Meet Me in St. Louis: Root on Senior Women's, Pt. 2

Meet Me In St. Louis: The U.S. Senior Women’s Championship’s Second Half

From July 12 (arrival day) to July 25 (departure day), the Saint Louis Chess Club (SLCC) hosted the 2026 U.S. Senior Women’s Championship alongside the U.S. Junior, Girls’ Junior, and Senior Championships for the first time in the event’s four-year history.

I wrote about my experience in the first half of the event here, and I wanted to share my report from the final rounds, starting with the game that’s still keeping me up at night.

Any place but there

In its Tactics Tuesdays and Wednesday Workouts about the July championships at SLCC, Chess Life Online (CLO) featured more puzzles taken from my games than from any other Senior Woman, Senior, Junior, or Girls’ Junior player.

Should I be flattered by editor JJ Lang’s attention? Maybe, except that many of the puzzles’ answers showed that I should have played different moves, i.e., “any place but there.” I even had the “honor” of three of my positions from the same game being featured in last week’s workout. If you haven’t already, think through these positions below (with links to an interactive study).

White to play!

Black to play!

White to play!

Since my errors from this game have already been analyzed, let me write instead about my eighth-round preparation, play, and post-game penitence.

Belakovskia and I parted company after our postmortem. As usual, I learned a lot from spending time with her. I think of her as my big sister, even though she is younger than I am. I admire her. Congratulations, Anjelina, on becoming the 2026 U.S. Senior Women’s Champion!

Back in my room, I watched SLCC's commentary for Round 8. I especially paid attention to Seirawan’s tutorial on how to draw with king and bishop against king and rook.

At 2 a.m. on the morning of Round 9, I woke up with my heart racing. My first thought was, “What if I don’t know how to draw with king and knight against king and rook?” I turned on my lights and studied that endgame. Then I reviewed the king and bishop against king and rook endgame. Since I could not get back to sleep, I studied the Exchange Variation of the French Defense, which I was sure Skidmore Smith would play against me. Then I tried to relax by watching television. At 8 a.m., I went swimming.

For my forthcoming book The United States College Chess Championship: A History of the President's Cup, GM David Brodsky annotated the cause of his 2024 loss to GM Grigoriy Oparin as follows: “61. Ke3?? An absolute tragedy which cost White many hours of sleep.” I empathize. I have lost many hours of sleep since July 22 thinking about my loss to Belakovskaia. There are several moves that I replay in my head, thinking “any place but there.” Fortunately, this refrain only applied to the chessboard:

Meet me in St. Louis, Louis

I love St. Louis in the summertime. Where I live — Denton, TX — the average high for July 2026 was 98 degrees. In St. Louis, the average high was only 91 degrees. Every morning at 8 a.m., when the Royal Sonesta Chase Park Plaza hotel pool opened, I swam. The hotel’s building shaded the pool, so I didn’t have to wear sunscreen. I usually had the pool to myself too.

On the afternoon of the July 19 rest day, WFM Chouchan Airapetian, WIM Beatriz Marinello, Jennifer Skidmore Smith, Catherine Dodson, and I met at Twisted Ranch, a restaurant located halfway in between our hotel and the SLCC. The first three women were soccer fans, so Dodson and I sat with our backs to the big television to give them the best view of the World Cup Final. She and I could still see the game on the smaller televisions above the bar.

From left: Dodson, Root, Skidmore Smith, Marinello, and Airapetian. (Photo courtesy of the subjects)

I liked the company and the appetizers that we shared (such as dill pickle chips, loaded ranch fries, and buffalo chicken nachos). I can’t say that I learned much about soccer, despite Airapetian’s explanations of offsides and penalty kicks. It was great just to be hanging out with my friends/fellow competitors in the vibrant Central West End.

Meet me at the fair

I also adore The Muny, a permanent outdoor theatre with a seating capacity of nearly 11,000. The vision for the theatre likely dates to the 1904 World’s Fair. I saw South Pacific on my arrival day, July 12, which was its closing day.

In my previous article, I wrote about seeing Newsies. On its closing day, July 22, I was in the same hotel elevator as Michael Park, who played Joseph Pulitzer. Although I already had a selfie with him from stage door stalking on July 17, now I had a chance (between the lobby and the fourth floor) to talk to him too! I said, “Thank you for your performance.” He replied, “The kids did all the work.”

A selfie with the Stranger Things actor! (Photo courtesy of Alexey Root)

Along with being home to The Muny and the 1904 World’s Fair, Forest Park has the Saint Louis Zoo. Dodson and I visited the zoo on July 24, while several other championship competitors watched the playoff between GM Alex Onischuk and GM Vladimir Akopian in person.

As we walked around the zoo, Dodson told me about her career as a prosecutor. I enjoyed her stories, as I am a true crime fan. As soon as I got back from the zoo, I watched an episode of Forensic Files which featured interview clips with her.

Don’t tell me the lights are shining

After winning the 2026 U.S. Senior Women’s Championship on July 23, WGM Anjelina Belakovskaia invited other senior women to join her for a celebration dinner. It turned out that she picked the same restaurant as Girls’ Junior winner WGM Zoey Tang.

Tang at her victory dinner with her fellow competitors (and more at the table in the rear!)! (Photo courtesy Alexey Root)

In her CLO post-tournament report, Tang wrote that 2026 was “extra special: for the first time, the Saint Louis Chess Club also hosted the Senior Women’s Championship.” About Belakovskaia and WFM Natalya Tsodikova she added, “I love that I got the opportunity to learn from these amazing, experienced role models.” What an honor for senior women to be shining lights for another generation, because the championships were held together in St. Louis, the Chess Capital of the United States.

One of the dinnertime topics at the senior women’s table was the next World Senior Team Championship. According to an article on Chess Mail, it is planned for March 31 to April 11, 2027, in Magdeburg, Germany. Everyone aspires to make the team and to bring USA another gold medal.

We will dance the hoochie coochie

The July 24 closing ceremony was followed by a dinner and reception, which had a DJ, karaoke, and a dance floor. My dinner table companions and I were sure that Airapetian would be the first senior woman on the dance floor, as she has an outgoing personality. But we were wrong.

Belakovskaia came over to my table and said, “Alexey, let’s get the dancing started.” So she and I were the first ones on the dance floor, quickly joined by Dodson, WFM Olga Sagalchik, and Tsodikova and her husband IM Rostislav Tsodikov. I asked the DJ to play Dancing Queen, as I know that one by heart. But I didn’t know the next song, so I returned to my table.

Natalya Tsodikova dances with her husband, Rost, during the closing ceremony. (Photo courtesy SLCC/Crystal Fuller)

Belakovskaia texted me later that the instrumental music is called 7:40. It is named after a train scheduled for a 7:40 arrival in Odesa and has become a folk standard of the Soviet Jewish diaspora. GM Alexander Goldin was the first player from the Senior Championship to dance, when he joined Belakovskaia, Sagalchik, and Tsodikova for 7:40.

Alexander Goldin dances with Anjelina Belakovskaia at the closing ceremony. (Photo courtesy SLCC/Crystal Fuller)

WCM Diana Lanni arrived at the tail-end of the closing ceremony and stayed for the dinner and reception. She played a game with GM Awonder Liang, telling me after it ended, “That young man is good at chess.” I hadn’t seen Lanni since her first round loss to Tsodikova. She talked about playing chess again soon, which was wonderful to hear.

"That young man is good at chess!" (Photo courtesy SLCC/Austin Fuller)

You will be my tootsie wootsie

The closing ceremony, dinner, and reception were held on the top floor of the hotel, in the Starlight Ballroom and Zodiac Room. The floor-to-ceiling windows, outdoor terraces, and panoramic rooftop views have been enjoyed by hundreds of brides and grooms over the years.

Karaoke time! (Photo courtesy SLCC/Austin Fuller)

The chess reception was more playful than romantic. Four of the Girls’ Junior competitors sang karaoke to Justin Bieber’s Beauty and a Beat. There were smiles, laughter, and cell phone videos created.

Documenting the karaoke! (Photo courtesy SLCC/Crystal Fuller)

But no encore, at least not at the hotel. By the time the older players were dancing, several of the Juniors and Girls’ Junior competitors had already adjourned to the SLCC, to hang out, look at chess, and play a few more games.

If you will meet me in St. Louis, Louis

On departure day, I was on the same flight as GM Andy Woodward (the 2025 and 2026 U.S. Junior Champion) and his mother Wendy. Andy and I talked about playing again next summer in St. Louis.

Woodward will play in many tournaments between now and then. To start with, about a week after returning to DFW, Andy and Wendy traveled to Europe for the Turkish Chess Leagues 2026.

I asked Woodward what his favorite game was from the 2026 U.S. Junior Championship. He picked his win over IM Alice Lee. JJ Lang annotated that game for CLO’s round 4 report.

Meet me at the fair

The headings in this article are from the lyrics of “Meet me in St. Louis, Louis,” the theme song of the musical Meet Me In St. Louis.

Meet me in St. Louis, Louis
Meet me at the fair
Don't tell me the lights are shining
Any place but there
We will dance the hoochie coochie
You will be my tootsie wootsie
If you will meet me in St. Louis, Louis
Meet me at the fair.

The penultimate musical of The Muny’s 2026 season was Meet Me In St. Louis. My goal is to be in St. Louis again next July, as a participant in the 2027 U.S. Senior Women’s Championship. Hope to meet y’all there!