10/13/2026 – Fabiano Caruana defeated Ray Robson in round four of the US Championship to join Wesley So in the lead on 3/4. Awonder Liang suffered his first defeat against Jeffery Xiong, while Hans Niemann also collected a full point. In the women's tournament, Alice Lee took the sole lead by beating 13-year-old Megan Paragua, while Irina Krush scored her second victory of the event, defeating Nazi Paikidze. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club
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Caruana catches So, Xiong takes down Liang
The fourth round of the US Chess Championship in Saint Louis produced four decisive games, with Fabiano Caruana defeating Ray Robson to join Wesley So in the lead. So drew his encounter against Levon Aronian, while previous co-leader Awonder Liang suffered his first defeat in his game with black against Jeffery Xiong. Caruana and So now share first place on 3/4, half a point ahead of Liang and Andy Woodward.
Caruana, the defending champion, has gained ground after drawing his opening encounter against Aronian. The five-time US champion has since defeated Grigoriy Oparin and Robson, collecting two consecutive wins to move into a share of first place. Against Robson, Caruana gradually took control of the position and converted his advantage to secure the full point.
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.
One of the most notable results of the day was Xiong's victory over Liang. The former had begun the tournament with a win against Sam Sevian, but subsequently lost two consecutive games. His encounter against Liang was far from straightforward, as the players reached a Berlin Defence endgame which initially appeared to offer few winning chances for either side.
However, the position became unexpectedly complicated, and Liang eventually found himself with an extra piece but facing serious practical difficulties.
Engines evaluate many of the subsequent moves as imprecise, but finding the exact continuations was particularly demanding with little time on the clock. Still, Xiong continued to make progress, and he eventually managed to end the game in style.
Like Xiong, Hans Niemann also returned to an even score by defeating Abhimanyu Mishra. Niemann, who had lost his opening-round encounter against Liang, obtained a favourable position and steadily increased his advantage. His opponent was left with several weaknesses, while Niemann enjoyed the bishop pair and greater activity.
Niemann concluded the game with a small tactical combination.
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.
So, meanwhile, was unable to add a third victory to his tally. The three-time US champion had won his first two games, both after surviving difficult positions, before drawing against Liang on Sunday. His fourth-round meeting with Aronian also ended peacefully, leaving him unbeaten on 3/4. Aronian has now drawn all four of his games.
The fourth decisive game saw Grigoriy Oparin defeat Sam Sevian. Oparin had entered the round with a negative score but managed to recover by collecting his first victory of the tournament.
Andy Woodward, who had defeated Robson in round three, drew his fourth-round encounter and remains among the closest challengers. He shares third place with Liang on 2½/4, while a group of players on 2/4 are a further half-point behind.
Following Tuesday's rest day, play will resume on Wednesday, 14 October. The fifth round will feature a direct encounter between Woodward and Caruana, with the former having the white pieces. So will play black against Oparin, while Liang will face Shankland.
Levon Aronian smiles as he agrees a draw with co-leader Wesley So in a heavyweight battle of round four | Photo: Lennart Ootes
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
Grigoriy Oparin grabbed his first win of the event | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Round 4 results
Standings after round 4
All games
Women's: Lee beats Paragua, takes the sole lead
Alice Lee emerged as the sole leader of the US Women's Championship after defeating former co-leader Megan Paragua in round four. The victory was Lee's third in a row and brought her score to 3½/4, half a point ahead of Thalia Cervantes, who drew her game on Monday. Irina Krush also collected a full point, defeating Nazi Paikidze to move into a share of third place with Rachael Li and Paragua on 2½/4.
Only two of the six encounters ended decisively, making this the first round of the women's tournament in which the majority of games finished drawn. Nevertheless, several encounters featured considerable changes in the evaluation, with missed opportunities playing an important role.
Round 4 results
Jennifer Yu and Tatev Abrahamyan played a battling 63-move encounter which ended with bishop, knight and king against knight and king on the board | Photo: Lennart Ootes
The main pairing of the day brought together Lee and 13-year-old Paragua, who had both started the championship with two victories before drawing their third-round games. Paragua, the youngest participant across both sections, had already defeated defending champion Carissa Yip in round two and was looking to maintain her unbeaten record.
Lee obtained the better prospects during the middlegame, but a serious oversight suddenly gave Paragua an opportunity to turn the tables.
Having survived the scare, Lee consolidated her position and gradually simplified the game into an opposite-coloured bishop endgame in which she had two extra pawns.
The new tournament sole leader continued to make progress until Paragua resigned.
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!
Lee's position after four rounds is particularly noteworthy given the difficulties she encountered earlier in the tournament. She escaped with a draw from a losing position against Yip in round one and subsequently turned an inferior position into a victory against Jennifer Yu. In round three, she benefited from a tactical oversight by Paikidze before again surviving a missed opportunity against Paragua.
The other decisive encounter saw eight-time US women's champion Irina Krush defeat Paikidze, who suffered her second consecutive loss. Krush has now won two games, in rounds two and four, after her unexpected first-round defeat against Rachael Li, when she horribly blundered her queen.
Against Paikidze, Krush obtained a favourable position and gradually increased her advantage. Her opponent had opportunities to generate counterplay, but a few inaccurate defensive decisions allowed Krush to take control. Already in a clearly better position, the experienced grandmaster found a good-looking tactical shot that prompted Paikidze's resignation.
Cervantes maintained her unbeaten record by drawing her fourth-round encounter. The 23-year-old had started the event with victories over Tatev Abrahamyan and Rachael Li, both obtained after recovering from inferior positions, before splitting the point in rounds three and four. She now stands alone in second place on 3/4.
Following Tuesday's rest day, Lee will face Abrahamyan with the black pieces, while Krush will have white against Cervantes in a direct encounter between two of the leading contenders.
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
Fully focused - Rose Atwell | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Four-time US women's chess champion Carissa Yip | Photo: Lennart Ootes
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.
10/12/2026 – Wesley So and Awonder Liang drew their direct encounter in round three of the US Championship, remaining tied for first place on 2½/3. Andy Woodward and Sam Shankland (pictured) scored victories, with Woodward joining Fabiano Caruana half a point behind the leaders. In the women's tournament, Alice Lee defeated Nazi Paikidze to join Thalia Cervantes and Megan Paragua in first place. Defending champion Carissa Yip suffered her second consecutive defeat. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club
10/9/2026 – Fabiano Caruana has won the US Championship five times, including four consecutive titles from 2022 to 2025. His first victory came on his debut in 2016, shortly after returning to the US federation. At the 2026 edition in Saint Louis, Caruana can equal Samuel Reshevsky’s record of five consecutive titles and, with a sixth overall win, draw level with Walter Browne on the all-time list. | Photo: Lennart Ootes
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.
Keep it simple. Stay objective. Watch the clock. Sometimes take the risk. GM Loek van Wely explains the ten principles that decide real games. They aren’t about theory. They’re about what you do at the board when it counts.
2026 Chess Olympiad with analyses by Abdusattorov, Donchenko, Duda, So and many more – ‘Rooks love open files’: Tactics training with Oliver Reeh – ‘Don’t underestimate it’: Caruana’s blitz weapon 1.e4 e5 2.d3 – Total Video playing time: over 6 hours!
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.
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