Open: Experience prevails
Day three of the American Cup in Saint Louis featured the first classical games of the Championship Bracket semifinals and the opening rapid matches of the Elimination Bracket.
The first classical games of the Championship Bracket semifinals saw Wesley So facing Sam Sevian and Fabiano Caruana taking on Awonder Liang. Both encounters finished drawn. In each case, the higher-rated player held a slight initiative with the white pieces, but neither So nor Caruana managed to create serious winning chances, leaving the matches balanced.
The Elimination Bracket saw two rapid matches decided on the same day, with the losers leaving the tournament. In both cases, the more experienced and higher-rated contender prevailed to remain in contention.
Leinier Dominguez defeated Abhimanyu Mishra by a 2–0 score. Dominguez won the first game with white, demonstrating that a king can occasionally remain safe in the centre even with major pieces still on the board. After 23.h4, White prevented the black queen from entering via g4 and began to improve his position despite remaining uncastled.
Unleash your chess potential with this dynamic course focused on mastering the initiative.The Cuban-American grandmaster gradually converted his advantage, securing victory in 38 moves. Mishra later obtained promising chances in a rook-and-knight endgame in the second game, but was unable to make them count.
Leinier Dominguez facing Ray Robson | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Meanwhile, Levon Aronian eliminated Ray Robson. Aronian first defended a difficult middlegame position to draw with white, and then scored the decisive win with black in the second game. The Armenian-born star converted a long endgame featuring two rooks against a rook and two knights.
The course is designed to provide a deep yet practical repertoire for Black, balancing solid foundations with aggressive counterplay.
The Classical Sicilian has stood the test of time as one of the most principled and fighting defences against 1.e4. With its rich history spanning world championship matches and modern elite tournaments, this opening remains a favourite among players who seek a dynamic, counterattacking approach without venturing into extreme theoretical battles like the Najdorf or Sveshnikov.
Free video sample: Introduction
Free video sample: 6.h3
Aronian eventually brought the 62-move struggle to a successful conclusion.
A typical pose of Levon Aronian's | Photo: Lennart Ootes
All games - Championship bracket
All games - Elimination bracket
Women's: Youth prevails
In the women's Championship Bracket semifinals, both games ended decisively in favour of the player with the white pieces. Carissa Yip defeated Tatev Abrahamyan, while defending champion Alice Lee overcame Zoey Tang. As a result, Abrahamyan and Tang - both rating underdogs - now face must-win situations in the second classical games.
The Elimination Bracket produced a contrasting pattern to that seen in the open event, with younger and lower-rated players prevailing.
Rachel Li eliminated eight-time US women’s champion Irina Krush by a 3–1 score. The players exchanged wins with black in the rapid games before Li secured overall victory by winning both blitz tiebreaks.
It was a painful loss for Krush, who obtained winning positions in each of the three games she ultimately lost, as she made decisive one-move errors in all of them. In the second blitz game, for instance, 26.Ne5?? allowed 26...Rb5, trapping the white queen.
Besides in-depth theory and exciting tactical exercises in the Scotch Game, this video course also includes a bonus section on the Scotch Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Bc4), a lively variation often leading to very dynamic positions.After 27.Nxc6 Rxb6 28.Nxb8 Rxb8 (the best alternative for Black), Li emerged a piece ahead and converted the advantage.
The very tense Irina Krush v. Rachel Li confrontation | Photo: Lennart Ootes
The match between Anna Sargsyan and Anna Zatonskih proved even more dramatic, featuring seven decisive games. Zatonskih managed to win on demand in the rapid section, while Sargsyan twice did the same in the blitz tiebreaks, forcing an Armageddon decider.
At the American Cup, colours in the sudden-death encounter are decided by a drawing of lots, with White getting 3 minutes to Black's 2 (with 2-second increments per move).
Zatonskih got white and briefly had a chance to press for a win in a major-piece endgame.
After 43...a5?!, Zatonskih could have threatened checkmate with 44.Re6 - the rook is looking for a capture on h6, making use of the pin along the diagonal. In this variation, Black either needs to play 44...Kh7, when there would follow 45.Qe4+ Kh8 46.Qe5 Kh7 47.bxa5, or must defend h6 with 44...Qc1, losing the a-pawn at once.
In this video course, experts (Pelletier, Marin, Müller and Reeh) examine the games of Judit Polgar. Let them show you which openings Polgar chose to play, where her strength in middlegames were, or how she outplayed her opponents in the endgame.None of this happened, though, as Zatonskih went for 44.Rxb7, which kept the balance in this endgame setup.
Since Sargsyan had the black pieces and draw odds, the resulting position was sufficient to secure her match victory and keep her in the tournament.
Anna Sargsyan just after winning the match | Photo: Lennart Ootes
All games - Championship bracket
All games - Elimination bracket
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