Wesley So came from behind to defeat Fabiano Caruana in the open section final of the American Cup, advancing to the grand final via blitz tiebreaks. In the women's event, defending champion Alice Lee beat Carissa Yip in blitz to reach her fifth consecutive grand final. The tournament took place at the Saint Louis Chess Club.
The Championship Bracket finals of the American Cup concluded on Sunday at the Saint Louis Chess Club. In the open section, Wesley So recovered from a loss in the first classical game to Fabiano Caruana by winning the second classical encounter, leveling the score. The match proceeded to blitz tiebreaks, where So scored a 1½–½ victory to secure advancement to the Grand Final.
Caruana dropped to the Elimination Bracket, where he is set to face Levon Aronian on Monday. The winner will challenge So in the Grand Final. Aronian reached this stage after losing his opening Championship Bracket match to Awonder Liang. He then defeated Abhimanyu Mishra and Sam Sevian by 1½–½ scores in the Elimination Bracket. Against Liang, the first two rapid games drew, leading to blitz tiebreaks. Aronian drew the first blitz game after missing a win in a rook-and-knight endgame but won the rematch after 49 moves.
In the women's Championship Bracket final, Alice Lee and Carissa Yip drew both classical games, moving the contest to blitz. Lee, the 2024 and 2025 winner, won both blitz games to advance. She has now reached the Grand Final in all five editions of the Women's American Cup, having lost the 2022 and 2023 finals to Irina Krush. Yip entered the Elimination Bracket to face Tatev Abrahamyan, who advanced by defeating Rachel Li and Anna Sargsyan.
Abrahamyan's match against Sargsyan lasted six games, with exchanged wins in rapid and first blitz set, before Abrahamyan drew with black and won with white in the second blitz set.
