Caruana recovers to reach Grand Final

The Grand Final of the 2025 American Cup is set, with Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura emerging as the two contenders for the title. On Thursday, Nakamura won the final match of the Champions Bracket in a closely contested battle against Caruana. After two classical games failed to produce a decisive result, the match was decided in blitz tiebreaks. Nakamura clinched victory with a 1½-½ score, taking advantage of Caruana's inability to convert a winning endgame in the second encounter. With this result, Nakamura secured his place in the Grand Final, while Caruana was sent to the Elimination Bracket for one final test.

In the Elimination Bracket, Caruana faced Levon Aronian for the remaining spot in the deciding match. Unlike in the Champions Bracket, games in this stage were played under rapid and blitz time controls. The rapid portion saw both players winning with the white pieces, leading to a blitz tiebreak. Caruana ultimately prevailed, winning back-to-back blitz games to secure his rematch against Nakamura.

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The Grand Final will consist of two classical games played on Saturday and Sunday, with tiebreaks scheduled for Sunday if necessary. Due to the double-elimination format, Caruana must win the match to force a Grand Final Reset, as Nakamura has yet to lose a match in the tournament. Should that happen, a second deciding match will be played on Monday to determine the champion.

Fabiano Caruana | Photo: Lennart Ootes

In the second blitz tiebreaker - played on Thursday - against Nakamura, Caruana had a dangerous passer on the d-file in what engines evaluate as a clearly winning position. The Italo-American grandmaster, however, failed to find the killer blow.

With less than 10 seconds on his clock, Caruana here played 66...Kg7, which is still good for Black but misses the chance to win at once with 66...Rxd1 67.Qxd1 Nd3

There is nothing White can do to deal with the threat of 68...Nb2 - e.g. 68.Qb3 Nb2, and the knight cannot be captured due to ...d2-d1Q.

This idea no longer worked in the game, as the king now stood on g7, which meant White could capture the knight on b2 with check. Caruana went on to make another mistake, which granted Nakamura the draw he needed to win the Champions Bracket final.

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All games - Open (champions bracket)

All games - Open (elimination bracket)

Lee reaches fourth Grand Final, Abrahamyan bounces back

For the first time in the history of the women's section of the American Cup, the Grand Final will not feature a clash between Alice Lee and Irina Krush. The two had contested the deciding match in all three previous editions, with Krush winning in 2022 and 2023, and Lee claiming the title last year. This time, Lee once again secured a place in the Grand Final by defeating Tatev Abrahamyan in the Champions Bracket final.

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Lee won the first classical game of the match with the white pieces, putting her in a strong position heading into the second encounter. Abrahamyan had a golden opportunity to level the score but failed to convert a winning rook endgame despite holding an extra pawn (see analysis of the endgame by GM Karsten Müller below). As a result, Lee advanced to the Grand Final, while Abrahamyan was relegated to the Elimination Bracket for one final chance.

In the final of the Elimination Bracket, Abrahamyan showed resilience by defeating Krush, much like Fabiano Caruana did in the open section. She scored back-to-back wins against the eight-time US Women's Champion, securing a rematch against Lee for the title. The Grand Final will now see Lee and Abrahamyan face off once again, with Lee holding the advantage of having yet to lose a match in the tournament.

Alice Lee | Photo: Crystal Fuller

Abrahamyan ½-½ Lee

Analysis by GM Karsten Müller

Abrahamyan, Tatev2310

½–½

Lee, Alice2386

American Cup Women Champions 2025 Saint Louis20.03.2025[Mueller,Karsten]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 e6 4.Bxc6 bxc6 5.b3 e5 6.Bb2 d6 7.d3 Ne7 8.Nbd2 Ng6 9.g3 Bh3 10.Qe2 Be7 11.0-0-0 0-0 12.Nc4 Qd7 13.Ne3 f5 14.exf5 Bxf5 15.Nd2 Bh3 16.Kb1 Rf7 17.f3 Raf8 18.Rde1 d5 19.Rhg1 Bd8 20.Ba3 Qd6 21.Nd1 Ba5 22.Qe3 d4 23.Qe2 Qd5 24.Nf2 Bf5 25.Rd1 Bc3 26.h4 Bxd2 27.Rxd2 Bd7 28.Ne4 Rxf3 29.h5 Re3 30.Qh2 Nh8 31.Bxc5 Rb8 32.Ba3 Nf7 33.Rf1 Qa5 34.Bc1 Be6 35.Qh4 Bd5 36.h6 Qd8 37.Rdf2 Qxh4 38.gxh4 Nxh6 39.Bxe3 dxe3 40.Rg2 Bxe4 41.dxe4 Rd8 42.Re1 Nf7 43.Rxe3 Rd1+ 44.Kb2 Rh1 45.Rc3 Rxh4 46.Rxc6 g5 47.Rc8+ Kg7 48.c4 Nd6 49.Rxg5+ Kf6 50.Rcg8 Nxe4 51.Rg2 h5 52.Rf8+ Ke7 53.Ra8 Rg4 54.Rxa7+ Kf6 55.Rh2 h4 56.Rh7 Kg5 57.a4 Nc5 58.a5 Rg3 59.Rg7+ Kf5 60.Rf7+ Ke6 61.Rc7 Kd6

Do not rush. This is an important endgame principle: 62.Rxc5 This rushes, but is playable. But only with the right follow-up. 62.Rc8+- wins as well. 62...Kxc5 63.Rxh4? White rushes again, and this time it is too late. 63.a6! wins as Black must deal with the a-pawn and so gets passive, e.g. Kb6 63...Rg6 64.a7 Ra6 65.Rxh4 Rxa7 66.Re4 Re7 67.Kc3+- 64.Rxh4 Kxa6 65.Re4 Rg5 66.b4 Rf5 67.Kc3 Rf3+ 68.Kc2 Rf2+ 69.Kd3 Rb2 70.b5+ Kb6 71.Rxe5+- 63...Kb4!

Now Black's activity saves the day. 64.c5+ 64.a6 is met by Rxb3+ 65.Kc2 Rc3+ 66.Kd2 Ra3= 64...Kxc5 65.Ra4 Kb5 66.a6 Rg8 67.a7 Ra8 68.Re4 68.Kc3 Kb6 69.Kd3 Rxa7 70.Rxa7 Kxa7 71.Ke4 Kb6 72.Kxe5 Kc5= 68...Rxa7 69.Rxe5+ Kb4 70.Re4+ Kb5 71.Kc3 Rc7+ 72.Rc4 Rxc4+ 73.bxc4+ Kc5 74.Kc2 Kxc4 ½–½

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Tatev Abrahamyan | Photo: Lennart Ootes

All games - Women's (champions bracket)

All games - Women's (elimination bracket)

Links

• Official site
• Fabiano Caruana wins American Cup! (2022)
• Hikaru Nakamura wins the American Cup (2023)
• Aronian and Lee clinch American Cup titles (2024)