Seize the Day: Senior Women at the Saint Louis Chess Club

Editor’s note: As I teased in yesterday’s report, we’re taking a break from the usual coverage today to do something different. WIM Alexey Root had the day off during Saturday’s fifth round, so we asked her to share her experiences so far during the U.S. Senior Women’s Championship’s first year at the Saint Louis Chess Club (SLCC).

At the bottom, I’ll include a brief recap of Round 5 and key games. Today is the tournament’s rest day, and the tournament resumes Monday, July 20 with Round 6.

The 2026 U.S. Senior Women’s Championship is at the Saint Louis Chess Club. And its participants are making the most of their time in the chess capital of the United States. While they are fierce competitors — producing more decisive games than the players in two of the three concurrent championships — the senior women also are friends.

Competing alongside the other championships in St. Louis means we play our games over the course of 10 days (not counting the days of the opening and closing ceremonies) rather than just three, giving us plenty of time to catch up and make new memories. Below are some of the highlights from the first week!

Makeovers

Monday, July 13, was a day for glamour and dining out. Before being interviewed in the SLCC’s studio, players had the opportunity for hairstyling and makeup. After our makeovers and interviews, four players plus US Chess Women’s Committee co-chairs Maureen Grimaud and Kimberly Doo had lunch at Drunken Fish, a sushi restaurant across from the Saint Louis Chess Club.

Marinello, Root, Jezierska, and Airapetian after our makeovers. (Photo courtesy Maureen Grimaud)

Are You Okay?

Several of us have played in all four editions of the U.S. Senior Women’s Championship, and some of us have also been teammates at the World Senior Team Championships. Over the years, our friendships have reached a remarkable level. For example, I’ve never had opponents text me, after defeating me, to ask if I’m okay and to encourage me. But both WFM Olga Sagalchik and WFM Chouchanik Airapetian texted such messages after they won against me in Rounds 1 and 3, respectively.

Olga Sagalchik during Saturday's round. (Photo courtesy SLCC/Crystal Fuller)

I wasn’t upset about my loss to Airapetian, as she efficiently punished my creative (but bad) idea of … Ra8-a7 and … Qd8-a8. But throwing away a draw against Sagalchik — with 46. … Rf8? — was painful.

I won in round 2 and asked my opponent, Catherine Dodson, if she wanted to do a postmortem. But I told her that first we should get refreshments. One of the most important announcements, in my opinion, from IA Chris Bird at the players’ meeting was that it was okay to grab refreshments “to go” after completing our games. But once you leave the playing hall, you cannot return for food. As chessplayers, we know that move order matters!

Catherine Dodson has had several promising positions so far and is hoping for a strong finish. (Photo courtesy SLCC/Crystal Fuller)

After loading our plates, Dodson and I headed downstairs from the playing hall to the main SLCC meeting room. I asked the Grandmaster in Residence, GM Evgenij Miroshnichenko, to analyze with us. He showed us a resource (23. … Kf6) that I hadn’t considered and that Dodson had rejected because she thought it would give up her knight. Had she played that move, my advantage, according to Stockfish 17.1, would have been less than a third of a pawn. With the move she chose, I was “plus six” pawns.

I told Dodson that I lost my first five games at the 1986 U.S. Women’s Championship but then scored three points over the final four rounds and won a best game prize. Plus, I reminded her, she was getting good positions in her games. I wanted her to know that I cared about her, just like Sagalchik and Airapetian texted their caring words to me.

An Extra Rest Day

With the withdrawal of WCM Diana Lanni, those of us who had yet to play Lanni got an extra rest day. Her departure meant a change of fortunes for me. As the lowest FIDE-rated player in the field, I had picked my pairing number last at the opening ceremony. The leftover number happened to be a 10, which normally means 5 games as Black and 4 games as White.

Photo courtesy SLCC/Crystal Fuller.

Because of Lanni’s withdrawal, I now have four games with each color, since I was due Black against Lanni. Even better, I was scheduled to play Lanni in Round 5, the day before the actual rest day. So now I have consecutive rest days before the last stretch of games.

The night before my extra rest day, I went to The MUNY to see Newsies. Some of you may recall when the musical Chess was at The MUNY in 2023, in partnership with SLCC and the World Chess Hall of Fame. One song in Newsies is “Seize the Day,” which has already been done by the women who had their “extra” rest days earlier in the week.

In Round 2, when WGM Anjelina Belakovskia would have been playing Lanni, she instead took a walk and went swimming. In Round 3, Sagalchik brought her cell phone to the venue hoping to take photos at the start of the round. She was turned away, as no cell phones are allowed near the players. Soon after she started walking back toward the hotel which hosts the players, the Royal Sonesta Chase Park Plaza St. Louis, a thunderstorm began.

But in every cloud there is a silver lining. Detouring south, she shopped at Whole Foods and met GM Fabiano Caruana. When she told this story before Round 4, I naively asked, “Did you plan to meet him there?” She said no, it was a coincidence. But Caruana told Sagalchik that he knows that the U.S. Senior Women’s Championship is happening. I said, “Maybe he’ll stop by.” Sagalchik gave me a look suggesting that this too was a naive remark.

Chouchan Airapetian couldn't stay away from the playing hall during her extra rest day. (Photo courtesy SLCC/Crystal Fuller)

In Round 4, Airapetian had texted me that she was considering either watching the round or going to the Saint Louis Art Museum, one of several amazing attractions in Forest Park (which is walking distance from our hotel). I recommended the art museum. But, instead, she watched our round in person, sitting in the spectator area and following the games on the display screens hooked to the DGT boards.

How to Relax

Unlike Airapetian, my idea of relaxing is NOT to watch the games in person! Instead, I usually take a plate of food to my hotel room and watch the YouTube broadcast of that day’s round. My favorite parts of the broadcast are when the Senior Women are featured and when players enter the confessional booth. So far, I think only GM Alexander Fishbein and IM Stuart Rachels (from the U.S. Senior Championship) and WGM Rochelle Wu (from the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship) have confessed during their games.

On my extra rest day, l again watched the broadcast. But I also swam, did my laundry, and finished this article. There is thorough coverage by the Saint Louis Chess Club and by JJ Lang and WGM Sabina Foisor on Chess Life Online. So I didn’t expect to be asked for my thoughts on this year’s event, even though I had reported on each previous year (2023, 2024, and 2025). For me, writing about chess is more relaxing than playing chess. I’m grateful to spend part of my rest day writing. But, let’s face it, one has to play to have something to write about! It will be back to the chess board for me on Monday for Round 6. The tournament’s closing ceremony is on Friday, July 24, which is also my 61st birthday.

Round 5: Standings Stabilize Headed into Rest Day

Graphic courtesy of SLCC.

Vladimir Akopian arrived Saturday determined to get back to his winning ways. (Photo courtesy SLCC/Lennart Ootes)

GM Vladimir Akopian rebounded from his first loss to extend his lead to a full point in the Senior Championship.

GM Jesse Kraai’s first win of the event moves him into a share of second place, a point behind Akopian.

Graphic courtesy of SLCC.

In the Senior Women’s, wins by the trio of WGM Anjelina Belakovskaia, WFM Natalya Tsodikova, and WFM Olga Sagalchik put them ahead of the pack. Belakovskaia and Tsodikova are tied for first, while Sagalchik is in clear third. While Sagalchik has the same number of points as two other players, she has played one fewer game. The co-leaders have also played only four games apiece!

Graphic courtesy of SLCC.

With a shockingly quick win yesterday, GM Abhimanyu Mishra is back in clear first in the Junior Championship.

Abhimanyu Mishra tries to get a read on Nico Chasin after Chasin's decisive early blunder. (Photo courtesy SLCC/Crystal Fuller)

A win by IM Tanitoluwa Adewumi lifted him into a share of second place, while GM Brewington Hardaway’s win against IM Bach Ngo knocked the Floridian back in the standings.