Woodward's biggest win of his career

The fifth round of the US Chess Championship in Saint Louis saw 16-year-old Andy Woodward defeat defending champion Fabiano Caruana to join Wesley So in the lead. Woodward and So now share first place on 3½/5, half a point ahead of Caruana, Awonder Liang and Jeffery Xiong. Four of the six games ended decisively, with Xiong, Ray Robson and Abhimanyu Mishra also collecting full points.

Woodward's victory over Caruana was clearly the most significant result of the round. Playing white against the five-time US champion, the teenager obtained a favourable position out of a Ragozin Defence and gradually increased his advantage. In a strategically complex middlegame, Woodward made effective use of the bishop pair, restricting his opponent's activity while steadily improving the placement of his pieces.

Caruana, who entered the round tied for first place with So, struggled to generate sufficient counterplay. Woodward maintained the pressure and eventually converted his positional advantage, despite the fact that his technique was not entirely flawless. The victory was his first against a player of Caruana's standing and arguably the most significant result of his career so far.

Woodward, who became a grandmaster at the age of 13, has already enjoyed considerable success in 2026. Earlier in the year, he won the Challengers tournament in Wijk aan Zee, having previously claimed the US Junior Championship in 2025. His performance in Saint Louis has continued that progress, with three victories and two draws in the first five rounds.

Woodward 1-0 Caruana

Annotations by Johannes Fischer

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So, meanwhile, retained a share of first place after drawing his encounter against Grigoriy Oparin with the black pieces. The three-time US champion successfully defended a Berlin Defence endgame to remain unbeaten, although he has now drawn three consecutive games after starting the tournament with two victories.

Xiong moved into the chasing group by defeating Levon Aronian with the black pieces. Aronian temporarily sacrificed a piece in the middlegame, expecting to recover the material, but failed to find the correct continuation. Xiong took advantage of the mistake and retained his extra material, eventually securing his third victory of the tournament.

The result was particularly notable for Xiong, who had never previously defeated Aronian. He has yet to draw a game in Saint Louis, having alternated three victories with two defeats. After losing to So and Sam Shankland in consecutive rounds, he has now bounced back with wins against Liang and Aronian, moving to 3/5.

Robson also scored an important victory, defeating Hans Niemann in a rook endgame. The position featured equal material, but Robson managed to create an outside passed pawn on the queenside. This proved decisive, as Niemann was unable to contain the pawn while maintaining a satisfactory defensive position.

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The longest game of the round was Mishra's encounter against Sam Sevian. The 17-year-old eventually secured his first victory of the tournament after more than 100 moves. In an unusual ending featuring a rook and pawn against a bishop, Mishra had to overcome considerable technical difficulties before finding the breakthrough required to convert his material advantage.

The remaining draw was recorded between Liang and Shankland. The latter employed the Dragon variation of the Sicilian Defence, but the position eventually simplified into a balanced endgame. Liang thus remains half a point behind the leaders, while Shankland stands on 2½/5.

Ray Robson and Abhimanyu Mishra both scored their first wins of the event on Wednesday | Photos: Lennart Ootes

Round 5 results

Standings after round 5

All games

Women's: Lee a full point ahead

Alice Lee strengthened her position at the top of the US Women's Championship by defeating Tatev Abrahamyan with the black pieces in round five. The 17-year-old has now won four consecutive games after drawing her opening encounter, reaching 4½/5 and establishing a full-point lead over her nearest rivals. Rachael Li, Megan Paragua and Thalia Cervantes share second place on 3½/5.

Four of the six games ended decisively, with Lee, Li, Paragua and Rose Atwell all scoring victories. The most notable results included Lee's continued winning streak and Atwell's victory over defending champion Carissa Yip, who has now lost three games in the tournament.

Lee's encounter against Abrahamyan was not straightforward. Playing black, the tournament leader faced a tense middlegame in which her opponent initially defended accurately. The position eventually simplified into an endgame in which Lee had an extra pawn, although Abrahamyan retained sufficient defensive resources to maintain the balance.

However, an inaccurate decision by Abrahamyan allowed Lee to consolidate her material advantage.

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Lee's performance is particularly notable given her difficult start to the championship. She escaped with a draw from a losing position against Yip in round one and subsequently recovered from inferior positions to secure victories.

The most striking game of the fifth round was Atwell's victory over Yip. The two players, who represented the United States at the recent Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, reached a complicated middlegame in which Atwell obtained attacking chances against the defending champion.

Atwell eventually sacrificed the exchange, giving up a rook for a minor piece to undermine her opponent's position. Although other continuations also offered winning chances, the sacrifice was effective in creating threats that Yip could not adequately meet.

Atwell maintained the initiative and converted her advantage to collect her first victory of the tournament.

Yip, a four-time US women's champion, entered the tournament as the top seed but has collected only one point from five games, with two draws and three losses. She now shares last place in the standings.

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Paragua also returned to winning ways after her fourth-round defeat against Lee. The 13-year-old defeated Nazi Paikidze, making effective use of a positional advantage obtained from the Exchange Variation of the Caro-Kann Defence.

Li joined Paragua and Cervantes on 3½ points by defeating Jennifer Yu with the white pieces. Yu encountered difficulties shortly after the opening and failed to find a satisfactory way to deal with her opponent's threats. Li exploited the resulting weaknesses and converted her advantage without allowing significant counterplay.

The remaining two encounters ended drawn. Eight-time US women's champion Irina Krush split the point with Cervantes, who maintained her unbeaten record and remains among the closest challengers. Anna Zatonskih and Anna Sargsyan also drew, leaving Zatonskih and Krush on 3/5.

Megan Paragua, the youngest participant in the field, stands in shared second place after beating Nazi Paikidze | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Round 5 results

Standings after round 5

All games

Links

• Official website
• Fabiano Caruana targets fifth consecutive US title
• Reports from previous editions: 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019