Alice Lee Reaches U.S. Women's Chess Championship Lead After Round 3

The 2026 U.S. Chess Championship witnessed decisive victories and a tightly contested race for the top positions after the third round, with IM Alice Lee joining the leading group in the women's section. GMs Wesley So and Awonder Liang led the way at the start of the open championship, their meeting ending in a draw, as GM Andy Woodward and Sam Shankland picked up two key victories.

Alice scored a crucial victory against IM Nazi Paikidze, capitalising on her opponent's blunder to move to 2.5 points. She leads with WGM Thalia Cervantes and FM Megan Paragua in the 2026 U.S. Women's Chess Championship with WGM Thalia Cervantes and FM Megan Paragua with 2.5 points each after the first three rounds.

The outcome makes Alice one of the front runners in a tournament that includes some of the top female chess players in the United States. The competition is ongoing, with a few rounds to go, to challenge players to make tactical decisions, be consistent and make effective decisions under pressure.

Key Highlights

• Alice Lee defeats Nazi Paikidze to join the women's championship leaders
• Andy Woodward and Sam Shankland secure crucial victories in round three
• Tatev Abrahamyan beats defending champion Carissa Yip in women's championship

IM Tatev Abrahamyan recorded a notable victory over IM Carissa Yip, the defending champion and four-time tournament winner. The win pushed Carissa to 0.5 points after three rounds, leaving her near the bottom of the standings.

Tatev took advantage of a series of middlegame mistakes to establish a clear advantage. Her move 21. O-O strengthened her position, while 26. e6 further increased the pressure on Carissa. Tatev converted her advantage through accurate middlegame play, delivering a one-sided victory.

Reflecting on the quality of the encounter, Tatev said, “I think we are still suffering after the Olympiad. Maybe we are still tired.” Her comments pointed to the possible effects of the demanding international competition on players' performances.

In the open section, Andy defeated GM Ray Robson with an attacking approach that demonstrated the importance of initiative and practical decision-making in competitive chess. His exchange sacrifice 29...Rxe5 was criticized by commentator GM Maurice Ashley as a “bad, bad, bad exchange sac!”

Despite the initial criticism, the position highlighted how difficult it can be to evaluate and defend against unconventional decisions under time pressure. With just about 30 seconds left on a clock Ray refused to settle for a draw, continuing to play for a victory.

The victory lifted Andy to two points, placing him alongside GM Fabiano Caruana in the second-place group.

Sam also produced a strong performance against GM Jeffery Xiong. After Xiong allowed an isolated queen's pawn and weakened his kingside pawn structure, Shankland exploited the resulting weaknesses with 29...Nxf3!, turning his positional advantage into a decisive result.

Meanwhile, So and Liang drew their third-round encounter in 30 moves, maintaining their joint lead with 2.5 points each.

After three rounds, no player in either championship had maintained a perfect score. Consequently, the $64,000 Fischer Prize, reserved for a player who wins the U.S. Championship with a perfect 11/11 score matching GM Bobby Fischer's 1964 achievement, was no longer attainable.

The fourth round was scheduled for October 12, with the competition continuing to determine the leading contenders in both the open and women's championships.