Recap

 by NM Vanessa West

GM Ray Robson upset GM Wesley So to break 2700 for the first time. He’s in clear second, trailing GM Fabiano Caruana by a point, who won again to reach plus four. 

In the U.S. Women’s Championship, WIM Megan Lee defeated WGM Jennifer Yu to replace her in the tie for first with GM Irina Krush. 

 by NM Vanessa West

GM Fabiano Caruana increased his lead to a full point ahead of the field with a victory against GM Elshan Moradiabadi. GM Dariusz Swiercz achieved the biggest upset, defeating GM Levon Aronian. 

In the U.S. Women’s Championship, GM Irina Krush won a third game in a row to join WGM Jennifer Yu at the top of the scoreboard. Shockingly, out of the eight decisive games between both sections, Black won seven times. 

 by NM Vanessa West

After five rounds, Fabiano Caruana continues to lead the field by half a point. In the U.S. Women’s Championship, Jennifer has taken the sole lead with a fourth victory. 

by NM Vanessa West

GM Fabiano Caruana took over the sole lead of the U.S. Championship by defeating co-leader GM Hans Niemann. In the U.S. Women’s Championship, WGM Tatev Abrahamyan and WGM Jennifer Yu won to join FM Alice Lee for the lead. 

 by NM Vanessa West

GM Fabiano Caruana and GM Christopher Yoo join the tie for first in the U.S. Championship with critical victories. In the U.S. Women’s Championship, FM Alice Lee and WIM Megan Lee reached 2.5 to narrow down the leaderboard. 

by NM Vanessa West

The youngest players in each section, 12-year-old Alice Lee and 15-year-old Christopher Yoo, scored key upsets in Round 2 of the U.S. Chess & U.S. Women’s Chess Championships. Yoo defeated reigning champion GM Wesley So while Lee defeated WGM Begim Tokhirjonova to reach 2-0. 

America’s strongest chess players enter to find fish swimming through a giant mechanical clock. Sharks loom above grandmasters. Chess celebrities are photographed before colossal projections of octopuses and jellyfish. Where are we?

Fabiano Caruana was crowned the winner of the 2022 Champions Showdown: Chess 9LX after defeating Alireza Firouzja in Armageddon during their rapid playoff match. The victory capped off an incredible day for Caruana, who won his final three games in regulation to finish with 6.5/9 and catch Firouzja to force a playoff tiebreaker.

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov surged ahead today in the Champions Showdown, winning all three of his games to finish tied for first with Alireza Firouzja, both on 4.5/6. Yesterday’s leader Ian Nepomniachtchi slipped to third place with 4.0/6, while former World Champion Garry Kasparov was unfortunately once again shut out from scoring any points.

Check out the full replay of live coverage from the day here. The time control for the event is game in 20 minutes with a 5 second increment.

The 2022 Champions Showdown: Chess 9LX kicked off today with an elite 10-player rapid round-robin featuring Chess960 (Fischer Random), a rich variant where the starting arrangement of the pieces is shuffled on the back rank.

After the first day of action, 2022 FIDE Candidates winner Ian Nepomniachtchi leads the field with a perfect 3/3 score, while 2018 World Championship challenger Fabiano Caruana is currently in clear second with 2.5/3.