Wesley So and Alice Lee qualified to the American Cup’s grand finals in the open and women’s sections respectively. So knocked out Levon Aronian, while Lee eliminated Nazi Paikidze. In both cases, after 1-1 draws in the 25-minute games, the winners prevailed in the second set of tiebreakers, played with a 10-minute time control. | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes
Hikaru Nakamura and Wesley So advanced to the final match of the champions bracket in the open section of the American Cup after beating Leinier Dominguez and Fabiano Caruana respectively. Among the women, Irina Krush and Alice Lee scored 1½-½ wins to set up a rematch from last year’s edition in the final. The losers of the day still have chances to win both events, via the elimination brackets. | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes
Day 3 of the American Cup saw four players eliminated from the tournament, as the first matches of the Elimination Bracket took place. Levon Aronian knocked out Sam Sevian, while Sam Shankland won a hotly contested playoff against Ray Robson. Meanwhile, in the women’s section, Tatev Abrahamyan took down Katerina Nemcova, while newcomer WGM Atousa Pourkashiyan sent Anna Zatonskih home with a 1½-½ victory. | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes
Day 2 of the American Cup saw the end of the first stage of the Champions Bracket, with several matches (Caruana-Robson, So-Shankland, Aronian-Dominguez) all decided in a rapid playoff. Meanwhile Nakamura was able to draw the second classical game after winning yesterday, relegating Sevian to the Elimination Bracket. In the Women’s Section, favorites Krush, Lee, and Tokhirjonova all managed to win their second games despite only needing a draw, while Paikidze defeated Zatonskih in convincing fashion to win their match 1½-½. | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club / Lennart Ootes