10/21/2026 – Wesley So needs just a draw in the final round of the US Championship to secure his fourth national title. He leads Fabiano Caruana and Grigoriy Oparin by a full point after all three drew their tenth-round games. In the women's tournament, 16-year-old Rachael Li defeated Rose Atwell to maintain her one-point lead over Alice Lee, who kept her title chances alive by beating Thalia Cervantes. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club
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YOUR PERSONAL CHESS COACH - Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before. FRITZ is more than just a chess engine – it’s a training revolution! Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before.
In this course, Grandmaster Elisabeth Pähtz presents the London System, a structured and ambitious approach based on the immediate Bf4, leading to rich and dynamic positions.
€59.90
Open: Shankland and Aronian score
Wesley So maintained his full-point lead at the US Chess Championship after drawing his tenth-round encounter against Hans Niemann. The three-time national champion now has 7/10 points, while Fabiano Caruana and Grigoriy Oparin share second place on 6/10. Both challengers also drew their games, leaving So needing just half a point in Wednesday's final round to secure his fourth national title.
Playing white against Niemann, So followed a theoretical variation of the Nimzo-Indian Defence that quickly led to numerous exchanges. The players reached a balanced endgame and agreed to a draw in less than an hour. So remains the only unbeaten player in the open section, with five victories and five draws.
While tactics decide the game in concrete moments, strategy guides the entire battle. Understanding how to improve your pieces, create weaknesses, execute maneuvers, and steer the game toward favorable structures is what defines strong players. After exploring the fundamentals of calculation in his first ChessBase course, International Master Kostya Kavutskiy now turns to the other half of chess mastery: positional play.
This course offers a structured and practical introduction to the core elements of positional chess.
Caruana was unable to reduce the gap despite adopting the Scandinavian Defence with the black pieces against Jeffery Xiong. The defending champion attempted to create winning chances, but Xiong responded accurately and maintained the balance. Oparin also drew, splitting the point with Abhimanyu Mishra.
The two decisive games were considerably more complicated. Sam Shankland defeated Sam Sevian in a sharp Sicilian Najdorf, with both players obtaining winning opportunities. Sevian eventually reached a favourable position but committed a decisive mistake, allowing Shankland to turn the tables.
In this insightful video course, Grandmaster David Navara shares practical advice on when to calculate deeply in a position — and just as importantly, when not to. In this insightful video course, Grandmaster David Navara shares practical advice on when to calculate deeply in a position — and just as importantly, when not to.
Free sample video: Introduction
Free sample video: Invisible moves
Levon Aronian also scored a victory, defeating Ray Robson in a queen endgame in which he had the more dangerous passed pawn. The remaining encounter, between Awonder Liang and Andy Woodward, ended drawn.
So will face Sevian with the white pieces in the final round. A draw will guarantee him the title outright, while a defeat would give Caruana or Oparin an opportunity to force a playoff, provided either wins their final game.
In this video course experts examine the games of Bent Larsen. Let them show you which openings Larsen chose, where his strength in middlegames were, how he outplayed his opponents in the endgame & you’ll get a glimpse of his tactical abilities! Bent Larsen (1935–2010) was the greatest chess player in Danish history, and for a time, the second-strongest player in the Western world behind Bobby Fischer. Between 1954 and 1971, he won the Danish Championship six times, and achieved numerous international tournament victories throughout his career.
Free video sample: Introduction to Bent Larsen by Peter Heine Nielsen
Free video sample: Introduction to the Opening Section
Draw agreed in Grigoriy Oparin v. Abhimanyu Mishra | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Round 10 results
Standings after round 10
All games
Women's: Li wins to keep full-point lead
Sixteen-year-old Rachael Li moved closer to winning the US Women's Championship by defeating Rose Atwell in round ten. The tournament debutante now has 8/10 points, a full point ahead of Alice Lee, who defeated Thalia Cervantes to remain in contention. Irina Krush drew against Megan Paragua and dropped to 6½/10, leaving Lee as the only player who can still catch the leader.
Li's victory against Atwell was her seventh of the championship and her third in succession. Playing white, she won a piece, although the resulting position still required accurate play, as one of her knights was temporarily trapped. Li eventually consolidated her advantage and took advantage of a further mistake to secure the full point.
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.
Rachel Li | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Lee's encounter against Cervantes was less straightforward. Playing white, she initially found herself in difficulties but sacrificed the exchange to generate counterplay. The decision proved effective, particularly as Cervantes began to struggle with time pressure. A decisive mistake by the latter allowed Lee to seize the initiative and secure the victory.
Krush, meanwhile, was unable to keep pace with the leaders. Her draw against Paragua ended her remaining chances of winning the title, leaving the eight-time national champion on 6½ points with one round to play.
Three other games ended decisively. Defending champion Carissa Yip scored her second consecutive victory by defeating Nazi Paikidze, while Tatev Abrahamyan beat Anna Zatonskih with an attack against the black king. Anna Sargsyan also collected a full point, defeating Jennifer Yu in just 26 moves.
In this video course, kings will play a role of strong and active pieces. We will explore how Kings can be helpful in defence and prophylaxis, or even in attack!
In Wednesday's final round, Li will face Zatonskih with the white pieces, while Lee will play black against Sargsyan. A draw will be sufficient for Li to secure the title outright in her debut appearance. If Li loses, Lee would need to win to force a playoff.
Carlos Alberto ColodroCarlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.
10/20/2026 – Wesley So maintained his full-point lead at the US Championship after drawing his direct encounter against defending champion Fabiano Caruana in round nine. Grigoriy Oparin defeated Sam Shankland to join Caruana in second place. In the women's tournament, 16-year-old Rachael Li took the sole lead on 7/9 after beating Nazi Paikidze. Irina Krush defeated Alice Lee, leaving both players a full point behind Li with two rounds remaining. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club
10/18/2026 – Wesley So defeated Andy Woodward in round eight of the US Championship to extend his lead to a full point over Fabiano Caruana, who drew against Sam Sevian. The two will meet in Monday's ninth round. In the women's tournament, Alice Lee and Rachael Li remain tied for first place on 6/8, while Thalia Cervantes moved within half a point of the leaders by defeating four-time national champion Carissa Yip. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club
For a long time the Scotch opening was considered harmless and rarely played. This changed in 1990 when Garry Kasparov successfully employed the Scotch opening in his World Championship match against Anatoly Karpov. But that was 25 years ago. Now, there is no need to panic if you want to play 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 and need a line against the Scotch. On this 60 Minutes renowned and successful coach Adrian Mikhalchishin gives simple practical tips how to neutralize and counter the Scotch.
YOUR PERSONAL CHESS COACH - Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before.
How grandmasters win without fireworks: GM Jan Markos shows you 11 very practical tips from "How to play in a lost position" to "Be patient like Carlsen" that will improve your tournament chess.
The Nimzo-Indian has stood the test of time for over a century: Still a top choice for elite players today, from Magnus Carlsen to Praggnanandhaa, it remains one of Black's most reliable ways to fight for real chances against 1.d4 2.c4 3.Nc3.
1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Bb4!? is an opening idea well worth considering. Black immediately threatens to double the pawns on c3 in the style of the Trompowski or Sicilian Grand Prix attack.
Italian Game Powerbase 2026 is a database and contains 8571 top class games from Mega 2026 and the Correspondence Database 2026, of which 479 are annotated.
Videos: Nico Zwirs discusses the Sicilian with 2…e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4 Nc6 5.Qe3 Nf6 6.Nc3. Mihail Marin examines Sindarov’s 6.Ne5 in the Queen’s Pawn Defence. Plus the ‘Lucky bag’ featuring 41 analyses by Berg, Ftacnik, Gupta and many others.
€14.90
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