Hikaru Nakamura secured his second American Cup title after defeating second seed Fabiano Caruana 1½-½ in the tournament's Grand Final. Notably, Nakamura has won the event both times he has participated, and as he pointed out, he was the only player to score wins in classical chess throughout each of these editions. Given the knockout format of the tournament, players often opt to take their chances in rapid and blitz tiebreakers, a trend observed in both 2023 and 2025.
Nakamura entered the Grand Final with the advantage of an extra rest day, having won the Champions Bracket in blitz tiebreaks against Caruana. Meanwhile, Caruana had to defeat Levon Aronian in the final of the Elimination Bracket to earn a rematch.
In the first classical game of the Grand Final, Nakamura, playing white, capitalised on a positional advantage from a Catalan Opening, eventually winning a pawn and demonstrating strong technical play to convert his material edge in a rook and knight endgame (see below full analysis of the ending by GM Karsten Müller).
Needing a win in the second classical game to force a reset, Caruana was unable to break through Nakamura's solid preparation. Nakamura, playing black, employed his 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c5 setup to achieve equality, eventually securing a draw and claiming the title.
With this victory, Nakamura took home $90,000 in prize money. The 37-year-old continued his success by winning Monday's American Cup Blitz tournament, scoring 7½/9 points to finish ahead of Caruana, who placed second with 6½ points, and Grigoriy Oparin, who finished third with 6 points.
Analysis by GM Karsten Müller
Hikaru Nakamura went for 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c5 with black in game two of the Grand Final | Photo: Lennart Ootes
The champion being interviewed by Eric Rosen | Photo: Lennart Ootes
The women's section also saw the winner of the Champions Bracket emerging victorious in the Grand Final. Unlike in the open, however, Alice Lee only secured her title in the blitz tiebreaks.
Tatev Abrahamyan, who came from missing a winning opportunity in the Champions Bracket final against Lee before defeating Irina Krush in the Elimination Bracket final, started strongly in the Grand Final. Playing with the black pieces, she outplayed her young opponent in a major-piece endgame to claim victory in the first classical game.
Lee, aged 15, showed resilience and maturity to respond with a win in Sunday's rematch. Playing with the black pieces, she employed the Caro-Kann Defence, entering a position with an asymmetrical pawn structure. Gradually, she improved her position, steering the game towards a favourable rook and knight endgame. Abrahamyan's critical mistake came on move 39, when her 39.Kd4 allowed 39...Nd6.
White was unable to prevent the loss of an exchange, and after 40.Re3 (the rook having no viable squares) Nf5+, Abrahamyan resigned two moves later.
With the classical games tied, the match proceeded to a blitz tiebreaker. Lee took the lead with black in the first game and then capitalised on her opponent over-pressing in a must-win situation to secure a second consecutive victory. Having also won the second classical game, Lee thus completed a streak of three straight wins to successfully defend her title.
This marks Lee's second consecutive American Cup triumph, and remarkably, she has reached all four Grand Finals in the event's history. Her efforts this week earned her a $49,000 prize.
Tatev Abrahamyan | Photo: Crystal Fuller
Eric Rosen interviews two-time American Cup champion Alice Lee | Photo: Lennart Ootes
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