Breaking: Americans Sweep Podium at 2025 Under-20 Pan-American Open Championship

Editor's note: This report will be updated with photos and any additional relevant information on Friday, June 20. The final round concluded earlier this afternoon. 

With a GM norm up for grabs in Asuncion, Paraguay, Americans swept the podium in the 2025 Under-20 Pan-American Chess Championship Open section. The race for gold came down to two 18-year-old New Yorkers, with IM Jason Liang winning a marathon game to clinch clear first with 7½/9, a half-point ahead of IM Nico Chasin (read more about direct titles and norms here).

Rounding out the podium in clear third was Oregonian WGM Zoey Tang, who boasted a strong 6½/9 score and earned an IM norm for her efforts.

While Tang could have played (and been the top seed) in the Under-20 Girls section, the direct title for gold in that section was the WGM title she already has! Besides, Tang was seeded a competitive sixth in the open and managed to pick up 21 FIDE rating points for her 2438 performance. Liang gained 17 FIDE rating points along with his norm and gold medal, and top-seeded Chasin gained seven points.

In the final round, Liang entered with a half-point lead over his closest competitors, meaning that a win would guarantee the gold. The pressure mounted, though, after Chasin delivered a relatively quick win on board two after correctly parting with his queen:

While Liang entered with better tie-breaks than Chasin, he chose to continue pushing for a win in his game rather than leave things to chance. With both players relatively low on the clock (and without a second time control on move 40), Liang chose not to shy away from the complications in this endgame:

Liang had several fine victories to choose from, but the way he handled the kingside attack against a fixed center in round 4 stood out:

Tang began distancing herself from the pack with her round 7 win over an FM from the host nation:

Overall, 40 players competed in the Open section (including nine Americans), with 11 federations represented. Of the other American competitors, WIM Iris Mou, IM Eshaan Hebbar and CM Nitesh Cherukuri all gained rating.

Mou entered the event seeded 17th and greatly outperformed her rating by finishing tied for fourth with 6/9. After an even start, she finished with a three-game winning streak over two FMs and Hebbar, picking up 44 points. Hebbar is no stranger to Pan-American tournaments, having won gold and the IM title in 2024, and his 5/9 score was good for 41 rating points.

The “biggest winner” from a rating perspective, though, was Cherukuri. The reigning National K-8 Champion picked up 63 points over his eight games.

Results for the Open section are here, and top boards can be replayed here.

In the Under-20 Girls section, there was another national sweep for the podium, but it wasn’t the Americans (who only had two players competing in the section). A Peruvian trio of three WIMs made up three fourths of the section’s top four, and they lived up to their seeding. WIM Maria Teresa Jimenez Salas won gold (and a WGM norm) with an 8/9 score ahead of top-seeded WIM Fiorella Contreras Huaman (7½/9) and WIM Kate Azumi Bravo Mallco (7/9).

To say this trio ran away with the event is somehow still selling their achievement short. Of the 20 players competing in this section, the next closest finishers were a group of four players with 5/9, a full two points behind bronze! One American was in this group: 15th-seeded Dhanvi Namala. The 14-year-old Texan’s tie for fourth is impressive, and she picked up 80 points for her performance, which is perhaps best exemplified by her confident play here: