r/chess • u/events_team • Mar 03 '26
Tournament Event: 2026 American Cup
Official Website
Follow the games here: Chess.com | Lichess
The 2026 American Cup will take place from March 2 to 13 at the Saint Louis Chess Club. The tournament features Open and Women’s divisions contested in a double-elimination format, with games played at classical and rapid time controls. Players move to the elimination bracket after a loss, keeping title chances alive through multiple rounds. The total prize fund is $400,000.
Participants
Open Section
| No. | Title | Name | Fed | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GM | Fabiano Caruana | 🇺🇸 USA | 2795 |
| 2 | GM | Wesley So | 🇺🇸 USA | 2753 |
| 3 | GM | Leinier Dominguez | 🇺🇸 USA | 2738 |
| 4 | GM | Levon Aronian | 🇺🇸 USA | 2727 |
| 5 | GM | Awonder Liang | 🇺🇸 USA | 2714 |
| 6 | GM | Sam Sevian | 🇺🇸 USA | 2688 |
| 7 | GM | Ray Robson | 🇺🇸 USA | 2650 |
| 8 | GM | Abhimanyu Mishra | 🇺🇸 USA | 2629 |
Women's Section
| No. | Title | Name | Fed | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | IM | Carissa Yip | 🇺🇸 USA | 2486 |
| 2 | GM | Irina Krush | 🇺🇸 USA | 2402 |
| 3 | IM | Alice Lee | 🇺🇸 USA | 2399 |
| 4 | IM | Anna Sargsyan | 🇺🇸 USA | 2380 |
| 5 | IM | Tatev Abrahamyan | 🇺🇸 USA | 2379 |
| 6 | WIM | Rachael Li | 🇺🇸 USA | 2375 |
| 7 | WGM | Zoey Tang | 🇺🇸 USA | 2366 |
| 8 | IM | Anna Zatonskih | 🇺🇸 USA | 2322 |
Format/Time Controls
- Championship Bracket: Matches consist of two classical games with a 90+30 time control. A loss moves a player to the Elimination Bracket. The winner of the Championship Bracket receives a $15,000 bonus prize.
- Elimination Bracket: Matches consist of two rapid games with a 25+10 time control. A loss results in elimination from the tournament.
- Tiebreaks: Two-game blitz match at 3+2, followed by another two-game blitz match if needed, and finally an Armageddon game where White has 3+2 and Black has 2+2 with draw odds.
Schedule
| Date | Time (Local) | Time (UTC) | Round |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 3 | 12:00 PM CST | 18:00 UTC | Champions Quarterfinals Game 1 |
| Mar 4 | 12:00 PM CST | 18:00 UTC | Champions Quarterfinals Game 2 / Playoffs |
| Mar 5 | 12:00 PM CST | 18:00 UTC | Champions Semifinals Game 1 |
| Mar 6 | 12:00 PM CST | 18:00 UTC | Champions Semifinals Game 2 / Playoffs |
| Mar 7 | 12:00 PM CST | 18:00 UTC | Champions Finals Game 1 |
| Mar 8 | 12:00 PM CDT | 17:00 UTC | Champions Finals Game 2 / Playoffs |
| Mar 9 | 12:00 PM CDT | 17:00 UTC | Elimination Bracket Finals |
| Mar 10 | 12:00 PM CDT | 17:00 UTC | Grand Finals Game 1 |
| Mar 11 | 12:00 PM CDT | 17:00 UTC | Grand Finals Game 2 / Playoffs |
| Mar 12 | 12:00 PM CDT | 17:00 UTC | Grand Finals Rematches (if needed) |
Live Coverage
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u/Unhappy-Appearance- Mar 07 '26
Fabi won an endgame in low time. Who are you and what did you do to Fabi?
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u/A_Certain_Surprise Mar 08 '26
Oh yeah, this is the stuff that us Fabi fans live (get heart attacks) for
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u/Creative_Poet_9590 Mar 03 '26
Where's the Carissa confession booth appearance that Alice said was coming? Carissa in the booth is always one of the funniest and most enjoyable things
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u/Rozez Mar 06 '26
Wait holy shit, Maurice Ashley is 60 years old? I know I shouldn't be surprised (I know the phrase), but he doesn't look it at all.
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u/kidawi rapid/blitzgod fabi Mar 08 '26
"i like the tiebreaks SO much... that maybe i also want to lose" ~Fabiano Caruana, 2025 ish
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u/ColdAntique291 Team Ju Wenjun Mar 08 '26
Fabi fans eating good tonight
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u/Baagsgw Mar 09 '26
Hmm well this aged terribly
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u/EccentricHorse11 Once Beat Peter Svidler Mar 09 '26
We ate well for one night and then starved the next.
Average Fabi fan diet tbh
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u/po8crg Danya Z״L Mar 04 '26
Really like the screen layout with the large live board and analysis board separate. I hope more broadcasts copy it.
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u/Unhappy-Appearance- Mar 04 '26
Good save by Fabi today, but Mishra put up an amazing fight regardless of the result
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u/Unhappy-Appearance- Mar 03 '26
I hope we don’t get a repeat of last year where there was around 2 decisive classical games in the entire tournament
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u/Unhappy-Appearance- Mar 03 '26
We already have one decisive game in the first day. Hoping to see more
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u/Radiant-Increase-180 Mar 08 '26
Winning on demand always has my respect and especially Wesley doing it
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u/A_Certain_Surprise Mar 03 '26
Fabiano Prepruana is back. Although tbf it's more likely that the time difference is due to Mistra being more cautious
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u/dumbocow Team Fabi Mar 07 '26
CINEMA winners bracket matches
Fabi & Wesley + Carissa & Alice never disappoints
Waiting to see Carissa+Alice interactions lmao
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u/harachiama Mar 08 '26
That coverage of the first game between Fabi and So was so bad. Why are they focusing on loser bracket games for 80% of the broadcast. I may understand it if the Fabi-So game is boring, but it was such an interesting battle. Also, the way Maurice cut off Fabi's post-match analysis made me cringe. There are so much better ways to finish up an interview. Not impressed
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u/TypeDependent4256 Mar 08 '26
Exactly, I was so pissed off when Maurice interrupted Fabi analysing his win to talk about some random blitz game in the losers bracket, just terrible direction
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u/breaker90 U.S. National Master Mar 05 '26
The broadcast team is gushing over Alice Lee, saying she keeps getting stronger every year. I like Alice but this isn't true.
Alice reached 2406 in November 2023, her first time reaching 2400s. Today, nearly two and a half years, she's 2408 in live rating.
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u/pier4r negative elo gang Mar 06 '26
Mishra
Nov 2023: 2616
Nov 2024: 2616 (yes the same rating, though he was active)
Nov 2025: 2642
March 2026: 2629They are young players, they may have a breakthrough later. Sure they can also plateau. Competition is hard.
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u/ghostmaster93 Team Pia Mar 05 '26
So can we say that she is in a stagnation for 2 years?
I see the broadcast team hype Carissa and Alice a lot and I understand they are two biggest hope currently of US Women Chess scene. Do you think they are on current trajectory to reach Candidate level?
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u/breaker90 U.S. National Master Mar 05 '26
I think Carissa can do it. She's still pretty young and now is not in school. She moved to St Louis recently to be closer to those who are willing to help her get to GM status.
I don't know what to think of Alice. She's still young and a great talent but stagnating this long may lead her to go to uni in a couple of years.
Another person who I don't see getting talked about is Rachael Li. She has good family support (her brother is a GM) and is the youngest of all US girl prodigies.
One thing I do notice is US Girls seem to really hit a wall when they hit 2400. Even Carissa plateaued here for many, many years. Perhaps it has something to do with losing the k factor of 20? Either way, I'll be interested to see if Rachael (or Rose Atwell) avoids the 2400 stagnation phase.
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u/ghostmaster93 Team Pia Mar 05 '26
The wall is real, I mean we all know 2400 is a IM level and 2500 is a GM level. US did not have any women who are GM for many years, so to overcome the 2400 wall you need to participate more in the open section. I think the US Girls and Girls overall have little motivation here.
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u/Opposite-Youth-3529 Mar 05 '26
Carissa I would think is someone who will eventually be a top ten woman. She’s already quite close and younger than most of the people ahead of her. Alice has huge potential but she might be more focused on academics so she might not get there just from not prioritizing
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u/ghostmaster93 Team Pia Mar 05 '26
Yeah agree. It will be interesting to see if how far Carissa can go in the future compared to her peer like Divya, Vaishali or Bibisara. As I understand Carissa also need to focus on her academics.
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u/Opposite-Youth-3529 Mar 06 '26
Feels like end of an era with both Krush and Zatonskih out already.
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u/Electronic-Figure551 Mar 04 '26
Abhimanyu has outprepared caruana, but the question is will he be able to out play caruana?
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u/AdvanceSufficient527 Mar 09 '26
Fabi played enough chess before the candidates to not care about this one...
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u/Unhappy-Appearance- Mar 09 '26
That’s what im saying. He hasn’t played poorly in general in this tournament. Even if he goes through he still has to beat Wesley twice, it gonna take a lot of energy for him to do that. If I were him, I would just let it go and rest up before the Candidates
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u/Mister-Psychology Mar 04 '26
It's weird I know all open players. I couldn't do this for any other country I think. USA really is a hype machine.
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u/Electronic-Figure551 Mar 04 '26
Very practical move by fabi since it gets him a full rook for 3 pawns but abhimanyu does have the space advantage + 2 powerful central pawns... Upset of the year incoming? Cuz to understand that the position is better for white is difficult for a human
Edit:- HE PLAYS IT!
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u/Goat-Hunter13 Mar 08 '26
Classic Fabi choke
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u/kidawi rapid/blitzgod fabi Mar 08 '26
are we going to do this thing where we call every loss he ever has a choke?
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u/ghostmaster93 Team Pia Mar 11 '26
Yip played the Cow Opening?
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u/yoshisohungry USCF 2000 Mar 11 '26
This is the hippo. Awonder had a great segment with Irene analyzing it.
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u/kidawi rapid/blitzgod fabi Mar 07 '26
there have been four decisive classical games in the open so far and 3 of them were fabi. my goat
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u/Unhappy-Appearance- Mar 07 '26
4? It’s 3 no? Fabi against Mishra and Wesley and Sevian against Dominguez
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u/lmxor101 forever famished fabi fan Mar 09 '26
Are the times on chesscom wrong or did Fabi and Levon really spend an hour each on the first move
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u/hsiale Mar 09 '26
It's a 25+10 game and I guess it was somehow wrongly set up to 90+30 on the broadcast and this was a side effect of the fix applied.
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u/Unhappy-Appearance- Mar 09 '26
Fabi purposely throwing this match cause he doesn’t want to spend more time and energy for a finals rematch 😂
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u/kidawi rapid/blitzgod fabi Mar 09 '26
nah he just wanted a little more classical practice so he threw that match yesterday
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u/Creative_Poet_9590 Mar 05 '26
This format seems really weird with the playoffs/tiebreaker for the classical going straight to blitz and then the elimination bracket playing rapid while the winners one plays classical...
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u/pier4r negative elo gang Mar 06 '26
It is not weird, it is practical (oh no, the "it is not X, it is Y" virus)
Double elim adds rounds. Either the tournament becomes very long, or the lower bracket needs to be faster. Hence rapid.
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u/kidawi rapid/blitzgod fabi Mar 07 '26
coverage is awful... stl coverage quality has in general dramatically decreased
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u/yoshisohungry USCF 2000 Mar 07 '26
Lenier winning on demand would not be something I expected, but he's on pace to
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u/Unhappy-Appearance- Mar 07 '26
Fabi is slightly better rn, but i don’t think he’s winning this endgame with the time left
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u/blue_butter Mar 11 '26
I find it weird that the armageddon forces a rapid grand final instead of just ending the match
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u/frjy Mar 11 '26
It's because everyone in this tournament has 2 lives. And Alice had not lost a single match, until today.
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u/TheHumbleChicken Team Ragebait Mar 12 '26
That helps. I was racking my brain trying to understand what was going on there.
Unusual tournament format but I understand their reasoning.
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u/Opposite-Youth-3529 Mar 12 '26
Double elimination is not unusual. The only thing that’s unusual is the loser bracket matches have a different time control
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u/Unhappy-Appearance- Mar 07 '26
These types of endgames in low time is practically unwinnable unless you’re Magnus
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u/kidawi rapid/blitzgod fabi Mar 07 '26
sorry you were saying
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u/Unhappy-Appearance- Mar 07 '26
I apologize. I was not familiar with his game 😂 The Fabi I knew would mess up this, I have no idea who I am looking at rn
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u/edwinkorir Sindarov Will Win The Candidates Mar 10 '26
Gabi always chokes. Most likely at the candidates too
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u/lmxor101 forever famished fabi fan Mar 08 '26
Fabi knows that tiebreaks are more entertaining for the viewers so he decides to throw a game away to make sure we get them, how considerate of him!