Junior and Senior Championships Heat Up in Round 2

Races Remain Tight After Tense Second Round

We are only two rounds into the four 2026 U.S. Junior and Senior Championship tournaments, and yet only three perfect 2/2 scores (out of 39 players — more on that later) remain at the Saint Louis Chess Club (SLCC).

Play calmed down slightly after a vicious Round 1 that saw a 70% rate of decisive games, but Wednesday still generated 11 decisive results.

We started with the two senior events yesterday, so today we’ll start with the youngsters. But, just like yesterday, we still have commentary from 2017 U.S. Women’s Champion WGM Sabina Foisor to enjoy!

Junior Championship: Pobody’s Nerfect

Looking at this section yesterday, I wrote, “It’s early, but this seems like the most wide-open tournament of the bunch!” One day later, and this is the only section where no player has a 2/2 score.

On Tuesday, IM Bach Ngo jumped out to a share of the lead with a win in his first-ever Junior Championship game. Yesterday, GM Andy Woodward scored his first win of the tournament after Ngo failed to find his way out of the jam below:

In our first game of the day, IM Tanitoluwa Adewumi dealt fellow New Yorker GM Nico Chasin his second consecutive loss in a game that Sabina calls “Tal-esque.”

GM Abhimanyu Mishra joined the leaders by dealing IM Alice Lee her second consecutive defeat, as well:

IM Evan Park is the fourth player with a 1½/2 score, although perhaps GM Brewington Hardaway let him off the hook early in their game yesterday:

Today, I’m most excited about Lee – Chasin, as both players are talented, dangerous, and looking to claw their way back up the leaderboard. But Park – Mishra and Adewumi – Woodward are most impactful for the standings, as all four co-leaders happen to be paired against each other.

Girls’ Junior Championship: Li Leads, Three Trail

WIM Rachael Li won her second consecutive game to take the outright lead in the Girls’ Junior.

Rachael Li is the only player in this year's Girls' Junior to have won her first two games. (Photo courtesy SLCC/Lennart Ootes)

Her win over WGM Rochelle Wu is our second game of the day, and it is a particularly instructive one for Catalan players:

Four of yesterday’s games ended decisively, leading to massive standings shake-ups. Three players trail Li by a half-point: WGM Zoey Tang, FM Megan Paragua, and FM Jasmine Su. Tang and Paragua won their games yesterday, while Su drew against IM-Elect Rose Atwell.

WGM Iris Mou got out to a hot start yesterday, and was playing a very solid game against Tang, but one inaccuracy was all it took for Tang to take over:

Like Mou, WFM Aimee Yang also started the tournament with a win only to be pulled back to an even score yesterday. Paragua’s takeover in their game was instructive:

In the final decisive game, WIM Chloe Gaw rebounded from Tuesday’s loss with a win over CM Irene Jiao Fei:

Today, Li has the white pieces against Su in the most impactful game for the standings. I’m also keeping an eye on Atwell – Gaw, as either player could become dangerous in this event. Also, the game between Yang and Mou features two players who have produced a total of zero draws, and I doubt their game against each other will be dull.

Senior Championship: Akopian Back On Top

2024 U.S. Senior Champion GM Vladimir Akopian is looking to add another trophy to his collection, bursting out to an early lead with back-to-back victories.

GM Joel Benjamin had some attacking chances in this relatively locked position, but he missed his final chance, allowing Akopian to take over:

GM Alexander Goldin rebounded from Tuesday’s loss to reach an equal score with a nice win against GM Alexander Shabalov:

Of the drawn games, GM Jesse Kraai had the best winning chances but, for the second round in a row, was unable to capitalize:

Sometimes, the pairings just work out the way they’re supposed to. IM Stuart Rachels is the only player within one game of Akopian, so today’s Akopian – Rachels pairing is what we’d expect from a Swiss tournament. While this isn’t a Swiss event, we’re still getting the game we wanted.

Senior Women’s Championship: Skidmore Smith Leads, Lanni Withdraws

First, the chess. Jennifer Skidmore Smith is in sole first in the Senior Women’s event after her tenacious defense against WFM Ivona Jezierska paid off.

WIM Natalya Tsodikova won against her World Senior Team Championships teammate WIM Beatriz Marinello in an instructive French Defense. Where else does Black lose a game because they developed too quickly?

Finally, WIM Alexey Root won a nice attacking game against Catherine Dodson to reach an equal score. The game is worth checking out, but I’m saving it for a future worksheet because of a calculation-heavy defensive motif towards the end of the game.

Normally, I would put the standings here. But, shortly before the start of today’s round, SLCC announced that WCM Diana Lanni had withdrawn from this year’s U.S. Senior Women’s Championship due to a medical event.

Because the withdrawal happened before the tournament’s midway point, this event will now be scored as a nine-player tournament. WIM Natalya Tsodikova’s Round 1 victory over Lanni will not count towards the standings. Instead, both she and WGM Anjelina Belakovskaia — Lanni’s opponent for yesterday’s game, which was not played — have each had their one extra rest day.