3/27/2023 – Hikaru Nakamura pulled through to become the 2023 American Cup Champion after defeating Wesley So 2½-1½ in a difficult final Elimination Match. The finale started out with three solid draws, but finished abruptly in the fourth game after a blunder by So got his queen trapped inside Nakamura’s territory. | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes

3/26/2023 – America’s best chess players return to the Saint Louis Chess Club to battle over the board from March 17- 26 for the second annual American Cup. With $300,000 in prize money, the competitors will prove their mettle under mounting pressure in a double-elimination knockout tournament. Unlike in the inaugural edition, Hikaru Nakamura will be among the participants this time around. | Follow the games live with expert commentary starting at 20.30 CEST (14.30 EDT, 0.00 IST)

3/26/2023 – Irina Krush claimed her second consecutive American Cup title in the women’s section after obtaining a 2½-1½ victory over Alice Lee. On Saturday, Lee defeated Krush in classical chess to force a rapid playoff. Krush, however, showed the better nerves in a topsy-turvy pair of rapid games to grab the title. Meanwhile, Wesley So defeated Hikaru Nakamura — also in playoffs — to force an extra rapid match in the open section. | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes

3/25/2023 – The 2023 American Cup Finals kicked off in exciting fashion with the first games between Hikaru Nakamura against Wesley So and Irina Krush against Alice Lee. In the open, Nakamura sacrificed his queen for two rooks in a roller-coaster game that would ultimately end in a draw. Meanwhile, Krush took a 1-0 lead after winning a very sharp first game as White. | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes

3/24/2023 – Wesley So and Alice Lee qualified to the American Cup’s grand finals in the open and women’s sections respectively. So knocked out Levon Aronian, while Lee eliminated Nazi Paikidze. In both cases, after 1-1 draws in the 25-minute games, the winners prevailed in the second set of tiebreakers, played with a 10-minute time control. | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes

3/23/2023 – Hikaru Nakamura and Irina Krush emerged victorious in the champions’ brackets of the open and women’s sections of the American Cup. Both multiple US champions won their matches in tiebreaks. Nakamura got the better of Wesley So by a 4-2 score, while Krush defeated Alice Lee more quickly, by a 3-1 score. In the elimination brackets, Levon Aronian and Nazi Paikidze remain in contention in each of the two sections. | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes

3/22/2023 – In the most thrilling match of the tournament so far, Levon Aronian knocked out Fabiano Caruana to remain alive in the elimination bracket, where he is set to face Leinier Dominguez next. In the women’s elimination bracket, Nazi Paikidze and Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova were the winners of the day and will face off on Wednesday. Meanwhile, in the champions brackets, draws were seen in both sections. | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes

3/21/2023 – Hikaru Nakamura and Wesley So advanced to the final match of the champions bracket in the open section of the American Cup after beating Leinier Dominguez and Fabiano Caruana respectively. Among the women, Irina Krush and Alice Lee scored 1½-½ wins to set up a rematch from last year’s edition in the final. The losers of the day still have chances to win both events, via the elimination brackets. | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes

3/20/2023 – Day 3 of the American Cup saw four players eliminated from the tournament, as the first matches of the Elimination Bracket took place. Levon Aronian knocked out Sam Sevian, while Sam Shankland won a hotly contested playoff against Ray Robson. Meanwhile, in the women’s section, Tatev Abrahamyan took down Katerina Nemcova, while newcomer WGM Atousa Pourkashiyan sent Anna Zatonskih home with a 1½-½ victory. | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes

3/19/2023 – Day 2 of the American Cup saw the end of the first stage of the Champions Bracket, with several matches (Caruana-Robson, So-Shankland, Aronian-Dominguez) all decided in a rapid playoff. Meanwhile Nakamura was able to draw the second classical game after winning yesterday, relegating Sevian to the Elimination Bracket. In the Women’s Section, favorites Krush, Lee, and Tokhirjonova all managed to win their second games despite only needing a draw, while Paikidze defeated Zatonskih in convincing fashion to win their match 1½-½. | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes

3/18/2023 – The 2023 American Cup kicked off with several decisive games on the first day of action, with Nakamura, Krush, Lee, & Tokhirjonova all taking a one-point lead in their initial matches. Their opponents (Sevian, Abrahamyan, Pourkashiyan, and Nemcova) will now have to win tomorrow’s game in order to force their match into a playoff. | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes

3/14/2023 – America’s best chess players will return to the Saint Louis Chess Club to battle over the board from March 17- 26, 2023 for the second annual American Cup. With $300,000 in prize money up for grabs, the competitors will prove their mettle under mounting pressure in this double-elimination knockout tournament. Unlike in the inaugural edition last year, Hikaru Nakamura will be among the participants this time around. | Photo: Lennart Ootes