Caruana Joins So in the Lead as Liang Falls to Xiong

Round four of the U.S. Championship in Saint Louis was a day for long endgames, and it reshaped both sections. Fabiano Caruana beat Ray Robson to join Wesley So in the open lead on 3/4, while Alice Lee moved to the sole top spot in the women’s event.

Caruana finds his rhythm

The defending champion opened with a draw against Levon Aronian, then beat Grigoriy Oparin and Robson in succession. Chess.com picked the Robson game as its Game of the Day, with analysis by GM Rafael Leitao.

The game liquidated into a double-rook endgame by move 23 and simplified to rook against rook by move 68. Caruana won on move 77. Chess.com described a long grind in which he was better throughout and never gave up his grip.

That matters for a man chasing a fifth straight title, the subject of our earlier look at Caruana’s pursuit of Reshevsky’s record. He has now won two in a row, and the next opponent is a dangerous one.

Liang’s first defeat

Awonder Liang, the previous co-leader, lost with Black to Jeffery Xiong. The game became a Berlin Defence endgame that looked to offer little to either side. It then turned unexpectedly complicated, and Liang ended up with an extra piece but serious practical problems.

Engines flag many of the later moves as imprecise. With little time on the clock, finding the exact continuations was hard. Xiong kept making progress and finished the game in style.

Xiong had won his opening game against Sam Sevian, then lost two in a row. He is back to an even score.

Other results

Hans Niemann also returned to level by beating Abhimanyu Mishra. He had lost round one to Liang. Against Mishra he held the bishop pair and more activity, left his opponent with several weaknesses, and finished with a small tactical combination.

Oparin took his first win of the event against Sevian, recovering from a negative score. So drew with Aronian, which left So unbeaten on 3/4. Aronian has drawn all four of his games.

Andy Woodward drew in round four after beating Robson in round three. He and Liang share third on 2½/4, with a group on 2/4 behind them. Earlier rounds are covered in our report on Woodward and Shankland’s wins.

Women’s section: Lee escapes again

Lee beat Megan Paragua, the 13-year-old who had been co-leader, to reach 3½/4. It was her third win in a row. Thalia Cervantes drew and sits alone in second on 3/4.

Lee had the better of the middlegame, but a serious oversight gave Paragua a chance to turn the game around. Lee survived and reached an endgame of rook against bishop, then won it with her last pawn, a technical ending grandmasters are expected to know. Paragua resigned on move 85.

Her tournament has involved a lot of survival. She escaped with a draw from a losing position against Carissa Yip in round one, then turned an inferior position into a win over Jennifer Yu. In round three she profited from a tactical oversight by Nazi Paikidze.

Irina Krush, the eight-time champion, beat Paikidze, who has now lost twice in a row. Krush has won in rounds two and four, after blundering her queen against Rachael Li in round one. She shares third with Li and Paragua on 2½/4. Only two of six games were decisive, the first women’s round with a drawn majority.

Round five

After Tuesday’s rest day, play resumes Wednesday, 14 October. Woodward has White against Caruana. So has Black against Oparin, and Liang faces Shankland.

In the women’s section, Lee plays Black against Tatev Abrahamyan. Krush has White against Cervantes, a direct meeting of two contenders.