10/22/2026 – Wesley So had gone 48 consecutive games unbeaten at the US Championships, but his run came to an end in the final round of the 2026 edition: playing black, he lost to bottom-of-the-table Samuel Sevian, who had failed to win a single game in the previous ten rounds. As a result, the 2026 US Championship will be decided in a tiebreak, as Fabiano Caruana, who had trailed So by one point going into the round, secured a must-win victory against Awonder Liang. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club
new: Fritz 20
Your personal chess trainer. Your toughest opponent. Your strongest ally. FRITZ 20 is more than just a chess engine – it is a training revolution for ambitious players and professionals. Whether you are taking your first steps into the world of serious chess training, or already playing at tournament level, FRITZ 20 will help you train more efficiently, intelligently and individually than ever before.
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 video course, Grandmaster Ivan Sokolov explores the fascinating world of Dutch and Grünfelkd structures with colours reversed.
€39.90
Drama in the final round
The long unbeaten run and Wesley So's tournament record favoured him before the game, but another statistic pointed in Sam Sevian's favour: in their previous 14 classical games, Sevian had scored 2 wins and 12 draws against So, and had never lost to him at a long time control. The picture is very different in rapid and blitz, however: in rapid, So leads 5-0 with one draw, and in blitz he leads 5-0 with four draws.
Sevian's strong record in classical games seemed to have given him confidence. In a Nimzo-Indian, he put So under pressure from the outset and, after a strong middlegame, eventually reached a winning rook endgame.
There, however, he lost the thread and spoiled the winning position into a draw. But So failed to take advantage of his chance and, in turn, spoiled the drawn position into a loss.
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 benefited from So's defeat. With white against Awonder Liang, he had to win simply to draw level with So. He managed to do so with an attractive game, whose finer points – and much more besides – he explained to Maurice Ashley in an interview after the round.
Before the final round, Caruana had assessed his chances of becoming US champion for a fifth consecutive time and reaching a playoff against So as "essentially zero". Now there will be a playoff: it begins on Thursday, 22 October, at 7 p.m. with two rapid games at a time control of 15+10. If those two rapid games do not produce a winner, two blitz games at 5+2 will follow. If the match is still undecided, blitz games will continue until a winner emerges - there will be no Armageddon game.
Grigoriy Oparin, Caruana's second, could have joined So and Caruana with a win in the final round, but with black against Ray Robson he could do no better than a draw. In a strategically complex Ruy Lopez, both sides played very accurately, and the balance was never seriously disturbed before the draw was agreed on move 37.
Jeffery Xiong scored the third win of the round, defeating Hans Niemann with Black. Niemann never found his rhythm during the tournament and, with a score of 4/11, lost a total of 20 Elo points, dropping below the 2700 mark in the live world rankings.
Johannes FischerJohannes Fischer was born in 1963 in Hamburg and studied English and German literature in Frankfurt. He now lives as a writer and translator in Nürnberg. He is a FIDE-Master and regularly writes for KARL, a German chess magazine focusing on the links between culture and chess. On his own blog he regularly publishes notes on "Film, Literature and Chess".
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
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
On this 60 mins video we are going to concentrate on a simple, very solid idea in the main line Scandinavian, which even Magnus Carlsen has used to win games. Black focusses on making his life easy in the opening and forces White to work very hard to get advantage – but it is doubtful if White can get an advantage. Club players are always on the lookout for effective, time-saving solutions and here we have just that. Accompany FIDE Senior Trainer and IM Andrew Martin on this 60 mins video. You can learn a new opening system in 60 mins and start to play it with confidence on the very same day!
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.
Most players don’t lack the urge to attack, they just strike at the wrong moment, and GM Sipke Ernst shows you which signals tell you to go for the king and which tell you to choose another plan.
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.
€9.90
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, analysis cookies and marketing cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies. Here you can make detailed settings or revoke your consent (if necessary partially) with effect for the future. Further information can be found in our data protection declaration.
Pop-up for detailed settings
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies, analysis cookies and marketing cookies. You can decide which cookies to use by selecting the appropriate options below. Please note that your selection may affect the functionality of the service. Further information can be found in our privacy policy.
Technically required cookies
Technically required cookies: so that you can navigate and use the basic functions and store preferences.
Analysis Cookies
To help us determine how visitors interact with our website to improve the user experience.
Marketing-Cookies
To help us offer and evaluate relevant content and interesting and appropriate advertisement.
.jpeg)
