Defending Champions Lead After Chaotic Round 10

The penultimate round of the 2025 U.S. Championships saw both defending champions emerge as clear leaders after winning their games.

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Photo courtesy SLCC/Lennart Ootes.

In total, there were seven (!) decisive results between the two sections, clarifying the races for the top title but not closing the books just yet. Both GM Fabiano Caruana and IM Carissa Yip are only a half-point ahead of the rest of the field, making today’s final round crucial.

Open

Caruana, already the sole leader entering the round, won again to move to an impressive

7½/10. Yet his lead did not increase; GM Wesley So — his closest competitor — also won to keep his championship hopes alive. 
 

Both games were squeezing, strategic wins from “equal” positions:

With their wins, Caruana and So are the only possible champions remaining. GM Levon Aronian, a full point behind So, is in clear third after a comfortable draw with black against GM Grigoriy Oparin. Funnily, their game followed Zatonskih – Yan from the 2022 U.S. Women’s Championship until move 18! The only other draw in the Open was Woodward – Shankland, where White built up a large advantage but couldn’t convert a rook endgame.

Although it no longer mattered much for the podium, there was plenty of fighting spirit in the remaining games. In Sevian-Niemann, neither player shied away from tactical complications:

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Awonder Liang scored a nice win as part of a bloody round with seven decisive results out of 12 games. (Photo courtesy SLCC/Lennart Ootes)

GM Awonder Liang converted a space advantage against GM Ray Robson in a same-queenside castling Sicilian:

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Graphic courtesy of SLCC

Caruana will clinch the title if he wins tomorrow, while a draw is enough to win outright unless So forces a playoff with a win. The key games to pay attention to are Aronian – Caruana and So – Oparin.

Women’s

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Carissa Yip took the outright lead for the first time in this year's tournament with only one round to go. (Photo courtesy SLCC/Lennart Ootes)

IMs Carissa Yip, Alice Lee, and Anna Zatonskih were in a three-way tie for first before the round, but only Yip managed to win. Both she and her opponent IM Nazi Paikidze braved complications in a sharp middlegame. Though there were ups and downs, Yip was never in danger of losing.

In the battle of Annas, IM Anna Sargsyan defeated former Zatonskih by building a strong attack, though the result could have been flipped if Zatonskih had found an unexpected win earlier in the game! With the win, Sargsyan leapfrogged Zatonskih to join the pack of chasers behind Yip.

Lee defended well against consistent pressure from FM Rose Atwell, even building up a sizable advantage at one point. However, an endgame miscalculation relegated her to tied second. Also joining the three-way tie for second was GM Irina Krush, who took advantage of IM Tatev Abrahamyan’s overambitious KID: