U.S. Championships Round 6: So Survives Forced Mate; New Co-leader in Women’s

The leaders all drew in the Open Section of Saturday’s Round 6 at the U.S. Championships, but one of the split points came after the reigning champion missed a forced mate. In the Women’s, there’s still a two-way tie at the top, but one of the co-leaders was taken down and replaced, while the defending champion is gaining ground and picking up steam.

U.S. Championship

The game of the day, and maybe of the tournament, was Caruana – So. Defending champion GM Fabiano Caruana played a highly original opening plan, making many compromising pawn moves for initiative and piece activity. After GM Wesley So carelessly loosened his king, White’s queen entered Black’s territory with four consecutive small steps. Very soon, it almost became a question of when Wesley would resign. But on Move 41, Fabi still had to find the finishing blow.

A draw in a winning position is usually more painful than a loss; a draw when you played such a fantastic game and had a forced mate, doubly so.

Caruana - So might turn out to be a crucial miss for the reigning champ. (SLCC/Lennart Ootes)

The only decisive game in the Open Section was GM Andy Woodward’s win over GM Dariusz Swiercz. It was Andy’s second win in a row, bringing him up to an even score.

GM Andy Woodward is gaining momentum. (SLCC/Lennart Ootes)

GM Sam Shankland had a good chance to get to even, but couldn’t put away GM Grigoriy Oparin.

GM Hans Niemann stayed in a tie for first with a draw with GM Levon Aronian, and GM Awonder Liang – GM Sam Sevian and GM Abhimanyu Mishra – GM Ray Robson were also drawn.

All eyes Sunday will be on Niemann – Caruana. Hans has been playing very well, and Fabi needs to recover from what happened in Round 6 in his quest for a fourth-straight championship. When we look back, this could become one of those historic games that signals a changing of the guard at the top level in the United States. The way this tournament is going so far, I now see Niemann as the favorite to win the 2025 U.S. Championship (my personal opinion only!)

Graphic courtesy SLCC

U.S. Women’s Championship

A half-point now separates seven players in the Women’s. After a rough start, IM Carissa Yip won her second game in a row, this time against GM Irina Krush, to get to +1.

Krush Yip 2025 US Women's — It's hardly in the bag yet, but defending champ IM Carissa Yip may be making her move. (SLCC/Lennart Ootes)

IM Nazi Paikidze defeated the leader, IM Anna Sargsyan, to also pull within a half-point of the lead.

Nazi Paikidze US Women's Championship 2025 Round 6

IM Nazi Paikidze took out a co-leader and is a half-point out herself. (SLCC Lennart Ootes)

IM Anna Zatonskih outplayed WGM Atousa Pourkashiyan and is now tied for first with IM Alice Lee, who drew WGM Thalia Cervantes.

Anna Zatonskih 2025 US Women's Championship

IM Anna Zatonskih, a four-time U.S. Women's champ, is in the top group. (SLCC/Lennart Ootes)

FM Rose Atwell – IM Tatev Abrahamyan was also drawn, while WGM Jennifer Yu joined the group in 3rd-7th with a win over FM Megan Paragua.

Yip, the pre-tournament favorite, is in my opinion the likely choice to win this year, even though she is a half-point off the pace. In the confessional booth Saturday, she talked about being sometimes bored during the game and discussed her dinner plans. That means her rivals have a lot to fear, because after winning two games in row, it seems like she is becoming interested.