GM Wesley So remained the only unbeaten player and sole leader of the 2026 U.S. Chess Championship with five points when he fought back from a worse position to defeat GM Ray Robson in round seven. Among the joint leaders from the previous round, GMs Fabiano Caruana and Andy Woodward drew their respective games to follow the leader on 4.5 points, while GM Awonder Liang crashed to defeat in just 27 moves against GM Grigoriy Oparin with uncharacteristic tactical oversights.

The 2026 U.S. Women's Chess Championship saw WIM Rachael Li and IM Alice Lee emerge as joint leaders on 5.5 points after confident victories. The other joint leader and the only undefeated player of the event till now, WGM Thalia Cervantes, overextended her position and lost to IM Anna Sargsyan while trying to win. GM Irina Krush won a topsy-turvy game against IM Carissa Yip and jumped into sole second with five points. The round once again produced five decisive games.

Looking at some of the tactical mistakes from both tournaments, fatigue seems to be a major factor, as the tournament approaches its final leg.

Round eight is on Saturday, October 17, starting at 1 p.m. ET / 19:00 CEST / 10:30 p.m. IST.

Standings After Round 7: Open

Standings After Round 7: Women

Open: So's Escape And Liang's Blind Spot

Round 7 Results: Open

Even though there were four players at the top after the sixth round, we had interesting predictions at the beginning of the games.

Obviously, the system is stacked in favor of rating favorites and ex-champions, with Caruana and So being the top two seeds as well as having won the title five and three times before, respectively.

It was a difficult day for one of the leaders, Liang, who seemed to be quite off-color. His decision to close the center with 17...c5 was puzzling, effectively rendering his own dark-squared bishop distinctly ineffective for the rest of the game. His subsequent mistakes indicate fatigue, as the final tactic was definitely not a hard one to foresee for a player of his caliber.

To his credit, Liang still went over to the confessional booth to comment about the 'much improved' quality of snacks on the day, showing his famous sense of humor, in spite of his position being difficult to play already. 

"Snacks are much improved today!" says Awonder Liang from the confessional booth during the U.S. Championship. https://t.co/CzQbkj6ptW

— chess24 ( @chess24com) October 16, 2026

It was uneventful for two of the other leaders from the previous round. Caruana's game against GM Hans Niemann never progressed beyond a level of parity throughout and ended in a draw after 44 moves. It was the same for Woodward too, as his active play on the kingside against GM Sam Sevian could not make much headway, resulting in a draw in 47 moves.

The most important game of the day was definitely between Robson and So, and the latter seemed to have begun confidently, achieving equality in the middlegame. But his decision to exchange queens and enter an endgame was erroneous, as Robson gained a significant advantage in the endgame and even decided not to repeat the position for a draw.

Here, 30.Ne5+ would have resulted in a draw due to threefold repetition, but, to his credit, Robson decided to continue the game with 30.f4. Unfortunately for him, he lost his way in time pressure before the first time control. It was a complex battle where both players made mistakes before Robson slipped up in a bishop endgame. This eventful game is our Game of the Day, analyzed by GM Rafael Leitao below.

GM Levon Aronian scored his first win of the tournament against GM Sam Shankland by maximizing his chances with the bishop pair in the middlegame, and then carefully thwarting Shankland's attempts at creating dynamic chances against the white king.

With four more rounds to go, the race to the top is heating up in St. Louis. So-Woodward will be the game to watch in the eighth round, but in such a strong field, there will be no dearth of tough fights.

Round 8 Pairings | Open

Women: Confident Wins For Li And Lee

Round 7 Results: Women

The predictions in the women's section are more or less justifiable.

Overnight joint leader Cervantes suffered her first loss of the tournament against Sargsyan, after her active play and opening up the kingside backfired in the late middlegame. To make matters worse, Cervantes came under time pressure too.

The games of the other two joint leaders of the tournament were the obvious focus of the round. Li admitted that her brother GM Ruifeng Li has been assisting her with her opening preparation. But what probably has Li going great guns here is her temperament. Talking to the commentators after the game, the 16-year-old admitted: "There is not much pressure in this tournament. I came here without any aspirations at all. I am gonna take what I can get."

I came here without any aspirations at all. I am gonna take what I can get.

—Rachael Li

The confidence and level-headedness were mirrored in her game too, as Li played an unorthodox opening followed by a clear-cut dynamic objective in the middlegame to win an impressive game.

Her competitor for the title is the 17-year-old Lee, who won against IM Rose Atwell in a game where she underwent early anxious moments.

Discussing her loss to Li in the previous round, Lee commented: "It is not the end of the world. I am still in control of my own destiny, as I am still in the lead."

It is not the end of the world. I am still in control of my own destiny, as I am still in the lead.

—Alice Lee

The rest of the tournament will be an eagerly-awaited race between these two teenagers.

Under mutual time pressure, the Krush-Yip encounter proved to be a thorough entertainer from a complex position arising out of a King's Indian Defense, where the assessment of the position changed many times before Yip committed the final blunder to lose the game. This could be an important win for eight-time U.S. Champion Krush, as she climbed to five points, just half a point behind the tournament leaders.

The eighth round will probably be focused on the games of Li, Lee, and Krush, as the final stretch to the finish beckons.

Round 8 Pairings | Women