US Championships Round 4: Anna Sargsyan one point ahead

by Stefan Liebig
10/16/2025 – Hans Niemann was the sole winner in Round 4 of the Open section at this year’s U.S. Championships. Playing Black, he defeated Sam Shankland to move into a tie for second place with defending champion Fabiano Caruana and Levon Aronian, half a point behind leader Wesley So, who drew his game against Abhimanyu Mishra. In the Women’s Championship, by contrast, five players scored victories. With second-placed Alice Lee drawing against defending champion Carissa Yip, leader Anna Sargsyan extended her lead to a full point thanks to her win over Megan Paragua. Thursday is a rest day in St. Louis. | Photos: Lennart Ootes / St. Louis Chess Club
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Open

The U.S. Championships in Saint Louis have been marked by a high draw rate from the very first round — and Round 4 pushed that trend even further. Five of the six games in the Open section ended peacefully. The lone decisive result came from Hans Moke Niemann, who handed Sam Shankland his second consecutive loss, following Shankland’s defeat to Wesley So the day before.

Hans Niemann greets Sam Shankland before the start of their game | Photo: Lennart Ootes

With his full-point win over Shankland, Hans Niemann moved up into the chasing pack — while Shankland dropped out of it. Niemann’s victory was a striking attacking game featuring a well-calculated sacrifice, earning him a share of second place alongside defending champion Fabiano Caruana and Levon Aronian. All three stand on 2.5 points, half a point behind leader Wesley So.

Fabiano Caruana | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Abhimanyu Mishra drew against Wesley So | Photo: Lennart Ootes

At the top of the table, Wesley So drew with Abhimanyu Mishra, while Fabiano Caruana split the point with Sam Sevian and Levon Aronian did the same against Dariusz Swiercz. Further down the standings, Grigoriy Oparin’s game with Ray Robson and the encounter between bottom-placed Andy Woodward and Awonder Liang also ended in draws, completing the round’s flood of peaceful results.

Carissa Yip and Andy Woodward | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Results

Table

Games

Women's Tournament

Anna Sargsyan leads the field in the Women’s Championship | Photo: Lennart Ootes 

The Women’s Championship has been far more combative than the Open: five wins in six games tell the story clearly enough. In fact, every game could easily have produced a decisive result. Only Alice Lee missed out on converting her well played game against defending champion Carissa Yip, who narrowly escaped with a draw.

Fighting chess: Irina Krush started with two wins and two losses into the tournament | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Irina Krush and Jennifer Yu played the wildest game of the round. Entering the time scramble from a losing position, Krush couldn’t recover, and Yu converted for the full point. Both now stand on two points. Krush remains without a draw so far — like Rose Atwell, she has two wins and two losses to her name.

Results

Table

Games

Round-up with Katerina Nemcova, Yasser Seirawan and Maurice Ashley

Links

Topics: SLCC, St. Louis, US Championships 2025
Stefan Liebig, born in 1974, is a journalist and co-owner of a marketing agency. He now lives in Barterode near Göttingen. At the age of five, strange pieces on his neighbour’s shelf aroused his curiosity. Since then, the game of chess has cast a spell over him. Flying high in the NRW youth league with his home club SV Bad Laasphe and several appearances in the second division team of Tempo Göttingen were highlights for the former youth South Westphalia champion.