Standings Take Shape in Junior and Senior Championships Round 3

Clear Leaders Emerge After Round 3

Just three days into the 2026 Junior and Senior Championships, we have a clear leader in all four sections. There’s still two more rounds before the rest day, so players are getting creative:

Brewington Hardaway (L) and Alexander Shabalov take rest where they can get it! (Photos courtesy SLCC/Lennart Ootes)

Brewington Hardaway (L) and Alexander Shabalov take rest where they can get it! (Photos courtesy SLCC/Lennart Ootes)

WIM Rachael Li and GM Vladimir Akopian — in the Girls’ Junior and Senior, respectively — are the lone players with 3/3 scores.

Rachael Li and Vladimir Akopian are the only players with 3/3 scores. (Photos courtesy SLCC/Lennart Ootes)

Akopian leads by a full point (shades of 2024, when Akopian had an even larger lead by this point), but players are only a half-point behind the leaders in the three other events.

With 12 more decisive games on Thursday, we yet again have a bounty of analysis from WGM Sabina Foisor. If a game isn’t given below, it will probably show up in a future Tactics Tuesday or Wednesday Workout.

Senior Championship: Akopian Again

In 2024, GM Vladimir Akopian won the U.S. Senior Championship with a round to spare. He looked poised for a repeat in 2025 before players began catching up with him in the penultimate round.

Graphic courtesy of SLCC.

This year, Akopian seems to be returning to his “strategy” from 2024: Win so many games that nobody can catch up. With yesterday’s win over IM Stuart Rachels, Akopian improved to 3/3.

Last year’s champion, GM Alexander Fishbein, also won on Thursday, taking down GM Joel Benjamin and moving into a share of second place with a 2/3 score.

GM Alexander Onischuk joins Fishbein in joint second thanks to his win over GM Alexander Goldin:

It's been a tough start for Jesse Kraai with a number of missed chances, but he has caught fire at the tail-end of this event before and can do it again. (Photo courtesy SLCC/Lennart Ootes)

GM Jesse Kraai drew his third straight game with winning chances yesterday, this time against GM Igor Novikov:

GM Alexander Shabalov takes the white pieces against Akopian today. As one of five players tied for sixth with a 1/3 score, Shabalov has a great opportunity to tighten the standings.

Senior Women’s Championship: Skidmore Smith Keeps Lead, Jezierska Approaches

In the calmest round yet for the Senior Women’s event, WFM Ivona Jezierska moved into clear second with her win over Catherine Dodson. The only other decisive game was WFM Chouchanik Airapetian’s first win of the event, coming against WIM Alexey Root.

Graphic courtesy of SLCC.

In an important battle for position atop the leaderboard, Skidmore Smith once again showed great resilience in drawing two-time defending champion WFM Natalya Tsodikova.

Jennifer Skidmore Smith (L) held on in a difficult position against Natalya Tsodikova to maintain her lead in the Senior Women's Championship. (Photos courtesy SLCC/Lennart Ootes)

Finally, WIM Beatriz Marinello is finally on the board with a draw against WGM Anjelina Belakovskaia.

The tough tests continue for Skidmore Smith, who today generals the black pieces against 2023 U.S. Senior Women’s winner Belakovskaia. Due to Lanni’s unfortunate withdrawal from the event, Airapetian has today’s bye.

Girls’ Junior Championship: Li Keeps Racing, Tang Keeps Pacing

Four decisive results kept things red-hot in the Girls’ Junior. Even the draw is noteworthy, with CM Irene Jiao Fei getting on the board after two tough losses, holding FM Megan Paragua to a draw.

In her Girls' Junior debut, Irene Jiao Fei held Megan Paragua to a draw in Round 3. (Photo courtesy SLCC/Lennart Ootes)

A win would have moved Paragua into a share of second, but she now trails the leader by a full point.

Graphic courtesy of SLCC.

At the top, WIM Rachael Li won her third straight game, this time against FM Jasmine Su. Defending champion WGM Zoey Tang won her second straight game, taking down WGM Rochelle Wu to stay within a half-point of the leader.

It was all smiles between Zoey Tang (L) and Rochelle Wu...until the clock started! (Photo courtesy SLCC/Lennart Ootes)

FM Rose Atwell scored her first win of the event against WIM Chloe Gaw, moving to an event score. WGM Iris Mou won against WFM Aimee Yang to join Paragua in joint third.

Rose Atwell (L) and Iris Mou also climbed up the leaderboard with wins in Round 3. (Photos courtesy SLCC/Lennart Ootes)

Li looks to improve to 4/4 as Black against Gaw, while Tang has a good chance to maintain the fast pace with the white pieces against Yang. Paragua – Atwell will also help shape the chasing pack for the rest of the event, especially with a decisive result.

Junior Championship: Mishra On Top

Not everyone takes the smiley approach to the pre-game! Just ask Abhimanyu Mishra. (Photo courtesy SLCC/Lennart Ootes)

GM Abhimanyu Mishra, the 2023 U.S. Junior Champion, improved to 2½/3 with a lovely win as Black against IM Evan Park:

But, as we saw in Adewumi – Woodward, friends can still fight on the board! (Photo courtesy SLCC/Lennart Ootes)

Entering the round, Mishra was tied for first with IM Tanitoluwa Adewumi and reigning Junior champ GM Andy Woodward, but the pair drew their head-to-head game yesterday and now trail Mishra by a half-point.

Bach Ngo is tied for third after his second win in three rounds. (Photo courtesy SLCC/Lennart Ootes)

Joining them in a tie for second is IM Bach Ngo, whose win over GM Kirk Ghazarian was an impressive bounce back from Wednesday’s loss.

Graphic courtesy of SLCC.

In the final decisive game, IM Alice Lee is finally on the board! Her win over GM Nico Chasin saw her improve to 1/3.

Alice Lee scored her first win in her first U.S. Junior Championship. (Photo courtesy SLCC/Lennart Ootes)

GM Brewington Hardaway had chances against GM-Elect Lian Putnam, but was unable to capitalize.

Today, Mishra captains the black pieces against Hardaway, who finished in joint second in 2025. Woodward is White against Lee, while both Adewumi and Ngo are Black (against Ghazarian and Putnam, respectively).