e.g. 18…Qxe3+ 19. Kh1 Bc6 20. Rf3 Qe7 21. Rg3) c4 18. Bc2 g6? (fatally weakening the kingside, as Krush now launches a principled piece sac; better was 18…Kh8) 19. e4!! gxh5 (f5 20. e5 Qe6 21. Nf6+ Kh8 22. Nfxd5 is great for White as well) 20. e5 Qc6 21. f5, and White’s dominating pawns are well worth the lost knight.

It’s effectively over after 21…Rd8 (Bxe5 22. dxe5 Qb6 23. Nxd5 Qxf2+ 24. Rxf2 Bc6 25. Nf6+ Kh8 26. e6!) 22. Qg3+ Kf8 23. f6 Be6 24. Ba4!, winning the Black queen as 24…Qb6?? 25. Qg7 is mate.

With a queen and pawn for two bishops, the rest of the game is a mop-up operation for Krush. After 48. Rc2 Rgc8 49. Rcb2, Black must lose even more material and Lee resigned. 

(Click on the image above for a larger view of the chessboard.)

Sevian-Woodward, 2025 U.S. Championship, St. Louis, October 2025

1. c4 e5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. O-O Nb6 7. b3 Be7 8. Bb2 f6 9. Na3 Be6 10. Nc2 Qd7 11. e4 Bc5 12. d4 exd4 13. Ncxd4 Nxd4 14. Nxd4Bg4 15. Nf3 O-O 16. Qc2 Bd6 17. a4 a5 18. Rfe1 Bb4 19. Red1 Qe7 20. h3 Bh5 21. g4 Bf7 22. Nd4 Rad8 23. Qe2 Qe8 24. Qe3 Qe5 25. f4 Nd5 26. Qf2 Nxf4 27. Nc6 Rxd1+ 28. Rxd1 Qxe4 29. Nxb4 Nxg2 30. Rd4 Qb1+ 31. Kxg2 axb4 32. Qd2 c6 33. Rd7 Re8 34. g5 Bd5+ 35. Rxd5 Qe4+ 36. Kf2 Qxd5 White resigns.

Krush-Lee, 2025 U.S. Women’s Championship, St. Louis, October 2025

1. c4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 Be7 6. e3 h6 7. Bh4 Bg4 8. Qc2 O-O 9. Nge2 Qd7 10. Bxf6 Bxf6 11. Nf4 c6 12. Bd3 Qd6 13. h3 Bd7 14. Nh5 Bd8 15. O-O Bc7 16. f4 c5 17. Qf2 c4 18. Bc2 g6 19. e4 gxh5 20. e5 Qc6 21. f5 Rd8 22. Qg3+ Kf8 23. f6 Be6 24. Ba4 Bb6 25. Rad1 Ke8 26. Qh4 Kd7 27. Qxh5 a6 28. Bxc6+ Nxc6 29. Ne2 Rg8 30. Kh2 Rg5 31. Qxh6 Rag8 32. g4 Ba7 33. Qh4 b5 34. b3 c3 35. a3 a5 36. b4 c2 37. Rd2 axb4 38. axb4 Nxb4 39. Qg3 Nc6 40. Qa3 b4 41. Qa4 b3 42. Qxb3 Rb8 43. Qxc2 Rgg8 44. Rb1 Bb6 45. Qa4 Ra8 46. Qb5 Rab8 47. Qa6 Kc7 48. Rc2 Rgc8 49. Rcb2 Black resigns.

• Got a good game or a hot chess tip to share? David R. Sands can be reached at davidrsands18@gmail.com.