Wesley So wins 4th US Chess Championship

MANILA, Philippines – Filipino-American chess Grandmaster Wesley So topped the 2026 United States Chess Championship for the fourth time, beating top American players, including world No. 3 Fabiano Caruana, who ruled the four previous tournaments. In the second game of the two-game rapid playoff that was livestreamed at the Saint Louis Chess Club in Missouri, Caruana made a risky, if not dubious, move by advancing his bishop too early and leaving a central pawn exposed.   So immediately took the free pawn and with it, a lot of territory on the chess board.  So castled his king on the queen-side and advanced his king-side pawns toward Caruana’s castled king.  Caruana attempted to counter-attack on the queen-side, but So continued to push his pawns forward and threatened to expose Caruana’s king.   Caruana resigned after So’s 33rd move.  So and Caruana finished the 11-round tournament tied for first place with 7.0 points apiece.  So’s journey to glory was not without glitches, however, as he unexpectedly lost to tail-ender Sam Sevian in the 11th round.  A draw would have been enough to clinch the championship but the loss enabled Fabiano Caruana, who played well in the second half of the tournament, to catch up with So.  So and...