Catching up on the news as U.S. chess title fights conclude

Boy, take just a little time off and you come home to an overflowing inbox.

Before we even get to the hard-fought U.S. open and women’s championship title tournaments that wrap up this week at the St. Louis Chess Club, we’re going to revisit just some of the happenings that went on in the chess world while this column was taking a mini-sabbatical.

First off, let’s offer up major props to the Central Asian nation of Uzbekistan, which hosted and claimed its second gold medal in four years at the biennial 46th FIDE Chess Olympiad in Samarkand last month. A golden generation of young Uzbek stars, led by GMs Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Javokhir Sindarov, came through again, with 2024 champion India claiming silver on tiebreaks over bronze medal-winning Germany.

The U.S. open team, which took silver two years ago, finished just off the podium in a tie for fourth.

It was also a close-but-no-cigar experience for the U.S. women’s Olympiad team, which fell just short of a medal as China captured gold and Kazakhstan edged out India for the silver medal.

Several Americans did take home individual honors from Samarkand, with GM Levon Aronian earning a bronze medal for an 8-2 record on Board 4 in the open battle, while top board IM Carissa Yip took home an individual silver medal and IM Alice Lee, at 8½-½, captured gold for her performance on Board 2.

Nearly 400 teams from 196 nations were represented in this year’s Olympiad, marking the biggest turnout in the event’s 102-year history.

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The American squad also came up a bit short in another of our favorite events, the annual NATO Championship pitting teams of military personnel from across the transatlantic alliance.

A stacked Turkish team, anchored by WGM Dana Reizniece, captured the gold medal, followed by Germany and Sweden. Host Latvia finished fourth, the best result in the country’s history.

The underpowered U.S. team still managed to finish a respectable eighth in the 27-team event.

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Closer to home, GM Jianchou Zhou showed why he is the unofficial champion of the U.S. Swiss tournament circuit by finishing clear first at the 5th annual Skyline Open earlier this month in Dulles, Va.

Zhou defeated Maryland IM L.S.T. De Silva in their final-round showdown to finish at 6½-½ in the 74-player open section, with De Silva tying Virginia FM Vaibhav Kalpaka for second a point back. The event was organized by the Eastern Chess Association.

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And as we write this, the two U.S. title tournaments are in the homestretch in St. Louis, with GM Wesley So in the lead in the 12-grandmaster open tournament and teenagers IM Alice Lee and WIM Rachael Li pacing the field in the women’s event. With this year’s titles still very much up for grabs, we’ll have a full wrap-up of the action next week.

So far it has been a clash of the generations in both events. So and his fellow 30-something rival GM Fabiano Caruana are trying to stave off a rising crop of hungry American stars in their teens and twenties, with So scoring a key Round 9 victory over young Texas rival GM Andy Woodward with a brilliant performance in a delicate pawn ending.

On the women’s side, 42-year-old GM Irina Krush, an eight-time U.S. women’s champ whose last title came six years ago, scored a satisfying turn-back-the-clock win over Yip, who has won four of the last five U.S. women’s titles but has struggled in this year’s event following her strong Olympiad result.

Yip has a big edge in head-to-head encounters with Krush over the years, but could not match her opponent’s energy at the critical moments in their Round 7 battle this year. It’s a classic King’s Indian Defense battle, with the two players clashing in the center and on both wings in a bid for the advantage.

Both players feel the pressure as the first time control nears before Krush as White emerges decisively on top: 30. Qc2 e4!? 31. Be2 (Black gets good activity on 31. fxe4 Ng4!) bxc4 32. Qxc4 Re7!?. Yip puts all her chips in the pot, betting her central attack will offset the loss of the pawn.

But she falters after 33. Qxc7 Qxd5 34. b5 (see diagram) e3? (exf3 35. Bxf3 Qxb5 36. Qxd6 was also good for White, but Yip’s choice should have left Black in an even bigger hole) 35. Nxe3?! (missing 35. Bh4!, with winning pressure on Black’s overworked pieces in lines such as 35…Qe6 36. b6 Nd5 37. Qd8+ Kh7 38. Bxe7) Qd2!, and suddenly it’s a battle again as White’s pieces are attacked and back-rank mate threats loom.

But this time Krush outplays her younger rival in the game’s critical sequence: 36. b6 Rxe3! 37. Bxe3 Qe1+? (the wrong check — the draw was still to be had on 37…Qxe3+! 38. Kf1 Nd5! 39. Ra8+ Kh7 40. Qxd7 Qc1+ 41. Kf2 Qc5+, with perpetual check) 38. Bf1 Qe3+ 39. Kh1 Qe1? (Qf2! posed more problems for the defense) 40. Qc4!, and the White queen comes back just in time to save the day.

White’s b-pawn now proves a winning asset, although Krush makes it a little harder on herself after 42. Rc7 Qc1 43. b7!? (still winning, but simply 43. Rxc6! Qxc6 44. b7 Qc7 45. Qa8+ wins on the spot) Bxb7 44. Rxc1 Bxa6 45. Bxa6 — White emerges just an exchange to the good, but Black’s isolated pawns leave her with a lost ending.

After 59. Kf3 Be3 60. g4, Yip resigned as there is no good way to stop the advancing White passed-pawn duo.

(Click on the image above for a larger view of the chessboard.)

Krush-Yip, U.S. Women’s Championship, St. Louis, October 2026

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Be2 O-O 6. Nf3 e5 7. d5 a5 8. Bg5 h6 9. Bh4 Na6 10. Nd2 Qe8 11. a3 Bd7 12. b3 Nh7 13. f3 f5 14. Bf2 Nf6 15. O-O h5 16. Rb1 Nc5 17. b4 Na4 18. Qc2 axb4 19. axb4 Nxc3 20. Qxc3 Bh6 21. Bd3 Ra2 22. Rb2 Qa8 23. exf5 gxf5 24. Qc2 Rxb2 25. Qxb2 Rf7 26. Re1 b5 27. Nf1 Kh8 28. Ra1 Qg8 29. Ra7 Bg7 30. Qc2 e4 31. Be2 bxc4 32. Qxc4 Re7 33. Qxc7 Qxd5 34. b5 e3 35. Nxe3 Qd2 36. b6 Rxe3 37. Bxe3 Qe1+ 38. Bf1 Qxe3+ 39. Kh1 Qe1 40. Qc4 d5 41. Qa6 Bc6 42. Rc7 Qc1 43. b7 Bxb7 44. Rxc1 Bxa6 45. Bxa6 Bh6 46. Rc6 Kg7 47. Bd3 Ng8 48. Bxf5 Ne7 49. Rc7 Kf6 50. Bd3 Bf4 51. Ra7 h4 52. Ra4 Ke5 53. Kg1 Nc6 54. Kf2 Bxh2 55. Rxh4 Bf4 56. g3 Bc1 57. Ra4 d4 58. f4+ Kd6 59. Kf3 Be3 60. g4 Black resigns.

• Got a hot tip or a cool game to share? David R. Sands can be reached at davidrsands18@gmail.com.