8/9/2022 – By tying for first in the 2022 U.S. Open, Grandmaster Elshan Moradiabadi won a qualifying spot to the 2022 U.S. Championship. Then he lost an Armageddon playoff chess game with Grandmaster Aleksey Sorokin for an extra $200 and the U.S. Open title. Moradiabadi and Sorokin spoke to WIM Alexey Root, who also reports on U.S. Open committee meetings and awards. | Photos: Alexey Root

12/6/2021 – Christmas trees mixed with chess boards at the 2021 Forester Open. Grandmaster Christopher Repka and International Masters Brian Escalante Ramirez and Viktor Gazik shared $3,224 for first through third places, acquiring spending money for this holiday season.

9/23/2021 – The Saint Louis chess club and its sponsor Rex Sinquefield have done a lot for chess in the U.S. and the world, and they continue to organise top tournaments. Beginning on the 5th of October, the club will host the U.S. chess championship tournaments 2021, for women and men. With players such as Caruana, So, Dominguez, Shankland, Xiong, Krush and Yip both tournaments are strongly contested, though Hikaru Nakamura, U.S. Champion 2005, 2009, 2012, 2015, and 2019 is missing from the line-up. Over the course of eleven rounds, the 2 x 12 competitors will battle for a prize-fund of almost 200,000 USD, the qualification for the World Championship cycle, and of course, the title of U.S. Champion 2021.

8/10/2021 – Grandmaster Aleksandr Lenderman won the U.S. Open with 8½ points out of 9 rounds. Mike Walder annotates Lenderman’s wins over Grandmasters Hans Niemann and John Michael Burke. Alexey Root reports on the awards presentations, book signings, and meetings held at the U.S. Open’s Cherry Hill, New Jersey site. | Photos: Alexey Root

6/4/2020 – In the early 1990s, International Master Stuart Rachels was one of the very best US chess players. He played games against Garry Kasparov, Viswanathan Anand, Nigel Short, Anthony Miles and Boris Spassky, only to name a few. His chess adventures are funny, beautiful, interesting and honest. His book "The Best I Saw In Chess" which just came out, is a blast to read. We conducted an interview with Rachels about the book, the chess greats he met, his decision to quit chess and the ego of chess players. | Photos: Stuart Rachels

5/8/2020 – Many people are staying home now, more than ever. Baking bread has become a very popular activity in these times. Did you know that there is a cake recipe called the "chess pie"? Did you also know, that Robert Fischer has once received a cake, which looked like one of his played chess games? Chess can be such a sweet experience.

4/30/2018 – It was a fantastic final sprint as both Fabiano Caruana and Sam Shankland fought to win their games to deny each other the title. Sam Shankland won again, giving his rival Fabiano Caruana no chance to steal it, and thus became the 2018 US Champion with a near 2900 performance. Nazi Paikidze and Annie Wang finished tied and will decide the title in a playoff on Monday. Report and analysis by GM ALEX YERMOLINSKY | Photo: Lennart Ootes

4/18/2018 – Today the U.S. Championships start in Saint Louis, Missouri. The open and the women's championships will once again be held in parallel. The first prize in the Open Tournament is $50,000, with $25,000 for the winner of the U.S. Women's Championship. Wesley So is the defending champ, but both U.S. number one Fabiano Caruana and former U.S. Champion Hikaru Nakamura are also playing. All the key details... | Photos: CCSCSL

4/21/2016 – Three top ten players start in the US Championship 2016 and nominally it is the strongest US Championship of all times. But can you really compare today's tournaments with those of the past? Andy Soltis takes a look at previous Championships that were surprisingly strong and concludes that in a historical context 2016 might not be "the strongest ever".

4/13/2015 – A cheeky title, playing on last year's report. The favorites of the tournament in both sections won the tournament in the last round, and with few difficulties. Krush obtained an easy draw against Nemcova. She could have even pushed a slightly better endgame, but the draw guaranteed her first place. In the Open, Onischuk blundered, and Nakamura wrapped up the tournament.

4/12/2015 – Round ten set up an end that might be somewhat anti-climatic. In the Open So was able to recover from his forfeit loss by beating Kamsky with black, something that hadn't happened since 2012. Robson and Nakamura drew in a boring game, leaving Nakamura one game away from the title. In the Women's Krush won, Nemcova lost and it will all come down to their showdown.

4/11/2015 – It was incredible and mind numbing: the number eight player in the world rankings, Wesley So, won four games, drew one and incredibly lost three, one against a 14-year-old GM with the white pieces. Then in round nine he was forfeited for writing or having an encouraging note to himself below his scoresheet. Clearly the 21-year-old GM was in emotional distress. Here is some background.

4/11/2015 – A shocking development in the US Chess Championship. Wesley So, one of the top players in the world, was forfeited in his game against Akobian by the tournament's Chief Arbiter, Tony Rich. The reason? Note taking! He had been warned several times not to do so but ignored the warnings. In the Women's, Krush finally caught up to Nemcova. As to the controversy, what do you think?

4/10/2015 – Some deadly and accurate games in both sections. In the Open there were five decisive results. Troff was annihilated by Nakamura, Onischuk outplayed Naroditsky in professional fashion, Gareev taught a nice lesson to Sevian while Holt's preparation against So won him the game. In the Women's, Krush keeps advancing, she won a nice game against Melekhina and trails by half a point.

4/9/2015 – Many crucial games were played with excellent technique today in the U.S. Championship. Sam Shankland played without a wrinkle against Timur Gareev, while Wesley So did the same against Alexander Onischuk. With more trouble, but winning at the end, Robson took out Naroditsky to tie for first. In the Women's Katerina Nemcova won again, keeping her tournament lead.

4/8/2015 – Important results in the Open section of the U.S. Chess Championship. Onischuk took down Kamsky to now tie for third with Sevian, who defeated Troff. In second place, is Robson who leapfrogged over So in a very strange game. The newest addition to the American team is now in third. In the Women's Krush blundered away a win, and with Nemcova winning again she now leads by a point.

4/6/2015 – A holiday for many people in America, but the players in the U.S. Chess Championship definitely did not take it off. After six draws in the previous round, the entertainment level in round five was off the charts. Blunders, unexpected results, complicated positions, awkward/brilliant moves, it had it all! Meanwhile in the Women's in a difficult melee, Krush kept her chances alive.

4/5/2015 – It was not the best played round of chess, and the excitement level went down just a little bit. The open section had six draws, some more exciting than others. The anticipated match up between So and Nakamura finished in a draw after Nakamura blundered a pawn, but was able to hold the draw. Meanwhile the action in the Women's was very up and down to say the least.

4/3/2015 – The round was wild for all sides, and all boards, but the news of the round, without question, was 14-year-old Samuel Sevian's defeat of World no.8 Wesley So, who resigned just short of getting mated. This was hardly the only surprise as Nakamura let Kamsky escape after squeezing him the entire game, while Irina Krush was on the wrong side of a massive attack by Paikidze. Nakamura-So tomorrow!

4/3/2015 – One did with a very clean game, the other with a bit of luck. Hikaru Nakamura cleanly wiped Varuzhan Akobian off the board after Akobian sacrificed a pawn, got no compensation and lost. Wesley So had a win against Sam Shankland, missed it, and a huge blunder by White in that game gave So the win. The best game of the day, though, without a doubt, was played in the Women's section.

4/2/2015 – At least you can say the games were exciting! Many of the games, in both sections, were decided by blunders or big mistakes. Nakamura won thanks to a blunder by Holt, So because of a blunder by Naroditsky, Onischuk blundered a pawn but managed to hold a draw, Robson beat Troff also because of a blunder. In the Women's section, something very similar happened.

3/31/2015 – The United States Chess Championship is one of the strongest tournaments in the world. In terms of national championships it is only below Russia's in strength. Hikaru Nakamura and Wesley So will be the favorites this year in the open section, but the fight will clearly be wild in the women's as well. We bring you a preview as well as a report from the opening ceremony.